So we all know what the manual says about the team instructions, but it doesn't really expand on how it effects game play or anything else. So hopefully in this thread, I can give you my opinions on the subject and hope some of the other seasoned and not so seasoned FM'ers will give their takes on the subject too. It could make a good read. Hopefully I can do a topic for each of the team instructions if time permits
When you've got the players in the positions you want, its time to start thinking how you want them to play for you. You have a very wide selection of mentalities, tackling and a whole array of others to choose from. Keep the ability of your team in mind before selecting anything straight away, if not you wont get the best out of your squad. Always try to balance the style of play to suit your formation. It doesn't make sense to choose 5 defenders and only 1 striker and opt for a attacking style (unless your an advanced user).Look for a flexible formation that allows you to change things if there going wrong. That's the main reason why 442 and 352 are popular choices. Keep things simple to begin with and don't over complicate things like a lot of users do.
Mentality Ultra Defensive: Your team will stay deep in their own half and will not be too adventurous going forward. Defensive: Your team will play with defence in mind, only going forward when a good opportunity arises. Normal: Your team will play a normal style of football, defending where needed and attacking when appropriate Attacking: Your team will look to push men forward at every opportunity All Out Attack: Your team will look to push men forward at every opportunity
Mentality is probably the biggest and most important of all the tactical instructions and is something that most users struggle to understand. By setting the
Team Mentality you are instructing your team to play a certain way and controlling how they play on the pitch as a whole. This is slightly different from the
Individual Mentality which tells people where to line up and how aggressive to be. But that's for another topic, for the minute we will talk about
Team Mentality only.
If you read the above, then you should know the basics about the different mentalities and understand a little of what each one is about, even if you don't understand it fully. You should have a clear indication of what its supposed to do. Now in this next part I will try and expand on each of the mentalities and give the pros and cons about using each system.
Ultra Defensive
If you use this option then you will be inviting a lot of pressure onto you from the opponents, as you will venture forward very little, if at all. So its good to use counter attacking with a defensive minded mentality, as it allows the opposition to be sucked in and lets you break fast hopefully and maybe sneak something on the break. Because you will be playing ultra defensive you should be really hard to break down as you will be a defensive minded unit. This is ideal if you are a weak team and playing way above your level. Its also good to use this against strong teams away from home who you shouldn't really get a result from. By playing ultra defensive you will make life difficult for the opposition as you will be defending by numbers. But like anything on FM, it has good and bad points, here is some of them;
Pros Hard to break down
Defend as a unit
Play cautious Cons Play too many back passes
Invite lots of pressure from the opposition
Limits the attacking side of your players Defensive
Pretty much the exact same as the above, however your team will move forward and attack if a good opportunity was to come around. An example of this would be; if Chelsea played an attacking 424 and got lots of numbers forward. Then at some point during a match, they would over commit players and your team might try and take advantage of this because its a good chance for your team. So any attacks you did create, should be of a good standard and probably create something, whether it be a shot on target or force a corner.
Pros Hard to break down
Defend as a unit
Play Cautious but break forward and attack if something good is on Cons Play too many back passes
Invite lots of pressure from the opposition
Limits the attacking side of your players Normal
A good balance between defending and attacking, the players will play a normal game. This means they will defend when needed and attack when they can. So if you have possession of the ball, then they will look to move forward and create an opportunity. If you are unsure of what your team can handle or cannot decide which mentality to use, then this is a good start point and you can't really go too wrong starting here and working from this. This also means they will still pass the ball backwards, but they will also move it forward too if a better option is available.
Pros Good balance of defence and attack Cons None worth mentioning in all honesty Attacking
This is when things can start getting complicated and when you might find lots of problems arising. That isn't to say its not a viable option, far from it. It just means if you focus too many players on attacking then you could find you get out numbered in defence at times, or leave gaps around the field. As soon as your players win the ball, they will be looking to pass the ball forward and commit men forward. This is a good option if you have players with a high pace and stamina stats. I like to use this against teams who play defensively and allow me to pressure them. Playing with this mentality should create lots of chances, but could lead to a drop in the percentage of passing completion.
Pros Quick breaks
Gets men forward
Always looking to attack Cons Over committing
Players out of position
Loss of possession All Out Attack
The suicide style of play, to be able to play with this mentality you need very strong attackers who can put chances away. Its a risky style of play because you will always be attacking and not care about the defensive responsibilities of your team. All that goes out of the window when playing a gung-ho style of play. Ideally id use this if I'm chasing a game and needed to get a result but was loosing. Attacking football like this makes watching the match a delight at times, but a nightmare on the defence front at times. Brazil always spring to mind when mentioning attacking football, the mentality that you might score 3 goals but we can score 4.
Pros Create lots of chances
Commits lots of players forward
Breaks quickly
always looking to go forward Cons Over committing
Players out of position
Loss of possession
I'll add to this hopefully at a later date, but its enough to be going on for now
Team Instructions Part One - Mentality 
Linear Mode
