Work Rate, Stamina, Pressing and BBMs

[stopazricky]

Hey guys! I'm posting because I don't fully grasp how Work Rate, Stamina and the Pressing PI interact with one another.

I'm in my sixth year with Atalanta and I'm at a level of potentially winning the UCL. I'm on the quest to sign the most well-rounded midfielder I could find and, with Camavinga being unavailable, the obvious option isn't there. There's a couple guys I'm considering, but I don't understand which attributes to prioritize.

Ideally, I need a Central Midfielder that is great at winning the ball back but, unlike Ball Winning Midfielders, is then more than capable of playing great passes or even get forward. 
While Tackling is an obvious parameter, and so is Vision, Passing etc. I don't understand what's more important for pressing and stopping the opposition cold in the midfield. My guess is that Stamina influences how long it takes for the Condition to drop during a match, while Work Rate influences how much they're ready to sacrifice to perform their tasks.

This would imply that I need high Work Rate first and foremost if I want a guy to be pressing aggressively, however I noticed something weird: Box to Box Midfielders have a "less pressing" PI. But if their job isn't necessarily "Ball Winning Midfielders, but they also drop deep, but they also get forward", then why is Tackling considered essential to play that role?

Also, precisely because of that Less Pressing PI, isn't it best for me to go for a CM(s) that doesn't have that PI? Will he actually win back the ball more often in the midfield?

[Tyburn]

Personally I would always choose a CM(au) for the role you want. What’s great about this role is it’s lack of pre defined instructions so you can add as you wish. Again, personally, I leave it blank deliberately so that traits and overall team instructions can be used solely instead. I even named my tactic because of this role. Heartbeat. The role does everything and is the glue for my tactic. Carmavinga is the absolute goal here, but Tonali and the like will also be fantastic in this role.

Basically anyone with B2B attributes and then leaning on whatever attributes you want from the role depending on who is playing next to them. In my current tactic I have a BWM next to my CM so I look more for attributes that lean towards forward thinking players. Off the ball rather than positioning for instance.

[stopazricky]

6 hours ago, Tyburn said:

Personally I would always choose a CM(au) for the role you want. What’s great about this role is it’s lack of pre defined instructions so you can add as you wish. Again, personally, I leave it blank deliberately so that traits and overall team instructions can be used solely instead. I even named my tactic because of this role. Heartbeat. The role does everything and is the glue for my tactic. Carmavinga is the absolute goal here, but Tonali and the like will also be fantastic in this role.

Basically anyone with B2B attributes and then leaning on whatever attributes you want from the role depending on who is playing next to them. In my current tactic I have a BWM next to my CM so I look more for attributes that lean towards forward thinking players. Off the ball rather than positioning for instance.

Great, thanks! So would you say I should prioritize Work Rate first and foremost? Or Stamina? which one do you feel gets the most out of a player pressing-wise?

[Tyburn]

I’d def go with work rate, but ideally you need stamina too. Or you would think so anyway. The ME seems to struggle with stamina late game imo. As in, personally, I don’t see any difference between my players sprinting around at the start of a match to the end.

[stopazricky]

1 minute ago, Tyburn said:

I’d def go with work rate, but ideally you need stamina too. Or you would think so anyway. The ME seems to struggle with stamina late game imo. As in, personally, I don’t see any difference between my players sprinting around at the start of a match to the end.

Thanks a lot!