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

[Dr. Hook]

15 hours ago, hicuty said:

The relationship between vision and passing makes sense as one is the ability to see other is to execute. To better understand off the ball, is it the ability to create space for yourself or teammates? Like f9 droping for inside forward who seeks to exploit the space behind him, or the ability to drift around looking for space for yourself?

It is for the player with the rating- his ability to create space for himself, to lose his marker, and to get himself into good attacking positions. In your example, if the F9 drops to make space for the IF, the IF's off the ball will help determine how well he uses the space that is opened up. 

(Yonko is also right to mention other attributes as playing a part- decisions is always a big one that works together with other attributes)

[Hagginho]

Can i someway look what my coaches think of my formation and how they think i should line up? Not game to game but more generic. I know you get the information during the pre-season but during the season? 

[jc577]

Is it possible to have direct passing but keep the ball on the floor?

[Dr. Hook]

18 hours ago, jc577 said:

Is it possible to have direct passing but keep the ball on the floor?

It should be as long as your players are compact enough- it's just that direct passing tends by nature to stretch the play in the effort to get up the field quickly. Perhaps a less risky passes approach to limit attempts into space would also be of help. So yeah, I think it's theoretically possible to do but it would probably take some fiddling.  

[Armistice]

Is an AP (A) an attacking threat? I really don't know how he acts in attack, can someone explain it a bit please?

Edited November 3, 2017 by Armistice

[Dr. Hook]

3 minutes ago, Armistice said:

Is an AP (A) an attacking threat? I really don't know how he acts in attack, can someone explain it a bit please?

In basic terms he advances to the edge of the area or just inside and looks to pass to players in scoring positions- he will get forward into the box once the ball gets in there, but you won't want to rely on him to score a lot. He should pot you a few, though. 

[Suggy33]

I don't know what else I can do to stop my team from taking so many long shots.

I've got every midfielder and my full backs on shoot less often, Work Ball into Box applied from the start, Retain Possession applied in a desperate attempt to stop shooting, and all I see is my players trying long shots. 

In this first half of a pre-season friendly we had 65% possession and 17 shots, only scoring one.

This is my starting tactic and instructions, in this match I quickly changed to Control when we were having lots of possession.

Also my players keep getting to the byline inside the box, and then shooting from the tightest angle when I've got a striker free in the 6 yard box, would be great to know if there is a way to rectify that.

If anyone has any advice it would be much appreciated..

Edited November 3, 2017 by Suggy33

[FMWolf]

@Suggy33 Not an expert, but I think you lack people occupying the central space of the pitch, which maybe is resulting in lack of options to your players. The reasons why I think that could be the case:

• You use 2 wingers + play the wider TI, making none of them really contribute to the build up phase in the central areas;
• You use an AMC-A that's maybe pushing forward a lot and not really come deep to help and build your plays;
• Haven't touched FM18 yet, but from what I understand, the Carrillero tends to drift wide making it yet another player who's not in a good position to help you build up your attacks;

Now, the first thing I would do would be trying to switch your AMC-A to AMC-S and see how it goes from there. You could also  mix up the roles in the wings to try and add some variety to your game (FB-A w/ W-S and FB-S w/ W-A).

 

Just some food for thought!

[Suggy33]

Thanks @FMWolf.

I will try switching to AMC (S) for the time being for definite. I think you may be thinking of the Mezzala, rathern than the Carrillero, but understandable if you haven't played the game!  The Carrillero is a bit like the Kante role.

For large swathes of the season before this I used one Winger and one Inside Forward and I have also used both as Inside Forward but my tactical report always highlighted the main negative as "we have taken xx shots from outside the box without scoring." In fact, one has just appeared in my emails.

 

From the half in question, here is my average position of squad with the ball, if that may help in any way.

Edited November 3, 2017 by Suggy33

[markyosullivan]

Can someone give me an idea on how to play a structured 4-2-2-2 formation? 2 DMC, 1AML, 1AMR and 2 STs. Seems that I can't score and can't stop the goals from going in.

I've tried every single year to try a long ball approach where like Pullis' teams where they pump the ball up the pitch but it never works no matter what I've tried. I honestly cannot see how a structured approach is supposed to work.

[mikcheck]

For those who play with narrow formations, such as 4-1-3-2, 4-1-2-1-2 diamond, narrow 4231 etc:

Do you normally play with play wider TI, so you central players have more space to play? Is it a good ideia to do that with such formations? Thank you.

Edited November 5, 2017 by mikcheck

[Spartak Trigger]

For teams with overall low low passing are you better playing shorter passing or more direct?

I have low decisions / teamwork and average  vision/work rate

Edited November 5, 2017 by Spartak Trigger

[Hagginho]

 

EDIT: Chilled down for a moment, just a quick question. If you were Crystal Palace manager, how would you play and line up? I dont care at all about playstyle right now. Just wondering if im really that stupid and cant play this game. 

Edited November 5, 2017 by herne79
removed rant and bad language

[herne79]

1 hour ago, Hagginho said:

 

EDIT: Chilled down for a moment, just a quick question. If you were Crystal Palace manager, how would you play and line up? I dont care at all about playstyle right now. Just wondering if im really that stupid and cant play this game. 

This is neither the forum nor the thread for ranting and bad language.  We treat this as a family forum so if you want to post here please treat it as such.  You'll also be more likely of getting a response if you do.

If you want a start to how to play Crystal Palace (or anyone for that matter) there are plenty of tools in game to help, such as assistant manager advice and squad analysis tools.

[herne79]

2 hours ago, mikcheck said:

For those who play with narrow formations, such as 4-1-3-2, 4-1-2-1-2 diamond, narrow 4231 etc:

Do you normally play with play wider TI, so you central players have more space to play? Is it a good ideia to do that with such formations? Thank you.

Personally I don't tend to use that TI although that's not to say that using it is a bad idea.  Remember that width is also affected by the mentality you choose.

[mikcheck]

Thanks herne.

What about hug touchline for the fullbacks, is it something you'd normally do in a narrow formation?

[herne79]

1 hour ago, mikcheck said:

Thanks herne.

What about hug touchline for the fullbacks, is it something you'd normally do in a narrow formation?

Not normally no.  In fact I wouldn't "normally" use any tactical instruction unless I was either trying to create a certain style of play or I needed my players to do something that they weren't already doing.  For example, why tell fullbacks to hug the touchline if I see they're already doing it?

[mikcheck]

4 hours ago, herne79 said:

Not normally no.  In fact I wouldn't "normally" use any tactical instruction unless I was either trying to create a certain style of play or I needed my players to do something that they weren't already doing.  For example, why tell fullbacks to hug the touchline if I see they're already doing it?

Great. Thanks!

[gunnersguy]

Im not sure if this is the correct place to post this but i have a question regarding the head of youth development and who is responsible for the clubs youth intake. For example im playing as Arsenal and Arsene Wenger is the director of football, would it be wise so make him responsible for bring in youth players instead head of youth development as he has the attributes or does he need head of youth development as a staff role to perform it effectively which Arsene Wenger does not have. Secondly if i give him this role will he affect the players in the same way the head of youth development would such as their personality? Lastly if i game him this role would it make the head of youth development obsolete as he would have no responsibilities? 

Many thanks

[jc577]

Are support duties key when transitioning the ball from defence to midfield, midfield to attack etc? 

[91427]

Do the manager stats working with youngsters and adaptability increase over time?

[Cleon]

10 hours ago, gunnersguy said:

Im not sure if this is the correct place to post this but i have a question regarding the head of youth development and who is responsible for the clubs youth intake. For example im playing as Arsenal and Arsene Wenger is the director of football, would it be wise so make him responsible for bring in youth players instead head of youth development as he has the attributes or does he need head of youth development as a staff role to perform it effectively which Arsene Wenger does not have. Secondly if i give him this role will he affect the players in the same way the head of youth development would such as their personality? Lastly if i game him this role would it make the head of youth development obsolete as he would have no responsibilities? 

Many thanks

If the HOYD has no responsibilities then he'd just be a coach. If you want to give it Arsene then give it Arsene. Whoever is responsible for bringing players into the club (newgen day) then they'd be the one influence the personality types. So in your case it would be Arsene.

[Cleon]

9 hours ago, jc577 said:

Are support duties key when transitioning the ball from defence to midfield, midfield to attack etc? 

Depends what the role is, the role is more important because its this what determines what a player actually does.

[zigaliro]

Can someone explain what exacly does "move into channels" mean?

[Cleon]

38 minutes ago, zigaliro said:

Can someone explain what exacly does "move into channels" mean?

The channel is the space between a centreback and the fullback, so not quite on the wing, slightly inside between the CM and wide position.

[Fritz13]

I’m trying to use 2 CMs as part of a 4-2-2-1 - one support and one attack.

am I asking for trouble if the roles and/or PIs are similar -direct passing, roaming, risky passing etc?

 

[Cleon]

2 minutes ago, Fritz13 said:

I’m trying to use 2 CMs as part of a 4-2-2-1 - one support and one attack.

am I asking for trouble if the roles and/or PIs are similar -direct passing, roaming, risky passing etc?

 

If the roles are same you could lack variety but that doesn't necessarily mean its a bad thing though. I think the question is more about why would you want players to play the same way and what benefits do you get than using different roles doesn't offer. Then you'll have your answer

[Fritz13]

8 minutes ago, Cleon said:

If the roles are same you could lack variety but that doesn't necessarily mean its a bad thing though. I think the question is more about why would you want players to play the same way and what benefits do you get than using different roles doesn't offer. Then you'll have your answer

Yep that a fair point.

my fool up question is whether having 2 playmakers would make sense - a DLP and a RPM or alternatively a RPM and an APM.

indirectly you might well have answered this already above  

[Cleon]

9 minutes ago, Fritz13 said:

Yep that a fair point.

my fool up question is whether having 2 playmakers would make sense - a DLP and a RPM or alternatively a RPM and an APM.

indirectly you might well have answered this already above  

Depends how you want them to play and how having two playmakers utilises the other players you have.

[janesy20]

I'm a little lost on the vast aray of advice on here when trying to understand Structured vs Fluid team shape. The in game advice suggests that if I were to use Highly Structured that there would be little room for creative freedom. Does this over ride individual player roles? For instance if I was highly structred  possession based with a couple of playmakers in the side would this reduce their effectiveness? Or on the contrary would it get them doing exactly what I want them to be doing?

Similarly, If I wanted to create liverpool style high press counter attack should I be using basic player roles and a very fluid philopshy?

Personally I would have thought if you were to say use Control and Very fluid you would end up with a Manchester City style possession based team with lots of creativity but the things I've read on here suggest that I should be using highly structured in order to achieve this. 

Another question I have would be the full back for example: highly structured advice states "defenders only responsible for the defensive phase" If for example I was to play Kyle Walker as a complete wing back in this system....is it completely against what I should be doing? Do i need it to be very fluid in order for his role to work?

Thanks

Edited November 7, 2017 by janesy20

[herne79]

30 minutes ago, janesy20 said:

I'm a little lost on the vast aray of advice on here when trying to understand Structured vs Fluid team shape. The in game advice suggests that if I were to use Highly Structured that there would be little room for creative freedom. Does this over ride individual player roles? For instance if I was highly structred  possession based with a couple of playmakers in the side would this reduce their effectiveness? Or on the contrary would it get them doing exactly what I want them to be doing?

Similarly, If I wanted to create liverpool style high press counter attack should I be using basic player roles and a very fluid philopshy?

Personally I would have thought if you were to say use Control and Very fluid you would end up with a Manchester City style possession based team with lots of creativity but the things I've read on here suggest that I should be using highly structured in order to achieve this. 

Another question I have would be the full back for example: highly structured advice states "defenders only responsible for the defensive phase" If for example I was to play Kyle Walker as a complete wing back in this system....is it completely against what I should be doing? Do i need it to be very fluid in order for his role to work?

Thanks

Player roles and duties define player behaviour.  Everything else (in this case Team Shape) merely modifies that behaviour.  So a playmaker will still be a playmaker, a complete wingback will still be a complete wingback regardless of what other tactical settings you use.  The tactical settings will just modify how the role plays out.

With regards to Team Shape, it'll (basically) do two things:

1)  Gives your player more or less creative freedom.  If you go to Highly Structured (the least creative freedom) this focuses your players fair and square on their roles & duties.  As you move through Team Shape towards Very Fluid you allow more (creative) deviation from their core roles.  So players may make a few more risky passes, attempt a few more dribbles, that kind of thing.

2)  Changes vertical compactness, so more or less space between players from front to back.  It does this by altering individual player mentality, so in a Highly Structured system a wingback's (for example) mentality may be lower than if you changed to a Very Fluid system - very fluid can encourage the wingback to get forward a bit more often.  Conversely it can have the opposite effect on more advanced players, so suddenly your advanced players may track back more and your defenders may get forward more (in Very Fluid).  Hence greater vertical compactness.  This is also where we get into transitions.  There are limits of course - a complete wingback with an attack duty is going to be very forward thinking regardless of Team Shape and so changes may only have a relatively limited impact.

You can see for yourself the impact of changing Team Shape (or Mentality).  Go into one of your player's Player Instructions screen, click on Edit to bring up all the choices and at the top you'll see a bar marked mentality.  Watch how it changes as you change Team Shape (or Mentality).  In some roles there won't be much deviation, in other roles it'll be more noticeable.

It can be a confusing subject I agree and I'm trying to avoid too much detail here to avoid more confusion.  Hopefully you get the gist.

[janesy20]

3 hours ago, herne79 said:

Player roles and duties define player behaviour.  Everything else (in this case Team Shape) merely modifies that behaviour.  So a playmaker will still be a playmaker, a complete wingback will still be a complete wingback regardless of what other tactical settings you use.  The tactical settings will just modify how the role plays out.

With regards to Team Shape, it'll (basically) do two things:

1)  Gives your player more or less creative freedom.  If you go to Highly Structured (the least creative freedom) this focuses your players fair and square on their roles & duties.  As you move through Team Shape towards Very Fluid you allow more (creative) deviation from their core roles.  So players may make a few more risky passes, attempt a few more dribbles, that kind of thing.

2)  Changes vertical compactness, so more or less space between players from front to back.  It does this by altering individual player mentality, so in a Highly Structured system a wingback's (for example) mentality may be lower than if you changed to a Very Fluid system - very fluid can encourage the wingback to get forward a bit more often.  Conversely it can have the opposite effect on more advanced players, so suddenly your advanced players may track back more and your defenders may get forward more (in Very Fluid).  Hence greater vertical compactness.  This is also where we get into transitions.  There are limits of course - a complete wingback with an attack duty is going to be very forward thinking regardless of Team Shape and so changes may only have a relatively limited impact.

You can see for yourself the impact of changing Team Shape (or Mentality).  Go into one of your player's Player Instructions screen, click on Edit to bring up all the choices and at the top you'll see a bar marked mentality.  Watch how it changes as you change Team Shape (or Mentality).  In some roles there won't be much deviation, in other roles it'll be more noticeable.

It can be a confusing subject I agree and I'm trying to avoid too much detail here to avoid more confusion.  Hopefully you get the gist.

thanks!

[wixxi]

Any tips on breaking down teams that park the bus? Just played against swansea as chelsea and they employed a 5-3-3-1 which seemed impossible to create chances against. I tried playing very wide with wingers to stretch them but to no avail. Ended the game with 0 clear cut chances and 12 corners.

[Babak G]

Logically speaking if you play a 3-1-4-2 with two wingers on support wide, is it a must to play a wider game on team instructions to avoid being stretched by the oppositions game? would playing wide also extend your 3 center backs so the two wider ones would pull into full back positions when you have the ball? 

Edited November 7, 2017 by Babak G

[PJHoutman88]

Here's a quick question, hoping someone can answer. It concerns FM17 (but might be the same in FM18, idk):

When training Defensive Full Back, it focuses on fewer attributes than training Full Back (Defensive Full Back trains 7 attributes, Full Back trains 15). I'm labouring under the assumption that individual training distributes any added CA gain over the focused attributes. Does this mean training DFB produces a bigger net gain (for the attributes focused on) than training FB would? 

[Cleon]

6 hours ago, wixxi said:

Any tips on breaking down teams that park the bus? Just played against swansea as chelsea and they employed a 5-3-3-1 which seemed impossible to create chances against. I tried playing very wide with wingers to stretch them but to no avail. Ended the game with 0 clear cut chances and 12 corners.

https://teaandbusquets.com/the-walls-of-jericho

6 hours ago, Babak G said:

Logically speaking if you play a 3-1-4-2 with two wingers on support wide, is it a must to play a wider game on team instructions to avoid being stretched by the oppositions game? would playing wide also extend your 3 center backs so the two wider ones would pull into full back positions when you have the ball? 

Width is an in possession instruction but it wouldn't be that extreme to give what you are asking. As for the wingers they'd already be wide naturally. 

4 hours ago, PJHoutman88 said:

Here's a quick question, hoping someone can answer. It concerns FM17 (but might be the same in FM18, idk):

When training Defensive Full Back, it focuses on fewer attributes than training Full Back (Defensive Full Back trains 7 attributes, Full Back trains 15). I'm labouring under the assumption that individual training distributes any added CA gain over the focused attributes. Does this mean training DFB produces a bigger net gain (for the attributes focused on) than training FB would? 

The less attributes a category has the more chance of those attributes training but remember it's still down to other things too just how much those gains will be. It will also differ for each player due to personality, hidden attributes and so on.

[mikcheck]

Hello all.

Two questions:

1 - I haven't played FM18 so far, but i've seen that the highlighted attributes for Mezalla role does not require off the ball, which is strange to me, because it has roam from position instruction, so wouldnt off the ball be important too?

2- Is there such a thing as using too many playmakers? Right now i'm using 4 in my team (Regista, DLP, TQ and AP). What i want them to do is to be the main creators for my Shadow Striker and DLF(A). Does this make sense?

Thank you.

[herne79]

2 minutes ago, mikcheck said:

1 - I haven't played FM18 so far, but i've seen that the highlighted attributes for Mezalla role does not require off the ball, which is strange to me, because it has roam from position instruction, so wouldnt off the ball be important too?

It can be.  The highlighted attributes are just a guide not a rule and don't always encompass everything.  The Trequartista for example doesn't have Dribbling highlighted yet has the Dribbles More PI.

4 minutes ago, mikcheck said:

2- Is there such a thing as using too many playmakers? Right now i'm using 4 in my team (Regista, DLP, TQ and AP). What i want them to do is to be the main creators for my Shadow Striker and DLF(A). Does this make sense?

There is only such a thing if your team is unbalanced.  4 may seem quite a lot but if it works it works.  I'm not entirely convinced that a DLF and an SS needs 4 creators however, and I might be a bit worried about a potential over reliance on those two scoring your goals, but the TQ at least should chip in (if it's all balanced) and as ever the best way to know for sure is to try it out.

[EvertonblokesMobile]

I was wondering about the new circles showing how good players are in a position and a role.

For example a player could be bright green full circle in DMC and MC, yet when checking the DLP role he could be bright green full circle when checked at MC but only murky green most circle for the same role at DMC when it will require the same attributes and we've already confirmed he's just as good in both positions.

Is this an error?

Am I putting too much stock in wanting bright green full circles everywhere?

Any opinions welcome

[herne79]

1 hour ago, EvertonblokesMobile said:

Am I putting too much stock in wanting bright green full circles everywhere?

Kind of yeh.  They're a guide, a starting point, but not a hard and fast rule.  It gives you an indication of players who may be suitable to play in that position / role to hopefully encourage you to look deeper at the player yourself (attributes, personality, PPMs and so on) to help you decide if the player is right or not.

It's your decision, not the game's .

[EvertonblokesMobile]

1 hour ago, herne79 said:

Kind of yeh.  They're a guide, a starting point, but not a hard and fast rule. 

That's good I can relax a bit about it then :-)

[mikcheck]

7 hours ago, herne79 said:

It can be.  The highlighted attributes are just a guide not a rule and don't always encompass everything.  The Trequartista for example doesn't have Dribbling highlighted yet has the Dribbles More PI.

There is only such a thing if your team is unbalanced.  4 may seem quite a lot but if it works it works.  I'm not entirely convinced that a DLF and an SS needs 4 creators however, and I might be a bit worried about a potential over reliance on those two scoring your goals, but the TQ at least should chip in (if it's all balanced) and as ever the best way to know for sure is to try it out.

Thanks.

Yes thats right, i dont have the game with me but i know that TQ has finishing but not dribbling. But i'd certainly search for off the ball if i wanted to use a Mezalla.

That also what i'm looking for, that TQ chips in a few too, i think it's a balanced system.

[jc577]

Is it counter-intuitive to ask a player to tutor a youngster with a better personality than themselves? Is there a chance their determination may decrease?

[Oenone87]

Offsides. I am having LOADS of them. Callejon mostly, but Ounas and Insigne too. Their positioning for all 3 is crap - is this what is affecting it? if not, how do I stop it? Callejon is a Raumdauter, Insigne is a IF.

 

Edit - Can't be positioning, Messi's and Ronaldo's is like, sub 8. So I'm not sure how to stop them getting called offside so much.... And I've just checked my game stats and each side has 1 offside! Impossible, we get multiple calls a game. TO THE BUG FORUM!

Edited November 9, 2017 by Oenone87

[HUNT3R]

5 hours ago, jc577 said:

Is it counter-intuitive to ask a player to tutor a youngster with a better personality than themselves? Is there a chance their determination may decrease?

Of course it can. The tutee is learning from the tutor, whether that's a good or bad thing depends on who you choose. It's not just the positive traits that'll transfer.

[vasilli07]

2 hours ago, Oenone87 said:

Offsides. I am having LOADS of them. Callejon mostly, but Ounas and Insigne too. Their positioning for all 3 is crap - is this what is affecting it? if not, how do I stop it? Callejon is a Raumdauter, Insigne is a IF.

 

Edit - Can't be positioning, Messi's and Ronaldo's is like, sub 8. So I'm not sure how to stop them getting called offside so much.... And I've just checked my game stats and each side has 1 offside! Impossible, we get multiple calls a game. TO THE BUG FORUM!

Callejon has tries to beat the offside trap ppm. Maybe put him on support duty so that he can check his runs or try to make him unlearn the ppm.

[Oenone87]

Just now, vasilli07 said:

Callejon has tries to beat the offside trap ppm. Maybe put him on support duty so that he can check his runs or try to make him unlearn the ppm.

I should have looked at that. my bad. Thank you!

[Cleon]

6 hours ago, jc577 said:

Is it counter-intuitive to ask a player to tutor a youngster with a better personality than themselves? Is there a chance their determination may decrease?

It doesn't make much sense if the player you want to tutor already has a better personality than the person doing the tutoring. It's rather pointless. And if the tutor has lower determination than the player being tutored, then yes, its more than likely it'll drop.

[tajj7]

With regards to PPMs, when you ask them to train one and the coach says they don't think they are able to learn that, presuming they fail, can you keep plugging away or is it just never likely to happen? 

[herne79]

6 hours ago, Oenone87 said:

Edit - Can't be positioning, Messi's and Ronaldo's is like, sub 8. So I'm not sure how to stop them getting called offside so much.... And I've just checked my game stats and each side has 1 offside! Impossible, we get multiple calls a game. TO THE BUG FORUM!

Positioning is used when defending, not attacking.  Kind of the defensive equivalent of off the ball.

8 minutes ago, tajj7 said:

With regards to PPMs, when you ask them to train one and the coach says they don't think they are able to learn that, presuming they fail, can you keep plugging away or is it just never likely to happen? 

You're the boss so you're free to ignore the advice.  It is worth noting though that coach advice isn't always bad especially if it's a good coach who is relevant to the PPM you are looking to train.