Playing someone in roles that are deemed unfit

[Kim Wong]

I always believe that football could be played in different ways. I wonder if it makes any sense to play someone in roles that his attributes are not fit. For example, what would happen if I play someone with low crossing, dribbling but high teamwork, vision as a winger? What would happen if I play someone with low finishing but high passing, vision as a poacher?

I do think that it could work under some circumstances, but I just don't know how and what make it work. Do anyone have experience on it? Thanks.

[HUNT3R]

It's an interesting idea and topic. My first thought is that it could possibly work for some roles, but in your two examples, I think it's not going to work well. 

By giving a player a winger role, you're asking him to dribble past players and cross. Someone who cannot dribble or cross will struggle in that case. You'll have more chance of success if it's a Winger Support, but then why not give the player a role that better suits what he's capable of and still fits the tactic?

If you're using a Poacher, he's supposed to get good chances that he needs to finish off. Low Finishing (though there are more attributes involved in actually finishing a chance) will not help. With low finishing, you're better off just using him as a Support role or another position, imo.

Low attributes won't mean they'll always fail at dribbling or finishing, but they won't be as consistent with it. Consistency is a fantastic thing to have. You need to be able to rely on a striker finishing his chances or your winger beating his marker.

That said, while I don't agree with using a complete opposite player in a role, you can make sacrifices here and there. In a Poacher I am happy with him having lower Finishing if he has great Composure and Balance. I don't mind a Winger if he cannot dribble but is still fast so that I can teach him to knock the ball past opponents.

Or pick different players for different situations. Have a fullback that is average defensively, but fantastic going forward if you expect to dominate but use a fullback that's a better defender if you expect a tough match and he's up against a tricky winger.

I am very interested to hear other opinions on this and whether someone has done something like this, using an unsuited player for a role.

 

[vrig]

I know your post was attribute-focused but I think there's definitely something to be said for using contradictory traits and roles.

A poacher with "comes deep" does some pretty interesting things. IWBs who run down their flank, wingers who cut inside and deep/roaming playmakers who get onto opposition areas are all good examples of players who will interpret the role completely differently to what's said on the tin.

In that instance, you would need to slightly reevaluate what attributes are actually important. If your poacher likes to come deep, he better be able to pass it around a bit, and the game won't tell you that straight away.