retired_wh0isj3ss3

Holding up ball is VERY useful against teams that play 11 men in defense/park the bus...

retired_janellewood86

However, that's mainly a problem with the rest of your tactical set up rather than the game engine.

If, for example, you've set TTB to rarely, the player will look for a nearby player to pass to feet. But what if there's nobody available? Or the tempo is set higher? Or the passing settings he uses don't give him enough options? Or his mentality is too high? He's going to try a pass anyway, and if nobody's available, he's not going to play it into trouble. So, he plays a hit and hope to the corner.

You have to look at the bigger picture. Just because you've told a player to "rarely" play a through ball, doesn't mean he never will. And if the only options your tactic ever give him are through balls, his options are to either play a through ball or give away possession.

The other key example of this is goalkeeper distribution - if the GK has "defender collect" selected and all the defenders are marked, he punts it upfield. He's breaking his instructions, but rather that than play a suicide ball 20 yards from goal.

The problem is that we aren't given enough feedback to find out why we're not being listened to. But as with everything, a player can only act out the instructions you give him if he's given the support to do so.

retired_warrior_soul

Phrantic:

I agree it would be interesting to go into more depth with other instructions, but as yet tied for time I've only been able to observe the effects of mentality alone. I definitely would like to go into more depth as you've stated, though.

As for other options being redundant, I don't quite think so. I think what mentality does is entice a player to be more (or less) aggressive in terms of how they carry out their other instructions.

With hold up ball, a defensive player might hold it up until he can play a safe backwards/sideways pass, whereas an attacking player might hold the ball up until he can attempt a through ball. Likewise with passing style with looking for either a safe or more daring short/mixed/direct/long pass.

And with CF, as I see it that just allows a player to stray from their instructions anyway, so they'll ignore mentality as well as other things with a high CF.

Of course I'm just throwing it out there, I haven't yet observed those particular cases as yet, but they do seem the logical explanation IMHO.

retired_cindymerc

so if CF is low my players will listen to my instructions. The only problem is them waiting on the ball often. On normal CF i say rarely shoot on all players yet shots happen outside box, i suppose this can be due to PPM's as well. But lowering CF might help this...millie u could be right ....they are forced to play passes not spec ified with no options..

I have a problem with HUB, as when they rarely do it they just get tackled, thats with no RWb. But does hold up ball work with RWB, so like henry...he might run to the flanks, holding it until a through ball is on....questions

retired_B-Scott

I consider the best way to judge how effectively a player holds up the ball in any given situation wpuld be to observe a game

retired_lachina

Regarding Mentality, I dun think it affects position, but I think it affects something else.
A defensive mentality Defender would run back quickly to his position when the opponent is attacking, while a normal mentality defender would rather wait and see if he can make an interception or a tackle, before deciding whether to run back to his defensive position.

I prefer my players to be on normal mentality, so they can make these decisions.
However, when I was managing Derby, I had to give them more definate instructions like having a defensive mentality and a low CF.