Playing around with roles and some discoveries

[Jyuan83]

Has anyone tried playing around with the roles on FM 16 and suddenly chancing upon an interesting discovery? I would list a few of my own.

1. Anchorman playing more like a halfback than the halfback.

Always found the anchorman to be playing closely to what i would like in a halfback. Always close to the centrebacks and dropping down well with them during transition phases. The half-back tends to split the defence too far apart for my liking when dropping deep. Or at times would just be positioned a bit too far forward in front of the defence.

2. Choosing an odd footed player allows him to cut in more "naturally" than giving the cut inside instruction.

Found out that the cut inside instruction tends to make players come in too narrowly(the PI also has some off the ball influence as well) and that affects how we open up teams and their defence. I nowadays forgo the IF and even WM role and just go straight with a winger attack who happens to be odd footed(right-footer on left flank). I get a good mix of crosses and cutting in without the congestion in the middle.

3. Roaming works only when your player is intelligent enough.

If his mental stats are not good enough, you would see him anywhere but near the goal. You end up with a headless chicken at times. In the past i used to believe this makes them go closer to the goal.

It would be interesting to read about other possible discoveries you guys might encounter in your game.

[WizbaII]

1. Yea, it's kind of weird. It's not the worst thing in the world but you live with it. The other weird thing is that even though anchorman has 'Hold Position' instruction, they still go past the halfway line. I don't see the difference between anchorman and defensive mid. Weird.

2. I never ask players to cross on their weak foot, don't care how good it is. That's just me, though. Now if they are cutting inside first and then crossing with their strong foot, I can dig that.

3. Sometimes people try roaming without realizing that you have to change your formation to account for this. If your formation does not consider the fact that a player is roaming, then you have a hole in your formation at all times. You can see the way Messi roams for Barca, but even when he is roaming other players cover his position for him. Suarez and Alves and either Rakitic/Iniesta often step into the space Messi leaves behind. So you cannot just have a regular formation, but then start telling players to go roaming. Then you will just see stuff that's not logical, even if the player that's roaming is good.