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

[zlatanera]

12 minutes ago, herne79 said:

Nothing's changed from FM18 to FM19 in this regard apart from the bar showing individual graduation changes changed to a label saying "Attacking", "Very Attacking" or whatever.  Those labels just encompass ranges of the old graduation bars.

We don't know exactly what those ranges are and, to be honest, nor should we as then it becomes pointless.  

Yeah I'd been playing on the assumption that this was the case, just thought it'd good to have someone spell it out a) for verification and b) to go back to the next time someone asks  

[BlueScreen]

Is agility attribute important for a central defender?

[zlatanera]

1 hour ago, BlueScreen said:

Is agility attribute important for a central defender?

It depends on your system. If you play a high line, pressing high up the pitch where you may be vulnerable to long balls then a low Agility attribute is going to impede your CB's ability to turn and recover to tackle the forward (obviously if he has 20 Agility but 5 Acceleration and 3 Pace it won't matter that he's agile). Whereas if you play a bit more defensively it might be less needed. 

[ultrAslan]

I’m playing a 4231 positive mentality against arsenal at home and win 3-0. Now I must play away against arsenal and I want to protect the lead. They will play agressive, because they need min. 3 goals. I want to change only the mentality to balanced-cautious-defensive enough? I want the roles and duties stay the same. Or just play the same with positive mentality? 

[zlatanera]

3 hours ago, ultrAslan said:

I’m playing a 4231 positive mentality against arsenal at home and win 3-0. Now I must play away against arsenal and I want to protect the lead. They will play agressive, because they need min. 3 goals. I want to change only the mentality to balanced-cautious-defensive enough? I want the roles and duties stay the same. Or just play the same with positive mentality? 

Changing mentality is one of the most extreme changes you can make. If you do that you’ll probably have to alter duties at least.

If you want to stick to the same mentality, perhaps alter some things such as dropping your defensive line and / or loe, pressing, make your passing more direct etc. or drop a couple of player duties down but not all of them.

[Johnny Ace]

Does anyone know what the "Play out of defense" instruction actually effects?

I know it'll reduce the backline's passing length but I'm thinking it  wether or not it'll reduce width & tempo too. Visually, I think it does but would like to know for sure   

[Exius]

1 hour ago, Johnny Ace said:

Does anyone know what the "Play out of defense" instruction actually effects?

I know it'll reduce the backline's passing length but I'm thinking it  wether or not it'll reduce width & tempo too. Visually, I think it does but would like to know for sure   

It does nothing with passing length. It adjusts defenders movement and positioning so that they are more often open for pass.

I'm going to show it in my next tactical experiment here and I already have some interesting results.

[ultrAslan]

What to do against fast paced strikers like Gabriel Jesus? I have fast defenders acc en pace min. 15-17, but for examle if bruyne sends a longe range pass jesus runs through my defense? How to stop getting through balls? I know you can adjust the D-line, but what can I do more? Playing narrower? Tight marking? 

[Snorks]

1 hour ago, ultrAslan said:

What to do against fast paced strikers like Gabriel Jesus? I have fast defenders acc en pace min. 15-17, but for examle if bruyne sends a longe range pass jesus runs through my defense? How to stop getting through balls? I know you can adjust the D-line, but what can I do more? Playing narrower? Tight marking? 

Defend narrower and tight marking Jesus might help, but his marker would have to have at least the same Acceleration and Pace to keep up, not to mention Agility and Positioning and Anticipation.

In that particular case  I would look at closing down De Bruyne's passing options - try and force him to play sideways rather then through.

[bartex55]

As we read in brief guide to training

Quote

When fatigue is low a player that works hard physically (sessions that increase fatigue) will improve his long term fitness, meaning he can stave off jadedness longer into the season

Is it the case though? Wouldn't fatigue accumulate faster over the season? Isn't Sharpness simply a long term fitness?

[edhdurham]

I have kinda asked this before but didnt get a clear response, but I struggle to create an attacking tactic and a defensive tactic in terms of having a squad good / big enough to play each tactic when required...  so if I pick one to use, for example the attacking tactic, how do I adapt that when I play against a much stronger team or even to protect a lead, or is it not possible?

Basically can you play with one tactic and mentality?

Thanks

[Experienced Defender]

55 minutes ago, edhdurham said:

Basically can you play with one tactic and mentality?

Of course you can. If you are a top (or very good) team, you can play with the same mentality and tactic all/most of the time.

If you are an average team, you can still play with the same mentality (my recommendation would be Balanced) and same formation, but tweaking the tactic (roles, duties, instructions) depending on the opposition or in-game situation. Mind the difference between formation and tactic.

[edhdurham]

11 minutes ago, Experienced Defender said:

Of course you can. If you are a top (or very good) team, you can play with the same mentality and tactic all/most of the time.

If you are an average team, you can still play with the same mentality (my recommendation would be Balanced) and same formation, but tweaking the tactic (roles, duties, instructions) depending on the opposition or in-game situation. Mind the difference between formation and tactic.

Ah great, so what category would Newcastle fall into  so I think I will stick with my Vertical Tika Taka and maybe mess around with the defensive line against stronger teams.

[Experienced Defender]

24 minutes ago, edhdurham said:

so what category would Newcastle fall into

An average team. Btw, what a  coincidence that I started a save with the very NC just recently 

[Snorks]

2 hours ago, Experienced Defender said:

Of course you can. If you are a top (or very good) team, you can play with the same mentality and tactic all/most of the time.

If you are an average team, you can still play with the same mentality (my recommendation would be Balanced) and same formation, but tweaking the tactic (roles, duties, instructions) depending on the opposition or in-game situation. Mind the difference between formation and tactic.

Agree with this entirely.

Currently in my Sheff Utd save I have a 4231 Positive/Attacking (I will switch between the mentalities with a couple of duties changed), a 4231 Balanced (few if any TIs) and a 4141DM Wide - Balanced (Again with few TIs). Very little tactical switching needed, other than tweaks to roles/duties usually deending on opposition. I have my 'Aggressive' set up - based on the Gegenpress default. A 'holding' set up fr games I feel I can win, but without taking to many risks, and a 'Defensive' set up that takes a bit away from the attack but strengthens the defensive set up. 

With a MC that can also play AMC, or one that can drop into the DM role, I am able to make changes as required and on the fly pretty easily. Sometimes cycling through all three over the course of 90mins. Currently March in season 3 of the save and sitting nicely in fourth EPL.

[zlatanera]

18 hours ago, bartex55 said:

As we read in brief guide to training

Is it the case though? Wouldn't fatigue accumulate faster over the season? Isn't Sharpness simply a long term fitness?

Well in real life coaches who put their players through the ringer in pre-season tend to see them endure better. Look at the contrast between Spurs' luck with injuries last season after a tough pre-season under Pochettino compared to how Man United were dropping like flies after 10 games under Ole because Mourinho hadn't gotten them fit enough in pre-season. 

[bartex55]

4 minutes ago, zlatanera said:

Well in real life coaches who put their players through the ringer in pre-season tend to see them endure better. Look at the contrast between Spurs' luck with injuries last season after a tough pre-season under Pochettino compared to how Man United were dropping like flies after 10 games under Ole because Mourinho hadn't gotten them fit enough in pre-season. 

I'm not negating any of that but I thought it was represented by Sharpness which is almost exclusively increased by playing matches, not by fatigue-intense training.

[zlatanera]

9 minutes ago, bartex55 said:

I'm not negating any of that but I thought it was represented by Sharpness which is almost exclusively increased by playing matches, not by fatigue-intense training.

I think it's maybe an under the hood thing? 

And even if it is, it still doesn't mean a hard pre-season will guarantee few injuries. In my current Lyon save I've worked my players to the bone in 3 consecutive pre-seasons. Season 1 & 2 we had pretty great luck - Nabil Fekir only mussed 2 months over both of them despite appearing to be injury prone, and nobody had an injury longer than 6 weeks. Season 3 come February I was playing teams with 4 u19s on the bench and another 3 on the pitch for a match preceding a CL tie as I had that few of my 1st team fit.

[Snorks]

50 minutes ago, bartex55 said:

I'm not negating any of that but I thought it was represented by Sharpness which is almost exclusively increased by playing matches, not by fatigue-intense training.

The Fatigue-intense training will increase some of the attributes for the players that take part -  I think Stamina, Work Rate and Natural Fitness possibly.

Otherwise I think you are right, I use pre-season friendlies to get Sharpness up and a bit of tactical familiarity if needed. Otherwise it's down to those attributes and, of course, Injury Proneness

[bartex55]

3 minutes ago, Snorks said:

The Fatigue-intense training will increase some of the attributes for the players that take part -  I think Stamina, Work Rate and Natural Fitness possibly.

Otherwise I think you are right, I use pre-season friendlies to get Sharpness up and a bit of tactical familiarity if needed. Otherwise it's down to those attributes and, of course, Injury Proneness

Actually that's what I've been thinking they were trying to say by that. Attributes training is a long-term strategy though and I think Fatigue focus would do much more harm than good in respect of jadedness over the season.

[Seb Wassell]

@bartex55 @zlatanera @Snorks

Re. Fatigue and Sharpness -

Sharpness is Match Sharpness. It is nothing to do with long term fitness but instead how "Match Fit" a player is. The only way to increase this is by playing matches. It decreases when not playing matches. Certain types of training will slow this decrease.

Fatigue is long term fitness, if you like. Whilst Condition governs the player's immediate physical shape, Fatigue describes the longer term effects of fitness. When a player is fresh and not fatigued, such as during pre-seson, heavy training that traditionally increases fatigue will actually instead reduce it. It is in this way that a heavy pre-season prepares players for a long, tough season, especially seasons that involve many matches or intense tactics. Caveat here is that players returning to pre-season from an international tournament are likely to be fatigued already and in need of further rest before they are advised to start training/playing (see the players returning from international duty with African or South American nations this summer). When a player is anything other than fresh, undertaking actions that traditionally increase fatigue do precisely that, they add to the player's fatigue levels, increasing the chance of him becoming jaded and burning out. A player's Natural Fitness and age also affect accumulation of fatigue. Fatigue reduces with rest, it increases with heavy training and matches.

[Sussex Hammer]

Ok not a tactics or training question but a quickie none the less.  If you sold a player with a 50% sell on clause and bought that player back a year or two later do you get back 50% of your money?!?!?! 

[Seb Wassell]

4 minutes ago, Sussex Hammer said:

Ok not a tactics or training question but a quickie none the less.  If you sold a player with a 50% sell on clause and bought that player back a year or two later do you get back 50% of your money?!?!?! 

Yes.

[Sussex Hammer]

11 minutes ago, Seb Wassell said:

Yes.

Brilliant......

[bartex55]

8 hours ago, Seb Wassell said:

When a player is fresh and not fatigued, such as during pre-seson, heavy training that traditionally increases fatigue will actually instead reduce it. 

Thank you for your answer. For clarification - this fatigue reducing effect is obtainable only by training induced fatigue and not by playing matches while fresh?

Edited August 16, 2019 by bartex55

[Seb Wassell]

9 minutes ago, bartex55 said:

Thank you for your answer. For clarification - this fatigue reducing effect is obtainable only by training induced fatigue and not by playing matches while fresh?

Correct, only training.

[Luizinho]

Is the Pass Into Space TI basically asking your whole team to take more risks with their passing?

[Rashidi]

1 hour ago, Luizinho said:

Is the Pass Into Space TI basically asking your whole team to take more risks with their passing?

Yes

[mikcheck]

Hello guys,

Would like to seek your opinions on these 3-4-3 formations.

I'm using a WB on the left because the player I use there isn't a good dribbler.

Thank you.

 

Edited August 16, 2019 by mikcheck

[Luizinho]

1 hour ago, Rashidi said:

Yes

Thanks. I've always thought of Pass Into Space as - "Play the ball in behind the opponents defensive line".

Always learning with FM 

Edited August 16, 2019 by Luizinho

[Experienced Defender]

4 hours ago, Luizinho said:

Is the Pass Into Space TI basically asking your whole team to take more risks with their passing?

Yes, but it still does not mean that every single pass will be played into space. Instructions are not literal, they rather serve to encourage certain types of behavior from the players. Plus, when it comes to the Pass into space TI, it does not pertain exclusively to risky passes (through balls), but also to all passes that are played in front of a teammate (as opposed to his feet), even if the pass is played just slightly ahead of him.

[rafaelbenitez]

If I assign training responsibilities to my assistant manager, will he also automatically adjust coaching assignments to manage the workload and maximise the star ratings?

[herne79]

12 minutes ago, rafaelbenitez said:

If I assign training responsibilities to my assistant manager, will he also automatically adjust coaching assignments to manage the workload and maximise the star ratings?

He will automatically adjust assignments but I suggest you always check if the star ratings look good or not.

[zZzZzZzZzZzZzZz]

Is concentration a useful attribute for a striker?

I've always thought of it as mostly a defensive attribute but I've got a striker in my team right now with 18 concentration and I am wondering if he gets anything out of it being that high.

[herne79]

9 hours ago, zZzZzZzZzZzZzZz said:

Is concentration a useful attribute for a striker?

I've always thought of it as mostly a defensive attribute but I've got a striker in my team right now with 18 concentration and I am wondering if he gets anything out of it being that high.

It's a nice to have but not really necessary and not something I tend to look for when buying/developing a new striker.  Defenders I would though.

[ultrAslan]

Is it possible that Natural Fitness will increase by time when you play?

Is there a thread for when you 0-1 behind and you want everything to all out attack? 

[zlatanera]

11 minutes ago, ultrAslan said:

Is it possible that Natural Fitness will increase by time when you play?

I've seen it go +2 by the age of 21 before, not much more. So yes it's possible. 

[Peter Morgan]

I feel this is a stupid question so here goes...

Pre-Match Tactical briefing

I always run these myself. However, no matter what I choose to focus on, or what options I select I always get the same reaction (or lack of): 'there was little reaction from the squad'.

After each game I clear all players from each position as I like to pick the next team with a 'clean slate'. This means that no players have been allocated a position for the next match when I hold the tactical brief. Is this why I never get any reaction ftom the players? Or is this just the sort of response I should expect. I'm playing as Tottenham.

[herne79]

8 minutes ago, Peter Morgan said:

I feel this is a stupid question so here goes...

Pre-Match Tactical briefing

I always run these myself. However, no matter what I choose to focus on, or what options I select I always get the same reaction (or lack of): 'there was little reaction from the squad'.

After each game I clear all players from each position as I like to pick the next team with a 'clean slate'. This means that no players have been allocated a position for the next match when I hold the tactical brief. Is this why I never get any reaction ftom the players? Or is this just the sort of response I should expect. I'm playing as Tottenham.

In all honesty, other than adding flavour / role playing, personally I've never noticed any tangible impact when using this option.  Use it as part of the management experience if you like, but I just hit "skip briefing" and get on with things.

[Peter Morgan]

9 minutes ago, herne79 said:

In all honesty, other than adding flavour / role playing, personally I've never noticed any tangible impact when using this option.  Use it as part of the management experience if you like, but I just hit "skip briefing" and get on with things.

Thanks for the quick response @herne79. Much appreciated! 

[zlatanera]

4 hours ago, Peter Morgan said:

 

After each game I clear all players from each position as I like to pick the next team with a 'clean slate'. This means that no players have been allocated a position for the next match when I hold the tactical brief. Is this why I never get any reaction ftom the players? Or is this just the sort of response I should expect. I'm playing as Tottenham.

Yeah, you have to pick the team before you hold it. I never used to do them, but now I do as I like to see myself getting a positive reaction from most of my players. Also because I tend to run a 23 man squad (Two XIs plus a substitute full back who can cover both flanks) so I need to see if I'm going to have to move any u19 players up - given they often play on the same day as the first team, leaving it until just before kick-off would screw up my plans. But on previous editions I never used it and still had great success, so by all means just do as @herne79 does and click "skip briefing".  

[Peter Morgan]

33 minutes ago, zlatanera said:

Yeah, you have to pick the team before you hold it. I never used to do them, but now I do as I like to see myself getting a positive reaction from most of my players. Also because I tend to run a 23 man squad (Two XIs plus a substitute full back who can cover both flanks) so I need to see if I'm going to have to move any u19 players up - given they often play on the same day as the first team, leaving it until just before kick-off would screw up my plans. But on previous editions I never used it and still had great success, so by all means just do as @herne79 does and click "skip briefing".  

Thanks @zlatanera! I would like to continue using the pre-match briefing if I actually got reactions, so I will trial picking a team before the briefing starts and see how it goes.

[Seb Wassell]

On 22/08/2019 at 00:24, zZzZzZzZzZzZzZz said:

Is concentration a useful attribute for a striker?

I've always thought of it as mostly a defensive attribute but I've got a striker in my team right now with 18 concentration and I am wondering if he gets anything out of it being that high.

Whilst some attributes are more useful to certain players than others, I wouldn't say any attributes are not useful at all. This is especially true for Mental attributes. Whilst Concentration is essential in defence, a striker with good Concentration is more likely to snatch that late winner than one with without it (and if you pull your strikers back on set pieces you could argue it is important in that phase). Whilst I wouldn't go looking for it, if it was the only different between two strikers I'd use it to split them.

On 22/08/2019 at 22:34, ultrAslan said:

Is it possible that Natural Fitness will increase by time when you play?

Natural Fitness is one of the most static attributes, by definition it is a player's "natural" base level of fitness, but it is possible for it to both increase and decrease over time.

[Zemahh]

21 hours ago, herne79 said:

In all honesty, other than adding flavour / role playing, personally I've never noticed any tangible impact when using this option.  Use it as part of the management experience if you like, but I just hit "skip briefing" and get on with things.

I'm sure there's some meaning to it, I'd be quite disappointed if it's literally nothing more than a role playing screen. After all, there must be a reason for players reacting to different tactical approaches differently. My guess would be that it adds or takes away from their morale, albeit very slightly. I interpret it as a minor pre-match team talk—if the players react positively, maybe they go into the match with a bit more confidence than they would, if they didn't agree with the tactical approach. Perhaps it could also have some minor effect on their tactical knowledge. There's a lot of details in this game that add up in one way or another and I always saw pre-match briefings as just another part of that.

[zZzZzZzZzZzZzZz]

What would be some favourable player traits for a trequartista playing in the AMC slot?

[Experienced Defender]

1 hour ago, zZzZzZzZzZzZzZz said:

What would be some favourable player traits for a trequartista playing in the AMC slot?

For a TQ playing in any slot - first touch, passing, technique, dribbling, finishing... off the ball, vision, flair, composure, decisions, anticipation... acceleration, pace, agility, balance. Not each of these attributes has to be outstanding, but all need to be good. Of course, attribute ratings are relative to the league you play in.

[herne79]

3 hours ago, zZzZzZzZzZzZzZz said:

What would be some favourable player traits for a trequartista playing in the AMC slot?

 

1 hour ago, Experienced Defender said:

For a TQ playing in any slot - first touch, passing, technique, dribbling, finishing... off the ball, vision, flair, composure, decisions, anticipation... acceleration, pace, agility, balance. Not each of these attributes has to be outstanding, but all need to be good. Of course, attribute ratings are relative to the league you play in.

Player Traits for a TQ?

A few options here:

1) Open up FM18/17/16/whatever and see what Traits Totti has.

2) Any Trait which may help with his passing/movement/dribbling skills, eg., tries killer balls often; dictates tempo; plays one twos; runs with ball often etc.  But does your TQ have the relevant attributes to make the most of them?

3) Entirely depends on what you want from your TQ.  Different players play the same role in different ways and Traits will add to that.  A player with the Trait "runs with ball often" may play the TQ role differently compared to another player with the Trait "tries killer balls often".  Both can be a TQ, they'll just play the role differently.

4) None at all - just let the role's own instructions take centre stage.

[Experienced Defender]

24 minutes ago, herne79 said:

Player Traits for a TQ?

Sorry, my mistake 

[ultrAslan]

What does the following team instruction do: Pass into space + Work ball into box together?

[Zemahh]

7 hours ago, ultrAslan said:

What does the following team instruction do: Pass into space + Work ball into box together?

Pass Into Space is a passing instruction. It encourages risky passes into space which players can run on to.

Work Ball Into Box is a shooting instruction. It encourages more patient play around the box.