retired_kirstinp

I have two questions in this thread, both are linked, so ill start by a bit of background.

Basically, im looking at Cristano Ronaldo's positional attributes in the game. His natural position is as an AMR, and hes a competent AML. As a ML and MR, hes unconvincing, so I assume you wouldnt want to play him there.

Now, if you play a basic 4-4-2 formation, you have a right midfielder and a left midfielder, either with an arrow going forward or not. IRL, these players are your wingers if the forward arrow is there.

As I understand it, am I right in thinking that in FM, Cristiano Ronaldo would not be suited to either the RM or LM position, whether there is an arrow or not, because hes unconvincing as a LM or RM?

Or does the arrow actually make a big difference, with the end destination of the arrow being compared to the player's positional attributes?

And if that is the case, does this mean if I take a right back for example, and have his arrow running forward into an AMR position, he needs to have an AMR positional attribute (eg competent) for him to play well?

Its quite confusing. If someone can answer these questions, itll be a help:

Question1: I have two players, player 1 and player 2. Player 1 only has MR as his natural position, and can play in no other position. Player 2 has AMR as his natural position, and can similarly play in no other position.

On my formation screen, im playing a basic 4-4-2, with the MR position having an arrow going forward to AMR. Now, does that mean that player 1 is not suited to this position because hes not capable of playing as an AMR, which is where the forward arrow leads? Or does this mean that player 2 is no suited to this position because the starting position on the pitch is MR? Or does this mean that neither player is truly suited to this position, becuase in each case the player will spend some time in the game playing in an unfamiliar position?

Question2 Where does the position of FR or FL on the pitch come into play with regards to players' positional attributes? FR and FL are the wide positions on the pitch in line with the strikers. Yet no players in the game have a positional attribute for FR or FL. So who plays there? Can C.Ronaldo, who is a natural AMR, play as an FR? Or is that position for a striker only, maybe one with the "moves into flanks" preferred move?

And, sticking with C.Ronaldo, if I have him as an AMR on the pitch, with a forward arrow into FR, what happens then, since hes not got a positional attribute for FR?

retired_bpilla

I've found out from SI developers as well as other tactical sources that there is no real difference between the AMR/MR & AML/ML with the forward arrows. Both will be considered "natural" positions even though his screen may not seem that way.

retired_carljoseph

The positions that a player is listed in are less important than the attributes they have in my opinion. In FM07 i had a play who's only position was listed as DL where he was a Natural. However his attributes didn't really suit, he had poor tackling and marking abilities and generally played fairly poorly when i had him on the park at DL. Looking through his attribute i noticed he seemed to have quite strong attributes in attacking areas including 20 for crossing as well as plenty of pace.

So one game i decided to slot him in at AML just to see how he'd do. He proceeded to provide 2 assists and score once himself and never looked back. I eventually officially retrained him as an AML but i really don't know how much difference that made.

StrokeGuide

Yes, attributes are much more important, even more important than CA. I had a striker with lower CA performing better with one woth higher CA, I assume that was because the lower CA player's finishing, composure and pace attributes were higher

retired_meganp7877

Good news if that is true! This is exactly how it should be- attributes mattering more

StrokeGuide

Yes, that is how it is supposed to be. I search players based on certain attribute filters for different positions. For judging how good a player is that is what matters to me, not some scout stars.

To find potential though, I need to look at scouts, but then again I make sure I check whether they have the attributes loaded in the correct areas currently.