FM2005: Tactics Advise?

[Lucky Jim]

Some of these analogies about point guards and such don't really work. Basically setting someone as a playmaker tells your team that you want to get that person the ball and allow them to set up your attacks. In this sense they're a lot like a point guard, but the player's passing, decisions, creativity, anticipation, and probably a number of other skills would be more important than they're dribbling ability. Your playmaker is going to be a midfielder, most likely an attacking one, that receives the ball and quickly decides the best place to funnel an attack. A target man is going to be a forward that can win balls in the air. The general idea behind using a target man is that he is a player capable of winning a long or direct ball in the air and maintaining possession or flicking the ball on to teammates. If you're playing a slow tempo, short passing, build up your attacks kind of game then the target man approach is probably less important, and utilizing a playmaker might be moreso as you'll want your more methodical attacks to be controlled by a highly skilled player. If you have one of the big intimidating guys described in earlier posts (high jumping, heading, and strength) using him as a target man can save you a lot of trouble by allowing you to cross from deep or play longer balls forward without simply giving away possession, and without having to slowly pick your way through the entire length of the field. In this way having a target man type player can be an incredible boost to your team but in the same way using a player that isn't really a target man as a target man is going to destroy your attacks as you're playing balls forward to someone that can't win or maintain possession. I know a lot of this was kind of covered earlier but this was something I had trouble understanding for a while and thinking about like this helped me.

[daedalus]

Originally Posted by Lucky Jim

Some of these analogies about point guards and such don't really work. Basically setting someone as a playmaker tells your team that you want to get that person the ball and allow them to set up your attacks. In this sense they're a lot like a point guard, but the player's passing, decisions, creativity, anticipation, and probably a number of other skills would be more important than they're dribbling ability. Your playmaker is going to be a midfielder, most likely an attacking one, that receives the ball and quickly decides the best place to funnel an attack.

So . . . your main argument against the analogy of playmaker-point guard is the lack of necessity of dribbling ability by a playmaker in footie? I can think of three oodles worth of basketball players, past and present, who can out-dribble Earvin Johnson and I can't think of any I'd prefer as my point guard.

[MikeVick7]

Yeah a point guard doesn't necessarily have to be defined by his dribbling ability. They usually lead their team in assists too. I think the point guard analogy works just fine here. Plus we're just trying to help further explain what a soccer playmaker is.

[Raven]

Thanks guys, good stuff here. Very helpful to me, and others who are still new to the game.


I was thinking the same thing about a targetman. Maybe a DM who the defenders pushed the ball on to, then let him send through balls up to the attackers. You guys say that is a bad idea, because tartgetmen only work on the offensive half of the pitch?

[MikeVick7]

Originally Posted by Raven

Thanks guys, good stuff here. Very helpful to me, and others who are still new to the game.


I was thinking the same thing about a targetman. Maybe a DM who the defenders pushed the ball on to, then let him send through balls up to the attackers. You guys say that is a bad idea, because tartgetmen only work on the offensive half of the pitch?

Yeah your DM would work better as a Playmaker as long as he had the necessary passing skills...among others. Think of a Target Man as more of a big strong forward with good heading...jumping and strength.

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by MikeVick7

Think of a Target Man as more of a big strong forward with good heading...jumping and strength.

your definition of a target man is about the same as the one I go with. For example, I use this guy as my target man (click on thumbnail to see his profile):


So anyone can confirm that he is indeed a good target man? I think so, just want to validate my thinking/evaluation of the guy... He has good heading, finishing, passing, has good first touch/technique, is good off the ball and very creative. On top of it all, he's fairly strong. I don't care so much that he has no pace, as I only want him to sit in space, around the edge of the box or so and either turn around and kick one for long range, pass it around, or head it in on corners... Let me know what you think of him. Thanks in advance!

FM

[Lucky Jim]

Originally Posted by daedalus

So . . . your main argument against the analogy of playmaker-point guard is the lack of necessity of dribbling ability by a playmaker in footie? I can think of three oodles worth of basketball players, past and present, who can out-dribble Earvin Johnson and I can't think of any I'd prefer as my point guard.

Geez I was responding to this:

Originally Posted by MikeVick7

I think you kind of want your Playmaker to not only get the ball but then push it upfield much like the point guard position mentioned in an earlier post. Your point guard on a bball team has the best ball handling skills...so if you have a player on your team that is exceptional in ball handling then you want to think about setting him as your Playmaker. If you don't have this kind of player then I wouldn't worry about using it.

And I thought it was kind of leading things in the wrong direction. I think MikeVick knows what he's talking about, I just thought the analogy was being stretched too far and would confuse people that were having trouble.

*shuts up*

[MikeVick7]

Yes...I think that is a very good example. The forward that I use as a Target Man fits the same description and he does wonders for me up front. I'm in year 2015...but the guy I use is Mike Hanke from Germany.

Heading - 20
Jumping - 16
Strength - 14
Off the Ball - 20

This guy is a monster for me.

[Lucky Jim]

Originally Posted by FrogMan

So anyone can confirm that he is indeed a good target man?

Yeah that looks like the definition of a target man. With that low pace he's probably not going to be effective any other way.

[MikeVick7]

Originally Posted by Lucky Jim

Geez I was responding to this:



And I thought it was kind of leading things in the wrong direction. I think MikeVick knows what he's talking about, I just thought the analogy was being stretched too far and would confuse people that were having trouble.

*shuts up*

My bad too Jim. I thought you were kinda referring to my post as well. We're on the same track for the most part.

[Glengoyne]

Originally Posted by Marc Vaughan

PS. One use of through balls which has worked for me is giving it to a good defensive midfielder who players slightly in advance of your defensive line, have him act as an outlet and hold up the ball with through balls on.

He'll need to be fairly strong physically as he'll often be put under pressure, but if he's good enough he'll act as a distributor for the team and ping the ball to attacking players and setting up attacks (works especially well if you're counter attacking - IF he's a fast thinker and has a good passing range so he can hit long balls to any players who are breaking).

This is almost exactly how my 442 transformed into a 4132. I had a defensive midfielder with great passing skills, so I just pulled him back a little bit, and positioned him between my midfielders and defenders. He gets a good number of Key Passes and assists. I have found that his skillset is difficult to replace with a single backup. When he is injured or my I need to rest him, the team just isn't the same.

[Raven]

What about Free Role? Anyone want to define that? What kind of players are good in that role?

[rexallllsc]

Originally Posted by MikeVick7

Yes...I think that is a very good example. The forward that I use as a Target Man fits the same description and he does wonders for me up front. I'm in year 2015...but the guy I use is Mike Hanke from Germany.

Heading - 20
Jumping - 16
Strength - 14
Off the Ball - 20

This guy is a monster for me.

What are his #s? Post Screens!

[Marc Vaughan]

Just reached a new record for red cards in a game! .... had 4 men sent off during one match, one after 15 minutes, all the rest before 60 minutes.

With 10 men I managed to grab a goal on the break and go 1-0 up, after 30 minutes I was down to 9 men ... held on until the 50th minute when they equalised, after 56 minutes I was down to 8 men, then in the 60th minute I gave away a penalty and was down to 7 men ....


Lost 4-1 in the end, the final 30 minutes were truly surreal with my team playing backs to the wall defending with no players far enough out to allow us a break from the pressure ...

(small consolation was that the opposition had a man sent off in the 75th minute)

Really wanted to complain about the standard of refereeing after the match .... incompetant fool

[MikeVick7]

Originally Posted by rexallllsc

What are his #s? Post Screens!

Here's a screenshot of my Target Man.



Takin a page out of Frogman's book by posting the screenshot.

[MikeVick7]

Originally Posted by Marc Vaughan

Just reached a new record for red cards in a game! .... had 4 men sent off during one match, one after 15 minutes, all the rest before 60 minutes.

With 10 men I managed to grab a goal on the break and go 1-0 up, after 30 minutes I was down to 9 men ... held on until the 50th minute when they equalised, after 56 minutes I was down to 8 men, then in the 60th minute I gave away a penalty and was down to 7 men ....


Lost 4-1 in the end, the final 30 minutes were truly surreal with my team playing backs to the wall defending with no players far enough out to allow us a break from the pressure ...

(small consolation was that the opposition had a man sent off in the 75th minute)

Really wanted to complain about the standard of refereeing after the match .... incompetant fool

Who was the referee? It seems like the referee named T. Boyle???...I may be way off on the name. But it seems like he is very quick with the yellow cards whenever he refs my matches.

[Ajaxab]

Originally Posted by Marc Vaughan

Just reached a new record for red cards in a game! .... had 4 men sent off during one match, one after 15 minutes, all the rest before 60 minutes.

With 10 men I managed to grab a goal on the break and go 1-0 up, after 30 minutes I was down to 9 men ... held on until the 50th minute when they equalised, after 56 minutes I was down to 8 men, then in the 60th minute I gave away a penalty and was down to 7 men ....


Lost 4-1 in the end, the final 30 minutes were truly surreal with my team playing backs to the wall defending with no players far enough out to allow us a break from the pressure ...

(small consolation was that the opposition had a man sent off in the 75th minute)

Really wanted to complain about the standard of refereeing after the match .... incompetant fool

This kind of officiating demonstrates why we need the 'complain about a match official' option in FM. Even if hardly ever any referees got dismissed in the past, there is something therapeutic about letting the national association know about how my team has been jobbed.

[rexallllsc]

Originally Posted by MikeVick7

Here's a screenshot of my Target Man.



Takin a page out of Frogman's book by posting the screenshot.

nice #s. I'm gonna show off a few of my guys (even though they were on my team when they started) in another thread!

[ISiddiqui]

Originally Posted by MikeVick7

Here's a screenshot of my Target Man.



Takin a page out of Frogman's book by posting the screenshot.

Btw, I have a 'Barclay's Premierleague' icon downloaded, and tried to get it in the game calling it epl.png and putting it in the Competitons folder under English, but it won't show up... how did you get yours in?

[MikeVick7]

Originally Posted by ISiddiqui

Btw, I have a 'Barclay's Premierleague' icon downloaded, and tried to get it in the game calling it epl.png and putting it in the Competitons folder under English, but it won't show up... how did you get yours in?

To get your Barclay's logo to show up you have to put it here:

data/graphics/pictures/clubs/eng/premiership

If you just have the logo...then I think you may have to create the premiership folder.

This is where I just downloaded the entire premiership folder:

http://www.sortitoutsi.net/index.php...ile&fileid=594

[ISiddiqui]

Yeah, I got the logo, I guess I just have to create the folder... thanks .

Should I call it epl.png as well?

Edit: I already have an EPL folder (Called epl) where my kits and stuff are in... I just put it in there.

[MikeVick7]

Originally Posted by ISiddiqui

Yeah, I got the logo, I guess I just have to create the folder... thanks .

Should I call it epl.png as well?

Edit: I already have an EPL folder (Called epl) where my kits and stuff are in... I just put it in there.

The one that I have is called premiership.png

[ISiddiqui]

WOOT! Premiership.png worked . I guess I was too smart for my own good. I moved that one earlier, thinking it needed to be somewhere else!

[Raven]

Free Role?

Anybody?

[MikeVick7]

I'm at work so I'm probably gonna botch this...but a free role would be used for a midfielder/winger...or a fast striker that has tremendous offensive skills. I think I read somewhere that someone that is on a free role doesn't worry as much about the defensive side of things and has so much offensive talent that they can rome the pitch so they are ready to attack. I think a high Creativity and Off the Ball ratings are essential among others.

[SirFozzie]

Well.. quick description (mostly because of the pain)

In American Football, everything's pretty well regimented. You run THIS pattern, make the cut at this many yards deep, you cover this area..

A free role would be someone, almost like a 2nd QB. Their job is to be the wild card. To take advantage of what they see.

Example, the Middle Linebacker on defense could be considered a free role type position. Depending on how he reads the play, he could blitz, move up for a run stop, shadow the QB, or drop back into coverage.

A Free Role doesn't have any real instructions from you, just told to go out there and do what he considers necessary.

My three key abilities, off hand.

Creativity.
Decisions.
Off the Ball.

Also helps if they have good dribbling and passing skills, to take care of what they see offensively, and good Marking/Tackling skills for defensive work.

[Marc Vaughan]

Free role is basically someone who's given a licence to ad-lib and do what they think is best, they'll roam more from their pitch position than they would normally and might take bigger risks than a 'normal' player ...

As such unless you have someone who is 100% a great player (compared to the level you're playing at) use this option at your own risk - basically give it to the wrong sort of player and he'll always be in the right place at the wrong time...

[SunDancer]

I asked this question over in EF's dynasty, and though I post it here:

Everytime you appear you TV, do you receive a fee, or is it done on the year regardless of how many times you make the TV? Also, do television apperances have any other effect expect the television money?

[Marc Vaughan]

Originally Posted by SunDancer

I asked this question over in EF's dynasty, and though I post it here:

Everytime you appear you TV, do you receive a fee, or is it done on the year regardless of how many times you make the TV? Also, do television apperances have any other effect expect the television money?

It depends entirely on the league you're playing in as each has different rules concerning your TV team.

In the UK most deals (there are different ones for each of the Premiership, Nationwise Leagues (Championship - Div 2) and Conference) involve TV money in a lump sum and also a smaller payment for individual televised matches. In addition to this Cup matches recieve a seperate individual payment.

[SunDancer]

Originally Posted by Marc Vaughan

It depends entirely on the league you're playing in as each has different rules concerning your TV team.

In the UK most deals (there are different ones for each of the Premiership, Nationwise Leagues (Championship - Div 2) and Conference) involve TV money in a lump sum and also a smaller payment for individual televised matches. In addition to this Cup matches recieve a seperate individual payment.

Thanks Marc. Does TV games have an effect on the players, coaches?

[Marc Vaughan]

Originally Posted by SunDancer

Thanks Marc. Does TV games have an effect on the players, coaches?

It adds extra pressure on all people involved in the match (including the officials).

[Icy]

Originally Posted by Marc Vaughan

It adds extra pressure on all people involved in the match (including the officials).

Awesome how you at SI take care of all the small but important details