http://users.bart.nl/~jamin FIFA, Soccer Manager FORMATION The best sort of formation, you'll be shocked to discover, successfully juggles the three flaming football torches of defence, midfield and attack all at once. Ten forwards, or ten central defenders, just isn't going to work in the long run. So take at least two central defenders, as they have the best chance of making a tackle on opposition forwards. Use wingers for wide attacks; more often than not, this'll work. Left and right backs should stop the computer teams doing likewise unto you. Attacking midfielders and support strikers help too: as well as backing forwards in attacking situations, they tend to take shots on goal themselves, increasing your chance of scoring. Remember to exploit the opposition formation's weaknesses. STYLE Specific orders increase the chances of players having a good game, but if you use them inappropriately the player may not perform to his full potential. Shoot On Sight Useful for getting your striker to increase his shots on goal. The drawback is that he'll stop looking to get as close to goal. Like most things in life, it's a trade-off. Crossing Game Apply this to your wingers (or possibly wing-backs) to motivate them to run down the touchline and whip in some crosses. Long-Ball Game A player on this setting will look to play long more of the time. It's handy for defenders, who'll hoof the ball out of defence quickly, or for midfielders, who can play lovely, long searching balls that catch out the floundering opposition defence. Passing Game The passing game is most useful when given to the best passers in your side, who are usually midfielders. Run Into Space This encourages forwards and midfielders to take up better positions when attacking. It works best when attacking midfielders are set to Passing Game, and the wingers to Crossing Game. Then they can pick out the attacking runs of the appropriate player. Run With Ball This is for players with good dribbling skills and control. It can be used as an additional style for wingers or wing-backs, along with Crossing Game. It also makes forwards more determined to close on goal before taking a shot. The down side is that said forwards are more prone to getting caught in possession. Possession Game Use this option to tell your players to hold on to the ball more. Midfielders are a good bet. ORDERS All-Out Attack and All-Out Defend have obvious strengths and weaknesses, and are best used when you're desperate to score or hang on to a lead. Often, better results are gained by using attack and defend to effect a subtle change in your team's attacking/ defensive alignment. Play On The Break is useful for counter-attacking teams that play with only three at the back. Having a formation with one or two quick wingers, an attacking midfielder and two forwards can sometimes be quite devastating. That said, this cautious approach invites the opposition to attack you, which isn't great for your nerves. Time Wasting is, of course, most effective during the closing stages of a match. But it can also work to your advantage during normal play, because the opposition players will chase the ball and completely knacker themselves out. BIASING Tackling Bias If your defender's or midfielder's tackling skill is low, he's more likely to foul, and therefore pick up unwanted yellow and red cards. Lowering his tackling bias encourages him to tackle a bit less, and so decreases the number of fouls he commits. Raising this value for a highly skilled tackler can help make him very solid. Overall, though, a good set-up is to lower the tackling bias for the defenders and midfielders slightly, and lower it even more for people like wingers and forwards, who are generally not very good at tackling. Possession Bias Pump up the Possession Bias to maximum for the player(s) you most want to have the ball. A good midfielder with this setting will be able to play more killer passes. It also increases the chance of wingers receiving the ball, thus spreading the game out and making attacking easier. A good tactic is to buy a quality striker and set him to high possession. Other team members will pass the ball to him as often as possible and so increase his scoring chances. PLAYER STATISTICS Checking on individual stats for players can reap huge rewards if you know what you're looking for. The average stat for the player is an average score of all his stat attributes, so, if this is high, he generally has a good score for all his stats. The position average indicates what he is like in any of the listed positions. This score concentrates on stats that are important for a position (e.g., Shooting for a Striker), so again you can instantly see if a player is right for his role. Goalkeepers Although the obvious ones to look out for here are Handling, Throwing and Kicking, keep an eye out for Agility as well. Defenders Er, tackling skill. A high score in this stat ensures that your defender doesn't commit a lot of fouls, instead tackling effectively on a regular basis. Midfielders Passing and Control are the ones to watch out for here: quality passes will be sprayed around the pitch all day. Forwards Pace and Acceleration will give your forward the edge against any defender. A respectable shooting stat wouldn't go amiss either. Keep an eye out for youth players on the transfer market. Although their stats are generally lower than those of older, more experienced players, a few impressively equipped ones will crop up every now and then. With the right amount of training, they can be turned into quality players. Also, younger players tend not to demand a high monthly wage. TRANSFER MARKET The recruiting of new players is usually a straightforward process, but, when buying a new player, it sometimes pays to drop your offer slightly below the asking fee, as some clubs will accept less than the going rate. This works best with players who are on the transfer market, as the club is looking to get shot of them anyway. When trying to approach a player who's not transfer-listed, you will need to raise your offer to get your man (in some cases an extra 40%-50% of the listed value). If the club says it's not interested in selling, it probably won't sell at any price. If the player says he would like to be considered in the future, either leave your initial bid on the table for a while, or come back at regular intervals with an increased offer each time. Selling players is also a pretty simple procedure, but you may want to increase their transfer value slightly before putting them on the market. An offer doesn't always arrive immediately, but sometimes it's worth waiting for a team that's willing to pay the inflated price. CONTRACTS Renegotiating old contracts can be a tricky affair, but, as a general rule, the higher a player values himself, the more money he will demand. A good contract length is about two to three years, but longer ones ensure that your players don't ask to leave too soon. (Also, they don't tend to ask for a pay rise too often.) TRAINING The training types speak for themselves, so you should always be able to find the appropriate method to increase the relevant stat on any given player. Five- A-Side Match and Mini-Match is a good all-round practice session that helps build basic skills. Try not to train on actual match days (that's usually a Saturday or a Sunday, but you'll probably have midweek matches as well), because you'll drain your players. Keep Saturdays and Sundays sacred, and one day during the week. This should ensure that your players are fresh for matches, and less prone to injury. FINANCE Be sure to set a reasonable ticket price, or the crowds will stay away and you'll lose out in the long run. Remember to take into account the different- quality seating and stands when setting the price. The amount of merchandise you can sell is affected by numbers in the ground as well as by price. Although you may have a full stadium, if the merchandise price is too high, only a small percentage will buy goods. At extreme levels, fans will stop turning up to games if the merchandise price is kept high for a long period of time. Concessions are normally a fairly straightforward affair, but you should pay attention to the following: Sports Stores, which up your ability to sell merchandise; and Function Rooms, which increase the likelihood of money-spinning events being put on at your stadium. Loans offer a quick cash injection, but they must be used wisely, because they have a long-term effect on your monthly outgoings. STADIUM BUILDING The versatility of this option enables you to approach the building of your stadium in many ways. Most importantly, remember to keep an eye on the cost of anything you're going to build or expand on: this cost will be deducted immediately from your balance. Make sure you only develop one side of your stadium at a time, so that there is still space for fans to turn up while construction is going on.