Disclaimer

This document represents my own interpretations of FM05 and 06. Where I have taken direct quotes from other sources, the sources are listed. I have taken the liberty of editing some quotes slightly (mainly spelling errors). All quotes are taken from http://community.sigames.com/groupee/forums.

This is a work in progress. Any errors typos etc. you find are yours to keep.

You may:

Save a copy of this file and distribute it free of charge.

Translate this document into whatever language you wish, and distribute the translations free of charge. Any translations must include this disclaimer! I would also like to be mentioned ;)

You may not:

Remove this disclaimer, pass this off as your own work or charge for a copy (or translation, should one be made). You may not post this document on any commercial web site without my prior permission.

© 2006 sjm

Revision History:

v 1.2 24/7/2006 New links, corrections, minimal additions

v 1.1 13/5/2006 Added some links

v 1.0 7/5/2006 General tidying up

v 0.5 2/5/2006 Fixed some spelling mistakes, some general info added. New disclaimer. Added rough “Table of Contents”

v0.1 22/3/06 Initial version

The latest version of this document can be found under http://s2.enemy.org/~sjm/fm.html

En Espanol: http://www.fmsite.net/foro/index.php?showtopic=14271

Any comments and suggestions concerning this document should be posted at http://community.sigames.com/groupee/forums/a/tpc/f/1519717/m/8882057522. I'm not going to post my e-mail address online, sorry :)

CONTENTS

Links

Tactics Screen

Player and Team Settings

No Man is an Island

Links

The following links are suggested reading:

Bart's FAQ – FAQ for FM. List of FM abbreviations, taking a screenshot etc.

http://community.sigames.com/groupee/forums/a/tpc/f/82219617/m/4632094712

Tactical Theorems + Frameworks I – Setting up a tactic in FM

http://community.sigames.com/groupee/forums/a/tpc/f/1519717/m/7512000571

Tactical Theorems + Frameworks II – Part 2

http://community.sigames.com/groupee/forums/a/tpc/f/1519717/m/8132082102

Lino's Attributes Thread – A discussion on the player attributes

http://community.sigames.com/groupee/forums/a/tpc/f/82219617/m/7002065012/r/6752065012#6752065012

DIY supergoalies – for all those who think the AI cheats, believe in supergoalies, etc. An insight into counter-attacking for the underdog.

http://community.sigames.com/groupee/forums/a/tpc/f/1519717/m/8212038712/r/8212038712#8212038712

In-match tweaking walkthrough

http://community.sigames.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/1519717/m/7872034922

More tweaking help

http://community.sigames.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/1519717/m/9202063981/r/9202063981#9202063981

Tactics

Tactics Screen

The tactics screen defaults to an overview of your current formation. You can load and save formations using the Tactics drop-down menu. Note that any tactics you change and save during a match are listed under Archived Tactics along with the (in-game) date you saved the tactic, as are any formations your copy to the tactics directory (e.g. downloaded). Tactics are saved to your “My Documents/Sports Interactive/Football Manager 2006/tactics” directory. If you download someone else's tactic, this is where to put them! These tactics can then also be selected from the list of archived tactics.

Every formation consists of two core components: offensive and defensive positions. A player's “default” position is indicated by a circle in the tactics screen. You can change a player's default position by clicking on the circle representing the player and dragging it to the desired position. There are 30 positions (plus one for the goalkeeper) which are indicated by circles.

Starting from the position nearest your own goal, player positions are generally referred to as follows:

R/L/C are used to differentiate between Right/Left and Centre; i.e. AMC is an attacking midfielder playing in the centre of the pitch. Note that whilst the DM position is central by default, it is not indicated by a C in the player's profile. You'll still see people call the player a DMC though.

Each player can additionally be instructed to take up an alternative offensive or defensive position. These alternative positions are determined using arrows.

Right-click on the circle representing a player in the tactics screen to draw an arrow. The circles that appear indicate where you can set a player to run to. You can also draw an arrow to a position occupied by another player.

Note that diagonal arrows (i.e. forward/backwards arrows combined with a sideways arrow) are treated the same as plain forward and backwards arrows; i.e. your player will occupy this position when attacking (forward) or defending (backwards). Their width is not directly affected.

Remember that players require energy to run up and down the pitch. Players with arrows lose condition faster – so make sure they have some stamina! Don't give your players arrows that cover too much of the pitch either; the further they have to run, the sooner they will run out of energy.

Forward Arrows vs Backward Arrows

Players seem to run to the position they have an arrow to quicker than they return to their default position. In other words, forward arrows result in players quickly moving forward once you gain possession; backward arrows result in players quickly getting back to their defensive position when your team loses the ball.

Player and Team Settings

I've tried to explain all the settings as best as possible. The impact of some settings is a bit vague, so take everything with a pinch of salt.

Settings options to “Mixed” determines that it is up to the player to determine when and whether to carry out this action. There is a school of thought that advocates only giving “Mixed” instructions to players with good decision attributes; those with bad decisions should be given clear instructions (rarely, often). On the other hand, the instructions you give a player should also reflect what you want them to do. So if you want a player to get forward and join the attack at times, “Mixed” forward runs is still the way to go.

Players also seem to decide how often to carry out “Mixed” instructions depending on their Mentality; so an attacking minded player is more likely to make a Forward Run or cross the ball.

There are some settings that only apply to the team (e.g. Width, Tempo), some that only apply to players (e.g. Cross Aim, set piece instructions) and some that can be set for both the team and individual players (e.g. Passing Style, Tackling).

Individual player settings override the team settings. Generally speaking, the team setting is the default setting and should be set to what applies to most of your players. Use the player settings to instruct a particular player to play in a certain manner.

Sliders and Numbers

Some of the sliders cover a wide range, such as the Passing slider. These sliders cover a range of 20 settings, often referred to using the numbers 1-20. 1 is the lowest setting (slider to the far left), 20 is the highest setting (far right).

Mentality

Mentality determines how attacking or defensive minded a player is. This affects various elements of a player's behaviour.

One of the most important effects of mentality is on a player's vertical positioning on the pitch. Players with high mentality play higher up the pitch. So a midfielder with a mentality of 20 (the highest value on the slider) will play more or less in the AM position.

Be careful when setting up your players' mentalities. For example, you may be creating big gaps in your formation by setting your defence to very defensive and your midfield to attacking. Try to determine which players you want behind the ball and which players in front of the ball when attacking. Try not to give your attacking players too defensive a mentality, as you will find them getting caught up with defensive duties and you will have no outlet when your team wins the ball back.

A player's mentality also affects their behaviour. Players with a defensive setting seem to return to defensive positions quicker when the opponent has the ball. Attacking minded players often still keep moving forward. Defensive minded are more likely to kick the ball into touch, “taking no chances there” if no “safe” option is present. Defensive minded players tend to play passes to players behind the ball if this reduces the chance of losing possession. This can sometimes result in kamikaze back passes!

Attacking minded players will look to move the ball forward if possible. This involves making more attacking passes (up the field) and a general willingness to carry out attacking moves. This means that a player with an attacking mentality and “Mixed” Forward Runs or Cross Ball will be more likely to get forward or cross ball than a player with a defensive mentality and the same settings.

I find Mentality and Creative Freedom can go hand in hand...

Creative Freedom

High Creative Freedom gives your players the creative freedom to do what they see fit. This results in them overriding your instructions if they decide that there is a better option.

You can think of Creative Freedom as the range within which a player can deviate from their instructions. If Creative Freedom is low, they will more or less stick to your instructions religiously (even if you don't think they are!). On high Creative Freedom, your players can totally ignore your instructions if they think it is a good idea. So a defensive player can be encouraged to play more attacking balls by giving him a defensive mentality but enough creative freedom for him to be allowed to deviate from the defensive mindset if the opportunity presents itself.

According to Mark Vaughan of SI:
"Creative freedom allows players to use their own initiative when they have the ball and over-ride your instructions (its basically an indication of how much you 'stress' that they should follow your instructions)."

Posted by Northbound:
Creative Freedom (CF) means that you allow players to use their own initiative and over-ride your instructions.

Player CF can have a effect on all player tactical instructions (Mentality, Passing Style, Closing Down, Tackling, Forward Runs, Run With Ball, Long Shots, Try Through Balls, Cross Ball, Cross Aim, Marking, Free Role, Hold Up Ball and set pieces).

Decisions is a vital attribute when choosing CF. It is the only attribute affecting decisions that can make a difference between a player action and a manager choice of action, both with and without the ball and that can't be expressed with other tactical instructions.

Posted by Mygel:
If you have a AMC with CF 1 and FWR often, the defence will probably read his instructions after two attempts, as that is all he does, so next time your team attacks the opposition defenders will know that your player will do a FWR and nothing else. If you have him on CF 20 and he has good decision and some other attributes he might do some other things that confuses the opposition.

Note that creative freedom also effects a players position. High creative freedom can encourage your player to move further from his default position. Whilst this means that a player is more likely to look for space when attacking, for example, it can cause problems if your tactic relies on a player being in a certain position.

Passing Style

This slider more or less determines how long your players will pass most of the time. The further left the setting, the shorter the pass; at the highest setting, the ball is more or less booted up the pitch as far as possible.

Note that players will deviate from your passing instructions for a variety of reasons. Defenders without a short option will boot the ball up the pitch before they concede possession, even if set to short passing. Conversely, playing a direct style still results in short passes if there is no free option higher up the pitch.

Keep passing very short (1-3) and the tempo relatively high to play one touch football.

Tempo

Tempo determines how quickly the team moves the ball around the pitch. When set to slow, players take their time on the ball waiting for an opening. When playing on quick tempo, the ball is moved around quickly from player to player.

High tempo is especially useful if the opponent has high closing down. Their players will immediately put yours under pressure, and dallying on the ball can be problematic. Zipping the ball around, so that the defenders have to chase it like crazy, is a great way of whittling down their condition. You can take good advantage of this later in the match.

A slow tempo can be useful if you're finding it difficult to create openings because the opponent is defending in numbers. Your players will keep the ball moving until an opportunity presents itself.

Generally:

A high tempo can combine well with Hold Up Ball on the right players, giving your attacking players time to get into good positions and allowing your players to dictate and vary the tempo.

Posted by Redmark:
Try a faster tempo, but with several players (e.g. both MCs, AMC) set to 'hold up ball'. Keeps a better overall tempo, but allows the central creative players to dictate it and gives them time to spot the best option.

At a higher tempo, your players are more likely to tire quicker.

Width

Determines how wide your team plays. Note that the team generally defends narrower than it attacks. You can determine an individual player's width to a certain extent by using sideways arrows.

Your team's width can make or break a game. Using the 2D screen it is easy to see how wide or narrow your opponent is playing. Pay attention to set up your width so that your players all take up sensible positions both when attacking and defending. For example, you want to be goalside of the opponent when defending – play too wide and the opponent's attackers are closer to your goal than your defenders, and no longer need to beat their man.

Playing too narrow can expose your defence on the flanks, allowing the opponent's wingers too much space from which to get a good cross in.

Playing wide allows your team to cover more of the pitch at once and can allow you to move the ball around quickly. This can quickly tire an opponent who is playing narrow as the whole team runs from side to side following the path of the ball.

Playing narrow focusses your team together. Whilst they cover less of the pitch overall, they are packed much denser resulting in a numerical advantage.

Closing Down

The Closing Down slider determines how far the player will close down the ball when it is in his vicinity. Think of it as determining a radius surrounding the player: if the ball enters this radius, the player will close down the ball. Players will leave their position when closing down, and on particularly high settings often roam across the pitch like headless chickens. Closing down puts pressure on the opponent, forcing them to play the ball. Some players are especially error-prone under pressure.

Players with low Closing Down will stand off, and return to (and hold) their defensive positions.

High closing down settings can also tire players, so make sure that your players can handle it!

Time Wasting

Time Wasting has a few effects on how your team plays. In general, a team with very low Time Wasting will play a hurried game. They will not necessarily take much time on the ball, take throw-ins quickly etc. If Time Wasting is set very high, players take ages to take throw-ins, commit tactical fouls, run to the corner flag etc. They also look for chances to win set pieces (aka diving) and generally get on the opponent's nerves. As the manual says, your players will also wind up the opposition and their fans. I have definitely seen a fair few cards and flared tempers when killing off a game.

To a certain extent, Time Wasting also influences a team's behaviour with the ball. One way of wasting time is to knock the ball about and retain possession. A side effect of this is that the team is less likely to give the ball away too cheaply if Time Wasting is relatively high.

I would advocate a lower tempo coupled with high Time Wasting in an attempt to kill off a game, as long as your players are comfortable on the ball. Just make sure that your players aren't all making a mad dash for the opponent's penalty area, leaving you with no one to play the simple pass to!

Posted by mrgrapefruits:
If the other team are playing at a high tempo, then if you are constantly time wasting, it breaks up their flow of play. Similarly it will do the same to your own so if you are going with high time wasting then pair it together with a slow tempo.

Defensive Line

Your Defensive Line determines how far up the pitch your defenders will push up when you win the ball.

A high defensive line can compress the midfield and stifle the opposition's build up, but is susceptible to high balls over the top, especially if your defenders are slow. It can also lead to vulnerability against counter attacks. Pushing up forces the opponent's strikers back and can be effective with an offside trap.

A deep defensive line sees the defenders stay back in their own half when you are attacking. This can be good to isolate the opponent's attackers from the midfield and cut down on any through balls behind the defence. Furthermore, any of the opponent's midfielders running forward to join the attack now have more ground to cover and will tire quicker. They will also take longer to return to their defensive positions.

You probably want defenders with good heading and jumping with a deep back line, as the AI will still play long balls, but these are now no longer behind the defence, so need to be won in the air. Furthermore, sitting back can encourage the opponent to get in a lot of crosses as they have more time to build up play in midfield and involve the full backs.

Tackling

I like to play hard tackling on my hard men in midfield. Players with good tackling skills will win a lot of balls and any fouls they commit will hopefully not be too close to our penalty area. I am wary of using hard tackling for defenders, as they are more likely to give away free kicks in dangerous positions (or penalties).

Hard tackling can also intimidate your opponents or get them injured. On the down side, hard tackling is also more likely to get your own players injured too :(

Easy tackling cuts down on cards but does mean that your players won't get stuck in half as much. I always set my goalie to easy tackling, as fouls by the goalie are generally red card offences and as such to be avoided at all costs.

Focus Passing

Pretty self-explanatory. Play down the flanks to get your wingers involved in the attacking play and keep those crosses coming in. Playing through the middle can be very effective if the opponent is sending all their midfielders forward to join the attack (chasing a goal). Through the middle is the more “direct” approach to goal but also often the most congested.

Playing down the flanks can also be quite devastating if the opponent's fullbacks like to get forward to join the attack. Get an attacking player (winger/striker) out on the wing and exploit that space on the counter!

I quite enjoy playing a playmaker in a central role with focus passing down the flanks. The best of both worlds :)

Marking

The best explanation I have seen of how marking works was provided by Northbound:

Tight marking can be a good way to put immediate pressure on opposing attackers. However if the opponent has a numerical advantage over your defenders, they will easily exploit the gaps left by your defenders moving to pick up their man. Tight marking can be very useful on your midfielders if the AI is knocking the ball around in midfield, keeping players back. It allows you to put them under pressure much quicker, meaning they don't have all the time in the world to wait and play the killer pass.

I wouldn't use “specific” marking unless you're watching the full match. Specific marking unfortunately marks a player not the player in a specific position. Whilst this can be extremely effective in taking out a specific player, the AI is prone to changing player's positions frequently during a match. The upshot of this is that a player set to specific marking will invariably be dragged hopelessly out of position at some point in the match. For example, if you set your DR to mark the AI's ML, the AI will switch around its wingers. Now your DR is marking the opponent's MR. His condition will plummet as he runs across the whole pitch every time the AI gets possession and on top of this he leaves a glaring hole in your defence. So if you do go with specific marking, either watch the match in split-screen mode with the formations displayed, or regularly check the formations and watch the 2D pitch for signs that the AI has changed things.

Use Target Man

Tells your players to look to play balls directly to the target man. They will try to do this whatever your passing settings, so steer clear if you don't want your defence playing long balls. If you want your wingers to cross to a specific player, set the player as a target man, and set the wingers Cross Aim to “Target Man” and leave this check box disabled.

Enable this option and set Target Man Supply to “to head” if you want to emulate Ireland playing Niall Quinn up front :)

You might want to set your target man to Hold Up Ball so that you get the ball up to the attack quickly and then give your other attacking players time to take up forward positions.

Target Man Supply

If you are using a target man, this determines how players will try to play the ball to the target man. Choose “to head” if he's 2 metres tall, “run onto ball” if he's nippy (acceleration and pace) and “to feet” if he's technically strong.

Play Offside

Tells your defence to play the offside trap. This seems to works best if your defence are used to playing together, and have decent mental attributes. I also think that a goalkeeper with good communication may help. This works well if the defence has been told to push up (high Defensive Line). Watch out playing the offside trap against some strikers though (Henry springs to mind). If he's got anticipation, acceleration and pace, your goalkeeper will be facing a 1v1 every time the offside trap fails...

Counter Attack

Play a counter attacking style. When your team wins the ball they will quickly switch to attacking mode, looking for a quick chance to attack. On the defensive, they will tend to drop back, encouraging the opposition to come at them. This may mean that your team have to withstand a lot of pressure.

Use Playmaker

Determines that your team will look to involve the player designated as the playmaker in attacking play. This player will receive a lot of passes and should be capable of playing the “killer pass” or otherwise carving an opening for the team. Ideally a playmaker should possess at least the following:

There are lots of other skills that are obviously beneficial to a playmaker and to different styles of play; everyone will have their own personal preferences.

There are generally two types of playmakers, defensive midfielders (anchor men) who dictate play from behind the midfield line and attacking midfielders who play directly behind the strikers.

Forward Runs

Forward Runs see players leaving their positions to join in the attacking play. Having too many players set to forward runs can leave you with a lack of options in midfield; sometimes a forward arrow can be more effective. I sometimes turn off forward runs on my wingers for this reason - use the forward arrows to send them into space, and turn off forward runs so that they stay there. This works well when there is a "hole" on the flanks (between midfield and defence), where you want you winger to sit pretty waiting for the ball.

Posted by Kristianhnohr:
Forward runs means that the player will leave his original position and join the attack. Fullbacks will do overlaps if you play wide, and wingers will get into the box more, and so will central midfielders.

Advantages: Extra scoring opportunities on rebounds, and counter attacks.

Disadvantages: Players will be caught out of position if you lose the ball. Bad for fullbacks and central midfield, which is why I never tell both central midfielders to do so. I keep the other one in a holding role.

Actually, if you think about it you don't want too many players running into the box, because you will lack passing opportunities in the build up. I have seen a much better passing game when not using forward runs on too many players

Run With Ball

Instructs a player to run with the ball at their feet. Generally for players with good technique and dribbling, although a fast striker that uses his pace to break the defence can also profit from (mixed) Run With Ball, without being a great dribbler– in this case the player will keep running for goal rather than passing back to a player in a less advantageous position.

Long Shots

Determines how often you want the player to shoot from range.

I feel that setting this to “Rarely” for strikers results in them laying off the ball too often when they are in a far better position to shoot. It might therefore also be a “willingness to shoot on sight” setting. Don't set too many players to “Often”, or your forwards might not get enough “proper” chances in the box. Remember that there is more to scoring from a long shot than the long shot skill. Players are far more likely to score if they are not put under pressure and given chance to place the shot. Technique is also very important, especially if the ball is moving when the player strikes it.

Through Balls

Players instructed to play Through Balls will try to play the ball behind the oppositions defence for a team-mate to run on to. This works best if the recipient is fast with good off the ball skills, as he needs to be able to pick up these balls. In order to play a good through ball, you obviously need to be able to pass, and creativity is a big plus. I would assume that anticipation is also important for both passer and recipient, especially in order to avoid the offside trap.

Cross Ball

Determines how often players should cross the ball.

Cross from

Cross Aim

Where the player aims the cross. There are a variety of options here.

Swap position

Tells two players to swap positions. Players that swap positions also assume each other's instructions. So watch out that they are able to do similar jobs.

There is a known issue with this setting – whatever you do, don't remove the swap position instruction whilst the players are swapped on the tactics screen. If you do, they'll keep swapping for the rest of the entire match. Wait for both players to return to their original position on the tactics screen first.

Free Role

The player is given license to roam across the pitch. This can be useful in a number of situations:

Hold up Ball

Tells a player to hold on to the ball when he gets it. This gives your other players time to get into an attacking position. A player told to hold up the ball should be able to shield the ball well – strength, balance and technique spring to mind as good attributes to have.

Defending Free Kicks

Watch out for this one – whenever you make a change to your tactic during the game, there's a chance that all your player's free kick settings will be messed up. Generally players get set to “form wall” (but some get set to “default”). It's very easy to leak goals because of this, so whenever you make any tactical changes during a match, make sure you check that your settings are correct! Bizarrely this only happens with some tactics and it also seems to make a difference which players get messed up whether you enter the tactics screen or just use the “quick tactics” option. You'll quickly learn from experience which tactics mess up :) If you load a saved tactic, the instructions are OK again though.

No man is an Island

When setting up your tactic, it's important to take into account where other players in the team will be relative to each other. There's no point setting Try Through Balls to “Often” if there's no one capable of getting on the end of them. Certain tactical decisions also boil down to personal preferences. For example, I don't particularly like kick & rush, so I only use it in certain extreme situations. A mistake commonly made is to equate certain attributes to certain settings, such as dribbling > 15 = RWB often, or creativity = CF.

What it comes down to is what YOU want each individual player to be doing – and not just what they are good at. Just because a centre back has 18 technique and 17 dribbling, doesn't mean that he should be set to RWB often - there is no direct translation of attribute X = instruction Y. So your first step is to work out what it is that you want certain players to be doing and then tweak your tactic so that they fit their role. If you know what you want a player (or the team) to be doing, it is a lot easier to spot when something isn't working and find a remedy.

Don't forget that each player is dependent on the other team members – its a question of balancing everything properly. Every change you make to a tactic has a knock-on effect on the other players as well. Here is a simplified example of how I used to tweak my tactic in FM 2005; the same principles also apply to FM06:

I have 5 forwards playing first team football:

2 first choice strikers (finishing, pace, acceleration, technique, dribbling, off the ball, flair, long shots, composure). Their job is to beat their man (either with or without the ball) and put it in the net.

1 "target man" - (jumping, pace, heading, strength, dribbling, determination, technique, passing, off the ball, teamwork). His job is to get on the end of crosses and win any high balls played out of defence.

1 "visionary" (almost all mental attributes over 15, pace, technique). His job is to use his vision and understanding to create space and open up the defence.

1 "creator" (teamwork, pace, off the ball, passing, decisions, anticipation). His job is to open up the defence for his strike partner by playing the right ball at the right time.

My tactic is set up to cater to my two top choice strikers. I rely on their pace, acceleration, off the ball and finishing. For my "target man", I try and get the ball out on the flanks more (play wider), lots of crosses (possibly aimed at him). He plays further back than my other strikers, with my AMC rushing forward to compensate (and pick up knock-downs). My wingers should stay out wide (Forward Runs reduced).

If I bring on the "visionary", it means that I'm up against a strong physical defence. He is given a licence to roam around dragging defenders with him and do whatever else he pleases (Free Role + high Creative Freedom). My AMC tries to sit in the "hole" behind my attackers waiting for the moment to play the killer pass or go for glory (great dribbling and long shots amongst others). My team therefore needs a slightly more patient approach (slower Tempo) and my AMC needs to be encouraged to stay in midfield (less Forward Runs).

The "creator" plays somewhat like a second AMC (i.e. behind the main striker with reduce Mentality) but is often encouraged to get out on the (left) wing. His main task is to play the killer ball (TTB). RWB and Forward Runs are turned off/down. My wingers are encouraged to bomb forward to provide additional passing options (more Forward Runs).