herne79

- Consistently good sources are: anything written by @Cleon; @Rashidi; @Ö-zil to the Arsenal!; the forum Moderators (and ex-Mods); SI staff, pinned articles & guides. There are several other people who write well written articles, too many to be mentioned by name, which are usually very well received and prove very popular. - Consistently good sources on YT are: Rashidi’s Bustthenet channel. Other sources can provide good entertainment and can have some good information, but if you want consistently accurate the above is pretty much it. That’s because it’s only these forums that have actual input from either SI staff and/or from people with some inside knowledge. Other sources either take that knowledge (good) or make assumptions based on observation (not always good).

Conclusions should never be drawn with this type of experiment until SI have checked and verified the data. There may well be an issue but until we have that sort of feedback from SI (could one of the Mods please follow up with @Neil Brock after his initial post for an update?) all we can say for certain is that it’s an area of interest that needs clarification. In my experience SI have always been very open to going through such data and honest with their responses, so rather than jumping to conclusions give SI a chance to check this out. Of course if it turns out there actually is an issue then give ‘em hell (but don’t get personal ).

Yeh I'm perhaps oversimplifying. View Personality in conjunction with Media Handling Style and you'll absolutely see "negative" personality traits, even with real players. (eg., "Outspoken, Volatile, Confrontational" yet still "Balanced" for one particular Italian ).

Yes you can do this, however role training is also linked to position training (it never used to be so pinned guides in that respect may be out of date now). So to train a fullback as an advanced playmaker you'll also be training him as a central or attacking midfielder. There's nothing wrong with doing that* just something to be aware of. Alternatively (additionally?) you could just put him into the Attacking Unit. * Some people will say "yeh but that eats into CA/PA" blahblahbah. In reality it would hardly have any impact at all because any increase in positional familiarity with the CM or AM position would be marginal at best as you wouldn't be playing him in that position. Plus the CA/PA calculations don't actually work as some people seem to think and should never be considered by us managers anyway - it's an under the hood metric for system purposes only. Regardless, players being able to play in multiple positions aren't exactly rare .

Determination (for example) is an important attribute - it helps players train well and play well - so from that perspective having someone with low Determination mentor young players can seem like a bad idea. However, looking at one attribute in isolation is rarely a good idea as other attributes and his teammates can compensate. So a low determination player can still be ok so long as his other attributes are alright and his teammates can support him. Having said that, having lots of that type of player is probably a bad idea as your team will start to suffer through lots of similar deficiencies. It’s also worth noting that influential players can pass on their personality even without mentoring groups, so having a few “bad apples” can breed further bad attitudes. People tend to look at personalities as good or bad, with just a handful rated as “good” and most as “bad”. But in reality it’s more shades of grey. A “balanced” personality, to continue your example, is slap bang in the middle. It’s ok. There’s nothing standout about it but equally the player won’t have a bad attitude either. TL;DR using players with at least one below average personality related attribute as a Mentor can be a bad idea because that will pass on that poor trait further through your squad. One or two players like that is ok, but lots and you’ll be asking for trouble both on and off the pitch.

Yup . You've pretty much answered your own question: and here: Personally (others might do it differently) I'll only move a young player into the senior squad if he's ready to have at least some first team football - perhaps the odd sub appearance or a start in an easy cup match for example. That will depend on his attributes though, not his star rating. One should be linked to the other of course, but always worth checking first. I'll still make him available for youth matches when not playing in the first team. And I'll move him to the senior squad regardless of his personality. If he needs mentoring he'll have that as well but as said above, only if he needs it. Again, there's no right or wrong - just different ways of doing things. However I like to keep things fairly natural - a natural progression kind of thing - rather than really trying to squeeze every last drop out of the game. It's perfectly possible to put many or even every single player into your first team and there can be benefits to doing that, but I don't see that as being very realistic and isn't where I get enjoyment. Others do enjoy it though and I'm not knocking it at all. I'll put a more defensive minded or attack minded midfielder into whichever unit I think he'll get the most benefit from or where I think he needs a little boost. Example - I play West Ham a lot and Declan Rice is my main man. He has great defensive skills already so I tend to put him into my attacking unit to help with his more offensive skills (unless I want him to purely focus on defending which I think would be a waste).

I think this is great 😊. As I said elsewhere, there is no right and wrong way to play, there is only how you enjoy it. Developing young players can be a minefield. And it can be as detailed or as hands off as you want. There are pretty detailed guides pinned above if you really want to get into the nitty gritty of it all and at least a core understanding of it can help. Personally (and I’m by no means saying this is what you should do) these are my basic tips: 1) Delegate all General Training to your assistant or youth team managers. They’re actually pretty good at setting up general training for you. Once you have more experience you may want to take control, but for now at least consider this delegation. 2) Take control of individual training, at least for your brightest prospects. Whilst general training can help them broadly develop, individual training can help them focus on what you may more specifically want from them in the future - and no assistant or youth team manager will know that. Note - this can take a little time to set up after each annual youth intake (not too onerous though), but it’s a one time deal only and you just take a watching brief after that. 3) With individual training, if you assign a player a role to train you’re not actually training that role. You’re actually just asking them to focus on a core set of attributes to develop, so don’t be afraid to ask a player to train a different “role” if you think a different set of attributes listed under a different “role” might be better suited. 4) Review their progress after 6 months. If they’re progressing well leave well alone. If they seem to have stalled try to figure out why. Change things if you think there’s a need. 5) Don’t loan out players below the age of 18. You already know why 😀. 6) Know that no 2 players will ever develop in the same manner. The training module is very complex, much more than most give it credit for. Sometimes players will seemingly stall in their development for no reason we can see; others will take off; some will see peaks and dips. All we can do as managers is provide the best environment we can at our clubs, it’s up to the players whether they take advantage of that or not. If they don’t, get rid. 7) Put players into training groups. That helps when it comes to which aspect of your delegated General Training modules they will be involved in. There is (much!) more you can do but these tips shouldn’t be too time consuming. One thing I will add relates to Mentoring. Mentoring is designed to help change a player’s personality. Generally speaking, players with good personalities train better and contribute more in matches than players with a bad attitude. This is why you’ll tend to see pretty much everyone wanting players to change their personality for the better via Mentoring. You can create Mentoring groups in your youth teams, however the impact of those never seem to be very much (something to experiment with). Mentoring only really comes into it’s own when young players are paired with senior players, which you can only do when those players are in the same squad. That’s not to say you should put all your young players into your senior squad to get them Mentored, but try to target your brightest prospects who you think would actually benefit from some Mentoring. Before you do, always check their personality - not all young players need Mentoring because they already exhibit a good personality. Check their coach reports for such phrases as a player being professional, ambitious, determined that kind of thing 👍.

YT videos can be entertaining and help you get more from the game. But there is more than one way to play the game so find the way in which you enjoy it. FM is kind of unique in as much as there is not a wrong way to play the game - you’re the manager, make your own decisions, learn from your mistakes. Of course a little extra information about the mechanics of the game can help too, the problem comes from all the duff information that’s out there - and there is a lot of duff info. As a starting point there are some good guides pinned to the top of this forum which have been checked and verified by SI that can help you learn more about some of the mechanics of the game. So if you ever hear a youtuber or fan site say something to the contrary, treat with a large pinch of salt 👍.

Consider this - for player development once a player reaches the age of 18 match time at an appropriate level takes precedence. Training facilities remain important, but they are of secondary importance. So if loaning out a player think about the amount of playing time he will get at the loaning club (I aim for first team regular or better) and the league he’ll be playing in compared to your coach’s recommended playing level on the player’s coach report. If the loaning club has decent training facilities, that’s just a bonus. I wouldn’t loan out anyone below the age of 18 because training takes precedence at that age and your own facilities will always be better than a loaning club’s. btw - you ask a lot of questions based on YT videos you have watched (which is 100% the right thing to do) and tend to receive different answers from those video’s advice. That should be telling you something about those videos 🤔. If you do want to learn more from YT, look up bustthenet. That channel is run by rashidi who is a Moderator on this forum.

It's just the game simulating advancements in technology. So even if you have the best possible facilities you can still be downgraded due to those "advancements". It keeps the game world alive rather than simply reaching the "best" and stopping with nothing else for us to do. Remedy - ask the Board to upgrade again .

In training we can see that in game. Attributes rise and fall over time, not just with age. In essence, attributes are the starting point. Those attributes are then modified by a whole host of different factors when being plugged into the match engine. Consistency is rightly stated as being one. But we can also factor in other modifiers such as: the type of match; the opponent; morale; condition; body language; pressure; tactical familiarity; suitability for the tactic; team cohesion; weather; altitude; the impact of other attributes; teammates; team talks; touchline shouts and so on. And all of those modifiers combined will have a different impact in different matches or during the course of a match as you make changes. That may all sound a bit overwhelming but it still just boils down to buy the best players you can*, manage them effectively and don’t worry about the stuff over which we have little or no control. So from that perspective attributes can already be considered to be “variable” - the modifiers lead to variability. * Never just look at the visible attributes on a scout report. Always read the report as that gives an indication of the hidden attributes. A player might look great but if the report tells you he’s inconsistent, injury prone, doesn’t like big matches, is likely to get sent off and will wilt under pressure then by the rule of snog/marry/avoid - definitely avoid.

There's no "should" or "shouldn't" in FM, there's no right or wrong. Treat each player on their own merit - if you receive what you consider to be a good offer for a young player, regardless of his age, accept it if that's what you want to do and how you want to manage your club. (Try to include a future sell on fee if you do). Likewise if you get a good offer but don't want to sell, then don't. It doesn't matter what anyone else - Youtuber, me or whoever - may or may not do or recommend, it's your decision . A rhetorical question for you to mull over in the mean time - if you have young players with good potential who seem to be developing and you are under no pressure to sell (such as raising funds for a cash strapped club or the risk of making your whole team upset if you deny a player his dream move) then why sell them? If you hadn't watched that video would you even be thinking about it? As far as I'm aware, PA stars don't drop because of age. They'll change as: your coaches get a better idea of the player; you transfer in and out better (or worse!) players which they'll be compared against; how a player and those around him develop.

The player development model isn't straight forward and far more complex than a lot of people seem to think. You can have two players exactly the same and they may still develop differently and at different rates. Example - I had Moukoko playing in my first team regularly and given a specific training schedule, and he didn't develop at all until he was 19, then he took off. In a different save he shot up from age 17. Would you sell him at 18 as one of these so called underachievers? Some players develop early and grow no further after 18, 19, 20, whatever. Some don't develop at all until they hit 19, 20, whatever. Some develop in fits and starts. There's nothing linear about player development, so somebody saying to cash in when they're young is too much of a generalisation. Of course if you need the money at a small club then by all means cash in, it's essentially how small clubs stay afloat after all. But if you can afford to keep them and your coaches are telling you they still have lots of potential then why sell? Even if they only develop into a squad player they'll still come in handy for rotation purposes and continental competitions (and some leagues). The thing with FM is there is no "specifically" when to do something. You're the manager, you make your own decisions. If you get it wrong you learn and try to do better next time .

You’ve kind of already answered it yourself: So long as by “PA” you mean their star rating 👍. By the time they’ve been at your club for a few years your coaches should have a pretty good handle on whether each player will be good enough for your first team squad. Note - a 2.5 to 3 star potential player is expected to be roughly good enough for your first team squad - at least a decent back up player. 4 stars and higher could become a first team starter. Also note the star ratings are based on the level at which you are playing. So a 4 star potential player in a 4th tier club might only have one star of potential if you drop him into a top division club. His rating may also change as you transfer in new players - if you bring in better players he’ll be compared against those better players, therefore his star rating may change accordingly. Of course if you’re a poor club and need to cash in on prospects then go for it. Try to get a nice sell on fee too. It all depends on your club’s situation and how you want to play the game.

In answer to the question posed in the thread title, the “subtle” way to adopt a more counter attacking approach is to simply tick on “Counter” in the team instructions. That will encourage the match engine to look for more counter attacking opportunities. With your formation however there may not be many more opportunities identified by the ME as counter attacking strategies usually favour deeper formations, but if you want subtle that’s the most subtle you can do. If you want a less subtle approach then changing formation is probably the next area to consider, although dropping the two wide players back to change the 4231 into a 4411 is a decent starting point yet still subtly different. The next step would be change mentality to Counter Attacking - the whole point of a counter attacking strategy is to sit relatively deep, invite the opposition forward in the hope they over commit themselves in attack before you win the ball back and break forward with pace and in numbers. The Counter Attacking mentality is good for that as it encourages your team to drop deeper, especially if combined with a deep(ish) formation such as the 4411. If you do that, be careful not to turn it into a too passive defence otherwise you’ll get swamped. Combine the mentality and formation with pressing instructions to try to force opposition errors in front of your defence, along with well positioned, fast paced players to take advantage when you win the ball. You could also use the Attacking mentality, however there is a fine line with that between counter attacking football and turning it into just direct football.

Taking this right back to the opening post for a moment: I'd actually propose that using the Defensive Mentality can be somewhat overpowered. It can help with possession retention, remaining solid in defence and help to create fewer but better quality chances. Case in point: That's a 4-1-2-3DM tactic which uses the Defensive Mentality. The key to this, as with any tactic using any mentality, is to set things up in a balanced manner which compliments your players. However, note that while this tactic uses the Defensive Mentality, it is not a Defensive Football tactic. Defensive Mentality does not equate to Defensive Football. They are two different things. We can play Defensive Football using any mentality - it is not restricted to just the Defensive mentality. I think this is where people get confused and, to be fair, the confusion stems from the lack of clarity in the Tactic Creator. The TC implies we should use a certain mentality to promote a certain brand of football - the Defensive Mentality for Defensive Football; the Counter Mentality for Counter Attacking football; the Attacking Mentality for Attacking Football and so on. imo trying to set up an effective Defensive Football tactic using the Defensive Mentality is indeed harder to set up than other tactical systems. I think much of the time people use the mentality and then layer on way more additional instructions than are needed and end up getting swamped. It turns into a "sure way to suffer goals" as the OP notes. And again all that stems from a lack of clarity in the TC. It's the same with setting up overly aggressive attacking systems - layer upon layer of additional instructions are used which can lead to people getting "FM'd" - dominating matches but losing to the AI's only attack. TL;DR - if you want to play Defensive Football there is no need to use the Defensive Mentality, but if you do use that Mentality for that brand of football use it with great caution. btw - @Cleon wrote a great guide a few years ago about the Defensive Mentality / Defensive Football which is pinned to the top of the Tactics Forum. It may be a little old now but still relevant: https://community.sigames.com/forums/topic/344134-the-school-of-defensive-arts-2015

Yes. Sorry I was talking purely about squads and setting training programs accordingly rather than “training units” 👍.

To train with the first team you have to be in the first team squad. Different players will get different benefits from mentoring - young players are much more likely to be influenced by older more established players. It may also refer to the issue where players can be influenced (personality wise) by other players in the same squad even if no mentoring groups have been set up.

Don't over think it . For your youth intake, keep everyone (budget allowing). Your staff's initial impression of each youngster's potential is very often wrong and may well change over time. After a year or so your staff should have a much better impression of which players do actually have potential. At that point anyone with a potential of 2.5 - 3 stars is of roughly similar potential to first team players. 4 stars = potentially better than other players; 5 stars potential = potentially much better. Note this can still change over time as your senior squad improves). At that point I'd start to get rid of 2 star players and below so as to keep your youth team a manageable size. Mentoring only tends to work if mentoring young players with senior players. That means having them in the same squad. Clearly you don't want to put your entire youth squad into the senior squad, so pick and choose those who you consider to be your best prospects and who are need of personality changes to move to the senior squad. Those you do move make them available for one of your youth teams and (if good enough) start to give them match time with your senior squad, such as bring them on as substitutes in games you are winning and/or give them a start in "easy" games such as cup matches vs lower league opposition. There is no need to mentor young players if they don't need it (you can still move them to the senior squad if you think they are good enough to play).

I wouldn’t do anything until I knew what was happening on the pitch. If things are going well don’t change things. If not, experiment with a subtle change to role, duty and/or PI. btw players learning traits out of nowhere always sucks and something I wish SI would bin.

It’s perfectly possible to create a successful tactic with any mentality, just like it’s perfectly possible to create a terrible tactic with any mentality. Mentality is just one piece of the puzzle and - just like all the other pieces of the puzzle - should not be viewed in isolation. A defensive tactic on the other hand is a different kettle of fish and quite different to the defensive mentality. That can certainly be more difficult to get right than something more aggressive. Perhaps that’s what these famous YouTubers are referring to?

You’re kind of answering your own questions here 😊. Play the game how you enjoy playing it. If you don’t enjoy mucking around with tactics and like giving yourself restrictions such as a wage structure, then crack on 👍. It seems to me that you’ve already found how you enjoy playing the game but perhaps got yourself a little concerned when you read/saw how others have been playing. I wouldn’t say that but how you’ve been playing already has brought you both success and enjoyment, so why change? As I said, bring in better players as/when you can - which is what you’ve already been doing as you’ve progressed through the leagues. There may come a time in the future when you might need to consider further tactical changes, but cross that bridge if you come to it. Bring in new players suitable for your existing system and you may not need to make changes. TL;DR - carry on doing what you’re doing now 👌.

There’s your problem. You’ve had so much success recently you’ve now come to expect it and are disappointed by recent results. By any measure you have been wildly overachieving and been hugely successful. Be proud and don’t be so hard on yourself. You’ve done well ! To continue your achievements, buy better players. Your tactic is clearly solid otherwise you wouldn’t have achieved so much so quickly, so start spending some money. If, in a couple of seasons time you feel like you are underperforming with your shiney new improved squad, perhaps then consider tactical changes 👍.

The blog makes some interesting points, but the AI being smart enough to figure out our tactics isn’t one of them. The AI is smarter in terms of making adjustments to it’s own playing system, but that does not equate to being able to understand our tactics. What it is getting better at is adapting it’s playing style during matches depending on how matches play out, as well as how our teams have been performing in the league. It’s still perfectly possible to play with a single core tactic over the course of a season - just be prepared to make small adjustments to it during matches as a game develops to become more passive or aggressive as needed. Of course if you want to set up a second or third tactic that’s also perfectly viable. Sudden losses of form or AI adapting during matches can easily be seen as the AI figuring out how we play and is a natural, common sense response. However technically speaking the AI simply isn’t coded like that and is rather always related to how your team is performing along with other factors such as player fatigue, injuries, morale, complacency and so on. And that’s become more prevalent in FM22 due to changes made to such factors as pressing, fatigue and how the AI adapts.

How do you know it means he has a high PA? If it is potential related perhaps the comment actually refers to Perceived Potential Ability (which is not the same thing as PA)? PPA is used by coaches/scouts to assess a young player's perceived potential for their reports and is more related to current ability in relation to other similar young players. That might perhaps make more sense than some random on in game twitter somehow having access to hidden information? In other words: "wow that kid looked dynamite tonight, a real baller, he looked much better than anyone else on the pitch"...