Using the player search system in FM2008
Average Rating: 7/10 Hits: 1185 Submitted: Dec 18, 2007
Are you struggling to get to grips with the search function in FM2008? If so then this guide will help you in your search for good players in Football Manager 2008.
Any FM gamer worth his salt must be wary that whatever club you appear as unknown manager of early on in the game, a scout (if you have any employed) will offer you pretty obnoxious bite-size crunches of advice regarding what players you should sign. Instead of getting an in-depth scout of Guadeloupe when you are AC Milan courtesy of a reserve player, why not click the handy ‘player search’?
Click it…I dare you. Right then- now that we’re on player search, what can you expect to find? As far as I’m aware, the game automatically filters out your unlikely transfer targets leaving you with a plethora of options. Now I’d filter again, picking your preferences for the ideal transfer. However, I’d never recommend trying to fiddle with the more advanced preferences such as individual abilities, as you tend to limit your search and if you are looking for a top target man, you have £10m to spend and you filter out any player with below ‘15’ heading, you may have just knocked a 19-year old six foot four inch leviathan of a prospect with ‘14’ heading yet blistering pace and a deadly finish out of the running.
I have decided to use Manchester United as my team and as Carlos Queiroz has informed me that my weakest area of the squad is midfield, I have gone onto my player search and filtered out all those who do not play any part in midfield. I have made sure that all those players on the shortlist will have their contract expiring in the next six months or at the end of the season. This way I can expect to pay less inflation and if I unsettle the player and any sort of bid is rejecting, he will be ready to move on a free agent to my club at the end of the season, leaving little competition to challenge me. Clever or what, bitches?
I also didn’t want to have a collective shortlist of 37-year old Brazilian men who claim to play attacking midfield so therefore anyone over the age of 28 is out of limits. I still want to be able to sign a player who has a few good years at his peak left in him and if I sign him at the end of the season rather than immediately, will still be consistent and of premier league standard. Top of the list are Gerald Asamoah, Tranquillo Barnetta and Sebastien Kehl. Asamoah is more of an attacking midfield and can also be play as a forward. I already have Carlos Tevez, Louis Saha and Wayne Rooney and although Asamoah is a fourth striker, he is more of a second player, the player who holds up the ball for the other striker to latch onto and I’ve already got two world-class hardworking footballers in Tevez and Rooney. Asamoah is ticked off the list.
Moving onto the next transfer is Barnetta- my own knowledge of real life football and of previous CM and FM experiences tell me that he could potentially be a strong player in the future and I should look to sign him. However, he plays predominantly on the right side of midfield. Cristiano Ronaldo is the best right winger in the world and is currently being tempted by Inter Milan for a move. Any sort of right-winger purchase and surely the fans would be disgruntled and Ronny would want a move elsewhere due to competition replacements.
Finally, I look at Sebastien Kehl; he has experience at the highest level in German football, has well-rounded but not world-class statistics and seems consistent enough. He plays defensive midfield and could prove a decent foil for Owen Hargreaves, the brutish lion heart of my diamond midfield. At 27 years old, he still looks in good shape and having reached his full potential, should be good enough to handle the Old Trafford stage immediately. For £4.1m, he looks like he could be a good purchase and although people may think signing a relatively unknown player for such a fee would be criminal, this simple method works almost every time. Try it and report back, comrades.
Click it…I dare you. Right then- now that we’re on player search, what can you expect to find? As far as I’m aware, the game automatically filters out your unlikely transfer targets leaving you with a plethora of options. Now I’d filter again, picking your preferences for the ideal transfer. However, I’d never recommend trying to fiddle with the more advanced preferences such as individual abilities, as you tend to limit your search and if you are looking for a top target man, you have £10m to spend and you filter out any player with below ‘15’ heading, you may have just knocked a 19-year old six foot four inch leviathan of a prospect with ‘14’ heading yet blistering pace and a deadly finish out of the running.
I have decided to use Manchester United as my team and as Carlos Queiroz has informed me that my weakest area of the squad is midfield, I have gone onto my player search and filtered out all those who do not play any part in midfield. I have made sure that all those players on the shortlist will have their contract expiring in the next six months or at the end of the season. This way I can expect to pay less inflation and if I unsettle the player and any sort of bid is rejecting, he will be ready to move on a free agent to my club at the end of the season, leaving little competition to challenge me. Clever or what, bitches?
I also didn’t want to have a collective shortlist of 37-year old Brazilian men who claim to play attacking midfield so therefore anyone over the age of 28 is out of limits. I still want to be able to sign a player who has a few good years at his peak left in him and if I sign him at the end of the season rather than immediately, will still be consistent and of premier league standard. Top of the list are Gerald Asamoah, Tranquillo Barnetta and Sebastien Kehl. Asamoah is more of an attacking midfield and can also be play as a forward. I already have Carlos Tevez, Louis Saha and Wayne Rooney and although Asamoah is a fourth striker, he is more of a second player, the player who holds up the ball for the other striker to latch onto and I’ve already got two world-class hardworking footballers in Tevez and Rooney. Asamoah is ticked off the list.
Moving onto the next transfer is Barnetta- my own knowledge of real life football and of previous CM and FM experiences tell me that he could potentially be a strong player in the future and I should look to sign him. However, he plays predominantly on the right side of midfield. Cristiano Ronaldo is the best right winger in the world and is currently being tempted by Inter Milan for a move. Any sort of right-winger purchase and surely the fans would be disgruntled and Ronny would want a move elsewhere due to competition replacements.
Finally, I look at Sebastien Kehl; he has experience at the highest level in German football, has well-rounded but not world-class statistics and seems consistent enough. He plays defensive midfield and could prove a decent foil for Owen Hargreaves, the brutish lion heart of my diamond midfield. At 27 years old, he still looks in good shape and having reached his full potential, should be good enough to handle the Old Trafford stage immediately. For £4.1m, he looks like he could be a good purchase and although people may think signing a relatively unknown player for such a fee would be criminal, this simple method works almost every time. Try it and report back, comrades.
