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

[kingjericho]

I am using a 4-1-4-1 that has given me good results, although we can't seem to be a real threat to the top teams. We beat them occasionally but they beat us more than the opposite.

My setup revolves around shorter passing and ball possession. It goes like this:

Counter

Fluid

---

Shorter passing

Push higher up

Close down more

---

GK/D

WB/S

CB/D

CB/D

WB/S

DM/D

WM/A

DLP/S

AP/A

WM/A

DLF/S

My question is: sometimes we go entire halfs without a goal scoring chance. Would a 'pass into space' TI help us? From what I've read this shout increases through balls but also runs from deep. I want to keep a possession style, and this would offer players another option to attack the box. Does it make sense?

(my laptop is repairing so this is something I cannot test atm, but it's something I've been thinking about)

[all4everdragon]

Yes, it used to be called philosophy in pas versions and has been replaced by the term team shape. It is my hope down the line not too far that that whole construct will be ditched, and having a more or less fluid approach will be governed by roles, duties, TIs and PIs. Right now I see it as an unnecessary layer of complexity.

I'm with you. Reducing complexity means a more enjoyable FM.

Also a public to the Hand of God incredible work with the Mentality Ladder.

[Sussex Hammer]

That PPM would probably limit the players' overall contribution in the long run, which might not be what you want? It isn't a PPM I have any experience of, but it just sounds like a means of converting another Role into a Poacher-esque Role.

It's a FMC PPM. Just says "penalty box player" therefore I assumed he might get into the box more. Nothing to explain what it actually does. Carroll has PPM's of shoots with power, plays with back to goal, avoids weaker foot, avoids first time shots. There isn't really another PPM that could help like say a "attacks box from deep" option.

[RTHerringbone]

It's a FMC PPM. Just says "penalty box player" therefore I assumed he might get into the box more. Nothing to explain what it actually does. Carroll has PPM's of shoots with power, plays with back to goal, avoids weaker foot, avoids first time shots. There isn't really another PPM that could help like say a "attacks box from deep" option.

It's a general PPM, also available in Simulation Mode. My understanding (from what limited scraps of info I can find) is that it isn't about getting in the box more, it is about staying in the box more. Less about how they get in the box, more about what they do when they're in there, if that makes sense?

[vasilli07]

I am using a 4-1-4-1 that has given me good results, although we can't seem to be a real threat to the top teams. We beat them occasionally but they beat us more than the opposite.

My setup revolves around shorter passing and ball possession. It goes like this:

Counter

Fluid

---

Shorter passing

Push higher up

Close down more

---

GK/D

WB/S

CB/D

CB/D

WB/S

DM/D

WM/A

DLP/S

AP/A

WM/A

DLF/S

My question is: sometimes we go entire halfs without a goal scoring chance. Would a 'pass into space' TI help us? From what I've read this shout increases through balls but also runs from deep. I want to keep a possession style, and this would offer players another option to attack the box. Does it make sense?

(my laptop is repairing so this is something I cannot test atm, but it's something I've been thinking about)

I don't think you have too many players attacking the box. May want to consider giving your WMs PI cut inside/cross less often or learn the ppm 'move into channels' so that they play like an inside forward or Raumdeuter. The 2nd option is to change 1 of your CM to the B2B midfielder or CM(A).

[Footix]

Does anyone have any tips on how to score from corners? I have played for three seasons now and I think I have scored from one, 1! corner. On the other hand I very rarely concede from corners, so at least there's balance to things.. But I'd like to score from a corner every now and then..

I don't remember my attacking corner setup, but I believe I have covered most of the attacking options in there. Someone is standing on the near post, someone challenges the keeper, two players attack the posts, several players are going forward etc.

[kingjericho]

I don't think you have too many players attacking the box. May want to consider giving your WMs PI cut inside/cross less often or learn the ppm 'move into channels' so that they play like an inside forward or Raumdeuter. The 2nd option is to change 1 of your CM to the B2B midfielder or CM(A).

I rotate between a B2B and a DLP. The B2B attacks the box more often, the DLP likes to shoot from just outside the box. I'm fine with that.

[Velodromè]

Does anyone have some useful tips on how to defend freekicks? It feels like the majority of the freekicks around the area end up in the goal. The shots either goes in directly through the hands of the keeper or the keeper gives a rebound straight out in front of the goal which the attacking players put in the back of the net.

[RTHerringbone]

Does anyone have some useful tips on how to defend freekicks? It feels like the majority of the freekicks around the area end up in the goal. The shots either goes in directly through the hands of the keeper or the keeper gives a rebound straight out in front of the goal which the attacking players put in the back of the net.

The rebound issue is a bug, and one which should be improved in the final update.

[Sussex Hammer]

PPM advice........... Andy Carroll........... Carroll's biggest annoyance in games is when he receives the ball, runs with it a bit, seemingly tries to shield it gets tackled, promptly falls over and an opposition counter attack is launched. This is despite an easy out ball most of the time to a central midfielder or wing back behind him. It is bizarre that a bloke with strength of 18 and balance of 15 can suffer like this so how do I stop it from happening?

The PPM that half causes this is "plays with back to goal" but it should be easy enough to hold it and lay it back and yet Carroll seems to dawdle on the ball. It never happens to Sakho who I use in the same role as a DF S. So what is causing this with Carroll, is it that PPM of "plays with back to goal"? First thoughts were that maybe he was dribbling down blind alleys and for a bloke who can't dribble well I wondered if that was the cause so stop him dribbling. But if you stop him dribbling maybe that could cause more problems as that then doesn't give him an escape route. So how about another PPM either to do with passing or movement?

Your thoughts would be appreciated.

[RTHerringbone]

The PPM could be a factor. Does the Role he is in enable you to encourage him to try some lower percentage passes? If you can get him to play more Direct Passes and / or More Risky Passes, he is likely to play a quicker ball. However, the wider issue may just be that the rest of the team isn't up in support of him when he has the ball, so he feels compelled to hold onto it. Is Sakho a more mobile player? Perhaps he is more confident in his own ability to carry the ball than Andy Carroll is.

[mikcheck]

Hi guys.

It's not related to FM15 but would like to know your opinion about roles and duties distribution in this formation and if they're logical, please

Fluid, Counter mentality

DL (FB support)

DC (CD defend)

DR (FB defend)

MDC (DLP defend)

MCL ( CM attack)

CM (DLP support)

MCR (B2B)

AMC (AM attack)

STCL (CF support)

STCR (CF attack)

Really appreciate

[vasilli07]

With no wingers, you may need to change your FB into a more attacking role, maybe a wingback.

[fanir]

I've been trying to wrap my head around the game's mechanics and have a couple of burning questions.

Firstly, does mentality work the same way as on previous FM versions where the move from Standard to Attacking brings us more clicks to the right for Mentality/CF/Tempo/Width? If It does, I have it on Attacking with team instructions like Slower Tempo, will it decrease the Tempo clicks as per the old FM or are we dealing with extremes? E.g. Minimum Tempo.

Secondly, I'm confused as how individual instructions relate to team ones. I get that individual overrides team but does it work like above, in extremes or click behavior?

Lastly, is it dangerous to have my team play narrow and have tight marking on as well? I'm looking to play a high block defense but to keep the passing distance shorted in a 41211 with DM and AML/AMR.

[mikcheck]

With no wingers, you may need to change your FB into a more attacking role, maybe a wingback.

Thank you for your reply.

Do'nt you think that may be too risky since i play with only 3 defenders?

[RLC]

I have a question about tactic familiarity. When I for example play a high tempo game with short passes my Ass Man might say that *one of my players* is used to play a more direct game, or at a lower tempo. This will happen even if the team is fluid in the tactic. Is this something that will change over time? And is it something that affects the game in any way? Should I mind and maybe switch to another player?

[bababooey]

I've been trying to wrap my head around the game's mechanics and have a couple of burning questions.

Firstly, does mentality work the same way as on previous FM versions where the move from Standard to Attacking brings us more clicks to the right for Mentality/CF/Tempo/Width? If It does, I have it on Attacking with team instructions like Slower Tempo, will it decrease the Tempo clicks as per the old FM or are we dealing with extremes? E.g. Minimum Tempo.

Secondly, I'm confused as how individual instructions relate to team ones. I get that individual overrides team but does it work like above, in extremes or click behavior?

Lastly, is it dangerous to have my team play narrow and have tight marking on as well? I'm looking to play a high block defense but to keep the passing distance shorted in a 41211 with DM and AML/AMR.

It doesn't use extremes to my knowledge.

Same goes for player instructions, depending on what you choose and in what context. So like.. "close down more" in "attacking" might be getting pretty close to a max setting. But I'm sure it's still based on clicks.

I would say playing narrow is fine with tight marking but it depends on the context. IF you team is pushing higher up the pitch and defending aggressively there is no point in tight marking. If anything you're probably going to be too exposed. You'd ideally want to tight mark when your team is trying to sit more compact and deny space for the other team to attack into.

[phnompenhandy]

I have a question about tactic familiarity. When I for example play a high tempo game with short passes my Ass Man might say that *one of my players* is used to play a more direct game, or at a lower tempo. This will happen even if the team is fluid in the tactic. Is this something that will change over time? And is it something that affects the game in any way? Should I mind and maybe switch to another player?

I don't think it makes much or any difference. If you react by putting the player on more direct, the assman will just find another to say needs to play more direct, whatever the assman's ability. Having said that, I always go through his report at half time and if I'm not doing as well as I like, I will tweak player instrucs to follow his advice. I think it's just a placebo though!

[Double0Seven]

What do I do with a player that fails to learn a PPM? I have 5 youngsters who failed learning their PPM's. Try again? What determines if they will learn a PPM or not?

[Dr. Hook]

Thank you for your reply.

Do'nt you think that may be too risky since i play with only 3 defenders?

Yes, but playing with three defenders like that is risky to start with You will get exposed down the wing and with a single defender you will probably have massive problems, but then again, with only one defender central, I think you will anyway. What I like to do when testing strange or unorthodox or just risky tactics is use a test save where I select a good team and play through friendlies and see what happens. You can create a new game and then have a save point where you can always start the save before the first friendly and test this stuff out. It's a good exercise if you have a little time to spend with it.

[mikcheck]

Dr Hook thank your for your reply.

Well i must say i just use this tactic because i have a team full of creative, intelligent and fast players (especially in defense), otherwise i think it would be a disaster

What about the rest of the formation? Do you think the roles and duties make sense?

[RLC]

I don't think it makes much or any difference. If you react by putting the player on more direct, the assman will just find another to say needs to play more direct, whatever the assman's ability. Having said that, I always go through his report at half time and if I'm not doing as well as I like, I will tweak player instrucs to follow his advice. I think it's just a placebo though!

Thanks!

I usually don't listen to tactical advice from my Ass man, he's often more spot on regarding team talks though.

[Sussex Hammer]

The PPM could be a factor. Does the Role he is in enable you to encourage him to try some lower percentage passes? If you can get him to play more Direct Passes and / or More Risky Passes, he is likely to play a quicker ball. However, the wider issue may just be that the rest of the team isn't up in support of him when he has the ball, so he feels compelled to hold onto it. Is Sakho a more mobile player? Perhaps he is more confident in his own ability to carry the ball than Andy Carroll is.

Sakho is more mobile and agile and Carroll has plenty of options when he loses it. Not sure if there is a "play simple passes" PPM I will look later, would that work better than play more direct risky passes?

[Dr. Hook]

Dr Hook thank your for your reply.

Well i must say i just use this tactic because i have a team full of creative, intelligent and fast players (especially in defense), otherwise i think it would be a disaster

What about the rest of the formation? Do you think the roles and duties make sense?

In theory your roles and duties look well distributed outside of Vasili's point about wide play. Unless you are just head and shoulders above your opponents, I can foresee a team just jamming up the middle on you. I'd be interested to see you how you get on with this, though. Maybe do a small thread on it, even.

[mikcheck]

Thank you Dr. Hook.

I'll try both FB on support, i think attacking will be really suicidal (even more than already is ).

I could do a little thread about it, but i wont for 2 reasons. First one i'm not doing this for FM15, but for FM12, and the other reason being that i dont have any skill like many of you do to make some brilliant threads hheheeh

[mikcheck]

Is it possible to recover a player after long term injury?

I'm so ****** off because two of my players are injured for 7 to 8 months with damaged cruciate ligaments

[wkdsoul]

How much cover would 2 Regista's give me infront of a back 4 with attack wing/full backs? Are the more likely to roam forward into midfield than a DLP?

[RTHerringbone]

How much cover would 2 Regista's give me infront of a back 4 with attack wing/full backs? Are the more likely to roam forward into midfield than a DLP?

Not a great deal of cover. They will advance more than a DLP, but less than a Roaming Playmaker from that position. If you have players who are defensively sound in that Role, then they could do a job, but it's down to you to decide whether you want cover or a mobile, creative player the most.

Ordinarily, I'd advise against using two players in the same Role / Duty side by side - what's the point?

[JensP]

Am I asking my players to cross the ball more often when using Low Crosses(?) Ti? I have been using for "if you absolutely have to cross the ball, make it a low cross" but I have been

wondering if I am actually encouraging crossing (which is not what I want).

[JayKinobi]

What are some ways to determine "WHY" your tactic is working. I have quite a strange tactic and i was wondering how i could find out what its strengths are so i can sign the relevant players Cheers

[Dr. Hook]

Is it possible to recover a player after long term injury?

I'm so ****** off because two of my players are injured for 7 to 8 months with damaged cruciate ligaments

It depends on the player. I just had a winger come back from a 7 month broken leg, and he hasn't lost a step. It helps that he is only 23. The older the player gets, and the lower the natural fitness rating, that is where I have seen the majority of problems with long-term injuries and players not being the same. Most younger players seem to bounce back fine in my experience.

[Dr. Hook]

Am I asking my players to cross the ball more often when using Low Crosses(?) Ti? I have been using for "if you absolutely have to cross the ball, make it a low cross" but I have been

wondering if I am actually encouraging crossing (which is not what I want).

If you are telling them to cross more often, then that is what they will do. What you want is just to leave the TI at "low crosses" but not touch the PI. If you want to cut down on the number of crosses made, select "cross less often" in the PI.

[Dr. Hook]

What are some ways to determine "WHY" your tactic is working. I have quite a strange tactic and i was wondering how i could find out what its strengths are so i can sign the relevant players Cheers

Probably the most basic of things you can do it evaluate the sort of space you are creating with your attack, when and where, and evaluate where you have your defensive coverage. This will be based on mentality, formation, roles/duties etc. Knowing the roles you have selected is important so go into your tactic and then look at the default PI's that are attached to each role. It would be more helpful to create a thread and posting your tactic up and describe what you are trying to achieve. You could get a lot more specific help.

[JayKinobi]

Probably the most basic of things you can do it evaluate the sort of space you are creating with your attack, when and where, and evaluate where you have your defensive coverage. This will be based on mentality, formation, roles/duties etc. Knowing the roles you have selected is important so go into your tactic and then look at the default PI's that are attached to each role. It would be more helpful to create a thread and posting your tactic up and describe what you are trying to achieve. You could get a lot more specific help.

How do you do that in FM14? Cheers will attempt to do something once the seasons over

[Dr. Hook]

How do you do that in FM14? Cheers will attempt to do something once the seasons over

<br><br>In the tactics screen you go to player, then edit, and you'll see the list of instructions and when you hover over the ones that are greyed out it will tell you whether that instruction is active for the role and duty or if it is unavailable for that role or duty. So for example, if you have an advanced forward attack, when you go into the PI's for that position and leave your mouse cursor over "dribble more" it tells you that it is already active for the position. I wish it was a bit easier to see at a glance, but for now that is how I tell.

[JayKinobi]

In the tactics screen you go to player, then edit, and you'll see the list of instructions and when you hover over the ones that are greyed out it will tell you whether that instruction is active for the role and duty or not. So for example, if you have an advanced forward attack, when you go into the PI's for that position and leave your mouse cursor over "dribble more" it tells you that it is already active for the position. I wish it was a bit easier to see at a glance, but for now that is how I tell.

Thanks Dr. Hook

[Dr. Hook]

Thanks Dr. Hook

Anytime

[mikcheck]

It depends on the player. I just had a winger come back from a 7 month broken leg, and he hasn't lost a step. It helps that he is only 23. The older the player gets, and the lower the natural fitness rating, that is where I have seen the majority of problems with long-term injuries and players not being the same. Most younger players seem to bounce back fine in my experience.

Appreciate your reply Dr. Hook.

Well one have 25 and the other 20, but the younger with only 9 for natural fitness, the other 16. Let's see what happens!

[Double0Seven]

What determines if a plays is able to learn a PPM or not? I have some talented players who fail to learn their PPM(some even two PPMs)an I just cant figure out why. My coaches are good, my facilities too, my player has the right attributes and my coach does not complain when I ask him to teach that PPM.

[Sussex Hammer]

How do you guys deploy a Half Back? Reason I ask is I just cannot get the best out of him and I think it is something to do with closing down. I play a 4132 and if it plays well it is great. If it doesn't "usually against the better teams" it struggles and they just pick their way through my defence. Two CB's, a HB, two CWB's and an array of CM roles I have tried and cannot find the consistency.

Thus I have started thinking about closing down. I use close down more and push higher up on the whole team. Taking them off doesn't help, but say if you are closing down more does that go against the use of a half back? The idea is he slots making a back three but if you are under attack and he is pressing as a DM that renders the positioning useless. However at the same time if you set your Half Back and CB's to close down less then are they too far away from the rest of the team?

Also playing a HB directly behind say a CM A in a 4132 do you bot have large gaps that could be a problem as the CM A goes forward and the HB goes back?

So just wondering how HB users play him and the two CB's next to him?

[Kamakazeee]

Whats the difference between a RPM (S) and DLP (S), they seem to do the same thing on the pitch and there in game descriptions seem similar but wrote in a different way.

[Eliphino]

How do you improve mental attributes that can't be individually trained like concentration and decisions? Do the increase as the player gets older? Or do they increase as part of training for a particular role for which they are required?

[Dr. Hook]

How do you improve mental attributes that can't be individually trained like concentration and decisions? Do the increase as the player gets older? Or do they increase as part of training for a particular role for which they are required?

Sometimes they improve with age, but some, like the two you mentioned can be trained as part of a larger program. Decisions gets trained in the tactical team focus, concentration is trained as part of some defender role training. Sadly, there is not tooltip to give you what is trained where you don't have to look through each, but Cleon's training thread has a lot of that info in there.

[safcrhys]

I play a 4-2-3-1 on standard mentality, fluid, with a focus on possession and a slow tempo, generally trying to play attractive football.

I seem to struggle to hold onto leads though, when I grab a goal, is there some instructions I can use to help see out the game without drastically altering our playing style?

[olivermain83]

I play a 4-2-3-1 on standard mentality, fluid, with a focus on possession and a slow tempo, generally trying to play attractive football.

I seem to struggle to hold onto leads though, when I grab a goal, is there some instructions I can use to help see out the game without drastically altering our playing style?

The best thing you could do is try to analyse the late goals and see what caused them. One thing that tends to happen to me though is that the AI get desperate and start to press heavily, if you try to play too patiently you'll get caught in possession. I usually drop to counter and use the higher tempo shout if see this happening and it tends to do the trick for me.

[vasilli07]

I play a 4-2-3-1 on standard mentality, fluid, with a focus on possession and a slow tempo, generally trying to play attractive football.

I seem to struggle to hold onto leads though, when I grab a goal, is there some instructions I can use to help see out the game without drastically altering our playing style?

When do you normally score and when do you want to start holding on to your lead?

[Sussex Hammer]

What do you all do in wet weather? I find that passes from the midfield when wet tend to end up short when played out to the wing backs resulting in counter attacking opportunities for the opposition. More direct passes seems against what I am trying to achieve due to the description (lift passes would be more apt) and long passes again goes against what I am trying to do. I want to play the same way but have those passes hit with more force. Would playing narrower be an option?

[wkdsoul]

http://www.fm-base.co.uk/forum/share-download-fm-15-tactics/269433-instant-result-warning.html

can someone clairify the above note? correct / in correct.. is there a difference to instant resulting to holidaying?

See these threads every year and i usually skip and let them argue it out, but screw it i wanna know, even if i use neither option.

[RTHerringbone]

This isn't just some random thread that you can get answers for elsewhere on other forums. But I'll answer this one so no-one is confused. On normal FM the assistant does not tweak your tactic because instant result is for FMC and for the assistant to make any chances you would need an active match plan for this to happen, which you can't do on normal FM. So he will use your tactic and line up and will only make changes for tired/injured players nothing else. So no he does not make any tactical changes or play differently from your tactic. It will use whatever tactic you have.

And to be sure of this I just double checked with someone at SI and this is correct.

To add to this, here's an answer from Lucas which backs up what Cleon said. As and aside, as soon as a Skin is used in Sim Mode with Instant Result, it immediately has the potential to invalidate any functionality of Instant Result. I play FMC and have had a couple of Instant Result only saves, and had no issues.

http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/418221-Team-instructions-match-plans-and-instant-result?p=10137905&viewfull=1#post10137905

[Cleon]

Not sure what happened but my post was deleted

Cheers RT was just looking for that thread myself

The roles etc you see aren't always correct because technically you are using something that isn't supported properly on any other format than FMC. So some of the things you see can be misleading.