Do you keep the default formation or change it?

[Antonin]

I'm curious about how other FMC players play. When you take over a team, do you keep the default formation, or do you change it to a formation you personally prefer and then try to fit your players into it? My favorite formation is 4-4-2, but I don't have any particular reason for that preference. Maybe it is easier for me to visualize the expected roles of my players when I look at a 4-4-2.

Playing FMC with the "no sacking" option gives me time to experiment, so in my current game as Rochdale I'm tempted to ditch the default formation and return to my trusted old 4-4-2.

[HUNT3R]

I used to have a very limited knowledge of football and tactics. 4-4-2 was the only formation I knew and I used that for years and years. On the odd occasion I'd try a 4-4-1-1 or 3-5-2 like I see the AI use, but I had no idea how those formations functioned, so it never worked out for me.

Over the last 3-4 years, my tactical knowledge has improved. This year in FM I've been using many, many different formations and tactics within those formations because I'm able to. I prefer using a formation that suits the players, whether that's the default or a new one. That goes for FM on the PC or FMC on the Vita.

[Antonin]

With the many different ratings that a player has, and all the different combinations of players you can put together, it's difficult for me to know exactly how to use them until I have played a lot of games. But just trying things out is a big part of the fun of playing FMC, at least for me.

Maybe I will review my copy of "Inverting the Pyramid" as I move forward with my current game.

[HUNT3R]

I suppose it comes with experience. I can quickly "see" what formation and roles to use after looking at the players and their attributes.

[Antonin]

I think it's easier for someone who has grown up in a soccer culture to understand formations, player ratings in a game like this, and the player's optimum role within those formations.

I'm an old geezer. Let's just say I'm closer to 60 years old than 50. While I have been a soccer fan for half my life, the game did not have a really big presence here in the US when I began following it. There was very little media exposure compared to now.

I am intimately familiar with the terms used to describe American football, basketball and baseball, and with the culture of those sports, because I have been exposed to them my whole life. The nuances of those sports are second nature to me. Soccer, on the other hand, is more of an acquired love for people of my generation.

I can look at player ratings in a baseball or American football management sim and instantly know how to use that player. I know the strengths and weaknesses of different formations in American football.

For FMC, it's a different story. Fullback? Center half? Midfielder? As much as I watch and enjoy soccer on TV, the proper role of various players in the context of this game is something I am still learning. There is a lot of discussion of tactics in another section of the SI forum, but without having the foundation of life-long exposure to soccer culture, much of that discussion is useless to me. And anyway, there is too much focus on "super tactics" to be plugged in and used, an aspect of FM play that I do not like at all.

I am still interested in knowing how other FMC players approach the game, whether they use the default formation, etc.

[tyro]

When I first start a save, I use a formation that fits my players well, and then slowly transition over to my preferred formations through transfers.

In FMC there is another dimension though as you can change the formation without familiarity penalty. When I watch a match, I keep the opposition's formation open and can see right away when they switch (quite often in FMC). If I see them overload a certain area, I try to adjust my tactics to avoid exposing weakness in that area.