Law_Man

PPM is player preferred moves: e.g. “likes to lob keeper” etc.

PPM suggestions from the manager

In real life, managers are supposed to pick up on the strengths of a player and help them to make the most of them. They’re also supposed to pick up on the weaknesses of the player and help them eradicate or minimise them. Managers also introduce new ideas to players to get them to play as the manager wants, and usually if the manger is good, this is related to the strengths and weaknesses of his players as above.

To this end, I think that in the training module, there should be a drop down menu of PPMs that the manager can be able to suggest that the player(s) try in training, with the aim of them eventually trying it in a match situation and then eventually it becoming one of their permanent listed PPMS. The drop down PPMs could also be restricted by position as well, e.g. it wouldn’t be possible to tell a GK or DC to “try tricks” or SCs to “mark opponents tightly” for example. But that’s just the detail. The general concept is a good one hopefully.

The benefits of this are endless from telling fast strikers to ‘move into channels’ to telling the GK to come out and sweep up and help the slow DCs to telling your winger to “cut inside” or “hug the line” to telling your FC to “drop deep” to telling that DMC who can’t pass or shoot to ‘never make forward runs’ or ‘never try through balls’. I think a lot of users would really enjoy this if it was implemented.


Attribute and positional interrelation

In real life, some players (and admittedly they aren’t too common) could play in almost every position and be a good player, namely because well, they’re good players. Rooney, Gerrard, Muller, half the Brasilian team from back in the day spring to mind. On FM, players with good all round attributes can often play in a variety of positions, which is welcomed. But whilst the positions listed that they can play in are often logical, the positions that also should be listed but aren’t is illogical. Take Daniel Alves for example, from his stats, he could play in almost every single outfield position, yet isn’t listed as being able to do so. Obviously the researchers and eventual programmers thought that would be unrealistic; and perhaps it would be if many players could do that.

What I think needs to happen is that there needs to be some interrelation and interdependency between a player’s attributes and his position ability. Position should be linked to attributes too to some extent, so that if I you have a midfielder who isn’t a wimp, but has no positional ability whatsoever in defence as he’s never played their growing up and throw the youth system and when he gets to you, you concentrate heavily on training in defensive attributes (you’ve got a hunch that would be much better suited to being a defender or you even if not, it will be extra cover), he should eventually gain the minimal level of positional ability in a defensive position (depending on say his height and crossing and preferred foot as to whether its DR, DL, DR/DL, DC, DCR, DCL, or DRLC). By this a mean, he should go from having no positional ability as a defending (i.e. ineffectual) to having the basic level of ability (such as “unconvincing”). From attribute training alone it should then not be possible to improve it further to competent and accomplished etc as this would be going to far. But attribute training should at least put the possibility of that player being trained as and then playing as a defender on the radar so to speak. Then after that a manager could properly re-train the player as a defender in conjunction with playing him in defence in matches. This example also holds true for all the other positions in conjunction with training. Such as central midfielders with training them in speed, crossing and dribbling should at least give a chance of playing as a winger etc.