retired_dego72

Dont forget that not all changes of pace and tempo are planned- a match involves two sides and many changes of tempo are down to a matches natural ebb and flow, as few teams have the players who can dictate tempo at will.

IMO this ebb and flow is nicely replicated in FM08.

ddong78

George,
agreed, it's just not what I am talking about...


Isuckatfm,
Yes, in a way this is possible at present, but it just takes too much boring micromanagement, as we discussed with Amaroq above.
You got me wrong, I love micromanagement! But there is cool micromanagement and there is boring micromanagement (eg, having to tweak three different tactics each time you want to make a simple tactical change), and I am trying to get rid of this last kind.

I disagree on this, higher level teams have it all planned beforehand and players just wait for the captains' signal (who's waiting for the coach's signal) to start "stepping it up". And I think this is perfectly replicatable in FM, as I described in the original post.

What you described about different tempoes is interesting (although a different case). That one I 'd think that would be hard to implement however, since at this point we can't even choose different widths for attack and defense...

retired_echater

I believe the concept you're referring to is best described as an intensity slider.

If we're sticking with the slider system, then I agree that an [take it easy/normal/step it up!] slider is very important. I don't, however, think it should directly affect things covered by other sliders or tick boxes (where to start closing down, whether to play attacking, frequency of dribbles and forward runs, tempo). Rather, it should effect the percentage of their maximum pace players attempt to move at and whether they decide to chase after balls they have little chance of winning. On low levels players will only sprint in key attacking and defensive situations; at high levels they will run as fast as their little legs will carry them for as long as possible. Naturally "step it up" would fit well with settings which encouraged attacking play and quick passing, but it could also be used by teams with 11 men behind the ball to encourage them to work harder in closing down opponents in their own penalty area.

An "intensity" slider would therefore enable managers to manage the effort the players put in without compromising other aspects of the tactical setup... you can tell your players not to expend too much energy bursting foward on the counter without discouraging them from venturing into the penalty area altogether, or encourage you midfielders to press their opponents harder without suggesting that they do it deep in opposition territory and get caught out.

Unlike some of the other badly needed additions to the tactics engine, such as position-specific instructions and greater control over set-pieces, an intensity slider wouldn't represent much of a break with the current match engine front end and so shouldn't be too difficult to introduce into the current match engine framework. It should definitely be present for individuals as well as team members, so you can tell your hardworking veteran not to over-exert himself whilst the rest of your team work hard.

retired_w0lfpack1

arroganito - good points, and that seems to fit with first reaction, too: I like your distinction of making sure it doesn't directly affect things covered by other sliders.

Looking at "closing down", we wind up with two different components: where to close down (covered by the current Closing Down slider) and how intensely to close down (covered by the Intensity slider).

:thup:, well thought out response. KUTGW.