Despite the fact that Match Preparation is mechanical and limited at present, the potential is surely there to gradually add layers of depth that will eventually render “plug-and-play” tactics obsolete. That’s the direction which the feature needs to go in order to be a success, in my opinion. There needs to be more variety and more possibilities for the manager to consider. Downloading a tactic would become redundant if it’s subject to numerous selections and variables within match preparation. That can surely only be a good thing for the game.

For me, Match Preparation needs to accommodate both short and long-term effects for a team in order to reach its full potential as a feature. This would be beneficial to the tactics side of the game, as well as make training far more immersive and engaging. Match Preparation could pave the way for an evolution of training within the game. Perhaps a modification to special focus areas could go some towards achieving this. 3 days of Attacking Movement providing more of a match benefit than just 1 day would be a good place to start. How about going beyond even that? What if effects could be cumulative? Instead of choosing a benefit with a match in mind, what if it were possible to set your preparation with your team in mind and not of your opposition? For example, what if you could drill your team in Attacking Movement for an indefinite period of time, and your team become gradually better and more dangerous going forward as the weeks/months go by? Surely this avenue would really allow the manager to impose his/her philosophy on their team. The benefits wouldn’t be permanent, of course. They could also be so gradual, thus ensuring that it would take most of a season to have a maxed out efficiency in an area.

Another logical addition to the feature could be the ability to prepare for a designated dangerman for the upcoming match. Singling such a player out in the media can be a lottery, but what about having the ability to have your team prepare for a player? Whether it be their aerial dominance, their pace, or perhaps an exceptional set piece delivery, the possibilities should surely be there. I think this is an angle which would truly reflect a Match Preparation method with each a specific match in mind.

The manager should have freedom to allocate Match Preparation workload. If they wish for the team to have more emphasis on becoming familiar with closing down for a particular tactic, then that’s what should happen. If the rate in which players learn tactics were to be tweaked, this is another way in which managers could personalise their tactics. If the rate of learning tactics was far slower than it is currently, it would force the manager to prioritise categories according to their style of play. A defensive tactic would perhaps mean greater urgency in having players become familiar with closing down (in addition to a long-term Defensive Positioning benefit!) for example. This could come at the expense of one or more other fields, which would be learned slower as a consequence.

The tactical familiarity system in general could benefit from a face-lift. I for one don’t believe a team should be capable of having 100% understanding of 3 completely different systems within a couple of months. In addition to a slower rate of learning, I believe it would be better for there to be a “maximum” amount of understanding which the manager can carefully distribute to his tactical slots. For example, a 100% understanding of an attacking 4-4-2 system would mean the players are restricted in their ability to learn other systems as thoroughly! For the tactical chameleons who likes to mix it up, instead of pursuing a 100% understanding of one system, they could instead aim for their aim have a fairly good understanding of 3 systems with versatility in mind. On that note, players definitely need to be comfortable changing from one tactic to another in the middle of a match providing that it is one that has been learned in Match Preparation. There should be a “Plan B and a Plan C” and the tactics from these slots should not be treated as a completely new tactic when switching to them like they are currently.

Another immersive addition to Match Preparation could be the ability to drill strategies before a match. Do you think your team is vulnerable down the flanks? You should be able to prepare your players for this. Worried about the pace of your opposition’s front line? Again, you should be able to tell your defence. This could easily be organised by selecting shouts within Match Preparation. So, for the sake of the two examples, you could select Play Wider and Drop Deeper in the days leading up to a match. The benefit? When you use those shouts in-game, the team could enjoy benefits specific to those shouts. This sort of preparation would create the much desired illusion of actually being “on” the training ground with players and getting them ready for specific conditions in the next match.

Summary of ideas for improvement

A greater variety of short-term and long-term benefits to choose from.

Rectifying the well documented issue of only needing to select a focus area the day before a match in order to take have your chosen match bonus. effect

To be able to prepare for a dangerman.

The ability to prioritise learning so that one or more fields (such as closing down) can be learned quicker than others.

The option to drill your team to utilise specific strengths / exploit specific weaknesses with your opposition in mind.
A much slower rate of tactical learning for players, as well as a maximum amount of knowledge so that it is no longer possible to “max out” 3 systems.

The feature needs to accommodate a “Plan B” and “Plan C” so that the manager can switch between ‘familiar’ tactics without being harshly penalised.

Thoughts on the aforementioned? What would you like to see added to Match Preparation?

Have your say on the matter here!

Next up on the interviews is Gers. Former admin of FMV, Gers is outspoken, angry, and one of those members you either love or hate.  Of course, everyone loves him really.

How long have you both played FM and CM?

Um, I started back on CM99/00 but I think that was maybe 2003 or something, I was a little bit behind. I then jumped on to CM4 and had them all since. It all started away back with Fifa Manager 98 but, definately the best management game ever.

What are your favourite aspects?

Managing a team…

To be honest, I prefer the buying/selling/scouting/training/making tactics to actually playing games. I’d rather be like a director of football and do everything but let the manager play the games. They bore me somewhat.

Which type of game do you prefer (long term or short term)?

I always aim for long term but it doesn’t always turn out that way. On FM10 though I’ve went quite far with a few games. I’ve made it to the ten season mark a couple times on this one and a lot fall just short of that whereas last years I was lucky to make it past 4 seasons.

What is your most successful career?

Probably my Rangers game. Won the titles 11 years in a row, winning the Champions League 3 times and a whole host of domestic cups as well. Had a few successful careers on this game, I’ve definately found it easier than last to acheive success. It took me until my final save on FM09 with Marseille to win the Champions League and even then that was like 6 seasons in but this season I’ve managed to win it with Rangers, Tottenham and then Barca too.

Do you buy FM on release day?

I have done the last couple years, aye. Depends on funds this year.

Which is your favourite version?

If we are talking solely FM then this years probably.

Are you looking forward to FM2011?

Aye. I’m not stupidly excited, I’m more looking forward to it as an update on stats and transfers really. If it was a re-release of FM10 with stat tweaks and transfers etc done I’d be happy.

Do you use Steam?

Aye

How long does a season take you?

Depends, can rattle through them in a couple days if I’m doing nowt else.

How often do you play it?

If my laptop is on then Football Manager will usually be on. It spends most the time minimised mind you so it is hard to say how much time I actually spend playing it. I have it loaded just now but nae playing.

How long have you been at FM-View?

Since before it opened, no idea how long ago that was. Three years I think?

What attracted you to FMV?

I think at the time it was where everyone I knew went so I just appeared too.

Why do you stay?

No idea. I would say the banter but that has disappeared. It is just habit now. It used to be a laugh with the likes of Jordo/Eastwood/Jez/Tommy/Cookie/Blackwood/Jack etc etc posting but none of these really post regularly anymore and all yous new cunts are boring as fuck and never create any discussion.

Do you post elsewhere?

Not FM related nah.

What do you think FMV does well?

Err. It may sound harsh but I honestly have no idea.

What do you think FMV does badly?

I think in my time as staff and even as a member I’ve had many rants about this and I can’t really be arsed going back into it all. There is no FM discussion, hardly any off topic posts, no interaction really, there is shit wrong all over the place like the rep add on is fucked and the status updates are fucked and it just makes the place look shite. Speaking of looking shite we’ve been screaming out for a new skin for years.

What sites do you like?

I only post here…

What sites do you hate?

I ONLY POST HERE.

What’s been your funniest moment on an FM forum?

Um. There has been some awesome one liners here that have amused me. I’m not sure on the funniest overall. John’s betting scam was amusing. There has been a few but I can’t remember off the top of my head.

Have you ever been banned from a site? If so, why?

Only been banned from here once I think. Some other people were being slightly racist and I just got drawn into the whole saga. Usually I stay clear of trouble though…

Where’ve you been staff?

Got my first staff job back on Neoseeker as mod. Then admin on fmcentral, writer on managercrisis, mod x2 here and admin once. Been mod/admin of 2 or 3 sites which never even opened.

Who do you get on best with?

Got to be Jordo. I’ve never a bad word to say about anyone so I get on with everyone obviously. I talk to Cookie and John quite a lot on MSN, get on with Tim really well actually although that is mainly all PS3 related shit. Same with John even if we couldn’t be less like each other if we tried and we fume at each other like every other day and then go in a huff for a few hours at a time (or a few months not so long ago) We’re like an old couple really.

Who do you get on worst with?

There is some complete fucking mongos about. I’m glad Yamo has fucked off, can’t stand the sight of him. I dislike White/Chilvers etc when they start the ‘hi bbz im sitting next u in uni LOL xx’ pish.

If you could choose one member to ban, who would it be?

Nae idea.

What football team do you support? Why?

Rangers obv. Pretty much my whole family do and I have lived in one of the best known Rangers areas in the country for all my years so one way or another I was going to be a gers man.

How often do you watch football?

I actually don’t watch football very often at all. I’ll watch the Rangers games and shit like MOTD but I very rarely sit down and watch a full 90mins of football which doesn’t involve Rangers.

What do you in your spare time besides FM?

Recently I’ve been wanking like a beast. When shit is normal then go out and get smashed during the week and stick to PS3/TV when I’m not.

Do you have a job or are you a student?

Student.

What’s your favourite band?

These type of questions are awful. I can’t narrow it down. Currently I’m addicted to Eminem after seeing him at T in the Park. Overall probably something like Stereophonics/Kings of Leon/Eminem etc etc

Favourite film?

Again, too hard to narrow it down. I’m not a big film watcher to be honest, I’d much rather watch a series than a film. Probably Se7en or The Departed.

The happy joyful Gers decided that he wasn’t happy about the questions, and so I asked him three more. Which seemed to satiate his lust for talking about himself:

Do you consult player guides?

Naw, I don’t particularly feel the need to know a player’s real life history and see his stats again.

Do you ever download save games?

Naw.

What’s the worst team you’ve ever played as?

Probably Kv Woluwe Zaventem or my current game as Stranraer. Quite enjoyed them actually, they offer something different and I’ve got a perfect tactic for lower league which sees me do well usually.

I swear, he’s making that team up.  No way do they exist.

Anyway, thank you to Gers for his cooperation, and tune in next time for another interview!

In the coming few weeks, I plan on interviewing a number of different members of the site. I’m going to begin with our evil overlord, Niniev. Niniev is thirty-something man who lives and works in Edinburgh. He’s the main root admin of FM-View, and without him, the site would fall apart. So, without further ado, here is the interview:

How long have you both played FM and CM?

I’ve played FM & CM since the first games, and even played the original Football Manager on the Amiga back in the day!

What are your favourite aspects?

Nothing like taking an established team and then building the next generation in the youth market.

Which type of game do you prefer (long term or short term)?

I prefer a long term game, but couldn’t get into it with FM10 for some reason.

What is your most successful career?

So far in FM10, I have taken Woking from Blue Square South to League 1 and looking like winning that as well, done that in 4 seasons, so am proud of that.

Before that, I took Scotland to the World Cup finals and won! Only time I will see that in my lifetime.

Do you buy FM on release day?

I have done in previous years, as long as people leave me alone on MSN and the forums looking for technical help!

Which is your favourite version?

FM09 I thot was great, easy to get into and I played it to death, FM10 just doesn’t have the same grab for me.

Are you looking forward to FM2011?

If its as good as it looks, then I cannot wait, the new features actually excite me – set piece creator, better tactics training etc, something we have all been waiting on!

Do you use Steam?

Yeah, after the Uniloc issue, it was easier to do that!

How long does a season take you?

Usually about a week to 10 days if I play a lot, 2 weeks+ if I don’t

How often do you play it?

Depends on my mood and if people leave me alone on MSN to play, or if Ormie is shouting at me for not doing work

How long have you been at FM-View?

January 08 – so almost 3 years now!

What attracted you to FMV?

At the time, it was a chance to help build FMV into something bigger than it was. I came over originally to build the mainsite for AFC (ex owner) and stayed on!

Why do you stay?

Cos they wont let me leave!

Do you post elsewhere?

I post on the official site and occasionally on LW and Fanboys, but usually to stir things up with Game and Putzy

What do you think FMV does well?

We do a good all round offering I think, but I think the podcast is something that we do really well, and our gfx team is looking amazing as well!

What do you think FMV does badly?

Tactics, training and basic FM stuff – tho I can say we are looking to change that with FM11 coming out!

What other FM fansites do you like?

I like PlayFM – a completely different take take on FM challenges!

What sites do you hate?

Hate is a strong word, but FMChat/Careers! They really piss me off with their inane chatter about nothing!

What’s been your funniest moment on an FM forum?

Has to be John (Big Matt) with his bet thread – greatest internet meme ever! Just wish I had some Google ads running that week as it would have been very profitable for us

Have you ever been banned from a site? If so, why?

Not yet, but there is still time to be banned from somewhere

Where’ve you been staff?

I was co-owner of a site called “The Touchline” with Michael Foster (Think he is at Weegie now) where we created graphics packs exclusively, that is how I met Q tbh, he had Scene Update on our site for a while. I was FMRadio as well, then we merged the 2 sites with Manager Crisis where I became an admin then set up “Saint and Greavsie” with Q then left MC to come over to FMV where I’ve been since!

Who do you get on best with?

There isn’t one person I get on with best, but Jack, Q, Nex, Zab, Ormie, Jay, Dan (ex MC), Levo – I could go on!

Who do you get on worst with?

Aodghan Clifford. Nuff said!

If you could choose one member to ban, who would it be?

I banned the above person already

What football team do you support? Why?

Hearts – local team, great history. Not doing so well at the moment, but we are still the only team who have taken 2nd spot from either Rangers or Celtic in the SPL since it started!

How often do you watch football?

As I reply to this, its on the telly! Was at Sheffield Wednesday a week ago, and will be at Hearts next month.

What do you in your spare time besides FM?

get bugged by you lot on MSN and Twitter! Other than that, I sit at home with me guitar strumming away badly to myself or watch other sports – NFL, NHL, F1 etc.

Do you have a job or are you a student?

I have a job, long days, great people, good times!

What’s your favourite band?

Queen – simple as!

Favourite film?

Grand Prix – superb film, really ahead of its time, great cinematography and the sounds of real cars.

After those generico questions, I decided to delve deeper into how Niniev played FM, and asked him a couple more questions:

Which leagues do you always load when you play FM?

Scotland, England, France, Italy, Spain, USA, Brazil, Argentina

Have you ever used FMRTE?

Yes, when Genie Scout went paid only to do some research on South American teams.

Have you ever unchecked “use real players?”

Wassat? Never noticed it. Whats it do likes?

Yes, ladies and germs, Niniev doesn’t know about the “use real players” option. For those of you who also don’t know, it’s the ability to make the game have no real life names at all-there are only regens. Magic.

He is an interesting character, and if you want to find out more, you’ll have to listen to the FM-View podcast, when he gets round to doing it…

For the past 5 versions of Football Manager I have been developing the same tactic along the same line. It started with a 442 and has gone through quite a few variations but the only things that have changed in 5 years is the midfield. It’s ever evolving and the positions in midfield tend to switch through a cycle. This is the story of the evolution of my ‘Switch’ tactic:

FM2005 – How it all started
When this game came out I was a little surprised but happy to see the changes from the last version of Championship Manager I had played (CM03/04), the name may have changed but the core game was the same – however a few things had changed. For the first time I saw that I needed to rethink my tactical and training ideals and could no longer count on the ones provided for me. I had started up a game as Swansea (my favourite team) and asked for advice on a forum about the best formation for this type of team. I was told to try a 4132 as wingers were not dependable enough in lower leagues and without true quality in the middle, you needed to put men in that area to close down space.

Looking at my squad there was not enough to even play this formation in my opinion so I went and signed a bunch of free transfers to try this new formation out. Within a few months I saw that it was stopping me losing games but we couldn’t score goals for love nor money – and so the first evolution came about. The four midfielders consisted of a DM/MC; AMLC; AMRC; and an AMC. During games I switched their positions about to suit the in-game situations. If I needed a goal or two then I switched them about again pushing up the DM to replace the middle of my midfield three, who in turn went up to AM and supported the strikers – who could now seek the space in the channels and leave the AMC to occupy the central defenders. If there was just a few minutes left and we still needed to score then it became a 4114 with a DM and an AM, also the AMLC and AMRC pushed up front and out wide leaving the strikers to only try and score. This was the only time our tactics changed from defensive to attacking. We struggled at times and a good winger was all it took to destroy us even though we dominated possession and chances, so I decided to look into it but with FM2006 around the corner I would try it again there.

FM2006 – Locking the defence
One of the main weaknesses of the tactic on FM2005 was the defensive mindset of the outfield which led to us struggling to win these games we were controlling – and that resulted from the fact that the defence was a shambles in terms of both player quality and instructions as I had focused too much on the midfield. I remembered Houllier’s Liverpool team and the fact that the back four all played like centre-backs and their style of defending was simplicity itself. From this I devised my three rules of defending: 1) ‘Get in the way’ – block the shot or pass with anything you can. Toe, knee, face. 2) ‘Get it rid’ – Don’t bother to run it up field or try a killer 40-yard ball down the wing. Just get it and then get rid. (If unsure then aim for row Z), and finally 3) ‘Never leave it’ – If you can get it then go do so, NEVER leave it for a teammate, all this causes is confusion.

Using these simple ideals I set the back four to the most defensive settings I could – with the keeper the same. This was also the first time I decided to retain our shape even with corners and free-kicks (ie keeper in the net, back four in defence, midfield taking set pieces and supporting, and the strikers trying to score). This defensive base then allowed me to switch from a defensive team mindset to a more attacking one. The team did seem stretched at times but we were scoring more goals without conceding many. I was very happy with the result of this tweak and I found that rotating the positions of the midfielders during matches was still working well – in fact with the stability at the back I could now even switch a few individual instructions about to better accommodate them in their new roles. Again our weakness was a good winger or striker attacking from the flanks.

FM2007 – Protecting the flanks
I needed to minimise the threat of the opposition down the flanks as this had become a real problem once I reached the Premiership with Swansea and especially started challenging for European places. The wingers I was beginning to face were of too high a quality to ignore and without protection from the midfield my fullbacks started getting overrun and the goals started flowing in against us. I spent a while studying the match engine in a bit of detail and saw that we had been poor at picking up AML’s and AMR’s once the opposition full/wing-back had pushed upfield. whilst this left space for us to exploit we tended to see either the winger or fullback occupying my defenders whilst the other was free to enjoy the space and time he’d been afforded. The midfield dominated the middle of the park but once it reached the touchline – they were letting the opposition play – that had to change.

I set up the team instructions to play wider and pegged back the outside midfielders creativity and mentality. This meant that they would try to stay in position a bit more and just recycle possession rather than trying to get forward themselves. Once we lost the balls these players would move to mark the opposition full-backs as they bombed forward which meant that my own full-backs could just concentrate on the wingers. This had the desired defensive effect but now the strikers got isolated and the AMC was swamped by the opposition midfield whenever he got on the ball. More changes needed but I could see that we’d nearly gotten the balance right and it would not be long before I was happy.

FM2008 – Self destruction
Before now I could only score or keep clean sheets in most games, and that was decided over the quality of the opposition’s midfield more than my own team. This was the game where everything went wrong and I seemed to start to unpick the good work that I’d done so far. The main problem was that I changed to one up front, and turned the other striker and the AMC into wingers. This, I thought, would provide extra width and shorten the gap between midfield and attack, meaning we’d be able to keep our defensive shape but also create better chances to score. Variations of this theme led me to adapt to a 451 for many months but we’d just play boring football and either win or lose 1-0. This was not acceptable after years of free-flowing football and in direct counter-point to the style that had led Swansea to clinch the League One title in real life.

So I again adapted from 451 to a 433 which led us to goals galore – at both ends. I had moved completely away from my ideals that I has spent three years on in a reckless attempt for a quick-fix. Sadly it was not until later that I realised this and before I knew it the new version of Football Managers had hit the shelves. This came at a good point as I could roll-back to my end-of-FM2007 tactic and start afresh without the complications I had added to things in 2008.

FM2009 – Learning patience
As quick as I had been to drastically change things in the previous version, I had to learn to make small changes again and wait to see how they affected things. The 2007 tactic was working well for me and with a small bit of tweaking I was happy with both our general defending and attacking but the same problems that had bugged us for the past few years were still evident – generating width in attack and protecting our flanks. I took a look around in real life football and noticed the trend for English League teams to adopt a 451 formation where the fullbacks moved into midfield, the wingers pushed forward, and the DM sat to help defend. The level of positional changing during games struck me as similar to my own, but whilst my changes occurred due to changing our shape for periods of play, the real life changes resulted from a the wide-reaching roles that each player had been given. This was not easy to replicate in FM2009 so I felt the need to try and replicate the movement between attack and defence but once again concentrated on the midfield to provide this change.

My dilemma was that I was stuck between a 4132 and a 4312 formation. One had proven great for defending and the other was great for attacking, but the weakness was my own recognition of when to switch from one to the other during matches – any mistakes and we’d invariably concede. During one of these changes I manually moved my DM to MC and the central MC to AM – or so I thought – but only the second change occurred. This new 41212 was very narrow but provided a great pivot system for changing between attack and defence. When we attacked the DM seemed to move between our MC’s and aided in the re-cycling of possession. In defence the AMC dropped back and allowed the MC’s to move into wider positions to pick up the opposition fullbacks. Still the attacking width needed increasing and now moving the strikers out wide just meant that their markers could go with them and there was nobody to occupy the space. A quick change to the fullbacks saw them playing like the central midfielders and getting forward to keep possession and stretch the opposition defence. Only against a quick counter-attack were we vulnerable but the solution to that was about to arrive!

FM2010 – The tactical revolution

With the new tactical system and introduction of roles I finally had the tool-set to build the tactic that I had longed for back with FM2005. The 2009 tactic had come close but still suffered from the bane of my life – the quick striker or winger. With this new system however I could minimise that threat by assigning team tactics to aid our attack, individual tactics to keep our shape and minimise the opposition threats, and now player roles which allowed me to revert to the stability of the 4132 whilst still enjoying the players movement between attack and defence. The sideline features and in-game shouts also helped me to make the changes needed without actually changing tactics. I could now switch our style, shape and mentality without loading a different tactic.

The Tactic
The basis of the ’4132-Switch’ tactic is quite simple – the defenders defend, the midfield is the engine, and the attackers score the goals. Width is provided by the fullbacks and attackers, whilst the centre of the field is protected by the midfielders. The one weakness of this system is that it only works with certain player-types but seeing as the type of player needed is available at all levels of the game (at least I have never struggled to find players that fit the requirements – usually on free transfers), this is not really a problem to fufil. The toughest roles to fill are usually goalkeeper and strikers. I tend to use counter-intuitive strategies for each opponent – ie for teams I expect to dominate I use Contain and not Control, whilst for those I expect to dominate me I use Control and not Contain. I find that this works better with this tactic that the ‘correct’ strategies, and that one of these two are all I need at the beginning of each match.

The Player Requirements
ALL – For this tactic to work all players need decent anticipation, work-rate, determination, and physicals. This is the core of this system as they will be (hopefully) running the game for the whole 90 minutes (or beyond).
GK – 6′ plus, needs good handling, and reflexes. Needs decent rushing out.
DR/DL – 6′ plus, needs decent concentration, and marking. Crossing is useful but not essential.
DC – 6’4 plus, needs decent concentration, heading, and positioning.
DM – Needs decent passing, tackling, team work, and positioning.
MLC/MRC – Needs decent passing, team work, and positioning.
Central MC – Needs decent dribbling, passing, creativity, and off the ball.
SCs – Needs good anticipation, and off the ball. Needs decent finishing, composure and dribbling.

The In-Match Shouts
For full effectiveness of this tactic you need to play certain shouts together. When you need to defend – ‘Play to feet’ and ‘Get ball forward’; and in attack – ‘Pass into space’ and ‘Retain possession’ both work well. Usually I leave the rest alone unless I am having problems with certain players and then I use the ‘Drop deeper’, ‘Push up’, ‘Play wider’, and/or ‘Play narrower’ shouts to combat that player. It’s normal for me to change the shouts every 15-20 minutes during a match and those times could be even shorter if the opposition is making changes.

The Download

Download the 4132 Switch now from SendSpace

Link to the article in our FMV Forums

I am sure that it will work well with your team.

Here is the looking of the tactic:

and here are the instructions:

and last but not least some of the results.

Suggested players for each position:

GK: Nothing specific
DR: Lahm is the best player for this position. Try finding a player with Lahm’s attributes or something like this.
DL: See DR.
DF: The one on the right. He is gonna to be the player that is going to score on your corners, so I ‘d say a good heading. (ex. Micah Richards)
DF: A good one
MC: Like Mascherano
MC: Like Veratti, Kroos, Pjanic etc.
AMR: A fast and decent generally guy. I ‘d suggest someone like Perotti,Nani,Quaresma
AML: Like AMR
AMC: Not easy to choose. It’s more like the MC. Veratti,Kroos,Pjanic can be the best in this position.
CF: Nothing specific I think.

Put it here: C: \Documents and Settings\user\My Documents\Sports Interactive\Football Manager 2010\tactics

As someone who has preferred to play as modest teams more often than not in my 12+ years of playing football management simulations, I have developed into quite a defensive player. I like my teams to be compact, organized, possession orientated, and difficult to break down above all else. Just as can be said in real life, if the team isn’t one of the better ones in the division, you have much more chance of preventing the opposition from scoring than you have of scoring yourself, so this can be and often is the platform for their results. To be boring but effective is ultimately what the cautious manager sets out to achieve. Of course, it is possible to play defensive football on a large pitch in FM, but this requires ever more emphasis on team structure and sitting back, as well as making direct passing a necessity. In conclusion, it should be remembered that defensive football can be effective for top sides, as well as less reputable ones.

There are two different approaches with home fixtures in mind:

Minimum allowed
I believe this is beneficial and important for a player who advocates a defensive mindset combined with possession orientated football going forward. A bigger pitch will not only compromise your intentions to make your side difficult to beat while playing this way, but it will also benefit stronger teams that are able to make better use of the extra space than you are.

Maximum allowed
I’m of the view that a large pitch should be chosen if the following cases apply: A) My squad is generally poor on the ball to the point of not feeling assured about the chances of them being able to retain and recycle possession effectively on a small pitch. B) I have a big targetman capable of coming out on top, pun very much intended, in physical battles with opposition central defenders. I also have wingers who are reasonably quick for the level they’re playing at, or they are uncharacteristically good in the air. C) My central defenders possess at least average speed in proportion to the attackers in their division (due to the increased vulnerability to route one balls).

On a larger pitch, I’d say it’s important to be even more meticulous about maintaining team shape. This is because it is easier for defending players to be pulled out of position, as well as the fact that good players are more comfortable when they have more space and time on the ball.

Personally, I prefer formations with just the one forward. Of course, this is to allow for the benefit of having one extra player defending and supporting. A formation need not be chosen and set in stone, although my favourite whenever possible is a standard 4-5-1 in the TC (DMC, 2 MCs and 2 advanced wingers). When choosing a formation based on the opposition, I try to adhere to the rule of having 1 extra player dealing with their attacks. A classic example of this is 4-5-1 vs 4-4-2.

Small pitch:
Home: Rigid – Rigid vs all.
Away: Rigid/Very Rigid – Rigid vs weaker teams-similar strength teams. Very rigid vs strong teams.

Large pitch:
Home: Rigid/Very rigid – Rigid vs weaker teams. Very rigid vs similar strength-stronger teams.
Away: Very rigid vs all.

The logic? I don’t want to compromise defensive stability in favour of smoother transitional play when building team moves. As a defensive manager, stability and resilience always take priority. This policy is even more essential on a larger pitch.

It is difficult to set general rules and principles here. I go by the rule that initial passing should be short on a small pitch, and more direct on a larger pitch. However, passing is something that one needs to monitor constantly over the course of a match. I don’t believe it is merely a co-incidence that no fewer than 10 of the touchline instructions/shouts alter your team’s passing either as a main change, or a minor one alongside something else. Needless to say, you gain the most insight from what you see (extended highlights always gives you plenty of clues), but the match stats also help a lot. If playing direct on a larger pitch, I feel that 45% passing completion is fine all things considered; it may even be very good if your opposition are themselves playing a short passing game, thus inflating their stat and deflating that of my team’s. However, if you’re trying to execute a short passing game and the stats are going that far against you, it is clear that your team is being outplayed and are struggling to construct moves for one reason or another. Alternatively, if passing completion is in excess of 60% while playing a shorter passing game, I feel it’s worth considering usage of a control match strategy if you’re not already, as well as the Get Ball Forward shout (increase in passing length). Another option when dominating possession is to encourage through balls by using the Pass Into Space shout. In a nut shell, if I have plenty of possession yet am not winning the game, the goal should be to get the team to do more with the ball than they are. If a team move of 20+ passes doesn’t come close to creating a chance, it is blatant that the passing game is not penetrating enough.

Small pitch:
Home: Default/More Disciplined – Default vs weaker-similar strength teams. More disciplined vs stronger teams.
Away: More Disciplined vs all.

Large pitch:
Home: Default/More Disciplined – Default vs weaker teams. More disciplined vs similar strength-stronger teams.
Away: More Disciplined vs all.

When playing away, I prefer my team to retain discipline no matter what. At home and on a smaller pitch, I am more open to allowing players some freedom to deviate slightly from tactical instructions since the consequences for doing so seem much less dangerous than on a larger pitch.

Small pitch:
Home: Stand-Off/Default – Default vs similar strength-stronger teams. Stand-off vs weaker teams.
Away: Stand-Off/Default – Default against weaker-similar strength teams. Stand-off against stronger teams.

Large pitch:
Home: Stand-Off/Default – Default vs weaker teams. Stand-Off vs similar strength-stronger teams.
Away: Stand-Off vs all.

Conflicting principles here. At home on a small pitch, I actually prefer higher levels of closing down against similar strength-stronger sides (a la’ defending from the front), despite the fact that higher closing down is preferred by most FM players only when attacking, yet this guide is supposed to be concerned more with defending. However, this is to achieve the aim of disrupting the opposition. They will already struggle a little to get their passing game going due to playing away from home, let alone when being restricted further by being closed down quite avidly on a pitch where they already have limited space due to its compact dimensions. In contrast, against weaker teams playing away against me, I prefer to be as inviting as possible with low levels of closing down. This helps entice them forward, which then leaves the space to be exploited that may otherwise be hard to come by. Away from home, I have the opposite preference. I seek to deny space against weaker-similar strength teams, because they will be attacking as the home team and won’t need inviting like they do when playing on my patch. Then, I give respect to the stronger teams and feel that less closing down / more emphasis on keeping shape is a better strategy when playing them away. After all, this case entails being an underdog going into the lion’s den!

On a larger pitch, I very rarely advocate high levels of closing down regardless of the strength of the opposition. This is due to the ease in which players may be dragged around the pitch, thus creating far more space than if this happens on a small one. Low levels of closing down tend to be very important for a team looking to keep its defensive shape on a large pitch. Only at home against weaker sides am I open to moderate levels of closing down. I do not believe in inviting a weak team forward like on the small pitch. This is purely down to how they are not able to be as compact when parking the bus here, so the space to attack them is much less elusive and I’ve no reason to be counter-attacking for this reason. Therefore, better to hassle them and attempt to get the ball back sooner.

Small/Large pitch:
Home: Default/More Aggressive – Default vs weaker-similar strength teams. More aggressive vs stronger teams.
Away: More Aggressive vs all.

At home, I prefer to invite the weaker teams to make mistakes that I can punish them for, but this aim can be compromised with a physical approach which breaks up play too soon. Against the stronger sides, I like be as physical as possible since I’d rather focus more on keeping them at bay, as opposed to seeking to counter their much more dangerous attacks. Away from home, I feel that aggressive tackling is important whether your team is seeking to deny space, sitting back and being resilient, or trying to play on the counter. After all, the home team will be throwing plenty of players forward. Even if you break up the play early with stern challenges, there is always going to be space to be found on the break.

Small/Large pitch:
Home: Zonal/Default/Man Marking – Zonal vs weaker teams. Default vs similar strength teams. Man marking vs strong teams.
Away: Man Marking vs all.

I believe man marking to be generally superior defensively, but again, I adjust marking according to my rule of how inviting I want to be. Instead of acknowledging the definitions here, I think of it as “how much space do I want to allow?” with looser/zonal marking being the most lenient, and man marking as the most restrictive. If I want to invite a team to attack with a view to hitting them on the break, I feel it’s counter-productive to man mark since this seems to lead to the breaking up of attacks much earlier.

Small/Large pitch:
Home: Float crosses/Drill Crosses – Float Crosses only if attacking, as well as fortunate enough to possess good wingers *and* having a forward who’s very good in the air. Drill Crosses in all other scenarios.
Away: Drill Crosses vs all.

Float crosses allow for emphasis on the quality of crosses if attacking, but why bother if A) You don’t have a top class winger for your division & B) Don’t have a top class forward to get on the end of the cross? Drill crosses can be very effective on the counter, which may be as good as you can hope for. Away from home, I always go for drill crosses since I’m of the opinion that flows better when hitting teams on the break. i.e. Getting it forward and then into the box ASAP, in the hope that someone finds the space to get on the end of it.

Small/Large pitch:
Home: Default/Stick To Position – Default vs weaker-similar strength teams. Stick To Position vs strong teams.
Away: Stick To Position vs all.

I only ever go for a standard freedom to roam at home if I believe that I am able to see much more of the ball and should make more chances, or else the allocation of free roles gives the other team too much space to counter-attack. Against teams who will look to attack me, I much rather players to remain as organized as possible. Away from home, the emphasis is always on players sticking to their instructions.

So, there you have it. I feel the need to reiterate that the aforementioned are but opinions and personal preferences. I feel that they work very well for me. If you have found this at all helpful or the slightest bit thought provoking, I’m glad. If not, and you have very different views or counter-theories, I’m sure that would make for some good discussion and/or debate. I tried to condense it as much as possible in the hope of preventing it from being a dull wall of text. Thanks for reading!

Morale has become a key part of the game in FM2010 and yet most people still do not know how to increase the levels of morale in their own squads or the benefits it actually confers. It’s time to break down the morale system in the game and explain it piece by piece.

How important is it?
A good place to start is with the importance of having good morale in your side. Ever wondered why your team can win two games in a row and then start playing some great football, or how a team at the top can turn into relegation candidates very quickly if they lose a couple of games – the answer in both cases is simply morale.

A team full of confident, happy players will normally outperform another team of jaded, upset players even if the second players have better players. This is reflected in FM2010 quite well by the morale system and has just as important a role to play in transfer policy, training regimes, and squad/team selections.

How do you increase morale?
Luckily there are a number of options in FM2010 that allow you to boost (and reduce if you really want to) the morale of your players. I’ll go over the ‘twelve steps to success’ here and discuss the merits of each.

1. Playing games: This is probably the most important way of increasing morale. Every professional footballer would like to play in every game they can and so giving them a game can work well to increasing their morale. Substitute appearances help, but it’s much better to give them a starting berth or even a run of games over a few weeks.
2. Winning games: Whilst every professional wants to play, they also want to win. This can usually be coupled with the above if the result goes your way, and the benefits from a win are not to be ignored. String a few wins together and you can probably expect to see the morale of your squad rising to much healthier levels.
3. Team talks: An encouraging or praising team talk can go a long way to boost the morale and confidence for that match and helps in achieving the above mentioned win. If you are unsure on how to best use these talks then it may be best to hire an assistant that is a good motivator and set him to assign team talks until you get a better idea.
4. Press conferences: Nothing feels better than your manager appreciating your work in the press and this is one of the simplest things you can do that most people overlook due to the repetitive nature of these events. Praising good form (when deserved) is an easy way to boost a players confidence, and even saying how disappointed you are with a players poor performance (again, if deserved) can be enough to kick-start a better attitude and run of form from him.
5. League position: If your club’s reputation (or that of your players) is such that your players expect to be in a certain position then it’ll hurt morale if you are below their expectations. The boost from this is coupled with that from gaining wins and can make the difference between rising and falling in the league table.
6. New contracts: They may love the game, but it is also a job – so you can expect players who have had a pay rise to be happier about things. It’s especially important to settle any key player’s contracts before they go to the press about it or you will find the rest of the squad losing morale that such an important member of the squad is unhappy.
7. Player/Staff Recommendations: Everyone appreciates being asked their opinions so if you are looking for a new staff member or player it may prove useful to ask members of your squad for recommendations. If you sign the person they suggest then expect your relationship with you to improve and their morale too as a direct result.
8. Keeping promises: Players believe what you tell them – so those signed as a Key Player are expecting to be in the first XI for every game they are available. It’s important to correctly offer squad-roles when signing a player and also to adjust their role when it no longer fits – otherwise you will certainly see unhappy players. Also it’s a sad fact that sometimes no matter how much you micro-manage things you will end up with a player that is unhappy and demanding something (new contract, transfer, or maybe more playing time). In your response you are making a promise to the player and he will remember! If you fail to abide by your promise then he will be understandably upset.
9. Culling the troublemakers: Nothing lowers morale like troublemaker in the dressing room, and nothing raises it like booting them out of the club. Certain players may have a poor attitude which can rub off on the more impressionable (and normally younger) members of the squad, so as soon as they are identified you should be looking to get rid of them before too much damage can occur.10) Tutoring: Sometimes young players need a guiding hand of experience to help them develop in the right way, whilst an older pro can be eager to pass on his knowledge to the younger generation before he retires. Tutoring is a good way of boosting short-term morale and long-term team relationships.
10. Playing in preferred positions: No striker will be happy about playing left-back each week, so it’s important to try to play your players in their favoured positions to keep them happy and get the best performances out of them. The more unknown the position is to them the more nervous you can expect them to be – which will affect the result and long-term morale.
11. Happiness of friends/leaders: It’s important to keep your Captain’s happy, not just for their sake but for the squad’s morale too. You will struggle to motivate the players if their on-pitch leader isn’t fired up, so it’s far better to keep him happy and then let his influence spread throughout the squad. It’s also important to keep an eye on player relationships as one unhappy friend could see another team-mate getting upset too. Conversely if an unhappy player has a friend who is doing well, he could very well start to cheer up with a little work by you.

How can I monitor squad morale?

So now you know how important high morale is and also how to get it there, you need to keep an eye on squad morale to head off any potential problems. The first way to do this is simply in the main squad screen – there are a number of places to see the squad morale including the selection view (press F3 to access your first team squad and then select ‘Selection’ from the ‘Views’ drop-down menu). This will give you an overview of each player in your squad including their current morale levels ranging from Very Poor to Superb.

You can also get good information from your Assistant by asking about your team talks (select Team Talk Feedback from the Assistant Advice drop-down menu in your main squad screen). On this screen provide information on your squad’s morale and also on how well they are getting along. This information (plus a little more,  including any language problems unsettling players) is also available during a match on the Assistant-name Feedback screen. Which can help you to see which players are playing better than others and also inform you of any changes that may need to be made.

FMScout has a good download that can put a summary of your assistant’s reports on the Stats screen during a match. This will tell you which of your players are confident and which are buckling under the pressure, which is a great help in figuring out substitutions or why your formation/tactics are not working. You can find the xml file and instructions for it’s installation here: FMScout Player Motivation Tool.

The theory in play

I have had great success in past games by following the above tips and tool. In my latest game as Swansea City I had possibly the best results due to team morale where I took a young (average age of 19) squad of regens to the Premiership and Champions League titles. My Assistant was hand-picked for his motivational and man-management skills and was invaluable to our success. Click here to see how he rated my team’s bonding at the start of that legendary season and here for just one of our fantastic performances!

So now you have the tools at your disposal to keep your squad happy get out there and get them excited about playing for you. Just remember that success builds success.

FootballManagerLive went “live” again last week so I decided to test it out once again. I had a 4 month subscription last year but didn’t really get into it. Don’t get me wrong, the basics were brilliant, but there was just so much of an advantage given to managers who play it 24/7 I just didn’t really enjoy being at the bottom of the barrel all of the time.

Since this time they’ve added and tweaked a lot of features which I won’t go into as they’ve been covered numerous times elsewhere, but I feel they’ve really evened up the game. Obviously managers who are online more than anyone else will have an advantage – and rightly so, but those who cannot commit as much time can still stay competitive which is all I want.

My Team and Aims

The birth of John Trewick Football Genius came in the Ramos Gameworld. I chose a returning stars gameworld over a fantasy world mainly because I knew I’d have to focus on epic scouting to do well in a Fantasy World which is not something I initially wanted to master. My chosen skill to start with is infrastructure.

One of my main qualms about Football Manager 2010 is the lack of input you have into the youth system. You can upgrade via asking the board, or just sign random 16 year olds you find, but there’s not much more you can do. However, FM:Live allows you to construct youth academies which is pretty much where I will be pinning my hopes. I will, of course, keep cherry picking the best youth I see on the transfer lists, but I will not be going for big stars like Ronaldo, Messi etc. I will not be building a Youth Academy for a few days to gauge the interest that each country holds. I want to go into a top 10 country (Argentina, Brazil, Spain, Holland, Italy, Germany, England, France etc – but I want to go where there’s not so much interest… Maybe I’ll go down the route of a Russia, a Turkey, a Paraguay or another slightly lesser of the footballing nations.

Getting Started

Getting started on FM:Live you have a pool of 50 players of which you can sign up with a budget of £50,000 per day for wages, and £500,000 acquisition fees. Initially I was quite cautious about the size of my squad, selection just a minimum of 18 players but after playing a few friendly’s it was clear fitness was going to be an issue, you get a huge amount of injuries every game so a larger squad was required. Of the 50 players in my pool, I immediately highlighted 3 key players who’d be central to any success I may have over the next few years. [click name for stats screenie]

Name: Ricardo Faty

Nationality: French
Age: 23
Position: DMC

Name: Lorenzo Crisetig

Nationality: Italian
Age: 17
Position: DMC

Name: Wilifred Niflore

Nationality: French
Age: 28
Position: ST

Other than these 3 though, my pool was quite weak, it was clear I’d have a massive decision to make. Do I select the bare minimum of players and then hope for some luck in the transfer auctions? Do I select a squad that’s large enough for me to carry on in case I don’t win any auctions – after all, I don’t really know what the “average” wage for players are as of yet, I’m still learning…! Or, do I select a huge squad and spend my entire budget on average players hoping a few do better than their stats suggest, but then have no room to manoeuvre in the following transfer auctions?

I played it relatively safe; I decided to pick 20 players. My squad consisted of 6 youngsters (17-19), 6 early 20s (21-24), then 8 peaked players (26-32).

After the unveiling of this squad I still had a healthy bank balance and enough free wages to sign a few players if I so wish, although I wanted to see out the first 5 days or so without spending to get an idea for the average wages etc. My previous experience on FM:Live taught me the economy gets ridiculous after a few seasons, but hopefully the re-launch has attempted to fix this!

Coming up – my views on the Youth Academy and if they’re worth it plus my weekly review of the goings on in Ramos and John Trewick Football Genius!

The enthusiasm for the relaunched FM Live seems to be coming from a surprising source – The FM community. Half the staff members here at FM-View are playing FML at the moment with more considering it (myself not included). Another site currently suffering from ‘FMLitis’ (Can I trademark that?) is Fever-Pitch where a large proportion of their staff are now playing FML. Personally I don’t see this as a long term shift but the same pattern we saw in November 2008 when FML first launched. It’s the ‘something new’ syndrome where everyone jumps on board to see what it’s like or in some cases to see how much it has changed.

Another factor for those existing FM players making the shift seems to be the new cheaper price (£4.99 a month) but also that you no longer are locked into longer contracts or have to pay one lump sum to save money. Only having to spend £4.99 and stay a month is definitely an incentive to make even the most ardent FML sceptic (Yes, that means me!) consider giving the game a spin. I’ve never been one for playing online FM, I’ve probably played 2 or 3 online games in my life but the relaunch and the possibility of choosing to go into a Fantasy game world is appealing.

A Quick explanation of Fantasy Worlds …

We want the balance of ‘Fantasy Worlds’ to be the same as that in ‘Returning Stars’ worlds, which are filled with real players, so the FM player database is still our template.

What we don’t want however is Messi, Ronaldo and others to just be given a random name and age and keep the same stats – it would be easy to spot top talent if that was the case!

Therefore we effectively pull out certain parts of real player information, do a little bit of jumbling, and then stick the parts together again.

You can read more about Fantasy game worlds over on the FML blog at Sega.com or visit GameWorldOne for a more in depth look.

Relaunch day seemed to pass off relatively smoothly – This thread on SI games forum details the issues of launch day. Looking at it from the perspective of someone that has seen way too many launch days of CM & FM, it was a lot smoother in some respects than a few versions.

Over the next few weeks we’re hoping to bring you all some FML related content not only from those at this site but also from other people from the FML community. In the mean time make sure you check out the latest FMV podcast which featured Rob Barns-Graham & Paul Hecker from Sega discussing the relaunch of FM Live.