faeron

Thanks to everyone sharing their thoughts and theories on this forum. It helps a lot when creating tactics for the game. Been playing through the demo for a couple of times. Here are some thoughts on how to create a tactic and how to relate team instructions with the individual instructions.

The points below are one way to do it. Give some thought at each point and it is easier to get the overview and get you started.

1. Purpose of tactic Score goals, keep clean sheets, play cautiously, counter attacks etc. I also have a look at the players in the squad.

2. The style of play Here I set the major team instructions such as: tempo, width, time waisting, DL, focus passing, marking, tight marking, use target man and/or playmaker, offside-trap and counter attack. These instuctions defines your teams style of play.

3. Risk consideration Here I consider how much/little risk I am willing to take before setting the individual instructions. I consider the risk of losing the ball, the risk of being caught short in defence by sending player on forward runs, where on the pitch I don`t want to loose the ball etc.

4. Formation with arrows With point 1-3 in mind here I position the players on the field. Also the use of arrows are considered.

5. Setting individual instructions With point no 1-4 in mind, I try to set the individual instructions to match the style of play and what I want to acchieve with the tactic. I believe that the team instructions in point no2 defines your teams style of play, the individual settings should back up this way to play.

If there are team instuctions conflicting with eachother the tactic will be less efficient. Also if the individual instructions are not set the way they should to support your general style of play (decided by team instuction settings), you will have a poor tactic.

Think about it, a team defending deep, with counter attack ticked on as some of the team instructions. Should further enchance this style of play with forward runs, direct passing, more through balls as individual instructions. Also their formation should maybe have farrows to make the tactic more complete.

The following points are how I interpret how the different instructions works, feedback and your thoughts are very welcome. As your interpretions might be more correct than mine.


1 Purpose of tactic

Here I consider what I want the tactic to do. Also I try to imagine different match scenarios and how this tactic will benefit the team. Normally at his stage I also decides on how many versions of the tactic I am going to create, to use with different match scenarioes.

I also asess the playing staff. As this is important on deciding what type of football they can play. Also get to know their weaknesses and strenghts are important. Even though I have my favourite style of play, I will have to tweak to fit the current playes in the squad.


2 Style of play

Here I use the decisions and information from point no 1 to determine how the team will play. The team instructions comes into account here. This is a crucial point when creating a tactic, as these instructions are the framework of your teams style of play. The following list indicates in what order I set the team instructions:

Defensive Line: This how far up or low down your team starts to defend/try to win the ball back. It effects all your team, not only your defenders. The reason why a high DL often works well with offside trap is not because just your defenders will push up, but because your whole team will be pushed farther up the pitch. This gives the opposition(attackers) less space onside to move in. Therefore more often making movement mistakes and are being caught offside.

When you create a tactic this is maybe the first instruction you should consider how to set. As this has a major impact on how the rest of your instructions should be set accordingly.

Width: This is a deciding factor for If you want to concentrate on attacking or defending. Playing narrow indicates that it is more important to keep it tight at the back, than to score goals. The more wide you play, the more you open up/stretches the opposition team(also your own). Wide play also gives you the opportunity to outflank your opponents.

Tempo: This is interpret as how fast you will pass the ball around and how much time you will use in your attacking build ups. I don`t think of it as how fast you will close down the oppositions players. As the CD and DL covers this. Indicates if you are playing possession orientated or not. Also says a little about how much risk you are willing to take.

Time waisting: Also indicates how defensive or offensive you will play. Rarely indicates that you want to score goals. Often indicates that you are happy with the current standings. High time waisting goes well with normal/low tempo.

Focus Passing: Gives you the opportunity to concentrate the passes to further suit your style of play. I.E. playing down both flanks if you are playing wide with winger/wide men. Also it gives you the benefit to play the ball to areas where you often want to acchieve numerical superiority. I.E. playing down left flanks if your left back comes forward to support the left winger and creating 2-1 situations. A lot more can be said, but haven`t had the opportunity the test everything.

Marking and Thight marking: IRL this is very deciding for your teams style of play. In FM I feel it has more to do with what you prefer. I have always played with Zonal. Argueably you should have excellent defenders/players to enable a man marking system. Tight marking is good for defensive purposes. Offensively it weakens you, as the playes doing it will often find themselves close to an opponent players. Especially when playing with a high tempo where you will look to play the ball quickly, you should consider which of your offensive players doing thight marking.

Play offside: If your defenders have the ability and you focus them on tactical training, I always play with this on. Have its benefits and weaknesses.

Playmaker and Target man: Players selected for these roles should be extraordinary and suited for these roles. Has a large impact on your teams passing. When playing with this your individual instructions on these players and other teammates should be focusing on getting it to work properly.

Counter Attacking: Never used it even though I like to play this way. Is probably the icing on the cake if you tick it on and your other team and individual instructions are focused towards playing this way.


3 Risk consideraton

The assesment made here and the conclusions drawn affects on certain team and individual instructions. The team instructions I consider are DL, width and tempo. Tempo for keeping possession. Width for giving away more space within my own team. DL for leaving gaps between the different parts of the team and behind the defence.

For individuals I consider the following, loosing possession (passing, RWB, through balls, crossing), where on the pitch I loose the ball(passing, RWB,) and how important it is to keep a defensive balance (mentality, forward runs, cross from). As a general rule CF for some players are compared to the match scenario. If I need a goal and have to play against a team sitting back, I rise it for offensive key players.


4 Formation with arrows

When setting the formation, the purpose of the tactic is the most important. I position more players up the field if I want to score goals. The formation should reflect your the decisions you have made in point 1-3. The use of arrows gives you the opportunity to force players to make a forward run or fall back. Also sidewards in both directions. To maintain some width if you have an narrow formation, or to make players cut inside.


5 Setting individual instructions

The individual instructions should be set to further enchance your overall style of play. If we manages to set all these instructions correctly then we have a good tactic.

Mentality: Means the focus the player will have during the match and influences the decisions he makes during the match. Maybe the most important of the individual instructions. A player set to defensive mentality will concentrate on defending rather than to attackk. His mentality instructions will maybe influence his decisions regarding other instructions set to mixed. Example: A player with defensive mentality, and forward runs set to mix. Will have a more careful approach to doing forward runs compared to a player set to an attacking mentality, who will be more eager to make the forward run to aid in the attack.

Mentality also influences how the player position himself within his positional zone. Example: Two MC`s with different mentality settings will position themselves differently. The MC with defensive mentality will play further back whilst the MC with attacking mentality will be positioned further up the pitch.

Creative freedom: It is more risky to give players a lot of creative freedom. Especially if you want your team to play strictly defensive. It might be more benefical if you want to score goals and are on the attack.

Passing: This I holds as one of the two second most important ind.instructions to get right. This should be tailored to fit with the team instructions regarding style of play. There is no saying that one passing style is better or worse. If it fits with your style of play it will work and strenghten your tactic.

Closing down: This is the other second most important ind.instructions to put correctly. Determines how eager a player is to close down within his positional zone, also it influences the how large area he closes down within.

Tackling: Hard tackling can lead to the player more often winning the ball back. It can also lead to the player diving into tackles and therefore making himself being outplayed. Hard tackling can be useful for winning the ball back and hitting the opponents on the breaks/counterattack.

Forward Runs: The more players you allow to do this, the more risk you are taking. The purpose of your tactic is important when deciding on this.

Run with ball: Is okay for offensive players, but maybe not for your goalie. I only let offensive players do this. As they will be up the pitch, this decreases the risk if they are not succesful in their dribbling attempt. Is very useful to create space, when an opponent player is bypassed, another is going to close down your player doing the dribble. This will open up a gap/space which could be exploited.

Long shots: Will atleast let you finish of your attacking move. this decreases the risk of your opponent winning back the ball and hitting you on the break.

Through balls: If you are satiesfied with the current result, and want to keep the ball in your team, don`t give this instruction to most of your players. Through balls are especially effective against opponents pushed up the pitch.

Cross balls: The same as with through balls. It increases the risk of you loosing the possession. But is a very efficient attacking weapon.

Cross from: Letting your fullbacks crossing from the byline, is to take more risk than them crossing from a deep position. As they will be more out of their defensive position.

Also a cross from a deep positon from wingers/fullback wil be hit earlier in the play, and your opponents will more often be unorganized.

Cross aim: Mostly I play with mixed. Here it is room for improvements by doing more testing.

Marking/tight marking: Already covered in the team instruction description.


Feedback wanted regarding team and individual instructions that relates to eachother. For the different styles of play and also the different match scenarios.

faeron

Interesting to see the different approaches taken when creating and trying to understand the tactics part of the game. Some concentrates on the AI and understanding of the match engine. A lot of interesting theories coming from that point of view.

The theories that are tested and verified, is very usefule for people like me, who takes a more real world approach when creating a tactic. I wouldn`t claim that I have been doing to much testing of the AI. Instead I try to think of real life football, and solve the puzzle this way. It is a game anyway and important details of the AI/match-engine discovered will have to be considered.

Quickly glanced through the post made by wwfan, interesting theories, looking forward to your results when they have been tested with the full game. Anyway here is how I create tactics, pretty much based on the above post.

Purpose of tactic

I want to create a tactic which is defensively good, often keeping clean sheets. The tactic should not be too defensive and should produce goals and wins. This is what I want to acchieve with the tactic. I need three different alterations of the tactic. As always I play with Liverpool. So here we go.

Style of play

In what way can I achieve want I want with the tactic? I decide to build the frame of the tactic. Firstly I want to use a 4141 formation, as this formation is well suited for minimizing the space available in the teams own half. I decide on the following team instructions.

The DL is set to notch 7(first notch normal). This because I want the team to sit back. Notch 7 gives the feeling that they will not sit back unecessarily, but sufficient enough to minimize the space between the GK and Defs. Also the pace/accelaration of the defenders leads to deep/deep normal DL being the obvious alternative.

The width is set to 1st notch, therefore extemely narrow. This should minimize the space available in between the players in the formation. The only part of the pitch where there will be any space available for the opponents, are to a certain degree on the flanks. This I can live with and will try to counter when playing with wide players both in defence and midfield. The wingers should not be to offensive. Also a high CD will give the opponents very little time.

The tempo is set to notch 15(first notch of high). This is because the DL leads to the team sitting quite deep in their own half when defending. Therefore I want to exploit the space availabe early on in the attacking build ups. Especially when winning the ball back in my own half, this tempo setting more often leads to the team hitting the opponents on the break.

Time waisting is set differently for the three different versions of the tactic. If I don`t need a goal I normally set it to high (notch 18). This frustrates the opponent players, especially when protecting a lead.

Focus passing is set to mix as I feel there is no need to direct the passing to certain areas.

Marking & thight marking is set to zonal and thight marking for all players except the GK and the SC. This is an individual instruction but I look at it as an instruction defining the teams style of play. To further enchance a good defensive tactic I use tight marking. I want my players to stick close to the opponent players, giving them no time on the ball.

The Offside trap is in use for this tactic. Further eliminating the use of the space between the GK and the defs.

I decide to play with neither a target man or a playmaker. I want the lone striker to concentrate more on attacking the space behind the opponents defenders, rather than holding up the ball. Neither do I want to play with a playmaker, since I can`t free any players from their defensive duties with this style of play.

Now the teams style of play is cleared out. They will sit rather deep. The formation and width suggests that they will play very compact and will be difficult to play against. The fast build ups will lead to the team quickly changing from defending to attacking.. Overall we could say it is a cautious style of play. The individual instructions will be set to suit and strenghen this style of play. Already now closing down and a direct passing style for the defensive players is decided upon.

Risk consideration

Normally I want to play with as little risk as is possible for the purpose of the tactic. A tactic with the purpose of not conceding will obviously have fewer players doing risky actions, such as forward runs, run with ball etc. In the attacking version of the tactic the team will play with more risk, since when it is used a goal is needed. To further fill the overall purpose of the tactic I decide upon playing with very low risk-taking.

Individual instructions

There will be a slight difference with the three versions of the tactic for the individual instructions.But not the team instructions. As a general rule, only the time waisting instruction is changed of the different team instructions. The rest is cut in stone, as I don`t believe they should be changed around. It is easier for your players to get used to one style of play.

Also the CD and passing instructions aren`t changed for individuals. Since they also defines the teams style of play. The settings listed below, is for the cautious version of the tactic. It should be solid defensively and still give you the goal/s you need.

Also I empasize in tactics training, this will lead to players being well suited to make good decisions. Therefore a lot of the settings are set to mixed. Then the players will make the decision that is right for the moment.

I also believe that their mentality setting has an effect on their decisions making. For example a LB set to forward runs mixed and defensive mentality, will consider how safe it is for him to make the forward run. If there is a risk off own team loosing the ball, then he will be more reluctant to making the forward run. This is still a theory, but from what I have seen so far, seems to be the matter.

Mentality

GK, DEFS and DMC is set to notch 6 (last defensive) mentality. This means they will position themselves well related to eachother. Also the offside trap should work better, when all defenders play on a line.

ML, MR and MCL is set to notch 10 (normal). This should lead to them helping out defensively and also participating in the attack.

MCR an SC is set to notch 15 (first attacking). The MCR will now be positioned in advance of the rest of the midfielders. This gives a little more depth in the midfield, as the player will be moved further into the gap between the opponents defs and mids. Also this player will be more eager to participate in attack. For the SC this should make him able to position himself well to threaten the space behind their defenders.

Creative freedom

GK and the Defs are set to notch 6 (last low). Here there is no mucking about, play safe and follow instructions. The rest of the team is set to notch 10 (mixed). This should be sufficient for the players to express themselves on the pitch, without being extravagant. Pretty much they follow their instructions.

Passing

GK and the Defs are set to notch 20(long ball). This is to get the ball fast up the pitch. The team is sitting deep so this type of passing is required to move the ball long enough up the pitch. It is required for the defs when sitting deep, if they are to threaten the space behind the opponents defenders with their through balls. Also it is safer to pass the ball long out of our own defence.

DMC is set to notch 18(direct). The same reasons as with the GK and the defs. It is a little shorther because he is often positioned a little further up the pitch. The rest of the players are set to notch 6(short). When they receive the ball further up the pitch, there will often be a good opportunity for a counter attack. At this stage more precision is required in the passes made. Also they don`t have to pass the ball the same distance as the defenders and the DMC.

Closing down

GK and the Defs are set to notch 10(mixed). With good football intelligence they will judge when they should close down or not. Too low and they will be to passive, too high and they will be drawn too much out of position.

DMC and MC`s is set to notch 20(often). The DMC acts like a shield in front of the defence and closes down players running against theme with the ball. This should lead to the defenders staying in position and not leaving gaps amongst them. The MC`s should constantly pressure the opponents, they can afford to do it since the DMC is acting as a safety behind them.

ML/R and the SC is set to notch 15(often). This should ensure that they pressure the opponents, but not in every situation. These players are also the players contributing most in the attacks, therefore any higher CD will put them out of the game.

Tackling

The DMC and the MC`s are set to hard. The rest of the team is set to normal. The thought behind the mids tackling hard, is that they should win the ball back higher up the pitch. To start counterattacks when the opponent team is moving up the field. Also they can afford to loose a tackle since most of the team is in balance and can cope with the player on the ball.

For the rest of the team normal tackling is sufficient. Too hard and players might get bypassed in unsuccesful and will leave a gap. Especially for the defenders I do not want to take this risk. The ML/R and the SC normally will not be skilled tacklers and therefore will be unsuited for hard tackling.

Forward runs

The DC`s and the DMC are set to rarely. They should stay in position all the time and are designated to defend.

The DL/R and the MC`s are set to mixed. The DL/R`s defensive mentality should make them more cautious to when they decide to go forward. The MCL`s mentality of 10th notch combined with FWR set to mixed, should be sufficient enough for him to "time" his forward runs correctly. The MCR`s mentality at 15th notch combined with FWR on mixed, should make him more eager to move forwards. Still not carelessly running forwards. This I believe is the best setting for the two MC`s, it should be possible to still obtain a good balance on the centre of the park.

The ML/R and the SC are set to FWR often. They should constantly aim to take up good attacking positions. They are the three most designated offensive players.

The forward runs are one of the instructions changed the most between the different versions of the tactic. Dependant of the score of the match. Fewer players make them when I want to keep the score. More players are dedicated to make them when a goal is needed.

Run with ball

This I consider to be a very risky action for the players to perform. Therefore only three players are allowed to do it. The SC is set to often. Since he will often be in position to either run freely towards the goal after a through ball has been player. Or he will be able perform the latter if he succeeds in dribbling past the last defender. Also this will make him able to run with the ball and give the team time to move up and assist him in the attack.

The ML/R are set to mixed. They are allowed to do it for the same reasons as the SC, but to a lesser degree. This due to them being positioned further down the pitch and therefore the risk involved increases slightly.

Long shots

All players except the DMC and the MC`s are set to rarely. The three players allowed are set to mixed. Basically because they often will be in a good position to perform a long shot, also because I want to finish off the attack. Thereby limiting the chance for the opponents to win back the ball and initiating a counter attack.

Through balls

The whole system depends on breakthroughs. This is best acchieved with through balls. The only players set to rarely make through balls are the GK and the SC. The rest of the team is set to mixed, except the the DMC and the MC`s. Whom are set to often through balls. This is because they often will be in good positons to make them. I want the players set to through balls mixed to be more cautious making this type of passes. This to reduce the loss of possession too much.


Cross balls

Only the DL/R and the ML/R are allowed to perform this. They are set to cross ball mixed. This is also to prevent the team of loosing to much possession.


Cross from

This is set to deep for all players except the ML/R and the SC. The SC is set to byline, mainly because it will give the team more time to move into positons to receive it. The ML/R are set to mixed. The situation should decide where they should cross from.

That should pretty much cover it. The individual instructions not mentioned are either not touched or already mentioned under team instructions.

Cleon

Shameless bump, don't want this falling off page 1 just yet

faeron

Could you describe your tactic a little more. So far I know it is a 343 wide tactic, with wide men crossing. What are your other instructions.

What is your style of play, be more descriptive if you could. Don`t have give details down to every instructions, but give me the overall picture

Cleon: Thanks for keeping this post alive .

millwallrules

Great post.

I agree ith a lot of it but do you change your forward runs, through balls etc to fit your players.

For example, At Liverpool Peter Crouch is going to be more better at playing through balls then running with the ball and Harry Kewel would be someone you would let run at players.

stan1978

great post, was wondering can all this be done using other formations such as 4-1-2-1-2 or 4-4-2 or even 4-1-3-2.dont really like to just have 1 up front.

wwfan

As you know, I advocate a system of split setting passing and employ a similar system to you. I am intrigued at your setting of 20 for the DCs. I would think it would be effective at LLM, but will be easily contained at Premiership level as it cuts out the midfield and the opposing DCs should mop up the scraps. Please could you update on your success with long ball in the top flight. It would be very interesting to hear if it works.

faeron

Thanks for the all the replies. I am in a little bit of a hurry right now. Have a plane leaving in two hours.

Won`t be able to play untill monday evening.
Get back will updates on how things are going then. Shuld be able to give some decent answers also.

faeron

Have been testing the tactic. It worked decent enough, but needed some tweaking. The frame/style of play is the same. Overall the whole team is passing more directly, and the use of an target man(run onto ball) was a vital instruction added. The corner routine is working well, often winning games with one goal scored from corner. The two MC`s now have the same instructions, it gave the team a better balance.

I restarted the game in August after I played untill November with the original tactics. First signs are promising. Have just been able to play eight games with the tweaked tactic(cautious version). Have kept clean sheets for all eight games. All victories apart from the CS against Chelsea. The score was 0-0 after full time. Most common results are 1-0. Just one game where the team managed to score twice.

Will spend some time to fine-tune an offensive version of the tactic (41221) and will settle with just two versions of the tactic. Still fine-tuning training, at the moment there are too many severe injuries on players from training.

When all the fine-tuning is finished and the tactics is tested some more, it will be uploaded.

Right now I am dead-tired, need to sleep. Will post more details on the instructions tomorrow.

faeron

Reply to millwallrules: I tend to sell the players not fitting the style of play and buy in the players suited for it. If this luxury can`t be afforded with a LLM side, you will have to fit the tactic to your team. But this tactic works best with a certain type of players in each position.

Reply to stan1978: Tried to make this tactic with a 4132 formation, it was lesser efficient defensively. Since playing very narrow often the opposition wingers had too much space and time. If you want to I can e-mail you the tactic, you can use the instructions and try to make it work with one of the formations you mentioned.

Reply to wwfan: The passing for the defenders have been lowered to notch 17. It needed to be tweaked a little. The goalie is tweaked to notch 19. The DMC is lowered to notch 15. The passing is lowered a little for the defs and the dmc, the two mc`s have their passing heightened to notch 13(direct).

This is in accordance with the intended style of play, but it had to be tweaked a little. Just a few notches and it functions better. The sliders are more sensible with this version. Also setting the SC as a target-man who runs onto the ball strenghtened the tactic. I suspect it will work to a lesser degree if this is not in use.

Actually I am still keeping a fair amount of possession. It is normally even with the other team.