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

[HenryChanceGoal]

This has probably been spoke about but i cant seem to find it. Is there specific way to sell players actually worth/above value, i just cant seem to get good offers, for example i am currently southampton trying to flog lallana hes 27 value 14 mil he was playing in rotation for me all last season(i finshed 3rd above season expectations) but i cant get any offers nay help?

 

[MANUMAD]

This has probably been spoke about but i cant seem to find it. Is there specific way to sell players actually worth/above value, i just cant seem to get good offers, for example i am currently southampton trying to flog lallana hes 27 value 14 mil he was playing in rotation for me all last season(i finshed 3rd above season expectations) but i cant get any offers nay help?

There is, yes. Search the forum as RAIKAN had a thread for FM13 on this which works with FM14 also.

In outline note the following:

1. Its obviously easier to sell players who are in your main squad/have played matches.
2. Its easier to sell players if you do what I tell you to (which RAIKAN explains in more detail) on the first day of the transfer window tho I find it mostly works whenever you do it.
3. From the assistant responsibilities window make the "offer player option" at 200% of his value. Then offer the player you want to sell (so if player is worth say 5mil he' ll be offered at 10). Wait a couple of days. If nobody bites decrease the offer manually by 250k-500k. Then wait another couple of days. If nobody bites decrease again by same. I use this method and I send most of the players I want at a premium (maybe not exactly double their valuation but at a premium). Ive managed to sell CILLESEN/BOILESEN/SIGBORTSON/ANDREASEN etc with AJAX at double their valuation. Ive also managed to make Man Utd offer 30m (no instalments) for Bazoer who's valued at 10m but I dont want to sell ..
4. If a player is not somebody who has done really well for you in the past and is over 28 he's more difficult to sell at profit.

 

[MANUMAD]

Utilising pressing in FM 14 - Part two (counter attack settings)

Suggested Team instructions: More direct/pass into space/work ball into box/ (drill crosses - if you dont play with a tall man up front)/run at defence/exploit the flanks/play wider/push higher up/stick to positions/hassle opponents/get stuck in/offside trap/higher tempo.

Wb/cwb attack:run wide with ball/shoot less often/stay wider/get further forward.

paired with:

if (attack/support):cross less often/sit narrower/get further forward.

wb/lb: cut inside with ball

 

[Askando]

Is it better to have to have diffrent formations with every tactic (Controll, counter, attackicking) or is it fine to play with one formation ?

 

[MANUMAD]

Is it better to have to have diffrent formations with every tactic (Controll, counter, attackicking) or is it fine to play with one formation ?

I comment on this in one of the tactic advise posts in this thread. Imho its better to have 3 different formations: one wider (ie with wingers/ifs) one narrower (eg diamond no wide players) and one other. Then if you want you can make one control one attacking etc (tho I dont think counter works that great in FM14). The reason being that certain teams according to scout reports tend to hate wide formations others narrow (more details obviously in the said post).

 

[MANUMAD]

Developing Youth Players - a step by step list

1. Read what Cleon has to say on the matter (google him), he's the best there is on this.

2. Bookmark this page:

Player Personalities | Football Manager 2014 Guide

3. When you appoint staff, look at their personality - only bring in people with the top personality types as it affects the personalities of regens you get.

4. Improve youth and training facilities asap.

5. Look for people who are Model Pros/Citizens/Leaders etc (see particular post above on this) for tutoring purposes.

6. Utilise the note making facility in game or use pen and paper. Make a list of the players that you will concentrate on for development as well as the stage of development each in (ie - second tutoring session) and what you'll do next.

7. Understand the ideas of personalities/determination/leadership etc and how they interrelate so as to ensure you pair people correctly.

8. Set up scouting to find regens concentrate on youth team championships in countries where the better youths come from (eg Brazil tho be mindful that you can buy 15 yos from there but they ll only join when they turn 17).

9. Look at your feeder clubs/find new ones - look for clubs with decent facilities, decent managers (to utilise your players better) and with particular weaknesses in their squads (to ensure your loanees will get matches).

10. Train people yourself. Individual training is imperative. Start by training according to position (look at the individual stats each option works on to ensure they increase what you want increased) on heavy for a season. Then re- evaluate and do so every 3 months. Within two years you will find yourself having to train particular attributes on heavy -eg: I like pace. Even ,my cbs must have 14 ideally 15. So sooner or later Ill train quickness till it is sufficiently increased.

11. Do not loan until your youth's personality has reached the highest personality type it can bearing in mind the available tutors.

12. If you loan people loan them for free so that you can recall them. Compile scout reports about them and talk to them once in a while either chastising or praising. Only loan if offer is for first team player and upwards. Look at how many matches they play (do so every month). If they are not getting matches then recall and re loan.

13. Do what AJAX does - ensure that all youths become adept in at least 3 positions.

14. Do not be afraid to play them. But do not rotate whole sale (my ideas as to rotating are mentioned in the initial posts of this thread.

 

[MANUMAD]

Ahahahaha

Worst. Ultimatum. Ever.
Writes Graeme Bryce in The Sun: 'Bojan has been given until tomorrow to decide whether to swap Barcelona for Stoke.'

Can he just retire?

 

[ted19788]

Cheers for this guide, its completely changed the way i play the game and for the first time im really enjoying it, though scouting and writing down potential signings on bits of paper whilst at work needs sorting out!!!

 

[MANUMAD]

Cheers for this guide, its completely changed the way i play the game and for the first time im really enjoying it,

Pleasure's all mine mate!

though scouting and writing down potential signings on bits of paper whilst at work needs sorting out!!!

Tell me about it!!! I find myself participating meetings and instead of paying attention jotting down FM related stuff!

T

 

[MANUMAD]

4-1-2-2-1 formation showing potential but still struggling. I'm using it as my back up tactic against strong teams (i'm Southampton 2014/15) with counter mentality. Any tips for team instructions?

Sorry mate, only now did I see there was a question. Better post a SS cos Ill get your formation better.

Anyway it looks like a narrow formation (what I call all formations with no wingers/wide mf/attacking players) so you need to obtain width from else where:

team instructions: play wide and maybe look for overlap
Employ at least wbs (cwbs are an option but too dangerous unless the 1 in front of the 4 is a HALF BACK. They should be told to stay wide, run with ball, move further up and shoot less

 

[MANUMAD]

The following was a PM by ClemStephanois:

"Hi,

I'm at the end of my second season with Souhtampton..
First season i've managed to end my season at third place, the second one i managed to end on the top of the BPL.

My formations are the 4-3-1-2, the 4-3-3 and the 4-2-3-1, and i have a problem with my mildfield.
I need a new player that will take Schneiderlin's place because he is not performing well for me.
My starting 11 is Ter Stegen (had him for free) - Luke Shaw - Joel Matip - Dejan Lovren - Clyne / Chambers - Wanyama - Schneiderlin - Ward-Prose - Lallana - Rickie Lambert - Duvan Zapata

If you have any suggestion, i will have a good amount of money i think so give me ideas.

Thanks for your help,
If you need more info let me know"

Get both of Lucas Romero and Gaston Gil Romero and you re set!

 

[ClemStephanois]

Lucas Romero has a big transfer fee but i will look forward for your advices !

What do you think of Grenier from Lyon ?

 

[ted19788]

Do you have any advice on opposition instructions mate? Seen a post you made about tackling hard on the centre back with the lowest bravery rating just wondered if there was anything else to look out for?

Cheers

 

[MANUMAD]

Lucas Romero has a big transfer fee but i will look forward for your advices !

What do you think of Grenier from Lyon ?

Dunno, never used him/saw him carefully.

Get Gaston Gil Romero then.

Look at Jorge Enriquez/Guido Pizarro.

 

[MANUMAD]

Do you have any advice on opposition instructions mate? Seen a post you made about tackling hard on the centre back with the lowest bravery rating just wondered if there was anything else to look out for?

Cheers

I dont like overloading my players with instructions. Generally I only give wbs/fbs and ifs/wingers instructions for this. Same goes for OIs. I usually have somebody I trust from my staff (eg Meulensteen/Batista Dos Santos) deal with OIs and over and above that I usually lock the following OIs:

a) Tackle hard (and sometimes close down always) a cb who is not brave.
b) Close down always on GK.
c) AMCs and/or players who are identified as a source of danger will be marked tight if my player has pace/closed down always/tackle hard and weak foot.

Im sure there's a guide as to how to use OIs somewhere if you want more, you can google it.

 

[ClemStephanois]

Thanks a lot dude !

I will let you know who i will be picking and how much he costs me

 

[MANUMAD]

Thanks a lot dude !

I will let you know who i will be picking and how much he costs me

You can even press the "find similar players" button when you are in the Schneiderlin page to find more players ...

 

[MANUMAD]

1. This thread now has more than 18000 (!) views! Thank you!
2. Ive cleaned and enriched most of the big posts (increased font size as well) to make it more user friendly. If it would allow me to delete posts Id ve made it even better!

 

[MANUMAD]

Going Reactive - Part 3

The first 20 Minutes

As I say in previous post(s), the first 20/25 minutes are the most important part of matches as that is when you can see if your selected tactic/setup is working. Watch the match on comprehensive (or at least extended) and see what is happening. Are your players playing the way they are supposed to? Also are you under the kosh a lot? If you are it means you are not set up correctly for the match in question and you are about to be breached. Change tactics or at least tweak asap. Dont worry if by doing so you ll have players playing in alien positions to them; its better than conceding.

You might have prepared for a game before it but find that after the actual kick off all your preparation was for nothing as the opposition are not playing how you anticipated. Or other factors might be at play. The only way you can tell how you need to play and set up is from viewing the game itself.

You should have on screen the formation of the opposition (gives you a visual idea of how they line up) as well as the assman's comments. As I say in a previous post you dont always have to follow what he says but, esp if he's good tactically you have a valuable second opinion. Also every now and then you should pause the match and go into detailed tactics to see OIs and your player's feelings during the match as by that you ll see who's tending to make a costly error. Look also for the opposition motivation every 15 or so minutes and target nervous players by closing down and hard tackling.


General

Pause match every now and then and look at the info provided to see if your tactics are working. If you see a player losing the ball a couple of times focus on him to see if it will be a regular occurrence. You can then deal with him by instructions (eg not run with ball often+/pass short) or ultimately substitute him.

If you see early on that your players are finding space easily have good options available for trying to retain the ball, then you can do either of two things: EITHER "time waste" a little bit more (by retaining possession/passing short etc) hoping that, since you're already having quite a bit of time on the ball, if you can slow the play down even more then you ll have the ball even more, OR go more direct and up the tempo and pressing to really push the opposition back.

Use the rewind option to look at stuff closer/better if necessary.

Note that the assman may say that you re not retaining the ball wel/passing well etc and this might be true but at the same time it might be how you want to be playing (ie direct and fast) and what you are seeing is really your team not being threatened when it loses the ball. In this case changing something would not be clever.

You must monitor the individual stats still so every 10 minutes pause and go check them out to see whether you're tackling well, passing well etc.

Look at particular players and their position on the pitch. If they keep finding themselves where they are not effective/where you dont want them to be -eg a lone striker on the wing- then deal with it with player instructions (eg do you have move into channels instruction? Remove it).

Look at the formation of the opposition for changes (and listen to the assman on philosophy changes in their play) and react to it. eg if opposition changes to 424 then deal with it trying to take advantage as explained in previous posts.


From the 80th minute onwards

See previous posts on shutting up shop etc.[h=2][/h]

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[h=2][/h]

 

[MANUMAD]

Utilising the tactical interface

TEAM INSTRUCTIONS

Passing

Pass Into Space - It increases through balls so the players pass the ball in front of the receiver (and on the shoulder of the defending player) so he can run onto the ball. It’s great for creating space and forcing the opposition’s players to try and make a tackle. Good to use against slow defenders, when you're struggling to break down the opposition and generally in all tactics in FM 14 as through balls work pretty well in this version.


Width

Play Wider – Instructs the players to play wider. It can obviously work well with exploit the flanks but its a fallacy that exploit the flanks only works with play wider; it doesnt. Some combinations aiming to limit opposition space and press it mean its better to use play narrow with exploit the flanks. If the opposition are playing narrow it can be used to try and stretch them wider. Advisable to use if the midfield is cramped in the middle and you are outnumbered.

Play Narrower - Self explanatory. Useful if you want to pack the midfield and become more solid to get through or if you want to press opposition or if you want to be aggressive by getting stuck in and hassling.


Attacking


Run At Defence - Instructs all attacking players including attacking midfielders to run with the ball often. Normal midfielders on attack duty are not affected. This is imperative if you want your am (who can be anything, a treq/ap/ss etc) to be the main attacker because you play with a lone dlf support up front. This is best used when the opposition allows your attacking players time on the ball .i.e. not closing you down. It can be a great shout to use if the opposition is standing off you. It can be equally effective if the oppositions defence are bad at tackling as well.

Take A Breather - Decreases forward runs and tempo. You should use this is you don’t have players with good stamina or if condition is getting a bit low, or if comfortably winning and after the 70th minute and you have another (important) match coming up very soon. Couple it with retain possession.


Shooting

Shoot On Sight – Increases the long shots for your team. Can be used against sides that park the bus in front of the goal. Advisable to use if your attacking players have a good long shot attribute. Known to cause hysteria and hair pulling in the user after he has seen yet another shot from an impossible distance get wasted!

Work Ball Into Box – This tells players to use long shots rarely. This is useful if you think your players are shooting too often. Or if you find you want to keep possession and be more probing. Or if you want to stay sane by not having your players (all your players) shoot from stupid angles and impossible distances!


Wing Play


Hit Early Crosses – Tells fullbacks, wingbacks, complete wing backs, wide midfielders and wingers to cross the ball early. It puts run with ball on rarely and cross from on mixed. This can be used against sides that play with a high defensive line. This can also be used if you have a fast striker who can break defences with his pace and acceleration. Dont use if you are playing with (very) deep defensive line as the crosses are likely to have (next to) nothing to aim for.

Look For Overlap – Your fullbacks or (complete) wingbacks will be given a more attacking mentality, run from deep often, cross ball often and be asked to cross from byline. While your wingers will be given a more defensive mentality, run from deep rarely and hold up the ball. It’s great to use against sides who are proving difficult to break down. Can also be used against narrow formations that lack wide players. Very dangerous to use esp if you have cwbs against formations with wingers (eg 442) or opposition with pacy players on the wings.

Exploit The Flanks – Fullbacks/(complete) wingbacks and wingers become more attacking and play gets focussed down both flanks. Wing players run from deep and cross the ball more often. Use if middle of the pitch is congested or if opposition is parking the bus.


Possession - passing

Retain Possession – Shortens passing length and slows the tempo down. But it results to dithering on/with the ball and has the additional danger that the ball may be lost in dangerous positions. Dont use if your players arent skilled in ball holding. As noted in previous posts its good to use when you want to close a game out and hold onto the current result, but in that case only introduce it in the 85th minute.

Exploit The Middle – Defensive players will have their runs from deep increased to often. Tells your team to focus their passing through the middle and any defenders and defensive midfielders will have their mentality changed to a more attacking one and be told to attempt vertical through balls often. Obviously goes with narrow wingerless formations. Unless you play with a flat back five where the (c)wbs are supposed to bomb forward and offer width. Use against teams who leave holes in centre.

IM NOT IN FRONT OF THE GAME SO I DONT SEE THE OTHER OPTIONS (eg more direct etc) SO I WILL HAVE TO COME BACK TO UPDATE AT SOME POINT HOPEFULLY.

Pressing


Stand-Off Opponents – Changes marking to loose zonal, reduces closing down drastically and decreases tempo. Use when you play a technically superior side and don’t want your players to get skinned to ensure you keep your defensive shape.

Hassle Opponents – Increases the tempo, tells the team to tight man mark and also increases the closing down for your side. Use this if you want to reduce space and time that you allow the opposition to have. Works good with a very attacking strategy and against teams who are a lot weaker than yours.


Overload - Contain

Play Even Safer - Contain. It decreases all runs from deep (except for strikers) and through balls to rarely. It also tells all the players except wingers to run with the ball rarely. Imperative to use with contain.

Take More Risks – Overload. Sets run from deep to often for all players on a support duty. Increases through balls to often and run with the ball for all players. Doesnt work. Employing overload philosophy is enough.