retired_jasminesmom825

i was led to believe that creative freedom was bad thing to give too much of, unless using players with extremely high creativity...now im finding its one of the most debated topics in the forum...could anyone clarify what it does and how to use it please? what attributes should a player have to use it effectively? are there certain positions its more suited to? are there any other tactics you should use it with ie. should mentality be used in someway with it eg. high creativity with attacking mentality? could someone clear this up for me please...thanks

retired_mgavlick

Creative Freedom

Many posts on the forum are of the assumption that the creative freedom slider stops a player from obeying other individual instructions. If it is set high then a player will be more unlikely to do what he is told, if set low then he will adhere to instructions. I believe there are elements of truth to this, but it is not the whole story.

A player on high creative freedom will inevitably look for options in attack as soon as he gets the ball. If he decides that the creative/killer ball is on he will play it. Sometimes it will come off, sometimes it won't. That is the very nature of creativity in all walks of life. If he decides the creative/killer ball is unfeasible, he will play a safe ball and move into position to try again. Hence, decision making is also key to a truly great creative player. A creative player with good decision making will invariably choose the right time to play the right ball. Other factors will influence whether it comes off, such as the defensive stats of the opposition players trying to intercept the ball/tackle the creative player and the off the ball/decision making stats of the player trying to pick up the pass, but on the whole a player with good creativity/decision making will create chances. Alternatively, a player with good creativity/bad decision making will often try to play unfeasibly difficult balls that will result in interceptions and counter attacking moves more often than creating chances for his own team. When setting instructions for such a player, be aware that giving him total freedom will likely result in you losing possession and having to defend quick countering moves as often as getting into scoring positions yourself.

Creativity is not flair and must be managed accordingly. A creative player creates chances for others; a flair player creates chances for himself. Thus, whereas a flair player can be closely marked and looking out of the game, only to do something extraordinary and score out of nothing, a creative player needs time and space in which to operate, so he has more opportunity to spot the creative pass. Thus, when positioning a creative player, make sure he is loosely zonal marking with closing down set to a minimum, so that he is always in the maximum amount of space to receive a pass. If he has excellent decision making/teamwork/workrate/off the ball, he could also be assigned a free role, which would allow him to rove about the pitch looking for space and thus become more useful. Creative players are often low on bravery, so can be marked out of the game by hard-men opponents. Be aware of this if you feel your creative player is not performing, and possibly look to play him deeper which will draw his marker out of position and create space in front of him for others to exploit.

Finally, in terms of creativity for the whole team, be careful setting it too high for too many players. If you do this, too many people will be looking for the killer ball, and your truly creative players will have less opportunity to influence a game. Also, too many passes are likely to be intercepted as they are being hit from unfeasible positions on the pitch, and possession will turn over almost the second you have the ball. Tweak it high for a few players, and let the others focus on more mundane tasks, such as defending or scoring goals.

retired_jasminesmom825

fantastic!!! thanks...i feel you and a rare few others offer invaluable advice to the more clueless of us ...would you have your striker set to a higher creative freedom? would this result in him going for goal more often?

retired_mgavlick

Currently, I have only one player (MCa) set to high CF. However, if I had a world class striker with good off the ball, creativity, decisions, flair, I wouldn't hesitate to give him high CF.

retired_georgeba

Great post wwfan, :thup:
I’m using a standard 4-4-2 formation with creative wingers and to play the ball to both wings
I have noticed that wingers are getting into the box often and supporting the 2 strikers.

Beside creativity, Run with ball or Forward runs are key elements for using creativity.

For Forward Runs mental stats like Anticipation, Off The Ball, Decisions, First Touch, Positioning and Technique are needed if you want your winger to function like a wide receiver to pass the bal to and thereby creating more changes for your team.

For Run with ball stats like Composure, Decisions, Balance, Technique and Dribbling are needed if you want your winger to get 1-to-1 with the defenders and using his skills to get the ball to your strikers and thereby creating changes.

Destruction

I have a different view to you on the whole creative freedom issue. I think its all about decision making nothing else. Now let me explain my theory that has no evidence and hence is just a postulate.
Firstly think about the term creative freedom i means you select the best action at a particular time this may mean that although your striker has made a good forward run, although the player has been informed to not play through balls its a good option he doesn't need to create much to exploit said oportunity.
However creativity would be creating a situation which another player may exploit himself, flair would be the same thing but the exploitation of the situation would be to your benefit over another players.

These are just some random musing another else ever thought along these lines?

retired_jasminesmom825

evoh...are you saying creative freedom relates more to say...attempting killer balls other than positioning himself in good attacking positions...if so, this is what i thought it meant...i think thats the general idea IM getting at the moment...i experimented with high and low creative freedom and found high does seem to create more chances, could of been lucky games i guess. and yes, this is gonna mean that your players may break from your game plan slightly. but i do think flair relates alot to creative freedom in that your gonna expect players with high flair to try the more extraordinary...as an example i gave defoe slightly more cf and he attempted alot more lobs and long shots...might not be for everone but works for me as i play defoe as a lone striker and so want him to be as selfish as possible...as for midfielders the effect wasnt as obvious...anyway, someone made a really good point about giving more cf leads a player to settle into his old ways and be more likely to use his prefered moves (or whatever its called)...has anyone else thought this?

retired_mwcollins

I thought creative freedom was basically your players have the ability to make their own decisions in the game, e.g. if they're 1-0 up and time's running out, they'll automatically start time wasting, even if you have time wasting set to zero.

I tend to have creative freedom set to max for experienced players who are used to the team's playing style (cos I'm lazy, I suppose, but I also try to get players with good mental attributes). New or younger players may need a little more control.

I don't think it has much relation to the Creativity attribute, other than it gives the player free reign to use their creativity when they see fit (a long pass to a striker's head may be the best option instead of rigidly sticking to the team's instructions to play down the wings, for example).

retired_thehpsleb

Call the developers at SI..answer the question and problem solved
I wish it was that easy...

retired_elpata

Your spot on imo. It also gives them licence to try PPM's more.

Creative freedom is the ability to let players express their own football brain and follow and make decisions they make, rather than carry the instruxctions out you make. It has nothing what so ever to do with positioning.