retired_janay731

Hi again

I need some useful insight about these predicades: Target man, Playmaker and Free Role.

I read 2/3 threads about it but some doubts appear to my mind. Maybe you help on this one, please

1 - Target man

On team instructions you can choose to use target man but ahve the option too for target man supply. For my thinking, you can use target man if you want your wingers to cross to a specific player and leave that box disabled.

So, my question is: when you must use target man with box inactive? What differences for using target man with box enabled? Because i want to have a forward reference but don´t want my defenders constantly making long passes to him.

2 - Playmaker and Free Role

Identical as said for target man, you have team instruction to decide using playmaker and still box to be disabled/enabled. I know this can be suited for AM C or DM C with good passing skills but how about Free Role? As i read somewhere, the player is given license to roam across the pitch.

So, i´ll ask for your knowledge and experience because we can have multiple aspects here:

a) use playmaker, box disabled, free role on
b) use playmaker, box disabled, free role off
c) use playmaker, box enabled, free role on
d) use plaumaker, box enabled, free role off

Can you tell mais differences between these concepts? Maybe i´m not understanding all because english is not my main language. Finally, if possible, can someone know which type of player (attributes required) suit better each option? I was thinking about Diego, from Werder Bremen...

Thanks in advance, i believe this can be useful for others forumers

retired_mellieknow

I'll try the playmaker question:
By ticking the playmaker box you ask your team to look for the player selected in the building phase of attack if possible. Off-the-ball, decisions, passing and creativity should be very high attributes for the playmaker.

By ticking the free role box you tell your player to decide for himself where in the pitch he is going to play. He will be roaming the field at his will, so high decision stats are a must.

So,
a) use playmaker, box disabled, free role on
The player will decide where to play, but he will not be the main point of reference for your team.

b) use playmaker, box disabled, free role off
You don't have a playmaker. The player will follow mainly your instructions (unless you give him high Creative Freedom).

c) use playmaker, box enabled, free role on
This player will decide where to place himself and will be the point of reference for your team. So he'd better be an outstanding player, because you are placing in his shoulders the destiny of your team.
d) use playmaker, box enabled, free role off
Teammates will try to pass him as much as possible. This player will mainly stick to his assigned position and instructions.

I hope that clarifies your question. I prefer somebody more knowledgeable answer the target man part, because for FM2006 I read a theory stating that even if you didn't check the target man box, the way forwards will be fee depended on your choice in team instructions. But I'm not sure if that really happens.

retired_janay731

Thanks a lot Garate, very useful tips

Any more thoughts?

Destruction

i had this theory in 06 that if you played a free role the player needed good positioning first or he would be in a poor position to receive the ball, which was why DMCs seemed to be better playmakers then the AMCs as they usually had better positonal skills. did anyone else think this as has it carried over to 07?

retired_monica90

#1 is a very good question and one I've never really figured out either. I have the same stance as you Myst in that I use it to tell my wingers who to aim for with crosses. I rarely tick "use Target Man" as like you I believe that would lead to my play being very one-dimensional.

However, since playing my lower league Exeter game, I've picked up Wayne Allison who's the ideal Conference-level target man. So, I checked the "use" box. I've found that while my play isn't solely one-dimensional; my keeper aims for Allison with goal kicks, and he's generally involved in play a lot more.

My opinion is that if your target man is your primary weapon, then you should look to use him by enabling the "use Target Man" option. If you simply have one striker who's better in the air than his partner, then set him as target man, but without the box ticked (and set "cross ball" to "target man"). I think this also applies if your star man is a playmaker- you check the box to make sure play revolves around him. In short I think you're right, but if you have one player that stands out, then play to his strengths by ticking the appropriate box- particularly in the lower leagues where diversity of play is an uneecessary luxury.

retired_elpata

Selecting the target man options on the team instructions page, means the team as a whole will be looking to play the ball to him at all times. So he basically dictates the play.

Where as the individual one, means he play as a target man only when balls are played to him. Meaning your team still play a normal game but he only takes the aspects of a target man when hes recieveing the ball/got possession.

So like Asmo said, it makes you very one dimensional at times if you use the team targetman option.

retired_dehaven

I've made a brilliant 442 tactic to play at home, which works well with a target man. My team play some very good football, but when there isn't much on offer, a long ball onto the head of my front striker is normally won by him. I then have 2 pacey wingers and a fellow front man who is very pacey feeding on his knock downs/flcik ons.

Once he has done the knock down/flick on, he then joins the attack and finishes the job off.

Again I am a lower division club (MK Dons). Not sure how well it works in the better divisions.

Unfortunately I'm struggling to get my away tactic right

Also with my home tactic, I have the pacey wingers as my playmakers. Can't say Ive been successful with playmakers before.

retired_shaffam

good discussion!

Fun nick,I actually have the opposite issue, my away tactis is successful using the target man, my home tactic is terrible in that I score VERY sparsely.

On away, I like to click the counter button, keep offsides off, play a medium defensive line (like 10), and have my wingers with no barrows or farrows (442). I keep the target man a little bit lower in mentality than a fast winger, and set play to "up the sides". It seems I get some nice quick counters to the wingers and fast forward ending with a cross to the target man.

Of course, this is in Serie C1, so its hard to tell if it'll work higher up. Unfortunately, I have a hell of a time keeping possession and scoring using my home tactic. Its also too quick, and passing is abysmmal at this level (I assume its because of the level of my players).

retired_monica90

How do you guys set up a forward line with one pacy striker, and one big man? Which do you set as target man and why?

retired_nicole2401

I've found that using a playmaker system will basically limit your attacking options. However, its advantage is that your play and possession will tend to be more structured with the playmaker dictating the tempo (typically getting into triple figures in terms of passes). It's most effective if you have one or two players positioned fairly close to the playmaker to make the tackles, play the one-twos off and make sure that he's not outnumbered.