Total newbie needs help (Currently as Arsenal)

[nNagato]

Hello everyone, I just recently bought FM17 and so far I quite like it. I watched the Regen Rovers FM17 series on YouTube which this guy starts with a create a club campaign in the Varanama South and work all the way up, only signing fake players.

I never played FM before, I'm not even into football but I am very very into strategy games. For me, FM is just like another strategy game, but even more in-depth and complicated. After watching his series for quite a long time I wanted to give FM a go too. Even though I'm not very into football, I'm surrounded with people into it so I get passively fed a lot of information. I quite like Arsenal because I like their play style and players, and they are a obviously an easier team to start off with with their quality players and money.

I re-started a few times until I sort of got the hang of the game. There are still a lot of things I should improve on but at least I am able to win most matches I should. However, looking from the players ability I believe my victories should be quite easy or by a large margin. Instead, every one of them were actually pretty hard fought and won by a single goal in the last 20 minutes. The players are also complaining about first-team play time and contract status and stuff like that just makes me annoyed. Therefore I have come to ask for help and here are my main concerns:

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1. My tactics only work for short amount of games
I generally form a tactic going through logical thinking, reading up guides, and based on my current player's strength. Most of the tactics I used are 4-2-3-1, and although it may not be the best, it is basically the most common formation in the world that I think it should at least work okay in the game.

I tried the Giroud TM, Sanchez IF, walcott Wng, Ozil AP, DLP, BWM/CMde, LWBsu, CDx2, RFBatk, which is sort of the obvious thing to go for right as Giroud is physical and good TM (ON PAPER he was really poor in all my tries), Sanchez has all the key attributes for IF, so is Ozil for AP. Carz/Ram/Xha are all good DLP so no point not using one right? I am a big fan of DMF, but if I go 4-1-2-3 Ozil can't really perform so I just have a BWM next to the DLP. Coquelin, Elneny, Xhaka and Ramsey can all play there fairly I suppose, although only Coquelin is a natural choice of not top quality. RW I just use Walcott. I would imagine his pace should help him find lots of space to exploit. LWB because of LIF so need LB to be at wing. RFBatk because there is a winger, but still Bellerin can pose a strong threat up front. I have it as control/attacking, mixed passing as I imagined they have good enough passing to use mixed, and basically many things untouched.

It seems logical on paper, at least to me, but it just doesn't really work, for long. The target man was stupid. He never does anything. Miss shots, miss headers, can't win headers despite having a high jumping reach and heading. The IF worked wonders with almost all the shots being Bellerin crossing it in medium/low height and Sanchez tips it in. Bellerin got like 4 assists in the first 2 league games (Which didn't continue). Ozil wasn't good too. I guess he might actually made important passes that are not assists that the game doesn't see as a key pass, but he was generally bad. The DLP are almost always neutral, and the BWM are almost always good, but gets lots of cards, which is understandable. The back 4 is amazing, Monreal actually has a more consistent amount of assists than Bellerin who got them all in the beginning, but they both performed well defensively. Koscielny and Mustafi were very good so I have no problem with them.

Basically, the defence is relatively okay but the attacking is terrible. I think a CFatk is going to be much better than a TM because Giroud did nothing, and Sanchez although seems very good and set on atk, still didn't have much chances to score. He also tend to shoot from outside the box which = missed or saved. I bought Lacazette to replace Giroud as the striker, and turned Sanchez to IFsup. I also turned Ozil to APatk to make him a bit like a striker so he is closer to pass to Lacazette. I also made the passing to short because despite my team having very good passing, they seem to pass the ball way up like crazy. But to make sure the build up ins't too slow I also added hit early crosses.

This again worked really well for a short time. Sanchez is getting goals and assists from Lacazette, Ozil, Walcott and Bellerin. Lacazette had a goal or assist every game. Ozil became better and actually had a few goals too. However I still think he can do better. This however, stopped working after like 6~7 games. Ozil is again not creating anything, Walcott is non-existent, Sanchez and Lacazette can't score. I tried using Lucas to replace Ozil, and use Lucas as F9 and set Sanchez back to atk and still nothing is happening. Possession is still near 60% in all the games but the number of shots just gets lower and lower.

I then made yet another change, after Lucas complaining not enough game time. He has good crossing, generally acceptable stats on other areas, left footed, so I put him on left wing as sup. I moved Sanchez to right but can't really make him a winger because his crossing is low. I thought Raumdeuter is the closest role to what I want him to do. It is like an inside forward, but you don't run inside all the time. He is also right footed so I guess its better to not have him cross from the left with his already low crossing. I also turned Ozil back to support and set more direct passes because although it is good to see him score goals, what I really want is him to create chances and make key passes in the middle and I thought he had the skills to do that.

I discovered that a lot of the times the players are just shooting from way outside the box like crazy, so I set almost every one on shoot less often except Lacazette. This again worked really well a like 5~7 games. Sanchez found lots of space and made many assists and goals. Ozil had quite a few key passes and assists, but STILL I think he can do better. Lucas on the left also made some nice crosses. Lacazette was again doing very good. Many key passes and assists, as well as good amount of goals.

However, yet again, it stopped working. The attackers are simply not doing anything in the games. Lacazette 6.3, Ozil 6.6, Sanchez 6.5, Lucas 6.4 and similar along the lines etc. I mean seriously what else can I do? I think Lacazette may not be as good that he is not good at jumping or heading so lots of crosses may not work, but still he has good mental attributes and good finishing so he should be able to score when there are non-crossing chances. Sanchez again, with good pace, dribble and other attributes should help him on his role but it just doesn't work. Ozil, 19 passing, 20 vision, and also near 20 in many other key attributes for creativity, technique, mental, teamwork, I mean I don't even think there is another better playmaker in the game, and yet he doesn't deliver.

I really don't understand what to do in order to improve my attacking, especially creating chances and making the AP and an attacking winger of any role to work, and the supporting winger just looks like they are not there at all. Bellerin also stopped being good at attacking. I had thought it might be my enemies adjusting to my plans so I need to constantly change tactics every 5 games, but that doesn't seem to be what most people do. I saw lots of guides with "one-trick-pony" tactics and it worked for the whole season with Ozil and Sanchez getting deserving ratings (Mine: 7, theirs: 8~8.5).

Currently changing from control to attack and short passing to mixed passing, as well as removed hit early crosses. I'm also considering pass to flanks (The one above exploit left/right) so the Raumdeuter may be a bit more useful. However I haven't tried it out yet because the team still needs to get familiar with it.

I would really like some general guidelines and advice for formations and tactics, but not specific ones because otherwise I'm not really playing the game. Also don't recommend wonderkids, not famous good players out of nowhere because I want to scout them like in real life but not by "half-cheating".

2. 1st team selection, rotation, player complains play-time etc
Although I would really like to stick with a constant 1st team, the game starts with players that I don't want to be in 1st team to have 1st team status. They are all decent players for back-up at the very least so I don't want to get rid of them, at least not when I have more money. However It just ends up I need to constantly change the team members and every thing isn't that consistent. I don't know if this is one of the reasons why my team performs badly up front because my back 4 are very consistent, with Rob Holding replacing either one of the CB when they are tired, same with Gibbs and Jenkinson. Sometimes I switch just to make players involved, sometimes I have no choice because the players are tired (near 90 with 2 matches in one week). I just don't know how to keep key-players and first team players fresh even with a tight schedule.

So is it better to stick with the same 11 as much as possible? Should I just ignore player complains about play time? Should I just sell them? Even if I want to it seems no one is putting in offers.

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To be honest I still have quite a few questions but these 2 are the most important ones and I said a lot already so I don't want to bore you. Any help is appreciated, thank you.

 

[Macky1710]

I can't really help with the tactical side because to be honest it's not something I'm terribly knowledgeable about and I normally just download one someone else has made on this site as I just want to jump straight in and get going.

Squad wise though, I tend to rotate in cup competitions and then play my best 11 in the league (unless I'm at home to someone very weak and I'm fairly certain I'll win) as I think consistency is important. Players will come and moan about not playing, if you have players ahead of them in good form I normally talk to the player and say for instance "(X player) is playing so well right now I can't drop him", nearly always for me players will accept this and drop their concern or a while.

If they moan too much I usually sell them unless they're a young prospect, then I loan them.

Players do obviously get tired from the schedule so I normally give the first 11 a rest in the league cup and FA Cup and Champions League against weak opponents, sometimes I just play them anyway if it's a big game if they're tired.

With the best will in the world players will get tired and some will moan just like real life, I imagine everyone has different methods of dealing with it but that's mine.

 

[Bigpapa42]

From your description, it sounds like you are focusing on the roles and duties above all else. That's not the best approach IMO. You are thinking about how the players might perform best on an individual basis, but football isn't about performing individually. Its about the team as a whole. Consider how you want the side to play. What are you wanting to see? How do you want to attack? How do you intend to defend? Figuring out team shape / fluidity and mentality can be a bit misleading based on the in-game description. There have been some recent threads on the concepts that describe them better than I can. If you aren't understanding them, giving those a read may help.

Team Instructions should be added only as required to create the kind of football you want (pressing, high line, etc) and only once you understand how the tactic performs. They are modifies and people often add them for the sake of adding them, without considering what they are trying to accomplish, what impact it actually has, and what the consequences of that impact are.

Roles and duties should be selected considering your tactical approach first and foremost, then taking the player into account. Even if a player isn't highly rated in a given role, they will often still perform well if they have the skills to play that way and it fits into your tactical approach. In my experience, its far more effective to use a player in a role they aren't rated for but fits your tactic than playing in a role they are more suited for but doesn't fit the tactic. You've seen that already - using a target man, who is static and the focal point of the attack, doesn't suit the Arsenal style of movement and passing. Be reasonable - attributes do matter, so don't stick Gabriel as a right back, give him a Complete Wing Back role, and wonder why he doesn't perform like Dani Alves in his prime.

Something to keep in mind is that as Arsenal, you are one of the highest reputation clubs in England. Which means most opponents are going to play defensive. Which is why you are often seeing lots of the ball but not being able to get dangerous penetration. Your players end up taking bad shots from distance or bad angles because when you do get the ball into the box, there are too many bodies defending. Simply going more attacking doesn't solve that problem at all. You need to find ways to draw the opposition. There are multiple ways to do that - play deeper, make runs, create space...

 

[Bigpapa42]

Part 2

I was going to find some stuff from the SI forum about Team Shape, but the forum is down. So I'll try to explain, since the in-game descriptions can be misleading.

Team Shape is about how you want the team to work as a unit. At one extreme, you have Very Fluid - everyone will attack and defend and participate in transitions as one. At the other is Highly Structured - there is a separation of duties and those intended to defend will defend and those intended to attack will attack, with little variance to that. It also affects universal Creative Freedom and vertical compactness, but those are impacted less. If you aren't sure, start in the middle at Flexible.

Mentality is often misunderstood, again probably down to how its presented in-game. People see the labels and think "defensive means just that, attacking means just that". But its not really that simple. Its more about the risk you are telling you team to take as a whole. So playing on Defensive, you can still be very attacking, because it will be affected by both the Team Shape and the individual roles and duties. But it will be an attacking style with little risk-taking, which comes with benefits and problems. Attacking will tell the players to take more risks, increasing the speculative passes and turnovers. Again, if unsure, start in the middle.

To me, the best place to start is with some thinking about how you want the team to perform and function. Determinate your prioritizes, and accept that its very difficult to have a tactic that does everything perfectly. Who is going to be the playmaker? Who is going to provide width? How are you going to exploit space and attack it? How are you going to get movement between your lines? How are you going to defend? By actually thinking about these kind of things, you can start to anticipate issues and start to address them before you actually see things play out. And it really helps the process of selecting roles and duties to suit the tactic, I find.

Another key aspect is problem solving. You need to watch matches, and preferably on Comprehensive highlights. Watching on shorter makes the matches quicker but you miss more. Look for problems. Sometimes giving up 2 or 3 chances that aren't covered are a bigger issue than the one goal you do concede. Again, not every problem is solvable because changing some things always has a knock on effect. For example, playing a high defensive line has some benefits, but it always going to be a bit susceptible to balls over the top. There are ways to counter that, like having fast defenders, trying to cut off those passes, etc, but nothing will remove that danger entirely except dropping the line. If you see a problem and don't know how to address it, post with details and ask. Folks like WJ are very helpful around here.