FM24 Feature Blog: Set Pieces Refresh and Coaches Debut

[Jimmy Wong]

Whether they’re a potent source of goals or one of your team’s key defensive strengths, set pieces are an integral aspect of every football match and every manager’s tactical approach.

Many elite clubs have added set piece specialists to their coaching teams in recent seasons as they seek to find that extra 1% to help them edge out their most fierce rivals.

Their arrival on the scene has led to many of you making suggestions on our forums and socials for us to upgrade the way our Set Pieces system works in FM.

Now in FM24, the most complete edition in our series to-date, expert insight from key industry contacts means that Set Piece Coaches are making their debut and will help to power a refreshed Set Piece Creator.

Visit The Football Manager Website to find out more about this feature.

[ElJuanvito]

Set piece roles no longer tied to open play roles!!! I've literally asked for this since it was called Championship Manager!!! 

[Connor]

Would be interested to know in lower leagues, what happens if you can't have/afford a set piece coach?

Can you/Do you have the option to assign another member of staff for example?

[DarJ]

I don’t really care that much about this side of the game but I’m curious to see what people’s expectations were and if this satisfies that.

 

[Nick_CB]

This is absolutely amazing!!!!

[91427]

Really brilliant changes as far as I can tell. Adds depth, increases accessibility and decreases micromanagement all at once. Good job SI

[Jack Joyce]

8 minutes ago, Connor said:

Would be interested to know in lower leagues, what happens if you can't have/afford a set piece coach?

Can you/Do you have the option to assign another member of staff for example?

Every coach has a set piece ability attribute and their own preferences for set pieces, and yes can be delegated to. e.g. you can have your assistant doing everything for you like some clubs do in real life.

You can also try to ask the board to allow you to hire a dedicated set piece coach.

[Connor]

1 minute ago, Jack Joyce said:

Every coach has a set piece ability attribute and their own preferences for set pieces, and yes can be delegated to. e.g. you can have your assistant doing everything for you like some clubs do in real life.

You can also try to ask the board to allow you to hire a dedicated set piece coach.

Sounds perfect thanks @Jack Joyce

[Dagenham_Dave]

I've never been particularly interested in setting up set piece routines, but feel I've been missing out as the defaults never took anything tangible into account. Having set piece coaches in game, who will set up routines based on who you have and how you play is a fantastic addition. I can leave it alone now, but still be confident a half decent job will be done in the background, with the ability to micro-manage it myself if the need ever arises. This is an excellent addition as my fear was they were going to make it more complicated and force you into having to do everything yourself. Nice one. 

[TheGrahamF]

This is great so happy to finally see this.Well done SI!

[BJT]

Does anyone know whether the additional routines and prime settings can be saved with your tactic, or will there be a separate set piece file you can import, if they can even be imported at all?

[irish kopite]

This looks like an excellent addition and well thought out. Well done SI.

[DarJ]

I don’t want to be the negative one but isn’t this just exactly the same as last year covered with new UI and little tweaks that make it a bit better.

You still have someone attacking the near and far post (2 this year instead of 1), you have your usual lurk outside the box, stay back and stay back if needed. The improvement here is that they are no longer tied to the position. 
Throwing is better though now that it’s decided into defensive third, middle third and attacking third. 
Another improvement is the fact that if you don’t want to set it up yourself your staff will take care of it 

Edited September 29, 2023 by DarJ

[ElJuanvito]

An issue I just read on Twitter: how are ported saves from 23 going to deal with set piece coaches/coaching attributes?

[Jack Joyce]

16 minutes ago, ElJuanvito said:

An issue I just read on Twitter: how are ported saves from 23 going to deal with set piece coaches/coaching attributes?

All gets added when you load the save game.

You will lose your old set piece tactics, since the old system is replaced by the new one. But you'll be taken through the Q&A to get new ones.

[dan99]

5 minutes ago, Jack Joyce said:

All gets added when you load the save game.

You will lose your old set piece tactics, since the old system is replaced by the new one. But you'll be taken through the Q&A to get new ones.

So for current coaches will their Set Piece Attribute be generated based on their CA/PA?

[BJT]

7 minutes ago, Jack Joyce said:

All gets added when you load the save game.

You will lose your old set piece tactics, since the old system is replaced by the new one. But you'll be taken through the Q&A to get new ones.

Can these new set pieces once finalised then be exported for re-importing into other tactics? And if the amended set pieces are saved within your current tactic then saved, when re-loading your tactic, will all your amendments made before hand be retained or do you have to go through the questions and setup every time you start a new save / join a new team?

[Dagenham_Dave]

42 minutes ago, DarJ said:

I don’t want to be the negative one but isn’t this just exactly the same as last year covered with new UI and little tweaks that make it a bit better.

 

Well it was marketed as a 'refresh' more than an overall revolution.

As I said before, I personally don't go near set pieces so I've no idea if the hands on approach will be drastically different than what it was before. Best thing for me is being able to delegate to specialists and for that to have a dynamic effect. 

[Jack Joyce]

14 minutes ago, BJT said:

Can these new set pieces once finalised then be exported for re-importing into other tactics? And if the amended set pieces are saved within your current tactic then saved, when re-loading your tactic, will all your amendments made before hand be retained or do you have to go through the questions and setup every time you start a new save / join a new team?

Yes you can save, load, export all routines or individual routines as you like.

Set piece tactics are now completely disconnected from your other tactics, so no matter what change you make to your 'main' tactic, your set pieces will be unaffected. You can even just have your set piece coach completely manage everything set pieces, and you can just worry about doing the open-play stuff.

18 minutes ago, dan99 said:

So for current coaches will their Set Piece Attribute be generated based on their CA/PA?

Yep

[Siven]

Looks great.

Though i hope theres still an option for mixed delivery instead of just near/far/central.

[BJT]

1 minute ago, Jack Joyce said:

Yes you can save, load, export all routines or individual routines as you like.

Set piece tactics are now completely disconnected from your other tactics, so no matter what change you make to your 'main' tactic, your set pieces will be unaffected. You can even just have your set piece coach completely manage everything set pieces, and just worry about doing the open-play stuff.

Yep

Cheers for the info, I've always liked to micro-manage things so glad these can be retained for use.

[Jack Joyce]

3 minutes ago, Siven said:

Looks great.

Though i hope theres still an option for mixed delivery instead of just near/far/central.

The Q&A is just for creating a default set of routines, there's more options available don't worry.

[Harper]

2 hours ago, DarJ said:

I don’t really care that much about this side of the game but I’m curious to see what people’s expectations were and if this satisfies that.

 

Any change to the creation process is good. Set pieces were so tedious to create, but highly effective if you took the time to do it. 

Edited September 29, 2023 by Harper

[Grez]

Looks solid, setting up at pieces at the beginning of a save was one of the most tedious tasks - and having the set piece roles react more fluidly makes a ton of sense. Pretty happy with this.

I do have a few questions.

1) What exactly does the set piece attribute do? Hopefully it's only related to the staff members ability to coach and improve "set piece familiarity", not their ability to select the correct players for each role?

2) Is set piece familiarity lost if you change set piece tactics? If so - doesn't this discourage players from experimenting with set pieces once it's set up?

3) Do set piece coaches preferences matter if I select my own set pieces? Does it affect their ability to coach or does it just affect the set pieces they'll choose if I delegate set pieces to them.

Cheers

[Rashidi]

Only one word. YAY, don't think that's a word.

Hooray!

[2feet]

When the CPU calculates who is the best arial threat in your team, will it be correct every time?

Is the calculation based on a variety of factors, not just jumping reach? ie it includes attributes such as decisions, anticipation etc?

If the set-piece coach is not very good (he has a low set piece score), will he calculate that player A is the best aerial threat when in fact the best arial threat is actually Player B.

[autohoratio]

A few questions:

Is there an option for only Back Post still? And will it always be FBs by default (e.g. what if you don't play with FBs but with WBs or WMs instead?)?

Has "Quick Throw" gone, or is it now tied to Mentality/Tempo/Time Wasting TIs?

[CJWrootFM]

this is really amazing, it means we can get right into the game plus i like the idea about the bibs, the question is will the bibs be part of the game? 

[Bunkerossian]

So, everything is sped up, and made more sensible? Finally. I wish it had been prioritized in the previous 2 games, but I'll stop complaining, and declare that I'll be having myself a pre-ordered copy. It would take me ages to get into a save because of having to do set pieces for every side, defensive and offensive- so many indirect set piece variants... and now, it can be much quicker. I will be much more eager to pick up a save, even if my tactics ruin every attempt.

Edited September 29, 2023 by Bunkerossian

[(sic)]

I mean, just when I thought this couldn't get better...

FM24 really is shaping up to be the best football manager game to date (ignoring all the bugs that will inevitably happen :D)

 

I'm so glad this is in the game now, and now I REALLY can't wait to play it.

 

 

btw people were saying how this would be just another featureless version, because FM25 is coming up

 

 

Edited September 29, 2023 by (sic)

[BJT]

8 hours ago, (sic) said:

I mean, just when I thought this couldn't get better...

FM24 really is shaping up to be the best football manager game to date (ignoring all the bugs that will inevitably happen :D)

 

I'm so glad this is in the game now, and now I REALLY can't wait to play it.

 

 

btw people were saying how this would be just another featureless version, because FM25 is coming up

 

 

Agreed, I'm actually really really excited to play this and creating tactics for this last version. It's great they've shown a lot of love for it, especially with an emphasis in trying to make the ME finally more realistic with a possession game now becoming more viable like irl and set pieces potentially being as good as it can be, and hopefully being less exploitative (both something I've always wanted - hopefully short corners are viable now too). I expect though it will only be until the last patch everything will be as balanced out as it possibly can be. (First thing I'll be doing is trying to replicate probably my fav side from the past, Barca 2010!)

If everything is executed well and there is finally balance across several different tactical styles and formations then it will be a great send off for this engine, and especially if there is a clear improvement with the AI to help prolong the longevity of career saves. Then it's hard to have really asked for anything more, only perhaps being able to save / load Opposition Instructions in. (Takes ages having to do them over and over again)

It would also be great if peeps with the skills to create databases are able to make some cracking ones from the past containing some legendary footballers. Having half a dozen or so compatible over the last few decades with this particular version would be fantastic.

[Overmars]

On 29/09/2023 at 12:33, Siven said:

Looks great.

Though i hope theres still an option for mixed delivery instead of just near/far/central.

It would be nice if we could prioritize or sort our preferences of delivery in order -- just like the way the player role selection is done for set pieces. That way we might see something like 60% near post, 30% far post, 10% central.

[craiigman]

How does the in-swinging/out-swinging work exactly? If a left footed player takes the right corner it's and in-swing, but if a right footed player takes it, it would be out-swinging. How would you do an out-swinging corner with a left footed player on the right? Would it grey out certain options depending on the kicker/players available?

[DementedHammer]

On 30/09/2023 at 05:28, Jack Joyce said:

Set piece tactics are now completely disconnected from your other tactics, so no matter what change you make to your 'main' tactic, your set pieces will be unaffected.

I'm sorry if this is covered elsewhere and I've missed it, but is there a way somehow to tie your set pieces to your tactics at some level so, for example you keep more players back if you're defending a late lead / throw everyone forward in the last minute of a cup game etc.?

Edited October 1, 2023 by DementedHammer

[DarJ]

5 hours ago, DementedHammer said:

I'm sorry if this is covered elsewhere and I've missed it, but is there a way somehow to tie your set pieces to your tactics at some level so, for example you keep more players back if your defending a late lead / throw everyone forward in the last minute of a cup game etc. 

I think you will have to do that with Match plan but they don't work well at the moment because when you use them your assistant manager does the subs himself an you can't change that 

[Rashidi]

On 01/10/2023 at 03:50, craiigman said:

How does the in-swinging/out-swinging work exactly? If a left footed player takes the right corner it's and in-swing, but if a right footed player takes it, it would be out-swinging. How would you do an out-swinging corner with a left footed player on the right? Would it grey out certain options depending on the kicker/players available?

I’d be interested in that too I used to do inswinging corners with my right foot from the right side. 

[Rashidi]

On 01/10/2023 at 10:36, DementedHammer said:

I'm sorry if this is covered elsewhere and I've missed it, but is there a way somehow to tie your set pieces to your tactics at some level so, for example you keep more players back if you're defending a late lead / throw everyone forward in the last minute of a cup game etc.?

I strongly doubt that is possible since tactics and set pieces are now separate modules. The only chance is via match plans and even then I doubt it is possible unless match plans received a big overhaul.  

[Rashidi]

On 30/09/2023 at 01:50, autohoratio said:

Is there an option for only Back Post still? And will it always be FBs by default (e.g. what if you don't play with FBs but with WBs or WMs instead?)?

That’s just a wizard to help you get started like the devs have said there are more options after. And since every “role” in set pieces has a priority you can choose who does what and leave that alone even if you change from one tactic to another. Those priority lists are now separated from tactics. As long as the player is on the pitch, the same player will attack the “near post” for example regardless of any changes you make to the tactic.

Thats what the priority system means. Not sure about throw ins and free kicks though, but corners is pretty easy to extrapolate from the feature drop.

[Jack Joyce]

On 30/09/2023 at 20:50, craiigman said:

How does the in-swinging/out-swinging work exactly? If a left footed player takes the right corner it's and in-swing, but if a right footed player takes it, it would be out-swinging. How would you do an out-swinging corner with a left footed player on the right? Would it grey out certain options depending on the kicker/players available?

• Every corner and wide free-kick is set with a swing - inswing or outswing. So for example you might just create one in-swinging near post corner routine.
• Your takers are set by foot - so left foot and right foot takers (either footed players can be set to either or both sides).
• Then it's quite simple - based on where the set piece is being taken from and the type of swing the routine requires, we then know what 'foot' player to use from the takers list.

In cases where a set piece requires a e.g. left footer but you don't have any set in your takers list:

1. We check for a different attacking routine you have set which needs a right footer in this position.
2. If you don't have a different routine, we just use the best taker of the 'wrong' foot, doing whatever swing is natural to them.

Using this knowledge you can do things like having only inswingers from the left and outswingers from the right, or vice versa - by creating an attacking inswing and outswing routine, but only setting either left or right footed takers.

 

[Dagenham_Dave]

Thank goodness you can leave all this to your set pieces coach now 

[Jack Joyce]

31 minutes ago, Dagenham_Dave said:

Thank goodness you can leave all this to your set pieces coach now 

Exactly, that's the idea! If you don't want to do set pieces, you can delegate away as much as you like and your coaches will do all the work for you. You can use the new set piece preferences on coaches to make sure you're hiring one that matches the sort of set pieces you want your team to be using as well.

You can have as much or as little input as you like, that's our intention and I won't hold it against you  

[Grez]

One thought - is there an option to only do long throws if I have somebody capable of doing it?

Long throw specialists are fairly rare, so what often happens to me is I'll set up my long throws and then when my long throw specialist isn't playing it defaults back to some guy with 7 Long Throws and we make a mess of throw-ins until I remember to go into the options and turn off long throws.

It would be nice to be able to assign a list of long throw specialists, and only do long throws if one of them is on the pitch.

[craiigman]

22 hours ago, Jack Joyce said:

• Every corner and wide free-kick is set with a swing - inswing or outswing. So for example you might just create one in-swinging near post corner routine.
• Your takers are set by foot - so left foot and right foot takers (either footed players can be set to either or both sides).
• Then it's quite simple - based on where the set piece is being taken from and the type of swing the routine requires, we then know what 'foot' player to use from the takers list.

In cases where a set piece requires a e.g. left footer but you don't have any set in your takers list:

1. We check for a different attacking routine you have set which needs a right footer in this position.
2. If you don't have a different routine, we just use the best taker of the 'wrong' foot, doing whatever swing is natural to them.

Using this knowledge you can do things like having only inswingers from the left and outswingers from the right, or vice versa - by creating an attacking inswing and outswing routine, but only setting either left or right footed takers.

 

Sounds good to me!

Edited October 3, 2023 by craiigman

[Jack Joyce]

20 hours ago, Grez said:

One thought - is there an option to only do long throws if I have somebody capable of doing it?

Long throw specialists are fairly rare, so what often happens to me is I'll set up my long throws and then when my long throw specialist isn't playing it defaults back to some guy with 7 Long Throws and we make a mess of throw-ins until I remember to go into the options and turn off long throws.

It would be nice to be able to assign a list of long throw specialists, and only do long throws if one of them is on the pitch.

Actually yes there is, it's just not 'super' obvious at first glance.

• If you've told your team to do long throws, they will only do them if you have a long throw taker from your takers list on the pitch.
• If one isn't on the pitch, your team will instead revert back to doing a short throw-in routine.

So if you have a long throw setup with only one good long throw expert, when you sub him off your team will automatically start doing short throws instead of forcing a bad taker.

[Grez]

38 minutes ago, Jack Joyce said:

Actually yes there is, it's just not 'super' obvious at first glance.

• If you've told your team to do long throws, they will only do them if you have a long throw taker from your takers list on the pitch.
• If one isn't on the pitch, your team will instead revert back to doing a short throw-in routine.

So if you have a long throw setup with only one good long throw expert, when you sub him off your team will automatically start doing short throws instead of forcing a bad taker.

Ah amazing, that's perfect. Does it do that already or is that new?

It's a while since I've used long throws but I remember having issues with it in the past, but maybe it was my own fault for setting "backup" throw-in players.

[SPE3D]

Will we see the AI taking full advantage of the set peice coaches? I mean will we see there preferences played out in the 3d match engine? 

[Jack Joyce]

1 hour ago, Grez said:

Ah amazing, that's perfect. Does it do that already or is that new?

It's a while since I've used long throws but I remember having issues with it in the past, but maybe it was my own fault for setting "backup" throw-in players.

Honestly I have no idea  I think it might be new, but i've been working on the new system for so long it's hard to remember.

[Jack Joyce]

31 minutes ago, SPE3D said:

Will we see the AI taking full advantage of the set peice coaches? I mean will we see there preferences played out in the 3d match engine? 

Yes the AI will play to their preferences, and also react to the strengths of their squad and the weaknesses of opponents as well.

[SPE3D]

5 minutes ago, Jack Joyce said:

Yes the AI will play to their preferences, and also react to the strengths of their squad and the weaknesses of opponents as well.

That will be awesome if implemented correctly.

[Dagenham_Dave]

1 hour ago, SPE3D said:

That will be awesome if implemented correctly.

You're responding directly to one of the game's coders, have a modicum of respect, eh?