Rome Wasn't Built In A Day - My Approach To FM

[Justified]

Good day fellow FM'ers!

With the "re-emergence" of Cleon I was inspired to open up my own thread about how I approach FM with the aim that I could help/support anyone playing the game and getting as much enjoyment out of it as possible. I don't claim to be half as good as any of the guru's on the forum however I have grabbed as much knowledge over the years as possible and this thread will sort of be a strategy guide but also a bit of a dedication to the users that have given their time over the years.

This guide will use AS Roma as an example. Why? No not because Mourinho is there now but because on a personal level I always look out for their results in Serie A ever since the days of that Millennium squad of Totti, Batistuta, Montella, Cafu, Aldair, Walter Samuel etc etc. It was a formidable squad and a team I enjoyed watching back in the day. Ever since I always have a dabble save with them but on this years version I have not yet so I thought I'd make a guide on how I tackle the various aspects of the game.

 

Table of Content:

• Set Up
• Day 1
• Scouting System
• Tactics + Tactics 2.0
• Training

 

With training I will admit I leave it mostly to the AM but I do tweak it slightly to suit my preference. I find this the most happy medium for myself but I'll cover it a bit later on.

Lastly, before I start off adding to the thread, I wanted to do some shout out's on the TT&S forum as a thanks to their contribution and time they've put into tips and tricks for the game. You guys have supported my enjoyment of the game (and forums) immensely.

@Rashidi @Cleon @Experienced Defender @herne79 @sporadicsmiles @llama3 @wwfan @Ö-zil to the Arsenal! @crusadertsar

Also a shout out to the late @SFraser who was immense back in the day too. May you be resting in peace.

If you haven't already then you should really read the topics that these guys have created over the years. Even the old stuff is still relevant now.

Edited September 13, 2021 by Justified

[Justified]

Game Set Up

 

This is probably the easiest part of the game (so it's all down hill from here  ) but if you haven't read @Daveincid's brilliant guide on how to set up a game database then I suggest you do so first. I've always had a similar database set up throughout the years anyways but his thread gave me just that little more insight on how to create a good game world in which to manage in. It even explains very well what your rig could handle and the suggestions on how you can set up your save to have the best experience possible. Below is what I have set up for this save:

I personally like to have a lot of leagues loaded with a customized database (Top Division Clubs + National Reputation loaded for all Continents) hence why the player count is over 140k. This doesn't mean you have to set up exactly this way because it is all dependant on how quick you want to play the game. I am alright with this speed but some FM'ers might want a little quicker. I could've easily just have the "default" large database (which loads around 90k players I believe) and have a a good game world. So why have I selected these leagues? Some I feel are essential to the game, some are European dependant and some are personal preference.

• Starting Nation: All Leagues - Whatever nation I start in I like to have all the leagues loaded to get the full ladder. I feel most FM'ers do this to create maximum realism in a league they manage in.
• Essential Leagues: Top 2 leagues from England, Spain, Germany, Italy and France - These are the leagues I feel are essential to playing FM and I always include them. I include the top 2 leagues because it gives semi-realistic promotion and relegation in the essential leagues.
• Additional Leagues: Top League from Argentina, Austria*, Belgium, Brazil, Denmark, Holland, Norway, Portugal, Russia, Scotland*, Sweden, Switzerland*, Turkey, Ukraine, USA (*Interchangeable if I'm not managing in Europe)

The maximum I will go for leagues loaded personally is 20/21. In Dave's guide he does promote more leagues loaded as View-Only and that's up to each and every player what they would like to do. I like the above setup just because the rest of the leagues I'll probably never "visit" anyways. As you can see as well I have interchangeable leagues depending on where I am. So for example, if I managed in South America I'd remove Austria, Scotland and Switzerland and add more neighbouring countries to get a more realistic continent save. I will add that the Scandi leagues and MLS are personal preference because I'm half Scandi myself and I actually get enjoyment about of the MLS

As for Advanced options I personally like to have the Transfer Window closed in the first window so I role play with the original squads and I don't add key staff.

Another screen that can be forgotten about when starting a new save is the Detail Level. Again I edit this for realism but feel free to leave on default if you want a faster game or select what you'd like to have more realism about in terms of match detail. Because I am in Europe I like to add maximum realism to the international and club competitions so I do so by adding more match detail in the below screen:

• Europe: Main Stages of Champions League, Europa League and Conference League. All on Super Cup.
• Intercontinental: Main Stages of the World Club Cup.
• Essential Leagues: Main Stages of the Top Leagues. Later Stages of domestic cups. All Super Cup/Charity Shield.

Another screen which I wanted to add to the Set-Up section which I always do at the beginning of the save is the Screen Flow. I love this feature! It's one of my favourites in the game because it reduces the amount of clicks and time to go to various competitions. Again the example below is European specific but you can set any leagues you like to be kept updated on. I've also added the youth competitions because for this save I would be looking for the next wonderkids as well.

This screen can be found in Preferences -> Most Common -> Screen Flow

• Essential Leagues: Profile Every Fortnight. I like to keep an eye on the leagues I've put full detail into.
• Youth Tournaments: Player Overview at Completion. Here you could also select every 2-3 days if you'd like to keep a closer eye on the actual tournament but I'm fine browsing around once the competition is finished.

Edited September 9, 2021 by Justified

[Justified]

Day 1

A small disclaimer before I delve into day one is that I like role play how I think a manager's role in a club would be so you might want to take more/less control over certain aspects then I want to. That's the beauty of FM, you can delegate whatever you'd like to do/not do. Scouting and tactics will be covered in a separate part.

 

I spend a lot of hours on day one of any new save. I cannot see how someone just clicks continue from here  

So when you start a new save you're met by a load of news messages which is basically to inform you briefly about where your club is at, what are the vision going forwards, what tactics you'd like to implement, contracts, general advice etc. If you're unfamiliar about a club it's worth having a read. When it comes to Vision I usually just accept it because that is what the Owner/President of the club wants so who am I to argue that point really? I'll do it my way anyways and if you're not happy then. Well. Tough luck. The Vision at Roma isn't unreasonable however. Sign and develop youth/young players pretty much + they'd like to build a new stadium and for myself to work within the wage budget within 5 years. This year I have to qualify for the Champions League. Fair. So basically as long as I don't sign anyone over 29, stay within the wage budget and qualify for the Champions League then I'll most likely keep my job.

We will go into tactics and scouting at another point but for now I'm just going to focus on what I do in the first few hours of being in a new club. The way I see it, from a role-playing perspective, it would be about meeting your staff first and that's how I usually address it as well. I always start with the staff tab first to go through what I have, what vacancies do we have and do we have any surplus.

From this screen I can see we have room for more Coaches (yay!), Performance Analysts, some scouting roles and there is some surplus in the Medical department. When it comes to the Director roles (DoF and Technical) I always leave the recruitment to the owner/president of the club for role-playing purposes. I don't really see them as roles as I as manager would really have a part to play in when it comes to recruiting them so I don't mind if the club wants to employ one. Down the bottom you can easily access the U20's and U18's staff screen as well which is helpful. I've made a note that we have a huge amount of U18 coaches (13/6 spots filled).

The most important roles I consider at any club is the Assistant Manager, Head Scout + HoYD (or whoever is in charge of your intake). Personally I like to have an AM who is close to my personal style in formation and tactics with good Motivation, JPA and JPP ratings. Bonuses is good Discipline, Man Management and some coaching attributes that help the team out. For the Head Scout I just look for the best one money can get as he'll run the overall ruling over potential targets. The HoYD I've gone into a little bit further down. My AM Nuno Campos is actually not too bad, being left behind by former manager Paulo Fonseca (would possibly be poached if Fonseca got another job), but in the long term I will be looking for someone a little better.

At the moment I have 7 Physio's with 4 spots allocated and one Head Physio vacancy. The most common sense thing here would be to just promote one of the Physios if he is good enough for the role.

Meet Alessandro Cardini, currently employed as a Physio in the team. He has good Determination, Man Management and Motivation so for me he is a good fit for the Head Physio role as he is Excellent at what he does (Physiotherapy 18) and could also manage a team really well. Weirdly enough he isn't familiar with Italy but that's just a weird FM quirk  So a new role and contract will be offered for him which fills a vacancy but also lowers my over on the Physio roles. I don't really have anyone I'm happy with taking the HoSS role so that's one I'll have to recruit for along with another scout and coaches. The coaches recruitment will be based on what I already have in the team so I have to visit another screen later to determine what I need.

For now I go from the overview screen over to the responsibilities tab -

As you can see I like to control the majority of the aspects at the club. Sometimes I delegate the coach courses to the Technical Director if we have one (if the club are going to employ someone in that role then he has to do something useful, that's for sure). It's honestly often something I forget to do anyways so it is helpful someone is keeping an eye on it! Like I mentioned earlier, I don't do the general training but I do take control of the individual training as I have a set way of training players in the different age groups but I don't mind the Manager's or even if I have a really good HoYD taking control of their training. Another important screen to visit here is the Advice Tab.

As you can see above I have hovered above the Provides Youth Development Information so you can see the explanation. This for me is vital that I have the correct person in charge. There is quite a few functions that can take control of this and it's important that you have a staff member who has high attributes in Working with Youngsters, Determination, Motivation, JPP and a great personality. Also having similar styles of play and formation help as well but I don't think there essential but it's a bonus. At Roma we have Conti who is excellent so I have no worries there but I have managed other clubs where actually the DoF is the best option so I have no problems with him taking over that role if it's going to help our youth development.

The next thing I do is have a look at our coaches at the club. In Italy it's a little different where the First Team coaches only do the first team compared to maybe the EPL where the Development squad share the facilities. Usually what I do is select Remove All and then ask the Assistant to Assign and tweak from there. What I'm looking for is max amount of stars in each category but also make sure the workload is Average or below. Then I base my coach recruitment off this screen. A small tip here is that in Pre-Season you're going to focus mostly on Tactical and Physical so, for now, max out your stars there for now (compared to the SS above I have actually swapped places with myself and Tiago Leal to get the star count up on Attacking Tactical) and then when the season starts I'd hopefully have some new recruits and can jig things around again.

Based on the screen above and the 4 vacancies we have we can get a really good team in here. I'd look for GK coach so we can have specialized focus on each category, a Defensive Technical coach so Campos can focus solely on Tactical Defending and then two attacking coaches to take over the 2 attacking categories so Leal is free and I can coach one category only. Leal will then be my "Cone-Man" who supports with every category to lower the workload. I do this for every age group as I have maximum control over all training apart from General Training.

Once I've setup the staff I start looking at Pre-Season. For those that like total control of training this is where I'd start planning for the Pre-season period but I just wanted to touch on how I set up friendlies.

Ideally what I'm looking for is between 6-10 friendlies every pre-season. 8 for me is the sweet spot but some countries have longer pre-season periods so you might need 10 to keep up the match sharpness. With Roma I could only fit 7 because of the International's in game being really early due to Covid. I usually like a sense of realism here where we'd travel for the early "easier" fixtures and stay at home for the "tougher" matches. How I usually structure it, if we use 8 as the "rule";

• 1st Friendly - Warmup Match against either Very Small or Nearby Club at home. Just someone we can smash for fun and play around a little bit with the tactical side.
• 2nd, 3rd, 4th + 5th Friendly - Here depends if we're going on tour, training camp or staying at home. If staying at home or Training Camp I play away/local against Smaller teams. If on tour I don't mixing it up for financial gain.
• 6th Friendly - Big Game at home. The biggest I can find that will give me a test and also generate some good income (for LL teams this could be crucial). At Roma, Utrecht was the best I found  
• 7th Friendly - Very Small/Nearby Club at home. Another smashing to raise the morale (especially if you're a LL team that has been smashed 10-0 because you chose Liverpool in the match before) but also to give squad and fringe players a run for 90 minutes.
• 8th Friendly - Similar Team at Home. Also I count Super Cups and Charity Shields in this category as the board tend to not care about these fixtures too much.

Usually the 8th/final friendly is a week before the first official match so you get one last full week of training under the belt. If you're choosing more then 8 fixtures I would suggest playing at home against Similar or Larger teams to get some more money through the gates but it also gives you more opportunity to give squad and Fringe players more playing time to be fit for the season. I personally wouldn't do more then 2 Very Small/Nearby team friendlies because I don't really gain too much from them apart from a morale perspective. Also your Tactical Familiarity increases more the tougher the opposition you play in Friendlies. Which makes sense because a team like Roma isn't going to gain anything tactically from very weak opponents.

From here we start getting to the good stuff. The squad of course! Now, again, for role playing purposes I don't actually change anything squad related (apart from training) until we've had our first meeting together. Otherwise it seems a bit odd that a manager would chop and change things without introducing oneself to the group first. So once the first team/manager I feel more comfortable changing things because I've met the team already. However we can take a look at the First Team Squad as it is when you load up the game (minus the players on loan which I've hidden with the filter)

The first thing that hits me is we actually only have 2 natural strikers at the club. One is on loan and one is paid a ridiculous amounts of money and is 34 (Sorry Dzeko). So is Pastore for that matter but seeing as the Transfer Window is shut off we can't do anything about it right now. We have 4 GK's and none are really superb so that could be a weakness this season. We have 6 natural centre backs which could be a problem if I go with a back four however Fazio and Jesus are in the last year of their contracts so it's not a major problem. Zaniolo is my most exciting talent but long term injury means he'll mostly focus on Rehab this season which is a shame but going into next season it will be interesting to see where I will utilize him as he could play pretty much anywhere in attacking mid (or even striker tbh). After Spinazzola's brilliant Euro's you feel he should be better rated  And I have no idea why Sdaigui is in the first team so candidate to be loaned out.

I like the certain Italian core of Mancini, Pellegrini and Zaniolo in the team and I'll most likely tie Pellegrini down to a longer deal as he only has 2 years left and is an excellent attacking midfielder. We have some aging stars in Mkhitaryan and Pedro but both have really good personalities so might be worth having them around beyond next season depending on tutoring. Smalling and Mancini also have great personalities which is helpful for any defensive players in case of tutoring. So I'd say all in all I'm happy with this squad and really think we can get into the Champions League.

When looking at squad size I usually want 23 "active" players. What I mean by this is that sometimes you keep oldies around for either sentimental reasons or because they can give something from a tutor perspective. But they would be on a "Fringe" squad status because otherwise they'll expect to play. For example, on my Liverpool save, after the first season I kept Milner but told him he would only be a fringe player. He accepted and didn't moan one bit about not playing. On top of that he mentored some of the kids at the club. Win win in my book. Young players in the first team either have to be considered part of the "active" group and if they are not they have to be available for the U20's so they get some minutes in their boots.

@sporadicsmiles had some great advice in his thread about team building and how to think 18 months ahead at all times and I agree, I think subconsciously I've always thought this way anyways but yes when looking at the team I always think 18-24 months ahead of time. Who will be here, who should I tie down to long contracts etc etc. Definitely worth reading his thread about it. The reason why I mention this is because Dzeko, despite being one of the best players at the club, will be on his way out at some point after this season.

We also have some youngsters in the U20's who are ready to take the step up. Reynolds is on loan and we can buy if we decide to keep him after the season (which I believe they did in real life). He is at an age where he should be playing so I can either a) Keep him in the U20's where tbh he won't come on leaps and bounds where in the First Team he would or b) promote him to the first team ahead of other right backs. At the moment I have Karsdorp, Peres and Santon. One to ponder seeing as he has potential to surpass all of them.

Calafiori is very talented! I will definitely be promoting him to the first team as he could be the best left back at the club with the right training, minutes, tutoring etc.

*EDIT* Changed my mind in regards to Milanese. With Pastore and Zaniolo both out injured for a long time he will be promoted to the First Team to get some tutoring but also an opportunity to get some minutes.

After a lot of umming and aaahing I've decided what I am going to do with this squad. All three youngsters will promote to the first team whilst I'm going to relegate some of the players to the U20's where they'll eventually rot until released. I felt like Peres and Pastore will never feature for this team due to poor work ethic and the latter is also on a massive wage so the first opportunity I get to get rid I will. GK Fuzato joins them as he'll never get a place in this squad and his age should really find first team football. On the subject of goalkeeping, there is a conundrum whether I should play Mirante or Lopez in goal. Mirante is a good standard keeper but in terms of being a Sweeper Keeper, I feel that Lopez might just have the edge. Definitely a position to ponder. So below is what our squad is going to be this year;

I've done it by Agreed Playing Status so you can see that the communication to myself and the team is very clear on who is in and who is rotating/backup. Also the youngsters are told they'll get some minutes here and there. I haven't addressed the goalkeeping situation just yet as I feel I can play some friendlies first and then make up my mind hence why they're statuses have not been swapped. I've agreed Farelli can stay the year as he's pretty harmless on Emergency Backup status. I'm also going to train Ibanez as a DMC as I feel the versatility could come in handy and if any injury crisis appears we do have, in worse case scenario, Jesus and Fazio. I've told Pellegrini and Zaniolo that they're my guys in this team, as it stands they'll be tied down to long contracts in future so they'll stay Romanista's for life.

Just a short word on Code of Conduct. No idea if it makes a difference but I always let the player decide first, in this case Pellegrini and then I add the last two rows myself for being sent off. Like I said, I don't know if you get less reds cards this way but at least the club will save some money if it happens  I've never had a squad that thinks it's unreasonable and when we have the Team Meeting and they accept the Code of Conduct I always praise with Outstretched Arms. Like to think that helps.

Tactics, Scouting and Training will be handled in a different section but that is pretty much what I do on day one at a new club.

Edited September 9, 2021 by Justified

[Justified]

Scouting System

When it comes to scouting in FM there are many ways to do it now then ever before however I like to keep my system very very simple and always have done. I can't remember where I picked it up from but it was a long long time ago. First thing I would do is ask the board if you can have more scouts. The more you have the wider your scouting network can be (duh!). I always split scouts into four different categories; Chief, Tactical, Domestic and Foreign.

• Chief: My best scout. For role playing purposes I do look at Man Management as well but not so much I sacrifice JPA and JPP. Also bare in mind if your club does employ a DoF and he is actually your best "scout" you could use him to run the rule over their ability and potential.
• Tactical: Next Opposition Scout. Like it says on the tin, scouts the opposition. Will be my scout with the highest Tactical Knowledge along with JP and JPP
• Domestic/Foreign: If they're not familiar with the territory they're scouting then Adaptability will help. If they're scouting a large area then Determination will help as well.

Above is the current Recruitment team at Roma. Conti feels like the boss in terms of staff as he can pretty much do anything. Lo Schiavo is actually one of the worst when it comes to JPA and JPP but he is the Chief Scout *Face Palm*. So for this season I am actually going to use Lo Schiavo as my Tactical Scout and Conti as my Chief until I get that area sorted. One thing to consider is whether you're focusing on home-grown talent (to which I would have 2 or 3 scouts scouting Italy) or if you're happy to have one Domestic Scout only. For Roma I'm happy enough to just have one which will be Conti who can roam around Italy (which logistically sounds like a nightmare seeing as he is a HoYD as well ). Which then leaves me with 8 Scouts I can send on their mission. Below is the priority list of where I send my scouts;

1. South America (South)
2. Central Europe
3. UK + Ireland
4. Eastern Europe (Czech, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Ukraine)  
5. North America
6. North Africa
7. Southern Europe
8. Scandinavia
9. West Africa (Ghana, Ivory Coast, Nigeria)
10. East Asia (Japan, South Korea)
11. Middle East
12. Central Africa (Cameroon, DR Congo)
13. Southern Africa (South Africa)
14. Southeast Asia (Australia)
15. South Asia (India)

The area's which have countries in brackets means I only send to those countries but they belong to that region. The reason why is because they are the only countries in those regions I'd like to scout. Seeing as I only have 8 scouts remaining after Conti's and Lo Schiavo's assignments I will focus on 1-8 for now until I get more scouts. Below is how it ended up looking (Lo Schiavo is not in the picture but he's scouting the opposition)

So it's given me the following structure going into the season:

• "Chief"/Domestic Scout: Bruno Conti - Runs the rule over potential signings and roams around domestically.
• "Tactical Scout": Simone Lo Schiavo - Has the best Tactical Knowledge so this made sense.
• South America Scout: Domenico Zinfolino - Overall the best scout with high adaptability and determination so should be able to handle a big area like South America.
• Central Europe Scout: Ignazio Di Stefano - Because Italy is in Central Europe the assignment will go a little quicker because he's familiar with on country.
• UK + Ireland Scout: Marco Albergati
• Eastern Europe Scout: Roberto Vichi
• North America Scout: Stefano Luxoro
• North Africa Scout: Aldo Scialla
• Scandi Scout: Stefano Palmieri

Here you have an example of what the assignment looks like. This is what Bruno Conti is doing. You can make this as detailed as you want but I'm happy to look for 27 or younger and good potential. The more detail you put in here the less reports you'll have but closer to the players you want. I'd rather go through reports and decide for myself whether he'll suit or not. Normally I set scouting from July to July so it acts as a reminder but because the game starts in August I just set it as ongoing and then when I get to the 1st of July I set them for a year.

Also I have one vacancy in the scouting team which means I will be looking for a scout. Ideally I want to follow the same priority list unless I already have a scout from that Region. So the next scout I want through the door should have some South American knowledge. Which then means Zinfolino can scout somewhere else this year. If I don't find someone suitable and the next Region has a good scout, in this case West Africa, then I'll go down that route instead. Luckily, good old Milan player Serginho will be coming in to fill that South American role. He can hardly hide his excitement...

Another thing to consider as well is the delivery of your scouting reports. You can either have things sent to your inbox straight away or let them sit in the Scouting Centre until it's visited. I'm old school so I actually like my inbox being bombarded by scouting reports (just like back in the CM days) so I set a lot of things sent to my inbox straight away from my scouts. I also keep the 60% recommendation level as I like to see as many players as possible. If you want less reports you can do 70% but I feel you miss out on potential targets if you do. During the transfer window I've changed my preferences to every 2 days as well because when the window is open I feel it's crucial you get as much info as possible. Below is my preferred Advanced Settings;

That covers how I do scouting in FM and how I set up from the get go. After that it's get as many scouts you can get and if your team exceeds 15 scouts you can then start double up on nations or have more domestic scouts, it's really up to you  

Edited July 6, 2022 by Justified

[Justified]

Tactics

So here comes the part which I'm sure more people are interested in seeing. I have settled on a way of playing the game which suits myself and is no way plug and play but I actually prefer being able to be in control of what I'm doing on the pitch. I have friends and also know people online that prefer plugging in a tactic and just pressing play. I honestly don't judge, each to their own. The only problem I have with PnP tactics is I don't feel like I'm in control and often those kind of tactics are just an overkill of instructions. I'm a bit more minimalistic and have gathered thoughts and theorem's from all over the place and below is the sort of tactic and formation I like to play with. Again I refer to the shoutout's again but big thanks to the Guru's on the forum!

 

There are some PI's under the hood as well which I will go through but the thing I like most about this tactic and roles is that it is very tweakable without having to loose too much familiarity. Bare in mind this is a tactic which is to be played when I know I can force my style over the opponent. I will share a slightly more tweaked version for matches where maybe I'm not favourite but can still play a more direct version without too much tweaking. I'll also share some tweaks you can do to open up those stubborn defences if you come across parked buses. Just don't be mad if it doesn't work  If I was to draw inspiration I would definitely say Klopp at Liverpool but also baring in mind that this is a game/simulator so sometimes you just have to go with what works.

 

• In Possession: Play Out Of Defence + Higher Tempo - Here I feel confident that we can get the ball from back to front using a short passing build up and also at pace once it goes into midfield things become more Direct and Fast.
• In Transition: Counter + Counter Press - This is where the Klopp inspiration comes into play. Press when loosing the ball and counter whilst the opposition is in transition.
• Out of Possession: Higher Defensive Live + Higher Line Of Engagement - To counter press successfully we need to sit higher up the field and the 4-1-2-3 formation allows us a little less compactness successfully.

 

GK - Pau Lopez - Sweeper Keeper (Defend) : The SKde fulfils our philosophy of Counter football in transition and although he'll be more cautious he'll still play counter-attacking balls if they're on. Potentially with a better keeper you could have him on Support however with High Tempo + Counter + Positive Mentality he'll pretty much do what I want anyways. In a more "defensive" version of the tactic I'd always have him on Defend duty because he could be wasting possession by having too much freedom with his passing.

DR - Rick Karsdorp - Full Back (Support) : "Support midfield with extra width and will look for crosses and through-balls when the opportunity arises" is the description of a FBsu which fits my tactic well. On support he'll have the same mentality as the team mentality (Positive) which is fine. You can also take the decision if you'd prefer an IWBsu here as there will be space in CM and MR for him to go into with no issues but that obviously is dependant on your player's skillset. Rick on the other hand likes to go down the right so he can stay as an FBsu. Regardless of what role you go for he'll fill many functions for you. When needing to be more defensive he'll change duty to Defend and when you need to overload in attack he'll go to Attack.

CD - Gianluca Mancini + Chris Smalling - Central Defenders (Defend) : I keep them bog-standard. Their distribution is always going to depend on how we play. In this tactic they pass their way out of trouble at pace. In a more defensive setup they'll be asked to go a bit longer. If you really want a BPD then I don't see the issue but I actually prefer to train a CDde to hit long passes if he has good vision and passing because it gives you the cautious nature of the CD but with the added bonus that he'll ping a ball if it's on. With a BPD you force him to always hit a risky ball.

DL - Leonardo Spinazzola - Wing-Back (Support) : Role never changes here. We have enough cover for this player to get forward and support the attack wide whilst the attacking player in front attacks the box. He'll cross the ball if on or lean on his PPM's to decide what to do.

DM - Amadou Diawara - Defensive Midfielder (Defend) : Recycles possession from his deep position on the pitch. Against inferior teams he'll go to a Support duty so he steps into midfield. What will happen is he'll form a double pivot with the DLPsu in attack and fall into the DMC slot in defence. When you have a team that doesn't attack you and just sits in then it makes a big difference to have almost a second playmaker in midfield.

CM - Lorenzo Pellegrini - Central Midfielder (Attack) : Here's where things start getting customized. I need the CMat to act like a deep shadow striker/advanced playmaker without being a ball magnet. I've added Take More Risks + Dribble More + Shoot Less Often + Moves Into Channels + Close Down More. When in possession I need him to find space vertically to draw players out of position and when he has the ball I need him to either dribble or take risks. Coupled with his Very Attacking mentality this guy will do everything in attack to unlock the defence. Against packed defences I'll untick Shoot Less because sometimes you need to let him off the leash in that regard. Also against packed defences I'll switch him to a MEZat because there will be less space for him to operate in. The only time I wouldn't would be if we're playing with an IWB because you overload the defence in a slightly different way with that role.

CM - Jordan Veretout - Deep Lying Playmaker (Support) : Another role that doesn't change due to the way the tactic is set with the different roles. If you choose to play with an APsu then other roles around him would have to change as he goes from holding to a more mobile role in midfield. In this Positive tactic you do get higher ratings as his own mentality will be the same and he'll take even more risks. I've seen some insane balls pinged behind defences on this mentality. If you don't have a playmaker type in the team then I've actually had a standard Central Midfielder on Support with no PI's here and follow the attributes recommended for the role.

AMR - Pedro - Inverted Winger (Support) : Before you say anything, he has modified PI's. He's asked to stay Wider to stretch play when the team has the ball, Close Down More and Take More Risks. Basically he'll act like a winger off the ball but on the ball instead of going on the outside he'll go on the inside. Or cross if he deems it the best option. IF you have a winger type player then switch it to a Winger role and select Close Down More. The only thing that changes is the way the player acts when he gets the ball and if you have a winger it makes more sense asking him to go on the outside and cross in. However at Roma I have Pedro and Perez who both like to cut inside so not really suitable.

AML - Henrikh Mkhitaryan - Inside Forward (Attack) : Only PI added is Close Down More. You have two options here (or even three). I prefer an Inside Forward as they tend to be my highest scorers if they are good and with Mkhitaryan I was split whether to have him as an IFat or IWat but I can judge in pre-season which is best. I actually think he'll suit the IF role well as he is really good on the ball. I would go with IWat if I was relying more on my striker scoring because the IW has more freedom to cross then a IFat does but an IWat could easily end up as a top goalscorer too. When I mentioned "three" roles there is one I haven't trialled enough which is Raumdeuter role. It doesn't really fit the ethos of the overall philosophy (if you will) but if he is hardworking anyway and not really a good dribbler then why not try?

STC - Edin Dzeko - Deep Lying Forward (Attack) : Again, only PI added is Close Down More. There are two roles I like here and that's the DLFat and PFat and they are dependant on the player but I'm not afraid to play either type in this system. Both roles pin back the defence but neither get isolated from the team. If they do then you've overestimated how much you can force your playing style on the opponent. But don't worry, in a more Cautious version they'll stay on the same roles so again it's not too much for them to switch.

So how does a more conservative way of playing look like without changing too much?

• In Possession: Slightly More Direct Passing + Higher Tempo - Now we don't try and play out of the back but instead lure the opposition in and get the ball forward when they try to press.
• In Transition: Counter + Distribute to Centre-backs/Full-Backs - Keep the Counter on and the Distribution to defenders is how we lure the opposition.
• Out of Possession: None - Sit in more of a mid-block rather then trying to Counter-Press.

In terms of PI's Karsdorp has gone to Defend Duty which you can do if you feel that you need three back when you attack. It does leave the AMR "alone" but this is the decision you need to make regarding the opposition. Also changing Karsdorp to Defend does change the Fluidity to Structured which means less creative freedom but in a more cautious system you might want your players not to take matters into their hands. You can keep him on Support if you feel like you'll be ok (or if you're just using the more Balanced style to wind down a match). Only other change is that I remove Close Down More from the CMat because I'd rather he fall back into shape then try and press the opponents high up the pitch (no more Counter-Press anyways). If you're really going to be up against it you can have a third tactic in the tactic slot which is the same as above but Cautious Mentality and lower Line of Engagement by one notch. It will allow you to be more compact and solid but just accept that sometimes you do loose because the team just isn't good enough.

I would say though if you feel that you're going to have to resort to a more Cautious mentality a lot over a season (for example, you're a newly promoted side) then I'd train the above tactic and have the Cautious mentality tactic as your 2nd slot. Reason is you're probably then not good enough to use the Positive version but once both tactics are full familiarity you could train the Positive version in the 3rd slot for the season after when you have a better team.

Here you have the changes I do to break down those stubborn buses. Diawara goes to Support, Karsdorp to Attack and Pellegrini as a MEZat (and untick Shoot Less Often). Like I mentioned earlier, if you're playing with an IWB at RB then you don't have to change the CMat role after going with IWBat as the overload will be different. If you really need to throw more bodies forward I usually move the DLPsu to the DMC spot (with the same role) sub on another CM (who has been training as a CMat anyways) and change to a simple CMsu in midfield. You can even go Attacking mentality if you're really desperate but I never really have to. It's usually enough with the overload but those are little tips you can do if you need to.

Again, like I mentioned earlier, it's all about have some sense of control for me and feeling like, as a manager, I make a difference when I'm changing things. At some point I can also add some info about 4-4-2/4-4-1-1 that I use whenever I might not have the players I need to perform this way but it still acts as 4-3-3 of sorts.

Let me know if there are any Q's  

Edited September 9, 2021 by Justified

[Justified]

Training

Like I mentioned earlier, I do leave the general training to the AM and Youth Manager's as it's not something I feel like I've ever delved into a lot. Whenever I look through the Happiness screen everyone seems "Delighted" with training so I don't fix anything that isn't broken. However I do get emails from all teams in regards to training (you can find this under Responsibilities) as I feel like it's important not too get too separated from the general training side of things and I will do little tweaks here and there if the training has glitched (sometimes it does when there is Sunday to Sunday games). Also when using the tactic the AM seems to think it's Vertical Tiki Taka which is not far from the truth but I feel there are some modifications that could be made.

The only thing I change is Attacking Patient to Attacking Direct. Reason being two-fold. Number one is that my attack is more Direct then it is Patient due to the faster tempo, high mentality and Counter. It also helps when I swap to the more cautious style as that employs direct passing. Second reason is because my defensive unit is a bit more standoff-ish then engaged but not fully enough to have Defending Disengaged training during the week. However by training Attacking Direct the defence trains 20% on Defending Disengaged which will help as the split press allows my defensive unit to get back into shape. Also when we have 2 matches a week and the AM selects the Vertical Tiki-Taka I prefer to either select the Gegenpress pre-set if they are two "easy" games or the Tactical schedule if it's tougher matches. This is a bit more for variety. The Gegenpress preset has Defend from the Front which is good for the split press and the Tactical schedule has more positional and off the ball training which could help.

Also there is a slight issue that sometimes the AI selects Physical in a week with 2 matches. I always change this as I feel it's a little too much for me to ask the players to do double gym session days and play two matches in a week. Which brings me onto Intensity as well. Generally I don't change it for the first team but change the Youth teams to Double Intensity when they have full Condition (Full Green Hearts). The only exception in the First Team is youth players who are not part of the "Active" 23 man squad. So basically youth players you have in the first team for experience and tutoring but won't be playing many full 90 matches for the First Team. In my case that will be Reynolds, Milanese and Calafiori.

Just a quick word on tutoring as I feel most FM'ers "get it". Tutor's and players getting tutored have to be in the same Units for it to work. So here you have Smalling training the young kids in defence and Mkihitaryan training young kids in attack. I know I've had the question before in regards to what if you only have 1 GK and one young GK, well what I do and if I can choose Liverpool as an example again. I had Alisson + Henderson in the same Tutor group as Kelleher + Jones so I could have the best of both worlds and it worked well. As for the units themselves they are quite self explanatory, the only advice I'd have when using this tactical system is that from time to time I would have the DLP's in the defensive unit so they can work on the defensive side of the game now and then. If the AM schedules a Defensive or Technical training week then I'd stick the DLP's in there for that week.

As for the youth squad's, the team directly below the First Team (whether it be U20, U23 etc) all train exactly the same positional roles as the First Team so if injuries hit and I have to play them then they already are familiar with the position. The Youth team all have broader roles that they train so they can fill out more attributes with their potential. I also only train roles in their natural position because I don't want potential to go into position training at such an early age. This is usually what I do;

• Goalkeepers - Sweeper Keeper (Support)
• Full-backs + Wing-backs - Complete Wing-Back (Support)
• Central Defenders - Ball-Playing Defender (Defend)
• Defensive Midfielders - Deep-Lying Playmaker (Defend)
• Central Midfielders - Roaming Playmaker (Support) *Train them in the defensive unit so they work on their defensive attributes as well as the creative ones
• Wide Midfielders - Inverted Winger (Attack)
• Attacking Midfielder - Advanced Playmaker (Attack)
• Wide Attacking Midfielders - Inside Forward (Support)
• Strikers - Complete Forward (Attack)

When it comes to PPM's I like to train them around the age of 18/19, preferably when they're in the U20. I have a few I like depending on position within the system;

• Sweeper Keeper : Starts Counter Attack With Long Throws (if he is actually good at throwing)
• Wing-Back/Full-Back : Get Forward Whenever Possible + Run With Ball Down Right/Left
• Inverted Wing-Back : Cuts Inside
• Defensive Midfielder : Comes Deep To Get Ball
• Deep-Lying Playmaker : Comes Deep To Get Ball + Dictates Tempo
• Central Midfielder : Get Forward Whenever Possible (or Arrives Late in Opposition Area) + Moves Into Channels + Play's One-Two's + Places Shots (or Rounds Keeper if he has poor finishing)
• Inside Forward : Plays One-Two's + Places Shots
• Inverted Winger : Plays One-Two's + Moves Into Channels
• Striker : Here depends on the type you play with but both could learn One-Two's and Moves Into Channels. Lob The Keeper if he has flair, comes deep if he is more the creative type. Possibilities are endless here.

Under Construction...

Edited September 9, 2021 by Justified

[Justified]

Tactics... 2.0

So what actually happened when the season kicked off? Well... The players really didn't like playing on Positive mentality. It was the only thing that could explain the constant nervousness in the games and we seemed to labour to get the ball into the back of the net despite having a really good team on the pitch and having a bunch of good personalities, they didn't seemed convinced that we could force our style onto opponents. It's not a major problem and I rather have a system they're comfortable with then trying to force if they don't feel it. I did go Positive in a few Europa League games as I have Dundalk in my group and that was no problem but in the league they feel inferior by the look of things.

So here you can see we've taken a step back in terms of Mentality. As soon as I swapped the players were giving me more confident signs pre-game (you get loads of these little messages ahead of kick off which can be a difference between a win or dropping points). Apart from that I didn't change anything... Apart from mirroring the tactic and Dzeko going to a Support duty. But why? Because I'm taking a step back in risk and directness as Balanced is more mixed in terms of passing across the pitch and I felt that he'll get more isolated then normal so decided to involve him more in the build up. If I was going more direct in a "sit deeper and counter" tactic I would've kept him in an attack role. I mirrored the tactic because Mkhitaryan played better supporting and Pedro was better as the finisher. Also it sort of suited the players more in the rest of the tactic. Villar has taken the DLPsu and Ibanez Smalling's place in the team. The Englishman was not good in pre-season! Veretout at the moment is at DMC but he is a little bit of a swiss-army knife. If either Pellegrini or Villar get injured or rotated he goes to take their role and Diawara comes in to DMC.

 

Below you can see what a difference it makes "finding a way" to win matches. It's an absolute peach of a goal which shows when Dzeko now drops deeper to build up and the rest of the team attack space. You can also see early on in the clip that Mkhitaryan is holding the width wide so Pellegrini can find space to run into. On this occasion no ball comes but it shows how a deep shadow-striker can work well from a CM position.

For now I've kept the more Positive tactic in the 3rd slot, hoping to re-visit at some point but for now this tactic and the more cautious tactic sit in 1st and 2nd for the season in hope to gain some more confidence in the style.

Edited September 13, 2021 by Justified

[Justified]

I've also updated the 1st Day and also the Scouting section 

[Rashidi]

Brilliant work I loved the scouting section! I find that its possible to send  a scout with good adaptability to multiple Asian nations. I have one to Australia, South Korea, Japan and China.

[Justified]

2 hours ago, Rashidi said:

Brilliant work I loved the scouting section! I find that its possible to send  a scout with good adaptability to multiple Asian nations. I have one to Australia, South Korea, Japan and China.

Yes definitely! I do sometimes "cheat" when I don't have enough scouts and do it that way as well  Also if you have a Scout that's nationality is Australian, SK, Japanese or Chinese you can do it that way as well.

[Justified]

Tactic part of the guide is up as well now. Again, big thanks to all guru's and old heads on the forum for input/guides etc for making it possible for me to express myself on this guide  

[raktim0699]

For example, If I want to manage Barcelona and want to get better youths from the best nation then what sort of database do you recommend? Should I play with the entire world to keep the game more realistic? I mean it is so confusing. 

[raktim0699]

Hello, hopefully, I can discuss my experience of playing FM more extensively here. Some thoughts seem to be very prevalent so far that I have been playing FM, and I thought maybe it is the right place to share. These are:

1. Can someone play the game with the same mentality as someone who plays Fifa or other sports simulation games? Why or why not?
2. Does this game require you to constantly think about your approach and record everything in your mind or book, basically how a real manager would go about his every day as they are a professional and it is their only job?

The answer to the first question, in my opinion, seems to be no, you can't play FM with the same attitude because you do need to visualize and function how a real manager would do, and it can get overwhelming. For example, you have decided to manage Barcelona. Now, what? You can't continue and go to the next match hoping to win the game with only your tactical understanding and power over the AI. Your club might be suffering from substantial debt; players are on ridiculous contracts, staffs are not good, or not according to how you envisaged it; the youths need restructuring, sold, loaned out, or bought. With so many things to do, it can indeed get overwhelming. Once you lose one match, you know it is going downhill from there, and these are the questions and doubt circling your mind.

Were my players too tired of my training methods? Did I rotate my squad enough? Did my lack of squad depth affect why players were getting injured? Why was I failed to see that, or how am I supposed to do that? Should I have done more math training before the match? How did I handle player relationships? Could I have accepted the offer of my player about his wage not to dampen his mood because he was an influential member? Why my youths are not looking nice, I was hoping to bring a golden generation or at least would have liked to see more youths from the academy score goals without buying players from outside to accelerate my progress.

 

[DarJ]

4 minutes ago, raktim0699 said:

Does this game require you to constantly think about your approach and record everything in your mind or book, basically how a real manager would go about his every day as they are a professional and it is their only job?

Yes to an extent.

I'm currently managing in the 2026 world cup with Nigeria and I've made it al the way to the semi finals. I wouldn't have made it this far if I didn't observe and take mental note of certain things. For example I've played the tactic I'm using for 6 years now with my club side and I know that we struggle to create chances against teams that play with a DM or with 3 center backs so I pray no to come up against those tactics and when I do come across them I already know I have to change the way we play if we want to win

[Justified]

20 minutes ago, raktim0699 said:

For example, If I want to manage Barcelona and want to get better youths from the best nation then what sort of database do you recommend? Should I play with the entire world to keep the game more realistic? I mean it is so confusing. 

It's actually less complicated then you think. If you read @Daveincid's first post in his thread about starting a new save then it'll be clear. I'd say if you want something "realistic" then 20 top leagues + Large database is a place to start and then just tweak from there. You don't have to have the 140k I put here, I've had saves around the 80/90k and they've been fine in terms of newgens. You also have to bare in mind what type of rig you have.

[DarJ]

2 minutes ago, Justified said:

You also have to bare in mind what type of rig you have

I eco this. I have a very big database with a lot of Leagues playable and 160K players (my save file is around 500mb) and my laptop hands it fine but it's not the fastest either and recently I've been playing it on my brothers laptop and it's so slow

[Justified]

21 minutes ago, raktim0699 said:

Can someone play the game with the same mentality as someone who plays Fifa or other sports simulation games? Why or why not?

FIFA no. You don't really require a brain to play that  But in all seriousness it's not comparable because that's like saying can someone who uses photoshop make a picture in Excel. You probably could but it'd take more thinking to do so.

23 minutes ago, raktim0699 said:

Does this game require you to constantly think about your approach and record everything in your mind or book, basically how a real manager would go about his every day as they are a professional and it is their only job?

I wouldn't go as far as saying I write things down. But yes you have to think a bit more methodically in FM. Real Life is a little bit more unpredictable but when you've played FM for a few seasons you know how the AI is going to react to certain situations and how you can then counter against them. Or you could just do like my friends and download a PnP and not worry about it.

 

25 minutes ago, raktim0699 said:

The answer to the first question, in my opinion, seems to be no, you can't play FM with the same attitude because you do need to visualize and function how a real manager would do, and it can get overwhelming. For example, you have decided to manage Barcelona. Now, what? You can't continue and go to the next match hoping to win the game with only your tactical understanding and power over the AI. Your club might be suffering from substantial debt; players are on ridiculous contracts, staffs are not good, or not according to how you envisaged it; the youths need restructuring, sold, loaned out, or bought. With so many things to do, it can indeed get overwhelming. Once you lose one match, you know it is going downhill from there, and these are the questions and doubt circling your mind.

Were my players too tired of my training methods? Did I rotate my squad enough? Did my lack of squad depth affect why players were getting injured? Why was I failed to see that, or how am I supposed to do that? Should I have done more math training before the match? How did I handle player relationships? Could I have accepted the offer of my player about his wage not to dampen his mood because he was an influential member? Why my youths are not looking nice, I was hoping to bring a golden generation or at least would have liked to see more youths from the academy score goals without buying players from outside to accelerate my progress.

I'm not sure if this is your actual thoughts but they sound slightly on the worn out side of things. If this is how you feel then maybe step away from the game a bit because you sound mentally exhausted.

[Djecker]

What's the thought process like when you're assessing players and designing a system around them? Like, why this particular 4-3-3 for this particular squad? You gave a good explanation of the particular roles and PIs, but why not a 4-2-3-1 shape? Or back 3 system with that many CBs?

[Justified]

42 minutes ago, Djecker said:

What's the thought process like when you're assessing players and designing a system around them? Like, why this particular 4-3-3 for this particular squad? You gave a good explanation of the particular roles and PIs, but why not a 4-2-3-1 shape? Or back 3 system with that many CBs?

The system wasn't designed for them it was vice versa. So this is "my" style of play and then I fit the players into the system. Apart from 2-3 roles which are "fixed" the rest are quite flexible in terms of personell. Like I said at the end of the post, if I really don't have the squad to manage it then I do have a 4-4-2/4-4-1-1, which I'll post at a later point as it wasn't really specific to Roma, that I can use until I've bought key players to get the system to work.

I don't really like the 4-2-3-1 if I'm honest. I get more out of having the AMC in the MC slot as an attacker. Besides, when you look at how the tactic plays it morphs into a 4-2-3-1/ 4-2-4 in attack anyways as the CMat finds either space in-between the lines or goes beyond a dropping DLFat. It does look fluid at times.

Not a fan of back 3's either. I don't mind the Pseudo versions in RL where you have a right/left back tucked in but 3 out and out centre backs just isn't my style at all. When playing the more cautious version of the tactic and Karsdorp plays FBde then you sort of have a back 3 in attack. More so when you have an IWBde in that position.

[Djecker]

Fair enough.

[mp_87]

Great effort with this @Justified, totally with you on the 'Day One' ethos - I'm also someone who takes hours and hours to complete it!

I'd consider myself knowledgeable about all aspects of FM after 20 years, but would like to ask about Game Detail and Setup. Does it stay stable and error/crash free? Even with a middle of the road, very competent laptop I've tended to shy away from loading "lots" of leagues and running many competitions in full detail on recent editions because of the worry, not so much about processing times, but the file size and stability after a few years. Certainly on old FM's it used to quickly run into the 100's of MB's etc. and be something I was wary of. I'm sure optimization has improved, and maybe something I dip my toe back in and explore...

[Luizinho]

On 09/09/2021 at 10:45, Justified said:

In terms of PI's Karsdorp has gone to Defend Duty which you can do if you feel that you need three back when you attack. It does leave the AMR "alone" but this is the decision you need to make regarding the opposition. Also changing Karsdorp to Defend does change the Fluidity to Structured which means less creative freedom but in a more cautious system you might want your players not to take matters into their hands. You can keep him on Support if you feel like you'll be ok (or if you're just using the more Balanced style to wind down a match).

I just wanted the highlight the bit in bold, where you talk about your cautious ‘system’.

As far as I know, this is incorrect. The team’s fluidity label is purely a cosmetic feature and has no impact on player’s creative freedom or any other instructions?

Edited September 10, 2021 by Luizinho

[Justified]

57 minutes ago, mp_87 said:

Great effort with this @Justified, totally with you on the 'Day One' ethos - I'm also someone who takes hours and hours to complete it!

I'd consider myself knowledgeable about all aspects of FM after 20 years, but would like to ask about Game Detail and Setup. Does it stay stable and error/crash free? Even with a middle of the road, very competent laptop I've tended to shy away from loading "lots" of leagues and running many competitions in full detail on recent editions because of the worry, not so much about processing times, but the file size and stability after a few years. Certainly on old FM's it used to quickly run into the 100's of MB's etc. and be something I was wary of. I'm sure optimization has improved, and maybe something I dip my toe back in and explore...

I had the same fears as you when it comes to adding "too many" players. I think it's the fear when it's warning you that it goes over the limit but tbh I've had no issues. In the past I've always loaded 20+ leagues and never had any issues. 

Then again, it's all subjective. I'm sure loads of people enjoy loading like 3 leagues on a small database and zipping away. Doesn't ruin their enjoyment. I just like have a nice balanced game world personally.

Save and Load times have definitely improved in FM21. Previous 2 versions was such a slog!

[Justified]

54 minutes ago, Luizinho said:

I just wanted the highlight the bit in bold, where you talk about your cautious ‘system’.

As far as I know, this is incorrect. The team’s fluidity label is purely a cosmetic feature and has no impact on player’s creative freedom or any other instructions?

Yes and no. You can try it in game if you have full familiarity. If you change the duties so it changes fluidity it clearly shows you on familiarity that you are less familiar in Creative Freedom. Not that I think it makes a huge difference, but it is there to see. Also when you go from Flexible and Fluid structure you can clearly see player behaving differently.

What did change though was the underlying mentality ladders that came with a certain structure so you're not completely wrong.

[Guest]

What an absolutely brilliant thread. 

[Justified]

3 minutes ago, Crazy_Ivan said:

What an absolutely brilliant thread. 

Thanks! It's not 100% finished quite yet, I needed a writing break yesterday but the basics are in there so far

[crazybrain13]

Excellent thread Justified, hope you finish it when you get chance.

[Justified]

1 hour ago, crazybrain13 said:

Excellent thread Justified, hope you finish it when you get chance.

Yeah it will be, just need a day where I can sit down and add a few more pieces 

[bosque]

Great thread! I would like to read the 442/4411 system as I'm trying to master it. Cheers!

[Justified]

I've done a small tactical 2.0 update above. The team were not 100% comfortable playing in a Positive style so we've taken a step back in terms of trying to dominate teams.

[Justified]

18 hours ago, bosque said:

Great thread! I would like to read the 442/4411 system as I'm trying to master it. Cheers!

Will be done in future, definitely.

[davidbarros2]

@Justified Glad to see reminiscences of your old La Furacao tactic 

[Justified]

9 minutes ago, davidbarros2 said:

@Justified Glad to see reminiscences of your old La Furacao tactic 

Definitely the best name I ever had for a tactic  

[zabyl]

This is great. I would like to contribute to this superb thread...

 

On 09.09.2021 at 13:45, Justified said:

 

Adding roaming PI to lone striker helps central & wide overloads, increases movement and creates space for systems with organised attacking patterns.

[nexting]

An excellent post, very helpful and insightful