Help me decide which coach is better.

[Outsider23]

Hello friends, I am playing as Norwich City and am trying to improve my coaching staff in the offseason. Currently the guy on the right coaches possession - tactical for me, which is currently my lowest rated coaching category at 4 stars. He is a decent coach, but is let down by his inability to provide motivation. I'm leaning towards replacing him with the guy one the left, but I'm having trouble making a decision.

Are the important coaching attributes weighted differently or are they of equal value? Does a higher rating in the "motivating" attribute make the coach on the left superior?

Also, my team is very young so "working with youngsters" is definitely relevant.

[FrazT]

Motivation and determination are important attributes for any coach, so IMO the coach on the left is better.

[afced7]

They're both 4 stars according to this: https://theresonlyoneball.com/2020/11/16/football-manager-2021-coach-star-rating-calculator/ but I'd still get the left guy, Chamberlain will probably retire very soon.

[GIMN]

Torrecilla is probably the better coach; so if you're looking for the "best" coach for the role he's probably the choice.  Personally, I'd keep Chamberlain until he retires/contract expires, as there's nothing "wrong" with him.

Now, to try and derail the question (sorry).  One of my long-standing issues with FM is that it is very easy to find "better" coaches for most teams and, in turn, you often end up with very similar coaches across multiple saves.  Subsequently, I now take a different approach; Instead of hyper-focussing on attributes, I focus on personality and tactical preferences.

• Tactical preferences go first
  • Coaches must match my tactical set-up (with slight variance).  E.g. if I have slightly shorter passing as a main tenet of my tactics, any new coach hires must have balanced or passing playing style.
  • I tend to focus only on playing style, playing mentality and pressing style.
• Personality is second focus
• Attributes as tie-breaker

That said, it tends to be a loose rule.  For example, I might take someone who matches two tactical preferences with a more desirable personality.  Essentially, I imagine it like a job interview.  I also tend to limit myself to former players or applicants via the Job Centre, and completely recognise these are entirely unnecessary restrictions.

Edited June 8, 2021 by Geoff Newman
Forgot a sentence

[FrazT]

5 minutes ago, afced7 said:

They're both 4 stars according to this: https://theresonlyoneball.com/2020/11/16/football-manager-2021-coach-star-rating-calculator/ but I'd still get the left guy, Chamberlain will probably retire very soon.

I didn't notice his age, so that makes the decision a definite IMO

[rsihn]

Chamberlain is clearly at the stage where his Motivation is plummeting which usually starts around 60.  Expect it to keep going down whereas Torrecila could keep getting better as a coach for a few years.  Motivation is the main thing that drops once a coach hits the downside of his career and it can drop pretty quick.