Pre-set tactic or own tactics

[Brian]

Hey

What is the better way to start when you're a new player to the tactics in FM - pre-set tactics and work from there or start from scratch and learn along the way? 

[Snorks]

I would advise starting with one of the pre-set tactics, this is where you can start to define a style you like, then tweak it as you go to suit your players abilities and your own preferences. Take your time and read what 'says on the tin' for each position, role and duty 

Spend a bit of time looking at YooToob and reading around a bit - Rashidi (BustTheNet)  and Cleon give some great advice.

 

[sporadicsmiles]

I think both top down and bottom up can work, and both have their strengths and weaknesses.

Starting from preset tactics means you should have a predefined system set up, which saves time for an inexperienced player. You can also easily switch between different presets to observe what differences occur. However, there are so many instructions in them, it is hard to see at a glance why it works. So if you want to change something, you may not know what exactly to change. Doing things this way, I would try to look at every team instructions and see if you can understand why it is there. What does it do, why does it help this style. You can always remove it for a friendly to see what changes, if you do not know.

Starting from your own tactic, you are starting from something very simple. You may have a formation you want to play, and a couple of key instructions to define your style. From here, you can slowly build up, getting to the final way of playing that you want. This is great for learning how to use instructions. The obvious downside is that it is so easy to become lost if you do not really understand what everything is doing. It can be extremely overwhelming to try to learn how to combine all team and player instructions, roles and duties from scratch, which leads to frustration.

For a brand new player, I would start with preset tactics, just to see if you can understand what they are doing. Have a look at as many different styles as possible to see if you can observe differences in the style of play. I'd also prioritize getting results over becoming a tactical genius. It is okay to not understand why something works at the start.

If you are serious about learning more details, I would head over to the tactics forum, read some of the posts that generally describe how tactics work in FM. The main thing to learn is how to translate your ideas into FM tactical language. There are a lot of really nice threads. There are also some really nice YouTube channels and blogs out there. BustTheNet from Rachidi on YouTube has some really nice introductions to tactics, and he explains things very nicely. Cleon has the Tea & Busquets blog, which is also very nice and has some basics (plus is the best blog name I ever saw). Also, do not be afraid to post for tactical help, or use the stupid questions thread if you have a simple question you want answering quickly.