CARRERA

I think I explained it a few posts earlier. I do it with the purpose of better team cohesion and the player to carry out the role as expected.

yes

It depends, if there is another player (role) that did at least share some of the responsibilities of the the RPM. DM and RPM are completely different type of players. What are the other roles in midfield? Properbly post a Screenshot of the set up.

Don’t cancel that guy, eventhough his videos aren’t as accurate and coclusions may be wrong. FM heavily fails to give users a detailed explanation on how things work as well as some basic understanding of tactical principles. Many other more complex / strategy games do have an ingame wiki or at least very detailed tooltips. Why can’t FM do that? Why do people still need to come to the forums and ask what tempo (or whatever) does to then receive 5 different answers?

Yes, it matters. The player himself won’t be any worse, but the role will be carried out insufficiently and may be disconnected from the rest of the squad as they expect the player to move and position like role X. However, it is just one of many aspects. If you really rate Training higher over the players effectiveness on the pitch you might get away with it. I personally like to train the role that is actually played by the player

I usually look for bad things that happen quite frequently for both my team and the opposition. Then I usually think about what I want to achieve with my changes and do adjust accordingly. Its very important to think about what you are trying to achieve. If you are not confident with what certain instructions do, I can recommend using the online manual for FM23. An example could be that you notice, that the opposition is trying to play behind your defensive line. You either get highlights or notice it by them having a low pass completition. I usually then tend to ask my defensive line to drop off or to even lower it. Another case would be if my attack breaks down without getting through the defense. I would properbly increase the tempo to circulate the ball more quickly and find the bit of space my players need. Of course there are my more cases to make adjustments.

I think there simply is a very wide range of people who have their own view on FM‘s difficulty. And everyone is right, since it’s very individual. So my question would be how SI could make the game more challenging for some while keeping it playable for everyone with joy. And I don’t think difficulty sliders would do the job. I don’t wanna play in a world where AI Clubs just get bonuses on finances, attributes or whatever, like it’s in every other game.

I suggest to share a screenshot of your tactic, so people can help you.

To be fair, they said for FM22 that they made changes to the development curve of players. However, I can also confirm that players develop according their potential. Also using the assistant to schedule training

The mezzala is rather a player for the channel, it could be an idea to move him to the other side or at least have him switch position wit the AP from time to time, so he can support the winger who stays wide the other flank. Regarding the Fullback, I'd properbly had to see the game, if he plays as a wide outlet. Maybe add "runs wide with ball" as well. If hes support rather midfield, id switch to a wingback. If the mezzala stays on the left you could use aarons on an attack duty to attack the right channel and therefore make your team more aggressive (if you need a goal for example), or use him on a defend duty if the mezzala moves to the right, to create depth behind the ball and make your team more conservative (to see out a match e.g.) Either way, give him and defend or attack duty will create mor depth in yor play. Thats great, so dont change too much if results are coming. Wondering tho what actually happens away. Did you notice anything specifically?

I think you are doing quite well in terms of results. Remove play out of defence, it can really make your players struggle if they are set under pressure from a high pressing opposition. Transitioning the ball quicker into midfield will help your players to overcome the press. Dont worry, they wont hoof the ball as you are on a positive mentality. //edit: Oh and there is noone creating width on the left flank sufficiently. And noone is creating depth on the right flank sufficiently.

Oh, I in FM23 Move into Channels is Hardcoded, didn't knew they added it at some point The idea is, that you usually want players to occupy space in all 5 channels (left wing - left channel - central area - right channel - right wing) to overload certain areas and have a good spacing to make it hard for the other team to defend. But (and you have that due to your CM(a)) you also need someone to create depth centrally. So if thats not the case, its not a good idea to have your striker leave central areas. I dont think they will get in each others way. However, in case they do just move around some duties. What you basicly want to have on each flank is one player providing width (stays wide, runs wide with ball) and another or the same to create depth by making runs (Move further forward). Yes the left flank is taking risks, but its important to bring players into the attacking third if you are looking for nice combinations. If you want to keeper players back a more direct approach is more suited to overcome the opposition. Yes, the HB drops in possession between both CD and occupying the DM spot if the other team has the ball. You might want to take a look at the CM support role during build up, whether hes capable if connecting your defensive line and your attacking players. If you feel like its not working perfect, you could try a DLP(s). So yes, mentality is somewhat about risk, but it doesnt make any player play better or worse. Because its the player who is bad or good. Mentality is straight about that: mentality, how you approach your game. The Roles you choose and the player itself will have the biggest impact on how he plays. Its way too specifically to think about passing when choosing a mentality. Thats why i kept my explanation that simple. I dont want to dive too deep into team shape as its not a thing anymore since FM20?! What it basicly does is how mentality is spread between players depending on their duty and position. Think about mentality of a scale from 1-20 under the hood. (I've just made up the numbers, its just to explain) On a very structured team shape a defender is properbly on a 5 for his individual mentality scale. A striker might be on like 15. If you now move the team shape to very fluid, both defenders and attackers might be on a 10 mentality. So they are getting closer together in their movement. So if you are happy with your roles and duties, adjust the team shape to match your needs. A short passing game, as well as pressing for example to benefit from your team being close together, while a direct aproach benefits more depth. But as always, there is no right or wrong. You need to find the specific setting that suits your team. In addition to that team shape does also influence your teams creative freedom, where more structured = less CF and more fluid = more CF. Its can be both, situational and a philosophy. You have to take in mind, that tactical familiarity is an important factor for your team. So to switch between the extremes every match is properbly not the best idea and your results might suffer. But of course, there are always circumstances where you may need to make adjustments. Ill give you two exaples, so if a team is sitting back and tries to just keep the ball you might want to take more risks and step up to gain possession. Because they are very happy with keeping the ball just for the sake of it, while you might need or want to win the match. On the other hand you might be playing goliath and dont want to leave your doors wide open. But you should set some sort of basic philosophy with what you start out the match and where your players can become familiar with. So what I could see you try and move on from there: - pick balanced mentality -> a good starting point if you are undicided yet - flexible team shape -> your players will be slightly more compact, as you were talking about players being disconnected - shorter passing -> you wanted to progress more slowly - get stuck in -> on a balanced mentality with no other defensive instructions changed, your team will defend in a mid-block (around the center line). You properbly really want to fight for the ball before they aproach the final third. Just some basic adjustments you can make during match. There are more, but those are properbly the most important ones. Not enough chances -> increase tempo High amount of chances, but low quality -> work ball into box very defensive opposition -> up mentality or assign one additionally attack duty (make sure there is enough support around). Also up your defensive settings by 1 (defensive line, pressing, offside trap) if your opposition can play easy through your lines -> lower pressing intensity by 1 if you concede balls over the top -> drop defensive line by 1 if you want to close a game -> assign an additional defend duty (make sure there is enough support around) if you want to rest your players -> lower tempo you can also combine those of course.

I was asking, because there might be a differance between how you like to play and which is properbly "the best" way to play in terms of what style the match engine favours. Thats why I asked whether you have a prefered style or if you are just looking for results. Lets start with your Formation: - There is only one player who moves into channels, the DLF. in FM17 you properbly don't have the opportunity to assign more roles who do that in a 4-1-4-1. Moving up your Wide players to AM Strata and assigning one as an IF is properbly your best bet, if you want more players moving into channels. - There is noone who creates depth on the right wing which cuts the opportunity to create space on the right wing. If you are looking for more combination play, properbly make the FB and Attack Duty. To remain defensively solid, I would switch CMs and either make the DM a Half back, to provide cover for both fullbacks moving forward or make the left fullback an FB(s) and the Wide Midfielder a Winger to provide width. If you are just fine with another direct partnership, just make the right Winger and attack Duty If you follow those guidelines, you will have sufficient depth and width in all areas of the pitch. Looking at your Instructions, you should consider a few things: - What are you looking for as the big picture of you tactical approach. Is your main focus to score and therefore allow your players to take more risks, or is your main focus to not concede and tehrefore ask your players to be more cautious in their actions? Of course you can also take a balanced approach between those two. And yes, I pretty much simplified it. - How do you want to defend? Do you rather want to sit deep and soak up pressure, or do you want to apply pressure and step up? - How do you want to attack / transition? Are you looking for quick transitions and vertical / diagonal passes behind the oppositions defensive line, or are you looking for a rather patient approach that builds up from the back? (you properbly answered that already) If you can answer those, I can help you to balance out your set up.

How do you envision your team to actually play? Or are you just looking for results?

Properbly not that old, but I don’t have problems with signing or keeping 30+ players as long as they fit my team.

Its the same with tempo on some occasions. I think its a visual glitch that carried over from Beta. However, I cant say whether it fuctions as intended.

I think there might be still some work to put it by SI. I noticed, that eventhough there are players with top grades in progress, they will never be recommended

I think you might just misunderstand passing directness. It is short vs direct, not short vs long. Its about how quickly you are looking to move the ball forward by taking more or less risk. On a more direct style, players can use longer passes, as it’s a high risk method of moving the ball, but they are not limited to. A shorter passing style will move the ball forward more slowly by taking less risks. So it perfectly fits a more progressive mentality. You also have to understand that passing length is heavily influenced by your teams set up of roles and duties and how much and where you create depth. Teams like City or Barca (even in their prime) did and do use high risk direct balls to play the final pass eventhough they might build up rather slow from their own half.

Yes, it can work together. However, transition speed is very slow due to short passing and whenever you are in a position to finally look for that ball, the other team might have fully transitioned into their defensive shape already to further restrict space. So it will be less effective, but not useless at all. Just from a short view on your formation I can see, that there is no player to provide width in the final third as both Wingers cut inside. A Fullback will not provide width sufficiently, so I would suggest to use Wingbacks or Complete Wingbacks instead or to increase your teams attacking width setting. It comes at the cost of less passing options however. Also you don’t have any overlapping partnerships to encourage runs from deeper positions or different angles. You should also take a look on how your players move when in possession. Both IF and the AF are attacking the channels and your AP sits in the 10 spot, there is no one to attack the central space from time to time. I would try another striker role that doesn’t attack the channels or make a central player making runs into that area to receive the final ball instead.

How much pressure does your team apply in terms of pressing / tackling? Too much or not enough could cause this. Of course, there is also a chance that it’s just in MEs flavour.

Too much space for the opposition must likely. Did you use „drop off“ instruction and regroup?

Yes, aside from instructions, certain roles have hard coded behaviors under the hood.

I think you fell for the illusion, that players IRL do what they were meant to do. But they don’t very often and managers do state that after matches were performance was poorly. But I agree, that it can be frustrating if you want to simulate real life 100% as FM still remains a game. I usually look at it as „my own story of team X“. I usually try to find my own tactical approach and don’t really mess around with how and who that team would play irl. I rather simulate their transfer strategy in terms of age structure of the squad or from which region / nation they usually sign.

Yes the match engine is limited to some extend and real life manager use shapes way more fluid then you might do ingame. If you look for a wide player to occupy a more central position and be creative, an APs properbly is your best call. Make sure that someone is creating width on the right flank. There really is no central midfield role the can fulfill that sufficiently. What you COULD try, eventhough I’m not 100% sure if you can do that with those Positions, is to add a time to time positional switch with individual roles between right AM and CM. You can set that up in the other screen. Regarding the Shape, yes it’s the defensive shape, since you can’t adjust their movement out of possession. All instructions regarding movement are in possession exclusively. And once your team transitioned to defense duty effect are very minor out of possession. hope that could help.

Tempo has nothing to do with passes specifically. It’s the time a player needs to make a decision for his next move whether it’s a pass, dribble, shot, or cross doesn’t matter. While a higher tempo helps your team to unsettle the Defence, a lower tempo will help your team to control the game and save energy.