Player Preferred Moves - PPMs
Helpful and disliked moves regarding tactical aspects

Looking at the preferred moves of your players or players that you want to purchase may give you an idea of the kind of play they prefer and if they are ideally suited or less suited for your tactical system. Also, PPMs may be a help for assigning the right roles in your team and a hint for tweaking tactics to accommodate your players better.

Since releasing the articles about tutoring and player requirements there have been many requests to write something about PPMs. Garyh provided a complete list of PPMs which you will find below, but since this is the tactical bible, we have a different approach. We are not trying to say this PPM will do that, we are trying to look at the possible PPMs you may want to have when playing a certain style of football.

One of the best improvements of FM has been the huge variety of playing styles and philosophies that are possible today, but this also makes it more and more important to look at the right PPMs to find players that will really help you to assemble a squad which is able to create good football from your ideas and theoretical concepts.

Finally, there are some suggestions how to adjust your tactics according to PPMs to get the maximum effect of an existing squad. You should not overdo this and give up your original concept completely, but especially in the first years of a manager career it may be worth spending some time on this, at least until you have built your ‘perfect’ squad.

Player preferred moves by position

Keeper not much to select there. Maybe:

Gets crowd going. - Will stir up the audience, and if your team plays well, he may have much time to do that. So, why not?
Winds up opponent, Argues with officials - It can be helpful to have some of those dislikeable roughnecks in your squad. Why not the keeper?

Centre Back

Wanted
Likes to play his way out of trouble. Very fine for a technical defender. As long as you do not prefer hoofing up balls.
Marks opponent tightly. Must be what we want usually from a decent defender.
Tries long range passes Sometimes very useful, since it does not seem to mean ‘hoofs up the ball on any occasion’. It rather seems to mean that this player as a good vision for playing dangerous long range passes which can be very clinical and surprising.
Stays back at all times May be helpful if you have one of them in the team.

Unsure
Dwells on ball: He will often slow down the game. This might be useful, but it can pose problems as well.

Attacking Fullback:
Wanted for a quick counter attacking style:
Cuts inside - A very fine and often dangerous move (for ALL wing players)
Hugs line - Hints at a dynamic, technical style
Runs down L/R - As above
Tries tricks - Trying to fool his opponent and beating him in one-on-one situations
Gets forward whenever possible - Exactly what you may want when using attacking fullbacks.
Likes to switch ball to other flank: Increasing the versatility of your attack, indicating great vision.
Tries to play out of trouble: Ideal if you want to control the game out of the defence

Unwanted:
Plays no through balls - Not very suited for a counter attacking style using fast strikers. But you may want it if you play a strictly possession oriented, defensive style.
Stays back at all times - as above

Defensive Midfielder

Stops play, Dwells on ball - Ideal for players who will hold up the ball
Plays short simple passes - A good move for a ball winner who will tend to pass the ball to the MC/a or the next creative player, often resulting in a very high pass completion ratio.
Dictates tempo - Indicates that you have a candidate for a very deep lying playmaker who will actively orchestrate the game from his position
Tries long range passes - Can be clinical in orchestrating counter attacks and playing defence splitting passes to the strikers
Stays back at all times - ‘Restrictive PPM’, only helpful if you want a pure holding midfielder
Gets forward whenever possible - If you want the opposite of the above and a more active playing DM
Marks opponent tightly - Ideal for an ‘anchorman’
Comes deep to get ball - Helpful if playing the holding role as MC/d instead of DM. He will drop deep to receive the ball from the defenders.

Mental attributes:
Gets crowd going, Winds up opponent, Argues with officials - Except for ‘Crowd going’ all slightly dubious attributes, but many players prefer to have at least one player with these attributes, remembering the highly entertaining battles between Roy Keane and Stefan Effenberg. The defensive midfielder can be an ideal candidate for this role.

Unwanted attributes:
Plays no through balls - at least if you want to play counter attacking football or have dangerous quick strikers. May be helpful only for a very slow, possession oriented approach.

MC/a and central attacking midfielder:

Wanted moves
Dictates tempo - The best players for a playmaker role and/or high creative freedom. THE key PPM.
Tries killer balls often - Maybe the second best PPM for any playmaking role.
Curls ball - An ideal candidate to convert long range screamers
Tries long range passes, Likes to switch ball to other flank Especially if combined with dictating tempo and high composure, this player will be running the midfield with dangerous passes.
Plays one-twos, Runs with ball through centre - Candidates for defence splitting moves, especially if combined with decent pace.
Uses outside of foot - Indicates fine technique and the ability to play quick, surprising passes.
Gets into opposition area, shoots with power - The ideal candidate for a 2nd striker role.
Shoots from distance - Especially if combined with powerful shots, this play will be a danger from almost any position.
Places shots - Usually a very good and calm finisher
Comes deep to get ball - will make this player often play as ‘box to box’ player, helping out the team with building up the play from deep.

Slightly restrictive moves
Arrives late in opposition area - a little bit dubious at first sight, but often these players have a very good timing when going forward and hence a good conversions rate. Better suited for a deeper role.
Looks for pass rather than attempting to score - Somehow ‘restrictive’ if you are looking for a player to play as 2nd striker, but also will almost guarantee a high number of assists.

Winger

Likes to beat man repeatedly - Maybe THE move for any flamboyant winger and this is what we want to see if we think about great wingers. Downside: if you do not want much run with ball in your play or if you are playing under muddy pitch conditions, these players will not reach their full potential.
Knocks ball past opponent - If combined with high pace useful to get past the defenders.
Cuts inside - A very fine and often dangerous move
Hugs line - hints at a dynamic, technical style
Runs down L/R - as above
Tries tricks - Trying to fool his opponent and beating him in one-on-one situations
Gets forward whenever possible - exactly what I want when I play attacking fullbacks
Likes to switch ball to other flank - Increasing the versatility of your attack, indicating great vision.
Tries killer balls often - Maybe the second best PPM for any playmaking role.
Curls ball - An ideal candidate to convert long range screamers
Tries long range passes, Likes to switch ball to other flank Especially if combined with dictating tempo and high composure, this player will be running the midfield with dangerous passes.
Plays one-twos, Runs with ball right/left - Candidates for defence splitting moves, especially if combined with decent pace.
Uses outside of foot - Indicates fine technique and the ability to play quick, surprising passes.
Gets into opposition area, Shoots with power, Shoots from distance - Especially if combined with powerful shots, this play will be a danger from almost any position.
Places shots - Usually a very good and calm finisher
Likes to beat man repeatedly - Maybe THE move for any flamboyant winger and this is what we want to see if we think about great wingers. Downside: if you do not want much run with ball in your play or if you are playing under muddy pitch conditions, these players will not reach their full potential.

Dwells on ball - Ideal for wingers with hold up ball instructions.

As you can see, there are many attributes shared with attacking fullbacks, central attacking midfielders and even forwards.

Quick striker

Places shots - THE key move for fast strikers, indicating that they have very high composure and will convert many one-on-one situations by calm finishing.
Tries tricks - Trying to fool his opponent and beating him in one-on-one situations.
Knocks ball past opponent - Useful to get past the defenders.
Comes deep to get ball - The player will drop into space between defence and midfield and actively get involved into the build up play or run with the ball through the defence.
Moves into channels - Supporting free roles and lone striker roles, especially if combined with
Cuts inside - As for wingers and fullbacks
Tries to beat the offside trap - for an out-and-out quick striker lurking for through balls, especially helpful if defending a lead or playing under high pressure.
Tries first time shots - trying to finish quickly without spending time on controlling the ball first. If combined with good long shots, this can be a very clinical finishing.

Converting: Alongside ‘Places shots’ there are two very helpful moves for converting one-on-one situations:
Likes to round keeper and Likes to lob keeper. These three moves often give the cutting edge in one-on-one situations which most fast strikers see quite often.

Rare combination: only very few players have both, ‘shoots with power’ and ‘places shots’, but this seems to be a very clinical package.

Strong striker and Poacher

Plays with back to goal - Ideal if playing as classical strong target man as described in the TM article. Combined with less forward runs, the player will be able to head the ball back to his rushing up team mates or flick it on to the wingers or fast striker.
Gets into opposition area - Fox-in-the-box move
Runs with ball through centre Powerful poacher move. If combined with good technique and strength, these players often will simple leave their opponents standing and find their way through any defence.
Moves into channels and Cuts inside: Supporting a mobile target man role as well as playing as strong loan striker

Controversial PPM’s

These preferred moves could pose problems or they are moves which caused controversial opinions in the tactical bible team.

Long range free kicks, Long shots, Shooting with Power

Tries long range free kicks - Hits free kicks with power - In combination great, but often ending in the wall. Most likely only for freekicks and long shots 15+ and players who take long range free kicks. If you are having players like these in your team, it can be very ineffective to let them take every free kick, but often they have a good chance to score from long range efforts. An idea may be NOT to assign free kick takers in the tactical menu.

Slightly similar to Shoots from distance/Shoots with power. Certainly brilliant to have such a player in the team to break up sturdy defences, but as well it may be a guarantee for many shots off target.

Shoots with Power Seems to cause problems for many strikers since it can produce a large number of shots off target. On the other hand, some of the most prolific strikers do have this move. But there is no doubt that ‘Places shots’ is the most prolific PPM for any decent striker while it is doubtful if ‘Shoots with Power’ will make a striker more prolific. Certainly it should be combined with good finishing and especially long shot attributes, hopefully with good technique as well.

Dubious PPMs

Dives/does not dive into tackles Not really clear. More fouls/less fouls, more won or less won tackles? Dubious moves.

Arrives late in opposition area - Will he ever arrive? Will he arrive just in time to score from the penalty spot? Who knows.

Moves ball to left/right foot before attempts to dribble: Whatever, be pleased he can dribble.

Tweaking examples
Carlos Tevez

His PPM’s are:

Likes to try to beat offside trap
Plays with back to goal
Come deep to get ball
Plays one two’s
Knocks ball past opponent

I will try to explain and match my team instruction up with his preferred moves:

Free role + run with ball often - Knocks ball past opponent he will try both this way look for space and knock the ball past people and create havoc with his dribbling.

Mixed forward runs (like to try to beat offside trap) even on mixed forward runs he will make more forward runs than a player who does not have this PM

Mentality of 14 in the RoO system (comes deep to get ball)

Cross balls mixed, through balls mixed (Plays one two’s). He will be more likely to play the one two when left on mixed, he should select his PM first before attempting the other two.

With his attributes and moves he is well suited to play as semi- or full target man and team supply to feet or run to ball. Since he does play very deep, he also can hold up the ball and he can be used as a semi-playmaker, especially if you intend to link him up with a strong target man.

Special thanks to garyh for giving this example.

More suggestions

These are just some little hints what you may look for if taking over a new squad and looking for the right players. There will be many more examples, so this is just a suggestion what to look for when taking over a new squad or if you try to adapt your tactics slightly.

Tight marking: If a player has ‘Marks opponents tightly’ in his PM, you should not think twice about giving him this instruction.

Moves into channels, cuts inside: candidate free role for strikers, at least some creative freedom and cross ball mixed or often, which will allow this player to drift out wide.

Dictates tempo: Playmaker candidate. ‘Dictates tempo’ needs creative freedom if used as MC/a to make own passing decisions, as well as TTB often. Supported by ‘tries killer balls’ move.

Likes to beat man repeatedly: RWB often

Marks man tightly: If you have a DM/MC with this move, he is clearly a candidate for the holding role.

Dwells on ball: if you have wingers with this PM, e.g. C. Ronaldo, HUB always could be helpful.

Complete List of PPMs

Argues with officials
Arrives late in opposition area
Attempts overhead kicks
Avoids using weaker foot
Comes deep to get ball
Curls ball
Cuts inside
Dictates tempo
Dives into tackles
Does not dive in to tackles
Dwells on ball
Gets crowd going
Gets forward whenever possible
Gets into opposition area
Hits free kicks with power
Hugs line
Knocks ball past opponent
Likes ball played in to feet
Likes to beat man repeatedly
Likes to lob keeper
Likes to round keeper
Likes to switch ball to other flank
Likes to try to beat offside trap
Looks for pass rather than attempting to score
Marks opponent tightly
Moves ball to left foot before dribble attempt
Moves ball to right foot before dribble attempt
Moves in to channels
Places shots
Plays no through balls
Plays one twos
Plays short simple passes
Plays with back to goal
Runs with ball down left
Runs with ball down right
Runs with ball through centre
Shoots from distance
Shoots with power
Stays back at all times
Stops play
Tries first time shoots
Tries killer balls often
Tries long range free kicks
Tries long range passes
Tries tricks
Tries to play out of trouble
Uses outside of foot
Winds up opponents

Tactical Bible Credits
Garyh, Crazy Gra, wwfan, Millie.
Written by The next Diaby, edited by Millie.