Introduction
By the end of FM06’s playing life, I was able to chop and change my tactics as I pleased. Showboating between 4-4-2 diamonds, Rafaesque 4-2-3-1s and versions of the Chelsea 4-3-3. It had become so easy to read the AI systems and employ a counter-system to defeat them that the game was losing all challenge. The AI couldn’t cope with my split mentality setup and all I had to do was ensure I had enough players back when playing an attacking AI and enough going forward against a defensive one.

FM06 was a revolution in terms of the AI tactic switching and attempting to comeback from 2 or 3 goals down. In the early days after 06’s release anger and frustration about the ‘comeback bug’ was widespread and intense. The resulting multi-tactic approach to FM, so common in today’s tactic design, was the only tactical solution to the AI changing tactics mid-match. Previously one tactic beats all was the name of the game. The transfer to the multi-tactic mentality was painful but far-ranging. I doubt anyone plays every match without some pre-game formation changes nowadays.

The AI hasn’t changed too much in terms of its propensity to tactic switch in 07. Any single AI side will happily run the gauntlet of tactics from the ultra-defensive 3-3-2-1-1 to an ultra-attacking 2-3-5 depending on match circumstance. In real terms there is no difference between this and the AI in 06. However, in 07 the type of tactic the AI is employing is much harder to pick.

Admittedly, none of us need telling that the 3-3-2-1-1 (4-5-1 in match commentary) is defensive, nor the 4-2-4 attacking and if pointing that out were the sole scope of this article I would be wasting my time typing it. What has changed in importance is understanding the mid-range mentality settings and being able to start a match with a strategy towards defeating them in mind.

Understanding AI Systems

The first step towards anticipating the AI strategy is the pre-game formation screen flicks up before the pre-match team talk. It can yield some very important clues as to what the AI wants to do. In England, most managers will play one of the following during the course of a normal game.

Flat 4-4-2
Flat 4-4-2 with short farrows on the wingers
Flat 4-4-2 with long farrows on the wingers
Flat 4-2-4


Each version of the tactic gets progressively more attacking and in 99% of cases it is safe to assume that the longer the arrows on the wingers the more adventurous the AI manager is. However, it is important to realise that starting formations relate to the style of play a manager prefers. In most cases, cautious managers will tend to keep their style of playing possession football and only change to 'gung ho attack' in desperate situations. More aggressive managers are likely to switch to attacking formations much earlier in the game.

The formation screen is the best place to build a good starting assumption, but other elements need to be added to complete the picture. Paying attention to in-game statistics and on field incidents becomes an important tool in deciding on whether the strategy you are using is the correct one or not. AI strategy can be decoded by paying attention to the following elements.

Attacking AI: With an attacking AI a key indicator is the large number of passes going forwards instead of sidewards or backwards. Players will not spend much time on the ball. The wingers will push forward and play level with the strikers. The central midfield will also push up although one MC/d tends to stay back and provide cover for the central defence. Pay careful attention to the opposition fullbacks. If they are pushing forward deep into your half and getting to the byline in support of the wingers then the AI is clearly attacking

Counter measure: defensive strategies (weaker teams) or balanced strategies (stronger teams).

Possession AI: This system is very difficult to play against. When attacking the AI builds up play slowly and doesn’t play too many risky forward passes. Build up play will consist of clinical through balls in the third half, occasional direct balls to breaking strikers hoofed up balls and crosses from deep positions. The AI managers who prefer this style will stick to this until very late in the match whether they be pushing for a goal or defending a lead. When top teams employ this style (e.g. Man U, Roma), they are very hard to counter with a defensive tactic. Best is to set up a well-balanced system to start taking the battle in midfield.

Counter measure: defensive strategies (underdogs) or balanced (tweaked) strategies (medium and stronger teams).

Ultra-defensive AI: This system employs heavy time wasting. Watch for the increased amount of time players keep the ball before passing to a team mate. Most of the passes will aim to keep possession or clear the ball from danger and only a few look for counter opportunities. The most common forms of attack are balls hoofed up to a lone striker or very patient forward moves that can be finished by a dangerous quick pass or deep cross. There are many possible formations that employ this style: not only the classical 3-3-2-1-1 (which is the most obvious), also flat 4-4-2s, defensive 4-4-2s (2 DMCs, often referred as 4-2-2-2), 4-1-4-1s, some diamonds and the French and German 4-2-1-2-1s.

Counter measure: overloading strategies, after most attacking versions (plus unticking counter) have failed

Ultra attacking AI: This strategy usually plays as a 4-2-4 but occasional more idiosyncratic formations are possible (2-3-5). The AI employs next to no time wasting. Forward runs are high on almost every position, including the previously cover-minded MC/d, which often results in an overloading of the opposition's defence. Only the two centre-backs stay back. There will be a high number of long shots from any half-promising midfield position. There is also the very dangerous option of long balls out of the defence to a fast breaking front four which misses out both sets of midfield. At times it will feel like playing against 8 forwards. Low ranked teams often play the 4-2-4 with a possession approach, keeping hold of the ball until the forwards break and then trying to hit them with a long ball from defence.

Counter measure: kill game/shut up shop strategies (all teams)

Defensive AI: This is sometimes difficult to differentiate from the possession AI. Most of the observations on a possession AI remain, but with careful scrutiny you will see the passing is more cautious and the time wasting slightly higher. The most obvious change from the possession system is the very strong positional constancy of any defensive player. The back four will stay back at all times and are almost always covered by the DMCs. If the AI is using two strikers, you will see one of them continuously dropping very deep to pick up the ball and/or help out the defence. The other striker constantly looks to beat your offside line which can be very clinical and dangerous. The midfield will only get forward in support on occasional instances when the chance is most definitely on.

Counter measure: balanced and attacking strategies, sometimes overloading for top 4 teams

Continental and Multi-Strata Formations

More problems arise with non-standard managers (two that readily come to mind are Mourinho and Allardyce) who play 4-3-3s, wingless’4-1-3-2 and 4-5-1s. Although harder to pick, they still offer clues to their intentions. Are the wing backs or wingers farrowed? Does the formation employ a pure DM, a flat three in the centre or an AMC? A good example is Rapid Bucharesti which plays a 3-5-2 with an AM when attacking, but a 3-5-2 with DM when defending.

Many Spanish teams use the 4-2-3-1 for a cautious game before switching to a 4-4-2 if they need to score. The most difficult formations to successfully pick are diamonds, the Cappello 4-2-2-2 and some 4-5-1/4-3-3 hybrid formations. They often don't change during the game and adapt between attacking, defensive or possession mindsets entirely through mentality and forward runs.

Expected AI Changes

Since FM06 users have become accustomed to change formations to counter the AI mentality and its tactical switches. If done well it can lead to a fantastic performance. However, badly or hastily made decisions can prove disastrous and are often enough punished by conceding immediately after switching tactics and eventually losing the game.

Don’t change to a more aggressive tactic immediately after conceding, especially away. Once the AI team takes the lead, unless it comes late in the match, it will generally look for a second goal. If the AI is playing at home the extra crowd input from the first goal will give the AI team a boost and an instant change to a more aggressive formation will allow them more holes to exploit.

It is hard to determine the AI mentality by watching key highlights only, but as that is the preferred mode of playing for most the occasional hints in the match commentary offers some help. There are some other in-game strategies you can use while watching the match highlights or more. As you can predict with relative certainty what the AI will do in certain situations, based on the rank of both teams, venue, who scores, etc you should be able to switch strategy with some success. Less experienced players will definitely gain an advantage from using extended highlights until they have gained more experience. For key games they are almost a must, no matter how long you have been playing.

For example, after a goal against a team that the AI thinks it can beat, the AI will nearly always go more attacking or keep to an already aggressive style in an attempt to grab a second with the crowd behind them and their tails up and kill off the game. Similarly, after conceding or grabbing a lucky lead when the AI thinks it will lose, the AI usually shuts up shop and is content to try and pick off the team as they commit men forward in an attempt to get back into the game. Nevertheless, some teams shut up shop after conceding in first half, but will try to come back in second. If they go down by two goals some AI teams will still try to get back into the game whereas others will shut up shop to try and prevent embarrassment . Paying attention to the AI formation ater a second goal is vital in understanding its mentality. Underdogs will shut up shop in the second half after starting defensive if still defending a draw. Knowing what the AI usually does helps you see better what's going on.

Definition of Counter Measures

SUS/Kill Game
Very defensive, time wasting approach against 4-2-4s etc. during last 15-20 minutes of a game.

Defensive
Either 'interdiction', very defensive and slightly destructive or 'possession', defensive but trying to control the game from the back

Balanced
Playing higher up the pitch, controlling the game from a solid defence, defensive supporting midfield, but looking actively for attacking/counter options

Attack-Away/Attack
Clear effort to dominate the game all over the pitch, create and convert chances in high numbers

Overloading
Hyper-attacking formations with large numbers of attacking players or very massive concentration of attacking players.

Knowing You Have ‘Got It Right’

The key indicators that the user team is outperforming the AI team are the passing percentage and possession statistics. Although they don’t stabilise until circa the 10th minute, if you are not losing by then they will offer an excellent analysis of how well your team is performing.

At home, the user will want to see an eight per cent or greater advantage in possession (>54%) and a ten per cent or greater advantage in pass percentage.

Away the user will want to see a two to six per cent advantage in possession (51-53%) and a five to ten per cent advantage in pass percentage.

This is obviously variable when playing teams outside your division in cup games but it is a good rule of thumb when checking to see you have picked the right version. Also it's an ideal rather than absolute and a user could well be happy with 52% possession at home with circa 75% passing against an Ai pass percentage of circa 55%.

These stats can be turned on their heads in the last 15 minutes if the AI switches to an ultra-attacking or defensive system, but until then it is a good method to verify your tactical choice. Goals are a better method but unfortunately a lot less frequent than passes!

Possession stats should be related to the average possession performance. They are likely to differ for teams with tactics that aim at less possession (counter, high tempo, long passing, Target Man Supply etc.). For these teams shot ratios and SOT ratios are more relevant, as are as action zones.

Tactical Bible Credits

Thanks to the following for their contributions to this topic: The next Diaby, Millie, thegooner, wwfanOpposition instructions are one of the new features introduced for FM 07 and the subject of many questions. They can be a very powerful instrument of supporting your defensive success, and can be the key to winning many games, especially tight games and games with odds against you.

If you watch a game in extended highlight mode, or even in full mode, you will notice that your opposition instructions will force the whole team to watch out for individual opposing players and try to handle them according to your instructions - as soon as these players enter the zone of any of your players. This teamwork can almost take opposition players ‘out of the game’ and may be one reason why opposition instructions are useful with any marking system; but they can be almost crucial if combined with zonal marking.

Using a huge number of opposition instructions for every attacking and midfield player can eventually result in dramatically reducing the SOT rate of the opposition, often restricting them to a few shots on goal per game.

These are a few recommended and tested opposition instructions:

Forwards: Tight marking for any half decent striker always, closing down always/never for slow strikers/explosive strikers, hard tackling for towering strikers and heading monsters (if they get fouled all day, turn off). Sometimes show on weaker foot for technical strikers.

Closing down should be related to the player’s pace. If you only have one player with pace 6 or 8 in your back-line (especially the CBs) and the opposition player has a pace of 16, you should choose close down never. If you are playing explosive strikers but your CBs have a pace of 14 to 16, consider closing down neutral (no specific) or even often. Closing down often seems to work a charm as long as there are no large gaps in speed and the defenders are matching the opposition quality in rough terms. It would certainly fail if there is a gap of two divisions in quality though.

Wingers: Tight marking/closing down always for wingers, show on weaker foot if their strong foot matches their side.

Hard tackling for wingers is recommended frequently. However, with using hard tackling you should monitor the amount of unnecessary fouls in crucial areas. It's a case of personal preference and how much you trust the tackling ability of your players.

Midfield: Closing down for every player in midfield who tries to make good long shots. Tight marking/closing down always for every AMC and dominant deeper MC playmaker.

These instructions really can make the difference. Especially if you achieve to take out the opposition's AMC, since this will be a blow for many team’s build up play.

Centre backs and keepers: Closing down often on the goalkeeper and centre backs. The benefits of this can be that any team that likes to build from the back (with the goalkeeper making short passes, or a team that likes to play many back passes) will be put under a lot of pressure and either have to change its game plan or lose possession in key areas. If nothing else, it can pressurise the opposition into making mistakes, perhaps giving your team a few key throw-ins, corners or even key interceptions. The down side would obviously be the great physical effort required in constantly chasing down the ball. However, in games where you wanted to kill off a tight match or need to regain possession to score it could be a useful tool.

If you use this at home against ultra defensive teams, your players will be pushed further up the pitch, so they won't be as tired or out of position as much.

Ultra defensive opposition:
Lone FCs in defensive systems: close down, tight marking and maybe hard tackling.
FC and AMC in 3-3-2-1-1: close down, tight marking and hard tackling.
This can also be applied against two forwards in e.g. ultra-defensive 4-4-2s.

These instruction can be helpful to intercept any attack very early and regain possession. Watch out though if your defenders are turned by quality forwards or commit too many fouls.

Quality Opposition: If you are facing overwhelming opponents, it can be worth singling out their WHOLE midfield! Additional measure: closing down the fullbacks, plus showing on their weaker foot as well if it matches their side (preventing crosses). This can be very effective against superior attacking teams and protect your penalty area from being bombed by deep crosses or fullbacks going riot on your wings. But you should keep this in reserve for strong teams and attacking teams in tight games. Otherwise it would be a waste of stamina.

Bravery: Some players recommend watching out for the oppositions bravery and pick out players with low bravery for closing down always and hard tackling. But again you should monitor if this leads to a huge number of crucial fouls.

Danger man: It can be worth the effort to think about your scout's feedback. If the danger man is e.g. a strong striker, he could be tackled hard and the wingers should be treated specially as well to prevent crosses to his head. A dominating playmaker might need tight marking and/or hard tackling and closing down.

Tactical Bible Credits:
Millie, Crazy Gra, wwfan, The next Diaby. Editor: MillieAn introduction to defensive key settings, based on wwfan's Tactical Theorems and Frameworks for FM 07 with a few additions from the tactical bible team. If you are struggling with defensive overall success, this article may help you with finding some good points to start with.

Defensive Line

The defensive line is heavily linked to whatever mentality framework you have chosen. Defender attributes, specifically pace and positioning, will allow for some level of line adjustment but it is not recommended that you place the defensive line in a position that unlinks it from the framework. Simply put, the defensive line should be placed at mid-point of the framework mentality. Thus, if you have chosen to implement the attacking framework, with player mentalities ranging from 14-20, you would position the defensive line at midpoint between the two (17). If you have chosen the heavily defensive away formation (1-7), you would set the defensive line at four. This should keep your players closer together and therefore defensively tighter.

If you have quick defenders who have good positioning stats you could happily place the defensive line higher than the mid-point of the mentality framework, confident that their pace and ability to read the game will allow them to cover any counter-attacks over the top with relative ease. However, if they are slower than average, then dropping the d-line back slightly will allow them to cover quick attackers without becoming over exposed to balls over their heads into the space behind them.

Basically, you should find the "natural" setting of your defensive line by looking at your mentality framework. This should be a good "rule of thumb" for you then to adjust to fit the needs of your side and demands from the opposition. Thus, playing a "deep" defensive line for your framework may be two or three clicks below the "natural" setting.

Relatively high defensive lines can be aggressive in regaining possession from the opposition, whereas lower lines can be more cautious. It is not always a simple, however, as playing a high line when attacking and a deeper one for defending. High lines can cause the opposition no end of problems by giving them very little time on the ball. Similarly, lower lines can give you more space to pass the ball around, dragging the opposition all over the place and leaving holes for your forwards to exploit. Personal preference and the demands of the game may change your strategy.

Closing Down

Defenders

Supersaint’s experiments on mirroring closing down with the defensive line produced some good and interesting results, unfortunately our final conclusions differ from his. His matching of the defensive line to average mentality, as explained above, is exemplary and a cornerstone of the theorems, but quality defending relies on low closing down (3-5) as far as most of the Bible contributors are concerned. Defenders on low closing down hold their position and thus require the attacker to do something special to get past them. If they close down heavily, they may well reduce space for the player on the ball, but they also leave space behind them that can be all too easily exploited. Therefore, for both home and away frameworks, low closing down for the defence is preferable, regardless of the standard of your players and the opposition.

However, once you start coming up against some of the AI’s more favoured defensive systems, specifically the 3-3-2-1-1 or the 4-1-4-1, closing down instructions need to change. Both these formations rely on the FC holding up the ball long enough for the rest of the side to catch up with play. If you fail to close down the FC quickly you will find that possession levels remain roughly equal, negating your home advantage. To stop that from happening it becomes imperative to close down the FC quickly, before he is able to lay off the ball to a support man. Using opposition instructions to target the lone striker (close down always) is a good option (in the 3-3-2-1-1 target the AMC as well). Your team will win back possession quickly and you can maintain your attacking pressure.

Fullbacks and wing players (DL/R, WB, ML/R, AML/R)

We should especially look at the closing down for FBs (and wingers). These can be key issues to defensive success. However, closing down has to be regarded with the aspect of tacking and fouls as well as the intention of the tactics (possession – control or quick counter – drawing the opposition into a stable defence).

Having higher closing down for fullbacks especially can be very important for two reasons: It prevents your defence from being bombed with crosses as the higher closing down will actively reduce space for the opposition’s wingers and helps aggressive home tactics win the ball back as quick as possible.

DMCs

If employing a DMC you will need to play higher closing down than if you employ pure MCs. If you follow the above guide, the DMC will be dragged into the defensive line and provide no cover. Therefore, he should be closing down reasonably heavily in front of the defensive line to offer the protection you are looking for.

Tackling

Home Tactics

One of the simplest settings in the game: everybody on normal tackling. This allows the team to contest balls all over the pitch, but relies on a heavy pressing midfield and attack to force the opposition into mistakes by playing quicker balls than they are comfortable with. There is no need, if this works well, to go "hard" and dive into tackles: not only will this give away unnecessary fouls, there's a good chance the tackle will miss and the player will be given more time on the ball.

Recent experiments have suggested that heavy tackling works exceptionally well against the AI’s most defensive formations (as detailed above). When using these formations, the AI passes slowly and dawdles on the ball. A heavy pressing, heavy tackling approach will consistently win you back the ball in the AI’s half and you will be able to maintain attacking pressure. Any free kicks you concede will be in the AI’s half so won’t pose any danger. Be aware that if the AI is playing more aggressively than anticipated (can happen with the 4-4-2 no farrows) heavy tackling across the board will lead to a lot of free kicks around your penalty area, although you still shouldn’t be conceding penalties.

Away Tactics

Here, things are a little more complex. Combinations of easy, hard and normal give the optimum balance between caution and regaining possession. The only normal tacklers are the central defenders and the goalkeeper. This is because most tackles they make are likely to be in the penalty area and hard tackling gives away too many dead ball situations, so penalties will become commonplace. However, as the midfield and full-backs should normally be outside the box, have them on heavy tackling. It is far more acceptable give away a free kick with a heavy challenge outside the box than allow opposing midfielders the opportunity to outmuscle the midfield and play uncontested passes towards a deep defensive line. Finally, the wingers and forwards are on easy tackling, as their job is to block deep passes and crosses into the area. You don't want them to risk missing tackles and allowing uncontested balls in; rather you want them to hold their positions and make things as difficult as possible for the AI player in possession. They should, therefore, close down the opposition and harry them rather than dive in.

There are, as with everything in Football Manager, contrasting views over tackling. Some believe that normal tackling will serve its purpose in all situations. By keeping tackling sensible, the idea is that fewer fouls will be given away, which is beneficial especially for sides that are vulnerable to set pieces.

However, others will argue that by tackling hard you give the opposition much less time on the ball, and perhaps even scare them into mistakes if they have low bravery. By using hard tackling you may be able to win the battle in the midfield and therefore dominate possession in the middle of the park and dictate the pace of the game. As with everything, this is a case of personal preference. If you find certain players, or the team as a whole are struggling to hold possession, try the hard tackling system. If you find there are too many fouls being conceded, then move towards a more normal framework. Your discretion and managerial style should help you decide.

As a further option, you could try using easy tackling in midfield for all players except the more defensive central midfielder (MC/d) or DMC. This solution will probably end up lowering your possession percentage since your midfielders may not regain the ball as often. However, if you are playing a very technical style, you can afford to sacrifice a bit of possession (which should be high anyway, considering the skill of your side) on the basis that you can avoid fouls and conceding free kicks in crucial areas. This type of approach can work quite well against the desperate 4-2-4s that the AI throws at you near the end of games as it guarantees players staying between the ball and goal and should win a high percentage of actual tackles, so when you do try and win the ball a quick counter is always on.

Forward Runs

The way forward runs works is a key change in the match engine between '06 and '07. In '06, leaving your forwards on high forward runs was fundamental to their settings and guaranteed a lot of goals. Now, all it guarantees is a lot of offsides. The best settings for forward runs seem to be (though this is by no means definitive and other opinions are more than welcome) as follows:

GK: Rarely
DC: Rarely
FB: Often for aggressive home tactics, Mixed at home, Rarely away
MCd: Rarely, Mixed when struggling to break down the 3-3-2-1-1 or 4-1-4-1


Time Wasting

Defensive line and time wasting work well when mirrored. If you choose the home framework, with the defensive line ranging from 15-19, then time wasting should be set at between 1 and 5. Likewise, as the away framework is designed with frustrating the opposition in mind, time wasting should be at 15-19. The mixed time wasting settings for the attacking away framework work exceptionally well, with players attacking in the last 10 mins when a goal down, but time wasting if they are a goal up. The difference with the away framework is that your players will time waste if the scores are level.

Like the defensive line settings we described above, however, this is a "rule of thumb", not a definitive instruction. Some managers have moved to a more neutral setting for time wasting and then adjust this depending on whether they need a goal or want to kill the game off. As the in-game tips suggest, however, moving to a very high time wasting approach too early may come back to bite you.

A time wasting setting of 10 offers you the following. Any player with decent decision making stats will begin to time waste with about 15 mins to go if the scores are equal or you are ahead. It is a good starting setting, but remember to change it if you want to chase a game you think you should win.

Width

Width can be a key setting. Even if passing and width are linked in wwfan's RoO theory, it can be worth the effort to adjust the width for defensive formations. There are still hints that mirroring width and time wasting can work for different systems like RoT. This is especially important for a "shut-up-shop"/kill game system, which will always profit from a very narrow width and high time wasting, no matter which mentality system you are using, be it RoO/global or RoT/split.

Almost any defensive system will profit from a low width, as well there seem to be some formations like a 4-4-2 diamond which are working better with narrow width to close the gaps in midfield that occur between the DMC and AMC. Setting a narrow width here will increase the defensive support of the wingers and save both AMC and DMC from getting isolated.

Tempo

Tempo should never be completely overlooked as a defensive tool. Its primary aim is obviously an attacking one, dictating the pace of play with the ball, but it can also be used to dictate the pace of the game in general. A higher tempo is likely to make your players more eager to get the ball and do something with it. This is similar thinking to playing a higher defensive line to harry the opposition and regain possession quickly.

Clearly there are pros and cons to using a higher tempo. Although you may get the ball quicker, or at least give the opposition less space to play in, you are likely to use the ball too quickly and give away possession. There's also a great danger that players will close down too much and leave gaping holes in defence. However, against teams that are playing a slow tempo this might help you to harry them that little bit extra.

This policy is similar to one that many managers use where they mirror the instructions given in the scout report (e.g. if it says a team play a fast tempo game, you play a slow tempo game, they play defensive, you play attacking etc.). It's not a vital strategy, since, equally, many managers stick to their own game plan. However, a quicker tempo and counter-attack may very well nick you a goal towards the end of a game; two-nil is always more comfortable than one-nil.

Try Through Balls

Although ostensibly an attacking option, through balls by definition play the ball into the space in front of a player running forwards. If you have reduced forward runs to a bare minimum, then you need to do the same for through balls as they will be constantly intercepted by the opposition. Direct through balls to breaking forwards are ideal, but players set to short passing playing through balls to stationary team mates is asking for trouble. Likewise, in a defensive system, a player with crossing set to often will invariably be crossing into a box with none of your players attacking space and possession will be lost. As a rule of thumb, the more defensive you want to be, the less forward runs, through ball and crossing the better. You will probably still want an attacking outlet, which arguably should be direct balls to breaking FCs or wingers. Working with these settings to the specifics of your player types is fundamental in designing a quality defensive strategy.

Tactical Bible Credits:

wwfan, Justified, Millie, The Next Diaby. Editor: TND, MillieIntroduction
When you think of the archetypal target man, players like James Beattie, Duncan Ferguson, or for those of us with longer memories, Paul Mariner, spring to mind. Tall and strong with a good touch for a big man (Mariner possibly excepted) whose job it is to win flick ons, hold up the ball and generally bring others in to play. In a good year they can be top scorers, but their all round contribution is more important than their goal ratio.

Yet, in the real world, as in FM, there are different types of target men. Alan Shearer was not the tallest of players and despite being good in the air preferred to have the ball played to his feet so he could use his excellent first touch and physical strength to hold up the ball and lay it off to breaking wingers. Mark Hughes was of similar ilk. Finally, you have the lightening fast finishers who, although able to hold up the ball, are more concerned with running on to through balls and using their pace to best effect. Michael Owen best personifies this type of player.

FM07 is arguably the first version of Football Manager that allows users to design tactics around such various types of target men. In previous versions the Target Man option just seemed to limit play. Now, if set up correctly, it can offer the user team a massive advantage and constantly delivers results. The following article is a guide for best setting up the various types of target men.

The Strong Target Man

The most important attributes for the strong target man are height, strength, jumping, heading, and bravery.

When using a strong target man the two supply options are ‘mixed’ or ‘to head’. The ‘mixed’ option is largely ‘to head’ dominant, with circa 80% of balls played high. However, enough balls are played in to feet or in front of the target man to make pace and skill important. Ideal players at higher levels are poachers or strong strikers with a decent amount of pace, flair, creativity, and composure such as Drogba, Klose, Toni, Fred, or Gillardino. At lower levels height remains important, but some pace, decision making ability and a decent first touch should still be required. If your target man option is tall, strong but less than skilful then ‘to head’ becomes the best option.

Best Settings

TM settings (if strong striker is TM)
Preferred supply: To head/mixed
Mentality: Lower than team average (e.g. 14 instead of 20 in RoO)
Forward run settings: rarely
HUB: Yes
Creative freedom: Low
Crosses from byline, cross aim mixed
All other settings: Mixed
Team crosses set to: Wingers and full backs closest to the TM cross to mixed as the TM isn't always up with play due to winning the flick on to the wide player. The winger/full back on the other side of the pitch should cross to far post as the target man is either up with play because it wasn't his flick on or will arrive late in the box, yet still in time to meet the header, as the ball has further to travel

Mobile Target Man
(A good goal-poacher is required for this role)
Target Man Supply: Mixed
Mentality: Lower than team average (e.g. -5 to 6)
HUB: No
CF: 4 - 10 (depending on away-home matches and the quality of the TM)
Long Shots: Rarely/mixed
All other settings: Mixed


If you choose to play a tall, strong player supporting a quick, mobile target man, the following settings are best advised.

Strong Striker Supporting a Quick TM
As above, except for:
Mentality: attacking (e.g. 20 in attacking RoO)
HUB: no
FWR: mixed (if pacey and frequently caught offside), often (if slow or pacey with good anticipation etc.)
Long shots: rarely
Team crosses set to: side of the strong striker. (E.g. near post from right + far post from left)


Reasoning

Setting Target Man Supply to head/mixed is much more possession friendly than run to ball which often loses out against deep lying defensive lines. The lower mentality setting will get the Target Man to play deep which offers two advantages. Firstly, his headers, rather than being constantly attacking flick ons, will often be cushioned backwards to the midfielders or sprayed out to the wings which allows for quality build up play. Secondly, his lower mentality and deep position drags his marking defender out of the defensive line, opening up space behind it for a quick strike partner to exploit should the header be a flick on.

Tests have suggested that ideal players in the strong Target Man role will make more key passes and assists then the MC/a, especially in home games.

In home games against ultra-defensive opposition, two strong strikers can be used occasionally. It is even better if one of those two has a fair amount of pace. Two tall strong strikers can be amazing in combo as they dominate everything in the air. If the ball to TM is played badly the other striker is equally likely to win his header so you can constantly win possession and counter.

The Quick Target Man

The most important attributes for the quick target man are first touch, pace, dribbling, strength, off the ball, finishing, and composure.

The two best supply settings for a quick target man are ‘run to ball’ or ‘to feet’. ‘Run to ball’ produces a fair number of high balls over the defence with lots of quick direct through balls whereas ‘to feet’ pretty much guarantees the ball being played on the floor and a lot less through balls. Ideal players at higher levels are Henry, Eto'o, Robinho, van Persie and Tevez.

Best Settings

Lone TM Settings
Preferred Supply: Run to ball
Mentality: Lower than team average (e.g. 14 instead of 20 in RoO)
FWR: Mixed
HUB: No
Creative freedom: High
Close down: Rarely
Crosses mixed, cross aim mixed, cross from mixed
Long shots: Mixed
TTB: Often
Team crosses set to: Mixed


For a quick Target Man in a two-man strike force the best settings are as follows.

Quick Striker TM
Target Man Supply: Run to ball (away or defensive play), to feet (home or attacking play)
As above, except for:
FWR: Rarely
HUB: Often
CF: High
CB: Often, cross aim far post
CD: Mixed/rarely
Cross from byline
Long shots: Rarely
TTB: Often
Team crosses set to: Side of the strong striker. (E.g. near post from right + far post from left)


If you choose to play a quick, mobile striker supporting a tall, strong Target Man the following settings are advised.

Quick Striker Supporting Strong TM
Fast striker mentality highest possible (e.g. 20 in attacking mindset)
FWR: often/mixed if constantly offside
RWB: often
Long shots; rarely
Rest mixed
Closing down heavy
Creative freedom: higher then strong striker
Team crosses: mixed, TM, TM side

Reasoning

The quick target man is best employed with supply set to ‘run to ball’ or ‘to feet’. The ‘run to ball’ instruction seems to be especially effective for quick lone strikers or for away tactics that work with two strikers.

When playing at home with two strikers, the supply option should be ‘to feet’ as ‘run to ball’ leads to many scrappy one-on-one situations that most keepers handle easily. The team gives away possession quite frequently by trying to play too many through balls past a well-prepared defence.

A lone quick target man can be used at home and will often get on the end of a few crucial key passes and grab a goal or two. However, an ultra-defensive opposition can reduce the effectiveness of the lone striker target man dramatically.

If you are playing an ultra-attacking formation that is trying to overload the opposition’s defence, ‘run to ball’ still can work well if your quick target man always has options to pass the ball on to several other players.

Lower League Settings

In LLM scenarios, quick target men can be even more valuable, since many defenders who are less skilled are simply outplayed by the sheer pace.

Setting up an AMC as TM behind two strikers drifting out wide

An experimental guide and results for employing an AMC as a Target Man.

Mid TM (AMC) Settings
Mentality: 12-14
CF: 4-6
Passing: 4-6
CD: 4-6
Tackling: Easy
FRuns: Mixed
RWB: Rarely
TTB: Mixed
Long Shots: Rarely
Cross Ball: Rarely
HUB: Ticked.

FCL With SArrow
Mentality: 14-16
CF: 4-6
Passing: 4-6
CD: 16-20
Tackling: Easy
FRuns: Often
RWB: Often
TTB: Rarely
Long Shots: Rarely
Cross Ball: Mixed
Cross From: Byline
Cross Aim: Centre (As MidTM should be getting into the area by now)

FCR With SArrow
Mentality: 18-20
CF: 10-15
Passing: 4-6
CD: 10
Tackling: Easy
FRuns: Mixed
RWB: Mixed
TTB: Rarely
Long Shots: Rarely
Cross Ball: Rarely.

Target Man Supply To Head

The results were outstanding as the MidTM supplied 18 from an attempted 21 passes with only 2 fouls (although one produced a yellow card), 5 runs and winning 28 of 29 headers!! He also scored 2 and had 2 assists. His rating at half time was 8 and morale was very good. He finished with a 10 rating superb morale and got MoM in a 4-2 victory.

Although the Target Man supply in the above match was set ‘to head’ a Target Man AMC with good decision making skills should be able to dominate with a ‘mixed’ setting. Even with poor decision making skills, giving the team specific instructions as to his supply makes a massive difference. Although only employed as an AMC/TM in away games he plays a massive role in the attack. His first goal came from him flicking the ball left to the SC who ran to the byline and crossed into the penalty area before my AMC/TM out-jumped the keeper and DC and buried the header in the right corner.

Decisions will play a role in specified settings. The higher the rating the more varied you can set team supply.

Advantages: high number of flick ons to the strikers, effective use of an AMC with less flair but good heading. Well suited for less technical teams.

Disadvantages: Less slow passing and less patient build up play through the midfield.

Additional Midfield Target Men: (AMLR)

Useful in multi-strata formations like a 4-2-3-1. If your wingers have similar attributes as your target man, it can help to include them into to the target man list. No further tweaks needed here.

Addendum

However effective a target man is when man-marked, it seems a zonal defence with opposition instructions focused on the target man can limit his worth to the side. If you see a low won headers percentage for a target man who should be dominating in the air it may be worthwhile unchecking the target man option and allowing some balls to be played to his strike partner.

The Target Man Supply option 'to feet' can work exceedingly well with a strong player with no forward runs. He will hold up the ball and spread the play to the wings with some effect. It can be a useful second option if your tall yet strong target man is being beaten to the ball in the air.

Posted on behalf of the team by TND

With thanks to the contributors: garyh, Justified, GaryWHUFC, thegooner, Crazy Gra, Millie, wwfan(editor), The next Diaby (coordinator) Both in the real game and in FM07, set pieces have become a vital factor in winning or losing games, especially close and important games. It is crucial to spend some time on selecting the right set piece takers and players for every task. This can make the difference between success and failure.

While working on the set pieces, we quickly realised that it would be next to impossible to test every possible set piece setting and its efficiency. So we restricted ourselves to a few routines that have been proven with various successful tactics, knowing there may be other ways to set up your set pieces. The advice here is not definitive, but it is well-tested.

One word about set piece takers and set piece coaches: it can be highly effective to watch the success of your set piece takers for every new team. They often don't convert according to their stats, so some games without setting your set piece takers may pay off. Decisions, finishing, long shots, crossing, passing, composure and other stats are as important as free kicks depending on what you want the kicker to do.

The feedback from several players suggests that the overall efficiency is increased by employing a better set pieces coach, though it is hard to verify this.

The recommendations are based on a 4-4-2 as template.

Attacking Free Kicks

Suggested settings:

Please note that you should check for your best headers and tweak your settings accordingly.

LB: back if needed
RB: back if needed
CB small: forward or disrupt wall
CB tall: challenge GK
ML: forward
MC/d: disrupt wall
MC/a: forward
MR: back if needed
ST tall: challenge GK
FC quick: forward

A kill game version requires one player more to stay back if needed (most likely the ML).

It is important to spend some time on selecting the best free kick takers. Having a good left-footed player to take kicks on the right and vice versa offers some advantages as the ball's natural curve will be difficult to defend against. Also you should watch for crosses and long shots. Some free kick takers are rather ineffective despite having good stats, so monitoring your free kick takers for the first games of the season and pre-season will most likely pay off in the long run.

Team settings: most common are best header or mixed. The difference between them seems to be of little importance.

Defending free kicks:

Upfront strategy: from one to three players forward.
Keeps many opposition players back, but leaves fewer marking/wall options. Counter attacks don't seem that common from intercepted free kicks. For those occassions where they do happen, it can be handy to have a few players forward, but the main benefit is the threat it poses to the opposition. They are forced to keep more players back, so it should improve your chances of recovering the ball. Those players left upfront will, most likely, come back to help should the opposition get a second chance on goal, or they will be already in position to launch a quick counter attack.

Defensive strategy: all players back.
More defensive options, but more pressure from the opposition as they send more men up front; and no counter options at all.

Wall options:
Large walls: up to six players, plus FBs mark man, CBs default/mark man
Small walls: 3-4 players, FBs plus DMC mark man, CBs default/mark man

Very defensive options:
FBs or wingers set to cover posts in defensive away formations, when playing on the back foot or expecting plenty of free kicks against you. Note: covering the posts is generally less effective in FM07 than previous versions. However, these two players may occasionally help with clearing the ball or any rebounds.

Suggested setups, based on a 4-4-2:

Large wall:
LB, RB: man mark
CBs: default/man mark
all other players: (ML, MR, MCs, Forwards): form wall

Small wall:
LB, RB, CBs, MC/d: man mark
MR, ST tall, MC/a: form wall
ML, FC quick: stay forward

Small wall with posts:
LB, RB: near post/far post
CBs, MC/d: man mark
MR, ST tall, MC/a: form wall
ML, FC quick: stay forward

Both strategies, small and large wall, have pros and cons. However, it is almost impossible to erase any possible danger, as you can see from these examples.
Large wall:
You can see there are two completely unmarked players behind the wall, while the opposition only keeps two players back.



Small wall:
While there are five players set to man mark, there is still one unmarked opposition player. On the other hand, there are four opposition players forced back and a counter option available.



Throw Ins:

We should spend a few minutes on this. Although it is overlooked very often, if you watch some games in full mode, you will notice that most throw ins with default settings result in losing possession. With the right settings, throw ins can result in a few extra goals every season, which is always a bonus!

To avoid losing possesion it is essential to have enough players coming short. Three players seem to be the optimum.

Suggested setting for a 4-4-2:

Throw ins left:
LB: short
RB: back
CB small: back
CB tall: near post
ML: short
MR: back
MC/d: short
MC/a: lurk outside area
ST tall: near post
FC fast: forward

Throw ins right:
LB: back
RB: short
CB small: back
CB tall: near post
ML: back
MC/d: short
MC/a: lurk
ST tall: near post
FC fast: forward

For a kill game/shut up shop version both CBs should stay back.

Team settings: most commonly set to mixed. We could not test every available setting, but long throws may be an option for less technical teams with tall players in the penalty area. Quick could occasionally find a fullback caught out of position. But these options are less important than ensuring enough players come short to create a dangerous attacking move from a throw in, as well as having the right players in the box at the near post.

Corner routines: attacking corners

The most common setting is corners to near post, while a minority prefers the far post.

So we will concentrate on near post. For far post corners, obviously these settings will be reversed.

Attacking roles

The consensus seems to be that near post, challenge goalkeeper and far post should be covered by the best headers or tallest players (most of the time the two CBs and a strong striker).

The strongest header will usually cover the near post, the next best (some recommend highest aggression here) will challenge the keeper, the 3rd best will stand on far post. Other reports suggest two players for near post flick-ons.

It does not seem to make sense to send more than these three players into the box as any more will simply bring the opposition players into the box to mark them, reducing the amount of space your players can exploit.

It can be highly effective to offer more options to the corner taker: a winger or somebody else with good crossing ability and flair set to come short will result in a few surprise goals a year. Also it can be worthwhile having one or two players with good long shots outside the area. They are rarely ever marked and can score a good number of goals per season. Additionally, they will make it easier to win the ball back and keep possession in the opposition half.

The central midfielders appear best suited there, as long as they don't have lousy long shots or extremely good heading stats. You don't want to be wasting players that would be useful elsewhere.

Defensive roles

Usually there should be two players set to always stay back plus one to stay back if needed - or three set to stay back if needed (which keeps the best header of them staying up front).

In a defensive situation during last 20 minutes this number should be increased to four (by using the "if needed" option), since the opposition might keep up to three players up front.

Usually the fullbacks and wingers are picked for this role, since many of them are weak at heading and rather small.

Corner takers

The corner takers should be monitored and set a few games into the season, since the AI does not always pick the best or most successful corner takers.

For corners to the far post it is crucial to have in-swinging corners and good corner takers. Straight or outswinging corners are easier to defend (especially if aimed at the near post) and have a tendency to go straight out for a goal kick, wasting a valuable set piece. So you need a right footed player for the left side and vice versa.

Suggested setups

Suggested setup for a 4-4-2, corners to near post:

Please check and adjust according to your players' heading/jumping/height.

LB: back if needed
RB: back if needed
CB small: challenge GK
CB tall: near post
ML: short option
MR: back if needed
MC/d: outside area
MC/a: outside area
ST tall: far post
FC quick: forward/attack from deep/attack far post

Suggested setup for near post/far post corners in the same tactic:

Please adjust to your specific player attributes as above.

Team instructions (depending on your corner takers available):
E.g. Corners left (Near) - Corners right (Far)

Setup:
LB: Back
RB: Back
DC tall: near post
DC small: challenge GK
MR: forward
ML: short
MC/a: lurk outside area
MC/d: back if needed
ST tall: stand on far post
FC quick: forward

Left-footed corner taker from the right
Right-footed corner taker from the left (but can be left footed if good)

Corner routines: defending corners

A common and reliable approach:

Closing down: winger or playmaker. Ideally someone who is not of much use in the penalty area, but able to make an interception and initiate a fast counter or build up play (good passing, creativity, composure, flair, decisions). A player good at heading might be wasted, and would probably be of more use defending the penalty area. Most headed interceptions lead to another corner or throw in.

Back or man-marking/marking tall player: DMC and strong striker, depending on their height and heading plus jumping stats.

Back: AMC and/or winger

Near post/far post: most likely the FBs. Occasionally the wingers and FBs used to mark small.

Mark tall: CBs, plus DMC and ST if suited well.

Staying up front: Fast striker and fast winger. Sometimes both strikers. In very attacking tactics, three players.

Settings based on a 4-4-2 with 2 players staying forward.

Please check and adjust for your players' speed and heading stats/height.

LB/RB: near post/far post
CB/CB: mark tall
MC/d: man mark/mark tall/back
MC/a: back
ML: forward
MR: close down
ST tall: man mark/mark tall/back
FC quick: forward

With thanks to the Tactical Bible contributors:
garyh, thegooner, wwfan and The next DiabyTutoring is one of the new and maybe best features in FM 07. It allows you to educate your youngsters in a completely new and different way, ensuring that you have a youth squad that will continue playing your preferred style of football as well as fitting into the mentality of your squad perfectly.

Since the players have a set potential ability, which will be a random value for youth players in most cases, you cannot turn a player with the talent to play in Conference North into a possible candidate for a national team, but you can certainly help and accelerate their development and indeed turn them into better players.

Why does tutorship improve players when the potential ability is set?

Potential ability is not the only thing which determines a player’s quality. There are other stats that are hidden and looked up by many players using ‘cheat’ tools that determine his quality; like consistency or how well they respond to important matches, as well as his personality. It is obvious that you want to have as many determined players in your squad as possible instead of a bunch of un-ambitious, lethargic followers.

In previous versions of the game, determination was a key value to see if youngsters will reach their full potential sooner or later. I am not sure if this still is valid for FM 07, but certainly it will help a player to perform better in the long run.

This will get more and more important if you start playing long-term games and your scouts will discover several high potential 'regens' or 'newgens' (those youth players created by the game) every year who have severe flaws in their personality. Of course you would do everything to sign these youngsters, but you certainly would not want to ruin your squad personality within a few years.

As long as these players are sensitive to tutorship, there is absolutely no problem in signing them. With several tutors, or even with the same mentor for several periods, you can turn these youngsters from undetermined to fairly determined or from unambitious to professional. This way I managed to tutor a defender (who had wonderkid status later) from a balanced or fairly professional player to a commanding centre back with high influence, determination and work rate, and he started playing as a 2nd or 3rd captain for the team aged 19.

Helping the youngsters to mature faster

There are certain hints that tutorship can lead to very fast development of youngsters. On several occasions I noticed that potential wonderkids acquired this tag quickly after being tutored, so they must have made a little jump forward with their current ability.

Friendships

Another highly beneficial factor: good relationships within your team. If you find good tutors for your youngsters, they will see both the manager and the tutor as favoured personnel after finishing a successful tutorship. Unfortunately these friendships are only established if the player acquired PPMs but not if his mentality has improved (which does not make mentality tutoring worth less btw.).

Risks

I a few cases, tutorship can end in a clash between tutor and follower, even leading to mutual antipathy. If this happens with multiple squad members, some players may also get disgruntled at the lack of squad harmony. If this problem does not get solved on it’s own, you can loan certain players or offer new contracts which should solve the problem.

Player Preferred Moves (PPM)

Acquiring player preferred moves (PPMs) can add to the player's quality as well. Some examples: if you have a good free kick taker in your youth squad and a senior player with PPMs like ‘hits free kicks with power’ or ‘tries long range free kicks’, it would be highly beneficial for your youngsters to learn these moves.

Other good examples are ‘dictates tempo’, ‘tries killer balls often’ or ‘curls balls’ for young playmakers. If you have an explosive young striker who might get (and miss…) many one-on-one chances, PPMs like ‘likes to round keeper’, ‘comes deep to receive the ball’, ‘tries to lob the keeper’, 'places shots' would be incredibly useful and add to your player’s quality.

Which method of tutorship should I choose?

When you select the player interaction menu of your youngsters, you will see three options:

1 Should see player x would as the ideal role model
2 Should learn from player x the mental approach
3 Should learn from player x

1 Ideal role: This should be reserved for players that have both PPMs and character traits that you want to pass on. The determination, work rate and influence of the tutor should always be higher then the follower’s.

2 Mental approach: A good way if you want to influence the character of the youngster. Even tutors without any PPMs, but high determination and professional character are very well suited. If you have highly-talented youngsters with low determination or ambition, you can assign them to several tutors in a row to completely change their personality.

3 Learn from: This should be used if the follower already has a very good character or even better one then his tutor and you just want him to learn his PPMs.

Multiple tutoring: after circa six months you can assign a new tutor. Sometimes it can be useful to assign several tutors consecutively for increasing the personality or collecting several PPMs of various players, which can be very helpful especially for smaller clubs with less sophisticated tutors.

Why can't I assign a tutor?

Players ineligible for tutoring: after joining a new club, youngsters often need a few days to be eligible for tutoring.

Unfortunately some youngsters cannot be assigned to a tutor at all, I reckon simply because their ability is already very close to the first team average, since most of them are already first team players according to my experience. Note: this does not depend on their contract status, it is merely based on the current ability, which already may be very high or higher then your squad average, if you managed to sign an outstanding 'wonderkid'.

A few youngsters are very hostile against any kind of tutoring while others will not pick up any moves at all. This does not have to mean they will develop into bad players, but it is already a little hint about their adaptability. Generally, tutors with PPMs are more likely to be accepted and welcomed, but this does not matter at all if you want the youngsters to increase their mental approach by learning from a very determined player.

Please notes that the possible tutors sometimes have to be in the first team to appear on the tutor list.

Sometimes it takes a little effort to find out their needs: e.g. Schmoller rejected every mental tutor at Dortmund, but finally he loved being tutored by Traoré to learn his free kick skills. With a free kick rating of 20, I am very curious to see the results. By the way, Traoré learned from Dedé originally, so this is a good example of how to keep knowledge and quality in your team.

Combined with good scouting and small investments in young players, I am sure tutoring can bring a lot of fun in long-term games when you see your youth players blossom. In first season it also will help increasing your squad quality in a very short time.

Happy tutoring.


Tactical bible credits:
Author: TND, editor: MillieAbout the ‘back ten’ and the ‘attacking 7’.

The unusual sub-title points out at a problem that many players seem to ignore when building a tactic. It is not the often stressed ‘back four’ that makes up the defence: in fact, an effective defence has to begin with the settings of your attacking players alongside the midfield set-up. Conversely, the settings of the defensive players can be a major factor in supporting the attacking efforts and give you some additional players contributing to the attack.

If you are using a very tight formation, you can clearly defend with up to 10 men tracking back (e.g. 4-2-3-1, 4-5-1/4-3-3s), but even if you play with two or three strikers, reasonable settings can increase their support for your defence. On the other hand, give the right instructions to your fullbacks and you can turn them into additional attacking players who will initialise and support your attacking moves effectively. This can lead to superiority of numbers on almost every area of the pitch.

The minimum requirement: ‘the back six’:
When looking into defensive problems, regardless of whether you are using an attacking or defensive tactic, these six players should be looked at (first) as they are the backbone of any solid defence. These are the famous 'back four', and maybe less obviously the keeper and the defensive midfielder (DM or MCd). Your defensive performance as a whole will be dependent on the settings these six players have as a unit, and they should not be viewed in isolation.

The keeper
There are three ways to set up a keeper:
* Include him in your mentality system (e.g. mentality 14 in an attacking RoO mindset)
* Exclude him from your mentality system and play him defensively (more or less keeper preset settings)
* Play him as a sweeping keeper (neutral mentality and closing down both ca. 11)
Playing with a sweeper keeper has huge benefits. He will actively try and intercept many trough balls, which is very helpful, primarily for top teams but also for teams that are playing a high or medium line. A good number of dangerous through balls will be intercepted and this can be a massive help for the defence. The downside? Keepers with bad rushing out stats and low anticipation, positioning and decisions will be very error prone.

The key outfield player:
The DMC or MCd. He will win or lose games for you; on his support both defence and attack rely. He should be the first man to look at if things go wrong.

Since the release of FM 07, there have been few tactics working successfully (if any) without a defensive anchor in midfield. Whether he acts as classical DMC in front of the defence or as holding man in an MCd position, getting his instructions right is sometimes half of a successful tactic.

MCd: FWR rarely, crosses mixed or rarely, closing down mixed, CF low
DMC: FWR mixed/rarely, crosses mixed rarely, closing down higher, CF low

Attacking fullback or fullback combos:
If a tactic uses DMs or if you are playing an extremely attacking home game, they can be your attacking players number 6 and 7.

Forward runs: often
RWB: mixed/often
Cross from: mixed

Alternatives: The mixed fullback combo. One attacking, one mixed/staying back. Very good option against difficult opposition.

An example of how to set up and attacking/defending fullback combo by thegooner:
"You can use either fullback (Stats important in making your choice)
DR-
Mentality- 5-8(or 2 clicks ahead of your DC's)
Closing Down-5-8
Pass