Getting The Best From Your Fast Striker.

[SFraser]

Some of you may remember my "Getting The Best From Your Midfielders" thread which involved a study of Manchester United's Anderson's attributes and an eventual conclusion as to the best instructions for him as an individual player. That thread was a result of the claims that Midfielders were "broken" at the time and impossible to get functioning at a sufficient level. Another critical position that is the source of much frustration is the Striker position, with numerous complaints about a lack of goals, a lack of link-up play and assists, and generally poor ratings. This thread will be much the same as the previous thread, with first an analysis of his abilities and how they relate to each other, followed by an exploration of the effect and function of those abilities on the football pitch.

My first thread was highly appreciated and this second thread has been a long time coming, because of which I offer my apologies to all those asked for it and I did not answer. As I continue to play FM09 with the same players at the same level of competition with the same level of full match replay detail I hope that my appreciation for individual attributes and their relationship with other attributes increases, and the advice that I can offer improves. As you read this please keep in mind that the general principles of the advice for Fast Strikers will apply to all levels, even if the instructions require alteration. For Strikers that are not fast and perform through a completely different set of attributes I can offer little advice other than take note of the method of analysis and to perhaps approach your players with greater open-mindedness as to their contextual abilities.

The Fast Striker.

The Fast Striker is characterised by speed of thought as much as speed of movement. The extra yard he has over the opponent is as much in his head as in his legs and it is a common mistake to judge the Fast Striker by his Acceleration and Pace alone. The essence of the threat provided by the Fast Striker is the creation and the exploitation of space and because it is ultimately delivery and support that unlocks the potential of every Striker, the Fast Striker benefits immeasurably from teammates that are quick of mind. The Fast Striker is not a player for whom releasing the ball or whipping in the cross alone is sufficient, he is a player that requires quality alongside him but who can exploit that quality to a degree no other can match. If you have even one other player that can worry defences, create panic, and interfere with organisation then the Fast Striker is a punisher and a destroyer of teams.

For the purpose of this thread I choose Sergio Aguero, who is in my opinion the closest to perfection you can get in FM09 when it comes to studying the attributes and qualities of the Fast Striker.

Physical Attributes.

A quick glance at his physical attributes tells us that Aguero is already well endowed in the abilities of a Fast Striker, but of all the key physical attributes of a Fast Striker it is Acceleration that takes the throne and in Acceleration Aguero is second to only a few. Acceleration is the King because it determines the time it takes for a Striker to move his body into completion of a move, the time it takes to latch onto the ball knocked past the opponent, the time it takes to be in position for each successive touch, the time it takes to enter what one second ago was a gap in the defence. Acceleration is the fundamental physical attribute of the fast striker for it is Acceleration that determines the speed of change, and it is the speed of change that defines the Fast Striker. I would go so far as to say that speed of change is what defines football as a sport.

Pace is next on the list for study, but only because it is deceptive. Despite the claim that speed is the hallmark of modern top level football, it is not the pace aspect of speed that carries the highest value. Pace is only useful for outrunning players that know what you are doing. In the modern game if it comes down to Pace you should already be beaten, or have beaten your opponent. Pace does have a value but in terms of relative value is far down the list. To make use of Pace you must have already defeated your opponent in terms of skill and intelligence, and the battle of Pace is a battle for the opponent to recover and for you to finish the move, or indeed vice versa.

Having dealt with the mirage of Pace it is time to speak of Agility. For the Fast Striker Agility is second only to Acceleration in terms of physical value. Agility is the ability to change the physical activity of the player, the ability to change the direction of the body and indeed the ability to evade challenges aimed at the body. If Acceleration is the ability to exploit space with the body then Agility is the ability to threaten multiple spaces and to defeat opponents directly with the body. Due to the nature of top level football as being premised upon the exploitation of space Acceleration takes top spot in physical attributes, but Agility is a very close second indeed. Acceleration gets you there first, but under tough conditions Agility enables you to get there at all.

There must also be a mention for Balance, which is the attribute that is crucial when Acceleration and Agility fail to take a player away from a challenge. Given that our Fast Striker does not have the time (nor indeed the strength) to wrestle with an opponent for control of the ball, it is Balance that will determine whether or not a "no nonsense" tackle is successful. Ideally the Fast Striker has already got his body far beyond the reach of the opponent through turning quicker and accelerating away from the tackler, but on the occasion that the opponent launches himself into the tackle and connect with the player it is Balance that is critical in deciding whether or not the Striker ceases his activity. The player may well win the ball in which case Balance is irrelevent, but should he not win the ball then it is crucial that the player is not taken out of the game. This is the Balance attribute and though not critical like Acceleration or Agility, it is very useful.

His other physical attributes, in the context of this study, are fundamentally irrelevant. Others may state the importance of Stamina in maintaining performance or Strength in winning challenges, but as this is my thread dealing with the theory of the Fast Striker I deem them irrelevant.

Mental Attributes.

Central in position on the ingame Attribute table, central in position in this thread and absolutely central to every good event in Football, whether real or virtual. Mental attributes are so fundamentally decisive that the first lesson learned and told regarding attributes is the importance of Determination. I could go on at length about the importance and value of mental attributes but there would be no point. The more you watch football and the more you watch this game the more you will realise how mental attributes are the fulcrum around which football swings.

Anticipation and Decisions. Of all the keys to unlocking Football Manager it is an understanding of Anticipation and Decisions that above all else fits the lock. There is no substitution for being able to read the game and making the correct Decision. It would be quite fair to seperate these attributes and discuss them individually but it is in their unity that fairness is ignored in favour of their profound interaction. The ability to read the game and make the correct or the relevant decision has no equal in attribute relationships.

Our Fast Striker is blessed with impressive Anticipation and quality Decision making and it is this combination in conjuction with adequate Technical and Physical Attributes that makes him the threat he is. These attributes define his speed of mind and his accuracy of choice in every action from skinning a defender to laying the ball off for a midfielder to timing a run or a through ball for a goal scoring chance. Every other non-mental attribute is a supporting mechanism, a function that determines the success of execution. As far as I am concerned this is the essence of Football Manager.

His Anticipation allows him to see the game unfold before others do. It allows him to make his decisions before others can. Anticipation provides our striker with an advantage that is immediatly potent in all contexts and for this reason elevates him above all others at a lower attribute value. Anticipation alongside Decisions are game defining attributes for this reason, they are not restricted to a context and they are definative in every action. In conjunction with adequate physical and technical attributes that they are not merely decisive, they are destructive. If there is one thing I have learned and one thing I have to offer from my time playing Football Manager it is the prime nature of Anticipation and Decisions.

Unfortunately our Fast Striker is not perfect, merely great in these attributes. We can be assured of an intelligence of mental appreciation of the game that is in the upper reaches, but not profound. He is not quite a Xavi or a Fabregas in his understanding of the game, but he is not far off, and he is no Central Midfielder anyway. His mistakes are more likely to be decisive as the opponents mistakes present a direct goal scoring opportunity. It is not always craft and guile that results in the onion bag bulging. Very often it is a single error at a critical moment. Make some arbitrary calculation involving anticipation and decisions divided by opponents between player and goal and you will invariably produce a positive result for this striker.

His Aggression and Bravery are good not great, but in the context of his role these attributes are fairly irrelevant. His composure is adequate, but in conjuction with his yet to be mentioned technical abilities and PPMs proves to be highly useful.

The combinations of his Creativity and Flair, as well as his Off-The-Ball and Teamwork are what prove to be the next areas of interest in this field. Influence demands a seperate appraisal, as does workrate.

His workrate is fundamentally irrelevant. This player is not Tevez and should not be asked to play as such. Hard work will only provoke a degeneration of his talent as well as his condition.

Creativity and Flair is where we should next divert our attention, as these attributes determine his style of play. His reasonably high Creativity means that a creative awareness of the game around him is not beyond his ability to perceive. He possesses the mental faculty to be aware of the potential around him, although perhaps lacking the highest level of attacking vision. The simple through ball in the opponents box is most often the hardest to observe, but this player possesses that awareness and it is a factor in his decision making. His Flair grants him the ability to attempt whatever is physically possible on the football pitch, but his Decision making provides an adequate restraint in terms of valuation, whereas his Creativity provides a restraint in terms of awareness.

Paul Scholes he is not, but none the less clever he is.

His Influence is interesting because it implies that other players are unlikely to adapt to his behaviour, and so he must adapt to theirs. This is unfortunate because as I have stated already I consider Aguero to be the greatest Fast Striker in the game. Dealing with the implication of Influence is perhaps best suited to a thread of its own, so I will say simply not to expect players on your team to consider such a player as a fundamental cog in your formation, unfortunate as that may be.

Off-The-Ball and Teamwork are fundamental to this Striker because his Teamwork attribute means he is not interested in being the fourth from last pass in a surgical attack whereas his Off-the-Ball movement means he is an incredibly potent threat. He is not going to perceive the game in multiple dimensions and is not going to manouvre himself to provide a passing option that continues possession or indeed sets up a goal four passes hence. His Off-The-Ball movement in conjuction with his Teamwork means that he positions himself as a decisive threat, and a decisive threat he is. As far as Aguero is concerned you can screw possession and instead play the ball into a decisive area where he is going to be the man of the hour.

Before I end this section I wish to say one thing. Metal Attributes = Performance, Technical Attributes = Execution, Physical Attributes = Power.

Technical Attributes.

There is not a lot to say here other than Aguero's Technical Attributes will make you cry, punch the air, or swallow some beer and dedicate yourself to the destruction of the opponent, depending upon your mood and the exact nature of the events involved. Although perhaps readers of this thread will choose not to get so involved in the characters of the game as me.

Every element of Aguero's technical ability is entireally complimentary to his other attributes. He has the Passing ability to compliment his Creativity, the Dribbling to compliment his Acceleration and Pace, the Finishing to compliment his movement and anticipation. The technique to magnify the execution of all. Considering his other attributes he is incredibly gifted in Technical attributes when the instructions correspond to his Mental and Physical abilities.

As a whole product he is up there alongside Fabregas, Ronaldo and a well developed Federico Fazio as the embodiement of the critical and decisive attributes that not only produce effective performances but absolutely define the essence of their favoured positions. It is the nature of my formation alone that prevents me from using more than 2 of these 3 in my own personal, and I will honestly state edited, fantasy team. Fabregas lacks "bite" in my midfield while my team is highly offensive.

However I can state with near abolsolute certainty that the threat posed by Arsenal Football Club in FM09 has nothing to do with their tactics, and is entireally down to the fact that Fabregas is the greatest Central Midfielder in the game. Those who have analysed the Off-The-Ball movement of the Arsenal strikers will invariably agree.

In Completion.

In completion what is it that we have here? In completion what we have is a player whose physical and technical attributes define a player that is incredibly efficient and capable of defeating opponents with the ball at his feet, and is less capable but still incredibly accurate when it comes to involving other players. This is a player whose technical and physical attributes are defined in such a way as to make him one of the most singularly potent threats in FM09, supposing his mental attributes enable him to make use of his other attributes.

His mental attributes perfectly compliment his physical and technical abilities. He is incredibly ambitous in terms of movement, choice of action, and execution of action. He has the ability to involve others but has the preference to do the job himself. His Decisions ensure that this choice is weighed, albeit with a bias towards glory, and his Creativity ensures he is capable of observing the upper echelons of attacking potential.

In short this player is the absolute epitome of a Striker that has the ball at his feet. When he is facing a defender and has adequate support then he is quite simply the most dangerous player on the planet. Dribbling past his marker? tick. Playing a though ball? tick. Destroying a defence through movement? tick. Controlling a pass into space? tick. Curling a 20 yarder into the bottom corner? tick. Out thinking an opponent in the majority of contexts? tick.

In completion what we have is all of those abilities combined.

Tactical Instructions.

This is where the problems begin.

We have the choice to either shoehorn our World class Striker into one or two areas of performance, or allow our World Class Striker to express himself. Forget what you have read so far on these forums and realise how your instructions influence his play.

I have managed Aguero for many seasons now and these are my instructions:

Mentality: First notch of attacking for when I want him to take extra risks. When I do not want him to take extra risks it is Neutral. This is a vital instruction and it is essential that it is understood.

Creative Freedom: Maximum. This player is clever, he is capable of highly difficult events, and his Decision making is not just solid but really good. CF Maximum so that he does what he thinks is best.

Passing Style: Mixed. I do not want to limit his options or force him down a style of passing that may not be the best option. I leave it up to him.

Closing Down: Often. Under high mentality he will ignore it. Under neutral mentality he will close down the opposition defenders.

Tackling: Hard. when he decides to go in for a tackle I want him to commit. You may have other desires.

Forward Runs: Mixed. I do not want him on the shoulder of the defender, I want him to use his intelligence to destroy defences while also turning up in a deep position.

Run with Ball: Often. He is best at this and I want it to be an important factor in his Decision making.

Long Shots: Rare. He is better at dribbling or passing.

Through Balls: Often: He is good at this and I want it to be an important factor in his Decision making.

Cross Ball: Mixed. I want to keep it as an option for him in certain contexts.

Free Role: Ticked. Exploiting space is the entire point of this player and this instruction. Apart from Mentality and FWR Mixed this is probably the most important instruction you can give to this player.

These instructions are hardly ground breaking but I hope you understand the process underlying my decision making.

[thompe]

The purchasing of Aguero is gonna shoot through after this post!

Quality post though!

And for the questions, the mental attributes, do they act as a ''lid'' on the techniqual excecution? A player with 20 at passing, but poor mental attributes that correspondes with the excecution of a pass, will rarely make use of all 20 passing points and probably will deliver passes at maybe 10-15 quality wise? Was that understandable at all?

[Rio_V]

Great OP. Going to go looking around for similar type playes for League 1 and see if I can get them to do this on that level. Obviously, with skills commensurate to that level.Ty

[vasilli07]

neutral as in 10 on the mentality slider?

[Zebedee77]

Cracking post, as usual, SFraser.

Just a word of caution though for others attempting to follow your instructions. I notice that he's an AM/FC which would imply his free role hidden attribute might be high too allowing him to take advantage of that tick box; at lower levels, a pacy and less rounded ST might be better served with PPMs than a free role (eg run into channels and/or break the offside trap if you can convince them to learn it) and will benefit more from sitting on the shoulder of the last defender rather than attempting to link play by pulling into deeper areas.

In many ways your instructions aren't really for an atypical, old style and limited 'fast striker' but for a more rounded multifunctional forward which El Kun is as a modern 'second striker' - as such I think you're being a tad modest and would argue that you're demonstrating how to set up a modern striker for a top team by examining their individual attributes. Kudos.

[ObaMartins09]

And for the questions, the mental attributes, do they act as a ''lid'' on the techniqual excecution? A player with 20 at passing, but poor mental attributes that correspondes with the excecution of a pass, will rarely make use of all 20 passing points and probably will deliver passes at maybe 10-15 quality wise? Was that understandable at all?

From my understanding his pass quality would still be at 20, but the problem with his low mental attributes means that he may rarely see a good pass (Creativity) or he may make a poor choice of pass (Decisions). He also might not be able to get himself positioned correctly to receive the ball in space (Off The Ball + Positioning), and in turn, have time to play a good pass.

In fact Agüero's low positioning attribute is extremely low, does that not worry you SFraser?

[martinpetrov]

SFraser, just applied the exact settings you used for Kun Aguero in my 4-2-3-1 formation on my Atletico game, we drew 0-0 with Osasuna away but Aguero was man of the match. Just watching the key highlights his movement was immense, although we drew i was quite happy with his performance. well done!

[arsenal fan 123]

shall i set him as a target man with ball to feet?

[martinpetrov]

arsenal fan, my idea would be to have him as target man, with either ball to feet or run onto ball. this would be playing to his strengths.

[TheRealMagpies]

In fact Agüero's low positioning attribute is extremely low, does that not worry you SFraser?

Positioning is a Defensive attribute, and is wanted on Defenders (all) and some Midfielders and controls how well they place themselves on the pitch when thier team is not in possesion of the ball.

Strikers/Wingers & some Midfielders use Off the Ball for controlling how well they place themselves when not in possesion of the ball.

[vasilli07]

I used the settings on both Pato and Kaka...deadly...

[phnompenhandy]

arsenal fan, my idea would be to have him as target man, with either ball to feet or run onto ball. this would be playing to his strengths.

Although his blistering pace might imply 'run onto ball', his PPM of çomes deep to get the ball'would suggest 'ball to feet' IMO.

[martinpetrov]

good shout phnompenhandy, it seems i overlooked the ppm's, thank you for pointing that out for me.

[Messias]

I'm getting the best out of Agüero when he's forward runs is set to rarely. He's far more dangerous running at the defenders from deep. It also makes him impossible to man-mark.

The settings I'm using:

Mentality: all the way to the right attacking, that's what he does best.

Creative Freedom: normal but he's got a free role so he does what he wants.

Passing & Closing down: I play a possession based game so he's set to team passing (short) and team closing down (last notch of own half)

Run with the ball: Often

Longshots: rarely

Through balls: often

Crossing: rarely & mixed & mixed

I play a Barca style 4-3-3 with Atletico Madrid and he's been the La Liga topscorer for two seasons in a row.

http://img155.imageshack.us/img155/1469/agueron.jpg

[Rio_V]

"His Influence is interesting because it implies that other players are unlikely to adapt to his behaviour, and so he must adapt to theirs. This is unfortunate because as I have stated already I consider Aguero to be the greatest Fast Striker in the game. Dealing with the implication of Influence is perhaps best suited to a thread of its own, so I will say simply not to expect players on your team to consider such a player as a fundamental cog in your formation, unfortunate as that may be."

Can you elaborate on this? I notice that both of my strikers have very low influence. Not sure exactly how to incorporate that into my scheme, but I think it is causing me some problems.

Also, who do you play along side Aguero, if anyone, and can you show us their instructions?

[Rio_V]

I used the settings on both Pato and Kaka...deadly...

Interesting. Together at the same time?

[SFraser]

"His Influence is interesting because it implies that other players are unlikely to adapt to his behaviour, and so he must adapt to theirs. This is unfortunate because as I have stated already I consider Aguero to be the greatest Fast Striker in the game. Dealing with the implication of Influence is perhaps best suited to a thread of its own, so I will say simply not to expect players on your team to consider such a player as a fundamental cog in your formation, unfortunate as that may be."

Can you elaborate on this? I notice that both of my strikers have very low influence. Not sure exactly how to incorporate that into my scheme, but I think it is causing me some problems.

Influence is one of those attributes like Teamwork, where you cannot see it's impact unless you are looking hard and deep for it. Everyone can pick out the effect of First Touch on the 2-D full match replay, everyone can see the effect of the Jumping Attribute in the Headers Won statistic column etc. but do you know why your Winger is making lung bursting run after lung bursting run up and down the flank yet your CM playmaker keeps knocking it infield to your other CM? It is because both players are in a good position, but the winger has an Influence of 4 and the CM has an Influence of 15.

That is the precise situation I was faced with that enabled me to figure out what Influence means in the Match Engine. Here was a Winger that was continually in space, was creative and technical and had solid mental stats yet my playmaker that was the nearest guy to him would never give him the ball. I puzzled this for ages before realising that my Winger had the lowest Influence in my team, and his Influence was half that of the next lowest guy playing around my playmaker. My other CM that plays alongside my playmaker is almost always open for a pass and has an Influence that is four times greater than my winger, and so there was no surprise to find that he was the chosen passing option the overwhelming majority of the time. Factor in that my playmaker has Decisions of 16 and everyone around him has a Free Role and is good at finding space and the exact goings on in that little scenario are abundantly clear.

What all of this means is that understanding the distribution of Influence throughout your team is an important part in understanding the behaviour of your players and the function of your team. Left to their own devices players will naturally play around and play with highly influential players, perhaps to the detriment and exclusion of quality low influence players. I will say that I have not been aware of the impact of Influence long enough to understand its impact in multiple contexts, but I have observed it in action in extreme cases of a highly obvious nature. If the Influence of players also has an impact upon opponents, then we have an opportunity here to exploit low influence target men and playmakers, and this is something I will be experimenting with shortly.

Also, who do you play along side Aguero, if anyone, and can you show us their instructions?

Cristiano Ronaldo with identical instructions.

Ronaldo has a slightly higher Influence than Aguero and I think this is part of the explanation for why most clearances from my backline are aimed towards him.

[vasilli07]

yes...especially Pato.

[phnompenhandy]

SFraser,

"If the Influence of players also has an impact upon opponents, then we have an opportunity here to exploit low influence target men and playmakers, and this is something I will be experimenting with shortly."

If you are right about Influence, SF, then this is a massive massive revelation! Until now nobody has challenged the received view that it was only relevant for selecting a captain, and just possibly someone to organise an offside trap. I waiting with great anticipation the results of those tests.

Two questions:

1. Have you noted the development of influence? It seems most regens have a very low attribute - which is fair enough if he's a spotty 15-year old oik, but how and how much does it develop? I don't think it's an attribute affected by tutoring or training, so does any development come purely through age and experience?

2. What do you think of Messias' instruction - to Aguero specifically and strikers generally. With Aguero coming deep to get the ball, he sets forward runs to rarely. Secondly, the combination of maximum mentality and forward runs rarely sounds intriguing - presumably he wouldn't be getting caught offside, but would selfishly always be looking to score?

[SFraser]

1. Have you noted the development of influence? It seems most regens have a very low attribute - which is fair enough if he's a spotty 15-year old oik, but how and how much does it develop? I don't think it's an attribute affected by tutoring or training, so does any development come purely through age and experience?

It is certainly not affected by training but I think it may be affected by mentoring. This could be a purely coincedental observation but in my experience Influence tends to increase in youngsters between 17-24 after what could ony be called an "influential" performance. Scoring important goals, high performances, consistent form, or turning out against big team opposition all coincide in my experience with increases in Influence.

Otherwise I think it tends to slowly improve with age.

2. What do you think of Messias' instruction - to Aguero specifically and strikers generally. With Aguero coming deep to get the ball, he sets forward runs to rarely. Secondly, the combination of maximum mentality and forward runs rarely sounds intriguing - presumably he wouldn't be getting caught offside, but would selfishly always be looking to score?

They are interesting and no less valid than my own, certainly my Creative Freedom settings, but I would be concerned about the excessive offensive risk taking of Maximum Mentality. Being allowed to attempt the creatively challenging is different from being asked to attempt the incredibly unlikely.

However Aguero is one of those players that may well be capable of pulling it off. I tend to prefer having him around the edge of the box as an explosive finisher or creative fulcrum than attempting wonder runs from the halfway line. My perspective is that anything dangerous 40 yards from goal is lethal 20 yards from goal.