retired_ella67

All Alex Ferguson has to do is shout "Get your arse up there you ****!"

circlewalker

All we need to do is wait for voice recognition software to become sufficiently advanced and affordable...

retired_w0lfpack1

Forward arrow: I want you to stand here, exactly, whenever we have the ball.

Forward runs often: Use your judgment. If you feel it would be advantageous to go further forward than your current positioning, feel free to do so.

Forward arrow + forward runs: I want you to go to at least this spot whenever we have the ball. Use your judgment about making runs beyond that location.

Take a look at some of isuckatfm's work on Page 5 of Several game and football questions.

I'm particularly impressed with This screen shot. Notice where his fullbacks have gotten to. They don't have arrows forward, they just have "forward runs" .. presumably, if the opposition were in a more threatening configuration, they might have decided it was less advantageous to get forward.

I'm becoming convinced that "forward runs" are a bit better than forward arrows. For my next tactical experimentation, anyways.

retired_w0lfpack1

One noticeable thing you'll spot is that a player with a forward arrow goes up there and stands there. That's not always the best "use of space" - he draws coverage there. Whereas a player on forward runs may wait until he sees a teammate who needs him to run into that space .. and then he breaks into it. So the timing may be more advantageous.

retired_ella67

So . . . A forward-run (instruction) is like a late, dangerous run to (eg) get on the end of a cross.

I was wondering how it worked when, for instance, you have a left midfielder with a forward arrow into the left wing position. In the default tactics that come with the game, wingers usually have a forward-run (instruction) as well, and I wasn't sure how the 2 together worked. I'll go and digest what you've said.

circlewalker

The two together means that he'll get forward and then try to make runs from there.

retired_ella67

Ok! By the way, where do you guys learn this stuff? I mean, I find the manual rarely seems to be of much use.