Hi all,
So last year I posted a long, well documented, and thorough review of the ME deficiencies in FM 13 when it launched, and supported it with testing and what documentation I could, and people still jumped down my throat for criticizing their beloved SI.
So this year I'm doing something different. There are a lot of problems with the ME, and people are frustrated, but rather than stand up and demand that SI fix it (they are working on it, one presumes), we will go the other route, and ADAPT to the weirdness. A warning, this might get long.
Problem: my striker doesn't score, and finishes even the games I win with a 6.1 rating.
Solution: There is no "solution" to this exactly. What happened, basically, is that it became clear early on that tackling, particularly along the flanks, is totally borked. WAY too many goals were flying in, and so they made strikers less accurate. Now, when on the edge of the box and nobody between him and the keeper, a striker will immediately pull up and shoot over the bar from 17 yards, rather than dribble forwards and finish easily. SI has actually stated that they considered fixing this, but can't, because it will result in too many goals.
What it means for us: You need to give up on your striker scoring. Strikers still have a place in the game, preserving a shape the ME likes, and creating chances for your wingers and AMC. The key is to play him as a target man, DLF, or F9 with "support".
I am having the most success with big target men. The primary reason for this is that with the matador defending on the wings, wingers have all the time they need to dribble down the flanks and loft crosses into the box. Drilling crosses doesn't work (it never has, with the notable exception of crossing when on the counter, which is brilliant), but floating them to my massive target man does, who can lay off for the only people can score in the years ME, wingers and men in the hole.
So get yourself a Llorente, a Giroud, etc. In my experience so far, the single best striker in this year's game is Hugo Almeida. He is an absolute beast.
Problem: My fullbacks defending is making me literally suicidal.
Solution: There isn't one exactly. This was actually a bit of a problem last year, but by setting the tackling and closing down sliders very, very carefully, (and usually less aggressive than most tactics published here had them) one could overcome it quite well. Of course, no sliders now, so we need another solution. And it turns out there are actually 2. First, you can eliminate them. One thing that the ME does MUCH better than in previous years is the old Barcelona trick: fullbacks bomb forward, central defenders move wide to cover that space, and the holding midfielders drop deep to protect the net.
CD's will move wide very intelligently in this year's game, and you can use this to your advantage. I even experimented with a formation that had 2 CD's, no fullbacks, and no wingbacks. 2 at the back! And while it totally messed up my possession game, my defending the wings actually got MUCH BETTER.
Besides eliminating them, the other thing you can do is embrace the striker problem that we spoke about in the previous problem. Your striker stops at the edge of the 18 yard box when he's wide open? SO DOES THIERS. So the answer becomes: let them shoot. My Athletico save did not lose to barcelona in 4 meetings. How? Simple: "Stand off opponents", "Stay on feet". Watching Messi dazzle with his footwork, humiliate my back line, and then stop dead and fire wide 13 times a match was a thing of beauty.
Remember, your defenders aren't going to tackle anyway, why not adapt your tactic to stop asking them to?
What this means to us: Your fullbacks can't defend. At all. Stop buying pullbacks with good defensive attributes. They can still provide width and crossing, and do so brilliantly. In with the Juanfrans and Dennis Aogo's of the world. They are now worth every penny.
Problem: I have amazing defenders, but they still can't keep anyone in front of them.
Solution: There really is no solution to this. Once a competent striker has the ball at his feet, you're not getting it back until he misses his shot. Does your CD have 18/18 for marking and tackling, the ME doesn't care, and neither should you.
This actually brings up a common misconception I see on these boards. The Marking attribute isn't what many of you think it is. Read: Marking ...Indicates the player's ability to stay on an opponent. A high Marking attribute will offset the opponent's Dribbling attribute (though the Dribbling attribute tends to win if they're equal or close)."
So when you see that winger wide open at the far post and you say, but "I have an 17 marking? Whose marking him?!?!" THAT'S NOT MARKING, THAT'S POSITIONING! Marking is only for when the defender's man has the ball! Read: "A player with high Positioning will be better at intercepting passes or setting up to mark attacking players before the ball gets there."
That's right, in FM positioning is marking, and marking is frankly not all that important, particularly this year.
Anyway, our solution is to get defenders with attributes that actually matter in this ME. We can't get the ball off the opponent, so we need to deny it to him. Start looking at Positioning and Anticipation above all else. Out, Kyriakos Papadopolous, in Andrea Barzagli, the god of centerbacks in this ME.
Problem: My "Shoots from distance" players are destroying my tactic!
Solution: After almost getting a handle on Shoots from distance in FM13, the madding PM is back with a vengeance this year. And there is no solution, but I did make a few interesting discoveries about it.
I almost always watch my matches on "comprehensive", but when I'm testing a crazy tactic, sometimes I'll speed through it. And I noticed that my side had 9 corners in the first 7 Minutes of a match. Since this wasn't a tactic that relied heavily on wide players, I wondered what was going on. And it turns out that in this ME, the large majority of corners are generated when the keeper tips the ball wide, or over the bar.
And one thing we know about this ME is that there is still plenty of opportunity to score from corners. So one of my favorite tactics in a long time came into being. It involved quick tempo (which increases shots from distance), short passing (more possession equals more shots from outside the 18 yard box) and the "shoot on sight" instruction, which no one ever uses. Add the strategic signing of a few "shoots from distance" shameless gunners, and viola! My personal record is 51 shots on goal. But a funny thing happened, which is this tactic won kind of a lot.
My theory is that the ME gives a match rating boost to anyone who puts a shot on target. If you're shooting and failing to score, but the keeper is saving them, your players ratings start to creep up, and the ME says "this player is having a good game" his moral and confidence skyrockets, and lo and behold, he bags you a goal.
This is only a theory, but spare a moment for shooting from distance next time. It can work better than you think, and it will generate you a few extra corners to take advantage of at worst.
Problem: Where are the 4 and 5 star coaches?
Solution: They are out there. They are mostly brazilian, and they are mostly goalkeeping and fitness coaches. Always remember, you can bribe coaches and scouts. Want to sign the brilliant Alexandre Ceolin as a scout, but his interest is "none"? Double his wages and he'll sign anyway. Need an attacking coach but Fabio Majaseredjian only wants to coach goalies? Triple his wages and he'll coach anything you want. As Brazilian coaches tend not to make much money, this is an affordable way to get that top notch coaching staff you've had in previous years.
A few more quick notes on players this year:
With tackling removed this year, the single best PM is "runs with ball often" by a mile. I love Frank Ribery, but I'll have nightmares about the last time my Shaktar save faced Bayern. And with Dribblers, remember: BALANCE.
Read: "Indicates the player's ability to remain standing when challenged by a tackle, or after landing when jumping for a header in a congested area. When dribbling, Balance also indicates how well the player can maintain his balance while doing any given maneuver. Players with low Balance won't just spontaneously trip and fall, but they will slow down significantly if they change directions."
Dribbling + pace + balance = completely unstoppable right now.
Remember, when the ME is still up in the air, teamtalks are your most important weapon. And what makes a good teamtalk? Players with high teamwork. Read: "Players with high Teamwork skills are also more likely to follow tactics without going off on their own, and are more likely to be influenced by pep talks."
Finally, this has been true for years, and while I haven't got the numbers for this year yet, it appears as true as ever: ALWAYS USE THE ATTACKING MOVEMENT MATCH PREP. Doesn't matter the context. Attacking movement always produces the best goal differential over time.
Finally, I know there are those of you just itching to jump on this thread to say "I'm not having a problem with the new ME! I Love it. I've only conceded 4 goals in the league."
To them I say: Thank you in advance for you contribution to this thread. I wasn't talking to you. Of course I wasn't. After all, your Football Manager e-peen is so enormous, we all just took it for granted that you didn't have any problems. This thread was meant for everyone EXCEPT you.
SI will eventually iron out the ME, because they usually do, but until then, maybe this can help us enjoy this a little more. After all, what are we going to do, stop playing? hah!
So last year I posted a long, well documented, and thorough review of the ME deficiencies in FM 13 when it launched, and supported it with testing and what documentation I could, and people still jumped down my throat for criticizing their beloved SI.
So this year I'm doing something different. There are a lot of problems with the ME, and people are frustrated, but rather than stand up and demand that SI fix it (they are working on it, one presumes), we will go the other route, and ADAPT to the weirdness. A warning, this might get long.
Problem: my striker doesn't score, and finishes even the games I win with a 6.1 rating.
Solution: There is no "solution" to this exactly. What happened, basically, is that it became clear early on that tackling, particularly along the flanks, is totally borked. WAY too many goals were flying in, and so they made strikers less accurate. Now, when on the edge of the box and nobody between him and the keeper, a striker will immediately pull up and shoot over the bar from 17 yards, rather than dribble forwards and finish easily. SI has actually stated that they considered fixing this, but can't, because it will result in too many goals.
What it means for us: You need to give up on your striker scoring. Strikers still have a place in the game, preserving a shape the ME likes, and creating chances for your wingers and AMC. The key is to play him as a target man, DLF, or F9 with "support".
I am having the most success with big target men. The primary reason for this is that with the matador defending on the wings, wingers have all the time they need to dribble down the flanks and loft crosses into the box. Drilling crosses doesn't work (it never has, with the notable exception of crossing when on the counter, which is brilliant), but floating them to my massive target man does, who can lay off for the only people can score in the years ME, wingers and men in the hole.
So get yourself a Llorente, a Giroud, etc. In my experience so far, the single best striker in this year's game is Hugo Almeida. He is an absolute beast.
Problem: My fullbacks defending is making me literally suicidal.
Solution: There isn't one exactly. This was actually a bit of a problem last year, but by setting the tackling and closing down sliders very, very carefully, (and usually less aggressive than most tactics published here had them) one could overcome it quite well. Of course, no sliders now, so we need another solution. And it turns out there are actually 2. First, you can eliminate them. One thing that the ME does MUCH better than in previous years is the old Barcelona trick: fullbacks bomb forward, central defenders move wide to cover that space, and the holding midfielders drop deep to protect the net.
CD's will move wide very intelligently in this year's game, and you can use this to your advantage. I even experimented with a formation that had 2 CD's, no fullbacks, and no wingbacks. 2 at the back! And while it totally messed up my possession game, my defending the wings actually got MUCH BETTER.
Besides eliminating them, the other thing you can do is embrace the striker problem that we spoke about in the previous problem. Your striker stops at the edge of the 18 yard box when he's wide open? SO DOES THIERS. So the answer becomes: let them shoot. My Athletico save did not lose to barcelona in 4 meetings. How? Simple: "Stand off opponents", "Stay on feet". Watching Messi dazzle with his footwork, humiliate my back line, and then stop dead and fire wide 13 times a match was a thing of beauty.
Remember, your defenders aren't going to tackle anyway, why not adapt your tactic to stop asking them to?
What this means to us: Your fullbacks can't defend. At all. Stop buying pullbacks with good defensive attributes. They can still provide width and crossing, and do so brilliantly. In with the Juanfrans and Dennis Aogo's of the world. They are now worth every penny.
Problem: I have amazing defenders, but they still can't keep anyone in front of them.
Solution: There really is no solution to this. Once a competent striker has the ball at his feet, you're not getting it back until he misses his shot. Does your CD have 18/18 for marking and tackling, the ME doesn't care, and neither should you.
This actually brings up a common misconception I see on these boards. The Marking attribute isn't what many of you think it is. Read: Marking ...Indicates the player's ability to stay on an opponent. A high Marking attribute will offset the opponent's Dribbling attribute (though the Dribbling attribute tends to win if they're equal or close)."
So when you see that winger wide open at the far post and you say, but "I have an 17 marking? Whose marking him?!?!" THAT'S NOT MARKING, THAT'S POSITIONING! Marking is only for when the defender's man has the ball! Read: "A player with high Positioning will be better at intercepting passes or setting up to mark attacking players before the ball gets there."
That's right, in FM positioning is marking, and marking is frankly not all that important, particularly this year.
Anyway, our solution is to get defenders with attributes that actually matter in this ME. We can't get the ball off the opponent, so we need to deny it to him. Start looking at Positioning and Anticipation above all else. Out, Kyriakos Papadopolous, in Andrea Barzagli, the god of centerbacks in this ME.
Problem: My "Shoots from distance" players are destroying my tactic!
Solution: After almost getting a handle on Shoots from distance in FM13, the madding PM is back with a vengeance this year. And there is no solution, but I did make a few interesting discoveries about it.
I almost always watch my matches on "comprehensive", but when I'm testing a crazy tactic, sometimes I'll speed through it. And I noticed that my side had 9 corners in the first 7 Minutes of a match. Since this wasn't a tactic that relied heavily on wide players, I wondered what was going on. And it turns out that in this ME, the large majority of corners are generated when the keeper tips the ball wide, or over the bar.
And one thing we know about this ME is that there is still plenty of opportunity to score from corners. So one of my favorite tactics in a long time came into being. It involved quick tempo (which increases shots from distance), short passing (more possession equals more shots from outside the 18 yard box) and the "shoot on sight" instruction, which no one ever uses. Add the strategic signing of a few "shoots from distance" shameless gunners, and viola! My personal record is 51 shots on goal. But a funny thing happened, which is this tactic won kind of a lot.
My theory is that the ME gives a match rating boost to anyone who puts a shot on target. If you're shooting and failing to score, but the keeper is saving them, your players ratings start to creep up, and the ME says "this player is having a good game" his moral and confidence skyrockets, and lo and behold, he bags you a goal.
This is only a theory, but spare a moment for shooting from distance next time. It can work better than you think, and it will generate you a few extra corners to take advantage of at worst.
Problem: Where are the 4 and 5 star coaches?
Solution: They are out there. They are mostly brazilian, and they are mostly goalkeeping and fitness coaches. Always remember, you can bribe coaches and scouts. Want to sign the brilliant Alexandre Ceolin as a scout, but his interest is "none"? Double his wages and he'll sign anyway. Need an attacking coach but Fabio Majaseredjian only wants to coach goalies? Triple his wages and he'll coach anything you want. As Brazilian coaches tend not to make much money, this is an affordable way to get that top notch coaching staff you've had in previous years.
A few more quick notes on players this year:
With tackling removed this year, the single best PM is "runs with ball often" by a mile. I love Frank Ribery, but I'll have nightmares about the last time my Shaktar save faced Bayern. And with Dribblers, remember: BALANCE.
Read: "Indicates the player's ability to remain standing when challenged by a tackle, or after landing when jumping for a header in a congested area. When dribbling, Balance also indicates how well the player can maintain his balance while doing any given maneuver. Players with low Balance won't just spontaneously trip and fall, but they will slow down significantly if they change directions."
Dribbling + pace + balance = completely unstoppable right now.
Remember, when the ME is still up in the air, teamtalks are your most important weapon. And what makes a good teamtalk? Players with high teamwork. Read: "Players with high Teamwork skills are also more likely to follow tactics without going off on their own, and are more likely to be influenced by pep talks."
Finally, this has been true for years, and while I haven't got the numbers for this year yet, it appears as true as ever: ALWAYS USE THE ATTACKING MOVEMENT MATCH PREP. Doesn't matter the context. Attacking movement always produces the best goal differential over time.
Finally, I know there are those of you just itching to jump on this thread to say "I'm not having a problem with the new ME! I Love it. I've only conceded 4 goals in the league."
To them I say: Thank you in advance for you contribution to this thread. I wasn't talking to you. Of course I wasn't. After all, your Football Manager e-peen is so enormous, we all just took it for granted that you didn't have any problems. This thread was meant for everyone EXCEPT you.
SI will eventually iron out the ME, because they usually do, but until then, maybe this can help us enjoy this a little more. After all, what are we going to do, stop playing? hah!
I do have to say, have far more luck defending with wing backs than I've had with full backs thus far.