How do you play FM??

[banger93]

Hello Guys,

Just a quick discussion really, I am keen to find out how everyone plays FM?

Below is some points on some suggestions that I am keen to find out:

- Do you watch games in 3d or 2d? Is 2d better to view how your tactic is working and when to change things etc.? I've seen alot of people seem to choose this way to watch there games these days?

- How do you do your scouting on this years version? do you go through teams and look at players stats or just go by what your scouts bring you? personally i'm struggling with scouting this year and don't know the best way to find the best players..

- Stars or stats/attributes? do you trust your scouts or do you sign someone just by there stats even if they have a 2 star ability and potential rating? I go by stars but don't know if i'm wrong doing this?

- I usually download a tactic and play with it but i don't like this way so try creating my own tactics to use from now on. Whats the best thing to do and look for when doing this?

If anyone can let me know there experiences and what works for them it will be appreciated and will also be good to see how other people play the game..

Cheers

 

[KentClark]

Hello Guys,

Just a quick discussion really, I am keen to find out how everyone plays FM?

Below is some points on some suggestions that I am keen to find out:

- Do you watch games in 3d or 2d? Is 2d better to view how your tactic is working and when to change things etc.? I've seen alot of people seem to choose this way to watch there games these days?

- How do you do your scouting on this years version? do you go through teams and look at players stats or just go by what your scouts bring you? personally i'm struggling with scouting this year and don't know the best way to find the best players..

- Stars or stats/attributes? do you trust your scouts or do you sign someone just by there stats even if they have a 2 star ability and potential rating? I go by stars but don't know if i'm wrong doing this?

- I usually download a tactic and play with it but i don't like this way so try creating my own tactics to use from now on. Whats the best thing to do and look for when doing this?

If anyone can let me know there experiences and what works for them it will be appreciated and will also be good to see how other people play the game..

Cheers

You have to find out what suits you really. What works for one person may not for another I myself watch the game in 3D now but in previous versions I always ignored any graphics & stuck with commentary only as that's how it was when i first started playing.

As for scouting I'm the wrong person to give advice for that as basically if players i scout can kick a ball then i'm happy!

Tactics...again what works for one person may not for the other. I try & build my own tactics around the squad I've got but I always play at low league level so my tactical know how is just...kick it far & run!

 

[woolly]

I only watch the highlights in 3D watching dots in 2D confuses me. Scouting it depends on who I am in a game and what I'm after, lower league teams it's a case of them being able to kick a ball in a straight line first and foremost skills only come into it for higher levels of the league. Tactics wise it's usually a case of download then fit to what I have plug and play tactics don't work so well in this version. Mainly however, if I'm still in a job at the end of a season then I am doing well.

 

[Matt G]

3D, start unemployed, prefer to stick to 4-4-2 though am more flexible on mentality.

 

[darren151991]

You don't play it, concede the shittest goals possible while your strikers miss chances my nan would score

 

[KevQ339]

Hello Guys,

Just a quick discussion really, I am keen to find out how everyone plays FM?

Below is some points on some suggestions that I am keen to find out:

- Do you watch games in 3d or 2d? Is 2d better to view how your tactic is working and when to change things etc.? I've seen alot of people seem to choose this way to watch there games these days?

- How do you do your scouting on this years version? do you go through teams and look at players stats or just go by what your scouts bring you? personally i'm struggling with scouting this year and don't know the best way to find the best players..

- Stars or stats/attributes? do you trust your scouts or do you sign someone just by there stats even if they have a 2 star ability and potential rating? I go by stars but don't know if i'm wrong doing this?

- I usually download a tactic and play with it but i don't like this way so try creating my own tactics to use from now on. Whats the best thing to do and look for when doing this?

If anyone can let me know there experiences and what works for them it will be appreciated and will also be good to see how other people play the game..

Cheers

As for watching the game its really personal preference makes no differnce to the way that the team plays.

As for determining if the tactics your creating are working a good indicator is the results and the match stats if your winning your tactic is working. if you want to go into more detail open the analysis tab and look at things like the heat map, will tell you where your team is strong and weak, should be able to work out from there,

The scouts can be trusted to get you decent quality player as per your club reputation but be sure to use filters to get the player types your looking for, if your playing a high press high tempo get it up you football it would be no use signing ballotelli even though hes quality with a work rate of 4 means that he puts the effort in to get up in the morning (sometimes) so he would be of no use.

the star rating is based entirely on your club reputation and in direct comparison to the players you already have for example a promising youth player at morton in the scottish championship would get 4 - 4 1/2 stars but if he signs for celtic in the SPL it would be 2 1/2 - 3 stars. so best have the plan on what you would like to do to before buying anyone.

Creating tactics is not that hard but you have to assess the squad and base the formation on the players you have usually and for most teams 4-4-2, 4-1-2-3 wide or 4-2-3-1 wide are good base formations, you can tweak player positions to suit what you have.

pay attention to the pitch coverage if the squares are bright green that area is well covered if they are bright red you need to adjust formation or player position and role to cover.

start with no instructions and add and remove once you know how your team plays, if your back line has an average pace of 8 there no point in playing offside trap but its all trial and error.

here is a link to my thread http://www.fm-base.co.uk/forum/football-manager-2018-manager-stories/372136-aberdeen-fc.html i have put three tactic on display there with brief description so you see what i mean.

 

[ChivuStoica]

I watch in 3D, but the most important thing is to watch the game on at least extended and preferably comprehensive highlights, so that you're seeing more of the action; it's better for assessing your players' performance and your tactic's performance.

I tend to trust my scouts when it comes to prospects from abroad, but I do a good bit of poking around my own country's leagues myself, both to get an idea of what other teams have at their disposal and to see if there's anyone I'd like to try to sign. I'm really a "play your kids" kind of person, though, so I tend to focus more on youth development than the transfer market.

I trust my eyes more than anything when it comes to evaluating a player. Obviously at the high end of the scale (4+ stars) it doesn't require a whole lot of thought, but if it's a player in your league that you're playing against and he's a thorn in your side despite only being like a 2.5 or 3 star player, I'm fine taking a chance on that. With the players I've scouted, I try to focus on the attributes that matter most for my system.

One of the best things you can do if you want to make your own tactics is to learn about real-life tactics; reading sites like Zonal Marking and Spielverlagerung is a great place to start, as are e.g. Jonathan Wilson's tactics columns. Don't just set up in a particular shape because it looks nice on the screen, learn why teams play that shape and what styles of play it suits best. Don't just add TIs at random, learn what they do and how they fit together to create a cohesive style. In my opinion, less is always more when it comes to tactical and player instructions. It's best to let your mentality and player roles do as much of the work as possible, since a lot of the things that tactical and player instructions do are already built in to the mentalities/roles. The main thing I use TIs for is to make sure my team is pressing aggressively enough for my tastes; I mainly use PIs to make sure my fullbacks are getting forward aggressively enough or that my forwards are moving properly and that their positional play is good (although I generally prefer to do those things by teaching them player traits, if possible). My advice is to watch your matches and see which shouts you're using frequently and then add those as permanent tactical instructions.

Anyway, this is just my way of doing things. I'm weird and ****-retentive about a lot of stuff and have a pretty particular way I like for things to work, so it's definitely not one-size-fits-all.

 

[Verdanted]

I watch in 2D, since I'm more used to it and 3D takes away from the immersion for me. However, I like to watch goals replays or other important moments in 3D so I can see exactly what the match engine is doing.
But 3D and Comprehensive is the best tactic-wise.

I'm not good at all at scouting. However, I like to scout all players in my division and one below and above if applicable. It also serves as tactical knowledge against your opponents in the league/cup.

I look at both stars and attributes, but prefer the star and role suitability rating. If star is higher for one, but it's role suitability is lower I look at attributes. If the star rating is the same I also look at attributes. Also, I seem to have noticed older players tend to have a lower star rating since their physicals are often bad. So if your tactic doesn't need physicals in certain players you can add 1 to 1.5 stars to a old player's rating.

Downloading tactics has never worked for me. I always set up a favored formation for my manager profile, roll with that if possible (like if a team has all the positions or enough budget to buy them) and see if it works. If it doesn't, I change a lot until I magically find something. Right now I'm using a 3-1-2-2-2 Counter, since I needed something against a 4-4-2. 4-4-2 got absolutely destroyed by it so I stuck with it.
But now my team is in a division higher, so if it doesn't work I'll start tweaking again. I like to give a tactic a few games - a bit of patience. Selecting the players with highest performance rating is a good starting tip if you're struggling mid-way through a season.

Rant over. Cheers.

 

[Klippybo]

I watch key highlights only in 3D and I stick with a 4-2-3-1 wide tactic with some minor tweaks.

As for players I use my scouts to come up with players that I may not find myself but I always trust my eye as the final judge on a player.

What I probably do different (surely there is someone else like me lol) is write down the matches and scorers and I even have a chart that I fill in after every game much like a first team fixtures squad that you get in a match day programme. I find that helps immensely as I see at a glance various things like someone not getting enough minutes, of a player scores against the same opposition and if there is rotation going on around the cup matches you don’t get sidelined as you may have rested a player who was going great guns etc

I have folders of **** like that from as far back as fm12. Pretty sad really lol but it works for me!??????