retired_josapa

Only one thing is clear when you read around this debate on the forum - its impossible to know who is correct or who to believe. Some of you will say "I have had a squillion shots at their goal, they had one and won one nil" yes this happens in real life and yes maybe not as often and emphatically as in FM but the important thing to remember is that IT IS A GAME, so we have to allow for weaknesses.....

My main area of concern is the tinkering aspect of the game. I am in neither the "I cant be bothered to spend time on tactics" or the "I sit there for hours tinkering" camp but I do feel that you have to tinker on FM a lot more often than real managers do. Just look at managers interviews, their favourite phrase is "we will just play our normal game and not worry too much about the opposition" lots of managers state this belief and in terms of FM....how exactly can you stick to your normal game if you have to change it even slightly 3 or 4 times a match. This to me is where realism is lacking....

I don't mind tinkering when necessary and having a tactical battle with the AI but having to react to exactly everything the opposition do does not reflect real life to me. I suppose a good way I could put this is....say you want to play with more width and push your mentalities up during the game (FM lets you do this) but you really wouldn't find professional managers in real life making such changes mid game. Can you imagine them trying to get the point across to eleven players running round in a packed stadium.....

"Play wider lads, change our shape completely to what I said before the game, also play higher up the pitch and attack more"

As if yo could get this message across to eleven players in this situation. This is where I question the game.

retired_cdillon33

I think it depends who you're used to watching. I actually think that a lot of the good managers in the real world do a hell of a lot of tinkering mid game.
I'm a Liverpool fan and if you watch Rafa mid game, even if we're winning and playing well, he'll be up on the sidelines at some point madly waving his arms and making hand signals. I don't put this down to excentricity, these will be specifice signals to either a certain player who hands the message across, probably the captain, or to whoever is looking.
I don't pay that much attention to other teams coaching staff but I'm pretty sure that in most cases wither they (like Steward Pearce) or their assistant will do a lot of shouting at the pitch to tinker with tactics. Thats what their payed for, apart from Sven!

retired_josapa

But you wouldn't get them changing the whole shape and mentality of the team mid game. This just wouldn't happen at any level. It would go against all their original beliefs and principals. Sure they will hand out individual instructions such as getting tighter to particular players or channeling different runs etc. but you simply wouldnt get a full overhaul of team shape during a game. It would make team talks before and at half time pointless.

retired_mairamedina

Chris Coleman and Jose Mourinho change thewir gameplans during games - once we (Fulham) started with 4-5-1, he took our two wingers during the second half with two strikers and got them to play more direct.

It does happen in real life, the two managers i've mentioned are notorious for having 3-4 gameplans up their sleeves and constantly changing them during the games to confuse the opposition.

retired_josapa

They have contingency plans is more like it. Where players know what to change to in certain situations. You wouldn't get a new set of instructions mid game. It would upset the whole balance of play. Too many fans have an idealistic/romantic view of football where they think that everything happens because of a decision someone has made on the spot. Anyways I will have my opinion and you will have yours. But an interesting discussion all the same.

retired_bebscande

Reading vs Man Utd on Tuesday, Coppell completely changed the entire system within 10 minutes. Alright it was forced on him partially but he still did it... so it DOES happen

retired_skullking1971

But it doesn't happen as often is what Louis is trying to get accross.

jerok

I think the main problem is that the emphasis on tactics in FM is too strong and innacurate. In real life tactics are defined by the players you choose not the other way around, in fact, chossing the right players is the primary variable of your tactics whereas is FM, its the opposite.
If Mourinho wants to play wide he puts Robben on, if Ferguson wants to play with a DM he buys Hargreaves and puts him on, if he wants to play 4-4-2 with 1 striker and a forward, he puts Saha and Rooney on, these players naturally bring alive these aspects into the gameplan.

In FM, its more about, choose your best 11 and make your tactics to suit, but choosing your best eleven should be the difficult bit, choosing your best 11 should be the biggest tactical decision you can make because the right players in the right situations can make all the difference.

I'm not saying there's no tactics involved in football so please don't misunderstand me, I just think the emphasis should be more on the selection of the most appropriate players for any given game.

retired_elpata

You miss the point..

All the above what you mentioned, Fergie will tell his players different instructions depending on who is actually playing. So if Rooney and Saha play they play differently to each other. These are tactical instructions and no different on FM.

You do not need the best 11 to win, just like IRL its about getting the best out of a player.

Too much empathis on tactics? I suggest some of you actually learn about the game of football if you think this is not the case IRL.

retired_josapa

Thank you andysafc, finally someone gets what im trying to say!!!