I replayed FM27's real match engine outside the game (a harness injected into the game) to check whether the value of an attribute depends on the position,
in my tactic. Other testers found no clear position differences with small +5 tests; I wanted enough power to see one.
Setup
Brentford (mid-table), a saved 38-match Premier League season with real opponents. My 3-4-2-1: 3 CB, 2 WB, 2 DM, 2 AM, 1 ST. Goalkeeper and opponents never change. My team uses the game's assistant for substitutions (about 3-4 a match).
Method
- In every simulation, every attribute of every outfield player gets its real level plus a random shift of -5 to +5 (clamped 1-20): 10 players x 50 attributes change at once.
- 50,000 such configurations x 4 seeds = 200,000 simulated matches; the 38 fixtures rotate.
- For each configuration I sum the level changes per position group and regress the goal difference on them (fixed effect per fixture, errors clustered by configuration). Each coefficient is the value of +1 level of one attribute in ONE player of that position, in goals per season. Points and xPts were stored too.
- ***** = significant (|z| > 2) with the same sign in both random halves of the data. Anything else should be read as "not shown".
- All 250 attribute x position effects come from the same runs: about 20x more precise than a one-attribute-at-a-time sweep of the same cost.
- Checks: fabricated data with a known effect was recovered (5.2% false alarms for 5% expected, no false "confirmed"). On 1,800 new configurations the weights predict points on about the right scale (slope 0.8-0.9). Effects add up across players (no diminishing returns, all |z| < 2); Jumping Reach is convex (worth more at high levels).
Results
Goals per season for +1 level in one player (x0.7 is roughly real points). * = confirmed. 95% margin about +-0.09 ST, +-0.06 AM/WB/DM, +-0.05 CB. "Team" = one coefficient for the 10 outfield players. † = differs by position (p < 0.001). Sorted by team effect; all 50 attributes shown.
| Attribute | Team | ST | AM | WB | CB | DM |
|---|
| Acceleration † | +0.34* | +0.70* | +0.30* | +0.33* | +0.34* | +0.23* |
| Pace † | +0.34* | +0.90* | +0.39* | +0.40* | +0.23* | +0.11 |
| Jumping Reach † | +0.22* | +0.73* | +0.05 | +0.10* | +0.35* | +0.09 |
| Stamina † | +0.19* | +0.34* | +0.20* | +0.28* | +0.14* | +0.09 |
| Anticipation † | +0.15* | +0.37* | +0.15* | +0.15* | +0.14* | +0.02 |
| Strength † | +0.14* | +0.21 | +0.26* | +0.15* | +0.07 | +0.08 |
| Dribbling | +0.10* | +0.13 | +0.14* | +0.15 | +0.04 | +0.08 |
| Concentration | +0.09* | +0.26* | +0.08 | +0.05 | +0.10 | +0.06 |
| Balance | +0.09* | +0.24* | +0.12* | +0.09 | +0.08 | +0.02 |
| Finishing † | +0.07* | +0.27* | +0.14* | +0.06 | 0 | +0.04 |
| Pressure | +0.06* | +0.13* | +0.01 | +0.05 | +0.08 | +0.07 |
| Important Matches | +0.06* | +0.15 | +0.05 | +0.06 | +0.04 | +0.07 |
| Determination | +0.06* | +0.09 | +0.07 | +0.01 | +0.07* | +0.05 |
| Vision | +0.04 | +0.02 | +0.02 | +0.04 | +0.06 | +0.02 |
| Dirtiness | -0.04 | -0.03 | -0.05 | -0.04 | -0.05 | 0 |
| First Touch | +0.03 | +0.10 | -0.01 | +0.04 | +0.01 | +0.08 |
| Work Rate | +0.03 | +0.01 | +0.02 | -0.01 | +0.06 | +0.05 |
| Composure | +0.03 | +0.01 | +0.06 | +0.04 | -0.01 | +0.07 |
| Professionalism | +0.03 | +0.01 | +0.05 | +0.01 | +0.06 | +0.01 |
| Heading | +0.03 | +0.15 | +0.07 | -0.04 | +0.03 | +0.01 |
| Long Shots | +0.03 | -0.03 | +0.09 | +0.05 | 0 | 0 |
| Technique | +0.02 | +0.07 | +0.01 | +0.02 | +0.01 | +0.03 |
| Free Kicks | +0.02 | +0.01 | +0.03 | +0.01 | +0.03 | +0.03 |
| Decisions | +0.02 | +0.08 | +0.02 | +0.04 | 0 | +0.01 |
| Penalty Taking | -0.02 | -0.02 | -0.03 | -0.01 | -0.02 | +0.01 |
| Adaptability | +0.02 | 0 | +0.04 | -0.02 | +0.04 | -0.01 |
| Positioning | -0.02 | -0.06 | +0.01 | -0.04 | -0.01 | -0.02 |
| Bravery | +0.01 | -0.01 | +0.05 | -0.02 | +0.01 | +0.03 |
| Loyalty | -0.01 | 0 | -0.03 | 0 | -0.04 | +0.03 |
| Aggression | -0.01 | +0.02 | -0.01 | 0 | -0.04 | -0.01 |
| Injury Proneness | +0.01 | +0.03 | 0 | -0.06 | +0.04 | +0.05 |
| Off The Ball | -0.01 | -0.01 | -0.03 | +0.02 | -0.02 | -0.01 |
| Marking | -0.01 | +0.07 | -0.01 | -0.03 | -0.04 | +0.02 |
| Versatility | -0.01 | +0.03 | 0 | -0.07 | 0 | +0.01 |
| Temperament | -0.01 | -0.05 | +0.06 | 0 | -0.04 | -0.01 |
| Flair | -0.01 | -0.01 | +0.02 | +0.01 | 0 | -0.06 |
| Ambition | +0.01 | +0.03 | -0.01 | -0.03 | +0.01 | +0.03 |
| Long Throws | -0.01 | -0.01 | -0.02 | +0.06 | -0.02 | 0 |
| Crossing | +0.01 | -0.01 | 0 | +0.05 | -0.03 | 0 |
| Tackling | 0 | -0.08 | +0.05 | -0.02 | +0.02 | -0.05 |
| Natural Fitness | 0 | +0.01 | +0.01 | +0.01 | -0.02 | -0.01 |
| Passing | 0 | -0.01 | -0.03 | +0.01 | 0 | -0.01 |
| Agility | 0 | -0.09 | +0.02 | -0.03 | 0 | +0.05 |
| Teamwork | 0 | 0 | +0.01 | -0.03 | -0.01 | +0.02 |
| Corners | 0 | -0.05 | +0.02 | +0.01 | -0.03 | 0 |
| Consistency | 0 | +0.07 | -0.02 | 0 | +0.01 | -0.01 |
| Sportsmanship | 0 | +0.04 | +0.03 | -0.02 | -0.02 | 0 |
| Leadership | 0 | -0.01 | -0.01 | +0.01 | 0 | 0 |
Do positions differ?
Yes, for some attributes (heterogeneity test over the 5 positions): p < 0.001 for Pace, Jumping Reach, Acceleration, Anticipation, Stamina, Finishing, Strength; p < 0.01 for Concentration, Balance, Heading. 13 of 50 attributes reach p < 0.05, against about 2.5 expected by chance.
- The ST is worth the most: Pace +0.90 (about 2x an AM or WB), Jumping Reach +0.73 (AM: +0.05, CB: +0.35). Finishing counts for the ST and, less, the AM.
- Pace beats Acceleration for ST, AM and WB; the reverse for CB and DM. For CBs, Acceleration and Jumping Reach come before Pace. For DMs only Acceleration stands out.
- Most technical attributes show nothing (Passing, Technique, Tackling, Marking, Positioning, Crossing, Vision, Decisions, Composure, First Touch). Crossing for my wing-backs: +0.05 +-0.06. Dribbling is the exception (confirmed for AM).
Goals vs xPts
xPts (from xG) are far more precise but blind to conversion. Of the
30 confirmed effects, 27 are also significant in real points and in xPts, same sign. The other 3: Finishing ST and AM (pure conversion: ST goals +0.27 vs xPts 0.00; xPts z -0.2) and Determination CB (same sign everywhere, just under the line in points, z 1.9). For the ST, Heading (+0.15 vs -0.03 xPts) and Strength (+0.21 vs +0.06) also act through conversion. About 25 effects show in xPts but not in goals (e.g. Concentration for WB): probably real but small. A combined estimator (xPts + significant conversion) predicted no better on the new configurations (z -0.7), so the table stays on goals.
Limits
One club, one tactic, mostly levels 8-18, single matches only (no Natural Fitness or injury effects over a season). ST estimates are the noisiest (one player): trust the big values (Pace, Jumping Reach, Acceleration). Goalkeeper not covered. FM27 build of 12 Nov 2026.
