Tactical Theorems and Frameworks '09

[moj]

I see what you're saying about him pressuring defenders to make mistakes, but I set closing down low for Balotelli and he has caught out the goalkeeper twice and a LOT of his goal seem to be coming from him tackling the DMC, passing to Vela/Wilshire, getting the ball back and placing it in the net.

Maybe have Keane with closing down on high due to him having very high anticipation ???

[wwfan]

True but i thought that setting would mean he closes down in his specified area which is the whole pitch but he is only in the final 3rd, see what i mean? The lower i go it says closing down in own half only, that way he wouldnt be closing defenders down and pressuring them into making mistakes...

Im very happy to be educated by the experts here...

First thing I would do is drop his FWRs to mixed and reduce his closing down to top of own half. I'd use the OI closing down to target any specific player/s you want him to pressurise. I'd then start looking at his supply. Are people aiming crosses at him or in positions to hit TBs in front of him? If not, then you need to change their rather than his settings.

[Footyslayer]

Well i have just played my first game since i made the post and i lowered the closing down by 4-5 notches...

Torres got an 8.1 rating but Henry still only managed a 6.9.

wwfan is that post regarding Torres or Henry/Keane?

[wwfan]

Who thought of ROLE THEORY for the TTF guide? May I bless the genius who thought of it? I've just beaten Valencia 2-0 away (arsenal), but that isn't the point, I missed 3 penalties, I had 60 shots, 20 on target and I COMPLETELY outplayed them, Valencia had around 1 shot on target.. I had around 10 clear cut chances, this will be easily fixed but ROLE Theory is aaaaaaaaaaaawesome.

It might interest you to know that we wrote that bit before we had tried it. We were already Beta testing TT&F before we had even started to use it. It attracted a fair amount of interest and we decided it might be worth testing ourselves. Fortunately, it worked. It was actually the only framework we hadn't tested in previous versions of FM and we theorised it simply to fill a managerial mentality system space. We assumed it would work but we had no proof that it would. It actually plays almost 100% like a Wnger tactic, so we breathed a huge sigh of relief on that one. It is now both Millie and my tactic of choice for high quality sides, although we both shift towards more Authoritarian systems for weaker teams.

[wwfan]

Well i have just played my first game since i made the post and i lowered the closing down by 4-5 notches...

Torres got an 8.1 rating but Henry still only managed a 6.9.

wwfan is that post regarding Torres or Henry/Keane?

Torres. I can't open the Henry/Keane link.

[Footyslayer]

Torres. I can't open the Henry/Keane link.

Righto, cheers...

Ill change those settings on Torres, to be fir though he is playing better now, its the support striker im having issues with.

Does this work buddy?

http://xs433.xs.to/xs433/08481/henry-keane454.jpg

[moj]

It might interest you to know that we wrote that bit before we had tried it. We were already Beta testing TT&F before we had even started to use it. It attracted a fair amount of interest and we decided it might be worth testing ourselves. Fortunately, it worked. It was actually the only framework we hadn't tested in previous versions of FM and we theorised it simply to fill a managerial mentality system space. We assumed it would work but we had no proof that it would. It actually plays almost 100% like a Wnger tactic, so we breathed a huge sigh of relief on that one. It is now both Millie and my tactic of choice for high quality sides, although we both shift towards more Authoritarian systems for weaker teams.

Indeed it does interest me because on FM08 I could almost produce a tactic like Wenger, I could never just get the mentality correct for the midfielder.. You get so many chances and the link up man can hold up the ball or do a free role for me, he still performs well...

And people say this game is too hard..

Have you tried the tactic with a team like WIgan, Bolton or Luton??

[wwfan]

Yes. My preference for attacking tactics is to split FCa/FCd FWRs into Mixed/Rarely as it stops them drifting forwards too much. However, all FWRS combinations could be worth experimenting with.

Keane/Henry need to be dropping deep and then looking to cause chaos with the ball at their feet. Thus, no FWRs, RWB Often, TB Often, Cross Often from byline, long shots mixed. Both might benefit from a free role as well. I'd probably drop the CD and passing to near the middle notch too. Aim their crosses at where Torres is likely to be, i.e centre or far post. I'd also probably increase their CF a little.

I am tending to save tactics based on who I am playing up front for FM09. I played a test game with Porto and used Lopez and Hulk as rotating lone strikers in a 4-5-1. Because they did different things well I saved a variant of the tactic for each player, i.e. I gave Hulk long shots Often and Lopez long shots mixed, a free role and much more CF. I now have a tactic called !4-5-1 Attacking Hulk and one called !4-5-1 Attacking Lopez. Both played extremely well, but neither played well in the other's tactic. Personally, I am enjoying how important it is to get the FC instructions/supply correct, but I can see that others are finding it somewhat frustrating.

[wwfan]

Indeed it does interest me because on FM08 I could almost produce a tactic like Wenger, I could never just get the mentality correct for the midfielder.. You get so many chances and the link up man can hold up the ball or do a free role for me, he still performs well...

And people say this game is too hard..

Have you tried the tactic with a team like WIgan, Bolton or Luton??

Greenock Morton in the Demo. Top when it cut off having scored 16 and conceded 4 in my last seven games to drive towards the summit.

[moj]

That's an interesting point about Hulk and Lopez, you can see the difference I guess.. that explains why Eduardo performs so well on the poacher role rather than the creative role. But my question is, how can the Role Theory be beaten? Recently, I've beaten every team (including a trashing of Man Utd 4-0), it seems too good to be true.

[wwfan]

That's an interesting point about Hulk and Lopez, you can see the difference I guess.. that explains why Eduardo performs so well on the poacher role rather than the creative role. But my question is, how can the Role Theory be beaten? Recently, I've beaten every team (including a trashing of Man Utd 4-0), it seems too good to be true.

I haven't tried it extensively enough to comment. Our own observations are that it is a little shaky defensively, so is great for a team on form and firing on all cylinders but potentially disastrous for a poor side with low morale.

[moj]

I haven't tried it extensively enough to comment. Our own observations are that it is a little shaky defensively, so is great for a team on form and firing on all cylinders but potentially disastrous for a poor side with low morale.

12 games now, no conceded goal, Fernandez has 7 goals from ML position.. isn't that the case with all tactics? (low morale) ?

Is it more defensively frail due to less mixed support and more attack?

[wwfan]

12 games now, no conceded goal, Fernandez has 7 goals from ML position.. isn't that the case with all tactics? (low morale) ?

Is it more defensively frail due to less mixed support and more attack?

It is, but if you are looking to grind out results a more graded mentality system seems to be the best option. It can be defensively frail because of how far it pushes the FBs forward in the Attack variant. If you don't have high quality FBs for the level, it is very open to the quick counter.

[Tempest1888]

I know it's all been said before, but thanks for the effort, attention to detail and easy to understand instructions. Top class work. Cheers.

[jabso]

wwfan I have a few questions, how do you count the slider clicks? Does 1 mean the furthest to the left or is that 0?

What do you mean by low-normal or low-direct? By low do you mean closer to the left? I assume so.

I like playing a 4-4-2 with an AMC. How do you recommend I go about that?

- Should I play a DMC to counter the more attacking AMC, or is a MC with more defensive instructions enough? Does using the diamond formation mean more gap in the midfield or less?

- What should the settings of the AMC be? Similar to a MCa?

- What does the AMC mean for the 2 strikers? Does it mean the less attacking of the strikers can have a bit more freedom, i.e. he doesn't have to hold up the ball or stay back and meet the ball with the AMC there?

[wwfan]

wwfan I have a few questions, how do you count the slider clicks? Does 1 mean the furthest to the left or is that 0?

What do you mean by low-normal or low-direct? By low do you mean closer to the left? I assume so.

Far left 1, far right 20. Low is left, high is right.

[jabso]

Cheers. Thanks for the work you've put in.

I would like some insight from you or anyone else into what significant differences you need to account for with a diamond formation. I.e. how you want a DMC to play (is it any different to a MCd) and an AMC (any different to a MCa?). Can an AMC mean that the strikers can be more attacking and make more runs up the field without a FCd having to come up and meet the ball?

[mancity12]

I have a question on the Role Theory please.....

On page 15 of TT&F, it states defenders have a mentality of 8, support players 11 and attackers 14 and says for attacking use 5 attacking mentality players and for defensive, use 5 defending players.

The on the crib sheet it starts mentioning menatlities of 13 and 15:confused:

Lets just say im using a 4-4-2 attacking tactic, I think it would be like this -

...........14.......14

14........11.......14.......14

11........8..........8........11

Is this correct?

I dont understand why the crib sheet shows mentalities of 13 & 15, but none at 14?

[Millie]

I have a question on the Role Theory please.....

On page 15 of TT&F, it states defenders have a mentality of 8, support players 11 and attackers 14 and says for attacking use 5 attacking mentality players and for defensive, use 5 defending players.

The on the crib sheet it starts mentioning menatlities of 13 and 15:confused:

Lets just say im using a 4-4-2 attacking tactic, I think it would be like this -

...........14.......14

14........11.......14.......14

11........8..........8........11

Is this correct?

I dont understand why the crib sheet shows mentalities of 13 & 15, but none at 14?

What you've posted is correct for a 4-4-2 STANDARD. I don't have the crib sheet to hand, though, so I can't comment fully at the moment as to what that says.

EDIT: downloaded it to take a peek. I believe the idea is that if you want you can give your wingers a little extra to push them forward, and to create a bigger split between the FCa and the FCd

However, I set mine up like you have for the 4-4-2 Standard. Then I'd shift it up by four notches for Attacking, and down four notches for defensive.

[mancity12]

Hi mate,

Cribsheet says -

GK 8

DC 8

FB 11

MCd 8

ML/R 13

MC1 11

FCd 11

FCa 15

Is the cribsheet in-correct for the Role Theory?

[jabso]

Far left 1, far right 20. Low is left, high is right.

So 10 is actually one click left to the middle (at least in tempo) and not in the middle. Is this some sort of minor bug?

[Larsson1888]

Could someone please put the downloads on filefront for me....please!!

[h@@kon]

My experience is that you can't read the TT&F-document as a black-and-white solution to all you tactic blunders, but use it as a guidance of how to think.

I am playing in Blue Square North, and previously i have used SI-standard 4-4-2, and only changed the teamsettings: Width, tempo, mentality and passing. Adjusting them to the opposition has done me well. 12 played, only 2 loose and 3 draws.

Trying to digg in a bit deeper on tactics i have tried to follow TT&F and build a tactic and use the theory. I find that the FCd work very bad, and the passing instructions (standard) don't fit. By using TT&F i went on a very bad 10 match display. No victories and very few chances created.

But the theory is great; but is it too much weighted to good players?

I have after the bad 10 match display made myself a new one keeping the "spirit" of TT&F on mentality/closing down and band of eight. the other settings i have used common sense (mock the ball out of defence even though you have an attacking philosophy) and it works better. I also find TT&F a bit defensive for lower league play, and have put mentality a lot higher than TT&F advices.

Anyone agree? Or am i only unlucky those 10 matches?

[mancity12]

Anyone RE my Role Theory post please?

[PhroX]

My Role Theory based 4-2-3-1 is working reasonably well, but I'm beginning to notice a bit of a problem with it - the forward players (the AMRL&C and FC) seem to be getting too far forward. The reason I say this, is that it seems that the MCs often have no-one to pass forward too, and are reduced to knocking between themselves and the defense. It doesn't seem to be so much a problem of passing length - they're set to the low end of mixed, but they're perfectly capable of passing the distance, and I'm playing pretty narrow - but that there's no-one to pass to. The AMs are pushing right up, looking to get in behind the opposition, hence requiring a "killer ball" to find, and, while the FC is dropping off, looking to link the play up, he still usually seems to be marked out of the game when the MCs have the ball (when I do get the ball up to the AMs, things open up much more, and the FC comes into play).

My players are all pretty small, so there's no point in hoofing balls up to them, and, while they're not slow, I don't have any real speed merchants except a relatively skillless winger I use as an impact sub, so dropping balls over the top isn't going to be that successful, so I'm trying to play a shorter passing game, and, when it works, it's great.

I'm guessing the solution would be centered around either mentaility or forward runs. I'm thinking of dropping the AMC's, and perhaps the AML's (he's more of a "creative" winger than someone who gets to the byline), FWR to mixed. Both have pretty high creative freedom, and the AMC has a free role, so I'm thinking they'll probably still get forward when needed.

Any ideas?

Well, I tried out my idea of putting the FWRs to normal, and eventually went for it on all 3 AMs. Based on three games, it seems to be helping. The wingers and the AMC seem less prone to making runs when there's no chance of them being found, but they're perfectly willing to make them when they should. On the last of the games, I also lowered their RWB to mixed, and my impression was that that improved things too, though it could've just been a good game.

[Daley]

I have just opened the TT&F Wizard at work as I have been struggling to get both my FCa & FCd playing well in the same game so I thought that I'd make sure I had them set up right, I also thought that I'd take a look at a different managerial style as another option and I have found that both the Bands of two and Role Theory give me exactly the same set up on each variant (ie Standard, Attacking & Defensive). Has anyone else noticed this? Am I missing something??

[melogroovy]

With Milan I'd play a Poacher with a mentality setting half-way between the FCd and FCa. However, if I were playing it myself, I'd probably use an FCd and make him a TM if he had the right attributes. I'd want to be using 'supply to feet' though, as flick ons would be a waste of time.

Hi wwfan. First I have say thanks to you and all the people who put the time into this guide. I started using it with WSM 08 and it made the game much easier to play. The effort with this edition is tremendous.

I prefer 4-3-2-1 and designed a tactic using Band of Two. However, I only changed the mentality of my AMCs by one tick. I signed Skjelbred to play a passing AMC and signed Wagner, a left footed AMC who is talented with Long Shots. I also have my wingers set at the same mentality as my AMCd and with focus passing mixed, I can get my wingers to cut into the box frequently. I also have CF set extremely low. The way I envision it is the AMCd has passing options to AMCa, the LW or, primarily, Michael Owen as the FC. The AMCa can pass to the RW, longshot or through ball to Owen. The thought is that the threat of AMCd passing or AMCa with longshot will give Owen more space to get behind the defense for through ball and a one on one with the keeper.

Here is my mentality settings +

FC Owen 16 poacher settings

AMCa Wagner 15 long shots often

AMCd Skjelbred 14 through ball often

RW Jonas 14

LW N' Zogbia 14

DM Barton 12

LFB Enrique 12

RFB Beye 12

Taylor 10

Coloccini 8

Given 10

I understand the thought that I should switch Owen's mentality settings to be between my two AMC's but should they be different by one tick or two? Should Wagner be 18, Owen 16 and Skjelbred be 14 or should it be 16, 15, 14 respectively? Right now, I like the way everything is working but I just can't get Owen the opportunities that I would like to. Thanks in advance and once again great job on this guide!

[moj]

Right WWfan I've just noticed something.. I accidentally made Vela's (ST striker in FC-ST strike partnership) mentality around 17, in the first 5 mins of a game he scored 2 goals due to high tempo extreme attacking..

Role theory just seems to have high attacking combinations on all fronts, is it better for me to start with FCd mentality 11 and FCa mentality 14, or FCd mentality 14 and FCa mentality 17? Against Cardiff in the league cup, Aaron Ramsey played as FCd and scored 2 goals with 13 mentality.

[Mitja]

question about closing down:

why is it important to link CD in line with DC's mentality? would be a starting point of x-5 for DC a bad idea? i don't get this conection..

[Mitja]

question about closing down:

why is it important to link CD in line with DC's mentality? would be a starting point of x-5 for DC a bad idea? i don't get this conection..

[bobani17]

oh man, i love this post! but i sure could use a little help with a couple of things

I play as milan, and everybody knows they have a special role in pirlo in his deep lying playmaker role... i just can't make him work as in real life.. so i switched him to a pure MC position giving him supportinstructions... but i still would love to be able to play him as in real life..

also.. i made 6 tactics, i use the 2-6-2 framework and used the 4-4-2 formation as a guide to making my 4-1-2-1-2 formations and then i used the 4-3-3 formation as a guide to make my 4-3-2-1 fomations. i did that because those 2 formations are the ones that milan play with in real life, and i seems to work pretty good

but i would like the wizard to contain a few more standard formations, as alot of teams play with diffrent formations than the ones being used in the wizard...

and also, i would absolutely love if the wizard could contain the "control" and the "shut up shop" match statergies, since i have a hard time making them..

but that is just a wish, and i already think the theorems are great!

[wwfan]

I have a question on the Role Theory please.....

On page 15 of TT&F, it states defenders have a mentality of 8, support players 11 and attackers 14 and says for attacking use 5 attacking mentality players and for defensive, use 5 defending players.

The on the crib sheet it starts mentioning menatlities of 13 and 15:confused:

Lets just say im using a 4-4-2 attacking tactic, I think it would be like this -

...........14.......14

14........11.......14.......14

11........8..........8........11

Is this correct?

I dont understand why the crib sheet shows mentalities of 13 & 15, but none at 14?

You are right and it is an error on my part.

...........11.......15

14........8.......11......14

11........8..........8........11

This is how I would set it up.

My experience is that you can't read the TT&F-document as a black-and-white solution to all you tactic blunders, but use it as a guidance of how to think.

I am playing in Blue Square North, and previously i have used SI-standard 4-4-2, and only changed the teamsettings: Width, tempo, mentality and passing. Adjusting them to the opposition has done me well. 12 played, only 2 loose and 3 draws.

Trying to digg in a bit deeper on tactics i have tried to follow TT&F and build a tactic and use the theory. I find that the FCd work very bad, and the passing instructions (standard) don't fit. By using TT&F i went on a very bad 10 match display. No victories and very few chances created.

But the theory is great; but is it too much weighted to good players?

I have after the bad 10 match display made myself a new one keeping the "spirit" of TT&F on mentality/closing down and band of eight. the other settings i have used common sense (mock the ball out of defence even though you have an attacking philosophy) and it works better. I also find TT&F a bit defensive for lower league play, and have put mentality a lot higher than TT&F advices.

Anyone agree? Or am i only unlucky those 10 matches?

Passing certainly needs to be longer at LLM level, but I think we make that explicit at the end of Passing Patterns. CF, CD, free roles, width and d-line also need to be reduced. We do mention most of this. However, general TT&F settings tend to suit League One teams and above.

Hi wwfan. First I have say thanks to you and all the people who put the time into this guide. I started using it with WSM 08 and it made the game much easier to play. The effort with this edition is tremendous.

I prefer 4-3-2-1 and designed a tactic using Band of Two. However, I only changed the mentality of my AMCs by one tick. I signed Skjelbred to play a passing AMC and signed Wagner, a left footed AMC who is talented with Long Shots. I also have my wingers set at the same mentality as my AMCd and with focus passing mixed, I can get my wingers to cut into the box frequently. I also have CF set extremely low. The way I envision it is the AMCd has passing options to AMCa, the LW or, primarily, Michael Owen as the FC. The AMCa can pass to the RW, longshot or through ball to Owen. The thought is that the threat of AMCd passing or AMCa with longshot will give Owen more space to get behind the defense for through ball and a one on one with the keeper.

Here is my mentality settings +

FC Owen 16 poacher settings

AMCa Wagner 15 long shots often

AMCd Skjelbred 14 through ball often

RW Jonas 14

LW N' Zogbia 14

DM Barton 12

LFB Enrique 12

RFB Beye 12

Taylor 10

Coloccini 8

Given 10

I understand the thought that I should switch Owen's mentality settings to be between my two AMC's but should they be different by one tick or two? Should Wagner be 18, Owen 16 and Skjelbred be 14 or should it be 16, 15, 14 respectively? Right now, I like the way everything is working but I just can't get Owen the opportunities that I would like to. Thanks in advance and once again great job on this guide!

It will probably require a little experimentation. I'd be tempted to go with your latter suggestion, but I'd also try 16, 14, 15 or even 16, 13, 14.

I have just opened the TT&F Wizard at work as I have been struggling to get both my FCa & FCd playing well in the same game so I thought that I'd make sure I had them set up right, I also thought that I'd take a look at a different managerial style as another option and I have found that both the Bands of two and Role Theory give me exactly the same set up on each variant (ie Standard, Attacking & Defensive). Has anyone else noticed this? Am I missing something??

As with the Crib sheet, there are one or two errors. If you can spot them it suggests you know what you are doing and can correct them for your tactics

Right WWfan I've just noticed something.. I accidentally made Vela's (ST striker in FC-ST strike partnership) mentality around 17, in the first 5 mins of a game he scored 2 goals due to high tempo extreme attacking..

Role theory just seems to have high attacking combinations on all fronts, is it better for me to start with FCd mentality 11 and FCa mentality 14, or FCd mentality 14 and FCa mentality 17? Against Cardiff in the league cup, Aaron Ramsey played as FCd and scored 2 goals with 13 mentality.

What ever is working best for you and your side. With Porto I play pretty high mentalities throughout the team. With Greenock Morton I am much more conservative. If you find something that works, stick with it.

question about closing down:

why is it important to link CD in line with DC's mentality? would be a starting point of x-5 for DC a bad idea? i don't get this conection..

It does work pretty well, but perhaps less so for a Global Mentality system. However, Millie reduces all his teams closing down by 3-4 notches so that can work as well. It might be a very good idea to do this for weaker or lower level sides.

oh man, i love this post! but i sure could use a little help with a couple of things

I play as milan, and everybody knows they have a special role in pirlo in his deep lying playmaker role... i just can't make him work as in real life.. so i switched him to a pure MC position giving him supportinstructions... but i still would love to be able to play him as in real life..

also.. i made 6 tactics, i use the 2-6-2 framework and used the 4-4-2 formation as a guide to making my 4-1-2-1-2 formations and then i used the 4-3-3 formation as a guide to make my 4-3-2-1 fomations. i did that because those 2 formations are the ones that milan play with in real life, and i seems to work pretty good

but i would like the wizard to contain a few more standard formations, as alot of teams play with diffrent formations than the ones being used in the wizard...

and also, i would absolutely love if the wizard could contain the "control" and the "shut up shop" match statergies, since i have a hard time making them..

but that is just a wish, and i already think the theorems are great!

For Pirlo, some experimentation with the deep-lying playmaker instruction should help a lot. I'd probably play him as a DMC in a support role and give Gattuso Defend instructions as an MC. I'd certainly give Pirlo a free role and make him the playmaker. It should then be a matter of tweaking his passing length until he is spraying balls all over the pitch.

As for other tactics, Althaz is working on a tactic builder which should help.

[onimkron]

wow, amazing work on the documents! I've been away from playing FM games for so long, and I thought I could just roll into FM09 easily...only to find myself looking for the old TTF guides for help. I think, once I finally get my head around the different types of mentality systems (I used the RoO for FM08), I'm going to have a go at re-making Cleon's excellent 'Maple Syrup' tactic

[Yzzycz]

Question for WWFAN:You saying that game without arrows brings more joy and reality. When i set tactic arrows just appeard automatically...for example when i give DC instroction forward runs rarely,arrow which asign him in case of defence into sweeper position appear. Do i have to just cancel all arrows or leave them there? thx

[wwfan]

Question for WWFAN:You saying that game without arrows brings more joy and reality. When i set tactic arrows just appeard automatically...for example when i give DC instroction forward runs rarely,arrow which asign him in case of defence into sweeper position appear. Do i have to just cancel all arrows or leave them there? thx

They are just indicators of runs. Back arrows means that the player will drop back and cover. No arrows = forward runs mixed. Forward arrows = forward runs often (although, for some reason, not on the FCs). They will appear and go as you move the FWRs slider.

[luckystriker]

Thank you sir. Over the years, TT&F has been my constant companion in creating working tactics for my teams.

[mancity12]

I come to work at 7am every morning and work until 5.

During that time im constantly thinking about tactics and I always go home with a 'new' one, fully thought through.

I get home, turn on the PC, and within 10 minutes am gutted that the tactics dont work and the players dont do as I ask :o.

This game is one tough cookie to crack and I reckon SI have done this on purpose, because this game is going to take me until FM10 to crack .

[Millie]

Could someone please put the downloads on filefront for me....please!!

Why......?

[mancity12]

Why......?

Exactly..........

[moj]

I come to work at 7am every morning and work until 5.

During that time im constantly thinking about tactics and I always go home with a 'new' one, fully thought through.

I get home, turn on the PC, and within 10 minutes am gutted that the tactics dont work and the players dont do as I ask :o.

This game is one tough cookie to crack and I reckon SI have done this on purpose, because this game is going to take me until FM10 to crack .

You need about 5 matches for a new tactic to start working properly, don't expect a tactic just to work off the spot.

[mancity12]

I know mate.

Im just impatient

[AmA Deo]

I hope this tactic builder will be released soon so I can play with it here at work

[AmA Deo]

I want to add a question, that I couldnt find an answer for in the TT&F.

If I play attacking and "focus passing down flanks" - is it then a good idea to have the playmaker as the MCa in a 4-4-2?

[moj]

^ You could do and he could switch the ball to the flanks often, shame it's been removed as a PPM, but if you play focusing on flanks, focus playing on the flank with the weaker full back, for example - Man Utd, focus on the LEFT flank as G. NEville is the right back, not on the right flank as Evra is there and he's rock solid.

[AmA Deo]

^ You could do and he could switch the ball to the flanks often, shame it's been removed as a PPM, but if you play focusing on flanks, focus playing on the flank with the weaker full back, for example - Man Utd, focus on the LEFT flank as G. NEville is the right back, not on the right flank as Evra is there and he's rock solid.

Good idea. But wont my play then be stopped quickly (in the long run) by the opposition? Wont it be easy to "read" my play?

Anyway, you wrote "PPM", what is that?

[maverick_nc1]

I come to work at 7am every morning and work until 5.

During that time im constantly thinking about tactics and I always go home with a 'new' one, fully thought through.

I get home, turn on the PC, and within 10 minutes am gutted that the tactics dont work and the players dont do as I ask :o.

This game is one tough cookie to crack and I reckon SI have done this on purpose, because this game is going to take me until FM10 to crack .

City, i am exactly the same as you. Spend all day planning my 'wonderful' tactic only to then get severely disappointed by its failure!

I realise i too need a little more patience with my tactic - however it never ceases to amaze me how i can turn 'world-class' players into Sunday league footballers so easily....!

[tudorziman]

I'm playing with A.C.Milan with a 4231 tactic. It works quite good, as I top the league with 9 points in front, Ronaldinho is the best goal scorer, and my defence is the best in the league. My only problem is that my Striker doesn't play well. I rotate Pato and Boriello, but none of them seem to be efficient. I have tried different settings but none worked. Any suggestions?

[maverick_nc1]

Apologies if this is an daft question but can/should the playmaker/targetman options ever be used in tandem? Which would take preference for the rest of your team to pass to?

[Adriano007]

First of all, I would like to say thanks to wwfan and Millie for all the effort and time you have put into this guide. But I would like to ask the two of you about the results you have had using these theories. I don't mean to be offensive or anything, but theories must be backed up with results. I would like to know what results the creators of these sets have achieved in terms of: top, average and poor clubs. Thanks.

[20Reedy07]

Awesome read that guys, Great work!. I have a couple things to ask though and i'd be gratful if you could possibly give me a couple more ideas on how to improve the following.

Well firstly in using the Rule Of One system, using an attacking mentality so

DC's & MC(d) - defend,

Fb's - Support,

MC(a),Wingers, FC(d) & FC(a) - attack.

Defensively this is sound, teams hardly creating chances im dominating possession but in the attacking third im coming up stuck not creating as many chances as i ought to be or would like. Having looked at the match stats after the games i've noticed my crossing percentage to be really low although i play wide, quick football. My Wingers & MC(a) are on free roles. My shots on goal are fairly low also. Where do you reckon i could alter in hope for my attacking players to be more effective in front of goal?

I hope im making sense here