What are specialist roles?

[KavadaKedavra]

I don't know if this is the right place for this thread so sorry about that.

People always say that your team shape should be chosen based on the number of specialist roles in your formation but the problem is that I have never seen someone actually give a definition of what a specialist role is.

I would assume that a poacher is a specialist as it contributes to just one phase of play but I've seen people say that a box-to-box midfielder is a specialist despite it having the 'roam from position' instruction which would surely fit better in a fluid system; have I got something wrong or is that just down to interpretation?

That's all I really know in regards to it

 

[WJ]

How to Play FM: A Twelve Step Guide

1: Understand the core strategic concepts:

Philosophies/Styles: The philosophies/styles are mentality and creative freedom structures. They range from being very structured with low creative freedom, to being very unstructured with lots of creative freedom. A useful interpretation would be as follows:
Very Rigid: Each player is given a specific job and is supposed to stick to it (usually 5+ different jobs across a team)
Rigid: Players are assigned a responsibility that contributes to a specific element of play (Defence, defence & transition, transition & attack, attack)
Balanced: Players focus on their duty (Defend, Support, Attack)
Fluid: Players are given instructions to focus on defence or attack
Very Fluid: Players contribute to all aspects of play


As you can see, each step reduces the level of specialisation. At Very Rigid, you have five plus different jobs, Rigid four responsibilities, Balanced three duties, Fluid two focuses, Very Fluid one method. In Very Rigid philosophies, you expect players to stick to their job description, so can assign multiple specialist roles. In Very Fluid philosophies, you expect everybody to do a bit of everything, which means specialist roles are redundant.
I consider the following to be specialist roles:

Target Man
Poacher
False 9
Flank Target Man
Raumdeuter
Trequartista
Enganche
Advanced Playmaker
Roaming Playmaker
Deep Lying Playmaker
Regista
Ball Winning Midfielder
Anchor Man
Libero


These four roles can fit in either camp, depending on your interpretation.

Complete Forward
Defensive Forward
Shadow Striker
Defensive Winger
Box to Box Midfielder
Complete Wing Back
Ball Playing Defender


I consider the following to be generic roles:

Advanced Forward
Deep Lying Forward
Attacking Midfielder
Inside Forward
Winger
Central Midfielder
Wide Midfielder
Defensive Midfielder
Half Back
Wing Back
Inverted Wing Back
Full Back
Limited Full Back
Central Defender
Limited Defender
Sweeper

I don't include keepers, although you might want to regard a sweeper keeper as specialist.


I generally suggest the following as a good rule of thumb (consider the either/or roles as 0.5):
Very Rigid: 4-5 specialist roles
Rigid: 3-4 specialist roles
Standard: 2-3 specialist roles
Fluid: 1-2 specialist roles
Very Fluid: 0-1 specialist roles


Please note that these are my interpretations and not hard, fast rules. If you disagree and/or want to be more creative, fire away.

 

[KavadaKedavra]

Thank you

 

[xtremeRED]

pretty much what WJ said...

I see specialist roles as the ones that are rare.. you just have to look at teams around the world and observe certain players that stands out compared to most others in that same position, but their roles are much different...

the regular GK is the regular common GK.. the sweeper keeper would be specialist imo.. Neuer the master of the role.. there are a few GK's successful as sweeper keeper!
sweeper defender is common in some leagues, but has been discarded of late by the majority.. on the other hand, the libero is a rarer breed!
central defenders I feel all 3 roles are common nowadays... the BPD has been employed a lot more these days, but the correct players for that role aren't many...
among full backs, full back and wing backs are most common.. the limited full back is generally the sort of player who can even play at centre back is how i see that role.. a more defensive minded player who doesn't move high up the pitch in general, and would in turn drop deeper and narrower considering the other roles..
IWB is also not common practice, and such players are rare.. more useful when playing narrower, the player should have both strong feet, a rarity for full back positions!
CWB is the more attacking role, and has been employed mostly these days by majority of the teams...

coming to defensive and central midfielder, Regista is the rarest. Most specialist role imo. very rare role, and very very few teams have attempted to play someone on this role. Pirlo the master here.
Roaming playmaker... not as rare as regista, but not as common as box to box or the generic CM role.. RPM tends to have a free role, controlling and dictating games, it's more of a possession based role..
anchorman, generic CM and DM, box to box, to an extent bwm are regulars.. you see many teams employing them...
I'd put half back as specialist..
DLP and AP in the midfield strata have been very common.. regista and RPM are advanced derivatives of the aforementioned with slight tweaks..

wide playmaker, wide targetman are rare.
wide midfielder and wingers are the most common.
Inside forward also has become a common practice now..
defensive wingers can be a specialist role, but it depends how you see that role.. I'd put it as specialist due to the very few players who are apt at playing that role.
Raumdeuter, the rarest of the rare. When a role has been devised fitting a particular player, you know how rare the role is! Muller, Sterling on occasions, Iniesta also occasionally have played in this role...
APM, AM are the most common in AMC strata..
Enganche and Trequartista, though being slightly similar, have a few differences, and both these roles are specialist due to being rarely employed and due to the very few perfectionists in those roles. Totti is the classic Trequartista. See it this way, Totti would have been an Enganche were he to play in South America! Enganche is sort of a Berbatov in the AMC strata who plays at his pace, doesn't dictate or control games, but can always change games with sudden moments of brilliance!
Shadow striker is more like a false 10 I'd say.. it's like how Coutinho has played often in the last few games for Liverpool... not specifically though, as he plays a variety of roles in the games, but his impacting moments have come with him running as SS!

False 9 is undoubtedly specialist.. only because how rare is it for a player to click while playing in this role. teams try to play F9 a lot more now, but a role that describes what Messi in general does can't be emulated as easily!
Target man is more used by teams playing much more directly. a tall and strong striker. few apt players, but a common role strategically.
advanced forward and DLF are common..
Poacher.. classic example is Aguero. rare players... and a very specialist role if you look at how very few successful players can you find in this role...


this is how I perceive the roles in game, and it's very much possible I might be wrong with certain things, but as I have said, it's my understanding thus far...

 

[KavadaKedavra]

pretty much what WJ said...

I see specialist roles as the ones that are rare.. you just have to look at teams around the world and observe certain players that stands out compared to most others in that same position, but their roles are much different...

I assumed a specialist role was a role that naturally contributes to just one phase of play. For example a poacher would be specialist because it only contributes to the attacking phase whereas a deep-lying-forward - which is generic - contributes to attack and transition.

I don't get why a central defender is considered generic though if my aforementioned assumption is correct. I wouldn't count it as either