Im not quite sure about this but I know that the game does cannot distinguish between AI and human team so by analogy it seems reasonable: AI teams scout you the same way you scout them. And set up accordingly. So dont always line up/set up the same way. Make full use of the 3 tactics or make a couple of tweaks every now and then to disorientate them...
 
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 stayaway 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.PASSINGand TACKLING.
3. Decent
FLAIR, ACCELERATION and PACE (relative to position).

Attacking Midfielders

1. TECHNIQUE is by far the most important attribute. It is essentially a multiplier of everyother 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.




Has anyone been using these attributes to sort out their squads? do they work ? ,, do you buy players based solely on these attributes or by Scout reports ?
 
Has anyone been using these attributes to sort out their squads? do they work ?

As a starting point, yes. It's not a one size fits all sort of a thing but it's a good place to start from. Use it as a base and then include or subtract other attributes based on the needs of your tactical vision.

do you buy players based solely on these attributes or by Scout reports ?

Attributes. Scout reports are useful for general sorting of the wheat from the chaff and for discerning player personality. Let's say you play on the counter, sit deep break with pace and use technical dribblers to drive at the opponents defence. The scout gives you a report where one fullback is 5 stars and the other is 3 stars. The 5 star FB has great FB (15+) arttributes but is rubbish at Anticipation and Concentration whilst the 3 star FB has 13+ for his but his Anticipation and Concentration is far better. All else equal, it may be better to take the mentally stronger one as your setup dictates that you will have to withstand a fair amount of pressure during games. The scout report will never really tell you how they would fit into your system and the alternative ways the player will allow you modify your tactical setup.
 
More players

ba5c34cce3bcf3551f394f3cc12947c2.png
yqQOWVJ.png
bc4bb3f42f8576caf2c1e6d19cf16879.png
7ccf93ee0c61853e502b073a40a9d64a.png
5ed3b6d244e6a6f1312fad65c65377ca.png
1C2272DBACC0C01E0CA2EE6400072561D0158CE8
bc48d346eb70b73b0b3cf1a4f89fe002.png
0e1d1111c9633627aea7960a1b96cd63.png
Z3aiE2O.png
02CAC36209E7F32FE205851A27E5DBAD7E38D5F9
5a22e55a7eb1af99aea7ebda1db6c35d.png
 
Im not quite sure about this but I know that the game does cannot distinguish between AI and human team so by analogy it seems reasonable: AI teams scout you the same way you scout them. And set up accordingly. So dont always line up/set up the same way. Make full use of the 3 tactics or make a couple of tweaks every now and then to disorientate them...

I had 3 formations that were very varied last year. Basically rotated them every game. Went on massive win streaks and in my news feed kept getting

"Tinkerer Williams keeps opponents guessing" and stuff lol
 
Matchday! - reactive management

A. BEFORE THE MATCH

1. Review the scout report about opponents.

You actually should have started planning about the match as soon as you receive the scout report (as I say elsewhere, I usually assign two scouts for next opponent to be sure). Look at how the opponents usually play, their strength and weaknesses and think of and apply the best tactics or tactical tweaks to deal with them.


2. Your team

Look at fitness and morale of players and choose the match squad with that in mind. Also think of how the match is likely to pan out and choose the subs accordingly. If you have anybody returning from injury decide how you are likely to re-introduce him (eg as a starter or as a sub and how long you ideally want him to play.

  • Look at the results in the last 5 matches: how has your team been performing?
  • Note the top recent performers and the worse performers.
  • Do you have a striker on a goal draught? If so, talk to him and depending on what you tell him either use him or dont use him.
  • Look at the opinion of individual players’ performance.
  • Note that your XI can "carry" a couple of players who are red (ie playing in the "wrong" position, provided their stats are good - eg a ball playing cb can play at rb support)
The above are factors to consider when selecting starting XI and squad.

Think about squad rotation. I explain my take on this in previous posts. But another good indicator as to how much a player expects to play is to look at his squad status.

Try to play fit players where possible (ie starters 90+ unless schedule is v congested whereby you need to take risks but still with proper rotation).


Extrinsic factors

Are you playing home or away?

How's the weather like? eg if wet weather, and your usuall approach is tiki taka then amend your tactics to deal with this?

Pitch size and condition? eg Narrow pitches dont facilitate wing play. For pitch condition deal with it as per my comments above for wet weather.

Who is the ref? How harsh is he? Maybe ease off tackles?



3. The opponents

Try to predict the starting XI. Look at their morale. Look at how they performed in their last 5 matches. eg: young/inexperienced/low bravery players should be tackled hard and, depending on their position and your tactics, closed down always.

B. DURING THE MATCH

1. Teamtalk

Depending on weather you re favourites or not, depending on last 5 matches, depending on how important the match is.

Bear in mind personality and squad position of each player. Players back from injury and new signings (or players just back from loans should be encouraged for 2/3 matches.


2. Match analysis

What are your tactics trying to achieve?: Pressing tactics / "Keep shape" tactics / keeping a lead or score(safety first):
  • Stand off: Are the defenders giving too much time on the ball to attackers in the box or in front of it? Do they delay to much to engage opponents?
  • Pressure: Are missed tackles or chases opening too much space behind your defence? Remember, as previously noted, that the easiest way that the AI "thinks" it can beat you by is by exploiting space behind you! Do your players apply prompt pressure on opposition players especially when opposition players receive the box? Where is this pressure applied? Is it applied in the third of the pitch that the tactics envisage? Are your players committing many fouls? What position do you have yellow carded players in?
  • Safety first: Are your players still taking risks? How nervous are they? (if too nervous either sub them if you can or try to deal with this by shouts) Are they dithering on the ball? What happens when a player misses a tackle or is cought out of position? Is there enough cover for this?
 
Last edited:
Matchday! : Reactive Management Part 2

Opponent attacking play

Is your opponent employing direct tactics or possession tactics?
  • Direct by dribbling? Who’s trying dribbling? Are they succeeding?
  • Direct by through balls or forward passing? Long or short passing? Who’s passing the most?
  • Possession Where are the opponents circulating the ball the most? Which players are holding up the ball most? Are they trying to stretch you vertically (direct) or horizontal (possession)? Do the opponents pass backwards (a lot)?
  • Do opponents try a lot of diagonal passes? Are they successful? Are there players with space available between your defenders and your midfielders? Is one player or more pinning your defence back? Are you getting overrun especially in midfield or defence?
  • Look at the position of the opponent's wide players (I include FBs/WBs here). Are they sitting wider than your players who are directly facing them? What do their wide players usually do when they receive the ball? Do they cut inside or remain wide and cross? Do you see many overlaps?
Tweak to deal with any of the above: eg unmarked player frequently behind your mfield and in front of the defence? Maybe drop a cm back to the dm position and tell him to man mark.


Your attacking play

Are your employing direct tactics or possession tactics?

  • Do your tactics envisage I plan more vertical or horizontal passes? Whats the success rate of this?
  • Possession through circulation? In which third are your players actually circulating the ball the most?
  • Do your tactics envisage short or long passes? How is this panning out? eg if your tactics are for short passing play but your players time and again make longer passes it means that they dont have "free" passing options near them so they are forced to find opponents who are further away from them. Actually one of the easiest ways to see if your tactics are working is to look at how many options your players have every time they get the ball in your third and in the midfield. If its at least two then you are ok.
  • What tempo do your tactics envisage? Do the players keep to it?
  • What kind of penetration do your tactics envisage? Wing play or through the middle? Do your players follow this? Where do you penetrate most?
  • Do you have a DLP/AP/RP? Does he actually make play and try to pass a lot? Effectively? Are other players of yours routinely passing more? Is your playmaker getting effectively closed down?
  • Do your players keep passing backwards? If so its because your tactics are not working and there are no passing options ahead. re we recycling possession (pass backwards) a lot? Is that supposed to happen?
Do you have players that get routinely isolated especially in defence and in attack? eg: single cf tactics are likely to see this in attack. Either tweak the cf to come deep to get the ball or instruct another player (an attacking cm or am or an If) to get closer to him. Do your players congest an area of the pitch that they shouldnt be? Do they get in each other's way?

If your tactics employ wing play are your wide players effective in this? Do you see enough overlap? Is that the tactical target? By analogy through the middle. If your tactic is a play through the middle one but the middle is congested then maybe pull a cm on the wing and or make the fbs more attacking (wbs?)


Opponent defence

Are your forwards given time and space with the ball in the opponents third? Are the opponents trying to park the bus? Are opposition defenders pressuring your players promptly on receiving the ball? How extreme is opponent pressure? Is it leaving a lot of space behind them for you to exploit? Are opposition players committing a lot of fouls? How big is the gap between their defence and midfield? (eg an opponent playing a not deep 4231 is likely to have a big gap between the 2 cms and the defence for you to exploit)


4. HALF TIME TEAM TALK

Depends on performance(s of both teams), the score, whether you are the stronger team and on individual performances and morale:

Assertive: should be used for most things. For example if you are winning by a goal against an inferior opponent while not playing well then use this to tell your players you expect better performances in 2nd half
Aggressive: do not give aggressive player talks. Only team talks and only if you are losing a match you shouldnt be or drawing a match you shouldnt be.
Cautious: I dont like this. You can use it to encourage your players while at the same time decrease pressure on them.
Passionate: doing well/winning agains better opponent - eg passionate and "keep it up lads"

Any players with less than 6.6 rating at half time should assertively be told they are not playing well


5. POST MATCH

Team talk

See above.


Evaluate team/player performance, conduct etc

Use pen and paper to note this. Note also any tweaks you made and which worked to use again.

If anybody played particularly well (ie rating 8+) then praise him in team talk and then in a one on one. Same if somebody has been playing particularly well for the past few matches. Vice versa for playing badly.
 
Players

Ramadan Sobhy - Young cheap winger who is great from the off, goes pretty much everywhere (as long as you move quickly for him) and quickly increases in value and stats.

Hussein El Sayed - Cheap left back who is great and gets better.

Sayuba Mande - Cheapo African GK with excellent stats (I last bought him for 350k up front and 350k instalments for Dresden) who is good even for EPL teams.

Plamen Iliev -GK

Georgi Milanov - AMC, MC, AMLR

Rijad Bajic - STC, AMR

Roberto Puncec - DC

Stefanos Kapino - GK

Giannis Gianniotas -AMR

Florin Tanase - CF

David Pavelka - CM

C. Manea - CB

Ion Nedelceanu - DM


Jorgen-Skjelvik-fm16-raumdeuter.jpg
 
Player Mentalities

Good

Model Citizen, Perfectionist, Resolute, Model Professional, Professional, Fairly Professional, Spirited, Very Ambitious, Fairly Ambitious, Ambitious, Driven, Determined, Fairly Determined, Charismatic Leader, Born Leader, Leader, Iron Willed and Resilient.

Bad

Slack, Casual, Temperamental, Unambitious, Easily Discouraged, Low Determination, Spineless and Low Self-Belief.

Neutral

Jovial, Light Hearted, Devoted, Very Loyal, Loyal, Fairly Loyal, Honest, Sporting, Unsporting, Realist and Balanced.
 
Light hearted is one I like very much, especially when the Media handling style is evasive. LH means he deals well with pressure and evasive suggests 15-20 Professionality!

Driven only suggests he has 20 Determination and decent Ambition, I would love it if you could tell which ones are really killer like Model Citizen, vs a lesser personality like fairly determined.
 
Another player i found: if you re after a fast skilled winger and dont mind paying lots (abt 12 incl instalments id guess) then Y. MSAKNI is your man.

Sent from my SM-N910F using Tapatalk
 
Another tasty Romanian I'd recommend for y'all (at least for Championship/maybe lower Prem-level teams) would be Dorin Rotariu (RW - Dinamo Bucuresti). 19-year-old, nephew of a former Romanian international. You might also want to have a look at Ianis Hagi (yes, it's Gheorghe's son - currently at his dad's club Viitorul, loaned back from Fiorentina).
 
Another tasty Romanian I'd recommend for y'all (at least for Championship/maybe lower Prem-level teams) would be Dorin Rotariu (RW - Dinamo Bucuresti). 19-year-old, nephew of a former Romanian international. You might also want to have a look at Ianis Hagi (yes, it's Gheorghe's son - currently at his dad's club Viitorul, loaned back from Fiorentina).

Both of them are very good and both of them are well known - esp Rotariu - but thanks anyway!
 
Alright, I just didn't know how much exposure the younger Romanian guys had gotten in Western Europe, since obviously there's no place for them in the national team set up right now, given that Iordanescu felt the need to lug Lucian Sânmartean's corpse to Euros and so forth.

I guess y'all probably already know about guys like Andrei Ivan (U Craiova) as well. Maybe a more off-the-beaten-path player who has some potential is Tiberiu Serediuc (Chiajna). He's 22, but he's got a good bit of upside still. I was able to nick him away from them on FM14 and he was very much worth it. Not sure how he'd grade out for a Premier League team, though.
 
Alright, I just didn't know how much exposure the younger Romanian guys had gotten in Western Europe, since obviously there's no place for them in the national team set up right now, given that Iordanescu felt the need to lug Lucian Sânmartean's corpse to Euros and so forth.

I guess y'all probably already know about guys like Andrei Ivan (U Craiova) as well. Maybe a more off-the-beaten-path player who has some potential is Tiberiu Serediuc (Chiajna). He's 22, but he's got a good bit of upside still. I was able to nick him away from them on FM14 and he was very much worth it. Not sure how he'd grade out for a Premier League team, though.

Andrei Ivan is (well?) known also mate and is recommended in this thread somewhere as well. But its the first time I see Serediuc mentioned and will check him out.

I have always loved the young Romanians on FM mate (and even older players like Radu) ...
 
WHAT PLAYING FM MEANS

1. You'll develop a thorough knowledge of the Norwegian second division's finest talent

There will never be any players which are obscure to you. You will have heard and have an idea about the current ability and potential about almost every player.

2. You'll lose all sense of time

Minutes will quickly become hours, hours will quickly pile up and sooner or later you ll realise that all your mates have forgotten about you and your wife/girlfriend has left you long ago but you didnt notice.


3. You'll develop a fondness for a club you previously had never even heard of

Midtjylland. First time I heard about them was when I played as them 3 years ago. Now they are my 2nd fave team. And I dont have 2nd favourite teams!

Also Grasshoppers. I knew about them before but since I played a save with them on FM 15 I became obsessed about them read everything I can on them, check their progress etc.


4. At the start of every save you'll sign the same two or three players for peanuts and watch smugly as their value shoots up

Sergio Diaz, Mammana, Pavon, Gas Gil Romero. Everybody does it everybody has faves.


5. You'll genuinely believe that you could do a better job than your club's manager

Unless your club manager is SAF, Mourinho, Simeone, Pep .... or?


6. You'll have worn a suit to a cup final, played the National Anthem before it and opened a bottle of champagne (ok of beer) if you won.

I also have my own running match commentary in my head for EVERY match I play.


7. Your kids will have started asking you why you love your PC more than you love them


8. You' ll be forever scribbling tactical ideas, even during very important meetings at your job.

But you know its their loss (or maybe that they have a life).


9. Friends who don't like football (and most of those who do like it) will never understand why you' re so obsessed with a series of "spreadsheets".


10. You will have known about Leo Messi years before your friends (or indeed anybody) ever did

This is a well known anecdote but: Alex McLeish's 14 yo son, a keen FM player, told him to sign a then little-known 16-year-old Argentine by the name of Leo Messi for Glasgow Rangers. McLeish laughed and patted his son on the head.

For me it was Van Den Borre. And Kompany. And Dawson. And Carlos Tevez when he was 17.


11. You' ll watch real football matches differently

And declare overtly tactical 0-0 snoozefests "compulsive viewing"
 
12. Your Mrs wonders why you keep muttering about contracts under your breath

Every year you get the reminder that contracts are running out. Great, need to renew the contracts of 10 players, 8 physios, 9 scouts 11 coaches..... The first 5 you study and knock off a clause, bump down the weekly wage, after that you can't be arsed and accept pretty much whatever they want just to get it over with
 
Depressing - from footie365

Agent Provocateur
Close your eyes for a moment and imagine the perfect The Sun football story. It would be a transfer rumour, naturally. It would contain references to a ‘WAG’, of course. Preferably one who is prolific on social media.

Step forward Toby Gannon, for his sensitive reporting of Italian newspaper Corriere della Sport’s slightly dubious claim that Mauro Icardi’s agent is in London talking to Arsenal.

‘Mauro Icardi to Arsenal: Inter Milan star’s sexy wife and AGENT flies to London for showdown talks over £43million Gunners move,’ the headline reads.
Mediawatch particularly enjoyed the ‘AGENT’ in capital letters, as if to say “They’ll let women do anything these days.” Remember Wanda Icardi, you’re a ‘sexy wife’ first and everything else second.

The story contains 190 words, uses ‘WAG’ three times (including ‘the cheeky Wag’, which sounds wonderful) and contains nine pictures of Wanda Icardi. The only surprise is that only six of them are bikini shots.


Nailed it, as ever.
 
Agent Provocateur
Close your eyes for a moment and imagine the perfect The Sun football story. It would be a transfer rumour, naturally. It would contain references to a ‘WAG’, of course. Preferably one who is prolific on social media.

Step forward Toby Gannon, for his sensitive reporting of Italian newspaper Corriere della Sport’s slightly dubious claim that Mauro Icardi’s agent is in London talking to Arsenal.
‘Mauro Icardi to Arsenal: Inter Milan star’s sexy wife and AGENT flies to London for showdown talks over £43million Gunners move,’ the headline reads.
Mediawatch particularly enjoyed the ‘AGENT’ in capital letters, as if to say “They’ll let women do anything these days.” Remember Wanda Icardi, you’re a ‘sexy wife’ first and everything else second.

The story contains 190 words, uses ‘WAG’ three times (including ‘the cheeky Wag’, which sounds wonderful) and contains nine pictures of Wanda Icardi. The only surprise is that only six of them are bikini shots.


Nailed it, as ever.

Did they also mention that she is the ex wife of former teammate Maxi Lopez?
 
12. Your Mrs wonders why you keep muttering about contracts under your breath

Every year you get the reminder that contracts are running out. Great, need to renew the contracts of 10 players, 8 physios, 9 scouts 11 coaches..... The first 5 you study and knock off a clause, bump down the weekly wage, after that you can't be arsed and accept pretty much whatever they want just to get it over with

Pretty much exactly how it happens for me!
 
Top