TACTICS
Your playing style is crucial component of a winning game plan. Many CM2 players noticed that long ball and direct used to work very well in the UK game, perhaps too well. But the Wimbledon fans among you will find that with the patch update there is no particular bias towards any particular style of play. Effective formations now rely to a much grater degree upon the type of player you have in your team. The key to successful style is basically to have a good look at the players you have and make a judgment based around the resources available. If you are Liverpool and by divine right have a squad full of talented players, then the passing style is the only one for you. Take on a smaller club where flair are likely to be thin on the ground and you might find that more brutal direct or long ball approach is a quicker route to success then pretty much everything else. The more continentally minded among you might wish to take over a smaller club like Licoln and, as if one some evangelical mission, impose a passing regime on it. Good look, it`s not easy to pass the way out of the lower divisions, but the critics will love you and it can be good preparation for when you eventually make the big time and have to compete to the likes of Liverpool and Manchester United.
PASSING STYLE
You`ll need artists blessed with such gifts as: Passing, Creativity, Intelligence and Flair.
LONG BALL AND DIRECT STYLE
Employ payers who are the personification of: Strength, Stamina, Pace and Determination.
FORMATIONS
Different managers will each have their preferred formations, Probably as a result of some childhood incident. The number one rule of Thumb is to always try, wherever possible, to stick with your chosen tactical set-up. Contrary to opinion, sticking all of your platers up front, with ten minutes remaining, to try and haul back a defeat in an important Cup match can be counter productive. Your players will take some time to adapt to their new positions and by that time it maybe too late, or your opponents will have murdered you on the counter attack. It`s better to have the courage of your convictions, and see a formation through a match from beginning to end. To make as quick an impact on your Division as possible, it`s better to adopt a positive rather than negative approach. Nothing sends your players` confidence soaring like the primal act of scoring goals, and if they can get on a run they will hardly notice the odd goal flying into their own net. Thus a successful attacking philosophy, as well as being kinder on long suffering fans, is often more self-sustaining than a defensive one. Once you`ve established a formation that you`re happy with, you can gradually sign up players to fit specific roles - like the great Liverpool teams of the 70s and 80s did, or the Milan teams of recent times have done. When a player is past his best or just not performing at his peak, then can be replaced by a similar type of player. The most common formation is the 4-4-2, and when constructing your team around it you should look for the following:
Keeper:
Obviously. Look for shot Stop Stopping, Consistency and Stamina.
Central Defenders:
Try to get a good mix between an out-and-out stopper like Tony Adams alongside a ball-playing defender like Phillipe Albert, who is capable of instigating creative moves from the back.
Left/Right Defenders:
While the tackling is the main concern, it is useful to have at least one with Pace, Stamina and Creativity to scamer up and down the flanks, providing another option for you.
Central Midfielder:
It`s useful to have at least one of your midlefielders as David Batty style anchor, capable of tackling and providing cover for your central defense.
Left/Right Midfielders:
These can also be called wingers in many cases. They are the main player providing support for your front players and are thus very important. You may well choose to dictate their movements by arrowing them forward on the tactics screen. Creative flanks Midfielder should have Pace,Creativity - essentially, the abilities of a maestro who can conjure something from nothing.
Strikers
If you are playing with to main attackers, then it`s very important to field a useful combination. A strong, powerful and determination front man is highly recommended, basically a target man paired with a quicker, smaller, nipper partner. If you do choose to play with to big strikers, make sure you have plenty of width and players that can provide crosses. If you play with two smaller penalty-box-style players, then make sure you have a creative, passing central Midfielder who can pick out the forwards with penetrative through-balls.
PLAYER FORM AND MORALE
You can splash out 15 million pound on Alan Shearer or pick up a bargain basement Third division player on a free transfer, yet, despite the huge gulf in quality between the players, their ability to transform a team is often only potential. After all, if Alan Shearer is going through a form slump, the he contributes little more than anyone else regardless of his huge prize tag. Form crises is an aspect of football that every manager will face on a regular basis in CM2 and, as in real life, it is nearly impossible to predict when it will happen and when it will pass. If it does break out, then there are several options to you. You can persevere with with the player, hoping that nature will run its course and he`ll rediscover his touch and thank you for your faith in him. Otherwise you can drop him to the bench or out of the team completely until he shows sign of improvement. There`s no surfire solution to this problem, but check out on the character stats. The higher the rating, the stronger the player`s character and the more likely he is to accept your decision in a professional manager. It`s certainly advisable to have, wherever possible a team model professionals like David Platt. Player form and morale are linked very closely. If a player`s form slumps, yet he remains quite happy and enthusiastic, then there shouldn`t be too big a problem, but once his morale slumps as well then you`re in mayor difficulties. A chief cause of morale loss is lack of first team opportunities for a player. Accordingly, it is worthwhile to try to give your fringe players first team experience from time to time keep them settled. Play them in low-risk Cup matches or even specifically arranged friendly matches to test them out.
PLAYER FITNESS
Many managers have cause to course injuries, especially when a star player has been out of action for while and comes back displaying much poorer form. The only positive thing you can do is to allow a player to reach 100% fitness before he becomes an automatic consideration for your side. You may be tempted to start an important player for a big match when he has just recovered from an injury and his fitness level is only around 75%. This probably won`t contribute all that much to your side and run the risk of delaying his recover in the long term.
TRANSFERS
Naturally, one the first areas where a new manager wants to make impressions is on the transfer front. New managers with cash to spend tend to instinctively deleve into the transfer marked in an attempt to bolster their squad without, perhaps, taking the time and trouble to give the existing player a chance to prove themselves. At least try them out first, before deciding to make wholesale changes. Remember the individual player ratings are only a guide to the player`s potential ability A fringe player, doing well on an extended run, will soon see his ratings soar accordingly. Even if your raw materials leave much to be desired, bear in mind that management is long-term job and in CM2, perhaps more than in real life, you`ll be given plenty of time to impose your personality on a team, even if initial results have you looking anxiously at the `vacancies´ section of the newspaper. But if your players just aren`t up to the job, then it`s time to shop around the transfer marked. However, the added advantage of holding fire, before plunging into the marked, is that most other clubs will have fought each other at the start of the season for the players of their choice, often inflating prices as they attempt to outbid each other. By mid-season there are more options open for you, especially as, by then, many clubs have come to terms with their own squad`s strengths and weaknesses, dumping extraneous players onto the marked, or offering them for loan or free transfer. Even if you`re massive club, there`s no reason why you should discount free transfer players. Many of them will be youngster that other clubs simply don`t have the patient and room for. Taking players on loan is also another cheap way of obtaining player resources. Plus with these players, you can try before you can buy. Observing how a player fits into your team is a big advantage, and you know that when player is available then his club will invariably consider firm offers for his services. Take a look at the clubs with the biggest squads, keeping an eye on positions where the team is well catered for, perhaps having four or five players all competing for the same position. The fringe players might not be officially available for loan but their clubs will often favorably at unsolicited approaches. Transfers listed players are easier to deal with than players who are generally quite happy to stay at their club. With players on the official transfer marked you can usually get away with paying a bit less than the asking price. Similarly the player will accept smaller wages. As rule of thumb regardless of whatever you are trying to sign a player on a free transfer, take him on loan or negotiate a mega million pound deal, you should take more notice of his appearance, goals and averages for the season that individual stats. As mentioned before, it is better to buy a player with lesser attributes but better form than vice versa.
FINANCIAL
The financial structure of CM2 is not hugely complicated. Your basic purpose is to raise as much cash as possible to spend on players without exhausting your cash supplies and kicking up your wages bill so much that your club is losing thousands of pounds every week. Success brings obvious financial benefits like prize money, increase gate receipt, you can reduce the amot of cash that your club pays out on unnecessary player wages. Most squads will start with up to 30 players and after you`ve tried them out, and decided which ones feature in your long-term plans, then it`s prudent to flog the dead wood off as soon as possible. Most clubs should be able to operate with 20-man squad. This helps not only to reduce costs, but also to increase your purchasing power when it comes to new signings. How often have you found your dream player, only to find they want more wages just out of your financial reach ?
PLAYER RATINGS
Creativity: Whether he can create goal scoring chances for his team-mates with incisive passes, headers etc.
Dribbling: Whether he can take on and beat defenders to create dangerous situations from which a goal scoring chance might arise.
Flair: Whether he has the tendency to do the unexpected, for example shoot from 30 yards, or try something brilliant.
Heading: Whether he is good in the air and wins headers either in defense or attack
Marking: Whether he has the ability to track an opponent and mark him out of the game.
Off the Ball: Whether he makes good runs into space which can lead to a shot/header on goal if he is given the ball.
Passing: Whether he can pass the ball where he wants it.
Positioning: Whether he has good defensive positional sense and rarely gets caught out of position.
Set Pieces: Whether he can make use of set piece situations(corner, free kick) either by making a creative pass or a direct shot on goal.
Shooting: Whether he scores goals.
Tackling: Whether he is good at making tackles to dispossess an opponent.
Technique: Whether he has good control, first touch, and all round technical ability.
Goalkeeping skills
Shot Stopping: This is their ability to save shots.
Passing: This is their accuracy when kicking or throwing the ball out.
Set Pieces: This is their ability to defend set pieces, line up the wall etc.
Positioning: This is their positioning for shots, crosses etc.
Aerial Ability: This is their ability in the air, for example when handling corners and crosses.
Rushing Out: This is whether he can rush out quickly in one-on-one situations.Physical Attributes
Aggression: Whether he goes in hard when competing for the ball,without necessarily being dirty.
Injury Proneness: Whether he is often out of action with injuries.The higher the rating the more likely the player is to get injured
Pace: Whether he has speed and acceleration both in and out of possession.
Stamina: Whether he can keep going at the end of the most grueling matches.
Strength: Whether he has strength in holding off opponents to keep possession or in competing to win the ball.
Mental Attributes
Determination: Whether he keeps battling, even when the odds are against him.
Influence: Whether he can motivate and inspire team-mates, as for example a captain would.
Intelligence: Whether he can read the game and make good decisions about when to sit back, push up etc.
Hidden Ratings
Big Occasion: Whether he rises to the occasion in big games,play- offs, top of the table clashes, cup finals, etc.
Character: Whether the player reacts badly to on/off the field events.On the field this could be whether he reacts to provocation, off the field whether he reacts to being dropped, fined etc. The higher the rating the more likely the player will react badly to on/off the field events.
Consistency: Whether he normally performs to his ability and rarely has an off day.
Dirtiness: The amount of bad fouls, bookings and sending off a players likely to commit/get. You can tell who has a high rating for this because of the amount of fouls, yellow and red cards he has, or the number of disciplinary points a player has accumulated.
Ability: This is an overall rating of how good the player is now.
Potential Ability: This is a rating of how good the player could become. For a young player his ability will tend to rise towards his potential ability as he gets older; for a player at his peak his ability will tend to be equal to his potential ability; for an older player his ability will tend to drop below his potential ability. The ability rating is therefore a variable rating and all the other ratings are relative to this rating and the potential ability rating.
This was written by the collyer brothers in an interview with PC Power
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