So just like seemingly a lot of other people on this forum, I've had some trouble winning consistently in FM27 so far. Pace and Acceleration dont seem to matter quite as much anymore, and my feeling so far tells me that Tactical Effectiveness is important.
But it looks to me as though Opposition Instruction might also matter a lot. I've started paying heavy attention to it, and it changed my games significantly. At first I've only payed attention at the beginning of the game and only made instructions for the starting players. The result was that the first half was fantastic, and much more consistent defensively than in the previous games. The opponents had much fewer chances, and shots on goals were near zero. I forgot to take care of the bench at the time, so anytime an attacking player got scored on, it looked like my players went back to neither pressing nor marking very well, and I got scored on.
Since then I started putting instructions on every player at the start of the game, including the bench, and it works wonders.
Currently, the way I decide which instructions to give are based off of those players abilities. Attackers + Midfielders + Wingbacks with high Pace, Acceleration, Dribbling -> Always press, Show onto weaker foot Attackers + Midfielders + Wingbacks with high Vision, Anticipation, Decisions, Off the Ball, Positioning -> Mark tightly For Central Defenders, I always choose Always press
I make an instruction for EVERY player!!
For players with high physical and mental attributes, I choose both Always press and Mark tightly, hoping to create 2v1 situations where they are both marked tightly to avoid being passed to, and be pressed by another player if they receive a ball into space anyways.
Again, the results have been phenomenal. My players seem to make much smarter decisions on the pitch defensively, and we finally consistently have more possession than our opponent, even if we are the worse team on paper.
But it looks to me as though Opposition Instruction might also matter a lot. I've started paying heavy attention to it, and it changed my games significantly. At first I've only payed attention at the beginning of the game and only made instructions for the starting players. The result was that the first half was fantastic, and much more consistent defensively than in the previous games. The opponents had much fewer chances, and shots on goals were near zero.
I forgot to take care of the bench at the time, so anytime an attacking player got scored on, it looked like my players went back to neither pressing nor marking very well, and I got scored on.
Since then I started putting instructions on every player at the start of the game, including the bench, and it works wonders.
Currently, the way I decide which instructions to give are based off of those players abilities.
Attackers + Midfielders + Wingbacks with high Pace, Acceleration, Dribbling -> Always press, Show onto weaker foot
Attackers + Midfielders + Wingbacks with high Vision, Anticipation, Decisions, Off the Ball, Positioning -> Mark tightly
For Central Defenders, I always choose Always press
I make an instruction for EVERY player!!
For players with high physical and mental attributes, I choose both Always press and Mark tightly, hoping to create 2v1 situations where they are both marked tightly to avoid being passed to, and be pressed by another player if they receive a ball into space anyways.
Again, the results have been phenomenal. My players seem to make much smarter decisions on the pitch defensively, and we finally consistently have more possession than our opponent, even if we are the worse team on paper.