Need Help Learning the Advanced Mechanics to FM

[BrandonS]

Hey everyone, I have been a long time viewer of this site because i started playing FM back in FM14 and I have always used tactics from this website to play long, successful careers. My issue is that I don't know much about soccer (football, sorry, American). I grew up playing Basketball, Baseball, and american football. I never had much interest in soccer (again, just pretend im saying football?) until I discovered this game. I've always been a huge fan of simulation games because I love acting like a Manager and building winners instead of playing out the actual game. When i heard FM was one of the best simulators on the market, I had to try it out.

Here's a quick back-story on how I became infatuated with soccer. I bought FM 14, played it a little bit and fell in love with the promotion & relegation aspects of the professional leagues. I also love that players all over the world play for different leagues, unless we are talking about Athletic Bilbao. I love the world integration and the fact that its such a popular sport that EVERYONE can come together and play. Not that you can't with any other sport, this is just the one sport that does it best. I began watching the World Cup this past year after many hours on FM 14 in the spring. BPL was over by the time i became interested, but luckily the World Cup was just starting. From there, I became heartbroken as USA lost to Belgium in the round of 16 after surviving one of the hardest groups. I decided that MLS is boring to watch in comparison to foreign leagues so I chose a random BPL team to root for, and that team was Liverpool (I enjoy the Beatles music, so why not?). I have not played with them in FM much because they are a very good team as is with a lot of money to spend and I like to build winners out of losers. And that is how I became a huge fan of the sport.

Anyways....

My problem is that I do not know much about soccer. I know enough about sports in general to come to a basic comprehension of the game and I have been successful in my FM careers because of plug and play tactics and buying talented players. My main save was bringing Sheffield United to the Premier League and winning the Champions League with them in about 7-8 seasons. My issue is not building a winning team from the lower leagues. I understand what ratings a player needs to perform well at a certain position. My problem is that I have no idea how to create a tactic, because I have always used other's tactics.

I just purchased FM 15 (i had 826 hours on FM 14) and I have not started a game yet because I want to start with a Lower League team and build them up to the BPL by using my own tactics. So far, I've decided to go with Wycombe because I liked their jerseys. Now that I've started a season, I realize I have NO idea how to create a tactic.

I have a general understanding of the formations. I get that I should play to my team's strength and that is why i want to learn how to create tactics, so that I can always adapt to my team and build winners without searching for specific tactics on the internet. I understand the formations, but I dont know which to use in what situations. For example:

Do certain formations beat other formations?

When is it better to play Narrow or play Wide? I'm not even sure if I know what that means. I'm assuming play narrow means to work the ball down the middle of the field while play wide utilizes more of the sidelines and crossing into the box, switching the field more often, etc?

When defending, when is it best to use which instructions? To my understanding, use Tighter Marking if I have a speedy defense that can keep up with strikers? Would it be better to Close Down Less vs a Tiki Taka team and Close down more vs a team that plays narrow? Is it just a personal preference or is there strategy involved in closing down more or less?

Should i not let players roam from their position if they have low vision? Should I not let players be expressive if they have low flair or is that just for if I have one or 2 superstars like Messi / Neymar etc?

What are general concepts to look for when shaping a formation? How will I know if I have too many holes (obviously if i give up a lot of goals I know there's an issue but how would I go about fixing it)

For Team Shape, what decides which shape i should choose? I'd imagine a Lower League team would need Structured or Highly Structured while a BPL team would be best with Fluid or Very Fluid? What ratings factor into this? Flair, positioning, vision? Can anyone delve more into this as it is kind of vague in the in game menu.

For Player Roles, I have a decent understanding of which role does what, as it is almost self explanatory for the majority of the roles. However, I have NO idea which roles work well with each other. Are there any traditional combos to look for in player roles?

For opposition instructions, what does Show onto foot mean? Is that the same as playing the strong foot?

What is the best way to go about opposition instructions? I'd prefer not to set instructions vs each and every team i play because that is very time consuming. How important are these and is there a general rule I can go by to utilize the OI?

I appreciate any and ALL advice. I'm still trying to learn the advanced aspects of soccer. I have a decent understanding of the sport in my opinion but I feel like i need a little bit more knowledge to put me ahead of the learning curve and truly understand the sport/game!

 

[mersk]

Do certain formations beat other formations?

No. A formation is just what the initial positions of the players are. You can switch formations but still have the same philosophy behind your play (ie counter attacking, possession based, pass-and-move etc).

When is it better to play Narrow or play Wide? I'm not even sure if I know what that means. I'm assuming play narrow means to work the ball down the middle of the field while play wide utilizes more of the sidelines and crossing into the box, switching the field more often, etc?

Yes, playing narrow focuses on playing through the middle of the pitch, while playing wide, well, it's self-explanatory. Playing narrow can be a good choice if your opposition has a weak midfield, or you have 3 CMs against their 2. Playing wide can be a good choice if your opposition plays without wingers - or even better, if they play without full backs. Or simply if you have fast/technical wingers who are good in one on one situations. There are of course more situations than just these, but you get the idea.

When defending, when is it best to use which instructions? To my understanding, use Tighter Marking if I have a speedy defense that can keep up with strikers? Would it be better to Close Down Less vs a Tiki Taka team and Close down more vs a team that plays narrow? Is it just a personal preference or is there strategy involved in closing down more or less?

Use tighter marking if your defenders have good marking and are pacey, generally avoid it if the opposition attackers have high pace and acceleration. I've also found that using tight markers on wide midfielders/wingers makes them track back more and help out their full backs in defending, especially if they're on a support role. Closing down against a team like Barcelona is generally not a good idea, as they have so many technical players who are composed on the ball - your players would end up running in between, which is basically the reason why most teams stick to positions and sitting compact in defense when playing them or similar teams. If you like to close down, it probably works best if your players have good stamina, work rate and teamwork.

Should i not let players roam from their position if they have low vision? Should I not let players be expressive if they have low flair or is that just for if I have one or 2 superstars like Messi / Neymar etc?

Roaming from position allows a players to look for space, or draw opposition players out of position to create space for teammates. It doesn't have much to do with vision. Vision (earlier known as creativity) is more a players' ability to see his teammates and creating opportunities with good passes, while passing allows him to actually find them with the ball. If a player has good flair and vision, you can allow him to be more expressive. But allowing too many players to be expressive can damage your team cohesion, and in turn lose you the game.

What are general concepts to look for when shaping a formation? How will I know if I have too many holes (obviously if i give up a lot of goals I know there's an issue but how would I go about fixing it)

There are a lot of factors to considerate, I'll post some helpful links at the bottom. Your first choice, however, would probably be to determine if you want to fit players into a tactic, or fit the tactic to suit the players.

For Team Shape, what decides which shape i should choose? I'd imagine a Lower League team would need Structured or Highly Structured while a BPL team would be best with Fluid or Very Fluid? What ratings factor into this? Flair, positioning, vision? Can anyone delve more into this as it is kind of vague in the in game menu.

That's not a given. It's more of how you want to play, there's no right and wrong. The important thing is that it coincides with the rest of your tactics. On a general basis you need to ask yourself if you want your players to contribute to all aspects of play, or if you want defenders defending and attackers attacking. Also, of course, if your players are suited or even capable of that.

For Player Roles, I have a decent understanding of which role does what, as it is almost self explanatory for the majority of the roles. However, I have NO idea which roles work well with each other. Are there any traditional combos to look for in player roles?

I'll post a link about players roles at the bottom.

For opposition instructions, what does Show onto foot mean? Is that the same as playing the strong foot?

It means that if your opposition right winger has a good right foot and a weak left foot, your full back will look to show the winger onto his left foot. Which means it'll be harder for the winger to run towards the byline and deliver a cross.

What is the best way to go about opposition instructions? I'd prefer not to set instructions vs each and every team i play because that is very time consuming. How important are these and is there a general rule I can go by to utilize the OI?

To be honest, I never use OI. Simply because I feel it would have a negative impact on how I want my team to play. But I'm sure there are others who use this with success who can give a better answer.

This site is a decent start to learn more about FM: Guide to Football Manager | FM 2015 Guide

A twelve step guide, made for FM 14 but still very helpful and a must-read: How to Play FM14: A Twelve Step Guide

This one is a bit older, but still gives valuable input as it tries to recreate the Barcelona style: The Barcelona Style: My Interpretation

Player roles pairs and combinations:

Midfielders: Pairs & Combinations Part 1: Central Midfielders

Defenders: Pairs & Combinations Part 2: Central Defenders

Strikers: Pairs & Combinations Part 3: Strike Partnerships

Wide men: Pairs & Combinations Part 4: The Wide Men

Goalkeepers: Pairs & Combinations Part 5: Goalkeepers (Yes Part 5!)

Team instructions: Pairs & Combinations Part 6: Team Instructions

Building a team: Pairs & Combinations Part 7: Building My Team



I know I had more links, but I can't seem to find them. But I'm sure there are others here with more to offer than me.

 

[MANUMAD]

http://www.fm-base.co.uk/forum/foot...911-ask-uncle-mad-uncle-mads-box-choccys.html

 

[BrandonS]

Thank you so much for the reply, it was a great read and very helpful!