[Quickfire Questions and Answers Thread (Tactic and Training Questions Only)]

Can "Jumping Reach" be improved by much, or is it tied to the players height? I've tried putting players with lower jumping reach (say 5-7) on a jumping reach focus, but I'm not seeing it improve, although other stats continue to improve. So I'm wondering if there is any point trying to improve it for players that sub 180 cm tall?

Yeah, it was always tied to height. Dont think that has changed. I cant recall ever having seen it move, if it has then only by a point or so.

[Quickfire Questions and Answers Thread (Tactic and Training Questions Only)]

So which attributes go into determining the rate of attribute decline of old players?

I've always thought that natural fitness and professionalism (and indirectly, injury proneness) are the big ones, but surely there has to be more to it than that?

Would it also be safe to assume that much like with player development, playing time has a big role in it? Do attributes decline faster if the player isn't playing very much?

I think the top 2 are extremely important but, in reality, its the quality of playing time that matters most. I've had defenders who with high NF & Professionalism, who play regularly (not all the time, but very regularly) progress well into mid-30s without too much trouble, particularly if they had high physical stats to begin with.

When you stop playing an 'older' player, or they get injured, expect big unrecoverable losses. A 6/9mth injury at 32 is often game over (although not quite always, there are always exceptions).

If you want to know if a low NF/Pro can retain his stats if he is playing and playing well then probably, but they will still drop.

[Quickfire Questions and Answers Thread (Tactic and Training Questions Only)]

I am currently using a Counter/Balanced approach with the following midfield trio:

AP(A) DLP(S)

DM(D)

Ideally you would want two footed players (Either in FM14 terms), but as the players at my disposal do not I have to make a choice on which side to play my most suitable DLP who is right footed (Right, not Right only in FM terms). I set up as shown with DLP on RHS of the midfield two on the basis that if he closes down to tackle, he is most likely going to be tacking using his right foot. Presumably , for balance, it would be good for AP to have good left foot?

Presumably in midfield areas, you are looking for players whose weaker foot is at least Reasonable and need to be particularly careful on pairings/positioning of Left/Right only when a players weaker foot is weak (in FM14 terms)?

I like a bit of two-footedness in the middle yes, beyond that I'm not too fussed which side they are on. I'd rather decide which side AP and DLP should be on based on the rest of the formation i.e. I'd put the AP(A) on the opposite side to an IF(A) in the AMR/AML slot as they'll probably want to use the same space (particularly if that IF's stronger foot is his inside foot).

[Quickfire Questions and Answers Thread (Tactic and Training Questions Only)]

Something i'm curious about. If i have the team instruction 'shorter passing' highlighted and also all individual players passing as 'pass it shorter', do they pass even shorter than the team instruction ? or is it more the fact that i'm just asking them individually to do the same as i asked collectively ? jeez, i hope that even makes sense.

Thanks in advance.

It makes sense!

But no, the individual instructions wholly override the team instructions if you've ticked them all. They'll pass as 'short' as you've set in the individual settings.

[Quickfire Questions and Answers Thread (Tactic and Training Questions Only)]

Okay, simple question...

How do I make the most of a little fellow with great movement in terms of crossing? I want the ball played in so that he doesn't challenge with a defender, but runs onto it, since he has great pace and movement.

I can't seem to make it happen, though. I assumed that I'd want to drill crosses to the near post, but it doesn't appear to do anything - they refuse to cross into the box because he's so short. If I play a tall guy in there, they cross far more frequently with exactly the same instructions.

However, he has scored goals - maybe ten or eleven last season - on the rare occasions they get the ball in to him in the right way.

Crossing early may help (its a long chalk though). Playing quick(ish) and direct(ish) could help as you'd want quick crosses in while there is still space in behind. I suspect that your players are getting to the byline, the defenders get into position and so they don't cross because your guy may now be marked.

[Quickfire Questions and Answers Thread (Tactic and Training Questions Only)]

Is there still no way to train bravery?

Any way to increase aggression?

Thanks.

Still no way, although they can change through some events in FM, possibly tutor related (although I dont think its a straight-forward process). Having said that, I'm not sure I've ever noticed these attributes ever change, although I wouldn't of been looking for it.

[Quickfire Questions and Answers Thread (Tactic and Training Questions Only)]

Question about the new tactical system, am I right in that the way the "shouts" work in FM14 they are part of the tactical set up that players need to get used to? I mean the way they work towards being fluid in different tactical aspects? Does this mean I should be more careful with using shouts during the matches (switching tempo, passing style etc.)?

I dont have any hard evidence but I've always thought that if you use a particular set of shouts commonly then players get used to it, if you then throw in a combo of shouts you dont often use then it looks like the players are slightly uncomfortable with it. It's hard to tell as its fairly subjective from watching the ME so I may have imagined it.

Logically it makes sense that on top of your base tactical framework players would require some time and training to learn the augments to that system (i.e. the shouts you commonly plan on using).

[Quickfire Questions and Answers Thread (Tactic and Training Questions Only)]

Nah, it's central defenders swapping. I often notice AI teams do that for whatever reason. Marking a lone striker wouldn't get them that close anyway as they'd still be holding a line most of the time.

Yeah. I agree.

[Quickfire Questions and Answers Thread (Tactic and Training Questions Only)]

I've been trying to observe a rival teams tactics recently, and i noticed in every single game they play that on the heatmaps and average position, their 2 cb's (442) are almost directly on top of each other, So what sort of instructions have they had to be like that?? and can i exploit it?

here's a picture

If youre playing one guy up top then he may be being marked by both defenders, particularly if he gets isolated and/or you dont have runners also using that space.

[Quickfire Questions and Answers Thread (Tactic and Training Questions Only)]

im realling struggling to break down teams that park the bus is there succesful methods to open them up?

Depends on a lot of things. Usually you need to take more risks.

I either:

a) Push higher up but really open up my play. I play creative anyway but I’ll play wider to open gaps, play through balls to exploit those gaps, get my goal scorers up front (and those in form) and sometimes actually play a longer pass style. A slightly odd strategy can be to increase time wasting—this sounds ridiculous but the bus-parkers often go in hard to try and disrupt you so roll with that and get your guys falling over to gain the free kick and then punish them with set plays, don’t keep this strategy up too long unless you are getting the free-kicks, sometimes they’ll sit and not be going in hard or the ref will just be happy with a rough-and-tumble game.

b) Play deeper, play cautious and play longer. You’ll want your fast chaps up front and you’re basically playing a counter-style game but you must be cautious enough in the first place to draw them out. This means getting defenders and deep-midfielders who can play with the ball and make very good decisions, with the longer pass style a stupid or technically inept team will play the ball longer and waste it but a smart technical team will be happy to keep the play but are free to play the longer 'killer' pass (not necessarily a through ball—which is an FM killer pass) when they deem it sensible.

---

Playing really attacking and just trying to batter at the door isn’t usually a good idea, at least, I’ve never found that it is, you’re just playing the way they want you to and they way they are prepared for, in effect, you’re being tactically dominated because you’re doing what they want and not the other way round. Attacking is usually too direct and too quick and rushes your players unnecessarily.

If your team are up the top because they rely on physically dominating teams or on counter attacks and lack the technique of other top teams then playing against the bottom teams can often prove difficult, unless you’re got a very good free-kick option.

edit: oh, and while I think of it, if you have a determined/professional team then be patient. It’s often taken me 70 minutes to break down a negative team but ended up winning 3 or 4 to nil.

[Quickfire Questions and Answers Thread (Tactic and Training Questions Only)]

One quick question guys: I have couple of players that according to my assistant are "struggling to blend into the squad"

Is there anything I can do to help them? Is team cohesion oriented trainings meant for this? But is it worth to spend a long time during season on team cohesion traiings?

Couple of points. Sometimes players don't settle, if their personality is at odds with the general team personality then they may always struggle. Secondly, do you notice it actually being a problem? If not, it'll probably just settle and you won't need to worry about it. Just keep an eye on morale.

[Quickfire Questions and Answers Thread (Tactic and Training Questions Only)]

I have a read a number of posts that advise players to avoid sliders, but I would like to know if that meant that people do not utilize the boxes under the individual tactics screen as well. For example, I am currently playing with both of my CBs with the tight marking option activiated, my TM with hold up play on, etc. Would forum members suggest skipping out on these commands as well?

I was also operating under the assumption that under the TC screen, it is OK if you plan to utilize say a AM as a playmaker, you tick that box, etc. Am I correct?

Thanks

If you're reasonably comfortable what the sliders and checkboxes do then no probs with manipulating how you like, the problem only occurs when you dont really understand what is happening and then run into trouble. If you dont know whats actually happening, and things go wrong, then you cant really solve the problem. You can try randomly to change settings but it would be pretty random, and you might hit the solution, but best bet is to be comfortable with the match engine, comfortable with how players' attributes influence play and then comfortable in what you want to do and then to tweak as you need to get the results you want.

What you are doing all sounds reasonable enough.

Remember that any checked or manually tweaked instructions override shouts. This can be used to your advantage by changing the literal meaning of the shouts. For example, I think Retain Possession changes passing length and narrows play, if you manually set your width then the shout only lowers passing length (possibly tempo, I forget exactly and dont have it fired up at the mo). It could also scupper your plans because you might see a situation where you want to play more aggressive, or play wider, or play quicker, you do the shout but then nothing discernible happens because your manual tweaking render the shout useless. Again, it comes down to your understanding of how the instructions influence the play.

[Quickfire Questions and Answers Thread (Tactic and Training Questions Only)]

Alright, so while it does matter, it only matters a lot in a lower standard of league with/or a lower standard of player?

Thanks Furious

Yeah, but remember that you should still make changes for the weather. I normally forget to, and sometimes get caught out, but there are plenty of guys/gals around here that really consider paying attention to the weather to be beneficial. Similarly, too high tempo in hot weather can be difficult.

[Quickfire Questions and Answers Thread (Tactic and Training Questions Only)]

Apologies for the dead link. It's just an image of the training screen. http://i41.tinypic.com/20uv1w4.png

Don't worry about posting in here and creating a thread, just do one or tother. Probably best if people reply to this in the thread.

[Quickfire Questions and Answers Thread (Tactic and Training Questions Only)]

Haven't read this whole thing, so this is quite possibly something that has been dealt with before, but anyways...

I have decided to try to develop a team that plays fast paced "pass and move" football. Usually I go for a cautious build-up, or a fast counter attacking football, but now I wanted to try and create a team that pressures high but still plays fast football when they win the ball (kind of like ze germans in the CL final). Anyways, the players I have right now are probably not going to be able to do this very well, so I will have to slowly build a team that can, so now I'm wondering which attributes to focus on when signing/developing players.

As I see it, there are two major parts to the ability to play pass-and-move, and they require slightly different skill sets;

Pass: to be able to quickly spot a pass and deliver it before you loose the ball, you need to have good

- anticipation?

- creativity? (maybe these passes are "too simple" to need creativity?)

- flair?

- technique

- passing

- first touch (the time aspect)

- agility?

- decisions

- composure

- anything else?

Move: to spot where to run when you've passed the ball, you need:

- anticipation

- off the ball

- agility

- acceleration

- teamwork

- work rate

- creativity?

- flair?

- anything else?

Which of these attributes are essential, and which can I be less demanding on? I'm managing a smallish club, so I can't sign the best players in the world... yet

Definitely stamina for the moving part of things.

Creativity is probably key too because it increases the options players can see and if you are playing quickly they are under pressure to make quick, good decisions so creativity to see everything and decisions to use the right option are important. Also, technique really comes into its own when playing under pressure (i.e. quicker in tight spaces against good defences).

[Quickfire Questions and Answers Thread (Tactic and Training Questions Only)]

Anyone have any thoughts on how to play possession football in England in the rain?

i currently have a possession tactic (4-5-1, short passing, more creativity, more roaming with the shouts retain possession and pass into space) and i remember reading somewhere that if the weather is bad (ala the UK from August to June), then short passing won't be as successful as the ball will get stuck in the mud.

Is this the start and finish of those tactics in England then? Or, will someone who has a high passing and technique attributes be able to compensate for the awful 'weather' we get on a daily basis on these shores?

Or, is the idea to keep the passing short in the tactic but lengthen the range of passing with a shout i.e. get ball forward?

The pitches in the Premiership rarely get that bad but things get noticeable 'slippy' in the rain in FM and with the ball skidding more than usual passing and, more importantly, control becomes more difficult.

However, through balls can become more effective and as you have plenty of creativity you should have the personnel to exploit this anyway (so long as you also have some quicker guys good off-the-ball who can get on the end of things).

Upping the passing length a little won't inhibit your team from possession stuff, it just generally means that you are more 'dangerous', as in, if there is a riskier through ball/longer pass on your guys won't be restricted from playing it, however, if they are smart and good technically they won't necessarily take that riskier option (particularly with a lower mentality). I've played counter (counter attack unticked) with slightly above middle passing length and controlled over 60% of the possession against weaker, more direct teams.

Oh, just saw you were already using pass into space. This shout increases through balls so isn't naturally suited to a possession game anyway. You might not notice too many of them because you're playing narrower (retain possession) so the angles are less 'favourable' for through balls and if you're chosen 'possession-y' roles for your players you may not have too many making runs asking for through balls.

[Quickfire Questions and Answers Thread (Tactic and Training Questions Only)]

Why do some players never get picked up on free transfer? I just picked up Jeffrey Sarpong 2nd season. He is cheap and has decent talent, ive been following since the start of the save but never saw any club being interested. I've noticed this with decent players who didnt get a new contract after 1 or more seasons too. Is this something not working in the engine? Not really gamebreaking just curious.

Ps he wasnt injured.

Question 2:

I play a 41221 counter tactic. Short passing, when I use the play thru ball shout two things happen:

- my players chip instead of giving flat passes, even over 5 meter distance with a clear path,

- my wingers start heading over-the-top passes to the centre of the pitch, useless and unrealistic. They should just controll the passes even if theyre a bit high.

Why does this happen? Its so ****ing annoying to see throughball opportunities like that wasted over and over again.

1) Could be a bug in the game but more likely it's just a player that got overlooked is all, maybe he always asked for too much money when clubs sniffed around, maybe it's something to do with agents. Not sure how in-depth the game gets with transfer mechanics of free agents to other clubs but it's probably just one of those things. Players do become ex-players to pursue a different career, even if they are good, so it kind of simulates that (although this is almost certainly unintentional and requires a stretch of the imagination).

2) Probably just their decision-making (or could be that the flat through ball that you are seeing isn't quite indicative of a good pass, sometimes the positioning of the match engine is not as tight as the stuff the underneath i.e. the rendering is sometimes - rarely - different to what is actually happening. It's why we use to see players spin around, it wasnt that they were spinning, just the visual representation of a player struggling to make a decision). When playing a through ball the passing length tends to get ignored in favour of playing the through ball, its then up to the player what type of through ball (lobbed or flat, or curled or whatever) they play. A 5 meter lateral flat pass isn't a through ball.

[Quickfire Questions and Answers Thread (Tactic and Training Questions Only)]

But that is exactly what I am asking. I have 3 striker players. Is it better to play them in AML and AMR positions for 41221 or should I try to create a 433 tactic ? Or to rephrase it, would playing them in positions awkward for them hinder success of the tactic too much ?

If they have no proficiency at AML/AMR they probably will struggle there, they may additionally become unhappy at playing out of position (based on personality). However, if their attributes are great for playing there then they should be able to do a job, training them to be able to play in that position is probably still a good idea though.

[Quickfire Questions and Answers Thread (Tactic and Training Questions Only)]

Is it better to use a 433 or 41221 if you have 3 excellent strikers ? In other words, is it better to use 2 strikers not in their natural position (as AML or AMR) but a better tactical shape or use them in striker position (so natural position) but less balanced tactical shape (especially wings).

Interestingly, in tactic creator, for 41221, I moved the two wingers in striker positions, so main difference is that the central 3 are in a very tight triangle and not flat 3 and now the two STCL and STCR cover the fullbacks. Probably because its zonal marking and that zone falls under their purview. Maybe this is the compromise ?

I'm not sure what you're getting at. It isn't 'better' to use one formation over the other, it's up to the players and how you use them. Almost any formation can be successful given the right players and right usage.

[Quickfire Questions and Answers Thread (Tactic and Training Questions Only)]

My question is more towards what is used by the AI to analyze our tactic and implement a change. Example: how does the AI manager decide to use a particular shout ? What is the logic behind it ? Since it is not a human, there must be some computer logic/ data analysis behind it.

What does it matter? All you have to worry about is that the AI do make decisions and you then have to react to those decisions. It doesn't matter what happens under the hood. If I choose to play wider you don't need to ask me why I'm doing so (I wouldnt tell you as I'm your opponent), you just need to react (and to do that you might try to guess my intentions, but it doesn't matter whether you guessed right or wrong, your counter-strategy will be successful/unsuccessful regardless of whether you know why I've made my decision).

[Quickfire Questions and Answers Thread (Tactic and Training Questions Only)]

Stupid question regarding tactics and signings:

Should I buy players who are best for said role (based on the highlighted attributes), or buy the best players for the position? I know the two are likely similar, but sometimes will find someone who could be good at a certain role but not necessarily the most talented.

I'm not exactly sure what the difference is but there can be a massive difference between two players in the same position so, if you're looking for a right winger (for example) then you want the one who is going to complement your playstyle i.e. if you play a 'keep possession' game then you'd want a passer rather than a traditional up-and-down quick winger.

However, you can go further and consider whether you want depth and variety in your squad by buying the guy who doesn't naturally fit your style but does offer you something to change it up when your usual style is not working.

Either way, I'd always pick the guy who fits my team (or offers a difference) over the guy who is on average better. I hope that makes sense.

I guess another example would be, if I had 2 ball-winners in my midfield and I'm scouting 2 players, one is a very good ball-winner and the other is slightly worse overall but a much better ball-player then I'd probably try and buy the 2nd guy (if price etc is equal) because he gives me something I don't currently have in the squad even if he is, overall, a slightly worse player (for me and my squad he would be a better player if that makes sense, even if he isnt on paper).

[Quickfire Questions and Answers Thread (Tactic and Training Questions Only)]

I am having troubles against wingers cutting inside. Especially I play with 4-4-2. There is no DM who could pick them up. Any suggestion?

You can try pushing up to limit their space to move in but this might present other problems.

Also, stopper/cover in this situation could present gaps for them to run into (although I suppose the stopper on the more problematic side could actually help) so maybe use flat defenders with the theory being that those cutting in wingers have still got to dribble past an organised defence (as always, watch and see what suits).

You could also try having your midfielders drop a little deeper although this is much harder (movement of players without the ball is harder to achieve, as in, when the opposition have the ball).

[Quickfire Questions and Answers Thread (Tactic and Training Questions Only)]

I've been trying to set up a player in the AM position that plays like Ozil - A central winger whose job it is to overload on each wing and/or cover for the wide player drifting inside http://www.zonalmarking.net/2010/12/03/introducing-the-central-winger/. Which settings should I use, apart from the obvious "cross often"?

I'm not sure exactly what you're after (missing links and chalkboards on ZM at the moment) but if you want a central player to move out to the wings when you regain possession then you'll probably be out of luck, you can try move into channels for wide play but they'll stay inside the wingers and they wont tend to move much if there are players on either side of them (lone-strikers will move more, for example, than an AM flanked by AMR/AML or even MR/ML)

[Quickfire Questions and Answers Thread (Tactic and Training Questions Only)]

When you guys decide to whether or not use offside trap, do you only look at CB attributes or also from FB's (if you use them of course)? Because when i read something about offside trap, everyone only write about CB attributes and i think that if using a flat back 4, all of them should have the necessary attributes for it.

I don't think I've ever played the offside trap but I'd look at everybody across the backline. In real life it's normally FBs who aren't great defenders who end up playing players on (possibly concentration/fatigue?) so I'd look at all of em.

Also the GK as I guess an offside trap would work best with a sweeper keeper, although given that your average FM regen GK has a teamwork value of <5 I'd say it's questionnable whether its something to consider in FM.

[Quickfire Questions and Answers Thread (Tactic and Training Questions Only)]

So I want to try and learn to do tactics on this game properly. I have a team with very limited funds so I'm stuck with what I have. It's technically gifted in midfield and attack, but has poor pace. The defence is above average except for, again, poor pace. Other than pace the only area lacking is heading, though this is only slightly below average rather than bad. So I was wondering how to start basically.

I've often just used plug & play tactics so I'm pretty clueless here. Obviously I'm going to have to play deep due to my defenders lack of pace. However, won't my lack of pace affect any counter-attacking tactic I try to set up? Will a passing game be the wisest course? If I set up a short passing style, how do I exploit my opponents. Thanks.

Definitely make your way through the threads in the stickies as you're playing, they will help you get a really rounded understanding of how tactics work in FM (and in real-life too!).

Keep it simple to start off with. Getting a handle on tactics and squad selection etc in FM isn't immediately easy, but is very very rewarding when you get it right, and fun.

Short passing might be your best option but it is often difficult to get right. A lack of pace on the counter is a potential problem but if you had someone strong enough to hold up the ball then moving it forwards quickly might still be a good idea.

When you've got something together and given it a go for a while feel free to start a thread with your questions/findings. Loads of very knowledgable people around.