Davey

My best player is an AMC and despite his stats I'm not getting the best out of him.

I've tried setting him as a playmaker and this hasn't really worked. I cannot see any different in the matches whether this is ticked or not.

This then got me wondering, what if I set him as a target man (recieving ball to feet). I've done this but despite it being more apparent in the game, it hasn't worked either.

Two questions really, what exactly is the difference between the two? And, why can't I see any difference if I select him as a playmaker or not.

retired_happydawg

I am of the opinion that to have a "playmaker" in your team, he must be of the highest quality of AMC. He should, at the very least, have high ratings in passing, off the ball, creativity, technique and dribbling.

Even with all of these, a good opponent can neutralise his effect. If that happens then your whole game plan is defeated. I leave my AMC as is and find it works well.

A target man is generally one of your strikers. IRL think John Carew, Didier Drogba and even the mighty Peter Crouch! Transfer how their clubs utilise them and you are on your way.

Davey

Yeah I know what a target man is for a forward but for an AMC surely selecting him with ball to feet is exactly the same as selecting him as a playmaker. That is my point, not what is a target man.

retired_hhals

If you select your Amc as a target man the defenders will hit the ball to him straight away. (so long passes) If you select him as playmaker the ball will come in as short/mixed/or long passes depending on whichever you tell your players to play.

To get the best out of a playmaker put him on 'free role' (Assuming he has decent off the ball stats. Make sure his closing down is low. Make sure his forward runs are no more than medium. Give him fairly high creative freedom.

Having done all that if the opposition man marks him with someone who has over 17 marking then the best you can hope for him to do is to win free kicks and to drag his marker out of position. If this is the case try to use the gap left by getting another midfielder to run into that space. That is hard to get right, but the chances of them man marking your player aren't that high (if your playing two forwards) so I wouldn't worry about it.

Davey

I also play at quite a low level too so I'm unlikely to come across players who are superb at marking therefore always making mistakes likely.

I did have him closing down a fair bit in order to get hold of the ball.

Why do you feel forward runs should be no more than medium?? Surely you want him to pick up the ball and take it forward?

Cheers for your comments btw..

retired_FaultyFate

It's controlled by "Run with Ball" instruction. Forward run means he moves forward without ball, and that could be a reason why you are not getting much of him. Another thing I noticed - DM or MC is almost always better as a playmaker than AMC. The reason is that DM or MC has more options to dictate the game - pass down a flank, through ball, hold up ball etc. AMC is to close to the goal, so he does not have space to really organize the game. If you use AMC as TM you still need to tell him what to do once he gets the ball. You observe almost identical pattern wheter you use AMC as playmaker or TM because in both cases other players try to find him on the field (I assume you don't use another player as a playmaker when AMC is TM). If he does not have a really specific instructions as TM, then no much difference could be seen.

I usually give AMC high creative freedom, free role and live everything (except mentality) on mixed. The idea is that he should rely on his own judgement what to do and when. It works fine, especially when his creativity, decision and determination attributes are high.