Adaptability - a vital attribute

[Bigwig]

Disclaimer: The following post is made from my own experiences of FM and as such may be bang on the money, or way off the mark. I would encourage readers to take a look and draw their own conclusions rather than simply accept it as the absolute truth, as it won’t be entirely accurate.

Disclaimer 2: In carrying out these tests, I’ve used a scouting tool to find out players’ hidden stats, but you don’t need to use one in order to put these theories into practice. Ideally I’d like adaptability to be a hidden stat, which becomes more prevalent the more moves a player makes. You may never know what adaptability a player has who has been at one club for his entire career, whereas a player who has moved to several countries will give you an idea of his adaptability rating based on how he’s adapted between clubs. However, this isn’t possible at the moment.

Adaptability

Adaptability has always been a hidden attribute in FM, but I don’t think it’s ever been as important as it is now and seems to have much more weighting than in previous versions.

The attribute will affect players in a number of ways, including:

How quickly a player settles in a new country

How quickly a player learns a new language

How quickly a player gels within a team

How quickly a player learns a new position

When you uproot a player from a foreign league and dump him into your squad, it’s going to take time for him to settle, gel and learn the language and his adaptability rating will determine the length of this. You might sign one of the greatest players on the planet, but if he has a low adaptability rating you need to accept that it’s going to take time for him to settle and shouldn’t accept instant results. Veron and Shevcenko are two players I’d class as prime examples, both arriving in England with big reputations, big transfer fees, big expectations and big disappointments.

A player’s adaptability is vital in determining how quickly a player can settle in the side. Sign someone with a high score and they’ll adapt in next to no time, fitting in to the squad, settling in the country and becoming fluent in the language all within a single season (maybe less). However, sign someone with a low rating and it will take much longer as I’ve had some players play 3 years at a club and not even learn the basics of English. There’s also the risk that players with a low adaptability rating will get homesick, can’t settle in the area and want to leave.

Squad gelling it vital and one of the many mistakes I users tend to make is trying to do too much too soon. Clinch that Champions League spot with Everton and it’s only natural to want to improve your squad with better players, but if you bring in too many players who don’t settle quickly enough, then your performances and results will suffer and you’ll be left scratching your head wondering how a far superior side can be doing so much worse than last season’s team who were far inferior to your current squad.

Personally, when bringing in new signings I always check their league and languages to see how well they’ll adapt. Signing someone form the same league usually works well, since as long as they’ve had a seasons in the league and can speak the language, they’ve already done the hard part and it’s simply a matter of blending into your squad. Signing someone from abroad however and you have to ask yourself what you expect of them and whether you can afford to give them a settling in period.

In my current save, I’ve signed to wonderkids from abroad, both with low adaptability ratings. However, since I’ve signed them as players for the future, it means I can ease them into the side and give them experience as and when necessary, so I’m not too over-reliant on them. They’re not both in their second seasons and one has learned basic English and is becoming a regular starter, while the other still doesn’t have basic knowledge so I’m using him sparingly and trying to get the balance right of giving him enough experience, while not being detrimental to my side.

Of course not every signing from abroad will be one for the future and sometimes you just have to bring in that big player and throw him straight into the mix. In order to do this successfully, I usually first check to see if they know any of the language which is a big start. I recently signed a player with a low adaptability score, but he already spoke basic English so he went straight in my side and was unlucky not to win player of the season in his first year.

If a player doesn’t speak the lingo, it is still possible to bring him in, but try to limit the number of players in your side who don’t speak the language of the league you’re in. I’m not sure on the numbers, but personally I would only ever have 2 players in my starting XI who don’t speak some form of English, unless they’re in meaningless games where I’m trying to ease them in. I usually find friendlies, the League Cup and ‘easy’ FA Cup games a good way to give players experience, as well as European group stages where the group is won / lost so the result doesn’t matter, or two-legged ties where the game is more or less wrapped up either way.

Also, when bringing in a player it’s a good idea to try to keep him as happy as possible right from the start. Checking his favoured personnel lists is one method, as there might be someone you can bring in to help him settle. I signed a world-class player with poor adaptability and noticed that one of his favoured personnel was a youth coach who was currently unemployed and since I had plenty of coaching spaces available, I signed him up and while I have no idea if it has had any positive effect, it can’t hurt to try. Another methods is to ask him for recommendations for additions to the club and if he suggests a feasible target and you bring him in, you’ll go straight on to his favoured personnel list, making him happier and therefore helping him settle quicker.

Another thing to be wary of is your choice of captain and team instructions. Playing as Newcastle, Coloccini is a prime choice for captain, but since he’s new to the country and doesn’t speak English, it’s probably not a good idea to give him the captaincy straight away, so I give it a year, let him settle and by the second season if he can speak English then I’m willing to offer him the armband.

The offside trap is another instruction which should be used carefully. Personally, I won’t touch this until all of my back four are fluent in English and have gelled as a team. The famous Arsenal back four are the perfect example of how it should be done. In my current save my world-class centre half is starting to play regularly, but still doesn’t speak a word of English so I refuse to try the offside trap until he’s fluent as it could be potentially disastrous.

I’ve gone on a bit so I’ll wrap up now, but just reemphasise that a player’s adaptability is one of the key attributes in the game and needs to be given careful consideration. While you may never know a player’s adaptability rating, you can still use the methods listed above to help him settle and ensure that players come into your side without doing any critical damage.

[Tubey84]

Agree thoroughly. It's just really hard to judge!

If I see a player who is "adaptable to living in a foreign country", I invariably bring him in ahead of a similar target who doesn't have that description - basically due to the fact I often have a personnel turnover of 8+ every pre-season; so quick gelling is essential to my style of play.

So yes, well written and point eloquently made sir ^^

[phnompenhandy]

"The famous Arsenal back four are the perfect example of how it should be done. In my current save my world-class centre half is starting to play regularly, but still doesn’t speak a word of English so I refuse to try the offside trap until he’s fluent as it could be potentially disastrous."

I think the Adams 90 degree arm translates pretty well!