Amaroq

Its often said "Make a tactic to suit your players", but the following got asked in GQ - what if you don't know what 'needs' go with which sliders?

I've played the game since day one, I do love it and it's def not a moan, but to be honest I just have a random guess at what I do, I understand moving the slider all the way up is all out attack, and I understand about defending deep, what I really don't understand is when people say make a tactic to suit your players.

There's only so much you can read about them, I mean tactics to suit your team, my team is a mixture of slow old plodder players, and really young fast players, so how can you make tactics for that, in general I just stick with 4-4-2 or make something weird up and hope it works.

If your confused by that then you know how I feel. </BLOCKQUOTE>

Here's my response - but I figured I'd post the response over here in Tactics & Training Tips for discussion from wiser heads than myself; I'd love to learn more:

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I guess what people are saying by that is "Don't try to make your players do something that they aren't suited to doing." You don't want to expect your 5'3" pacey striker to win a bunch of aerial balls for you, you want people playing into space for him to run onto, right? If you've got a winger with a Crossing of '5', and you can't afford to just take him out back and shoot him , you don't want to ask him to Cross "Often".

Let's go through the tactical options and see what attributes you need to make them work.

Mentality - I tend to want players with more "Creativity" and better "Decisions" to be involved in the attack, and players with less to be more defensive. I play a very negative game, so if you're likely to make mistakes, I want you to err on the side of being too defensive than too aggressive.

Creative Freedom - Again, "Creativity" and "Decisions" are the key stats for a player to get anything at the halfway mark or above in my mind.

Passing, Short - "Passing", "First Touch", "Decisions", "Technique". If these are poor, you're going to see a lot of turnovers with short passing. With less skillful players, you may be better off having them hoof it upfield.

Passing, Long - You want some tall ("Jumping", "Heading") players up there to receive, as target men, or some "Pace" "Acceleration" "Stamina" players to run those long balls down.

Tempo, Quick - You need "Flair", "First Touch", "Technique", and "Stamina" to run an up-tempo game; if your players are too low in these attributes, you'll struggle to make it work. "Passing" and "Off the Ball" movement will also be important.

(If you connect a slightly 'Defensive' mentality with 'Passing, Direct' and 'Tempo, Quick', you'll have just about built the 'Counter-attacking' checkbox.. even if you don't check it!

Closing Down, High - You need "Stamina" to be able to press all over the pitch and still have anything left in the tank at the end of ninety minutes. "Decisions" will help you keep your shape with high closing down, and good "Tackling" will prevent you from drawing too many yellows.

Defensive Line, Deep - With a slow back line (low "Pace", low "Acceleration") this is probably the right choice. High "Jumping" and "Positioning", plus good "Marking" will be key, or you'll get torn to shreds. I mean, if a defender doesn't have at least two or three of those five attributes, why did you sign him?

Defensive Line, High - With "Pace", "Acceleration", and "Stamina", you can afford to push up the defensive line, and still hope to run down some of the inevitable long balls over the top.

Offsides Trap - If you're playing a High defensive line in combination with the Offsides Trap, you'll also want excellent "Teamwork" and "Anticipation".

Tackling, Hard - "Composure", "Decisions", "Tackling".. if you're weak on those three, or too HIGH on the "Aggressiveness" scale, you're risking a lot of cards.

Marking, Zonal - "Acceleration", "Decisions", "Positioning", "Marking", "Anticipation". Basically, you're asking your guy to stay in one space, then 'react' to the ball - so its all mental for him to figure out where to be, plus acceleration to get there in a hurry.

Marking, Man - "Marking", "Pace", "Acceleration", "Jumping", "Positioning". There's no help for a guy man-on-man, so he'd better have the pace to keep up with the guy he's marking, and the aerial ability to get above him. He doesn't have to be blindingly fast or super-tall.. just a step faster and an inch taller than they guy he's covering.

Tight Marking - Really requires dominant "Pace", "Acceleration", and "Marking", otherwise your guy is likely to get burned often.

Target Man, To Head - Requires "Jumping", "Positioning", "Off the ball", "Heading"

Target Man, To Feet - Requires "First Touch", "Flair", "Technique", "Dribbling"; "Strength" can also help (see Hold Up Ball).

Target Man, Run Onto Ball - Requires "Off the ball", "Pace", "Acceleration", and "Anticipation" to break the offsides trap and be off to the races.

Playmaker - Requires "Passing", "Creativity", "Decisions", "Teamwork", "Anticipation", and a bit of "Flair" never hurt.

Forward Runs, Often - Requires "Off the ball", "Decisions", otherwise you'll see him fail to find space or go forward at inopportune times. Personally, I prefer "Forward Runs" to forward-arrows.

Run with Ball, Often - Requires "Dribbling". Duh. If you have a good "Passing" and "Decisions" player, you might want to stay no higher than "Mixed" so that he doesn't try to dribble when there's a perfectly dangerous pass on.

Long Shots, Often - Requires "Long shots", "Finishing". Duh again. Good "Decisions" will help here, too, so he doesn't decide to shoot when there's a better option to pass to.

Through Balls, Often - "Passing", "Technique", "Creativity", "Teamwork", "Ancitipation", yes all the same things a Playmaker wants; that's why my playmakers play through balls.

Cross Ball, Often - Requires "Crossing", imagine that.

Cross From, Touchline - Requires good "Dribbling" to get to the touchline; if a winger has good "Decisions" you might be better to let him cross from "Mixed" so he can make up his own mind. Fullbacks probably want to cross from "Deep" in a standard 4-4-2.

Hold Up Ball - Requires "Strength" - picture a guy with his back to goal, using upper-body strength to fend of a defender while he waits for support.

Dead-ball situations - I've had a lot more luck since sussing out dead-ball strategy. Getting a tall centre-back to "Near Post" on throw-ins was a huge step forward for me; I also give them "Forward" on corners and "Challenge GK" on free kicks.

I suggest having a good jumping/heading player guarding "Near Post" on defensive corners, as he'll really take care of more corners than you might expect; the other tall players should be on "Mark Tall" no matter what their usual role. (Why waste the height of a Target Man standing up at the centre-circle when he could be dominating your area for you?)

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I'd love comments, additions or corrections to this, if you all are willing.

If I've missed a Bible thread on this topic, I apologize; simple linkage will be much appreciated.

Amaroq

Yup. I did miss the Bible thread which covers it. Inevitable, really.

Dayle Wood's Tactic building for dummies - A guide for newbies goes into exactly this list in the Individual Instructions section.