An [Amateur] Tactician's Chalkboard for FM11

[mccollio09]

Anyone else finding it a real struggle to get their old tactics working on 11.3? iNickstuff, your modern fullback one used to be godly on the original, now the slider settings don't seem to work so well on 11.3, fullbacks getting caught out of position a lot more than in previous versions.

Moreover, my own tactic I created (which won the quadruple with Derby on my save) doesn't seem to work anymore either.

 

[iNickStuff]

ok, sorry Nick, what i meant was that when i go to your articles the pics from ZonalMarking, the real images of peoples like Robbie Kean, etc., i can see but when its from the in game, for example, the indivual settings of the second striker, i can not see them, also the images of your games.im sorry if i cant make myself any clearer, but i dont know how to make screenshost, there is a square whit a red cross in the middle and i cant see the pic.

Ah, I see. Well, list the one that you can't see and I will re-upload them and see if that helps.

yeah i waiting for jeventus tactical side this season. shame no one doing that but that ok i wait maybe someone create somthing like that

You'll have to wait. Maybe until the end of the season. I don't know.

Anyone else finding it a real struggle to get their old tactics working on 11.3? iNickstuff, your modern fullback one used to be godly on the original, now the slider settings don't seem to work so well on 11.3, fullbacks getting caught out of position a lot more than in previous versions.

Moreover, my own tactic I created (which won the quadruple with Derby on my save) doesn't seem to work anymore either.

I will extend all articles after my exams and replace them in the OP. And you'll have to be more specific about your Derby save.

 

[mccollio09]

ok cool, don't worry about my tactic, will have to look at it a bit more carefully, used to work wonders though, and a lot of users rated it pretty highly, shame , here it is anyway if you want to try it out based a lot on your stuff actually and some of godcubes

 

[donkarlito]

Finally been able to get on this thread couldnt tell you what the problem has been. Im guessing there has been no new articles been put on, Modern CF to me has got better on patch 11.3 Grafite has 9 goals in 3 pre-season games so it looks promising for season ahead.

 

[iNickStuff]

Marko Arnautovic: Zlatan's clone?

• To find comparisons between Werder Bremen's Austrian, Arnautovic, and A.C. Milan's Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
• To look at the Croatian and Serbian descendant's styles as tall, technically-gifted and strong centre forwards for the two German and Italian clubs respectively.

Article #8: The 'modern Series
Sunday, 10th April 2011


Again, this isn't a fully-fledged article, but a look at a player who has become another comparison to one of the world's best. I am now into my Easter holidays and been accepted into two colleges/sixth forms, which requires me to do hardcore studying to get those GCSE's, get a good job and then possibly follow a dream of football management and taking all of the tactics from a virtual game into the beautiful game. I will not entertain this as a start of a regular string of articles, but rather one to keep this thread intact and on the move, since there hasn't been an article for almost a full month. So, here we go again.


A tall, technical and strong 21-year-old striker? Enter, Arnautovic

Bought for a chunky £5.5million from recent Eredivise champions F.C. Twente following a flawed loan spell to current European champions Inter Milan, Marko Arnautovic has been recently noted as a direct comparison to Zlatan Ibrahimovic. A 6'4 Austrian that has as much sizzle as bacon and spice as pepper when it comes to tasty skills, the Serbian descendant has been commonly compared with his motherland counterpart. Upon his arrival at Werder Bremen's Weserstadion, the ex-Rapid Wien forward has found it difficult of late to find the net in Germany, but that is no worry for someone who is several years the younger to a much more well-known, talented (and arrogant I suppose) Zlatan Ibrahimovic. His flair, pace and technique are what he is throroughly known for, whereas everything else is in heavy question. But, like last time with the Pablo Piatti: The "poor man's Messi" article, we're going to directly compare the two strikers and see what they have in common with one-another.

• In terms of physical stature, both are very alike. Arnautovic and Ibrahimovic are both 6 ft 4 and weigh around 84kg.
• They both have "ovic" at the ends of their surnames respectively. Marko Arnautovic, Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
• Both of their parents have descent from the former motherland, Yugoslavia. Marko's are of Serbian, whilst Zlatan's are from Croatia and Bosnia. Zlatan himself was born in Sweden, a neutral.
• Both play, or rather have played in Italy. Marko was once on-loan to the Neurazzuri, Inter Milan, during the 2009-10 season and Zlatan currently plays for their arch-rivals Rossoneri, A.C. Milan - currently on-loan from Spanish outfit F.C. Barcelona in a loan-to-buy deal.
• Both centre forwards made their debuts against obscure Scandinavian footballing nation, the Faroe Islands. Ibra made his debut on the 31st January 2001 and Arna on the 11th October, seven years later.

Arna and Ibra on Football Manager

Whilst the latter is a much, much more well-known player in Europe and being and a deadly marksman, the former still has a lot of work to do before he starts becoming the type of player that he is often compared to. The levels between the two are very different and thus make it almost impossible to compare them attributes-wise. Arnautovic is a poor finisher, headerer of the ball and seems to carry around with him a sense of lethargy. Ibrahimovic is a much more developed and stronger striker. He is a decent headerer of the ball, a great finisher, and although quite lazy and not very co-operative, he is a good target man to the very least in holding up the play to bring in supporting players and to score from tight and acute angles.

Heavy work is needed on the game itself by whoever manages Arnautovic if they want to get him to the standard that he is compared to, and in real-life for Werder Bremen's current manager in Thomas Schaaf because right now he needs a good few seasons to hone his skills, become more selfless and work for the team, rather than for himself. Here is a video of him in action against German outfit, F.C. Cologne (or Koln) this season.

YouTube - Arnautovic vs Köln [ AIRFUTBOL.com


Arna' mit meine Mannschaft

One of the very few games that Arnautovic made a passing contribution was in the DFB Liga-Pokal first round against Hertha Berlin. This screenshot is one of few, in which he completed 12 out of 14 passes to make it his passing completion rate just over 85%. His position, very high up the pitch and angled into the right flank shows that his contribution to the 4-2-3-1 that I chose him to play in, alongside Aaron Hunt and Marko Marin, was a decent one. Passes back inside the box to make one-two's helped score the goals needed. Here is his goal:

In the lead-up to his goal, Hunt is in possession and team is on the attack. Marin is yet to emerge into the attacking picture from the left-hand side to make the attacking trio once more, whilst Pizarro is the main option for a through-pass. In Marko's mind, he can latch onto a through pass and score, or be passed to, hold up play and bring in the attacking three of Hunt, Pizarro and Marin for a goal.

Eventually, it's the former, and he is able to score from this chance. Again, he has more than one option. One of which is to through ball it into the path of Pizarro. But, knowing him, he wasn't having that intention.

Boom.

 

[scottys]

Finally been able to get on this thread couldnt tell you what the problem has been. Im guessing there has been no new articles been put on, Modern CF to me has got better on patch 11.3 Grafite has 9 goals in 3 pre-season games so it looks promising for season ahead.

In what formation do you play him?
ie. 442 or 4231?

 

[donkarlito]

In what formation do you play him?
ie. 442 or 4231?

4-4-2, 4-5-1 and 4-2-2-1-1 formation like the Germany tactic on this thread

 

[va1kyri3]

You guyz all brilliant on this site. I love reading the comments almost as much as the posts!

Thanks

 

[Zaiaz]

Best thread ever.

 

[Fracpen]

iNickStuff youre doing a great job with this thread and i wanted thank you for creating it im sure everyone agrees its been very helpful in creating their own tactic and in achieving their personal goals in FM11
thanks to the counter attacking article i have created a good counter tactic with Villa that im waiting to test against bigger clubs
i cant wait for 'modern playmaker article and the upcoming articles
wish you luck the best of luck in passing your exams

 

[mudiiiiii]

Couldn't you post the team instructions for the counter attacks?
Thanks in advance, and good luck with your exams.
Btw really nice and helpful thread.

 

[khanmein85]

iNickStuff.. newbie here~ u could make it as pdf files whereas the precious u did for ur commitment! i'm chelsea fans.. i still think carlo using formation 4-3-2-1! 1 complete striker. 2 inside forward that switch occasionally. 2 midfield work hard to attack & support. 1 DM playing deep cover CB that when to approach another att option. 2 fullback especially cole working hard in front! 2 CB! this is normal mode.
when attack mode, is more likely 4-4-2 diamond! like u stated for chelsea formation. i hope u can make the formartion that chelsea playing from narrow to wide. work in box + playing triangle a lot.. 1-2 pass. striker drop deep + moving into byline trying to cross in. gracias amigo!

 

[chrismonc87]

Hi Nick good stuff, is it possible you could create Chicharito role to go with rooney like on tuesday.
cheers mate
chris
ps great work mate keep it up

 

[iNickStuff]

Creating the 'modern Target Man

• To edit the sliders available in Player Instructions and hoping to mimic the movement of a target man.
• To create a more team-working and determined role to which benefits the team's plays in attacks and counter-attacking from defended set pieces.

Article #9: The 'modern Series
Thursday, 28th April 2011


Now that I am on a little break to revise and just cram in anything and everything that may be worthwile as I prepare for my exams (as well as the Royal Wedding and Bank Holiday double enabling me a four-day weekend to lick my lips at) I have decided upon posting at least one article. The time I have spent revising and finishing up work is coming to a close, and a break is deserved for me to play some of that Football Manager that I, amongst a lot of people, crave for. It also gave me the chance to look at two things; 1. Making a finally-awaited long term Paris Saint-Germain save that I have been wanting to do since the demo for FM11 came out. 2. Finding out the rhythm in customising sliders, and what outcomes they can provoke in making movement, passing and certain actions encouraged or belittled. So it's more or less two birds hit with one stone.

I took upon a Paris Saint-Germain save, and doing well in it. Whilst I did, after looking at my list of articles to write, I looked at creating this one. It's an interesting one, and it will push the thread a little closer to double digits in terms of articles and finally putting them into a .PDF attachment. A small, yet significant detail to this is the detail that one of my players fits the target man role in the way that he pops up in the filter, amongst other out-of-reach players. So, without further ado, I am going to write this article.


Where has the classic No. 10 gone?

You may see more strikers fit for being a target man for their own team than in any other league in Europe. Probably because of their physical stature and ability to knock defenders off the ball being their main purpose, and with the league being so quick, aggressive and demanding, it would be no surprise if this theory was true. If skim through my memory, I can think of at least five or six players in the Premier League that can fit the bill of being a target man:

• Peter Crouch (Tottenham)
• Kenywne Jones (Stoke City)
• Didier Drogba (Chelsea)
• Yakubu (Everton - on loan to Leicester but still attached to Everton)
• Andy Carroll (Liverpool)
• John Carew (Aston Villa)
• Edin Dzeko (Manchester City)
  

Forgetting Football Manager for a minute, those players, or some of them, could do the role of being a hold-up man in the attack and creating space for other players to drop into quite easily. Hassling and standing up against centre backs to make aerial battles a nuisance is probably what they do now, but are not really given the chance to do it because of the preference of playing with quicker attackers and those that can drop off the shoulder, inside and score. A decade ago, it was much more preferrable in there being a target man to hold up play and allow quicker wingers to drop into space and have a go at goal. Now, because of the influences of international football (the World Cup and Spain's win of it in South Africa nine months ago) and also the club football of F.C. Barcelona, it's being shunned.

Nowadays, teams and managers favour formations that have one striker rather than two and midfields that have three men than two. Or four even if they are playing without a four man defence. What happened in South Africa nine months ago was probably the clearer vision of why the 4-4-2, unfortunately, is dying out in football with it's lack of constant use and success, and how the 4-5-1 and the 4-2-3-1 are pushing aside what is still the most common formation in football history. Whether that'll change in the next half a century is questionable, but it's taking massive strides in becoming a largely popular formation to play.

[video=youtube;6nExrLzBKcc]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nExrLzBKcc[/video]

Take this goal for example, scored by Trinidadian striker Kenywne Jones against Everton on 1st January this year. It was in Stoke's 2-0 win against the Toffees at home and Jones' fifth league goal in his first Premier League campaign with his new club. A great goal that was quite typical of what I want, or want from my target man if I ever play one and find one at my club - or buy one. If you recognised before or watch it again, you'll see that Jones heads the ball on from a goal kick by Asmir Begovic to who looks to be Jermaine Pennant. After getting past his man and another, the ball is crossed and meets the head of Jones again. Howard is beat and the athletic 26-year-old goes off on his own to do his typical acrobatic celebration and toast what was a great goal for ol' ye faithful to see.

Not very often can you see goals like that or players like that consistently on a top level and have success with it. Stoke have done it, yes, but I am talking about going back to the times when Manchester United had Ruud van Nistelrooy in their ranks, or when Arsenal had Thierry Henry. Of course, they were not fully-fledged target men, but they created space on the occassions that they weren't on the ball and helped their team-mates by hassling the defenders, turning their attention to them. That's even more of a reason to have target men now that are exposed on the bigger stages more so that the No. 10 can flourish in the roles it once blossomed in. A small fact is that Jones has never been booked this season - according to the Guardian's stat centre.


Target men in Football Manager

I personally rarely use the Target Man role in my tactics unless the team is pretty poor or he is a very good player in that role. But it was only until now that I started to realise it's importance. I usually like to have a Support-Attack verve going on around my strikers, and not have them both on Attack because they may not perform as well or it just makes things much more difficult to find balance in. The player I have a screenshot here of is Guillaume Hoarau. I have specifically put a picture of him in the Target Man, Support role to show what is needed in that role, importantly, for him to become useful and effective. I would also like to quote what the description of the role is.

A target man can transform an average team into a good one by using his sheer physicality to disrupt the opposition's defence and open space for his striker and supporting midfielders.

The Target Man uses his strength aerial presence to bring team-mates into play rather than relying on technical ability. With a Support duty, the Target Man will look to win flick ons and simple possession passes to his team-mates and bring them into play.

That quote personifies what I like in the target man and what his importance is to many when on the pitch. I like the part where it says ".. to disrupt the opposition's defence and open up space for his striker and supporting midfielders.". Again, it is a great example of what the target man should do nowadays and be exploited to become of cornerstone in good attacks. Now to look at why those attributes are important:

• First touch: Gets the ball down and under control to keep the ball grounded and not fly over their head in trying to header ball, rather than chesting it down and putting in the next phase of play to help the attack move.
• Heading: Pretty obvious. Heads the ball into the correct path to either act as a pass, flick on, or a shot on goal. Doesn't need much more explaining than that.
• Long shots: Not really necessary since the target man will most likely not be taking that many shots from outside of the box, but if he feels the need, then having a good ability in shooting from distance is beneficial.
• Aggression: People don't often realise this, but heading in general requires more than just two attributes. Pretty sure aggression is one of them. Co-incided with that is having the kind of battler in him to get physically strong with the defender and help either support play or attacking with the ball. Aggression is important in many aspects of a target man's game, and definitely brings a good style to his game if he doesn't have the greatest of technical attributes.
• Bravery: Having guts. Getting dirty in 50-50 or 60-40 challenges and putting a foot in when needed to keep the centre backs on their toes.
• Determination: Not giving up. Another important thing. If target men gave up on occassions, they wouldn't score half the goals they get, or as many assists. I'll show why soon.
• Team-work: Since they are not great technically, putting the team before themselves helps other strikers have the glory, and then repay you when you come back in a similar position as they were before. The team must come first, and when it does, all is rewarded.
• Work rate: Like determination. Keep going until the bitter end and not giving up. With determination, aggression and bravery, the four combined can make a bulldog of a player. Ask Carlos Tevez for more.
• Strength: Again, a self-explanatory attribute that caters itself. Aerial and ground battles require strength, and defenders have the job to keep strikers out, so if the striker themselves have strength in resemblance to a defender, they can have a better chance on getting in on goal than a striker that is agile, but cannot keep defenders off their backs the majority of the time.
• Jumping: See Heading.

The role, advanced phase

Here's what I have come up with. Looking at combining the three of Mentality, Creative Freedom and Closing Down to have a target man that sticks further up the pitch than most strikers has the effect that I have been aiming for since the start. The very attacking Mentality makes them much more inclined to stay upfront and stick to the half-way line from set-pieces and goal kicks, as well as not drop deep very often to receive the ball when the team know themselves already that he would need direct passes into him already. However, this can vary, you'll have to experiment yourselves.

I would also like to point out that this has worked for me in the Advanced Forward role. I am yet to experience it with the Complete Forward role. I stress that this varies from player-to-player, and not all the time will it have the same effect of having the role on Target Man, Support, rather than Target Man, Attack. It also comes with Player Preferred Movements (PPMs). Will go into it later. Let's go through with why:

I have already explained the Mentality, so there's no point running over it again. Creative Freedom was decreased to just above Little because starving Hoarau of creative ability was going to backfire at some point. It also gives him the ability to do some things on the ball when in or outside of the penalty area. But not so much that he will do what the Messi's and Ronaldo's of today do. It also contributes to his Mentality. Closing Down-wise, Mentality and Closing Down go hand-in-hand. This is quite typical of the 'modern Centre Forward role. Furthermore, his passing is set to short so that he can put off short one-two's with Edrinc or Everton Santos, my other striker(s) when on the attack, rather than dropping deep and trying a long defence-splitting pass that goes wayward and closer to the corner flag than them.

Tackling set to Easy because I don't want a large foul count like I have experience before with Hoarau and 'Run From Deep' and 'Run With Ball' set to Rarely and Often respectively to give the effect he is up the field to bring out a stonger, physical play, rather than being on the ball all the time, or having to drop deep to receive it. I also wanted to bring on the effect, with Hoarau's movement, a 'stick to the centre' kind of mentality. He has shunned the Player Preferred Movement of running through the centre of the pitch, so crossing from the byline is what contributes to him dropping out wide rather than being the receiver of the cross. Wide play set to Normal because, again, want him to stay central. I want him to "attack the box". Could have that on loop on a custom CD in the dressing room in a pre-match preparation with one's self whilst everyone else is warming up. Unorthodox but effective.

Moving on.


The results?

This (ta-da). This is one of the many matches that I have been able to get Hoarau to do this. It's not every match that he plays that this happens, but when it does, it often contributes to good games and good play. This was in our 3-0 over SM Caen at home, and one that the tall Frenchman scored in. I was pleased with the results and he has been on good scoring form since, so it has been a good phase of taking the target man approach.

Or even this. This came in our 3-1 away defeat to Lyon at Stade de Gerland. The one goal from us came from Hoarau anyway, and he gave the defenders a hard time, clearly, with him winning the majority of his headers during that match. He went on to have a good game and have a good influence in the following five or so games from that match. Him winning 10 out of the 12 headers, mostly inside Lyon's half and outside of the box makes it more or less justified that him winning headers is beneficial. It was unfortunate in that match that the two goals were scored by the creative Swede in Kim Kallstrom that consigned us to defeat. It was a good battle until we conceded those goals in the last three or so minutes of the game.


Hoarau goals

Hoarau vs. Zenit St. Petersburg, 55th Minute

Here is Hoarau's 55th minute goal against Russian side Zenit St. Petersburg, at Parc des Princes, in a crucial European group game that would eventually see us rise from last to finish second and qualify for the last sixteen of the Europa League. In this screenshot, I have marked out Hoarau (#9) as the player who, obviously scores, but also the space he has to operate in, following the absence of Zenit's other defender.

With Ceara on the ball, Hoarau can easily anticipate what is going to happen. And with Maurice on call (#21) there can also be an overlap from the two and get in a cross into the box for a possible goal. The acres of space that Hoarau has in which to operate from, added the fact that he is an aerial threat, makes it all the more difficult for Zenit's defence.

Eventually, Ceara passes the ball to Maurice instead of overlapping and Hoarau has dropped deeper this time to become level with the ball for what, he thinks, is a cross. He still has the space but only closed down a little by the back-tracking defender (#3). My other striker in Everton Santos (#10) can wriggle past the two defenders holding him from exploiting the space, so he adds a ground threat. Hoarau is much more aerial-based, and with the cross coming in, either one of them could pounce.

The ball is crossed into the box by Maurice and it happens to be now or never that Hoarau can finish this cross off. But several things can happen:

1. Hoarau scores from the cross, finishing off the chance and scoring his goal.
2. The ball whistles over his head and rolls out to the opposite flank in Nene or Siaka Tiene, to which another cross could come in to the box, opening another opportunity.
3. The ball is headed by Hoarau, but parried by the goal keeper (#30) yet falls into the path of Everton Santos, the striker parallel to Hoarau.
4. The ball goes over the bar, following a poor header from Hoarau but a good opportunity.

The majority of those outcomes seem to be very favourable and still have a positive ending. Hoarau is PSG's biggest threat in the box at this moment in time and can easily nod the ball into the net. Had he not been their, odds on is that we wouldn't have scored.

Eventually, he does, with a diving header.


Hoarau vs. Olympique Lyonnais, 3rd Minute

Hoarau, this time, seems to be playing closer to the right wing than usual, with Santos, Bodmer and Chantome all in support within the proximity of the possession. With Hoarau's movement however has come the attention of the defender in #37, 19-year-old Thomas Fontaine. Hoarau can easily, when on the ball, break through Lyon's defence and have a one-on-one with Lloris and a possible chance of scoring. The opening up of space also helps give Santos another option in what he can do with the possession. Despite being marked and hassled by Kolodzieczak (#12) he can break past.

A few passes in within the midfield, Fontaine has gone level with Hoarau and opened up even more space. The centre back in Cris (#3) has gone to close down and tried to double up on PSG's midfielders in Bodmer and Chantome. The lines going through the three and the line showing the possible movements are the passing and moving options PSG have at this time. Hoarau, also being the lone striker, has the opportunity to be passed through and given a shot on goal.

Eventually, when Chantome receives a pass from Bodmer, he sets up Hoarau finally for a pass through on goal. Cris, Fontaine and Kolodzieczak are already back-tracking to catch up with Hoarau but struggle to do so because they let him have too much space to operate in and paid the price for it.

Too late.


Hoarau's form of-late

In twenty-eight matches, Hoarau has been our main striker and a massive asset to the frontline. His goals have been pivotal and with us being in January, I assume he can get more. He's chipped in with the odd assist three times, but thirteen goals in twenty-eight games is very good for us in our European charge.

And in the last fifteen games, he has scored nine goals. The majority of the time has been giving good performances and showing his worth. Not all the time, obviously, will be on form but when he is he is one of the best strikers in the league. Even when he has scored he can still put on a good performance and it's beneficial to the team and to our performances as a whole.

And stats-wise, he has been getting high percentages to prove how good he is. Exampling that he has completed 79% of his passes out of the 702 he has attempted. Or that he has won 76% of the headers he has battled for. Also having 35 of his shots on target out of 65 attempted is pretty impressive for a target man. 53%.


If there is any more that I need to cover, I'll edit the article

But for now, that's one out of the way and not have to worry about for a long time to say the least. And I can now carry on with what I want to do and have to do. Probably will upload tactical templates but I doubt that they would be worthwile, since really it's much more useful with two strikers than one. I will do something to coincide with this article but, for now, it's just back to the old drawing board to see which other articles I'd like to brush up on.

Cheers.

 

[Alienman]

Another good read, Nick. I don't normally use a target man but I am thinking of starting a new save with Manchester United, and it is the kind of role that Berbatov plays when he is in so I might try to implement one.

I am just wondering what you think plays best off of a target man. Its commonly said that a poacher should be played along side the big man, to have that speed coming off the back shoulder. Would the "modern central forward" work? If you think about it, with the target man in line with the defenders he can knock the long balls down to his partner who has dropped deep and than turn to go towards goal looking for the inevitable cross.

It sounded like you were hinting at writing something about a partner for the target man, so like a poacher, is that true?

 

[iNickStuff]

iNickStuff youre doing a great job with this thread and i wanted thank you for creating it im sure everyone agrees its been very helpful in creating their own tactic and in achieving their personal goals in FM11
thanks to the counter attacking article i have created a good counter tactic with Villa that im waiting to test against bigger clubs
i cant wait for 'modern playmaker article and the upcoming articles
wish you luck the best of luck in passing your exams

Thanks Frac, glad you are having success with it and wish you more in your save. And thanks again for the luck in my exams, fingers crossed I get the grades I need.

Couldn't you post the team instructions for the counter attacks?
Thanks in advance, and good luck with your exams.
Btw really nice and helpful thread.

I will soon. Thanks though.

iNickStuff.. newbie here~ u could make it as pdf files whereas the precious u did for ur commitment! i'm chelsea fans.. i still think carlo using formation 4-3-2-1! 1 complete striker. 2 inside forward that switch occasionally. 2 midfield work hard to attack & support. 1 DM playing deep cover CB that when to approach another att option. 2 fullback especially cole working hard in front! 2 CB! this is normal mode.
when attack mode, is more likely 4-4-2 diamond! like u stated for chelsea formation. i hope u can make the formartion that chelsea playing from narrow to wide. work in box + playing triangle a lot.. 1-2 pass. striker drop deep + moving into byline trying to cross in. gracias amigo!

I can't really understand what you have said. It wasn't me that wrote the article by the way, it was Frank, another person on the site who contributed to the thread.

Another good read, Nick. I don't normally use a target man but I am thinking of starting a new save with Manchester United, and it is the kind of role that Berbatov plays when he is in so I might try to implement one.

I am just wondering what you think plays best off of a target man. Its commonly said that a poacher should be played along side the big man, to have that speed coming off the back shoulder. Would the "modern central forward" work? If you think about it, with the target man in line with the defenders he can knock the long balls down to his partner who has dropped deep and than turn to go towards goal looking for the inevitable cross.

It sounded like you were hinting at writing something about a partner for the target man, so like a poacher, is that true?

It could work, yes. The centre forward dropping off, creates space for the supporting midfielders and wingers whilst the target man stands up against the defenders and occupies their attention. It's pretty much the ultimate striker partnership that many teams try to get right with their strikers and have done before, but with the flow of the game changing, more and more strikers are becoming quicker and more direct than before. A poacher works as well as they move into the channels and get past the defenders when through passes are available.

---------- Post added at 04:15 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:11 PM ----------

Hi Nick good stuff, is it possible you could create Chicharito role to go with rooney like on tuesday.
cheers mate
chris
ps great work mate keep it up

I don't do specific player roles unless it goes with a tactic, their career is very well-documented or they are a former player. I would imagine, however, that the 'modern Centre Forward role would work well with Hernandez anyway, or the default settings of the Poacher role - dependant on the formation itself.

 

[chrismonc87]

hi nick thanks for reply i have rooney doing that role so i will do poacher for him with similuar things as modern striker.
cheers again chris

 

[SS19]

When using target man I recommend setting your goalkeeper to make long kicks and distribution to target man (maybe something that could be added to the article), not a must though and depends on how your team plays, when trying to achieve high possession that isn't the best option.

I thought that he would get more assists, heading the ball forward to quicker partner, but obviously this isn't the case and you have managed to get good performance out of him.

What is your next article? Looking forward to it!

 

[iNickStuff]

When using target man I recommend setting your goalkeeper to make long kicks and distribution to target man (maybe something that could be added to the article), not a must though and depends on how your team plays, when trying to achieve high possession that isn't the best option.

I thought that he would get more assists, heading the ball forward to quicker partner, but obviously this isn't the case and you have managed to get good performance out of him.

What is your next article? Looking forward to it!

The style you are talking about is coloquially known as kick-and-rush football. It's better for teams who are much weaker and playing teams that are expected to hammer them. I would suspect recently-promoted or lower-league teams playing kick-and-rush football against much stronger opponents. It's not something I would like to add to the article because it doesn't have as much depth as it would be for defining the crossing system to get the heading percentages on a level that attribute his role.

And you would think that he would be getting more assists, but he has been playing in a 4-2-3-1 recently, so the wingers are supporting him rather than vice-versa. I am working on it to make him get more assists but at this point in time, it's more about attacking the box as much as possible. It will be up soon.

I don't know what my next article will be. I have a list but they all require a lot more research than something like specific roles (such as the 'modern Target Man). I'm looking.

 

[SS19]

The style you are talking about is coloquially known as kick-and-rush football. It's better for teams who are much weaker and playing teams that are expected to hammer them. I would suspect recently-promoted or lower-league teams playing kick-and-rush football against much stronger opponents. It's not something I would like to add to the article because it doesn't have as much depth as it would be for defining the crossing system to get the heading percentages on a level that attribute his role.

And you would think that he would be getting more assists, but he has been playing in a 4-2-3-1 recently, so the wingers are supporting him rather than vice-versa. I am working on it to make him get more assists but at this point in time, it's more about attacking the box as much as possible. It will be up soon.

I don't know what my next article will be. I have a list but they all require a lot more research than something like specific roles (such as the 'modern Target Man). I'm looking.

Yeah I agree, lonely striker nodding the ball forward isn't very effective, it requires quicker player next to him.

Did yoy try using higher closing down and normal tackling? Players with high bravery and aggression seem to win challenges often, and target men usually have also good strenght. My poacher with high bravery and aggression, but poor strenght, scored couple goals last season where he tackled opposition CB, won the ball and was one-on-one with the keeper. Not sure would it work, but worth testing I think, if not by you the by someone else.

edit. oh and did you set him as target man, and if yes with what distribution? And your wingers and fullbacks had cross aim to target man?