Questions

[Agent Zero]

I'm new to the game. I give Football Manager a shot because its technical. And I love the aspect of being a coach/manager. So. I have a few questions.

1. How do I know what formation is best for my team? Do I look at attributes, ability, etc?

2. Should I look at my players and decided the formation, or pick a formation and fill it with the best possible players?

3. Whats a good formation if I have strong forwards, strong midfield, or strong defense?

[NoChance]

I'm no expert, but I'll share my opinions, and maybe they'll help. In addition, I'd suggest reading the threads stickied at the top of the tactics forum, especially this one: http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/332585-How-to-Play-FM13-A-Twelve-Step-Guide

1. How do I know what formation is best for my team? Do I look at attributes, ability, etc?

2. Should I look at my players and decided the formation, or pick a formation and fill it with the best possible players?

I think these two questions are linked. Personally, when starting at a new club, I look at the attributes of the players first. There's usually a few players that stand out that you know you'll want to put into your team. Once I have those in place, I decide on things like the strategy, philosophy etc, in other words, the style of play. Once those are set, typically, I choose the formation that suits the style I'm after, and complements the handful of players already selected. Finally, I select the remaining players to fill the spaces in the formation, picked on their suitability for fitting into the formation rather than who is the best player.

Usually, I have some idea of a formation/style I want to play in the longer term, once I've shipped out the players I don't want any more, and signed players I'm interested in. This is rarely the same as the initial tactics, but having some idea how you intend to develop in the future may inform some of your choices early on.

3. Whats a good formation if I have strong forwards, strong midfield, or strong defense?

It's a little more complicated than that. If you have forwards with high physical attributes, but low technical attributes, you're likely to play a different style to high technical attributes and low physical ones. In general, physical players are more suited to a more direct style, and you're more likely to benefit from more players up front: so 4-4-2, 3-4-3 or 4-3-3 are good choices. More technical players generally suit a slower, possession based game, where having more passing options in midfield is more effective, so formations like 4-5-1, 3-5-2 or a narrow diamond

4-4-2 can be effective.

[Agent Zero]

Thank you NoChance. I will spend countless hours trying to figure out what formation will work for my team and such. I guess you can say, one of the beauties to this game.