Creating A Tactic - Design, Create and Maintain

[Cleon]

Added new info in post 5

[Cleon]

yep, it would visualize the changes you made.

Added it to the post for you

[Steve Odom]

Added it to the post for you

I did get the changes you made, but took me some time figuring it out, thought it could enhance the quality of your post even more.

When this thread is done, you can shut down the tactical forum because, combined with the other stickies, everyone would know about everything there is to know.

[Cleon]

I did get the changes you made, but took me some time figuring it out, thought it could enhance the quality of your post even more.

When this thread is done, you can shut down the tactical forum because, combined with the other stickies, everyone would know about everything there is to know.

No worries. Let me know what you think of the new post in post 5

[Steve Odom]

Awesome! It is the most important aspect of football though you hardly see it discussed. The lack of space is the major flaw in many tactics,imo. If the forum search were a bit better, I could dig up at least 50 threads in a few seconds where this would be the problem. The fact you describe in such detail how you could create space is fantastic and this thread will be -again, in conjunction with wwfan and Llama's threads- the reference point for anyone asking help.

This has always been my base premise and I'm certain I'm not alone in that:

Football is simple really: creating space for your team while denying it to the opposition.

[Cleon]

Awesome! It is the most important aspect of football though you hardly see it discussed. The lack of space is the major flaw in many tactics,imo. If the forum search were a bit better, I could dig up at least 50 threads in a few seconds where this would be the problem. The fact you describe in such detail how you could create space is fantastic and this thread will be -again, in conjunction with wwfan and Llama's threads- the reference point for anyone asking help.

This has always been my base premise and I'm certain I'm not alone in that:

Football is simple really: creating space for your team while denying it to the opposition.

Cheers, I wasn't too sure how well what I was trying to say came across

[phnompenhandy]

There are quite a few options I could use when facing stubborn sides who sit deep and are hard to break down. I could be relentless and do attack after attack in the hope that sooner or later I force them into a mistake and that they buckle under the constant pressure. This approach tends to have more shots but less accuracy because the higher you play and the more aggressive you are then the more cramped the final third becomes.

And therein lies the source of 90% of the 'Cheating AI'/'Broken ME' whinges in GD. Oh do please someone send them all to this post (which they don't have the attention span to read!).

[Marbah]

man...this guy, thank you Cleon. looking forward for updates

[Cleon]

And therein lies the source of 90% of the 'Cheating AI'/'Broken ME' whinges in GD. Oh do please someone send them all to this post (which they don't have the attention span to read!).

Thanks

I've never been a fan of reducing the space I have to play in and making things even more compact, it's just not logical imo

man...this guy, thank you Cleon. looking forward for updates

Thank you

[eyalgolan]

This is great. I also tried to recreate Bayern's 4-1-4-1 so this gives me some nice references as well as being an impeccable tactical guide. Cheers mate.

I do have one question though- Why you chose Very Rigid over Rigid?

As I try to understand philosophy better, I just have to ask seeing that you don't have much specialist roles in your tactic (the DLP, AP and DF if I'm correct). I mean, you could even go Balanced.

[Cleon]

This is great. I also tried to recreate Bayern's 4-1-4-1 so this gives me some nice references as well as being an impeccable tactical guide. Cheers mate.

I do have one question though- Why you chose Very Rigid over Rigid?

As I try to understand philosophy better, I just have to ask seeing that you don't have much specialist roles in your tactic (the DLP, AP and DF if I'm correct). I mean, you could even go Balanced.

I prefer the mentality structure of very rigid and it fits nicely with what I'm trying to recreate. Balance wouldn't give the same structure

[Steve Odom]

Cheers, I wasn't too sure how well what I was trying to say came across

Maybe even a bit more emphasis on 'use instructions sparingly', only the basics in the beginning. Especially if you don't know how they pan out in your tactics. I see a lot of people asking for help where they play attacking, push the D-line very high, play a very high tempo 4231 with hassle opponents and tighter marking, wondering why it's so difficult to create space.

[llama3]

We're having a rather good time on the T&T Forums at the moment aren't we?

[Cleon]

We're having a rather good time on the T&T Forums at the moment aren't we?

I think its because its easier now due to there only being 1 way to create a tactic, so everyone is using the same base to build from and design the style/philosophy they want. So I think this is generating a lot of discussion and making people want to post

[AlanM2011]

Thanks Cleon,

I havent looked at the Bayern tactic but I have watched a good bit of Juve this year and tried to replicate there play in FM.

I am a slow player so had my save going since the beta with Juve sitting in March 1st season storming Serie A and Itallian cup final, Champions leage knock out rounds Im 1-0 down on aggregate against Leverkusen, I had the issue brought up in post 5 about the aggressive attacking and hoping for the breakthrough.

I will use some of the stuff you have mentioned to see if it helps in the second leg.

[CactusC]

Started a new save where I became manager of a struggling Boston Utd and decided to give this 4-1-4-1 formation a go. Since I can never get specialist roles to work though, I set up a more generic version. I also changed the FB A / WM S - FB S / WM A set up to all being on support instead. I know that your setup encourages movement between the lines and creation of chances, but I never managed to get it to work with any of the teams I tried it on. We always get exposed on the flanks. Having both FB and WM on Support makes the team much more stable and I also get better wing play for some reason.

It worked like a charm and I won the first game in charge 1-0 away to a top team. Scored a wonderful goal where my wide man made his marker, cut inside and passed it back to the FB who smashed it in. After that it was all stalwart defending. It is nothing more satisfying in FM than to hold on to a 1-0 lead.

Anyway, just wanted to share my experience and also get your take on the FB S / WM A and vice versa issue. Perhaps players in lower leagues are just not skilled enough to pull it off?

[Cleon]

Started a new save where I became manager of a struggling Boston Utd and decided to give this 4-1-4-1 formation a go. Since I can never get specialist roles to work though, I set up a more generic version. I also changed the FB A / WM S - FB S / WM A set up to all being on support instead. I know that your setup encourages movement between the lines and creation of chances, but I never managed to get it to work with any of the teams I tried it on. We always get exposed on the flanks. Having both FB and WM on Support makes the team much more stable and I also get better wing play for some reason.

It worked like a charm and I won the first game in charge 1-0 away to a top team. Scored a wonderful goal where my wide man made his marker, cut inside and passed it back to the FB who smashed it in. After that it was all stalwart defending. It is nothing more satisfying in FM than to hold on to a 1-0 lead.

Anyway, just wanted to share my experience and also get your take on the FB S / WM A and vice versa issue. Perhaps players in lower leagues are just not skilled enough to pull it off?

If you've set up a more generic one and used more support roles then it won't work the same and you need to know how its going to work. I mean you've changed the whole attacking side of the tactic and the way it functions, how is your striker going to be involved now and who's going to support him? It's great that you got the 1-0 win but I think you'll struggle to get any consistency because you've killed off the whole movement and the way it functioned. So now I don't don't know what your vision is and what you have planned for it.

It's great that you've adapted it but I feel you've missed the point of this thread entirely and actually done the opposite of what is intended and now lack movement and groups of players working together in tandem.

What I mean by all this is - Why the changes and what is the goal of the tactic now? Who are the creative players? Who's going to make those intelligent runs? How is the striker going to score? What happens now with your central duo? How involved are they?

All these are questions you need to know the answers too for any tactic you use. You need to be able to have a vision and a start point and know what you want from a tactic. You need to know who will score the goals, who will create the goals, who will provide support, who's going to be the burst of energy and pace you need to switch play etc.

[CactusC]

It's great that you've adapted it but I feel you've missed the point of this thread entirely and actually done the opposite of what is intended and now lack movement and groups of players working together in tandem.

You are probably right!

What I did was to set it up just like you but changed the HB to DM D, the two CM's to CM S and CM A. Then I removed the A's and made them into S's. I am not very tactically astute but realise this changes a lot, if not everything. But I kinda liked what I saw. My wing play was better than I ever managed to get it in FM14 with good forward movement and dangerous crossing and my CM A was the star of the show.

Anyway, I am reading your thread to try to learn more about FM14 (which I have struggled immensely with) and not to copy your tactic exactly. Hopefully, one day I will get good enough to fully understand what works and why and can tweak things as I want, but am not there yet.

[Cleon]

You are probably right!

What I did was to set it up just like you but changed the HB to DM D, the two CM's to CM S and CM A. Then I removed the A's and made them into S's. I am not very tactically astute but realise this changes a lot, if not everything. But I kinda liked what I saw. My wing play was better than I ever managed to get it in FM14 with good forward movement and dangerous crossing and my CM A was the star of the show.

Anyway, I am reading your thread to try to learn more about FM14 (which I have struggled immensely with) and not to copy your tactic exactly. Hopefully, one day I will get good enough to fully understand what works and why and can tweak things as I want, but am not there yet.

Who was getting on the end of the crosses because unless you changed the striker role he tends to be too deep to get on any kind of cross really. And if he did win the ball on the crosses then what did he do with the ball and did he have players in support?

[deosays]

Cleon, how do you instruct your mid players?

I'm using 2 midfielders AP(S) and BBM(S), 1 EG and 2 strikers. I'm also using 2 WBs both on attack duties. I'm not sure about their roles and duties, I just can't find the right combinations of them to create a space like yours. My strikers keep staying forward and I feel like it's hard to break down or pull out opponents defenders to create some space for others.

I know I still need to learn, but I really need you to help me here. Thank you so much.

[Cleon]

Cleon, how do you instruct your mid players?

I'm using 2 midfielders AP(S) and BBM(S), 1 EG and 2 strikers. I'm also using 2 WBs both on attack duties. I'm not sure about their roles and duties, I just can't find the right combinations of them to create a space like yours. My strikers keep staying forward and I feel like it's hard to break down or pull out opponents defenders to create some space for others.

I know I still need to learn, but I really need you to help me here. Thank you so much.

Everything you need to know about how I set up is all in this thread already.

[JoshLCFC]

Just two quick questions, what do you think about using opposition instructions? And training?

Cheers.

[Cleon]

Just two quick questions, what do you think about using opposition instructions? And training?

Cheers.

Training is explained here;

http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/375145-The-Santos-Project-Tactical-and-Player-Development

and I don't use OI's.

[Falahk]

Interesting, I do something similar at times. However in the scenario I posted how would changing the player have worked and not the role? The issue was getting someone more forward and using the space higher up, I can't see how a change of personnel would have worked without changing the role. The players playing are already attack minded with attacking PPM's but were being pushed back by Preston due to my players marking them. The only logical solution in this case was to give the players different space to play into to stop them being dragged so deep. Regardless of who played I'd have still had the same issue.

lets assume for a second that I was using your tactic with my manchester united team and that I made the choice to start Marouane Fellaini in the DLP role

for those who dont know, his profile look like this (and he also have the ppm's comes deep to get ball, plays one-twos, does not dive into tackles):

lets then assume I saw that this was not working at all, he was not getting involved, coming to deep (or getting forced to deep by the opposing team) or whatever

I would then drag this Larnell Cole chap of the bench (he have the ppm's play short simple passes and arrives late in opponents area):

by doing this substitution I would radically change how my team was playing, and as such probably produce a similar effect to changing the roles around

that said, I know you dont have the squad options to do something similar Cleon, so in your case changing the roles around do make a lot of sense, and this wold probably be the case for anyone playing a lower league team

[Cleon]

lets assume for a second that I was using your tactic with my manchester united team and that I made the choice to start Marouane Fellaini in the DLP role

for those who dont know, his profile look like this (and he also have the ppm's comes deep to get ball, plays one-twos, does not dive into tackles):

lets then assume I saw that this was not working at all, he was not getting involved, coming to deep (or getting forced to deep by the opposing team) or whatever

I would then drag this Larnell Cole chap of the bench (he have the ppm's play short simple passes and arrives late in opponents area):

by doing this substitution I would radically change how my team was playing, and as such probably produce a similar effect to changing the roles around

that said, I know you dont have the squad options to do something similar Cleon, so in your case changing the roles around do make a lot of sense, and this wold probably be the case for anyone playing a lower league team

My player already has those PPM's that your substitute has plus the gets forward often PPM, so the sub is pointless. He has attacking PPM's that should make him play higher already but it wasn't working. Hence why a role change was needed. Arrives late in the oppositions area doesn't come into effect until until you're in the final third to begin with so your sub has no logic behind it imo unless the player was already able to move forward and was currently using the space in front of him.

[CactusC]

I will have to look at it tonight, but from what I recall most crosses were directed towards the edge of the box (i.e. a low cut back from a position towards the byline) where they were picked up by my CMs or FBs. I have never really seen that before tbh. The goal was scored like that and there were a few other good chances too. The striker mostly seemed to feed off through balls from the central midfielders. He had a couple of one on ones but had to take his shots from quite far away and hence missed. He got among the lowest ratings in the teams as well.

[Falahk]

My player already has those PPM's that your substitute has plus the gets forward often PPM, so the sub is pointless. He has attacking PPM's that should make him play higher already but it wasn't working. Hence why a role change was needed. Arrives late in the oppositions area doesn't come into effect until until you're in the final third to begin with so your sub has no logic behind it imo.

I know you made the logical choice for the situation you was in (and I also pointed that out in my post), I was just trying to explain my thinking in a bit more depth even if it probably was irrelevant in this case

[Cleon]

I know you made the logical choice for the situation you was in (and I also pointed that out in my post), I was just trying to explain my thinking in a bit more depth even if it probably was irrelevant in this case

Ah you threw me because you said this is what you would have done in that same scenario

[Falahk]

Ah you threw me because you said this is what you would have done in that same scenario

mind I probably still would have done the same thing (gone for a substitution) since im a lazy git and cant bother to much with changing my tactic around once im happy enough with how things are working in most matches, even if its illogical when playing a lower league team, and when I dont have as many squad options to play around with

if things are looking horrible all around and I feel there is no minor fix that could turn things around, I would probably change formation (picking a different saved tactic I have used before, again probably a somewhat lazy and maybe even to drastic option)

[mkkadi]

Great job man.

One question. What is your changes when you play against better team? I think it is hard to play attacking football against them.

[Cleon]

Great job man.

One question. What is your changes when you play against better team? I think it is hard to play attacking football against them.

I'd play the same way as outlined at the start of the thread. I base decisions on what happen in game rather than focusing on who is strong or weaker because that doesn't fit how I play. Stronger teams normally leave lots of space to be attacked because they tend to attack you, so you can attack them back most times or counter them and cause lots of your own problems.

[voe2012]

Thanks

I've never been a fan of reducing the space I have to play in and making things even more compact, it's just not logical imo

Thank you

so there is a flaw in the M.E. after all..... teams parking the bus will fall in the trap, come out more and give away space to be exploited instead of sitting back in two banks of 4 watching the other team play the ball around near the middle of the park while their supporters become less patience and start booing the home team into action

[Falahk]

so there is a flaw in the M.E. after all..... teams parking the bus will fall in the trap, come out more and give away space to be exploited instead of sitting back in two banks of 4 watching the other team play the ball around near the middle of the park while their supporters become less patience and start booing the home team into action

tbf as long as you have the players for it, you can sit back in the two banks of four and bore the opposing team into a mistake and somehow claw your way into a title challange (I have done it before and it does indeed work on fm)

but id rather watch that kind of play on extended highlights rather then full match....

[Rasmus]

This is working out really great for my Man United team. Since I don't have the proper personnel to play 4-1-4-1, I chose to continue with my already built 4-2-3-1 formation. Attacking mentality, very rigid and all the shouts which you suggested in the OP. Decided to plug it in straight away, and of course TF dropped, but I gave it a try anyway. However, I was inspired of the article about the double 10 pivot. That made my starting eleven look like this.

GK - De Gea

WBL support - Luke Shaw/Evra

DC Defend - Johnny Evans/Smalling

DC Defend - Balanta/Phil Jones

WBR attack - Rafael/Peruzzi

MC Defend - Fellaini

DPL Support - Carrick

AML - Inside forward - Insigne/Nani

AMC - Treq - Kagawa/Rooney/Januzaj

AMR - Valencia/Nani

ST - F9 - Van Persie/Rooney. However, if I want to give Welbeck some playing time, he will play as an advanced forward.

So I have the F9 dropping deep and most of the time in the same area as the Trequartista. This seems to drag out the central defenders even more, and as far as I can see the F9 and Treq will swap positions from time to time. Van Persie will sometimes send a through ball to Kagawa or Rooney or Kagawa/Rooney as the treq will send balls through to RVP. Also, when the defenders are dragged this deep, easy through balls will also be made to my wingers. Especially Antonio Valencia seems to be thriving, but now I need to get Insigne more involved as the Inside Forward. Insigne doesn't appear to cut inside enough, and not that many through balls are being passed to him. When he tries to dribble inside the pitch he mostly going down to a sliding tackle which appears to make him nervous.

The results:

First game against Crystal Palace i absolutely trashed them. 9-0! I was up 7-0 at halftime. Granted, I had 2 goals from penalties and 2 from corners, but still - WOW! I expected Palace to be compact, but Roon and RVP as two deep forwards appeared to confuse the defensive organisation totally! 34 shots, 20 on goal, 7 clear cut chances. A monster awakened!

Then, 0-0 away at the Capital One semi final at Liverpool to send me through to the final, since I won 3-2 at home in the first leg.

A 1-0-win against Norwich away in the FA Cup. Goal came from a Smalling interception high up the pitch, who passed it to Rooney (F9), who passed it through to Kagawa (treq) who had run behind the defence for a placed finish. A game where Norwich (who is led by Martin Jol now), also wanted to press high up the pitch and take possession of the ball. Because of that, it became a midfield battle, and they where dangerous with their through balls at times. Luckily, my defense where able to clear. I then switched to a more direct style of play, which saw me lose the possession battle, but I wanted to make quick counter attacks when my team intercepted the ball. unfortunately, the Norwich keeper played a great game.

4-1-win against Tottenham (2nd in PRL) AWAY. It's safe to say they didn't stand a chance in this game. We totally dominated possession and created more than 20 chances. First goal a placed free kick from Insigne. Then a beautiful team goal. Rafael dribbled down the right flank, passed the ball back to the edge of the area to Carrick, who with a one-touch pass found Valencia in the box, who then with a first time pass found RVP, who tapped it in easily. I still dominated and created great chances, and only an edge-of-the-area-screamer from Eriksen made it 2-1. 3-1 came once again with a backpass from the wing into the box where RVP smashed it into a defender, but the ball landed at the feet of Shaw who put it in. 3-1! 4-1 came after a counter attack. Insigne had the ball at the edge of the box and drew defenders to him, but they didn't account from an overlapping Evra. Insigne easily laid it off to Evra who struck the ball into the top corner!

Also won 2-0 away at Everton, where I played a more direct passing game because of the bad weather, and because of Evertons high line. Created a lot of chances, but so did Everton! They had 5 CCC's which was a little too much for my taste. De Gea played a blinder though. Goals came from Rooney (RVP assist) and a through ball to Valencia who slotted it in.

At home I had a 3-1 win against Chelsea. With my TF not even near fluid I still managed to dominate and press Chelsea who made a couple of defensive mistakes that led to two goals. A throug ball was sent to RVP who couldn't quite reach it, however, Cech and Terry got in each other's ways and suddenly, all RVP had to do was pass the ball into the empty net. Balanta 2-0 from a corner. Subotic made it 2-1, also from a corner. Then Willian tried to make a sliding tackle on the edge of Chelseas box, which instead landed at the feet of RVP who easily made it 3-1.

So great succes so far. Can't wait when the tactic reaches full fluidity!

[yonko]

Cleon, I don't see you mention any individual instructions. I assume you don't use any otherwise you would talk about them, right?

[Cleon]

Cleon, I don't see you mention any individual instructions. I assume you don't use any otherwise you would talk about them, right?

Just the cuts inside one for the Right sided wide midfielder.

[eyalgolan]

Do you find yourself often open for counter attacking? Seems to be like playing Attack with high line, tempo and pressing is an invitation for quick wingers to slice me open. So far my number one source of concern.

[Mark.]

So far how are you finding the Wide Midfielders attacking wise, are they getting as involved as you would like?

[Fieldy_21]

Great thread Cleon, I have picked up quite a bit from this thread in terms of general principles as opposed to blindly copying a tactic.

I do have a question though, when you are in the lead of a game and the scoreline is quite tight, 1-0, 2-0 etc. would you do anything to close the game out in the last 15-20 mins or would you just leave it as it is? I have been developing my strikerless tactic and I seem to start off very well during a game and then once I'm in the lead for the last 15 mins I will drop it down to control and promptly concede and go onto lose the game I must be doing something wrong, I am wondering if perhaps I'd be better off leaving it as it is, but I was always under the impression that as the opp are losing they will try and throw everything at me to try and get back into the game, so I could try and go to counter and hit them on the break which works occasionally but I have found the opp still score quite a bit, or lately I am trying to use the control and retain possession to just keep the ball and strangle the play a little bit.

[brugi82]

Cleon - What individual instructions you are using for your players (besides RM - cuts inside) and how is that affecting your play-style?

[Cleon]

Do you find yourself often open for counter attacking? Seems to be like playing Attack with high line, tempo and pressing is an invitation for quick wingers to slice me open. So far my number one source of concern.

Sometimes maybe but due to using a halfback who drops into to the back line its actually quite solid and not as open as you'd think. While the tactic does seem very aggressive with the team instructions the roles I use actually aren't.

So far how are you finding the Wide Midfielders attacking wise, are they getting as involved as you would like?

Plenty of assist's and a few goals too.

Cleon - What individual instructions you are using for your players (besides RM - cuts inside) and how is that affecting your play-style?

None as I pointed out 4 posts above when someone else asked the same question. Post 86

[Cleon]

Great thread Cleon, I have picked up quite a bit from this thread in terms of general principles as opposed to blindly copying a tactic.

I do have a question though, when you are in the lead of a game and the scoreline is quite tight, 1-0, 2-0 etc. would you do anything to close the game out in the last 15-20 mins or would you just leave it as it is? I have been developing my strikerless tactic and I seem to start off very well during a game and then once I'm in the lead for the last 15 mins I will drop it down to control and promptly concede and go onto lose the game I must be doing something wrong, I am wondering if perhaps I'd be better off leaving it as it is, but I was always under the impression that as the opp are losing they will try and throw everything at me to try and get back into the game, so I could try and go to counter and hit them on the break which works occasionally but I have found the opp still score quite a bit, or lately I am trying to use the control and retain possession to just keep the ball and strangle the play a little bit.

I might slow the tempo and retain possession but that's about it. If I'm winning I am very reluctant to change something that is clearly working. If its no broke why try fixing it right?

[gpassosbh]

Trying to implementing this tactic in Ajax, and it run very well in friendly.

My only change was the DC duo, setting one as DC - Cover and another DC - Stopper.

Will post season results later.

[pedromanuelpinto]

Trying to implementing this tactic in Ajax, and it run very well in friendly.

My only change was the DC duo, setting one as DC - Cover and another DC - Stopper.

Will post season results later.

I'm using to CD d and playing a Counter Attack style, but I take to much balls in the back... will try the Stopper & Cover solution to see if is more effecient. My team is scoring a lot of goals, but taking to much to..

Most impressive results:

Leipzig 4 - 4 Kaiserlautern

[gpassosbh]

I'm using to CD d and playing a Counter Attack style, but I take to much balls in the back... will try the Stopper & Cover solution to see if is more effecient. My team is scoring a lot of goals, but taking to much to..

That´s why I change to Stopper & Cover duo... When I uses "much higher defensive line", fast strikers always get my back... With this formation, at least for me, I can cover this gap...

[phnompenhandy]

I found stopper/cover to be a risky combination for me - the stopper can move forward and the cover step back leaving a space for a through ball. That's why I've gone for stopper/defend or defend/cover.

If you do put one on cover, should ir be the one with more acc/pace or less?

[gpassosbh]

I found stopper/cover to be a risky combination for me - the stopper can move forward and the cover step back leaving a space for a through ball. That's why I've gone for stopper/defend or defend/cover.

If you do put one on cover, should ir be the one with more acc/pace or less?

Cover - Less acc/pace

Stoper - more acc/pace

That way, the Stopper can do the first battle for the ball, and if he loses, he can come back to help the Cover one. This happens to me in my friendly games.

[Cleon]

I found stopper/cover to be a risky combination for me - the stopper can move forward and the cover step back leaving a space for a through ball. That's why I've gone for stopper/defend or defend/cover.

If you do put one on cover, should ir be the one with more acc/pace or less?

I dislike using stopper and cover against any 2 or 3 man strike forces because if one of the strikers drops deep when the stopper steps up you see a big gap appear between the DC's and then you see the through balls you mentioned. Far too risky for me.

[Noel Gallagher]

Great thread Cleon.

I have a question regarding the new tactics interface. I think I know the answer but it would be great to get some clarification.

The possession modifiers (More Direct Passing, Shorter Passing etc..) does mentality also affect the length of the passes? For example, if I played an attacking mentality and had shorter passing selected, would the passing length be a little more direct than it would if I was using a control mentality with shorter passing? Or are the passing lengths the same?

I assume they are incremental and vary depending on the strategy as per FM13.

Thanks

[Steve Odom]

Great thread Cleon.

I have a question regarding the new tactics interface. I think I know the answer but it would be great to get some clarification.

The possession modifiers (More Direct Passing, Shorter Passing etc..) does mentality also affect the length of the passes? For example, if I played an attacking mentality and had shorter passing selected, would the passing length be a little more direct than it would if I was using a control mentality with shorter passing? Or are the passing lengths the same?

I assume they are incremental and vary depending on the strategy as per FM13.

Thanks

They are, playing wider also increases passing length. This is one of the great things about the TC, no more illogical passing fails because of sliders not being compatible.