Ask uncle MAD (Uncle MAD's box of choccys)

[bondj700]

This has been the usual fall back position for English "experts", media etc, namely blame all the foreigners. Frankly imho it doesnt stand to scrutiny:

1. If you cast your mind back to previous tournaments (say at the time of Hoddle and Waddle) there werent so many foreigners playing in the English top league and still England underperformed (or were ****).

2. Most nations with top national teams also have many foreigners (if not more than there are in England).

3. At least two of the Southampton players are madly overrated (Lallana and Lambert) + where exactly did Southampton finish with all those great players?! + please look back in time and tell me when exactly England were a super power so that they can be one "once again"?!

MAD

great thread always an interesting read. However, i have to pick you up on couple of your points-

1. Agree

2. This is untrue. The PL has the highest % of overseas players (62%) of all European leagues. Bundesliga 49.5%, SerieA 48%, Ligue1 41.5%, Liga BBVA 37.5%. Now admittedly these countries haven't all done well at this world cup but apart from Germany (who I think are a good bet to win this year) they have all won a world cup and/or European championship since 1998. Its also worth noting after their failure at Euro2000 Germany made radical changes to youth development (better training for youth coaches, national federation put in control of youth development etc) which is paying dividends now. I agree that its not all down to influx of foreigners as like you said we were bad before but I think it has made things worse.

Source for stats Compare European Football Leagues | Open wide for some soccer!

3. Well as a Saints fan i admit i'm biased here but I think maybe you are a little too?! Picking on two players who one has moved to Liverpool and another prob will soon?! Because MOTD hardly ever shows long highlights of our games unless you go and see them you don't get to see how good these 2 and others are. Lambert is always referred to as 'target man' or 'big man' by national media but he is so much more. Yes he does hold the ball well but it is what he then does with it makes him so much more. Brings others into play or creates for himself. Add to that best penalty taker in PL and also scores free kicks as well what more do you want from a player?. 15 PL goals in 12/13 and 13 in 13/14 and i think over these 2 seasons second highest scoring English Striker? Certainly better record than Welbeck. As for Lallana if you genuinely think he over rated maybe maybe your not as good judge of players as I thought. If it had been Messi or Ronaldo who scored the goal he did against Hull it would have been said to have been one of the greatest of all time.

And as for where it got us well we finished 8th one place behind Utd after being above you for a lot of the season. We also beat Liverpool away and had many other good results and played some great football. We had a disappointing end to the season due to boardroom changes and MP wanting out which effected the team. However, we now have another top manager, an academy which continue to produced talented youngsters and a stable and united board again. We also are not overwhelmed with debt. Who does the future look brighter for you or us (H)

 

[bondj700]

Hello there,

Firstly great series of posts, I've been playing manager games since CM2 but I learnt alot about the newer features from your posts (took a few year gap). I was wondering if you could possible answer me a question though please, I have seen mentioned a few times that you can ask a player (of your team) to speak to an international teammate in reference to joining your club. I was wondering if you knew how to do this coz I have no idea

Thanks

This was def in fm13 under one of the private chat options but i haven't seen it in fm14 maybe it was removed.

 

[MANUMAD]

Hey MAD,

Great thread btw! I have started a career with Ajax after reading various posts about them and their brilliant youth system. I know you have done a few posts about them but wondered if you had any other general tips when managing them. I really want to bring the Youth players through and bring in other talented youngsters that i can nuture. Any advice appreciated Thanks.

1. I have NEVER had so many offers for players of mine as Ive had with AJAX. From the 2nd season onwards I buy only under 17s and oldies for tutoring, I sell a number of players of mine (even youngsters from the B team can be sold for good dosh).
2. Bear in mind that under 17s from Latin America can be bought but will only come to you when they turn 17. So try to look for European youngsters/regens.
3. Bring in SAVITSKIY asap, play him from the start, tutor him and he'll be awesome. I bought him for 800k, gave him a lot of matches in 1st season (tutored him cos his determination is v low), then I loaned him out to a team I knew would play him quite consistently then brought him back for the 3rd season, tutored him some more and he's been great ever since.
4. In the first couple of seasons I also bought BALANTA (to keep), VIETTO (sold him end of 2nd season for 3 times as much as I bought him), MONTILLO (became a club icon so when his high wages contract was not renewed the fans were livid but hey), KARA (to play and tutor - sold on with profit), CONCA (cos Im in love with him for 4 years now), STANCIU (now one of the best in the world).
5. Ive also sold one established player (at least per) season: last one to go in 4th season yet was BOILESEN.
6. Read CLEON's thread in SI games forum for how to train and develop players: eg I have a policy where every player I develop from youth will be proficient in at least 3 positions.
7. Im away from game currently but Ill try to get back to you asap with advice as to who to develop.

 

[MANUMAD]

MAD

great thread always an interesting read. However, i have to pick you up on couple of your points-

1. Agree

2. This is untrue. The PL has the highest % of overseas players (62%) of all European leagues. Bundesliga 49.5%, SerieA 48%, Ligue1 41.5%, Liga BBVA 37.5%. Now admittedly these countries haven't all done well at this world cup but apart from Germany (who I think are a good bet to win this year) they have all won a world cup and/or European championship since 1998. Its also worth noting after their failure at Euro2000 Germany made radical changes to youth development (better training for youth coaches, national federation put in control of youth development etc) which is paying dividends now. I agree that its not all down to influx of foreigners as like you said we were bad before but I think it has made things worse.

Source for stats Compare European Football Leagues | Open wide for some soccer!

3. Well as a Saints fan i admit i'm biased here but I think maybe you are a little too?! Picking on two players who one has moved to Liverpool and another prob will soon?! Because MOTD hardly ever shows long highlights of our games unless you go and see them you don't get to see how good these 2 and others are. Lambert is always referred to as 'target man' or 'big man' by national media but he is so much more. Yes he does hold the ball well but it is what he then does with it makes him so much more. Brings others into play or creates for himself. Add to that best penalty taker in PL and also scores free kicks as well what more do you want from a player?. 15 PL goals in 12/13 and 13 in 13/14 and i think over these 2 seasons second highest scoring English Striker? Certainly better record than Welbeck. As for Lallana if you genuinely think he over rated maybe maybe your not as good judge of players as I thought. If it had been Messi or Ronaldo who scored the goal he did against Hull it would have been said to have been one of the greatest of all time.

And as for where it got us well we finished 8th one place behind Utd after being above you for a lot of the season. We also beat Liverpool away and had many other good results and played some great football. We had a disappointing end to the season due to boardroom changes and MP wanting out which effected the team. However, we now have another top manager, an academy which continue to produced talented youngsters and a stable and united board again. We also are not overwhelmed with debt. Who does the future look brighter for you or us (H)

1. I picked Lambert and Lallana cos they ARE extremely overrated. I dont live in the UK and maybe that gives me better perspective cos I read "foreign" (sport) press. Most of these players who are rated in England frankly most people out of England wouldnt bat an eyelid at and most actually find it funny that such players are rated so highly in England. The same goes for foreign managers in foreign teams. That is a major issue imho. Cos of this inflated idea that England is a "super power" you get these players feted so much and this causes media to put so much pressure on them which in turn forces the players to stop being "cute" and try to work within their limitations (GREECE is a continuing example of how limited players -much worse than English btw- can achieve so much by working and planning within their limitations). Dunno how much sense Im making as Im really speed typing_

2. The problem with England with football is not the amount of foreigners in EPL (and the percentage of foreigners in the German/Italian/Spanish leagues you mention are quite considerable and dont actually disprove my point), its the lack of any English players playing in "foreign" leagues. This shows two things: English players are not really rated by anyone outside UK and (more importantly for my argument) are not made that much better by playing in other leagues (the same way people like say LUIS SUAREZ improve by the experience of playing in UK).

3. I actually think WELBECK is also madly overrated. Dont misunderstand me Im not saying Lallana is **** Im saying he's overrated. Which is different.

4. Utd is not a yardstick to use this season mate. Dont compare us to you this season cos we were beyond ****. The fact remains that with all those "great" players (which everybody would have if they followed Southampton's example) Southampton still only finished 8th.

5. Also dont compare the prospects of Southampton (much as I like what they are doing) to UTD. We ll be champions or thereabouts next season mark my words.

There are many reasons why England cant perform ever in major tournaments and the proliferation of foreign players in EPL is not among the main ones!

Thank you for your good words.

 

[MANUMAD]

Hey MAD,

Great thread btw! I have started a career with Ajax after reading various posts about them and their brilliant youth system. I know you have done a few posts about them but wondered if you had any other general tips when managing them. I really want to bring the Youth players through and bring in other talented youngsters that i can nuture. Any advice appreciated Thanks.

1. Your biggest problem with developing players with AJAX is the lack of good (in the sense of facilities and staff) feeder clubs. Good luck finding new ones.
2. Players:

a) Cillesen and Vermeer are good GKs will develop and you are set for years. Ok Vermeer drops the odd clanger but hes generally solid. Look to develop MICKEY VAN DER HART.

b) Abdelhak Nouri, Tete, Riedenwald, Leyder, Mitchell Dijks, Denswil, Veltman, Bazoer (love him), Van Den Boomen, Owusu, Meleg, Karlsson, Fischer and Hakimzadeh are players I developed to keep for myself.

c) For whats worth here's my record again with them:

1st season: League/CUP/Euro/Super Cup winners
2nd season: League/Super Cup/Euro Super Cup winners - CL out in qfs and cup also
3rd season: Won everything apart from cup (qfs) and CL (finalists to MAN UTD - messed up my training/holidaying ended up with all my players badly unfit for match)
4th season: Lost both super cups won everything else including CL
5th (current): Won WC Championship on pens vs INTERNACIONAL playing mostly my developed youngsters. Lost both super cups. In January 8 points off PSV who are leading.

d) My main squad:

GK Vermeer/Cillesen/VD Hart

WBS/LBS: Murru (bought him on a whim kept him)/Van Reijn/Ligeon/Tete/Mitchell Dijks/L.Owusu/J.Riedenwald
CBS: Balanta/Denswil/Veltman/Prestia/Tin Jedvai (also dm)
DM: Leyder (also cb)/Gas Gil Romero/Bazoer (also CB)/VD Boomen/Higuinnho + Joelton Francisco(Brazilian regens)
CM/AM/WINGERS: Meleg/Klaesen/Savitskyi/Nouri/Stanciu/Fischer/Tomas Martinez (Argie regen)/Thijs Van Dijk (regen)
CFs: Dongou (was available for 1.9m couldnt not get him)/Driussi/Fierro/Richairo Zivkovic/Karlsson

 

[MANUMAD]

Found another cheap(ish) wonder kid who improves well. But you need to move fast to get him cheaply.

Name's FOUNTAS. Plays in Greece 3rd div for AEK.

 

[joribioye]

Alright Mad, I need help creating a tactic. and I'll write out an outline of what my LFC team is right now.

 

[MANUMAD]

Alright Mad, I need help creating a tactic. and I'll write out an outline of what my LFC team is right now.

And ...?

 

[joribioye]

Sorry Hahaha, So heres what i have so far.

Squad:

GKs: Mignolet, Alex McCarthy

FBs:

Alex Sandro
Sebastian Jung
Lucas Digne (Going back on to PSG, loan ending soon)
Martin Kelly
Flanagan

CBs:

Raphael Varane
Mamahdou Sahko
Marquinhos
Skrtel
Llori (On loan at wolfsburg)

CMs:

Claudio Yacob
Morgan Schederinlin
Jordan Henderson
Sebastian Rode
Rossiter
Chrivella
Gerrard(Basically just sitting on the bench forever now)

Wingers:

Sterling
Insigne
Valbuena (Being sold because hes old and on high wages)

Attacking Midfielders:
James Rodriguez
Coutinho (GOD)
Suso
Ryan Gauld

Strikers:
Luis Suarez
Daniel Sturridge
Pierre-Michel Lasogga

I won the EPL, FA Cup, Community Shield and lost in the CL final to Man City /)

I run this formation View attachment 364213

I want to win the midfield battle more and i feel this is better for just moving the ball quickly up to my AMs and they create goals. I don't concede much anyway but hate seeing my midfield get bypassed so easily. I was thinking of going doing the AC Milan tactic when Ancelotti was in charge. The christmas tree formation. Just wanted your thoughts on what formation and philosphy you would use with this team

 

[MANUMAD]

1. You use exploit the middle but half your supporting players are on the wing.
2. Give your winger instructions to shoot less stay wide and move further up.
3. I know its not much help but a 4231 will always have problems in controlling the mf. But controlling the mf is not the be all. Its important but equally important is multiple and varied threat outlets which you seem to have.
4. Id try sitting the dlp in the middle directly in front of the two cbs.
5. I utilise a very similar formation and team instructions to you. I just dont like the play out of defence instruction. Also If i see in match that the mf is a problem, I pull back the winger into the mf and maybe turn him into a dw.

 

[MANUMAD]

Priceless from footie 365

Shear Shear
This Mediawatch is exclusive. We know this because Mediawatch is paid to write this arsey, cynical look at football media (and broken penii) for Football365 and nobody else. Perhaps we should put an 'exclusive' tag on the top of the page like The Sun on their 'exclusive' Alan Shearer column, which is 'exclusive' basically because they pay their employee.

So only readers of The Sun on Friday can read that...

* 'Today's match-up in the Maracana means at least one European side will be in the semi-finals.'

That's exclusive right there.

* 'It could be as many as three with Holland and Belgium also flying the flag for Europe in the last eight.'

This is all exclusive; strictly speaking, we shouldn't be repeating this stuff.

* On Thomas Muller: 'It's fair to say he knows where the goal is.'

That's 'exclusive' expertise.

* On Neymar: 'A remarkable player in a very unremarkable Brazil team.'

You simply cannot buy that level of expertise. Except, oh yes you can. Exclusively.

 

[SFolio]

Have you got any tips on playing a 4-1-2-2-1 (4-3-3 with a DM) formation? I'm struggling to create chances, so any advice on how to do that would be greatly appreciated, especially considering this is a very broad question.

 

[MANUMAD]

Have you got any tips on playing a 4-1-2-2-1 (4-3-3 with a DM) formation? I'm struggling to create chances, so any advice on how to do that would be greatly appreciated, especially considering this is a very broad question.

Sorry for the delay but I spent my weekend on the beach!!!


Try:

1. Changing the dm a dlp defend.
2. Changing one of the players in the if positions into ap support. The other change into an if. Give the ap support instructions to stay wide and shoot less and the if cross less often sit narrower and get further forward. Behind the if should be a wb on attack with instructions to run wide with ball, shoot less often and stay wide. The other player in the fb position should be on auto with cut inside instructions.

Keep us posted!!!

 

[MANUMAD]

Utilising pressing in FM 14

As I do in real life I also love high pressing fast counter attacking tactics in FM and ever since I started playing FM Ive tried to implement this in the tactics I make.

I have sang the praises of passion4fm and his site/blog a number of times in this thread/forum and I must confess that most of the ideas I discuss below are heavily influenced from what he writes.

The weirdest thing is after struggling for years with the counter mentality, Ive given up on it completely (cant for the life of me make it work in FM14) and yet it does not affect the ability of the tactics set to produce what looks and feels to be fast counter attacking football.

To achieve pressing and fast counter attacks you need to employ:

1. Formations that are conducive to this (ie wingerless formations make it difficult to employ exploit the flanks instruction -unless you play with a 5 man defence with (c)wbs - and if you dont wing it you cant really counter attack at pace and, more crucially, in pace).

2.The correct team instructions.

3. The correct player instructions.

4. Players with stamina and strength (and pace accross the XI-see previous posts on the importance of this) are also important but not nearly as important as the other 3.

Note also that mentality has no bearing as you can press and counter attack effectively with even an attacking mentality.

As far as team instructions are concerned there are two main options in terms of applying pressure. One is to “Hassle opponents”, the other is to “ get stuck in”. There are various tweaks you can implement, but these are the crucial options to use. Be aware however that if you have players constantly pressurising and tackling hard, it is a given your disciplinary issues will be raised, as your players will receive bookings and red cards. So whenever a player gets yellow carded (esp in first half) tweak his player instructions to tackle easy.

You can also try playing narrower esp if you employ a "wider" formation such as a 442 though I found that you can counter attack better with play wider instructions or no instructions as to width. If you are not after consistent counter attacks try playing narrower. Another thing Ive found is that to "exploit the flanks" you dont necessarily have to play wider. With the correct set up (wider formation) you can instruct to play narrower AND exploit the flanks and this will result in good pressing in key areas and some counter attacking.

Another very important consideration is how deep your team sits. Pressing is reducing the space in which the opposition operates in. So "push higher up" or even "much higher def line" ups the ante in pressing. But be mindful of the fact that the mentality does combine with the defennsive line instructions so that attacking and much higher def line means A LOT OF SPACE BEHIND YOU to be exploited by the opposition.


Marking is a totally different concept than pressure. Marking is a role designated to a player telling them whether they are assigned to a certain player (man marking) or zone (zonal marking). Pressure is the application of that role. So tight marking and hassling your opponents may result in players applying pressure but also being dragged away and leaving a hole as they are told to follow the man marked player wherever he goes and he may roam from position.

Player roles are also crucial to pressing and fast counter attacks:

wbs/cwbs (tho the latter would maybe be too much in an attacking formation) on attack -INSTRUCTIONS TO FOLLOW.

ifs: SET UP/INSTRUCTIONS TO FOLLOW.

sweeper keeper: this is IMPERATIVE so that you don’t you leave your team open to long balls over the top bearing in mind your high def line

bwms: these have it in their pre determined instructions to pressurise and win the ball back

dws: tho I generally dont like them as they tend to blunt the width/(counter) attacking play of my one team they are prescribed to apply pressure.

dfs (def forwards): Again, these players are automatically assigned to press and close down.

You can use player instructions to apply pressure (eg ‘close down more’ or 'tackle harder‘) but I find it overcomplicates matters and confuses your players/me if you do this. I only utilise it when Im man marking opposition amcs/creative players in conjunction to OIs close down always, tackle hard and weaker foot.

Dont forget that your team will be constantly running and applying pressure. This means that in matches you will need to sub players that are tiring more than those that are not performing (but as I say above in other posts this is what you should generally be doing anyway).

More, a few threads further down.

 

[Askando]

Hello, I wanted to ask you a question concerning scouting. Is it better to scount a specific nation, or a whole region, or smtg else ? (Managing Saints) Also, should I keep scouts with very good PA and CA judging even though their other stats make them bad for roaming and next opposition scounting. Ex. Paul Mitchell

 

[MANUMAD]

Hello, I wanted to ask you a question concerning scouting. Is it better to scount a specific nation, or a whole region, or smtg else ? (Managing Saints) Also, should I keep scouts with very good PA and CA judging even though their other stats make them bad for roaming and next opposition scounting. Ex. Paul Mitchell

1. There are dedicated posts in this thread for staff where you ll find details (and suggestions) for scouts (reminds me to update it with more names possibly!). So look at that.
2. For next opposition I assign two scouts: one with high adaptability and tactical knowledge (cos I want the best input possible regarding tactics) and one with high CA an PA and adaptability.
3. Adaptability generally is the most important attribute other than the obvious ones.
4. No option is "better" than others. It depends how many (good) scouts you have, any restrictions you may have, how much of an emergency it is and what team you are - eg as I say above its a bit pointless to send scouts in Italy if you re a team in Chile as its unlikely anybody playing there would want to join you. Also, Denmark and Norway (and to an extent the whole of Scandinavia) has a number of pretty good and cheap players (the better ones are mentioned in this thread) so if you are a team with not a lot of money to spend eg Southampton it would be better to send a scout to Denmark and a scout to Norway first before you look at Scandinavia as a whole. Also if you re looking for very young players/regens you should send scouts to under 19 team competitions ... I hope you see my point.

 

[Askando]

THank you for your great answers ! I do see your point, just have one last question concerning the question about scouts who don't have good adaptability or/and tactical knowledge but have very good good CA and PA judgment. Should I keep thse scouts like Rod Ruddick and Paul Mitchell or should I just bring more scouts to scout nations like the ones suggested ?

 

[MANUMAD]

THank you for your great answers ! I do see your point, just have one last question concerning the question about scouts who don't have good adaptability or/and tactical knowledge but have very good good CA and PA judgment. Should I keep thse scouts like Rod Ruddick and Paul Mitchell or should I just bring more scouts to scout nations like the ones suggested ?

It depends - if money is not an issue always go for the best money can buy (people like Alexander Ceolin/Paul Montgomery). Lower tactical knowledge wont affect their ability to tell you PA/CA accurately. Low adaptability will mean it will take them longer to find ...

 

[Askando]

It depends - if money is not an issue always go for the best money can buy (people like Alexander Ceolin/Paul Montgomery). Lower tactical knowledge wont affect their ability to tell you PA/CA accurately. Low adaptability will mean it will take them longer to find ...

I don't want to get too annoying, but in your opinion is it better to keep those two guys (Ruddick and Mitchell) or should I get scouts like Daniello Ottis and Vlada Stosic who have better adaptability (thats what my budget lets me) Because I feel that if I stick to my current scouts I won't have a job for them, because their scouting of nations/regions would be too slow, they have poor tactical knowledge so they wouldn't be good for next opposition scouting. Anyways I would like to hear your opinion. Hope you don't mind answering to these similiar questions.

 

[MANUMAD]

I don't want to get too annoying, but in your opinion is it better to keep those two guys (Ruddick and Mitchell) or should I get scouts like Daniello Ottis and Vlada Stosic who have better adaptability (thats what my budget lets me) Because I feel that if I stick to my current scouts I won't have a job for them, because their scouting of nations/regions would be too slow, they have poor tactical knowledge so they wouldn't be good for next opposition scouting. Anyways I would like to hear your opinion. Hope you don't mind answering to these similiar questions.

You re not getting annoying, asking is the point of this thread actually (hint: its in the title!). Get the better options (who Ive never heard of btw) as the ones you have seem obsolete ...