Player Requirements I

Goalkeeper, Defence, Midfield
Which players do I need for my tactics?

Looking at the squad at their disposal most managers will have to make compromises dictated by finances, club reputation and board decisions. Only very few can afford to collect the best players available position by position, and even for a top notch club it may take several years to achieve such an impressive collection of talent.

Even if you could afford the best players ever, you still would have to make certain decisions that will be related to the way you want your tactics to be played. Sometimes you even might consider taking players who are less talented then others because of a few attributes that might fit better into your squad, even at the highest levels. E.g. a striker like Trezeguet certainly is one of the best worldwide, but will he fit into a tactic that requires lightening pace for your strikers? Dani Alves is rated as maybe the best fullback worldwide by scouts, scouting cheat tools and players, and he will appear in almost any filter list, no matter if you search for defensive or attacking fullbacks. But there will be several players who tackle harder and there will be players who cross and dribble better.

It will be your decision as to how you piece together your squad and how it fits into a specific framework, tactic and playing approach. In the older versions all you needed for a DC was Positioning, Marking and Tackling - with FM 07 a whole lot more is required. How many new players to the series would consider Decisions an important attribute for a centre back? It was always a useful stat, but now is considered almost necessary for a DC to do his job. The same is true of many other positions, as you can see from our following snapshots of key and desirable stats for each player.

We simply compared the very vague statements of the manual and added a few recommendations from our experience that are missing. Even more importantly, we have attempted, if possible, to relate this to a specific interpretation of the positional role you might be looking for.

Which players for which level?

We have discussed the simple rules of thumb like 15 in key stats for top flight football, 12 for second tier teams, and 10 for “Conference” standard teams, but these were too vague and can be completely misleading. If a player is 2 meters (6′ 6″) tall, he does not have to have heading and jumping of 15+ to be a force in the air; if he is lightning quick, he does not always have to have the best technical and mental stats available. As has been said, it is vital that the players you bring in fit your existing tactical approach or are brought in with a view of modifying your approach to accommodate them.

You should get a good idea from your own squad and your scouts’ reports as to what the “average” stat level should be in each category for the league you’re playing in. Once you have this information, you can add your own opinion to the scout’s and judge whether you think a player really is as good as the scout says he is.

Goalkeeper
Required

: Reflexes, Handling, Communication, Jumping

Further key stats

: Height, Command of Area, Positioning, Bravery, Agility, Concentration
Sweeping keeper: Anticipation, Decisions, Rushing Out, Communication.

Tendency to punch should only be high if combined with good command of area and aerial ability.

Even top notch keepers should not have more then 13 eccentricity. Any eccentricity point will be paid with strange decisions and keeper errors leading to goals.

Why these attributes?
Height can be a real problem, especially if combined with average Jumping and/or Aerial ability. If you are playing in a league with many strong, tall strikers, small keepers may really struggle with the physical aspects of the game, even more if combined with little strength.

Concentration: important if you want to avoid last minute goals and in games where the keeper has very little to do. Even potentially world class keepers with low concentration will be very vulnerable to concede this way.

Tendency to punch usually is something negative since the keeper will try to clear many balls instead of catching them, but with good command of area and high aerial ability he will tend to clear many dangerous crosses coming into your box.

Sweeping keeper attributes: these attributes are needed to make the right decisions; when and where to clear through balls. Communication will help to avoid errors with the defenders while the keeper rushes out and clears a ball.

Fullback
Required

: Positioning, Tackling, Pace, Anticipation

Further key attributes

: Decisions, Teamwork, Passing, Concentration.
Bonus: Strength, Height, Jumping, Bravery

Attacking fullbacks: Crossing and Dribbling. As many winger attributes as possible: Flair, Creativity, Acceleration, Off the ball, Corners may be a big plus as well.

Since fullbacks who are really complete in every area are almost only very expensive world class players, the decision of your first choice will have a huge impact on the way your team will perform.

Why these attributes?
Decisions: a key stat for any defensive players (also see Keepers and Centre Backs). Wrong decisions may lead to marking the wrong players and closing down a player with the ball while this opens space for a different opposition forward. If combined with low Teamwork, the effects will be disastrous.

Passing: The whole team may suffer heavily if the fullbacks are lousy passers since they often are key players for the build up play.

Strength: Strong fullbacks have a decent advantages in winning tackles. Height/Jumping for away games can be crucial if you are focussing on defensive stability or playing against teams with very tall, strong strikers. Bravery will be highly beneficial for last-ditch saving tackles and rough aerial challenges. Maybe not as essential as for centre backs, but certainly more then welcome.

Concentration: as mentioned for the Keeper already, this will determine highly how error prone your defenders are, together again with Decisions and Teamwork.

Central Defender

Required

: Tackling, Jumping, Positioning, Heading, Strength, Marking, Bravery, Teamwork

Further key attributes

: Concentration, Anticipation, Decisions, Height, Pace, Influence, Determination, Work Rate

Tall/quick combos of DCs can be as effective as striker partnerships.

Please also have a look at the marking systems topic. We summarised the key attributes for zonal and man marking there.

Why these attributes?
Concentration, Anticipation, Decisions, Bravery: please see above (Fullbacks and Keepers)

Height and Strength: It is amazing to see how many centre backs with several “poor” stats perform way above expectations simply because of their height and strength, especially in the air, both defensively and offensively.

Pace: If you want to play high lines and high closing down (opposition instructions). High lines can be played with slower players if given special instructions (less closing down) as well, but need more monitoring.

Influence, Determination, Work Rate: required for a ‘Commanding Centre-Back’. Many players feel that it is highly beneficial to have such a player organising the defence.

Winger

Required

: Pace, Dribbling, Passing, Off The Ball, Creativity, Crossing

Further key attributes

: Flair, Decisions, Technique, Composure, Long shots, Finishing

Overall, there are even more choices to make in what sort of “wide midfielder” your team needs than there are with fullbacks. There are three major types of wingers, depending on your intentions:

‘Deeper’, playmaking wingers: Decisions, Flair and Composure will be very high. Most likely very high values in most technical and mental areas, but less physical strength and pace.
Classical flair or fast wingers: as above, the typical winger with bags of pace and/or flair.
Winger forwards: often natural either as striker or winger, most likely with very good striker attributes.
Last, but not least: the large number of natural fullbacks who excel in this role.

Why these attributes?
Decisions: yet again, key for wingers. Especially if you want them to hold up the ball or act as a kind of playmaking wingers. Deciding to put in a dangerous deep cross, a through ball or go to the byline.

Pace: Depending on the tactical situation, pace can become less important. Slower wingers and playmaking wingers often will excel by playing key passes and dangerous deep pin-point crosses.

Some players use wingers who are played as auxiliary strikers or pick up crosses to the target man resp. flick ons by the target man. A winger with good aerial ability will excel in this kind of role.

Attacking Midfielder

Required

: Passing, Dribbling, Off the Ball, Creativity, Technique

Further key attributes

: Flair, Decisions, Technique, Composure, Long shots, Finishing, First touch

Almost identical to wingers, except for crossing and pace. Pace is a bonus attribute though.

Again a decision has to be made:

The classical, flaired, south American style ‘No. 10′: Quick, extremely technical and flaired, creating havoc in any defence, but not much strength or areal power.
The strong powerful players: Often good in the air and a pain for the opposition with good long shots, but less flair and trickery. Most of them can play deeper roles as well. Work rate, Strength, Jumping, Teamwork and Stamina should be mentioned for this kind of player.

Why these attributes:
Most of these attributes seem to be more or less obvious. Interestingly, we have put decisions again on the list. If you are playing a pure attacking midfielder (AMC), his decisions often will be crucial for the attacking play of your team. He will opt for playing a through ball to the strikers or make the game wide by distributing the ball to the wings or make an own run into the penalty area and eventually try to finish on his own.

Finishing, Long Shots, Composure, Off The ball, First touch: the striker attributes a classical playmaker should have if he wants to do more then just orchestrate the attacks and work effectively as an additional attacking player.

Flair, Creativity, Passing, Technique: The playmaker attributes which are crucial for the build up play and make the player’s passes dangerous for the opposition. The more flair and creativity, the more sophisticated attacking moves you will see. Less important though for the strong player type.

Heading. Work rate, Teamwork, Stamina Strength, Jumping: Essential for the less flaired and creative, but powerful attacking midfielders. You will see less sophisticated attacking moves and surprising passes, but with their physical power they will often be at the end of crosses or finish a move.

Bonus: Pace. If any of these players is able to use his technical abilities with high pace, he will be even more difficult to stop and force the opposition into even more fouls as well as playing himself through the defence into one-on-one situations.

MC/a: deep MC playmaker

Required: Passing, Creativity, Technique, Composure, Decisions, Positioning, Teamwork, Work Rate
Bonus: Flair, Pace, Tackling, Heading, Jumping, Long shots, Stamina, Strength

The modern, deeper acting playmaker, something in between the classical AMC and a box-to-box midfielder. Often players described as strong, powerful attacking midfielders will also excel in this role.

Why these attributes?
Most have been described for attacking midfielders above. Since this player is basically doing the same job an attacking midfielder does, just playing deeper, he will certainly perform better if he possesses decent physical and defensive attributes.

Bonus abilities: not crucial, but certainly welcome. Long shots will be more important, since most central playmakers will have less opportunities to convert from the penalty area then attack midfielders, even if they should get a fair amount of these with the right forward run and mentality settings.

Defensive Midfielder

Required

: Work Rate, Jumping, Tackling, Stamina, Positioning
Further key attributes: Height again, Strength. (If small, they must be excellent at Tackling and Positioning.) Anticipation, Decisions, Passing, Bravery, Teamwork
Mental attributes: Essential for this position and should be valued higher then technical skills. As mentioned already: Positioning, Work rate, Teamwork, Bravery, Anticipation, Decisions.
Bonus: Determination and Influence. Long Shots

For this role there are two big groups:

The hard tackling destroyers do not need much excellent passing and technical abilities, they are winning the balls and passing on to the more creative players.

The more technically adept DMs will have good passing stats, even some flair, creativity and composure and dictate the play from a deep position (but you will most likely only find this at world class level).

Why these attributes:
Positioning, Work rate, Teamwork, Bravery, Anticipation, Decisions, Determination and Influence: The mental attributes. These attributes are what make the defensive midfielders the backbone of your defence and midfield and frequently the captains of your team. Without Anticipation, Positioning, Teamwork and Decisions they would be useless for their position despite any technical skills they may have. In fact, these attributes should be rated much higher than for any other position and can counterbalance almost any lack in technical skills. Bravery, Work rate and Teamwork will be needed for any saving tackles and the linkup with the defensive players.

Determination and Influence: not essential, but having a player with these attributes will most likely make him the ideal captain of your team.

Box to box midfielder

Required: Passing, Tackling, Dribbling, Long Shots, Work Rate, Positioning, Anticipation, Strength, Stamina

Easily underrated players since they have to possess a bit of everything which makes their technical, mental and physical stats look very average at times. Their versatility unfortunately turns them into an ideal bench candidate if there are better specialists for the DM, MC or AMC role.

The attributes are described well at any of the posts concerning AMC/MC/DMC. So there is only one to mention especially: Long shots. Having a box to box midfielder with good long shots will give you several options whenever needed and make him a danger from any position.

It can be handy to play a box to box midfielder instead of a DMC for home games and take advantage of his higher technical skills and ability to support the MC more effectively. Also he can replace a central midfielder in away games if you want to opt for a more defensive solution. As mentioned before, with decent long shots he also occasionally may be able to replace an attacking midfielder and excel in this role.

Tactical Bible Credits
thegooner, garyh, crazy gra. Written by The next Diaby & Millie
TT&F filters created by Millie