20 Top FML Tips

[Mihai]

1. Think about how you want to play, For example, if you want to play a narrow short passing game, think about what formation, players and attributes are important to you. For a short passing game you might need high technical (passing) and mental skills (off the ball) which you could trade off for lower physical skills and still be able to afford the players you want.

2. Some positions are higher profile than others. Strikers, play-makers and central defenders are in far greater demand than other positions like fullbacks. The auctions are full of goalies, defensive midfielders and wingers receiving far less attention. Acquire your core players early.

3. You can stretch your initial budget further with finance skills, but is it a good medium term approach? Are you better unlocking key tactics like counter attack, playmaker, forward runs and target-man? Or is the real advantage being one of the first to get Judging Potential? Think about what you want to achieve and how the skills can help you.

4. There are many advantages of buying youth. Extra locks and potential to develop mean that they become more valuable and therefore sellable. Of course you can also play them in your youth team.

5. Build your shortlist as soon as possible. Think about stepping stone players, you can't afford them in your initial squad but when you get your overdraft you might be able to acquire them.

6. Buying players is like playing the property market. You want to buy the most stretching property you can afford without risk of foreclosure. If you get in trouble you can always sell the player.

7. Some criteria are overvalued, some are undervalued. You pay a premium for famous players. Some managers will pay a premium for their favourite players. You pay a premium for certain attributes: 20 in long shots or 20 in pace. Turn that to your advantage.

8. Understand which attributes are important for which position. Converting the Genie setup from FMxx is a good start. Some attribute combinations are awful (pace 20, anticipation 5, off the ball 5), some are deadly (acceleration 15 dribbling 15 crossing 15). Get used to seeing players as only their key attributes. For a central defender, first check heading, tackling and marking stats then check positioning and physical stats.

9. A good set piece taker is worth their weight in gold to the team. Particularly look for high freekicks combined with individual traits (e.g. hits freekicks with power).

10. Don't get too attached to any player, know the price of each player, their net contribution to the team, and if you had more money what you would do with it.

11. Don't be forced into trades you don't want to enter into. Any comments about needing to do a quick deal are designed to pressurise you. Think about point 10. What's the point of getting £5m for your striker if you can't get a better one for the same amount? If you own the player, you dictate the deal.

12. A little politeness goes a long way when negotiating a transfer of someone else’s player.

13. Spend time building a set of queries that you can quickly check each day on all players and the auctions. Build your own views (e.g. senior stats: pass %, shot %, head %, tackle %, MotMs) and your own queries (MV is greater than £1m and Auto accept is less than £1m) or (Free agent + Potential is greater than 4* + age is less than 18). Take advantage of the transfer alert system that sends you messages when these players become available.

14. Play the long game. Don’t make short term decisions that will hurt your long term performance. I know it’s tempting to enter that wage auction with 30 other managers already involved, but is there real value in the deal? Like in poker, if you can't see the fish at the table, it probably means you are the fish!

15. Not everyone can be number 1. Set yourself realistic targets and enjoy fulfilling them. Many people have found enjoyment in the game by reaching the top 50 with their team full of Danes or Scots.

16. Be aware of friendly competitions you enter and how much it costs. If you’re gambling 50k on an entry fee, make sure you have a realistic chance of competing for something. Entering comps full of teams a lot better than you can be akin to throwing money away.

17. Keep your wages low early on, if you’re not making a profit you won’t be able to afford those star names a couple of seasons in. Managing your finances well is key to succeeding in the game.

18. Think about potential return on your purchases. It might be worth smashing your transfer record if you can still sell him on at a profit. Quality young players and ones with low wages will always be high in demand and might warrant spending a bit more on.

19. Keep your defence tight! It may seem obvious but having a mean defence means you’ll always be in with a chance in a game, even if the other team has Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi running at you from all angles.

20. Have fun! Football management can be incredibly frustrating at times but don’t let it take control of you. This is still a game and if you’re not enjoying it then what’s the point?

[avlad]

Mai adaug si eu niste sfaturi pt prima zi de FML, adunate de pe forumurile SI

BEFORE THE GW OPENS:

Firstly, before the GW opens (a good couple of hours before) read this thoroughly:

http://manual.fmlive.co.uk/

Once you have read this, you should have a basic idea of the game and it's workings.

Pay close attention to this page:

http://manual.fmlive.co.uk/?q=node/170

and this page:

http://manual.fmlive.co.uk/?q=node/172

Before the launch, you should have a very clear idea of the way your team is going to play and perhaps take a moment to think about the way you think your opposition teams will want to play - a LOT of people love the graceful, free-flowing, short passing Arsenal style of play. What i'm saying is, perhaps it is going to be more effective taking a different playing style to counter that, perhaps a quick counter attack side?, or an aggressive, physical side?

However you want to play is fine, just remember that style whilst you are picking the players!

IMPORTANT:

-Get an A4 piece of paper

-write at the top of the paper:

Transfer Funds = 500k [Average = 31.25k]

Wages = 100k [Average = 6.25k]

- Now write down your first 11 postions on it (in your preferred formation) then next to each position, write down the key attributes levels you want them to have:

e.g.

GK

Eccentricity <10

Tendency to punch <10

(I also added Reflexes 15+)

(I also added Communication 15+)

I found that it was much easier to lower a few stats if my searches didn't produce any players than it was cranking up the stats to lower the result numbers - so aim high!

- Keep this piece of paper in front of you for when you sign in!

AS SOON AS YOU SIGN IN:

- Click OK on the message pop-ups (don't bother reading them, you can do this later)

- Click on the red flashing button in the top left corner of the screen

- Ignore the 'Welcome Guide' and 'Customize your Club' sections and go straight to 'Select Starting skills' section

- Select the skills you want (this will depend on your team direction) I selected scouting because I wanted the maximum number of players that could be available to me, and i'd be closer to getting to see player potentials (bare in mind, this still will take a good few seasons)

- once you've selected your starting skills, CLOSE THAT BOX - You do not want to go on to auto select squad.

- Click on your manager menu and select the 'Skills' option from the drop-down menu.

- select a skill from a branch that you did NOT choose as your starting skill (take a look at Coaching or Tactics) these should only take about 20 mins to learn. Drag the skill into the box above and it should begin the skill learning. - look out for a news item saying it is completed, you will want to assign another 20 min skill.

- Next, click on the 'All Players' option on the navigation bar at the bottom.

- Enter your filters according to the attributes you wrote on your piece of paper and examine the players it brings up. Do this by position - i'd recommend doing the GK first, then STR, DC, MC, ML, MR, DL, DR

- Remember what you wrote at the top of your piece of paper? - that is the average transfer fees and wages for 16 players, the minimum number of players you can have. Take a good note of these numbers because otherwise you're going to run out of money halfway through and you'll get stuck! Stick below these numbers or keep a very careful note if you go over, because you're going to have to make up for it somewhere else! It may help you to add some AF limits and Wage Demand limits to your filters.

- Found a player you want? right click on his name and select the 'add to provisional squad' option - this player is now in your squad and cannot be selected by another manager - he is safe for 24 hours.

- Once you have your first 11 go to your senior squad section and take a look at them - does everything look good? is there one or two players you're unsure about? - if yes, go back to your filters and see if there are any other players that look better now. Take a look at your first-team's wages - are the players really worth that wage? To drop a player right click his name and select 'remove from provisional squad' option

- Once you are sure on your first 11 - use the filters to find your 5 subs. These should be players that can play in more than 1 position or high impact players (super subs) their wages should be cheap - don't be paying thousands for someone to sit on the bench!

- Once you have your squad, review and do all the searches again to see if there is anyone better suited for you, you never know who you have missed!

- When you're happy, you want to confirm your squad. This will sign them all up on 1 year contracts and you can go on to choose your FA.

- Go back to your red button and pick your FA - choose one that is the most suitable for you. *On Cantona, the FA's that filled up fast were the Xtreme FAs and the All Evening FA's - If you are thinking you'll be in one of those categories, it might be best choosing your FA after your skills selection. Times are only a guide - you can play an official match at any time if your opponent is online the same time as you.

- Any position you had to get a crappy player for because funds were tight? look for a trial player to plug the gap (you can only play 1 trial player in most comps and friendlies) use the filters to select the position and add a filter to filter out players with below 10k wages demands. NOTE: Don't sign loads of trial players, they'll eat your wages and you can only play one of them in any match! the trial lasts 24 hours.

- Now you can read up on the rules and play some matches - read your news items and check your manager skills page. Chat to ppl in the lobby and maybe enter some tournements that have been created (the free ones!)

- You will want to play over 10 games before midnight so you can get your ranking straight away - don't worry about the results, you want to do it for your daily money!

* You can remove players on provisional contracts from your squad with no penalty right up until you confirm your initial squad.

* Once you have confirmed your squad you need to play 10 games before you will receive your full daily income.

* Acquisition fee is not always the best indicator of player performance.

* Make sure one of your player is excellent at set pieces; they should have 15+ for freekicks and corners - and as such will get you alot of essential goals.

* Any free agent with wages under £10,000 can be signed on a 24 hour trial contract to bolster your squad even if you can't afford their acquisition fee.

* If you don't like your current squad the end of the first season, when their contracts expire, are a great time to overhaul your team.

* Don't get too attached to your initial squad - you will want to replace a number of them in the first couple of weeks as you gain more money to sign better players.

* If you know the name of a player you want use the global search box in the top right of your screen to find them.

* Save your filters so that you can access them at any time in the future.

* Make sure at least one of your players can fulfil the role of captain (influence 15+).