Some insight questions

[tripedius]

He,
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New to this forum and quite new to football manager 2009. Have done FM’s in the past but that was way back in 2005 and earlier. Have read up on TTF and these (and other) forums about tactics, training (found Tug’s) and potential superb players. However I do have some questions to see if I got everything.<o></o>
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Currently I’m Man City (easy start) and just about to begin the first season. I’ve already played around with MC in a game before this, but I started over after finding some info on training and tactics. Also buying Aguero for 40 mln seemed a bit much, haven’t bought him this time.<o></o>
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My tactics are from the TTF-file. Playing 4-1-2-1-2 with basically a new team. Bought Vagner, Veloso, Vukuvic, Diarra and some midfielder from Udinese who’s name I forgot. Still looking for some defenders and maybe a very young forward as a backup for the first team. Found Zapata to be a good player, but since he’s injured atm my board won’t let me buy him. Is there anyway around that?<o></o>
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My questions are:<o></o>
- when playing 4-1-2-1-2, I have 3 options, attacking, standard and defensive. In these formations the mentality over the players obviously goes from very attacking to defending. I know the lines have to relate to each other. Very attacking forward and very defensive midfielders leaves gapes and creates isolated players. However what about creative freedom? In the TTF document there are some examples of managerial styles like Rafa, Keegan and Cappelo. I think the numbers that go with the managers relates to creative freedom. However in the standard tactics creative freedom and mentality seemed to be linked. If I play less attacking, the creative freedom goes down.
My question is does creative freedom always have to be in line with mentality? Can I use the defensive 4-1-2-1-2 tactic with defensive mentalities and high creative freedom or do these have to be linked i.a.w. if I lower the attacking mentality do I also have to lower creative freedom? Or could I always put my players on the same level of CF no matter the attacking mentality? I’m asking this cause I like to be like Wenger (well, not like him, but to have my team play Arsenal football) that is with high creative freedom in all tactics, but still be able to switch to att/def/standard.<o></o>
- secondly, how do you play a quieter style in an attacking match (or any other for that matter)? In 4-1-2-1-2 attacking almost everyone (except defenders) close down on the entire pitch. Although I’m not sure this is very effective for the DMC/AMC/ST’s it also wears everyone down. After taking a lead I want to take the pace out but not switch to defensive or standard. How do I do this? Just take the overall bar of closing down a notch lower? Or do I need to change the pace of the game? Is an attacking strategy still viable then?<o></o>
- third, how do you see what very specific orders to give to a player. In player interaction you can choose to tell your striker to go deeper or hit killer balls. How do I know which one can benefit my player?<o></o>
- lastly (for now), do you always follow the assistants advice before and during a match. At the start the assistant will tell you to show the forwards to their weaker sides and put pressure on the central midfielders. During the match more players to close down, tackle hard or show onto weaker foot will follow. This will result in always closing down 4-5 players. In previous game against ManU however this had a very bad result (1-0 up, lost 1-3) leaving me to think that the assistant manager isn’t someone to follow blindly. But the real question is how much can you count on the match analysis by your assistant and do you always follow orders? (not taking into account much weaker sides).<o></o>
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Any insight would be appreciated. It is kind of boring to start with Man City on one hand, however it’s also fun in a first game to have at least the players to do it so you know it is your fault when you fail instead of needing better players. Besides it’s not like your Real Madrid (haven’t checked in-game) cause all I had to spend was 80 mln and that just would have gotten me Kaka. <o></o>

 

[Jake]

creative freedom is something i have alwyas found best to be used very sparingly. ie, have it set to minimal for defenders, maybe minimal to normal for most midfielders. i would usually only have 2 or 3 players with high creeative freedom. usually a very good winger (ie messi) or a amc (kaka) or certain types of striker (aguero, rooney)

regardless of my other tactics i usually keep these players creative freedom high.

sorry for not answering everything,. there is a lot to read, and i have ever actually read the tt&f.

as for asssitants, look at his stats, is he actually any good? whats his tactical knowledge like? motivation, discipline etc? i usually dont listen to my assitant unless he is really really good. its just like scouting, sometimes a player who is clearly a gem is given an average rating by an average scout.

 

[Milen1234]

With regards to the player interaction, it depends upon the players attributes and the style you play.

Take Beat the offside trap. If you play a very direct game and your striker is quick then you may want to suggest them learning it.

For strikers with low finishing i usually get them to blast the ball since placing it won't work.

For killer balls it depends on your players Passing and Decision attributes.

I don't think there's an option for them to play deeper .. i'd just give them a less attacking mentality so they play lower down the pitch


With regards to closing down ... Your defensive players should be doing this sparingly. High closing down will bring them out of position alot, especially on a large pitch. On a smaller pitch it is more plausible since there's less ground to cover and pressed style of play will yield greater benefits.

it's still alright to have an attacking style with slower pace. It will build up play more and look for clever balls as opposed to quick direct football. However, i wouldn't slow down the pace on a larger pitch because shorter passing is usually associated with it which would require a narrower play and leaving gaps for opposition wingers.