WhaleOilBeefHooked Posted September 30, 2009 Share Posted September 30, 2009 Good day fellow FM'ers around the globe. Hopefully as I write up this guide to how I play FM the same will relatively apply to FM10. Otherwise this'll be a complete waste of time In this guide I hope to cover most things on how I play FM. Obviously this is not a set in stone how YOU should play FM but hopefully it'll give some hints and tips to those who are struggling a bit. I will be breaking the guide down into parts, mainly so I don't get finger cramps (my job requires a lot of time infront of a computer so honestly I tend to get tired fingers and eyes ). PART 1 - Getting Started So in part one we're going to get started with choosing a team and the first day on the job which tends to be the longest one in my case due to setting up staff, looking through the squad and checking potential targets for positions. However first we need to pick a team. Choosing A Team To Manage When choosing a team most people go the easy route and choose the team they support. I'm a die hard Liverpool fan and usually start out any new FM with them because I know the players inside out and know what they can and cannot do in terms of quality and instructions. It's also easy to choose a formation that way. Once I've played a season or two with them I usually have a good idea how the mechanics in the game work and will restart with a different team for a bit of a challenge. If you want an easier challenge choose a team who are established in the world. Man Utd, Arsenal, Chelsea, Inter, Juventus, Barcelona, Real Madrid or maybe even Man City with all their cash but you'd have to wait a while for the gelling period to get all your stars together. You could delve into the lower leagues and pick a team and build them up and take them to Champions League glory or pick a relegation battler in a higher league. Whatever team you pick you need to be motivated otherwise you'll see yourself quitting after a while and take another team. For this guide I have decided that I am going to use Fulham as an example. The reasons are three-fold. A) They are a team that I'm sure most people on the boards will be quite familiar with B) The team, in my opinion, are better then the relegation battlers they are made out to be and C) I just fancy them in terms or a challenge. The First Day So it's your first day at your new club. Once you take changre you get a little history about the club, a little message from the Chairman, an assesment from the assistant manager and also a season target from the board. Usually I start out by going straight to the target. Now personally whenever I am a relegation battler I always choose the target higher then Try and avoid relegation. Yes it adds pressure to yourself but on the plus side you usually get a little more cash and wage budget which could get you a little more player quality. If I was a bigger club I would just choose accordingly to where they are in the league (Chelsea - Title Challenge Aston Villa - European Qualification Newcastle - Midtable etc etc). I got a nice £6.5m transfer budget and a 80k over the current wage spending which could see me wheel and deal a bit in the market. But more on that later. Staff: Most FM'ers I speak to go straight to buying players when they get their budget. I work diffrently. I go straight to hiring staff as I need to be confident in what I have behind the scenes before changes to the playing staff. Kind of like getting the right chef before buying the right ingredients. First off is the assistant manager. There are diffrent ways you could approach one. You might want help with team talks so you get an AM with high motivation. You might want an extra pair of good coaching hands on the pitch which could be usuful at lower leagues where the coach quota is smaller then larger clubs or maybe you need help analysing your playing staff. Personally I like having an AM who can give comment on players. My word being the bottom line but still it's nice to have second opinions. I always look for high Judging Ability. Secondly I'd look for good stats in Motivation, again for an opinion on team talks and then thirdly Determination, Adaptability (if he's from another country) and Judging Potential (not required but helps if he has double digits) Next would be the coaches. If you are a smaller team the target would be to get enough coaches to get more then 3 stars on each training category. I wouldn't worry too much about youth coaches at the lower levels because the odds are you won't have good enough youth facilities or even an academy. If you're a bigger club look to get coaches to cover each area. One (or even better two) fitness coaches, one goalkeeping coach and a couple of regular coaches to cover the defensive, attacking and tactical side of the training. If you have an academy it's worth getting good coaches with good working with youngster attributes as youth coaches. I have a theory, which I can't actually prove, that the more good youth coaches you have the better quality regens will come through. This isn't something that's been confirmed btu I like to think they are there for a reason. With the physio's try and get the max quota. The more you have the better they'll speed up the recovery of players and more accurate they'll be with the injury report. For scouts I like the way the bigger clubs handle things. You have a head scout, a tactical scout to check up on the opposition and then other scouts scouring the globe. That is something I like to do as well. Get the best scout you can with the higest Judging Potential and ability to be your head scout who has the last word on targets, a scout with high tactical ability and then the rest with as high determination rating as possible so they find more players. Once you have the staff sorted out you can decide what you want them to do. With the AM I like to have him sort out friendlies and take care of teamtalks. The good thing is you still have the last word with team talks even if he's handling them so if you see something you don't agree with then change it. I don't like him to do press conferences in case he chooses the wrong option in my opinion. I'm not going to go into training too much as there are several good training schedules out there but there are loads of ways you can go about training. You can go global and just adjust the sliders for the whole team. You can go player specific tailor the needs to that position or you can go even further and have specific training for positions and age (more physical training for younger players then older who have more technical). Tactics and Players I'm not going in deep into tactics in this part as I just want to do an overview of what players I have and then decide on what tactics to play. However I personally always play a back four. I feel it's solid enough to have a flat four infront of the keeper. It's in midfield and upfront you have decide what combination to use. Looking at Fulham's team for example they don't have that much depth in defence and the left side of midfield looks a little weaker then the right although I can play Koncheskey on the left flank. For the defence I'll be looking for some new players not only to deepen the options but to make the team more solid. In midfield there are few options to try out in pre-season. Like Murphy for instance, he has very solid stats to become a good playmaker for the team. Not the flairy type but more the Alonso, Lampard type. Dempsey is a bit of an enigma. Classed as winger or AMC but in my opinion doesn't have teh quality to pull it off. I always recommend a 4-4-2 in situations where FM'ers can't decide what to play. Doesn't have to be a flat one, it can be a diamond type if you just don't have any quality on the flanks but be careful about employing a AMC as you need really good players there and also you sacrifice a player that can defend. Fulham haven't got the current quality to play a 4-3-3/4-5-1 as there isn't a good enough striker to pull it off and the wingers just ain't good enough. No point in trying a 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-2-1 either as again there isn't enough technical quality in the team. I'm sticking to 4-4-2 for now. The most important thign a manager has to do is to balance a tactic around a team and also a team around a tactic. For the long term you should always have a plan on how you want to play. Just remember you can always go back to a 4-4-2 as it's flexible enough to adapt players to. Once you are a world class team if you start with a world class team you can start to experiement a bit in terms of formation. Maybe you've started as Barcelona where AMC's are a plenty and the creativity is just shining through the whole squad. If you are a little unsure of what formation to employ with your squad then don't hesitate to ask but if you are very ensure, again I stress that a 4-4-2 is simple enough to adapt players to. In part two I'll go more indepth into tactics but for now if anyone has any questions about part one or indeed you want to add something I've missed I'll add to the guide. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhaleOilBeefHooked Posted September 30, 2009 Author Share Posted September 30, 2009 PART 2 So you’ve decided on the formation now all that remains is the actual tactics. I usually have a set of player instructions that I always use whatever team instructions I have set and I hope now to go through them. Again if you have questions or comments about them then feel free to ask. Let’s get started with the keeper - Goalkeeper For me there are two types of keepers. A) Conservative and B) a Sweeper Keeper. The difference being that one keeps it all simple and the second helps the defence whilst playing a high line. Both keepers are possession friendly distributing to the fullbacks. Now with Fulham there probably won’t be a single game where I’ll be playing a highline. (Maybe if I had to go 4-2-4 to grab a late goal). This is usually how I set them up - Conservative Keeper : Ment : Team CF : 1 (Low) Passing: 1 (Short) Closing Down: Same as DC’s Tackling: Easy Distribution: Defender Collect Distribute to: DR or DL Sweeper Keeper : Ment : Team (or even 20 Attacking) CF : 20 (High) Passing : 1 (Short) Closing Down : Same as DC’s Tackling : Normal Forward Runs : Mixed TTB : Mixed Distribution : Defender Collect Ditribute to : DR or DL Fullbacks As with keepers there are different types. Defensive, Supporting or Attacking fullbacks. With Fulham I’m not exactly expecting to attack with my fullbacks away from home but some home games they will be given license to roam. I don’t start a match with defensive fullbacks as that takes away quite a lot from your attacking threat. They are more a conservative method to protect points. Defensive Fullback : Ment : Team CF : Normal (9) Passing : Team Closing Down : Own Half Tackling : Normal Forward Runs : Rarely RWB : Rarely Long Shots : Rarely TTB : Rarely Cross Ball : Rarely Cross From : Deep Marking : Zonal Supporting Fullback : Ment : Team CF : Normal (9) Passing : Team Closing Down : Own Half Tackling : Normal Forward Runs : Mixed RWB : Rarely Long Shots : Rarely TTB : Often Cross Ball : Often Cross From : Deep Marking : Zonal Attacking Fullback : Ment : Team CF : High (17) Passing : Team Closing Down : Own Half Tackling : Normal Forward Runs : Often RWB : Rarely Long Shots : Rarely TTB : Mixed Cross Ball : Often Cross From : Byline Marking : Zonal Central Defenders I tend to employ either of one different tactics for defenders which depends on whatever passing style we are playing. If the team passing is short I employ a Recycling Central Defender and if the passing is Mixed or Direct I prefer Playmaker Central Defenders (No I don’t tick playmaker and then select the central defenders ). The difference between the two is that when the team plays short passing you want defenders to win possession and lay off to more creative players, much like a defensive midfielder. In Mixed and Direct style where the central defenders are asked to be more creative you have to give them instructions to match Recycling Central Defender : Ment : Team CF : Low(1) Passing : Team Closing Down : Own Area/Half Depending on Team Closing Down, Mentality of the team and D Line Tackling : Normal Forward Runs : Rarely RWB : Rarely Long Shots : Rarely TTB : Rarely Cross Ball : Rarely Cross From : Deep Marking : Zonal Tight Marking : Yes (Always) Playmaker Central Defenders : Ment : Team CF : High (20) Passing : Team Closing Down : Own Area/Half Depending on Team Closing Down, Mentality of the team and D Line Tackling : Easy Forward Runs : Mixed RWB : Rarely Long Shots : Rarely TTB : Often Cross Ball : Rarely Cross From : Deep Marking : Zonal Tight Marking : Yes (Always) Defensive Midfielder As I said I was going to play a flat 4-4-2 so an out and out holding midfielder doesn’t apply but you can use the same settings if you’re going to play a holding midfielder in a flat midfield. Maybe you have a Gerrard/Mascherano central midfield and want the holding midfielder to play more simple Defensive Midfielder : Ment : Team CF : Low (1) Passing : Short Closing Down : Team Tackling : Hard Forward Runs : Rarely (Mixed if you play him in the MC slot) RWB : Rarely Long Shots : Rarely TTB : Rarely Cross Ball : Rarely Marking : Zonal Basically a “win the ball back and distribute to more creative player” type of midfielder. You would use him in a 4-3-3 / 4-5-1 formation and if you were to use a playmaker in a 4-4-2 you would want him to recycle possesion and lay off to the playmaker. Central Midfielders I personally always use the same instructions for both MC’s. I have noticed that when you have one or the other on often forward runs or rare forward runs the midfield duo start to loose their positions and I rather they be flat otherwise it looks more like a diamond. Central Midfielder : Ment : Team CF : Normal (10) (High for flairy playmakers 17) Passing : Direct (17) Closing Down : Team Tackling : Normal (Easy for a playmaker) Forward Runs : Mixed RWB : Rarely Long Shots : 15+ Mixed 18+ Often TTB : Often Cross Ball : Rarely Free Role : (Yes for a playmaker) Hold up Ball : (yes for a playmaker) Marking : Zonal I selected a few instructions there if you wanted to make one of the MC’s a playmaker but do remember you need a good tackler beside him as most of the ball will travel through him and not the other. I would only suggest using a playmaker at the highest level. Has to be 15+ for Creativity, Passing, Technique and off the ball. For the more flairy type (more CF) you have to add Flair to that list. I won’t list the instructions for an AMC as they are the same as a flairy playmaker. Side Midfielders When playing FM with mates I often see them being confused with Wingers and Side Midfielders. They are different. The only similarity is they are both on the flank however side midfielders have defensive duties whilst most of the time wingers do not. It’s like comparing Beckham and Ronaldo type midfielders. Ment : Team CF : Normal (12) Passing : Team Closing Down : Team Tackling : Normal Forward Runs : Often RWB : Mixed Long Shots : 15+ Mixed 18+ Often TTB : Often Cross Ball : Rarely (If the player has a good or excellent long shot attribute then choose rarely if the player has 18+ in crossing then cross ball Mixed) Cross From : Byline Marking : Zonal Wingers Again I’m not playing with them but I’ll post the instructions anyway. Ment : Team CF : High (20) Passing : Team Closing Down : Team Tackling : Normal Forward Runs : Often RWB : Often Long Shots : 15+Mixed 18+ Often TTB : Often Cross Ball : Rarely (if 18+ crossing then mixed Cross From : Byline Free Role : Yes if good enough Marking : Zonal Strikers Last but not least the striking force. A lot of FM’ers complain about the strikers not scoring enough. Yes it has been tuned down from more recent versions of the game but it depends how you set out your team and what quality of players are around the striker. I have two types of strikers. Normal and Target. To set a target man he has to be strong and good in the air. Normal Strikers : Ment : Team CF : High (20) Passing : Team Closing Down : Team Tackling : Normal Forward Runs : Mixed RWB : Mixed Long Shots : Rarely TTB : Rarely Cross Ball : Rarely Free Role : Yes Marking : Zonal Target Man Striker : Ment : Team CF : High (20) Passing : Mixed (11) Closing Down : Team Tackling : Easy Forward Runs : Rarely / Mixed (Depends if he is coming deep enough in-game) RWB : Rarely Long Shots : Rarely TTB : Often Cross Ball : Rarely Free Role : Yes Hold Up Ball : Yes Marking : Zonal Now that we've gone through the diffrent roles I'll be going through match strategies over the weekend in Part 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhaleOilBeefHooked Posted September 30, 2009 Author Share Posted September 30, 2009 Reserved for part 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kandinsky Posted September 30, 2009 Share Posted September 30, 2009 I have to disagree about the "not having quality for a 4x3x3 / 4x5x1" and deploy a 4x4x2. 4x3x3/4x5x1 systems are easier to employ. It's easy to see why. Every position in the pitch is filled with a player on those systems, making it easier to define the roles of each player. In small teams I usually tend to use 4x3x3 / 4x5x1 variations. A 4x5x1 in a small club should be making use of 3 center miedfielders with defensive characteristics, with only one of them needing of decent technique and creativity. A 4x4x2 can be used when you want to play more offensive, because I think a 4x4x2 may only be sucessfully used in a small team if you manage to get 1 or 2 above average players, which in a really small team you don't have a chance. A defensive line being normal (arround 8 to 10 in the balanced tactic) will allow you to explore the overloading of the opponents. And a normal width ( 8 to 10 too) is even going to give you an edge on the center of the miedfield when battling for possession. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhaleOilBeefHooked Posted September 30, 2009 Author Share Posted September 30, 2009 I have to disagree about the "not having quality for a 4x3x3 / 4x5x1" and deploy a 4x4x2. 4x3x3/4x5x1 systems are easier to employ. It's easy to see why. Every position in the pitch is filled with a player on those systems, making it easier to define the roles of each player. In small teams I usually tend to use 4x3x3 / 4x5x1 variations. A 4x5x1 in a small club should be making use of 3 center miedfielders with defensive characteristics, with only one of them needing of decent technique and creativity. A 4x4x2 can be used when you want to play more offensive, because I think a 4x4x2 may only be sucessfully used in a small team if you manage to get 1 or 2 above average players, which in a really small team you don't have a chance. A defensive line being normal (arround 8 to 10 in the balanced tactic) will allow you to explore the overloading of the opponents. And a normal width ( 8 to 10 too) is even going to give you an edge on the center of the miedfield when battling for possession. I see your point and yes it's up to each manager to decide which is best for his own team. However for me a 4-3-3/4-5-1 depends on a lot more on player quality then a 4-4-2 does. You say the 4-4-2 needs 1 or 2 players above average players. You could say the same about the 4-3-3/4-5-1 as well but I see it needing more. For one you need a striker who won't get easily isolated because if the opposition manage to isolate him easily then they have half the battle one as they've nullified your only out and out attacker. Secondly the wingers in a 4-3-3/4-5-1 need to have pace and the ability to get past his marker or behind the defence. Thirdly the MC's need to have tremendoes work rate and stamina to be able to support the striker as much as possible because he is alone. But as I said each squad is diffrent. I just see 4-4-2 as a good starting point as you can tweak it easily to suit your players which I'll go through in Part 2. As I chose Fulham as the team to analyse you can see they won't be able to pull off a 4-3-3/4-5-1 system effectively enough as neither Koncheskey or Davies/Dempsey are good enough wingers to support the system. So another approach is needed. Instead of creating space for themselves you need to create space for them. However in the 4-3-3/4-5-1 system is relies on them creating space for themselves. An easy example would be taken from your country (if you are indeed from Portugal) and that would be Mourinho himself. Loves the 4-3-3/4-5-1 system but he never employs unless he has the playing staff for it. He always reverted to a sort of 4-4-2 system if he didn't. Diffrence was he didn't play a 4-4-2 flat, he had more of a diamond system but a 4-4-2 nonetheless. The only time he was really successfull with the 4-3-3 was with Duff and Robben on the flanks. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kandinsky Posted September 30, 2009 Share Posted September 30, 2009 After a peek at Fulham squad, I believe you made the right choice, since you have a very decent attacking doubke with Zamora and Johnson. But the 4x3x3/4x5x1 wouldn't need that much of quality. The width and defensive line were not that high, so the workrate of the miedfielders were not required to be ridicously high. I usually implement a double "anchor" system in small teams, using one center miedfielder as the supporter. The forward should not be set as a target-man, but rather be involved in the counters. The bad part of this kind fo systems is that beautiful football is not a regular thing in the stadium Wingers need more pace than ability, since it's going to be a very direct style. In Académica I used Sogou as winger (basically the guy only have pace) and he created many chances. The main problem is when you have to take a dominant atitude, since it's mainly counter-based system, and that's where I would usually use the 4x4x2, since it's a very good tactic to make decent build-ups. Mourinho in FC Porto used 4x3x3 mainly, but in continental competitions he would use a narrow 4x4x2 diamond (1 anchor, 2 center miedfilders and a playmaker). In Chelsea he used the 4x3x3 system, but changed to a variant of 4x4x2 in the third season to adapt the team to Ballack and Lampard in the same 11. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhaleOilBeefHooked Posted September 30, 2009 Author Share Posted September 30, 2009 After a peek at Fulham squad, I believe you made the right choice, since you have a very decent attacking doubke with Zamora and Johnson.But the 4x3x3/4x5x1 wouldn't need that much of quality. The width and defensive line were not that high, so the workrate of the miedfielders were not required to be ridicously high. I usually implement a double "anchor" system in small teams, using one center miedfielder as the supporter. The forward should not be set as a target-man, but rather be involved in the counters. The bad part of this kind fo systems is that beautiful football is not a regular thing in the stadium Wingers need more pace than ability, since it's going to be a very direct style. In Académica I used Sogou as winger (basically the guy only have pace) and he created many chances. The main problem is when you have to take a dominant atitude, since it's mainly counter-based system, and that's where I would usually use the 4x4x2, since it's a very good tactic to make decent build-ups. Mourinho in FC Porto used 4x3x3 mainly, but in continental competitions he would use a narrow 4x4x2 diamond (1 anchor, 2 center miedfilders and a playmaker). In Chelsea he used the 4x3x3 system, but changed to a variant of 4x4x2 in the third season to adapt the team to Ballack and Lampard in the same 11. Well I was going to start with Nevland and Johnson but then see from there As mentioned, everyone has their opinion. Mine is only that if you have no idea what formation to play, go 4-4-2 because you rarely go wrong with that. It's easier to adapt players in a 4-3-3/4-5-1/4-2-3-1/4-3-2-1 into a 4-4-2 then the other way around. If you have a formation/strategy that suits you then by all means go for it Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pilsken Posted September 30, 2009 Share Posted September 30, 2009 Excellent reading! Im going to follow this one! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
peter-evo Posted September 30, 2009 Share Posted September 30, 2009 I want to marry your username. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhaleOilBeefHooked Posted September 30, 2009 Author Share Posted September 30, 2009 Excellent reading! Im going to follow this one! Hope you'll like it I want to marry your username. Sorry, it's taken Part 2 will come tomorrow focusing on tactics and player instructions Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pilsken Posted September 30, 2009 Share Posted September 30, 2009 Part 2 will come tomorrow focusing on tactics and player instructions Yes i find it very useful! Great job! Looking forward to the next part tomorrow. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhaleOilBeefHooked Posted October 1, 2009 Author Share Posted October 1, 2009 Part two is up Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shottaz Posted October 1, 2009 Share Posted October 1, 2009 The bit on coaches was great, thanks. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pilsken Posted October 1, 2009 Share Posted October 1, 2009 The bit on coaches was great, thanks. I agree with that. I also wonder how you set up the defensive line? Do you match it with the CB mentality or fullbacks or how do you set it up in relationship to the closing down? Excellent work by the way. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhaleOilBeefHooked Posted October 1, 2009 Author Share Posted October 1, 2009 I agree with that. I also wonder how you set up the defensive line? Do you match it with the CB mentality or fullbacks or how do you set it up in relationship to the closing down? Excellent work by the way. I never really set the d-line lower then 9. I feel that is low enough to defend without actually inviting too much pressure. With a team like Fulham I will probably not be looking for any higher then 9-10 to be honest otherwise teams will find a way behind the players. I think you can only ever efficiently defend with a high D-Line at home when you are a bigger club. Reason is to break down a parked bus and play the game in the opponents half. With a bigger club if you play against a smaller club with a normal d-line you won't be able to dominate them. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lokkker Posted October 7, 2009 Share Posted October 7, 2009 great guide!!! I use this guide with makelele(tylerbode) tactic and i have great results with my Arsenal team! After I will finish a season, I will necessarily place sreens with my results. And sorry for my bad english! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lokkker Posted October 15, 2009 Share Posted October 15, 2009 As I also promised, I place the results: WhaleOilBeefHooked very big thanks! And onсe again, sorry for my bad english! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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