Quickfire Questions and Answers Thread (Tactic and Training Questions Only)

[Julien62740]

I came here as I have a quit hard question. How would you make your players do the pressing like Dortmund's player yesterday? All the player to the same "level" of pressing? Specific role/duties?

[Animosama]

Just adjust the closing down setting on fm and maybe the marking set it zonal.

[Codename47]

Training Question:

How do you guys set up your GENERAL training in conjunction to the individual player's FOCUS INTENSITY.

i.e. My GENERAL is on LOW and each player's individual FOCUS INTENSITY is on HEAVY.

Does this appear the correct way to do things (from what I've read before)?

Cheers.

[Cleon]

Training Question:

How do you guys set up your GENERAL training in conjunction to the individual player's FOCUS INTENSITY.

i.e. My GENERAL is on LOW and each player's individual FOCUS INTENSITY is on HEAVY.

Does this appear the correct way to do things (from what I've read before)?

Cheers.

Yups that is correct and the way you maximise the focus of the players development.

[Magraev]

I feel that you can get away with general medium and focus heavy if you have a good team. Some players will whine, but only the poorer ones. If you set general to low you will actually get some complaints from player who want to train more (and they are the top-professional ambitious ones).

This does give you less influence on a players total development, so may not be optimal for those who want to mold a player precisely.

[Cleon]

I feel that you can get away with general medium and focus heavy if you have a good team. Some players will whine, but only the poorer ones. If you set general to low you will actually get some complaints from player who want to train more (and they are the top-professional ambitious ones).

This does give you less influence on a players total development, so may not be optimal for those who want to mold a player precisely.

Yups

If you want a more generalised player development, you'd go with higher general and low individual .

I see you are from Viborg btw, that is the team I'm currently managing

[Codename47]

Cheers chaps

Cleon & Co please:

http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/354813-Conflicting-Odds-AM-TT-Advice

Thanks

[Codename47]

Is it now not possible to alter our pitch dimensions pre-season?

[Animosama]

I that their is now a standard for the leagues, so everyone has the same size.

[Puni]

Is there a stat that covers a goalkeeper's passing ability? I'm talking about short range passes, as I like my defenders to collect the ball. I have a regen goalie with high concentration and 13 kicking, but once every five or six games, he just passes the ball between my two central defenders straight into the feet of an opposing striker who then continues to score. His eccentricity is 12, could that be the cause as well?

[Animosama]

It should be in the match info. Also maybe your goalkeeper has poor decision skills.

[worthit]

what's your take on offside this edition, in the past its always a bad idea to play offside but it seems to work "better" now but feels more like a "cheat" then actual effectiveness.

[Magraev]

Yups

If you want a more generalised player development, you'd go with higher general and low individual .

I see you are from Viborg btw, that is the team I'm currently managing

Actually I don't go with a lower individual, but even with that on heavy you can still train at the normal general level. If you are trying to teach a player a new position you might have to dial down the focus though.

And good luck with Viborg - you'll need it! They went up this season thanks to ending the season with around 18 games without defeat (and the competition stumbling a bit). I suspect they are favorites to go down next season, but you never know. I plan to catch a few games this season (live...).

[AndyD_U]

Im just about to play a game where my strikers are alot quicker than my opponent defenders but im not 100% sure how to take advantage of this.

I was thinking playing deeper and drawing them out then hitting them on the break to get in behind them. Is this the best way to do it?

I play a flat 4-4-2 with a few adjustments which has worked great for me this season winning 10 out of 11 so far. Since ive got a good base i wanna start tweaking it before matches to get the most out of any advantages or cover any disadvantages i have

[Flohrinho]

A short questions concerning Motivation.

I have had this in almost all of my save games in this years FM that I had one or two players whose moral was consistently dropping despite good results form the team and consistent first team football for the player.

Even praising the player after good displays only helps temporarily during the next week his moral will start dropping again. I also checked training and he it always says the player is pleased with his training schedule.

I can't even talk to the player about happiness and while the rest of my team sits at very good or superb moral he sits at okay atm and only because I gave him a boost after his last good performance.

So anyone got an idea why this sometimes happens with some players?

[Gooner SJ]

Is there a coaching attribute that affects training a player in a new position and how long that would take?

I'm wondering because if you coach in a lower league where you don't really have a budget, retraining could save you valuable room financially, rather than filling a position or backing up a position through a player transfer. But you may not have the best coaches...

[Gooner SJ]

Sorry, another question. I've read a lot where people suggest against using a BWM because they chase the ball around a lot and compromise the shape of the formation.

So what is an ideal situation/formation for using a BWM?

[vasilli07]

Sorry, another question. I've read a lot where people suggest against using a BWM because they chase the ball around a lot and compromise the shape of the formation.

So what is an ideal situation/formation for using a BWM?

Probably a formation where you play with 3 central midfielders.

[Gooner SJ]

Probably a formation where you play with 3 central midfielders.

Makes sense. Thanks.

[sneek]

I´ve got two tactics that works good for me but i do feel i need a third one. Got one 4-5-1 attacking and one set up as a 4-4-2 counter. Looking for a third tactic used against opposition when the odds are even, either a Controll tactic or a Standard. Could anyone help me with that? Would prefer it to be a 4-5-1/4-4-2 or a 4-2-3-1. Please wright down the Team instructions and player set up.

Thanks!

[joey7]

I have a small u18s team at the minute, released all the low rated players with a view of building up again slowly. My question is, if I put all my 18's in the reserve grade side, will they be selected for the 18's side?

[WHUBen]

When looking at the comparison page to see what kind of style/tactic you will use. For example arsenal are the best team in the league at passing, would you do direct passing or short passing?

[furiousuk]

When looking at the comparison page to see what kind of style/tactic you will use. For example arsenal are the best team in the league at passing, would you do direct passing or short passing?

It's not quite so simple. There are pros and cons. Direct passing might be good because you'll have the accuracy to launch long balls but you might not have the runners and movement to make it worthwhile and/or you might not like the risk/reward ratio. Short passing might be good because you've got the raw passing attributes to make it work but you might not have the work rate, touch, intelligence or movement to make it work.

Also, it might be that your midfield are absurdly good at passing while the rest of your team are not, but your midfield skew the results so you might think your whole team is good at passing when that isnt the case. If your attackers weren't particularly good at passing then its unlikely a short passing strategy (as standard) is going to be particularly potent for you.

Think of it holistically - a player needs to see space, he then needs to move into space, another player then needs to see the run or at least see him in space, the other player then needs to execute the pass, the first player then needs touch to control the ball. For every manouever there is plenty going on.

[WHUBen]

It's not quite so simple. There are pros and cons. Direct passing might be good because you'll have the accuracy to launch long balls but you might not have the runners and movement to make it worthwhile and/or you might not like the risk/reward ratio. Short passing might be good because you've got the raw passing attributes to make it work but you might not have the work rate, touch, intelligence or movement to make it work.

Also, it might be that your midfield are absurdly good at passing while the rest of your team are not, but your midfield skew the results so you might think your whole team is good at passing when that isnt the case. If your attackers weren't particularly good at passing then its unlikely a short passing strategy (as standard) is going to be particularly potent for you.

Think of it holistically - a player needs to see space, he then needs to move into space, another player then needs to see the run or at least see him in space, the other player then needs to execute the pass, the first player then needs touch to control the ball. For every manouever there is plenty going on.

Thank you for replying. I have a couple of examples i want to show you, so if when i start a new save i know what i am looking at.

These link's below is of the comparison page of Charlton FC 1st Season, patch 13.3

All positions:

http://gyazo.com/af508b0aef7e0db9a1e873e8d738dec7

Midfield:

http://gyazo.com/6ad6e2929a2fb3dc4b7396a645279db5

Attack:

http://gyazo.com/612a26f4698e6face420c89dc146abb3

In midfield they are lacking in some important area's such as creativity. If you or someone is knowlodgable would have a quick look for me at those links then come up with a style of play based on the comparison page. It will help me greatly, when coming to new saves etc as ill know what kind of style i will need to play based on what the comparison page says.

Thanks again.

[Svenc]

This is a question related to full backs, their positioning and their duties (or "run from deep instructions", if you will.

I think this has been slightly tweaked in between versions, but why is it that full backs on "defend" duty (runs from deep rarely) still regularly push ahead right up into the opponent's final third and proactively engage in attacking play? No PPMs whatsoever interfering, mind.

[vasilli07]

This is a question related to full backs, their positioning and their duties (or "run from deep instructions", if you will.

I think this has been slightly tweaked in between versions, but why is it that full backs on "defend" duty (runs from deep rarely) still regularly push ahead right up into the opponent's final third and proactively engage in attacking play? No PPMs whatsoever interfering, mind.

I believe it's the positional sense of players. Do we really just expect 6 players(midfielders + strikers) to attack while the back 4 sit back deep in their own half and watch? It could also be because of their high teamwork that force them to help out teammates.

[Svenc]

I believe it's the positional sense of players. Do we really just expect 6 players(midfielders + strikers) to attack while the back 4 sit back deep in their own half and watch? It could also be because of their high teamwork that force them to help out teammates.

Probably also depends on the strategy (mentality) and d-line settings linked to it and various shouts. Which is all fine to me, but when I tell a LB to "Defend" (duty), I expect him to still cover, rather than proactively surging into space and getting forward frequently.

[ivoke]

Playing as Liverpool against Arsenal. Lost 2-0, Arsenal more and the better chances but I feel like I could have created a lot more chances. I'll give you an example here:

Here you see Lucas Leiva on the ball. Circled is Coutinho.

Here you see Lucas Leiva passing the ball to Coutinho.

Coutinho manages to turn away from Vermaelens' challenge. Lucas Leiva and Gerrard made a brilliant run and can be set one on one with the goalkeeper with an easy pass from Coutinho.

But instead of playing the short and easy pass giving us a huge opportunity, Coutinho peers the ball away trying to reach Sterling.

Is this because of a wrong thing in my tactic? Can't think on something i've done wrong, for example had the shout ''Exploit the middle'' active, that should encourage Coutinho to make the easy pass trough the middle.

[vasilli07]

What's your formation and setup?

[ivoke]

Playing a 4231. But in my opinion, it doesn't matter what formation i'm using, Coutinho should just play that ball. It doesn't matter if I play a 8-0-1-1 or a 4-2-3-1, he should just play that ball. I think my nephew from 5 years would have made a better decision on that pass.

Edit: Next game, home vs. Man City. Giving away goals for free.....

[video=youtube;ZBDvEAmF9fc]

(Watch 1080p and full screen)

Really getting frustrated with this game. Watching matches the whole 90 minutes shows so many engine errors i haven't noticed before

[vasilli07]

Alot of things to be taken into consideration. What's his instructions? RWB more often or etc? And his attributes like decision, teamwork and etc, all these could play a part on what he will do.

[ivoke]

RWB sometimes, trough balls often. In this case he made the right decision to choose for a trough ball instead of keep running with the ball. The only thing is he choose the wrong troughball.

It might be his decision stat, only 13, but c'mon, in the Premier League, even a Liverpoolplayer, the good pass would have been given 100 out of a 100 times in this situation.

[ModernLefty]

Didn't tevez score a pretty much identical goal against liverpool in real life this season where he robbed it off skertel, as they were trying to play it out from the back. It's irritating, but sadly it does happen.

Edit: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xt2ny3_skrtel-gifts-tevez-with-goal_sport

Not quite the same, but same principle.

[Rafa2007]

For Individual training focus what timespan should you use before switching the focus to another area? I do it on a 1 month change at the moment, but I feel that might be too short to get a really meaningful benefit

Have General Training on Medium/Low and Training Focus on Heavy for the record.

EDIT: Also is there a general level where you should drop it from heavy down to medium for example? IE In their mid 20's when they stop big improvements or in their 30's?

[Wizard boy]

I have general training default on Balanced and on average and match training default on def positioning. What do you guys have for in the weeks for general and match training?

[JackDavies]

Hi there,

Im currently playing the above way with Stoke. I have three tactical thoughts Id appreciate some help with

1) I think Darren Bent is getting literally no service in this formation. In the first 9 games of the season he has had only 10 shots, compared to Peter Crouchs 46. His overall ratings have been terrible too. This is a frustration for me , as he is on a BIG wage ! My thought where that he would get on a lot of through balls from crouch to race onto, but this doesnt seem to be happening. I wonder if by setting Crouch as target man, I am instructing my team to completely bypasss ever passing to Bent. As such im considering setting Crouch to a DLF support to help try and bring Bent into the game more? What do you think of this?

2) I have a defensive capable full backs in the shape of Liam Ridgewell and Wilkinson, as such I am considering moving my left and right mids up to pushed on wingers (AMR and AML). However i worry on they may become isolated from my central pairing of DLP support and CM defend. Although I am playing direct so maybe not?

3)In matches where I play attacking I switch my DLP- support to CM attack. And when I play defensive I switch my DLP support to DLP defend. Do you think this is appropriate

[vasilli07]

Are you using a designated targetman? Or maybe you like to switch Bent to adv forward so that he moves around abit more.

[Gooner SJ]

A question about training PPM's. What are peoples' thoughts on the idea of removing all individual focus so that there is 100% focus on learning the PPM? Does it dramatically shorten the length of time it takes to learn the move? I am using Cleon's method of only 10% match training, with low general training to be able to focus on specific attribute or individual role training. My thought is that when you couple a low general training with no focus that the player would decline while learning the PPM at 100% focus. Hopefully that makes sense and someone can clear this up for me.

[Animosama]

You can't affect PPM training, it just adds to whatever workload is present.

[ace26]

I play 4-2-3-1 with 2 AP(Advanced playmakers on the left and right respectively) using FC Valencia. Also my tactics settings are:

Fluid

Control

Shorter

More Disciplined - Creativity

Press More

Default - Tackling

Zonal Marking

Drill crosses

Roaming(default)

Defensive Line - Push up (about 16 on a scale of 1 - 20)

Width - narrow (6 on same scale as above)

Tempo - slow (6)

Focus Passing Mixed

Counter No

Offside No

Goalkeeper - Sweeper GoalKeeper

Full Backs - Both FB Attack

CD - Both Stoppers

CM - DLP

CM - CM

AP - One Attack, the other support

Striker AF

With this in place I am having issues "effectively" closing teams down. When I play against others, I see how quickly they close my players down there by denying them space and time on the ball, but my players aren't that effective with the closing down and I find it irksome as players just seem to glide past my players with ease most times!

Also, my manager profile under "Pressing style" reads "Mixed" instead of "closing down", which further confirms my suspicion.

Am I doing something wrong? Have I failed to set something I should have? How do I set the pressing style to close down more effectively than they are doing now?

[furiousuk]

I play 4-2-3-1 with 2 AP(Advanced playmakers on the left and right respectively) using FC Valencia. Also my tactics settings are:

With this in place I am having issues "effectively" closing teams down. When I play against others, I see how quickly they close my players down there by denying them space and time on the ball, but my players aren't that effective with the closing down and I find it irksome as players just seem to glide past my players with ease most times!

Also, my manager profile under "Pressing style" reads "Mixed" instead of "closing down", which further confirms my suspicion.

Am I doing something wrong? Have I failed to set something I should have? How do I set the pressing style to close down more effectively than they are doing now?

You can try hard tackling as well, if your team aren't chasing tackles to make then sometimes it looks like they aren't closing down as effectively. The tackling works in a fairly simple way, if a player judges he has a 50/50 chance of making a certain tackle, with light tackling he'll shy away from it and stay on his feet (note PPM's also play a part here), with default tackling he'll probably go for it and with hard tackling he certainly will. Similarly, with only a 20% chance of success he'll likely still go for it with hard tackling but leave it with the other 2 settings, this doesn't mean he'll miss 80% of the time because some of those 'failures' will be clattering the opposition, some he'll get away with, some he'll get pinged for.

Apart from that you're setting up right; making the pitch smaller is good and zonal is fine (probably technically suits standing off more but a high press zonal system is perfectly fine, even in FM) so I'd look at 2 things:

1) Pitch size. Trying to aggressively close down on big pitches (even by pushing up and narrowing) is very very difficult and frequently a bad idea so approach with caution on big pitches.

2) Personel. This is probably your killer. Not every team is suited to closing down heavily. Look for things like work rate, stamina, team work and general intelligence (so they close down smartly).

Just had a further thought - you have 3 players with designated playmaker responsibilities. Check that their closing down isn't restricted by their role.

Also also, unless you have the right players your front '4' wont do a massive amount defensively and the attacking FB's could get caught upfield, this potentially leaves you very stretched as midfielders try to cover wide. Your players could be haring around but getting nowhere close and then tiring and exacerbating the problem.

[olivermain83]

Could someone tell me what attributes are needed to make a heavy pressing game viable?

[Guest Satchy]

Read the post right above yours.

[olivermain83]

I must win a prize for being the most stupid post in this thread surely?

[Guest Satchy]

Nah.

[ace26]

That was enlightening. Thank you.

Apart from that you're setting up right; making the pitch smaller is good and zonal is fine (probably technically suits standing off more but a high press zonal system is perfectly fine, even in FM)...

So you suggest I man-mark instead?

Also also, unless you have the right players your front '4' wont do a massive amount defensively and the attacking FB's could get caught upfield, this potentially leaves you very stretched as midfielders try to cover wide. Your players could be haring around but getting nowhere close and then tiring and exacerbating the problem.

"...right players for the front 4..."; is that in respect to their stamina, work rate and team work or what do you have in mind as "the right players for the front 4"?

[ace26]

Please what does PPM mean?

[vasilli07]

Please what does PPM mean?

Player preferred move.

[furiousuk]

That was enlightening. Thank you.

So you suggest I man-mark instead?

http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/274033-The-Art-of-Defending This link has some little gems in it regarding the subtle differences between man and zonal, both from a theoretical real-life standpoint and how they differ in FM.

To be honest, the difference between man and zonal systems in FM is smaller than common perception of real-life differences, you could even argue the difference is negligable in FM. For me, man-marking in FM works similar to zonal, in so much as my defenders will still maintain their positions but they will quickly pick up 'threats' in their general vicinity (i.e. in their zone). The difference I guess is that the 'zone' is based more around the player than a specific area on the pitch although I wonder how it works under the hood because picking up the differences by just watching the ME is hard.

Trying to keep it simple: I guess try man-marking and see if it suits what you are after any better. Give it a few games, you might find that it just tightens things up for you.

Caveat: It almost sounds like I'm discouraging zonal heavy pressing but I am not, just suggesting an alternative that might better match your vision.

"...right players for the front 4..."; is that in respect to their stamina, work rate and team work or what do you have in mind as "the right players for the front 4"?

Yes, pretty much. If you want them to do some defensive work then they'll need the right mentality (attribute make up) for it. A lazy creative genius is never going to do a whole heap of defensive work but it will be even less if you stick him in the Attacking Midfield strata on the formation screen. Someone a bit more rounded and determined (Rooney for example) will chase around and do more work for you.

There have been numerous threads in the last couple of years bemoaning the defensive contributions of AMR/AML. The short and simple answer is that those players will defend if they have the right attributes but don't expect them to regularly track right back to their own byline to make tackles, I'd argue this would be very poor behaviour if they did.

[RBYRVI]

Im managing AS Roma, I find most of the first team players played better if they train their tactical roles, I experimented training on a specific area as I feel I need them to be better on those area such IF I train quickness etc, AP first touch etc. But their perform appalling in the early season.

I come to a conclusion that I cannot train all of the first team a specific area of training, I hv to train their tactical roles as tactical roles connected directly to my tactics

the question is is this true?