FMSD0

Changing team instructions and expecting things to work instantly has never worked. This late in the game, most players are probably too tired to follow aggressive attacking tactics instructions anyway. Try new substitutes and changes to the player instructions first and only in the last instant a more offensive formation. If all that doesn't help, then that's the way it is.

Converting the 18 known player types into the corresponding FM roles and thus simplifying the choice of tactics is an interesting idea, but it should not be forgotten that the underlying calculations are very zone-based and a more appropriate term might have been "zonal (player) types / roles". After all, the six zones are relatively easy to transfer to FM. Most of the time, progressive roles appear in more than one zone such as progressive full-backs, false nines and tens, etc.—which is not a problem because such progressive roles are mostly fluid dynamic roles anyway. The transitions from role to role / type can be smooth or extreme (f.e. from Distributor to Box to Box), but for the most part we will most likely reach a broad consensus on which in-game roles might suit which player type role. Once this is achieved, it is easy to identify the appropriate players by following the 18 player type roles. It sounds a bit naïve when I say that because I’ve been working and thinking in these schemes and patterns for some time while using other sources and it just doesn’t apply to everyone, so not everyone understands it straight away. Basically, before choosing team instructions, this is all that is needed to build a structured framework (but also experimental ones can actually work!) to kick-start things. An essential foundation, in other words, upon which everyone can then build with their own insights. As someone who likes to link data and tactics, the article is an interesting opportunity to question already existing ideas or logic systems and possibly improve them in some places. I’ve applied this “18 Player Roles” terminology to my system, which I used a few days ago to finish the last 15 matches or so of the season I started a half year ago, to see what types of players make up the best eleven. That’s what I came up with: 18 Player Roles Converted into FM Player Roles. And yes, in case anyone is irritated, I really used Haaland as a wide forward (90 percent of the time I guess) to deploy various aggressive False 9s (Shadow Strikers) in the centre. He still ended up with 37 G+A in 2,781 minutes (although he struggled towards the end of the season). I abused FM 21 Haaland’s overrated-ness (who doesn’t?), and with that I mean his more than overpowered dribbling, passing and even defensive stats: He’s on average rated two points higher in relevant stats than proper dribblers such as Guerreiro, Reyna and Brandt, and that means he’s by far the best dribbler in my team (that’s funny). In terms of passing he is also better than Reus, Dahoud and Brandt which is a little bit absurd, but it certainly helped. He’s basically a cheat code of a player, and here’s the point: A player like him can be absolutely anything you want him to be at any given time. To take up the attributes again: I have also created a spreadsheet that includes worksheets for each zone, short descriptions for every player type / role and weights all attributes (except throw-ins) for the 18 player roles / types. I took the liberty of adapting the attribute system to that of EA Sports (basically multiplying the values by 5 and then minus 1) so that differences are much easier to see. The optimal weighting is certainly debatable for each category (PAC, SHO, DRI, PAS, DEF, PHY) and the roles, but I am very happy with the current version. It displays the players most people would expect to see in each category (except freak players like Haaland of course). Here’s the spreadsheet: Player Role Attributes. This way, it is easy to narrow down effective zones and roles for a player. In the end, the most difficult part is to select player types that complement each other well, and then choosing fitting team instructions. I think I will work with this framework from now on as it really simplifies the initial process when starting a new career or moving to a new club, and it gives a very accurate representation of the available player material. It makes me curious to try other styles of play besides possession-play and / or high pressing.