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Feel free to contribute in any way that you don't need pace to win. Would be hard with West Ham unless Zouma is at the front post banging 30+ headed goals.

You are going of the rails here. I didn't edit any players for the original post or s2 post. Nothing unrealistic about high press on balanced imo (even some presets press higher), and about the formation I can change it 4231, 442, 433 or whatever. I can also lower the defensive line, still works.

I can relate to this, it's what have made me play almost only large online saves because it's the only way of being challenged without purposely limiting myself.

Apart from having 4 Adama Traore in the team, how is the way play unrealistic? Would I be playing in a realistic way if I played with a normal Man City team and only had one Adama Traore? If he still wins the golden boot in a normal team, do I have a point then? No matter how you want to play pace is a factor, is not something you can ignore just because you build a team differently. You will be affected by having lots of, or little of it compared to the opponent regardless of how you play. Also they are guides, so it's rather vague. Do any of them state that pace is not important? Because if so I would like to look at it. Other attributes matter, the title is hyperbole. It just matters a lot less than pace. I'm under no illusion that SI don't know this, I don't think it's a bug. They don't play him as a striker so he never will (also Haaland exists). With higher consistency he probably could if he was played as striker by the AI. In the few saves where Wolves play him consistently he does really well. From the original test with Forest:

I think this is a good point also. Adama Traore should be a useful player in FM, but he should not be able to win the golden boot as a striker, or get the most assists from open play in the premier league as an attacking midfielder (which is what he did in my simulation). Yes FM can never be a perfect simulation and different play-styles should be viable etc etc but common this is too much.

Can work rate, determination, strength etc really be important? Like, how do you actually confirm this assumption? I would think work rate would be incredibly important to pull any style with a high press, but it isn't, you can have the lowest work rate in the league and pull it off while also winning game after game. To me a lot of attributes act complimentary, but are not vitally important like pace/acc. I would be happy for it to be proven otherwise as it would make me more romantic about the game. I like to recreate styles and real life tactics, but for me that is more role play than anything. To put it simply, I think people should be given answers to the question they ask. If they want to recreate a Bielsa style tactic and need advice then deep dive into it, if they are desperate for a win and not having fun because of losing constantly, tell them how to win. This is not specific for this forum btw.

I think a lot of people know that pace is important, they just don't understand how important. They also don't understand that it is important regardless of player position, player role, formation, playstyle etc. What I find frustrating is that people come to these and other forums asking for advice about how to get their team to perform, and sometimes the answer could simply be: "ehm maybe get a striker with higher pace and put him as AF".

I made another test save to show how incredibly important pace is. I swapped Man City's front line with four Adama Traore. The reason I picked Man City is pretty simple. They are favorites to win everything, and I didn't want people to think that it only works because other teams give us lots of space (like some said about the Forest test). I reduced injury proneness to 1 and consistency to 15, because I'm on holiday and don't want them to get injured, and I want to test Traore's attributes (not his consistency). Our Traore dominated the average rating table in the league. Not surprisingly. the only other player in top 5 is our second fastest player, Kyle Walker. Kinda funny how Kevin Traore, our AMC, with the passing ability of a blind Emile Heskey, is doing so well. Erling Traore averaged a goal per game, with 10 or less in finishing, anticipation, composure, off the ball, and decisions.

Player quality > tactics, so whatever you do the odds are against you. My experience is that pressing high and getting players forward is the best option against good teams. You can see from this thread, that you don't need great players to beat good teams, and the tactics don't need to be complicated. For more specific advice you should post the tactic.

Is this FM 22?

People told me on other platforms that this wouldn't work in the second season, because clubs would adapt and go in a low block so my pacy players would need attributes like vision, passing etc to get trough the low block. Also been told by several people that this recruitment policy won't work long term. I decided to test this by continuing the first test save. I will continue as most managers do, by looking to improve the team, but still recruit based on pace. So, we are Nottingham Forest in season 2. This is what buying horrible players with lots of pace have achieved so far: - CL football - Top 4 finish - Incredibly good finances, as all our players don't demand high wages. This means we have 80mill to spend and 800k surplus in wages (pounds). Recruitment: The thing is, we can't buy faster players because there are only so many Adama Traores in the world. To keep it simply we will still buy players with the same pace/acceleration, but have agility and balance as secondary stats. Why? Because Agility and balance is important for running fast in different situations. Most of the players I bought didn't cost very much or demand high wages, and I intentionally didn't buy the best players available. I did buy some young players because of their pace. After the transfers are done, we have the lowest average in the league, in the following attributes: Mentals: Anticipation, concentration, composure, decisions, leadership, positioning, team work, and vision. We are below average/close to bottom at everything else. Technicals: Corners, crossing, dribbling, first touch, free kicks, marking, passing, technique. We are close to bottom on everything else, except long throws. Physicals: Nothing, we are top in speed. Above average agility, average jumping reach, below average/close to bottom at everything else. Average CA is now closer to 130. (except GK, but this is about outfield players) Team: Results: Going back to the questions I tried to answer. Can you have a successful long term career in FM by simply searching for fast players and buying them, despite bad mental and technical attributes? Yes, no doubt about it. We are on the top of the xG table, despite being on holiday mode, and our team is mostly cheap players combined with young players far from their prime. We also destroyed teams like Barcelona in the CL and had a 19 goal difference in a group with Barca, Juve and Sporting. Do you need players with passing, vision, technique etc when teams start playing more cautious against you? Clearly not, as I have no such players and still won most games. I assume there is no doubt that teams would try to adapt after the finish we had last season.

I've been thinking about this, how should I go about demonstrating it? Keep qualifying for CL over several seasons with the same types of players?

By request, the XG tables of each save test:

The last part is what I feel like a lot of players are not unaware of, how important it is regardless of almost any context.

As requested, tested with the original players, a 424 preset gegenpress. Set pieces routines are also default, which matters a lot in terms of goals scored/conceded.

I got some replies and simulated another season based on that. Some said that it might just be the tactic and not the high pace. I subtracted all players by -2 pace/acc. To compensate I have +1 to all other highlighted role attributes. So for a wingback or Volante they lost -4 and gained +16 total attributes, roles with fewer highlighted attributes gained less. This gave the players roughly the same CA as before I subtracted pace/acc. It could have been done more accurately I'm sure, but I don't have the patience for it, and didn't get any better suggestions so I had to be creative. League table: Still a good results considering how bad the players are. Obviously a lot of randomness in a single season, but I think a gap of 32 points is more than can be contributed to randomness. I removed unhappiness and injuries from both tests. I was also suggested to test the same players with a different tactic, so I'll do that also.

Unrealistic yes, but not a bug.

I understand the confusion. It's not meant as a challenge, it's meant as a guide, hence the "How to....." "A section filled with useful hints and tips on how to get the best of out your Football Manager team, be it tactically, with player development or with any other strategic discussion. " I understood this as broad enough to post my topic there. People go to the tactics forum to learn about the game, how the game works, how tactics work, how attributes work etc. So for me it looked like the right spot to highlight how easy it is to overachieve by only focusing on pace. FM has been like this for a long time now, and a lot of players are unaware.

The thread was moved. I don't agree with it as it's not a challenge or experiment. I just ran a test season to show what I alreaady know, which is hardly an experiment imo. Filling a squad with pace and acceleration is a strategy. It's ridiculous and unrealistic, but it is a strategy that is only viable because of how this game works.

Alternatively, other attributes just doesn't matter enough. Even in a tactic with high press, high tempo, high lines etc. A bunch of players with the football brain of Ted Lasso should not be able to perform this well, despite their pace.

Index Original test/post (you are here already) Test with adjusted attributes to prove it's not the tactic Test with preset gegenpress Season 2 test - does it work long term? Adama Traore - The GOAT It's the summer transfer window You analyze your squad, filter out unwanted players, look at scout reports to find the player that perfectly fits your tactic. Defenders so smart that they can predict everything the opposition does, DMs with perfect positioning and passing, creative wide players with lots of flair, strikers who can smell a goal from miles away. Your players have high decision making, they are composed, have excellent technique, the vision of an eagle etc. You have used very tool at your disposal, compared the players, asked scouts, used the squad planner, analyzed every strength and flaw in your team, created a tactic that fits your players so well you can't even believe it yourself. Finally, all your hard work and several hours spent do get ready for the new season is about to bear fruits! How I do it: Goes to player search *Filter by pace* *Buys all the fasted players* Finished Testing: I took over Nottingham Forest and removed all their players. I replaced them with players with high acceleration and pace, and added jumping reach on CBs. All players had 100-115 current ability at the start of the season. We now have the lowest average of every single mental and technical attribute in FM (except long throws). Common sense would imply that we are destined for relegation as our players should simply be no more than championship level players at best Squad comparison: Results:

Does the man City tactic defend like Man city at all? I see how it can play out like Man City in possession, but not without possession.

I honestly really dislike the TF role, they drop deep all the time regardless of having supporting or attacking mentality, and I need them to lead the line and be in position to receive the long ball.

Live, love, and breathe hoofball - A club DNA project! Summer transfers - 25/26: Loads went out (not in the screenshot) , loads went in. We now have a few options for long throwers, so hopefully we get some long throw goals this season. Big center back Goode and no nonsense fullback McIntyre both have the ability to get the ball into the box by hoofing it with their hands. Jason Molumby is our biggest improvement in terms of quality and will fill the role of the brute in midfield. He dives into tackles and winds up the opponents. Rothwell is a short sighted signing, he still has a lot of pace and can be used to turn a match out on the wing. The rest is a mix of bench players and youngsters. McNeilly will probably get his fair share of game time in order to develop. Warburton was a steal for 300K: Transfers out, not much to say here except Lavery had to go after demanding to double his wages. Loved his mental attributes, but 8 goals in 36 games just doesn't justify the wage demand. He will earn his trade at Blackburn for now. Starts of the season: I decided to get a few games in to see how the team shaped up. First game of the season was big one away against Swansea, and McNeilly decided it with a memorable goal as he heads it into goal from outside the box.

Volante on attack, because..... They act like box2box players when attacking, and cover the DM spot when defending. Mixed with wingbacks staying narrow.