Assistant Manager advise???? Changing mentality and shape every game!!

[CalumF]

Something that has really started to grind on me is the Assistant Manger advise report for your next game. Every game he recommends a different formation, a different mentality and shape. Tells me to reduce closing down to prevent the risk of injuries. Home or away, always wanting to change it up. Does anyone listen to him and go with his advise every time??

I stick with roughly the same formation most games. I play with 3 centre backs, 2 wing backs and 2 strikers. The midfield 3 I quite frequently change, with either a DM or AM to complement the 2 MCs, depending on opposition and playing at home or away. I like to stick with fluid and don't normally play with many team instructions. But every game the Assistant wants to change it up to flexible or structured and to remove or add different team instructions to help get the right result.  Surely this goes against your team building an understanding together and by changing it up every time hinders your team from gelling. 

Any thoughts?

[dicyman]

Yeah, the implementation of assistant advice is pretty crude at the moment but if it annoys you can turn it off under staff responsibilites.

Basically, the way it works is that your assistant will give advice based on his preferences. So if he prefers a 4-4-2 and attacking, that's what he'll suggest. These preferences aren't always visible - "dirtiness allowance", which seems to affect stay on feet/get stuck in can only be found in the in-game editor. From what I can tell he'll only ever give advice about a few areas:

Formation

Defending vs. Attacking

Structured vs. Fluid

Get Stuck In vs. Stay On Feet

Expressive vs. Discplined

Stick to Positions vs. Roam From Position

As you noted though he'll sometimes also suggest that you remove features, i.e. don't push, don't play narrower.

The preferences are then fitted too the opposition - so an assistant that likes attacking fluid football might still tell you to play a flexible counter system against a stronger team.

[roykela]

2 hours ago, CalumF said:

Something that has really started to grind on me is the Assistant Manger advise report for your next game. Every game he recommends a different formation, a different mentality and shape. Tells me to reduce closing down to prevent the risk of injuries. Home or away, always wanting to change it up. Does anyone listen to him and go with his advise every time??

I stick with roughly the same formation most games. I play with 3 centre backs, 2 wing backs and 2 strikers. The midfield 3 I quite frequently change, with either a DM or AM to complement the 2 MCs, depending on opposition and playing at home or away. I like to stick with fluid and don't normally play with many team instructions. But every game the Assistant wants to change it up to flexible or structured and to remove or add different team instructions to help get the right result.  Surely this goes against your team building an understanding together and by changing it up every time hinders your team from gelling. 

Any thoughts?

I'm so rubbish at FM18 so far i decided to follow my Assitant's advice, to see what he does. Perhaps get a few pointers of where i'm going wrong.
Now, i don't have good enough players to compete with the best in my league but i see some progress.
He hasn't advised a changed of formation yet, so we're' consistently playing a 4-4-2 formation.

He does seem to change instrutctions a bit depending on the type of opposition and whether it's at home or away.
Playing in the Welsh Premier i'm now closing in on the end of the season.
Having finished 10th (out of 12 teams) we're not really that good.
I've gone from having the Assistant choosing everything, including starting XI, roles and duties to just me following his advice about Mentality, Team Shape and Team Instructions.
When playing against teams worse, equal or slightly better than me i've been doing quite well.

In my 9 matches in the Conference Playoffs my record is:
6 wins
1 draw
2 losses
Goal difference 29-11
I'm unbeaten in the last 5 games
Last 3 games my goal difference is 16-5, where 4 of the conceded, AND scored, goals was in a mad 4-4 draw.
The other two i won 6-0 and 6-1 respectively. 6-1 was away vs a team that is better than my team, on the paper.

So it does work. I have found a general starting XI where the players are playing very well together.
All that thanks to following my Assistant's advice.
I have one more game to play and that is away against the best team in the Welsh Premier Conference Playoff.
Interesting to see how that goes.

I find that your Assistant's advice can be really useful. Especially pre-match.
I don't pay attention to him during the match. That's when i follow my own head.
I will take what i learn from this and incorporate it with my own ideas and hopefully get to grips with the tactical side of FM18.

[Norlye]

My Ass manager constantly tells me to play 4-4-2 dispite the fact I have 3 ball winning central midfielders & no wide ones in my entire lower league squad.

 

[roykela]

That's sort of how it started out for me as well.
My Assistant had 4-4-2 as favourite formation.
Didn't have any wide players but he still advised 4-4-2, so i let him pick the starting XI.
There was an improvement for my team.
Does not mean, however, it'll be the same for your team. But it could be.

[Miravlix]

7 hours ago, CalumF said:

Any thoughts?

I don't know if SI designed it or they went down the road of good intentions and ended up with most advice and GUI HEAVILY trolling the player.

 

Like signing a CF/A Striker to play a CF/A striker on your team, you having intentionally picked him for being perfect for your tactics and the press conference only allows me to reply either that my tactics suck or the player will have to suck it up and adjust.

 

Player Role Indicators seems to be flat out false in FM18, everyone is Mezelas or Centrilus, but as far as I know you need a superman to play the role well or the games quick team selection keep putting the wrong players in the worst possible positions. Just because my D/R with no heading or jumping can play in DC, does not mean it's even remotely a good idea to use him over a real CD.

 

LUCKILY! You can turn off part of advice, mine no longer tell me to change tactics every game and other stupid advice, but it can be a bit annoying to find out SI trolled you with the advice and made you play the game worse by listening.

[hugo_rune]

I haven't found any of the advice that bad although sometimes I find the team selections look odd, and sometimes your assistant manager will give you advice that doesn't relate to the kind of football you have been training your team to play.

I think about it this way - your assistant manager is a simulated human and he has a vision of how he thinks the game should be played, and he's going to make that suggestion to you. If you don't have the players to suit, you probably need to get them signed,  and it probably is going to be the smoothest experience if your assistant manager, your director of football (if you are using one), and yourself all have similar tactical ideas. In an ideal world. Of course the assistant manager AI might just be a bit mad as well, that's a thing.

[CalumF]

Good to know not many of you listen to your Assistant then.