I came across an old thread on sigames from FM14 where a user had calculated the cost of all attributes on current ability by position, which is pretty much giving the value of each attribute to each position. The interesting thing was how highly Pace and Acceleration were even back then. It made me think that perhaps the attribute weighting had not changed much over the years.

There have been many questions on FM Arena forums asking about attributes required by position, and it also interests me when searching for players. The attributes testing table here certainly is a great starting point, but it is an average over all the positions. I decided I would take the old weightings and try and derive from them the importance of each key attribute to each position. Clearly my assumption is that the attribute weightings haven’t changed substantially. If I am wrong, it still has been a bit of fun.

I selected the attributes from the best 10 or 12 from the attributes table, and checked them against the ones that sigames ones. There were 9 that seemed to be very high in both, so I have used them. I took the sigames weightings of each position and calculated the average for each attribute. And then calculated a multiplier for each position for each attribute. The rate was then applied to the proportional change from the attributes table.

I then calculated the proportion of the total for each attribute for each position to see which ones mattered the most.

Reading back, all that sounds like drivel. Anyhow, here are the results:



I have grouped (colour coded) the attributes by above 15%, 10-15%, 5-10% and doesn’t matter. I can hear you say “What does that mean for searching for players?”. All good to know which attributes matter, but how do we determine the value of each attribute we need for each position.

My theory here is to look at the league averages for these 9 attributes. Then calculate the search values using the table above. Base value is league average rounded up to the next number ie 10.2 is 11. All attributes where the attribute value on the table is above 15% use the base value. For the attribute values 10-15% subtract 1 from the attribute table. For the attribute values 5-10% subtract 2 from the attribute table. Those below 5% don’t count.

By way of example, Vanarama South, the averages from my save are as follows:



Here is a table of the minimum search values based on the calculation above for each attribute for each position:



So there it is. Next step is to use my current test save, cull all the players that don’t meet the criteria above in terms of attribute value, buy in cheap players that do, so we have a squad of 20 ie one reserve for each position. I will post results when I get a chance to set that up.

Here is my most recent tactic that is really working well. I have tried it across a few leagues and it is averaging 2.125 points per game with a great defensive average of just 0.85 goals against per game.

Here are some results

Zippo said: I don't know maybe you can play your players anywhere in attack only if you are Barca and only when you play vs amateurs otherwise I don't think it would be a smart thing to do. For example, when we test ZaZ - Blue 3.0 with 'Ineffectual' position rating instead 'Natural' position rating for all positions then the PPG drop from 2.1 to 1.2, which means the rating drops from 7.2 to 4.0. Expand

Ok, I just bought a Natural Striker with Pace 15 (League Ave (LA) 10.2), Acc 13 (LA 10.3), Agility 13 (LA 9.7), and Dribbling 10 (LA 6.8). These are the best I currently have and as you can see well above the League Average. His Genie Scout Position rating for Striker is 50.0 and is listed as Natural in Training. There is no striker in ZaZ Blue 3.0 which is what I am using.

Here are his position ratings against the relevant attacking positions - AM C 41.6 and Makeshift, M C 39.8 and Ineffectual, ML 41,4 and Ineffectual, and MR 41.4 and Ineffectual.

Here are my current best rated against each position:

AM C Genie Scout rated 45.5, Natural, Pac 10, Acc 9, Agi 8, Dri 8
M C rated 52.3, Natural, Pac 4, Acc 4, Agi 7, Dri 7
M L rated 49.3, Natural, Pac 11, Acc 13, Agi 11, Dri 7
M R rated 51.3, Natural, Pac 12, Acc 13, Agi 10, Dri 8

I also got a new Accomplished M L and M R (Genie position ratings for both 44.7) with Pac 16, Acc 15, Agi 9, Dri 10

So, given your calcs above I would rate the Striker better than my AM C and M C and my new winger better than the existing M L and M R, even though they are not Natural to the positions.

That means that if you have a player with much higher stats for those 4 attributes than the league average, you could play them anywhere in attack, regardless of their role ratings

So a Striker who is unconvincing in the AM C position, but who is 20% better on their important attributes (Pace, Acc, Agility and Dribbling) will be as good if not better than a Natural AM C

I am loving all this discussion. I, like many, find all these discussions very helpful. My question relates to positions. I keep finding cheap Strikers with very good Pace, Acc, Agility and Dribling but no AMC ability. I am trying to retrain them as AMC SS, but do you think they are worthwhile playing straight away as AMC SS?

And this with Liverpool, no trades. Happy with the defence

@ZaZ I think I have improved this a bit now. Check out the results for the 2 lower leagues.

Averaging better than 2 points per match and under the no bringing in players set up.



Here are the results for the Vanarama South and North comps with best and worst sides.





Can we get a test of this major update please @Zippo

ZaZ said: Maybe CM and SS are fighting for the same space. How does it go if you ask both SS to stay wider? Expand

I have the CM staying wider. looking at firming up the defence and giving some of the attackers more freedom to roam. Looking solid so far. Got some better results so far. Still looking to tweak it further.

Better than Johan Cruyff hey @ZaZ. Not too bad for my first attempt. Working on an update at the moment. Think I know where there are a few problems with this tactic but time will tell

Done @Zippo

A twist on ZaZ Blue using a narrow style with no wingers. Thought we needed something different



Good results with reasonable teams and lowly rated teams



Can you please test @Zippo

I think they will want you to post a picture of the tactic and some results before they will test it

ZaZ said: @Mark, my Leamington side just reached Premier League. It wasn't as easy as the other seasons, since I ended 5th and only got promoted on playoffs. I guess the final playoff was the most stressing match I played in a long while, with my team barely holding a 1-0 lead against a much stronger team. For reference, a single player from the worst team in Sky Bet Championship (second division in Englad) has the wage of my entire team. Expand

Wow - that is so impressive. DId you go up every season or did it take a few season at some levels

@ZaZ It nearly replaced that Johan Cruyff tactic that I put up at the bottom of the table

ZaZ said: Sort by age and use filters, then use the mouse to select the players. Expand

Thanks - that works

ZaZ said: Thank you a lot!




Yes, you can. I tested it during two entire seasons with Manchester City and the entire team was delighted with playtime even in the lowest possible option above surplus to requirements (youngster for under 21 players, emergency backup for the rest). I didn't test with surplus to requirements, but it should probably work as well. I also tested without the exploit and the number of players asking to improve contract was barely the same.

I would recommend this exploit for anyone that don't like managing the happiness of players and just wants to focus on playing football.

P.S.: To make it faster, you can select a big group of players and change the playtime to surplus to requirements, then back to starplayer, then back to the lowest agreed playtime. You need to do it in four different groups, because they have different options: goalkeepers under 21, goalkeepers over 21, line players under 21 and goalkeepers over 21. I didn't test with players at loan. Expand

Where do you select the player groups from?

@ZaZ do you think you can do this through the season as well?

ZaZ said: I removed the set pieces training since it was just added because of my current club's vision. Instead, I added two recovery sessions to reduce chance of injury during the season, but you can change it if you like. I'm not sure if it's the best training schedule, but at least it focuses in match benefits, happiness/cohesion/familiarity, injury prevention and the most important attributes. (P.S.3: Remember to set training intensity to double for players in excellent condition. That can be done in Training -> Rest.)

P.S.: Just got kicked from FA Cub by a team two divisions under me, playing at home. Before that, I won a match 10-0, so the players got complacent. =/

P.S.2: Do you feel the difference with Blue 2.2? Expand

I ran Blue 2.2 with my current save at the start of the game. Had a heap of friendlies arranged which I thought would give players a chance to get used to the tactic. St Albans were the worst ranked side in the comp, and I did a base line when I started which ended up 16th. Only 18 players in the squad so was always going to be hard to do well. In my real save I ended up bringing in a fair few decent young players. For this though, I just went on holidays and set it to not allow players to leave and to use Blue 2.2 tactics.

Results were very impressive. St Albans finished 2nd with 73 pts from their 40 League matches.



Home games were best and I think the 9 draws away could have been a bit unlucky. Went through and looked at all the draws and losses. St Albans had higher xG on 4 of the 7 losses and 9 of the 13 draws. I would call that unlucky not to have won the competition.

With the squad of just 18 players, the stats somehow covered 48 games, must be the cups as well. 10 of the players played 40 games plus as run on players. Shows they didn't have much depth.

I would call this a very good tactic for lower league underdog sides.

Foivos said: where can we find it and download it? Expand

All his tactics are in the Opening Post. Go to page 1 and the bottom of the first post