Do you like this post?
Football Manager 2010 as it has as every year been a success and with the Christmas period coming I am sure that there will be plenty more people who will be jumping into Football Management to fill to gap until Boxing day when the Football will be back on the TV. Football Manager has proved itself an increasing challenge and so it should but I have here 10 ways in which you could improve your Football Manager skills, for those who have already got the game and also those who have couldn’t wait for the big beardy bloke to come down the chimney to become a better Football Manager.
1. Keep it Simple Stupid! (KISS)
The Kiss rule, Something that Football Managers are in danger of doing when starting a new game especially with the new tactical options available is making things too complicated for themselves, using all the roles that you can stick into a team of 11 players. But why? If you don’t understand what it is you are doing then don’t use them! deal with the roles that you have some knowledge of, stick to what you know, until you are able to learn more about the game. Keeping it simple is the best way to ensure that your players are able to play a game of football that is not full of holes and the not so good players are able to keep it competent.
More Reading: CONTEST: Winner of the Best Tactical Tip Revealed!
2. Small changes make all the difference
Football Manager tacticians will always tell you that making small changes throughout a match is the best way to succeed, set your tactics and then throughout the game being able to deal with changes in the game and reacting to your opposition is key. This has always be a bit of tricky affair in previous versions of the game, going into the tactical area and messing around with the sliders. But the small changes is exactly what the touchline shouts deal with. Use these as and when you can see they are needed reacting to your own analysis of what is going on within the game, but again just as I mentioned above, if you don’t know what you are doing, don’t do it and keep it simple.
3. Build your tactics with the ability of you squad in mind
Trying to play fluid attacking creative football with a side such as Bolton is never going to work as at the start of the game at least, you are not equipped with the players that are able to play that style. Not utilising attacking, fluid football allowing players to roam around the pitch could be a major waste or resources at Barcelona. Fitting your tactics to best utilise your best 11 players in the squad should be the best way to find success. Want to play a certain way into Football Manager, take a look round and build a squad towards that way of playing, but be adaptable enough to deal with what is in front of you.
More Reading: Home and Away tactics – the lie you believe
4. Scouts are your friends
Having a top scouting team relative to your league can be highly valuable, these will be the staff who can continually seek out better players for your side while you are playing through the game, returning those youngsters from the Romanian lower leagues that are able to make it within the Premiership and searching for those players that you are in most need of. At the lower leagues they can be even more important as on a shoe string budget a good scout could find your that free transfer or loan signing that could change a season. Having a good scouting strategy can be alot more effective then the player search function and can actually aide the player search function by populating it with more players.
More Reading: Utilising your scouting staff
5. Keep morale high
Happy players want to play for you, top players will be more entitled to stay at the club and can be more confident upon the pitch. It isn’t a coincidence for example that when a manager loses the dressing room or a player isn’t playing with high morale and confidence, the squad suffers. Players will miss those chances they would previously have put away and mistakes creep in. Keeping your players happy can have a massive affect on form not just form having a massive affect on their happiness, but it is a vicious cycle when you get into it and hard to get out. Using player and media interaction can be a good way to manage morale of the squad
More Reading: The Importance of Keeping Your Squad Happy
6. Find where your conceding goals
Figuring out where you are going wrong can be much harder then knowing what you are doing right. One of the best ways to make tactics more successful is to analyse the match stats and the action on the pitch. Figure out where you are leaking goals, take a quick look through past match analysis or reports and see whether a high amount of goals are coming from free kicks? if so consider easing back on tackles. Are you giving the opposition to much space down the wing allowing them to feed the ball to the strikers? Then close down or even mark tighter those wingers reducing there space and time on the ball. At the end of the day it is a simple tip but if you can prevent the scoring of goals from the opposition you have more chance of winning.
More Reading: Reading the match engine
7. Avoid major changes
Squad harmony if you haven’t noticed already can have a massive affect on your games. Don’t forget that Football is a team game and increasingly for top level management it is a squad game so keeping all these players happy is not an easy thing to do. But changing tactics all the time, bringing in a 6 new first team players every transfer window can disrupt team harmony and you need to give these players time to find their feet, which can typically take over 10 games, even then you may encounter other problems such as them not being able to settle in. This is ok when it is just one player that you are introducing to the side, but to a wholesale changes this can be a disaster. Just look at the Manchester City and their wholesale changes since gaining the vasts amount of cash, they have an amazing side, but it is going to take time before they can compete where they want should be.
More Reading: Help Squad Gelling
8. Determined players can be the heart beat of the side
From personal experience I have found that having a determined squad of players and most particularly having young players with such a high determination attribute can be a major advantage for team development and for form. I think that these types of mental skills can help many Football Managers overcome a few of their tactical flaws determination and work rate can make a major difference on the pitch, especially in keeping the players driven to play well and get out of bad patches of form. You will go far to have a spine of these players in your side as sometimes they can be more important then some of your more skillful players.
9. Persistance!
But the best advice that I can give to anyone that wants to play the Football Manager simulation, you will become a better manager with persistence. Don’t just give up at the first hurdle, if games are going against you and you are sitting at the bottom of the table, do a Roy Hodgson and not a Kevin Keegan and stick it out. Learning to lose and then learning how to make that losing into winning with hard work and persistence will make you a better Football Manager and give you a much more enjoyable game. But quitting or complaining that the game is to blame is not a cool thing dudes!
More Reading: Deflated, dejected and loving every minute
10. Courtesy of Q and Niniev
Q says… Don’t load up the game, our actual ability is hardly ever as good as we perceive it to be.
Niniev says… Get a good suit tailored for cup game
More Reading: FM View
What other tips would you give to become a better Football Manager?
Comments are free, take advantage and leave one below or join us on twitter @fmpundit
Tweet
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
I would add “always keep an open mind”. That would mean be constantly critical about your team, tactics, whatever, don’t get complacent because if you do than you’re on the way to being sacked. And don’t be afraid to improvise during a game, take some risks, surprise your opponent, send your goalie upfront for a corner if things are desperate…
.-= Johnny Karp´s last blog ..The Magpies Make Their Debut In Coca-Cola Championship =-.
I think you are right, from my whole new approach to the game this year I have found that I am still learning and I know that there is plenty for me to learn yet and I am hoping this also can be shared with the rest of you when I find something that work
. This you will see from my next post that is due out tomorrow.
But I think you made two good points there that everyone shouldn’t think they know everything as FM is such a complex game that you can always take a different angle of the game to better you a better manager.
From the link above that goes to the FM Britain contest, the winning tactical tip was to know the weaknesses in your own tactics. That is so true, if you know what your weaknesses are then you then learn how to deal with those weaknesses, or watch for teams that are able to exploit them.
Patience is a virtue, particularly in those tight matches away from home. If your team is struggling without allowing regular clear-cut chances, it is always worth waiting to see if the AI will make changes that free up your attackers and change the dynamic of the game. The number of times I have won matches because I decided NOT to make any changes convinced me that sometimes it’s better to just be patient and, to use a clichè, keep it tight and wait for a mistake.
.-= 2nd Yellow´s last blog ..Crazy day in a crazy Premier League season =-.
The amount of times that I have had to use patience as a tool to win, I think it is alot to do with my strategic approach, but I like to defend and keep things tight, the pip a 1-0 win usually at the death. Can be a heart attack causer sometimes.
{ 1 trackback }