Ask UNCLE MAD (UNCLE MAD'S BOX OF CHOCCY'S)

[MANUMAD]

Thanks mate for the advice, will check them out. I did a Bulgarian save on FM 14 and loved it, but in season 3/4 found it difficult to sign quality players due to wage restrictions (60% of turnover is wage cap), so guess more success in Europe and money brought in from player sales will help increase my wage budget throughout the seasons?

Bulgaria do have some top young players too, so hopefully get a crack at NT, to help bring some success on the international stage too.

People from Africa and South American countries such as Colombia/Peru/Uruguay are players you should be looking at: Laste Dombaxe is another suggestion. As is Tabani Mthembu (tho he's not cheap at 2m incl instalments - so can only be an option in the 2nd season)

 

[MANUMAD]

DATABASE SIZE

You've got the game ready, and are about to start a new save. You set up the leagues you want to play, let's say England, Spain and Italy. So you look down at the databsase selection, set it to large and start your game.

That's fine but what about exploring custom DB possibilities? Hitting the custom button you will be able to see all the additional leagues/nations/continents you can add to your game, increasing the player pool. This is a nice way to increase the players and prospects available to you as a manager.

I've been looking at some websites which list some prospects in World football and used my season and a half long save with Lyon to look at them and see how they'd developed. However, on that save I'd only loaded France on a large database and had trouble finding some the players based outside Europe.

So what about loading a save with a few more leagues loaded and a custom database, adding players from the top divisions of S. America, Asia, Africa and Oceania?

By doing this you will be able to "unlock" even more cheap young players you can buy and develop or older ones to help you win stuff pronto.

My suggestion (depending on what your pc can take):

1. Load 2/3 divisions of the country you plan to manage in.
2. Load 2/3 other top divisions relevant to the team you ll be managing - eg: In a save with Lanus in Argentina, also loading Spain would not be relevant.
3. Use the custom database option to load 'players from top division' of North America, Africa, Asia and Oceania. Also tick 'add players from continental cup teams' or whatever the equivalent option is.

It's really easy, takes a few clicks and vastly increases the amount of prospects you can find in your game at various levels, without putting too much of a strain on your processing speed

 

[Lippo255]

Do this for just about every game i start. Great way to uncover hidden gems & cheaper options you dont hear much about!

 

[AndySams10]

People from Africa and South American countries such as Colombia/Peru/Uruguay are players you should be looking at: Laste Dombaxe is another suggestion. As is Tabani Mthembu (tho he's not cheap at 2m incl instalments - so can only be an option in the 2nd season)

Thanks mate, will check them out too. Really enjoying the save, very competitive league and some quality young Bulgarian talent around too. Laste Dombaxe is someone I know about, used to watch him when he was at Spurs as a youngster in the youth teams.

 

[MANUMAD]

Thanks mate, will check them out too. Really enjoying the save, very competitive league and some quality young Bulgarian talent around too. Laste Dombaxe is someone I know about, used to watch him when he was at Spurs as a youngster in the youth teams.

Didnt know he s been at Spurs.

Another cheap youngster who unfortunately has gone up a bit in the jan update is johnny uchuari

 

[AndySams10]

Didnt know he s been at Spurs.

Another cheap youngster who unfortunately has gone up a bit in the jan update is johnny uchuari

Yeah was at Spurs as a youngster, 3 years I think through the youth set up. Ok, will check him out too. Haven't played as much as I would've liked. Been busy, as I'm manager of a semi pro team and have had games and training. ??????

 

[MANUMAD]

What to lookl for in a player?

Attributes are mentioned in order of importance.


Goalkeepers

1. The most important attribute for a keeper is REFLEXES.

2. Perhaps surprisingly, COMMUNICATION is also very important. If it’s low then you should stay
away from that player. It is strongly linked with Adaptability – one of the hidden player attributes. If the player that you want to sign doesn’t speak the language of your club’s country and your scout tells you he finds it hard to adapt to life in another country then dont purchase.

3.AERIAL ABILITY, AGILITY, ANTICIPATION, COMPOSURE, CONCENTRATION, DECISIONS, JUMPING REACH and POSITIONING.


Central Defenders

1.HEADING, MARKING and TACKLING aren’t as important as most people think. Remember that marking relates to the skill a player has to follow somebody.

2. ANTICIPATION, POSITIONING and WORK RATE are by far the most important attributes imho.

3. ACCELERATION is also v important. As indicated elsewhere in this thread I also like pace relative to position (at least 12 but better 13-16).

4.JUMPING REACH, COMPOSURE, BRAVERY and DETERMINATION.


Full Backs/Wing backs

Note: I have noticed that, tactically, full backs/wing backs are perhaps the most important players in a successful tactic plus (or maybe, consequently) they are among the first players to tire.

1. ACCELERATION, PACE, STAMINA, WORK RATE and TEAMWORK.

2. ANTICIPATION, CONCENTRATION.

3. CROSSINGand TACKLING.

4.MARKING.


Defensive Midfielders

1. ANTICIPATION, COMPOSURE, CONCENTRATION, DECISIONS, DETERMINATION, STAMINA and WORK RATE.

2. PASSING and TACKLING.

3. Decent FLAIR, ACCELERATION and PACE (relative to position).

 

[MANUMAD]

What to look for in a player?

Attacking Midfielders

1. TECHNIQUE is by far the most important attribute. It is essentially a multiplier of every
other technical attribute. PASSING is the other imperative.

2. DECISIONS, FLAIR, TEAMWORK and VISION.

3. DRIBBLING, FIRST TOUCH,OFF THE BALL, AGILITY, BALANCE, and ANTICIPATION.

Note: A more attacking "AM" role such as a Shadow Striker needs: FINISHING and COMPOSURE. Also, for a Target Man or similar position, replace ACCELERATION with HEADING and JUMPING REACH .


Wingers

1. DRIBBLING, FIRST TOUCH, TECHNIQUE, OFF THE BALL, ACCELERATION,PACE and AGILITY.

2. COMPOSURE, FLAIR, VISION, PASSING and CROSSING.


Forwards

1.FINISHING, FIRST TOUCH, COMPOSURE,OFF THE BALL and ACCELERATION.

2. AGILITY, ANTICIPATION and CONCENTRATION.

Note: TECHNIQUE works like a multiplier of all the above


General considerations

DETERMINATION is very important for every player. Players which are highly determined won’t get nervous easily. during matches. Always try building a squad of driven characters, especially if you want to avoid sudden drops in morale and/or form slumps and/or "2nd season syndrome" (see separate previous post on how to avoid 2nd season syndrome).

WORK RATE is how much a player will get involved and run for the team.

NATURAL FITNESS relates to how fast a player gets fit and stays that way. In essence is a multiplier of STAMINA.

 

[MANUMAD]

DATABASE SIZE PT 2 - PLAYERS

Previously I commented on database size etc.

With the "correct" settings you can find "new" good players such as:

Ibrahim Ghaleb - 23yo DM with good stats

El-Enazi - 23 yo GK with good stats

Ahmed Al-Kassar - 22yo GK (good as back up for mid-table teams/leagues)

Yahia Al-Shehri - 22yo AMR/C with good stats and will improve

Al-Sahlawi-Young striker with good stats but only 10 finishing. Can either retrain as an AM or target train finishing for a season.

Plus some more players Im not sure the reason I find is cos of the database:

GK:

Silviu Lung Jr 1.5m asking price
Augustin Marchesin 5.5m asking price

CB:

Martin Hinteregger 3.5m asking price
Semih Kaya 5.5m asking price

RB:

Anele 1.8m asking price
Glombard 1.8 asking price
Marcos Rocha 8m asking price

LB:

Juninho - v cheap
Brayan Angulo 2.2m asking price
Carles Planas - 6m asking price


DM:

Moises (Rijeka) 550k asking price
Samba Sow 4 m asking price
Lorenzo Reyes 5.75m

AM:

Franco Vasquez 1.9m
Nicolaj Thomsen 2.8m
Diego Valeri 3.5m


RW:

Italo Melo - Free. This guy is young and great. However while I found him in my Anderlecht save I cannot find him in my recently started Lyon save. I dont remember if Anderlecht is with the previous patch ...

LW

Ezequiel (Criado) - Young, free and great

CF

Andre Senghor - free
Abderrazak Hamedallah - 7m - Very Recommended

 

[Lippo255]

Here are a couple of guys from the UAE I can recommend. Obviously being in the middle east wages may be a concern for some teams but well worth a look.

Jires Kembo-Ekoko, Al-Ain 26 - Winger

View attachment 286514

Dynamic French winger or Inside forward (depending on which side you play him) with attributes in all the right places.


Manuel Lanzini, Al-Jazira 21 - Attacking mid

View attachment 286513

Very promising Argentinian playmaker. Well worth a look if you find yourself lacking that "X factor."


Would also like to give an honourable mention to Omar Abdulrahman. Was very impressive at the recent Asian cup, undoubtedly the best player in Asia ATM. Vastly under rated in the default database but if you are using a LFC update well worth a look.

Here is a link to him in action for the UAE for those of you who have not seen him play.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUKy4vQ2e1o

Picture quality is not the best but that's Asian football coverage for you. Thanks to Weiry1 for the link.

 

[Kreeshak]

Hello,

*Any rough or specific guidelines when offering a contract to a potential signing? I usually start with the minimum of the two wage demands value at the scout report, and slightly rising. Do you have any methodology or algorithm you follow to keep your finances balanced?

*What is your team structure year in and out? Like for example if I want to play 4-4-2 what squad size should I have considering I will have lot's of injuries because I train them on very high intensity. 20 players? 25?

*Suppose you start on a lower league with abysmal finances, how do you sell players because they don't sell. Would you suggest mutual termination of unwanted players.

*Is the key of LLM loaning players?

*I read you had some information about substitutions when you were winning. What substitutes do you make when you are losing?

*Who would you choose to start for one spot. The inexperienced although better youngster you are developing, or the experienced worse established player? The reason I am asking is because I noticed established players are more consistent and play 7 or 8, than a better youngster who can play 5-10.

*just how important are non playing staff? What stats should my assistant manager have if he handles team talks?

that's all i can think for now

 

[MANUMAD]

Hello,

*Any rough or specific guidelines when offering a contract to a potential signing? I usually start with the minimum of the two wage demands value at the scout report, and slightly rising. Do you have any methodology or algorithm you follow to keep your finances balanced?

Not an algorithm, no. I make a note of positions I want players for and then shortlist players for every position. I have an idea what a player will offer me (from past knowledge, scout reps etc) so I know how much I want him. Depending on that I have an idea of wage "limit" for him in my head. BUT (as I say in the FINANCIAL HEALTH POSTS in this thread) I try to reduce wages and signing on bonuses etc by offering stuff that is not very likely eg high bonuses for scoring 30 goals to cbs etc. This works.

*What is your team structure year in and out? Like for example if I want to play 4-4-2 what squad size should I have considering I will have lot's of injuries because I train them on very high intensity. 20 players? 25?

It depends the strength of the club Im in and the amount of competions Ill be taking part in. Again the specifics are mentioned in detail in previous posts but roughly:

GKs 2
CBs 5 (at least)
WBs: 5 (or 4)
DMs: 4
AMCs/RS/CFs etc - depends on tactic but the principle is: amount of players needed for a tactic x 2 plus 1

*Suppose you start on a lower league with abysmal finances, how do you sell players because they don't sell. Would you suggest mutual termination of unwanted players.

They do sell - provided you have loaded leagues in other countries of corresponding level to yours. And you follow RAIKAN's method (linked in this thread). But yes if they dont Id mutually terminate (but look also at finances). Again look at the FINANCES posts in this thread.

*Is the key of LLM loaning players?

It certainly helps a lot

*I read you had some information about substitutions when you were winning. What substitutes do you make when you are losing?

I dont have a general principle. However when Im losing I change tactics in match - not players, generally speaking

*Who would you choose to start for one spot. The inexperienced although better youngster you are developing, or the experienced worse established player? The reason I am asking is because I noticed established players are more consistent and play 7 or 8, than a better youngster who can play 5-10.

Depends who I am who the opposition is, what type of players make up the rest of the XI that Ill choose for the match and what I want from the match. It also depends the position he is in and his character (determination etc). So no clear answer. Generally speaking I play maximum 5 seasons per club and I play to win from the off so I prefer older fully formed players esp in my first 1/2 seasons.

*just how important are non playing staff? What stats should my assistant manager have if he handles team talks?

1. He shouldnt be handling team talks! - but if you insist: at least 16 motivation (plus at least 15 determination and 15 discipline)
2. Very important - their character (esp of DOY) influences regens you get. The good ones (4* and above) will make your players better quicker etc.
3. Look at passion4fm blog for lists of top staff and CLEON (SI SPORTS CENTRE is the blog/website) has LOADs to say about how to train people.

 

[MANUMAD]

Random Bits and pieces

1. Use in match team talks - they are very effective. Even passionately encouraging every 15 minutes seems to make a difference.
2. Morale makes more of a difference in FM 15 than previous versions. So do team talks yourself, praise your players etc and you'll be surprised.
3. Manually search the best teams in the world, starting with the best national teams. Look in the U21 squads. You can find a LOT of class players this way esp regens later on in saves.
4. If you dont want to lose your players DONT react to transfer speculation.
5. When scouting for players, filter for one technical attribute abs see if you can find a player with better mentals. It could make a big difference to the quality of the player you get as mental attributes influence greatly how well a technical attribute is executed.
6. To evade man marking have players change their position. This may also drag defenders out of position leaving gaps to be exploited.
7. It is better for an am/cm to arrive late in opposition area.
8. Try mixing up the passing in your team. Having a team build up play at the back with short and slow passing theb up front make it quick and direct.
9. Do NOT let assman take over team talks and/or press conferences. I know they are tedious but they DO make a difference morale wise (MUCH more than you think and MUCH more than previous versions). As far as talking to the press is concerned its safer to mix it up by choosing ether the 2nd or the 4th option with the 1st sometimes thrown in if merited by the facts.
10. Dont be afraid to lose. If you re losing or about to play a tough matcg - just go for it. Attack them and or be aggressive with tackling etc. Its just one match and if you take the shackles off your team may surprise you.
11. Pay attention to the weather (prediction). Not only for passing but also for gks. GKs will be at risk from wet surface so why not try some quick, long, frequent shots on goal to try to catch opp. gk out?
12. Think about the mentality of the referee. If he's strict you may consider instructing your players to take it easy with tackling.
13. Tall players with bad jumping attributes will compensate due to hight.
14. Understand the following (the theory can be applied to other positions). A lot of people may consider a striker to be weak if he has 14/13 finishing. Thats not necessarily the case. Technical attributes are factored against mental attributes such as composure so if a player with 13/14 finishing has 19/20 composure then he's suddenly not that bad an option.
15. Your youth team(s) should ideally be playing the same tactics as the first team. This establishes a culture in the club and helps young developing players know the formation so that they ll settle in easily when you want them to play a first team match.
16. Every season make a couple of tweaks to your tactical set up, especially if there is an upwards jump in your reputation as a club.

 

[Lippo255]

I use in match talks quite often & have a general set of guidelines I use. There are 2 that I use in almost every game.

Passionately "Encourage" when we are in control of the game but struggling to make a break through.

Assertively "Concentrate" when the opposition is having a spell of dominance & I need my team to just hang in there.

I also aggressively "Demand More" in those rare occasions where my side is just not in the contest, but that is a rare one

I have found that my results have improved markedly since employing these general guides. Would like to hear how others use them though.

 

[MANUMAD]

I use in match talks quite often & have a general set of guidelines I use. There are 2 that I use in almost every game.

Passionately "Encourage" when we are in control of the game but struggling to make a break through.

Assertively "Concentrate" when the opposition is having a spell of dominance & I need my team to just hang in there.

I also aggressively "Demand More" in those rare occasions where my side is just not in the contest, but that is a rare one

I have found that my results have improved markedly since employing these general guides. Would like to hear how others use them though.

I encourage every 15 minutes as a general principle (passionately or assertively). But if by the 30th minute I havent scored Ill demand more (assertively/aggressively depending who opponent is). Even if Im ahead by 1 goal but Im not playing that well Ill (assertively) demand more. If I fall behind - and depending on body language and performance Ill ask passionately/aggressively to show passion or demand more. If I need a goal ill ask to push forward. If I want to protect a lead, the choice is tighten up and/or concentrate.

As I note in the relevant post above these DO make a BIG difference (as does good morale) in FM15. So ALL morale tweaks should be used consistently (good performers praised/bad ones warned/cfs not scoring encouraged and/or warned, team meetings etc).

 

[ArchieGemmo]

Don't know if this has been previously mentioned on here but i have a Portsmouth save which i am now in 2023. This is my 5th season in the prem and my 1st in the CL (i am a club legend). My average attendance has been roughly 24800 for the last 4 years with Fratton Parks holding around 25400. Due to being restricted financially for a number of years i have not asked for any upgrades to stadium/facilities but after making 105million profit on player + tv money and finishing position I have recently asked the board to expand the stadium which they have accepted so the stadium will now hold nearly 30000.

My question is what is the criteria for a new stadium? Do you have to keep expanding the existing stadium until you max it out? Is there a rough amount of years you have to have high average attendances before the board will accept a request?

 

[MANUMAD]

Don't know if this has been previously mentioned on here but i have a Portsmouth save which i am now in 2023. This is my 5th season in the prem and my 1st in the CL (i am a club legend). My average attendance has been roughly 24800 for the last 4 years with Fratton Parks holding around 25400. Due to being restricted financially for a number of years i have not asked for any upgrades to stadium/facilities but after making 105million profit on player + tv money and finishing position I have recently asked the board to expand the stadium which they have accepted so the stadium will now hold nearly 30000.

My question is what is the criteria for a new stadium? Do you have to keep expanding the existing stadium until you max it out? Is there a rough amount of years you have to have high average attendances before the board will accept a request?

Been asked before. Not sure. I think when your fan base increases and cant all fit into stadium for some time then new stadium can be built ...

 

[MANUMAD]

If My Auntie Had Balls

' I think it's nonsense to suggest Sterling will have to go elsewhere to win trophies and fulfil all these dreams he's apparently got. In the space of two seasons, with a very, very young team that will only get better, they should have won the league, should have beaten Chelsea in a semi to get to Wembley... and should play in an FA Cup Final there in May' - Robbie Fowler, Daily Mirror.

Yeah Raheem, you ****** fool. You don't need to leave to win trophies. Look at all those trophies you didn't win.

 

[MANUMAD]

I have just cleaned this up and slightly updated stuff in it ...

 

[MANUMAD]

The Sun newspaper, that bastion of British journalism. LOL

Wayne Rooney is the captain of Manchester United. As part of his duties as captain of Manchester United, Wayne Rooney gives pre-match team talks. He will definitely give a pre-match team talk ahead of Sunday's derby against Manchester City.

The Sun's Neil Custis claims this as an exclusive. An actual exclusive.

'LOUIS VAN GAAL will call on Wayne Rooney to give a Churchillian speech to help end their derby day jinx,' writes Custis. Exclusively.

If you're wondering why a Dutchman would ask for a speech reminiscent of a former British prime minister, then you are not familiar with the work of The Sun. There are no quotes at all from Van Gaal, never mind any citing Winston Churchill. Sorry, did we say Winston Churchill? We meant 'WAYNESTONE CHURCHILL'.

Yes they did.

And yes, they did a mocked-up photograph.

And all because the captain will give a captain's team talk. Probably. Exclusively.