badger_whacker

In the game I'm currently playing I'm in the champion league with Rangers; I've won 1-0 against man utd at home, drew 1-1 with Real Madrid away, won 1-0 against Sporting home and away despite being down to 10 in the second.

In each one of these games, the opposition was of higher class but their star players didn't perform and I had as many chances as them.

This is something that many people are in split minds about I think: whether to employ hard tackling or easy tackling against top quality players when setting opposition instructions.

I think it goes without saying that you need them to be closed down but my line of thought is to employ easy tackling. This (as in real life) should have the player "jockeying" the player, not diving into tackles and making sure he doesn't get beat.

I know many people like to hit star players and hit them hard but is it really the best way?

copperhorse21

I've had decent success balancing between easy/normal settings.

I use a couple of factors based on some other manager's tips (Asmodeus and Amaroq).

The first factor is the tendencies of the officials to card for infractions. If they card a lot, I use easy tackling.

The second factor is my individual player's abilities to tackle effectively and make good decisions when doing it.

These two factors have reduced my team's standings in the English Conference N/S where I like to coach.

Crazy_T

I found that using hard tackling actually works. I put my both my fullbacks on hard tackling because they always seem to get beat by wingers or just pull away from challenging - which ultimately was costing me goals.

My fullbacks are Ross Wallace (tackling 11) and Neal Eardley (tackling 14 I think) and i'm playing in the premiership. They have never had red cards and hardly ever get yellows either.

My tackling works well like this:

GK - Easy
RB - Hard
CB's - Normal
LB - Hard
RM - Easy/Normal (depends on who I play there)
CM's - Normal
LM - Easy
ST's - Easy

zdobzdub

I don't agree total with this.GK yes easy it doesn't matter.FB should tackle easy or normal like DC because against good teams like Sporting or Real M an wrong tackle or a foul could cost a lot.In the first case you'll get punished with a very good chance or goal for your enemie second you'll get a penalty.For DMc normal for all others hard or normal depends of the referee.

Crazy_T

Mate, I havent't conceded a single penalty this season and after being promoted i'm currently 9th with Sunderland (after 30 games). I have also beaten Arsenal using this who are normally so hard to beat.

I suppose it would be better if my fullbacks had better tackling just incase they do put a foot wrong but it's fine so far this season.

Try it out you might actually find out that it works alright.

bluesjunior

The way I have looked at tackling ever since FM2005 is that the individual player tackling attribute is how good or bad a tackler he is. The team tackling option though in my view should be looked at as.
Easy = Clean.
Normal = Tough.
Hard = Dirty.

If for example you have a player with a tackling attribute of 18 he will almost always tackle properly ie ball first. Whether the team option is Easy, Normal or Hard will have no bearing on this. If on the other hand you have a player with a tackling attribute of 5 and your team tackling is set to Hard he is definitely getting booked and more than likely sent off.

The team option to my mind is more to do with whether you want to play flowing football ala Arsenal or disruptive football ala Bolton. As the teams that win things in real life tend to play kickball rather than kickman I tend to have my team option set at Easy and let the player play to his tackling ability.

The pro's of this are that the AI no longer has an excuse to stop the game every five minutes and disrupt the flow of my team. I very rarely have a player sent of . I never ever lose a top player on the eve of a big game to a build up of yellow cards which I bet happens regular to them who play hard tackling. My team is always at the top of the fair play league. I also have less injuries as my players are not breaking legs trying to maim the opposition.

Of course not everyone will agree with this hypothethis but I have used the Easy tackling option since FM2005 and have won everything in the game and know that if you want to play like Arsenal, Liverpool or any of the top teams then Easy is the way to go.

IanZG2

I always tackle hard, it's more fun and I VERY rarely get players sent off

chriseldiablo

Easy = Wait until the right time

Hard = Tackle at first chance (vital for slow players)

Medium = A mix of both


I employ hard tackle on both FullBacks and my CM's/DM, with great success, Hardly ever get people sent off. I have hard tackle on the FullBacks cause I dont want the enemy Wingers get any chance getting past the FullBacks, or at least minimize it.

Warrenwwr

Spot on. You're right about the cards as well. Of course with hard tacking there is some risk. I tend to use hard tacking for DC's and DMC's. MC's go normal, and all attackers go eassy.

chriseldiablo

I am not afraid of free kicks against me either, as long as they are outside the box; My set pices setup is quite good.

People should take their time for this, as this is a vital part of the game. Default setup is just not good enough. A good setup at set-pieces is in many games, the difference between a loss and a win.

My defenders + DM man mark, 5 in the 'wall'. Sometimes I use my tall forward on the man-mark job as well.