Football Manager 2013

[AndyClarke]

Sylla played a handful of games he came into the Villa file with basically all of his attributes at 10 or 11, how much do we really know about him? Physically very impressive, otherwise the jury is out.

 

One thing I will ask is forget about CA when you look at the players and worry solely about the attributes you see in front of you. CA, although being a measure of a player is not always a great guide, take Benteke or Agbonlahor for example, regardless of how good they are with a football, their natural physical attributes will automatically push that CA up. On the other hand a small player like Westwood who isn't fast or strong is going to have a CA made up mostly of technical attributes and as good as he has been, would you really rate Westwood's technical attributes above 15 or so?

 

Another question, rating Benteke's pace out of 20, what do you think it should be? I don't actually think he is that quick, I've watched back loads of footage but he doesn't seem to get out of 2nd gear. Carew was rapid, I just don't see it with Benteke, although I think he is quick off the mark as he showed when squaring up Cahill and destroying him and on other occasions.

[Folski]

Sylla played a handful of games he came into the Villa file with basically all of his attributes at 10 or 11, how much do we really know about him? Physically very impressive, otherwise the jury is out.

 

One thing I will ask is forget about CA when you look at the players and worry solely about the attributes you see in front of you. CA, although being a measure of a player is not always a great guide, take Benteke or Agbonlahor for example, regardless of how good they are with a football, their natural physical attributes will automatically push that CA up. On the other hand a small player like Westwood who isn't fast or strong is going to have a CA made up mostly of technical attributes and as good as he has been, would you really rate Westwood's technical attributes above 15 or so?

 

Another question, rating Benteke's pace out of 20, what do you think it should be? I don't actually think he is that quick, I've watched back loads of footage but he doesn't seem to get out of 2nd gear. Carew was rapid, I just don't see it with Benteke, although I think he is quick off the mark as he showed when squaring up Cahill and destroying him and on other occasions.

 

That's fair I think I've a much better understanding of it now. One last (I think) question, is 1 extra ability point worth one extra attribute point or is that not the case, ie. if I've a CA of 145 and my finishing goes up from 15 to 16 have I now a CA of 146 or is it a lot more complex than that? Sorry now for plaguing you. 

 

With regard Sylla I think physically he is a machine as you say, and I think it's very hard for you to judge him after a handful of games. Granted I thought he was brilliant versus Chelsea. 

 

I think Westy would probably have a creativity of about 12, maybe 13 at a push. With regard passing, I'm not sure, probably a 14, & he'd be in around 12-14 for ball control, etc. Lowton i'd expect the same kind of numbers in things like anticipation.

 

With regard Tekkers it's similar to the Sylla situation there's just so little footage of him actually busting a gut.

[AndyClarke]

No problem at all, ask whatever questions you want and I'll be happy to answer.

It is far more complicated than that unfortunately, attributes are weighted based on position, so a strikers core attributes are essentially worth more than one point. The CA is the total of all of the attributes which have been weighted, CA is not used by the match engine as such, the attributes are. That is why it is a very broad guide and makes comparison between different types of players difficult.

On release, we always tell people to look at the attributes and not get hung up on CA. If a player has a CA of 140 but scores you 30 a season and a hattrick in the Champions League final, does it matter?

[AVFCforever1991]

Westwood's passing is 15 on FM13.. So I would assume that won't go down?

 

Edited July 26, 2013 by AVFCforever1991

[AndyClarke]

I think I got Westwood pretty close in January so have only tinkered (I think).

[Folski]

Looks fairly bang on there

[Folski]

One thing I will say is you'd hate Paul Lambert as he's made the squad so likable that it's very hard to sell some of them.

[Folski]

That being said I'd like to think the wage budget isn't as bad, I'd be hoping maybe start off with about -30k max?

[AndyClarke]

Depends what happens to the "bell end squad"

[Dante_Lockhart]

Ok, I would say all of those are on the high side of positive when you take into account where Villa finished and the performances over  the course of the season. All three lads did well, particularly at the back end of the season, but would you consider any of them stars in our team? Lowton scored a cracker against Stoke and delivered a wonderful performance at home to Sunderland but he also made mistakes all season. Westwood is good at what he is good at and that is holding station and moving the ball on, physically he is limited, so it hard to push his CA on too much. Weimann is a worker who can finish, he has his moments but his game is all about effort, workrate and being able to finish, he has a ticket in every raffle and doesn't give up, but a CA of 140 puts him right up there around some very good forwards.

 

I think I turned into the Tottenham FM Scout for a moment.

[villaglint]

Hi Andy - on Benteke I do think he is a quick player. Not rapid but not slow either.

 

As you point out his pace is nearly all about his acceleration, his top speed is at the top end of average. However over the first five yards he is well above average and combined with his power makes him tough to stop.

[Rovers13]

This may sound stupid, but where do you check ca and pa while playing. I've never seen it before

[AndyClarke]

In the editor Rovers.

I've not made Benteke top end fast but better than average with highish acceleration.

[Rovers13]

Ok thanks

[bose]

I agree that you've got Westwood just about right.

 

Just maybe his influence is a bit low? I know he doesn't seem the most vocal player but he was captain at Crewe. Must be difficult to fine tune that attribute though.

 

Is he really just 5' 7''? 

[PieFacE]

Matt Lowton - Long Shots = 21

[keefa3011]

Andy, do the star ratings of players from the scout reports or staff reports mean anything? Am I better served by using the attributes to judge my players on, and how to use them in my system? I must admit I have been lazy in just using the star ratings given by my scouts and assman in the past.

 

Also, do the judging ability/judging potential attributes of my backroom staff have an effect on the star ratings they give to players?

 

Thanks in advance!

[AndyClarke]

Star ratings are dependant on the quality of your staff and the standard of your team at that moment (e.g a 5 star player at Villa might be a 3 star at Man Utd). So yes the better the scout the more likely he is to find and predict the quality and potential of the player.

The match engine uses the attributes, including hidden ones so your staff can be useful for uncovering those.

[keefa3011]

That's brilliant, thanks Andy  

[Folski]

Anyone give me some tactical help.

Only got the game a few days back, started as Villa and have got one of the transfer updates.
GK: Goal Keeper : Defend : Brad Guzan
DR: Full Back : Support : Matt Lowton
DRC: Central D : Cover : Ron Vlaar 
DLC: Central D: Defend : Jores Okore
DL: Full Back : Support : Antonio Luna
DMC: Anchor Man : Defend : Cheikhou Kouyate / Yacouba Sylla
MRC: DLP : Defend : Ashley Westwood / Will Hughes
MLC: BTB : Support : Fabian Delph / Kareem El Adhmadi
STR: Defensive Forward : Attack : Gabriel Agbonlahor / Leandro Bacuna
STC: Target Man : Attack : Christian Benteke / Niclaus Helenius
STL: Defensive Forward : Attack : Andi Weiman / Alexsander Tonev

Now my philosophy is rigid, with control, shorter passing and more pressing.

In terms of team instructions I've gone for wide play it's at about 6 notches to the right.
Slow tempo around 5 notches to the left.
Time wasting is also at often about 5 notches to the left.
Focus passing mixed, the MRC is the play maker & STC target man with supply mixed.
Marking zonal.

In terms of player instructions, the Gk has hold up ball yes and long kick to target man.
Both full backs have slightly shorter passing down about 3 notches, the boy have run with ball often, cross often, wide play is hug touch line, and their closing down was reduced 3 notches to just above own area.
Both centre backs have short passing Okores is down to the very end with Vlaars 3 notches to the right of the end. Both have hold up ball no, and closing down reduced to own area, tight marking yes.
DMC has very short passing as well down to the extreme left and hold up ball no. Tight marking yes.
MRC has short passing, hold up ball yes, through balls often everything else rarely, tight marking no.
MRL has mixed passing, hold up ball yes, through balls often, run from deep, run with ball, all often, with long shots sometimes, higher closing down and tight marking yes.
STR has wide play move into channels, through balls sometimes, cross ball often byline target man. Hold up ball no.
STC is on default settings bar run with ball often and hold up ball and through ball sometimes.
STL has wide play cut inside, through balls sometimes, cross ball often byline target man. Hold up ball no.

Now I won all my preseason games convincingly, then spanked Arsenal 4-1 they got a 89min consolation at home, then spanked Southampton 3-0 away. Now my problem, my tactic is designed to frustrate the opposition but also keep the ball, in both games I've had 34% & 36% possession. Passing % were low, Ive shout pass to feet on, not sure on the stats from the Arsenal game but on the Southampton game I'd 5 shots, 4 on target, 3 goals. Southampton had about 13, 6 on target and no goal. I'm just worried I'm going to go out and get a hiding next game, anyone help stamp my mark on a game more?