Fulham v Manchester United
English Premier League
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Kickoff: 15:00 GMT
Craven Cottage

Manchester United travel to west London desperate to keep the pressure on current Premier League leaders Chelsea, while Fulham will be just as determined to keep pace with the rest in what is developing into an intensive battle for the European slots.

With the likes of Aston Villa, Arsenal, Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City all jostling for a spot in the holy grail that is the Champions League, Fulham boss Roy Hodgson will know that his side will have to work doubly hard to ensure they book their place in the Europa League once again next season.

With Chelsea once again playing a day after United, the Red Devils have another chance to move level on points with the Blues, if only temporarily. Sir Alex Ferguson’s charges dispatched of a much maligned Wolverhampton Wanderers side on Tuesday but will certainly face a far more challenging test at Craven Cottage against an in-form Fulham.

Fulham, buoyed by their qualification to the last 32 of the Europa League (where they will face Shakhtar Donetsk) and now unbeaten in six games, will be under no illusions with regards to the potential threat that United can pose and Hodgson will know his side must be on their game for the visit of the champions.

That said, supporters of the 2008 Champions League winners won’t look back at last season’s meeting with too many fond memories as the Cottagers triumphed 2-0 with both Paul Scholes and Wayne Rooney seeing red.

FORM GUIDE

Fulham

16 Dec: FC Basel 2-3 Fulham (Europa League)
12 Dec: Burnley 1-1 Fulham (Premier League)
6 Dec: Fulham 1-0 Sunderland (Premier League)
3 Dec: Fulham 1-0 CSKA Sofia (Europa League)
28 Nov: Fulham 1-1 Bolton Wanderers (Premier League)

Manchester United

15 Dec: Manchester United 3-0 Wolves (Premier League)
12 Dec: Manchester United 0-1 Aston Villa (Premier League)
8 Dec: Wolfsburg 1-3 Manchester United (Champions League)
05 Dec: West Ham United 0-4 Manchester United (Premier League)
1 Dec: Manchester United 2-0 Tottenham Hotspur (League Cup)

TEAM NEWS

Fulham

Andrew Johnson will likely miss out for the Cottagers having suffered a set-back on his comeback from a groin injury.

Skipper Danny Murphy completed his return from a recent injury after playing the full 90 minutes against FC Basel in midweek, so he may be left out against the champions.

Simon Davies remains sidelined with an ankle problem while Brede Hangeland, Clint Dempsey, Damien Duff and Paul Konchesky should all come back into the side having been left out in Switzerland.

Possible starting XI: Schwarzer; Konchesky, Hangeland, Hughes, Pantsil; Duff, Greening, Baird, Gera; Dempsey, Zamora.

Manchester United

United’s injury problems at the back continue to worsen as Nemanja Vidic is now rated as doubtful due to a calf problem.

The Red Devils are already missing Gary Neville (groin), Rafael da Silva (ankle/foot), Rio Ferdinand (calf), Jonny Evans (calf) and John O’Shea (thigh) through injury and with Wes Brown (hamstring) a real doubt, Ferguson will be desperately hoping that Vidic manages to pull through.

Ryan Giggs (hamstring) is another who is facing a race against time be fit while Nani (ankle/foot) is very unlikely to be involved.

Possible starting XI: Kuszczak; Evra, Carrick, Vidic, De Laet; Giggs, Scholes, Fletcher, Valencia; Rooney, Berbatov.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Fulham – Bobby Zamora

Following criticism from his own supporters, Zamora has the bit between his teeth at the minute and is seemingly hell-bent on proving his doubters wrong. The 30-year-old has managed nine goals so far this season and will be keen to prove his attacking credentials against opposition of the highest quality come Saturday afternoon.

Manchester United – Nemanja Vidic

With Ferdinand and Evans currently sidelined, Vidic has certainly had to step up and make his presence felt as one of the more senior figures in what has, at times, been a fundamentally makeshift United backline. The return of Wes Brown has definitely helped matters although Vidic will need to have his wits about him on Saturday if United are to claim all three points.

PREDICTION

It was always going to be a tricky trip to west London for United but given their mounting injury problems in defence, I think Sir Alex Ferguson will be pretty satisfied if his team manage to come away with a point.

Fulham 1-1 Manchester United

Watch Fulham v Manchester United live online by subscribing to Live Football’s live English Premier League service.

by Stephen Darwin, Goal.com

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

Where would football be without transfers? Well you can look at this in two ways really. For a start you wouldn’t have outrageous transfer fees and seismic wage demands and that charismatic and ambitious star striker you have among your ranks wouldn’t be the subject of a protracted, summer long pursuit by a so-called European superpower. Real Madrid wouldn’t have their Galactico’s. Chelsea, Manchester City, Liverpool and Manchester United probably wouldn’t be under foreign ownership. The world of football would be a better place would it not?

I think not. Do transfers not help extend those long and tiresome summers with the back page rumours that link your club to the next Ronaldinho or Zidane. Yeah these so-called ‘facts’ may always prove to be absolute rubbish but they can assist in creating a sense of excitement amongst supporters if nothing else. Anyway this is all beside the point. Whether we like it or not, transfers remain an immeasurably key part of the modern day game and the same can certainly be said of their impact on FM.

Get the advice of your Assistant

Your assistant manager isn’t just there to help you conduct half-time team talks, hold press conferences on your behalf or to take charge of your squad while you nip to the loo and inevitably stick the game on holiday. No, believe it or not but your assistant can be vital in your attempts to lure new recruits to your club.

While the seasoned FM pros among us will no doubt know this before I even begin explaining, when you first look to conduct a player search, you can infact have you assistant filter out unrealistic targets. This is undoubtedly useful as there is little point in targeting players that have very little or no interest in joining your club.

On top of that, your assistant can also offer useful advice on players that may be interested in a loan move to your club. This is certainly an effective tool for all you lower league managers looking to find a promising player to fill the gap but may be unsure where to start such a search. For those of you that were never aware of this revelation, if you click on your first team squad and then go down to the bottom of the screen you will see ‘Assistant Advice’ and then ‘Compile Loan Players Availability Report’.

Refine your search as much as possible

While the advice of your assistant manager is certainly a useful method of searching for players, you don’t want to be solely relying on their word alone. Once you have filtered out those players that couldn’t give two hoots about joining your club, now would be the time to cut down the shortlist even further to ensure you are chasing the perfect player(s) for your team.

By clicking on ‘Filter’ and then ‘Customise’ on the player search screen you open up your search to an array of options and possibilities. First of all I would recommend that you filter out the exact position you are hoping to strengthen and then move on to pick the specifically key attributes that are needed for that position. There are other options you may want to choose to help narrow down your search even further such as the age of the player and their transfer status at the current time but make sure you focus on the fundamentals I mentioned at the start.

For more on player attributes in Football Manager, head over to this post.

Check for free transfers

I can’t emphasise enough just how important it is for you to search for free transfers and those players who are running out of contract. It can save you millions. If you can pick up a player of decent quality for just his wages and a signing on fee, I would urge you to go ahead with it. If all else fails and he turns out to be a complete flop of a player, you can always just flog him at the end of the season and even make a bit of extra cash!

Just make sure that at the end of every season you scour the market for free transfers to see who is available. If you can’t be bothered sifting through pages upon pages of players without a club, for those of you managing in the top leagues a good trick is to sort the players by international appearances which will help list those at the peak of their careers in terms of international recognition.

I would also recommend that you check out those players whose contracts are running out at the end of the season when the January transfer window opens. This will allow you to approach to sign foreign based players on a free transfer within that month but you won’t be able to attempt to sign anyone in the same division until the season ends and their contract expires. Nevertheless, do be aware of those that are in the final year of their current deal.

Work with your Scouts

If you’re not a great advocate of FM Scout, then the involvement of your in-game scouting team could be the difference between success and failure in the transfer market. For a start you can send your scouts to the far reaches of the world to search for hottest prospects on the game although this obviously depends on the size of your club and the ability and knowledge of your scouts.

Not only can your scouts provide you with an accurate report on a potential transfer target, they can also offer advice on what they believe may be the minimum bid you are likely to have accepted for a specific player. This can prove an excellent cost-cutting measure and ensures you don’t go splashing out mega amounts of money when you clearly don’t need to.

For more on scouting within Football Manager, make sure you check out this post.

A tip for lower league managers

Now I know that many of the aforementioned tips to success in the transfer market have been largely associated with clubs playing at the top of their country’s football pyramid so here’s something for all the lower league gaffers out there.

When I was manager of Farsley Celtic in the Conference North, I tended to find that the better players that would improve my squad were indeed already plying their trade in league football with bigger clubs. I would therefore proceed to sort players by their wage which would often help uncover those players in league football who weren’t necessarily valued as high as those at non-league clubs.

I understand that that bit of advice wasn’t exactly ground shattering. Although another tip I would throw your way is to keep offering a contract (preferably full-time) to your most important and highly paid players but each time bring down the weekly wage amount and try to avoid a signing on fee. If you bring down the amount by about £150-£200 each time, you can gradually get your big earners down to pittance. It’s a bit of a laborious process to be honest but it’s great if you are on a really low budget and need your wage bill to be next to nothing to survive.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

Don’t fret if you’re beginning to realise that you’re the Tony Adams of Football Manager. Although unlike old Donkey, you can drastically improve your management skills as, after all, FM is a computer game.

For all of you that are new to FM and the world of the football management SIM then cast your eyes on this beginners guide as we work together to transform you from an under-pressure manager to one of world class proportions. Well we’ll at least have a go!

Formation

Of all that will follow, this is probably the least important part of the game. You can win titles with just about any reasonable formation. The tricky part is matching your formation with your players’ capabilities and your game plan.

First, figure out how you want to play (defensive, offensive or counter attacking). If you want to go on the offensive, I would recommend a classic 4-4-2; for defence, the 4-1-4-1 works well, while for the counter attack, I generally go with the 4-5-1 with the advanced wingers.

A lot, however, also depends on your squad – as it would be very hard to play a 4-1-4-1 if you do not have a defensive midfielder. In general, you must try to have as many players as possible (from your starting XI) with bright green dots next to their name (that says that they are natural in the position to which you have assigned them).

Player Instructions

Unlike the former, this is probably the most important of all that is to follow. This is where you give individual instructions to your players. It’s hard and tedious, but it must be done well.

For starters, set each player to the template of the position which you have given him (you can do this by clicking on position – while on the ‘Player Instruction’ screen – and selecting the appropriate), then figure out what you want each player to do.

For example, you might want Aaron Lennon to cross and dribble often, but shoot rarely. I generally tell my players to do what they are good at and avoid doing that at which they’re not so hot (know your players’ attributes!). For the beginning I would recommend that you follow this rule and start tweaking it only when you are comfortable with the game.

For more on ‘Player Instructions’, check out the ‘FM Tactics Guide’.

Team Instructions

This is where you tell your team how you want them to play, but you must be careful. Some instructions do not work well with others. For example, it does not make much sense to play a counter-attacking game at a slow tempo. Here are the basic rules:

• High tempo should be paired with long-passes. If you play like this, you have to either attack or try for the counter-attack.
• Low tempo should be paired with direct or short passes. This works if you are attacking or defending, but not for counter attacks.
• If you plan on a defensive game, try closing opponents down in your own half at least, if not all over the pitch.

Other than that, adjust your time-wasting and width to your preference and make sure that if you play with a target man or a playmaker (bad idea to try both), you specify the player you want to occupy that role.

Two more things before I move on: playing with a high-tempo or closing down all over the pitch will tire your players out faster. So, watch out for that. Also, tackling hard is likely to make you concede free-kicks in dangerous positions (more specifically, inside the 18-yard box) and to get players sent-off. It does have its own advantages (intimidating/injuring opposition) but try to make sure your defenders have decent tackling and anticipation attributes.

For more on ‘Team Instructions’, take a look at this!

Training Schedules

I have played Football Manager since its inception and this is the first version of the game where the training program makes a difference. For one thing, it helps you keep your players fit. For another, it helps players develop.

To get the best out of the feature, create training schedules for each position. This will help players focus on what they need to better themselves at (you don’t want your strikers to be working on their defensive duties!). So, take your defenders and put them in a schedule where they focus on ‘Strength’, ‘Aerobic’, ‘Tactics’, ‘Defending’ and whatever else you value in a defender. Do this for your midfielders and forwards as well and, if you can be bothered, set up schedules specifically for the wingers and full-backs.

When creating your schedule, make sure to keep the workload at a reasonable intensity (the border between ‘medium’ and ‘high’ is great for top flight teams). Doing otherwise might make your players too tired to play in a match or too unfit to go on for ninety minutes.

Once you have done that, you need to address the coaches. The more coaches the better, but they do not need to be great coaches. Look for those who have a solid right-hand column when it comes to attributes (motivating, adaptation, etc.) and have a 20 at just one or two training categories.

Next make sure that your staff are well equipped to cover all areas of training (as in, make sure that you have a coach or two who specialize in ‘Strength’ and another one or two who specialize in ‘Technique’ and so one). Once that is covered, set each coach to one or two training categories. This will make the workload decent for your coaches and will ensure that your players will receive all the attention that they need to fully develop.

For a more detailed overview of training and training schedules, take a look at this article.

Conclusion

Well, that is all that I had to say today.

Go on! Get back to Football Manager now and let’s hope you banish the ghosts of the FM beginner.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

Training’s a bit like marmite really. Some players absolutely despise the hard work that has to go into it (and especially pre-season!), while others see it as the perfect opportunity to develop their game away from the hustle and bustle of a match day situation.

However much a player loves training or, indeed, hates it, training is decisively important for professional footballers across the globe and the same goes for training within the virtual world of Football Manager.

Training Categories

If you want your players to get the most out of their training sessions it is recommended that you pay particular attention to which coaches you assign to specific training categories. Different coaches will have different strengths and if you’re able to, the ideal situation is to have one coach for each category.

A coach’s proficiency within a certain training category is graded by a star rating system where one star is extremely poor while seven stars represents excellence. Your players will inevitably respond better to a coach that has a higher star rating for a particular area of training and the coaches themselves will be more apt at guiding your squad members. Sound complicated? Well see below for an explanation of each training category and how you can go about achieving a lofty seven star rating.

Strength

The strength training category covers a variety of player attributes including natural fitness, stamina, strength and work rate. An effective coach for strength training would have high attributes for fitness, determination, discipline and motivation.

Aerobic

Aerobic training is associated with increasing the heart rate through the working of body muscles. Within FM this therefore correlates with a player’s acceleration, agility, balance, jumping, pace and reflexes. As with strength training, a coach with decent attributes for fitness, determination, discipline and motivation will be most effective.

Goalkeeping

Without branding you stupid, goalkeeping training is obviously attributed to goalkeeping attributes such as aerial ability, handling, kicking, throwing and one-on-ones. A coach with impressive goalkeeping stats would be a good start but also keep an eye out for determination, discipline and motivation once again.

Tactics

Tactical training will relate to player attributes including anticipation, decisions, positioning, movement, team work and command of area. To achieve a seven star rating, you will require a coach with 20 for tactics and a combined total of 50 for determination, discipline and motivation.

Ball Control

While ball control may not be considered the most important part of a training schedule it does help improve dribbling, technique and first touch, three key player attributes. Therefore you will ignore this training category at your peril but should you be hoping for seven stars then assign a coach with high attributes for technique, mental, determination, discipline and motivation.

Defending

Unfathomably important for defenders, the defending training category focuses on improving a player’s tackling, marking and concentration. As well as needing to possess a strong defensive attribute, coaches will need determination, discipline and motivation as well as tactics if they are to be effective.

Attacking

A player’s passing and creativity will inevitably go up if you use a coach with good, solid attributes for attacking, tactical, determination, discipline and motivation.

Shooting

Your strikers should start finding the net, or atleast start troubling the opposition goalkeeper a bit more often as the shooting category links to a player’s finishing, long shots and composure. Attacking, technique, determination, discipline and motivation are the pivotal stats required by a coach.

Set-pieces

Crossing, corners, free kicks, penalty taking and long throws will all increase if you employ a coach that has 19 or above for attacking, mental and technical but also ensure the coach is developed in the areas of determination, discipline and motivation.

General Training Tips

• Versatile players are more likely to successfully retrain to a new position which can be an excellent cost-cutting measure instead of having to splash out on an expensive signing.
• When managing a semi-professional club, it’s important that you try and tie down key players to full-time contracts to maximise their training time. Staff who are on part-time contracts have less time to train players than full-time staff so make sure your backroom staff are on full-time contracts too.
• During pre-season is probably the best time to carry out intense physical training as you try to build up your squad to their optimum fitness levels. Although be careful not to make training too intense during the season as it will likely tire your players and increase the risk of injury.
• Don’t worry if you notice your player’s attributes are decreasing during the off-season as this will inevitably happen while they are away on holiday or doing very little training.
• Be careful with how you approach the training of youth team players. They will clearly tire quicker than the more senior members of your squad so be considerate with how hard you work them when devising youth training schedules.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

Getting your tactics exactly right on FM is absolutely paramount, that’s for sure. I don’t think there’s ever been a game in the sports simulation genre that has required so much patience, accuracy and attention to detail when it comes to tweaking your tactical plan.

While transfers, training and the team you pick on match days will inevitably prove vitally important in your quest for success, if you fail to appreciate the significance of tactics on Football Manager, you will undoubtedly struggle to progress.

These days it’s not as easy as just sending out your team of world beaters on the pitch in a basic 4-4-2 formation and expecting them to trounce anything and everything that’s put in front of them. Yes in the past you may have got away with that but these days a player simply won’t perform to the best of their ability unless their tactical framework is moulded to perfection.

While I can’t offer you a sure fire way of possessing the perfect tactic that will suit every member of your squad, the explanations below (accredited to the FM game manual) should atleast aid you in understanding the complex nature of tactics within FM.

Team Instructions

Mentality

Mentality directly affects a player’s position on the field. His set position on the tactical pitch display is where he will line up as a base default, but depending on the mentality set he may be more restrained or cavalier in his approach. The slider ranges from Ultra Defensive to All Out Attacking. The further right the slider is set for the team instruction, the more aggressive your players will play positionally and more ambitious they may be when passing the ball (a more aggressive mentality will result in more forward passes).

Creative Freedom

Creative Freedom affects the tendency of your players to attempt the more difficult and ambitious. The slider ranges from Little to Much, and in short, the more creative freedom you allow your team, the more unpredictable they may be. A higher setting may see your players occasionally ignore your tactical instructions and attempt to do their own thing, but the degree of success depends on the technical prowess of your players. Given they’ll be attempting the more difficult stuff; they need to be of a sufficient caliber to make it count. Therefore, it may be advisable to limit this on a team basis and allow it for the more talented player(s) in your team.

Passing Style

Passing style is fairly simple – this dictates the range of passing your team will adopt. The slider ranges from Short to Long and the notches in between will gradually ask your team to play a more expansive passing game. When deciding upon the style of passing you want your team to use, you’ll need to consider how everything else will affect it, both in terms of tactics and personnel. Have your players got the required attributes to keep the ball comfortably over short distances? Does your passing style suit the tempo and mentality of your team? If you’re looking to play a direct game with an attacking mentality, your players may be launching longer passes from positions further up the pitch, which may prove wasteful.

Tempo

Tempo dictates the speed and urgency your team plays with. The slider ranges from Slow to Quick, and the further right you move the bar, your team will play a more up-tempo game and look to make things happen quickly and sharply. The tempo employed by your team can affect the success of your passing – it is entirely possible to play a quick, short passing game but when you increase the speed of something, mistakes can become more likely.

Width

The width your team lines up with largely comes into effect when they are in possession. The slider is set from Narrow to Wide. Setting the slider further to the right will indicate that you want your players to move towards the touchlines when they have the ball and in particular, get the ball to those in wider positions in order to stretch the opposition. A more narrow setting will attempt to bring the play inside and force matters through the centre of the pitch.

Without possession, your players are less inclined to follow your width instructions, but they will try to employ them as best they can against what the opposition is doing.

Closing Down

Closing Down represents how often, or how committed your players are, to closing down the opposition when they have the ball over the entire pitch. The slider is set from Rarely to Often. Increasing how often your players close the opponent down will put them under pressure when they receive the ball, but it can leave your team exposed for position and fitness, especially if your players don’t have the necessary physical attributes to be chasing opponents around for the whole game. Closing an opponent down will increase the chances of taking the ball from them and launching a counter attack, and is probably best employed in an attacking system – if you’re operating defensively with the intention to soak up pressure, your defensive shape doesn’t need to be compromised by players chasing the ball.

Time Wasting

Employing time-wasting is a defensive tactic designed to neutralise the attacking threat and frustrate the opposition. If used throughout the game, it is safe to assume the team using it are inferior to their opponents and are doing all they can to avoid defeat. Many other teams of all strengths may use it late in the game to hold onto a slender advantage. The slider is set from Rarely to Often and unless your team is one of the aforementioned inferior ones, this may be an option you use most in the closing minutes of games, or set depending on opposition/match context.

Defensive Line

The Defensive Line slider positions your deepest line of defense on the pitch. It affects the position the players take up both with and without possession. The slider is set from Deep to Push Up, and the further right the bar is set, the closer to the halfway line the defensive unit will advance when in possession. If your team is using a defensive mentality, a defensive setting on the slider will ensure they stay deep when the rest of your team attacks. If your team uses an attacking philosophy, the effect of the slider is lessened and players will advance – although a deeper line will see them err on the side of caution a little more.

When your team is not in possession the same applies, but in terms of nullifying the opposition. As soon as your team loses the ball, the defensive line will adopt the approach you have told them to and either drop deeper or push up. You may want to take the qualities of the opposition’s attackers into consideration before each match before deciding on your defensive line approach, as quicker players can get in behind an advanced line, and deeper lines can be exposed by direct play and a big target man up front.

Tackling

The Tackling slider determines the level of commitment and aggression your players will attempt to show when tackling for the ball. The slider is different from the others as it only has three options – Easy, Normal, and Hard. Hard tackling is most likely to exert authority on the opponent but is also most likely to inflict injury and disciplinary action against your players. Easy tackling negates this risk somewhat but also gives the opposition an easier time on the ball. Normal is a balance of the settings and is the best choice by default, but you should check your opposition’s disciplinary record and their record from set piece situations ahead of each game, as well as the type of player they have, before settling on your tackling approach for the match.

Focus Passing

This option is where you can tell your players where to generally work their play from. You have the option to direct all play down both flanks, either the left or the right only, through the middle, or a mix of all of them. The best use of this is in combination with other tactical settings, the strengths of your team and the weaknesses of others. For example, setting your Width to ‘Wide’ but directing play through the middle may work through stretching the opponent but you effectively ignore your wide players all game. If you have a left or right sided player of some ability, directing all play towards them can bring them into the game often and maximize the chances of their ability being used to great effect. Similarly, if the opposition has a weak link somewhere in the team, you can tell your players to focus their efforts on making his game a torrid one and yours beneficial.

Marking

The Marking option sets your team to play either a zonal or a man marking style. Man marking is the easiest and simplest to employ, as each player on your team is responsible for an opponent at all times. Zonal marking puts players in charge of an area of the pitch which they are then responsible for addressing should an opponent make their way into that ‘zone’. It is harder to employ as your defensive players will need top ratings in Anticipation, Concentration, and Decision as well as key defensive attributes, but if you have the players to implement it, some managers believe it to be a more effective defensive tactic as players are less likely to be drawn out of position, ensuring a solid structural foundation to your team.

Target Man Supply

If you choose to employ a target man, this option tells your players how to supply the ball to him. In simple terms, you should choose the option which best suits your target man’s attributes. You can have your players feed him the ball To Head, To Feet, to Run onto the Ball, or a mixture of them all. A tall, strong target man will benefit from aerial supply, whilst a skilful, quicker target man may prefer the ball to be kept on the floor.

Tight Marking

Tell your players whether you wish for them to mark their opponents up close or to allow themselves a little ‘give’ should they be beaten to the ball.

Use Target Man

Set whether your team plays to a target man. Such a player is a focal point in the attack which the team will look to involve in all attacking plays and feed off. Typically this player is big and strong, and capable of holding off opponents, but it can work with other types of players in the right system.

Use Playmaker

The playmaker is an almost cult role in world football – a fantasista – the player wearing the number 10 shirt. Those are the most common and typical types of playmaker but in short he will be the one player in your team capable of providing the difference-making play that very few others can’t. It can be a player anywhere on the pitch that you set as a playmaker (which you can assign from the ‘Playmakers’ panel option from the ‘Instructions’ menu), but ideally the selected player will be one who can make a difference offensively.

Play Offside

Decide whether your defensive unit should play the offside trap or not. To pull it off successfully you’ll need players who are mentally capable of focusing on the plan as well as a unit who know each other very well, and a sufficient mentality so as to not conflict with the option.

Counter Attack

The counter attack option is best used by an underdog facing a superior opponent or a team with players capable of launching attacks at high speed with a directness about their play. They will tend to sit back in their own half and allow the opposition to have the ball in ‘harmless’ positions before imposing pressure, taking the ball, and countering.

Player Instructions

Mentality

When set for a player, it applies in the same manner as it does for the team as detailed in the Team Instructions section.

Creative Freedom

When set for a player, it applies in the same manner as it does for the team as detailed in the the Team Instructions section. The player will act on his own authority at times and attempt to play with flair and trickery.

Passing Style

When set for a player, it applies in the same manner as it does for the team as detailed in the Team Instructions section.

Closing Down

When set for a player, it applies in the same manner as it does for the team as detailed in the Team Instructions section. Instead of setting an entire team to close down often, it might be advisable to allow your fittest player(s) to do a bulk of the work.

Tackling

When set for a player, it applies in the same manner as it does for the team as detailed in the Team Instructions section. The following sliders are different to the above and a majority of the Team Instruction sliders as they only have 3 notches to them – Rarely, Mixed, and Often.

Forward Runs

This slider controls how often your players make forward runs without the ball. ‘Often’ will see the player push into attacking positions and attempt to get by their marker – for wide players and full-backs this will increase the likelihood of overlapping runs. ‘Rarely’ will order the players to stand their ground and attempt to play their way through or around an opponent rather than going past them.

Run With Ball

This increases the chances of a player deciding to advance forward with the ball rather than giving it to someone else, if set to ‘Often’. ‘Rarely’ will restrict their dribbling and instead pass the ball onto a team-mate.

Long Shots

This controls the speculative shooting from distances further than 20 yards out from goal. It makes sense to limit these to players who have a high Long Shots rating else you’ll be wasting chances and turning the ball over to your opponents a lot.

Through Balls

This controls how often the player will attempt a through ball. Through balls are defined in the match engine as a pass that can ‘unleash’ a player behind an opponent, so not necessarily a pass through the last line of defence to a striker. When considering the use of through balls, take into account the passing ability of the player and the likely recipient of the pass, and what they’ll be able to do when they receive it. For example, a right-back playing a through ball to a right winger would likely do so along the touchline – will the winger then be able to make full use of the situation?

Cross Ball

This controls the volume of crosses put into the area by the player. Consider the player’s position before setting this – if he plays centrally but has ‘Often’ set for crosses, is he going to be crossing in at angles or moving wide and out of position to cross? The next few options are drop-down lists from which you may select one option.

Cross From

This defines where players should be looking to cross from. They can cross from deeper positions or they can make their way to the byline then send a cross back at a different angle. Alternatively, choosing ‘Mixed’ will allow the player to make his own mind up.

Cross Aim

When crossing, you can instruct your players to attempt to put the ball into a certain part of the penalty area. The ball can be played to the Near or Far Posts or the Centre, or if you have a target man set, the ball can be directed towards him. This is only the intention; the technical ability of the player determines whether the ball will be put in the right places regularly.

Swap Position

If your team uses wingers, you can use this function to tell one winger to swap positions with the other (and vice-versa) during a match, to freshen things up on that side of the pitch, keep defenders on their toes, and bring a different attacking approach if something isn’t working. Any player can be swapped with any other if your plans are ambitious and your players are versatile but take caution when doing it and consider how it may disrupt your formation if swapping a centre-back with a midfielder. The remaining options deal with check boxes and dropdowns.

Marking

For each upcoming match you can specify an opponent to be man-marked by a player from the ‘Marking’ option – select Man, then when the opposition line-up is available, wait for it to pop out and select the player.

Free Role

Allows the player almost complete freedom to move around the pitch and attempt to pull all of the strings to get the team working. Essentially this is a role that should only be given to a player of high caliber with the creative expression and attributes to make a difference.

Hold Up Ball

Is an option which will tell the player to put his foot on the ball and take a look around to see what’s on before moving it on and making the appropriate decision. It works best in a slower tempo game as the player will have more time on the ball to find his team-mates, who should be in closer proximity. A high tempo closing-down game from the opposition can force a player holding the ball up to make a quicker decision and not necessarily always choose the right one. It can also be used in tandem with a target man, who will physically hold the ball up and try and bring others into the game from his position.

Set Pieces

Each player can be employed in a different situation for set pieces, both attacking and defensive. Take some time to plan out how you want your set pieces to go, position your players, and then set them accordingly from the dropdown menus on the player instructions panel.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

It would be foolish of me to insult your intelligence within this article by banging on about the fact that a good FM manager is determined by the games they win and the trophies they manage to pick up along the way. You’re not stupid, you know that already.

Although you may not be too familiar with the mental attributes within your profile that determine just what type of manager you are. You may be an Arsene Wenger, where club loyalty is your forte, despite the consistent overtures of Real Madrid. Alternatively you may be an Alex Ferguson with squad harmony and financial control at the top of the agenda.

Whatever route you do decide to take there are ways you can develop and alter your management style and characteristics where attributes will undoubtedly fluctuate depending on how you go about your day to day business of running a football club.

Club/Player Loyalty

I mentioned Arsene Wenger earlier mainly because I expect his ‘Club Loyalty’ attribute would have gone up a notch on FM if, in-game, he had distanced himself from the Real Madrid job, like he did earlier in the summer.

Obviously ‘Club/Player Loyalty’ refers to how dedicated and loyal your are to the club as a whole but also individual players. This attribute will ascend with every year you stay with your current club of choice and also each time you reject/decline interest in a job offer from elsewhere.

The ‘Player Loyalty’ part of the equation comes into play with regard to your treatment of current and former players. This attribute will inevitably go up when you proceed to use of the same batch of players year after year and also when you speak highly of former players within Press Conferences.

Domestic Player Bias

This attribute is all focused around your use of domestic players and also your transfer policy and the type of players you are regularly looking to recruit. If you are a manager who would overlook signing a rising domestic star in favour of a more established foreign player, your ‘Domestic Player Bias’ is likely to go down.

On the flip side, if you prefer to build a team around home-grown talent and this is reflected in your dealings in the transfer market and also your team selections, ‘Domestic Player Bias’ will elevate drastically.

Financial Control

It goes without saying really but ‘Financial Control’ refers to your ability to keep the club financially stable. The better you keep to within the club’s wage budget and the more income you generate, the higher this attribute will be. Find yourself in the red and well above the recommended wage budget and be ready to bear the consequences.

Hands On Approach

This attribute is associated with your involvement in and around the club and the part you play in the smooth running of it. This is often the most difficult attribute to develop unless you have ridiculous amounts of time to play with.

To increase ‘Hands On Approach’ you will need to do things like devise your own training regimes, take control of friendly matches and team talks, create your own tactics and manage the reserves and u-18’s on a regular basis. This attribute will rapidly decline if you assign your fellow backroom staff to carry out the aforementioned tasks.

Squad Discipline

How much of a tight ship as it were will determine how high your ‘Squad Discipline’ attribute will be. If you are considerably strict and dish out fines and warnings left, right and centre, you are more likely to have higher ‘Squad Discipline’. If you decide not to punish players for a sending off or missing a training session, you will be faced with the opposite effect.

Tactical Consistency

A traditional Rafa Benitez approach will probably see this attribute fall well below average. This is because the Liverpool boss is rather well-known for chopping and changing things about at regular intervals.

Those managers that frequently prefer to stick with the same line-up and tactics will see their ‘Tactical Consistency’ attribute rise as a result.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

It’s fair to say that Cristiano Ronaldo has taken the meaning of the word ‘winger’ to a whole new level during the last couple of years. The primary role of the man on the flank was once to create chances for the striker and deliver as many accurate crosses as possible. Ronaldo undoubtedly raised the bar with his flurry of goals from a wide position but the fundamentals still remain the same. If you’re looking to identify some of the attributes you need to be aware of when choosing a winger then you’ve come to just the right place!

5 Key Attributes

Crossing

As much as the role of the conventional winger may have changed over the years, I still like to persist with a winger that has an established crossing attribute. You can be confident that if you have a striker who knows how to find the back of the net, with decent supply from wide positions you can’t go wrong.

Dribbling

Dribbling is evidently key for a winger if you want him to be driving at the opposition full-back whenever possible. A strong dribbling stat will ensure your winger will be apt at travelling with the ball at feet but be sure to combine the dribbling attribute with acceleration, pace, balance and agility if you truly want the best outcome.

Flair

If you’re hoping for flashes of individual brilliance then make sure you have a winger with flair in abundance. The problem with a player that adopts the use of flair is that they will often attempt the outrageous and spectacular rather than just playing the simple five-yard pass. That said, the element of unpredictability should help worry and unsettle opposition defenders.

Technique

If you want to build a successful team at the highest level then you should really have a squad that is littered with technical ability. As a winger, technique is paramount for those at the peak of their game where technically gifted players are able to pull off that difficult threaded pass or extravagant lob over the goalkeeper.

Creativity

You won’t want a winger who is creatively a class apart to be looking to cross the ball at any given opportunity as this will clearly not be executing their full potential. Creative wingers will spot that little opening and attempt to make things happen but technical proficiency is a must for their creativity to have the maximum desired effect.

For more detailed information on mental, technical and physical attributes, head over to the ‘FM Player Attributes’ post.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

Wayne Rooney, Fernando Torres, David Villa, Samuel Eto’o. We can all name them but what is it that makes them rank among the best strikers in the world? Well while I appreciate that different front men bring different qualities to a side, here’s a list of five key attributes that you should definitely take note of when selecting your front line.

5 Key Attributes

Finishing

We are all aware that the primary objective of a striker tends to be finding the back of the net so the finishing attribute is clearly of great importance. Those strikers with high finishing will be more efficient in hitting the target and troubling the goalkeeper. Low finishers on the other hand will be more prone to missing the proverbial sitter.

Composure

While the finishing attribute refers to a player’s ability to hit the target on a consistent basis, composure is all about their knack of keeping a cool head. This is clearly vital when your striker is through on goal with a chance of scoring as a high composure attribute will see them keep their head rather than buckling under the pressure.

Off The Ball

A player’s ability to find space and move off the ball can be just as important as their decisions with the ball at their feet. The ‘Off The Ball’ attribute is associated with a player’s movement which can be vital for a striker that is looking to drag defenders away and create space for themselves and others around them.

Technique

A striker with decent technique is always a good thing. The more technically astute your front man is, the more comfortable he will undoubtedly be with the ball at his feet. A player with high technique will have a better chance of executing that intricate volley or curling shot at goal.

Anticipation

Anticipation refers to how well a player can predict and react to an event. Therefore a striker that can anticipate situations is more likely to be in the right place at the right time to gobble up that goalmouth opportunity. Works particularly well in tandem with the ‘Off The Ball’ attribute.

For more detailed information on mental, technical and physical attributes, head over to the ‘FM Player Attributes’ post.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

So what exactly makes a good attacking midfielder? Well obviously an abundance of goals, clever through balls and a bucket load of assists wouldn’t be a bad starting point. Although what are the specific attributes you should be looking out for to determine whether player X or Y are capable of being the creative force in your side?

5 Key Attributes

Creativity

If you have an attacking midfielder that is creatively astute, you might just be onto a winner.  Creativity is associated with a player’s ability to spot an opening but that doesn’t necessarily mean they will be able to execute the telling pass. Combine creativity with decent passing and technique attributes and your attacking midfielder is in a prime position to create chances galore.

Flair

Flair will work well in tandem with creativity and it may be worth giving the attacking midfielder in question a free-role within your team to boot. A flair player will be the type to try the audacious and sometimes outrageous to stamp their authority on a game.

Passing

As I mentioned earlier, if the creative potential of an attacking midfielder is going to be realised, then the passing attribute needs to be similarly elevated. The higher the passing attribute, the easier the player will find it to pick out and execute a range of passes and you may also want to set his passing style to short too.

Long Shots

One of the best things about both football and FM is watching a player cut inside before unleashing a 40-yard effort into the top corner. An attacking midfielder with a high long shots attribute will inevitably attempt more pot shots from range and we all know the age-old cliché that becomes particularly relevant here – ‘if you don’t shoot, you won’t score!’

Technique

Technique is associated with a player’s natural skill and will have a huge bearing on how effectively your attacking midfielder utilises his technical attributes. In this sense, a player with a higher technique attribute will be more capable of executing that tricky, eye of the needle through pass for instance.

For more detailed information on mental, technical and physical attributes, head over to the ‘FM Player Attributes’ post.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

When it comes to selecting your central midfield pairing it is essential that you consider playing a holding player as well as an attack minded midfielder. Whether he plays as a defensive midfielder with a duty to protect the back four or just simply as a more disciplined central midfielder, you will need a midfield enforcer to help stem the flow of the opposition attacks.

5 Key Attributes

Determination

You’ll no doubt want your whole squad to be a determined bunch but it can be one of the most crucial attributes for a defensive midfielder in particular. The determination attribute refers to a player’s desire to succeed. The higher the rating the more they are absolutely committed to giving their all to the cause. It certainly pays to have a determined individual in that area of the pitch.

Passing

Passing is obviously not the most important weapon in a defensive midfielder’s armoury but it is a useful attribute for them to possess nonetheless. While the traditional role of a holding man is to just get the ball and give it to a perhaps more technically gifted player, some of the best defensive midfielders on FM have proved that they themselves know how to pick a pass.

Work Rate

In most cases, your holding midfielder won’t need to be a box-to-box type player but if they have good work rate they will undoubtedly be able to utilise the attribute through a never-say-die attitude on the pitch. A will to work will result in them never giving up the ghost even if, at times, they are beaten by their opposite number.

Tackling

With a high tackling attribute, your defensive midfielder will be in his element when he is able to get stuck right into a challenge. After all, he is there to protect your back four and the better tackler he is, the more chance he will have of winning possession back for your team.

Stamina

A player that can last the whole 90 minutes game after game is always a positive for you as the manager. When that player is your battling holding midfielder it becomes even more decisive. When the rest of your team may be struggling to find the legs to carry them over the finish line, rest assured that a defensive midfielder with high stamina will keep trudging around the pitch, harassing the opposition for possession.

For more detailed information on mental, technical and physical attributes, head over to the ‘FM Player Attributes’ post.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News