Football Manager Blog

Type: Mental Training Category: Tactics Description: The anticipation attribute defines how well a player is able to read the game. It is their ability to know when and where team mates and opposition players are going to run and where the ball is going to be passed. This attribute can be improved through tactics training, but you will see a player develop this attribute more rapidly through game experience so try to give your players as much game time as possible to see large improvements. For goalkeepers it is there ability to know when an opposing striker is going to place their shots or where crosses are going to land. Defenders with good anticipation will know where players are going to make runs or where through balls are going to occur, increasing their chances of making an interception and cutting out the danger. Attacking players can see where space is going to open up or when a team mate is going to make a run. Even though anticipation helps a player know what is goin...

Type: Mental Training Category: None Description: The aggression attribute defines how forcefully a player will get stuck in and try to impose themselves upon the opposition, it is closely tied to the bravery attribute. While bravery indicates how likely a player is to get involved in dangerous situations, the aggression attribute will describe how hard they will go into these situations. Aggression can not be increased through training as it forms part of a players innate personality, but it can be manipulated through player interaction in the form or warnings and fines for violent behaviour. Useful for Position: Goalkeepers, Central Defenders, Defensive Midfielders. Works well with: Marking, Tackling, Bravery, Heading, Strength.. Pro Tip: It is possible to reduce a players aggression attribute if it is too high. If they get sent off, then after the match interact with the player and discipline them for 'dismissal in prior match'. For two yel...

Type: Physical Training Category: Strength Description: The strength attribute defines how strong a player is and how they are able to impose themselves on the opposition. The strength attribute works relative to the other players on the pitch, when challenging each other for the ball on the floor and in the air. When players are in possession it will help them shield the ball and force themselves past an opponent more effectively and stay on their feet when being tackled. The strength attribute is highly correlated with the players height and weight, a tall heavy player will naturally be stronger than a short skinny one. As such the players weight and height will place a limit on the maximum strength a player will be able to achieve through training.  Strength will improve naturally over time as a young player matures, you will see that players under 20 can have their strength attribute increase 3-5 points per season, as such strength is probably the easiest of physical att...

Type: Physical Training Category: Strength Description: The stamina attribute defines how quickly the players condition deteriorates during the match, a higher stamina attribute will mean that the players condition will reduce more slowly. A player with high stamina is able to last the whole game and won't need to be substituted. The condition of a player doesn't just depend upon their stamina attrbute, it also takes into account the game tempo, player's role, determination and work rate. For example a player who is a box to box midfielder with a high work rate is going to have his match condition decline faster than a central defender that sticks to his position so it is vital for this type of player to have a high stamina attribute. Useful for Position: Wing backs, Wingers, Central Midfielders. Works well with: Determination, Work Rate, Natural Fitness. Pro Tip: Having a team with high stamina attributes for its players means they can out last the opposition...

Type: Physical Training Category: Aerobic Description: The pace attribute defines the players top speed as opposed to acceleration which is how quickly they can reach their top speed. Players running with the ball will be slightly slower than players running without it. Pace can be improved through Aerobic training and the Quickness individual training focus, which also includes acceleration. Players with a high pace attribute will be able to outrun slower players allowing them to get to the ball first or get past an opposition player. A team full of players with high pace can dominate a slower team, they will be able to get to loose balls first and if they lose possession are able to recover their defensive positions more quickly. Useful for Position: Wing backs, Wingers, Strikers. Works well with: Acceleration, Agility, Dribbling. Pro Tip: If you have a player that is high in pace and acceleration try getting them to learn the Knocks Ball Past Opponent Player Pref...

Type: Physical Training Category: Strength Description: Natural Fitness as the name suggests defines how fit a player is as standard, it is the level of fitness they are born with as such this attribute is very difficult to improve through training. In order to improve natural fitness they player must be young (below 20), you must have a 5 star fitness coach, the strength category in training must be quite intensive and you must have very good training facilities. Even then you can only expect this attribute to increase by one or two points if you are lucky. Natural Fitness is the most important of all the physical attributes. A player with high natural fitness is less likely to get injured and if they are injured they recover more quickly than a player with a low natural fitness attribute. Natural Fitness works over the long term, recovery after games is faster with players high in this attribute allowing then to player more games over the season before needing a rest and ...

Type: Physical Training Category: Aerobic Description: The jumping attribute defines how high a player can jump in the air from a standing start. It is closely tied to the players height, and in general the higher the player's height the higher the jumping attribute. It is important to note even if a short player has a very high jumping attribute they will still struggle to win the ball against tall player with low jumping. Useful for Position: Goalkeepers, Centre Backs, Target Men. Works well with: Heading, Balance, First Touch, a forward player who is good at jumping as well as these other attributes is a good candidate for a target man, try to play long balls in the air to this player and catch teams on the counter attack. Pro Tip: When taking corners and set pieces aim your crosses to the player with the highest jumping and heading attributes, they can win the ball in the air and get you a few crucial goals over the course of the season.

Type: Physical Training Category: Aerobic Description: The balance attribute defines how well a player can stay on their feet with or without the ball, in situations where they are under pressure from the opposition . It describes how stable they are when turning and jumping and how quickly they recover from changes in direction. Useful for Position: Wingers, Strikers, Centre Backs. Works well with: Agility, strength, jumping and dribbling, a player with good balance is able to ride out tackles and challenges when shoulder to shoulder with opposition players especially if the also have good strength. Pro Tip: Players with high balance and dribbling attributes are good for running with the ball and retaining possession when being challenged, try getting these players to learn the 'run with ball' player preferred moves.

Type: Physical Training Category: Aerobic Description: The agility attribute  ties in with the other physical attributes to  defines how quickly a player can start, stop, turn and change direction especially when a player is running with the ball. Useful for Position: Wingers, Strikers and Goalkeepers. Works well with: Pace, balance, acceleration and dribbling, a player with high agility is light on their toes and is able to dummy and skip past an opponent. Pro Tip: Players with high agility are good for finding space especially if they have a high off the ball attribute, look to play killer ball to these players.

Type: Physical Training Category: Aerobic Description: The acceleration attribute defines how quickly a player can get up to their top speed (Pace). It is useful for getting past an opponent or running into space. Useful for Position: All, especially wingers, full backs and strikers. Works well with: Pace and Dribbling, a player with high acceleration and pace can be devastating for breaking on the counter attack and beating the back line. Pro Tip: Look to play through balls to players with high acceleration so they can run into space and onto the ball.

Free kicks are one of the hardest things to get right in Football Manager, Especially with lower league teams. The problem you will have is most of your players technical attributes are too poor to get the ball to fly into the top corner like David Beckham. The first thing that you want to do is nominate your free kick taker, I usually pick my wingers for this as they usually have the best crossing, technique, long shots and free kick attributes, but if you find another player with better pick them. I then tell them to aim corners to the far post. You can see below the individual roles I pick for my players, the important ones are the centre backs forward in and around the keeper, one of my centre mids disrupting the wall and another good free kick specialist standing with the taker.   I find this strategy quite successful, but only expect a few goals per season with this. Don't forget to check out my early guides to beginner tactics: Football Manager 2011 LLM Begin...

Now you have your basic tactics setup in place its time to refine it a little bit, lets start with corners. First of all you want you best crosser taking them, these are usually your wingers. I like to have inswinging corners so have you right winger taking the left corners and left winger for right corners. Like in real life you want to get your biggest players in the box that can challenge in the air, this means bringing your centre backs up. See below for the setup I go with. As you can see I aim my corners for the 6 yard box, my centre backs are there annoying the keeper and are big enough to win the aerial challenges, I also have players attacking each of the posts with my best long shot player lurking outside the area. With this setup I am able to get an extra 10-15 goals per season which can make a big difference! Don't forget to read up on the other parts of my tactics training here: Football Manager 2011 LLM Beginner Tactics Part 1 Formation Football Manager 2011 LLM...

Today I'm going to talk about tactics for lower league teams. The key to a successful tactic for a poor technical team is to keep it simple, so I always start with a standard 4-4-2 formation: I then set one of my central midfielders to a defensive role and the other to attacking. Most of your players will be lacking any decent technical or mental skills so you want them to stick to their positions and roles, this is how I setup my team instructions: As you can see I've told my team to play a direct 'hoofball' game with little creative freedom and roaming from positions. This will ensure that your player will be in the right place at the right time more often than not and prevent your oppostion a free run on goal. The idea of playing direct is that your players will not be good on the ball and if they try and play it around the back they are going to make some critical mistakes eventually. Thats it for now, as I said keep the tactics simple to start with and once...

The FM2011 poll is now closed and it looks like you guys want some tips about tactics. I'm not going to be here for the next few days, but when I get back I'll give you some info on tactics for lower league teams. HostGator Promotional Codes

Finished my third season with Hyde United, top of the league, 103 points, 20 clear of second place. I'm pretty chuffed. Upgrading my training and youth facilities, now its time to stengthen my squad over the summer. Check out the league table below, I'll be giving more FM2011 tips soon but for now I'm just basking in the glory of being Conference Champions!

As the manager of a lower league team you need every penny you can get, so I'm going to give you a helping hand with some tips below: Purge your squad of dead wood, all your under 18 team will be useless, get rid of them as well as most of your reserves. Ask your board for a Parent Club, not only do you get good players on free loans, you also get paid for the privilege and a money spinning friendly! Pre-season friendlies - before the start of the season go to your reserve team screen and then their fixtures, here you can arrange friendlies. Arrange a friendly with the most reputable New Zealand teams, make sure it is an away game and you are guaranteed £20K in fees per game. Do this 5 or 6 times and you've got yourself enough money to get your team through the year. Finally put as much effort as you can in progressing through the FA Cup, aim for the third round and pray you get a big away tie with a Premiership team. Cup games split the gate receipts so if you manage to ge...

Just finished my first season in the Conference Premier League. I finished in 7th place 4 points of the playoff positions. I'm pretty happy considering the Board wanted me to fight bravely against relegation. Now its time to spend the summer strengthening my squad and hopefully finish top of the league next season! In other news Manchester United just beat Arsenal 8-2! I couldn't believe it, what a match!

My first season in charge of Hyde United and I manage to get promoted through the playoffs. The playoff final was tense, but my boys managed to win through with a last gasp extra time goal in the 122nd minute! Check it out: Now I need to spend the summer break rebuilding my team and preparing them for life in the Blue Square Prem, wish me luck!

The Physio is the second most important member of staff after your Assistant Manager. He prevents players getting injured, speeds up their recovery from injury and give reports on how long players will be out of action for. Key attributes for a physio are: Physiotherapy - Determines how accurately a player will be out of action for. Discipline and Determination - Makes sure players work hard to recover from their injuries and return earlier for selection. After many hours of searching this is the Physio I ended up with, as you can see his physio stat is only 10 so he gives me injury times that have quite a wide range, but his other stats mean that the players return at the lower end of those estimates:

So you're now the proud owner of a lower league club with no money or resources. What is the first thing you do? Sack everybody! Your starting staff are going to be complete rubbish and you're going to have to build this club from the ground up. The most important staff member you are going to have is the Assistant Manager, he can do everything: Manages your Reserve and Under 18 team. Scout teams and players. Trains your players. Gives you feedback during matches. Much much more. Your Assistant Manager needs good stats in almost every attribute, now you're not going to get Alex Ferguson so be realistic. After many hours of searching I found Brian Caswell, his stats are all around 10 or so and I think thats the best I'm going to get for a Blue Square North club, he also has some knowledge of a few European countries which can come in handy when scouting players, check him out below.