November 14, 2006

written by Asmodeus

This thread is intended as an aid to common tactical ailments in Football Manager 2007. We’ll endeavour to address those recurring issues that many have with the game, and hopefully assist in ironing out those pesky problems. Obviously we cannot guarantee that we can cure all problems as the FM2007 game engine is a complex and diverse organ; but hopefully together we can all diagnose and treat some problematic symptoms, or at least make some ground in preventing them.

So, if you either have an ailment, a diagnosis or a remedy to share, then please pop into the Tactics Clinic and post them; before I exhaust the metaphor entirely and have to resort to one of the medical dictionaries here in my office. Medical science is forever evolving- so this is all work in progress (see I’m already flogging it).

The Common Cold.

Not necessarily a debilitating illness, the common cold is more frustrating than anything else. It can cause lapses in concentration, messy goalkeeping and leaky defences. If you aren’t careful the common cold can be highly contagious, and spread like wildfire across back fours and threes alike.

Symptoms:

- Defenders making errors: giving the ball away, dwelling on the ball for too long, playing ridiculous back-passes.
- Goalkeeper makes calamitous mistakes, dribbling outside the area, giving the ball away.

Diagnosis:

- Your defenders/goalkeeper have too much creative freedom.
- Your defence have no readily available passing options.
- Your defenders are too hurried in possession.
- Your defence is unable to adapt to your passing system.
- Your goalkeeper/defenders’ mentality is too high.

Remedies:

- Decrease creative freedom for defence/goalkeeper to 5 or below (“little”).
- Make sure mentalities for your midfield are close to or mirror that of your defence.
- Decrease team tempo, or perhaps adopt a less direct passing style.
- Increase attacking training for your defenders (to improve their passing), or change their passing style to one less technically demanding (normal/direct/long- 6 or above).
- Reduce goalkeeper/defender mentality so they are less inclined to hit forward passes and (for keepers) stray off their line.

Impotence

Your build-up is impeccable, your intentions good, but you simply cannot score. Possibly the most frustrating FM ailment of all; chance after chance spurned with no end product, only to see your rival march in and finish the job with the first opportunity he gets.

Symptoms:

- Firing blanks: plenty of shots on goal, very few of which are on target.
- One-on-ones: you’re clean through, the nerves kick in, and you’ve blown it.
- Backlash: some other git marches in and penetrates instantly, with devastating effect.

Diagnosis:

- Some self- analysis required here: find out who’s getting the chances, and subsequently spurning them; then consider the following.
- Too many long shots: players are hitting over ambitious thirty-yard piledrivers into row z.
- Too much creative freedom: can cause the above.
- Your players are too hurried and lose their composure in front of goal.
- Your players are nervous and will miss one-on-ones.
- Your strikers are going through a bad patch, and morale is low.
- Your players are being selfish and shooting when the better option would be to pass or square the ball.

Remedies:

- Watch match highlights comprehensively to find out the type of chances you’re creating (and missing).
- Reduce individual long shot instructions to “rarely.”
- Reduce creative freedom for players spurning chances.
- Lower team tempo, particularly if playing a short passing game.
- Keep an eye on a player’s personality screen, particularly after your pre-match media comments. Use individual team talks to relax them, or reassure them you have faith in their ability.
- Increase shooting training for the player, and see above for morale.
- Lower creative freedom and if they have a passing option available, set “cross ball” to “mixed” or “often.”