New to FIFA games, so some advice is welcome

[Shamhat1915]

I've only just gotten into playing FIFA, and soccer in general. As such, I have nowhere near the knowledge I have for other sports, and don't know how to build a team. The career modes are always my favorite in all sports games; I love building teams up, and want to do it here as well.

As such, could anyone help me in understanding what each position is? What skill sets the players should have at each position, and other things like that. Or point me somewhere that can give me that information. If it helps, I know I want to have my team run a 3-5-2 formation.

Any help would be appreciated.

[doyce7]

Quote: Originally Posted by Shamhat1915

I've only just gotten into playing FIFA, and soccer in general. As such, I have nowhere near the knowledge I have for other sports, and don't know how to build a team. The career modes are always my favorite in all sports games; I love building teams up, and want to do it here as well. As such, could anyone help me in understanding what each position is? What skill sets the players should have at each position, and other things like that. Or point me somewhere that can give me that information. If it helps, I know I want to have my team run a 3-5-2 formation. Any help would be appreciated.

Do you know what type of 3-5-2 formation you want to use? Depending on that you could need different types of players.

I'll say some very general info on positions. CB needs to be good at defending, preferably bigger and stronger players. Things I look for most in CBs is strength, marking and tackling.

LB/RBs (also known as fullbacks) are not used in the 3-5-2 formation but you usually want them to be fast and be good at tackling and slide tackling.

CDMs are players that need to have high stamina as they often run alot. Strength is also a good thing for these players so that you can win the ball back in midfield. I think strength, stamina and tackling are the highest priority here.

CAMs are midfielders that need to be able to attack and focuse much less on def. Best skills would be passing, vision, and even scoring.

CMs need to be somewhere between CDMs and CAMs. They need to be able to help on both ends. Again stamina is huge for these guys. I like CMs fit the saying "the whole is greater than the sum of the parts." I like finding ones that aren't great or terrible at anything.

LM/RM these players play out wide and are usually good at crossing and having speed is important. They need to be able to track back and defend at times(especially in 3-5-2) to cover attacking fullbacks or the lack of having fullbacks in the formation. Key stats would be crossing, speed, and maybe decent defensive stats for the 3-5-2 formation.

LW/RWs (wingers) are much like LM/RMs in that speed is a key factor. The big differnce is that wingers are much more attack minded and often have really bad defensive stats. Crossing is again a big one but finishing is more important for wingers. I for example love to have wingers cut in to the middle and shoot. For me the key stats are speed, crossing, finishing and stamina.

STs need good finishing but there are many types of STs. Some have speed and need to have the dribbling to get into space and score. Some are bigger guys and use headers to score from crosses. The type of ST you need depends completely on play style more than probaly any other position. If you play with a 2 ST formation, I suggest having one of each.

CF is kinda halfway between ST and CAM they pass better than a ST and shoot better than a CAM.

GKs are pretty obvious :P

Hope this helps and really hope it makes any sense
If you want more detailed info on positional needs then ask about specific positions and I'll try to answer. I'm not the most knowledgeable person when it comes to soccer but I've come a long way and always want to help anyone else in their journey

[Shamhat1915]

Quote: Originally Posted by doyce7

I'm not the most knowledgeable person when it comes to soccer but I've come a long way and always want to help anyone else in their journey

Perhaps, but this is exactly the type of information I was looking for, and really helps me out

Quote: Originally Posted by doyce7

Do you know what type of 3-5-2 formation you want to use? Depending on that you could need different types of players.

I didn't even realize there were different variations of that formation. Maybe I just didn't pay enough attention. As such, I don't know what type I would want to use.

There's still a lot I need to learn, but I think I'm starting to understand more about what I'm looking for. You've given me the basis of what I need, which I thank you for.

Now, looking at all the formations, there are a lot to choose from. I can tell the obvious differences between some, and which ones seem better suited for attacking or defending, but what are some of the main differences between all of them? But say I wanted a formation that focused on controlling the ball with short passes and shots from the middle of the field. What formation would most be suited for a play style like that?

And looking at the skills, some of them are self-explanatory. However, I am curious as to what the volleys skill and finishing skills are there for. I gather finishing as, like the name suggest, finishing the play/strike, which can result in better chances. Or am I off-base on that? And volleys...well, I honestly have no idea what that is

[doyce7]

Quote: Originally Posted by Shamhat1915

Perhaps, but this is exactly the type of information I was looking for, and really helps me out I didn't even realize there were different variations of that formation. Maybe I just didn't pay enough attention. As such, I don't know what type I would want to use. There's still a lot I need to learn, but I think I'm starting to understand more about what I'm looking for. You've given me the basis of what I need, which I thank you for. Now, looking at all the formations, there are a lot to choose from. I can tell the obvious differences between some, and which ones seem better suited for attacking or defending, but what are some of the main differences between all of them? But say I wanted a formation that focused on controlling the ball with short passes and shots from the middle of the field. What formation would most be suited for a play style like that? And looking at the skills, some of them are self-explanatory. However, I am curious as to what the volleys skill and finishing skills are there for. I gather finishing as, like the name suggest, finishing the play/strike, which can result in better chances. Or am I off-base on that? And volleys...well, I honestly have no idea what that is

Well the 4-4-2 diamond is pretty narrow and you can utilize CMs who are usually good a short passing and keeping possession of the ball. Any 4-3-3 really but specifically the false 9 4-3-3 which is what teams like Barca use.

Finishing is pretty much shot accuraccy, higher the finishing the more likely a player is to put the ball past the keeper. Volleys are how good a player is at taking a shot on a ball that is already in the air. A player with low volley stats will likely not be able to keep the ball down and boot it into the stands. Whereas a guy with high volley stats may score on the same play.

[Wps06c]

I hate to hijack someone else's thread, but I figured this would be a good place to ask as I'm also fairly new to soccer in general...

How often do you start bench players and bring up/use reserves?
I've been playing in career mode, and I'm finding that I typically only use the starters and 3-4 key bench players.

Also, do you have any pointers as far as tactics go? I'm not really sure what the difference is between organised/free form and really what I should look for and do with the tactics.

Thanks.

[Maelstrom-XIII]

I'm by no means an expert at this (just started playing FIFA a week or so ago) but I would say I rotate guys fairly regularly...I usually play most of my starters in a match, and replace 1 player from each position group in each match...

So for example, in the first match, I'll play all the starters. In the second, I'll replace maybe my LB, RCM and RW.

I also rarely go 75 minutes into a match without using at least 2 subs. I regularly sub out my starting striker, depending on how the match is going...I could do a much better job though, as I don't usually move many guys out of my Reserves, as I'm playing as an Aussie A-League team and they really don't have great depth at all.

If you really don't have a good feel for it, then you can just go to your Team Management part of the CM and hit square on Playstation (or it's equivalent on the XBox) and it'll give you what it thinks is the best lineup for the match based on fatigue, etc.

[donaheyzhen]

I figured this would be a good place to ask as I'm also fairly new to soccer in general.

[Shamhat1915]

Don't worry about hijacking this thread. Since I'm new, I have a lot of questions myself, so this could be a good place to just get a lot of information out there for others who are like us. So if anyone else has any questions, feel free to ask them. And I'll post any other questions I have here in this thread as well, in the hopes that someone in this great community can help.