Initial squad dilemmas

The Saunders gameworld kicked off on Friday evening and the servers performed better than I have ever seen them with such a large load. I somehow managed to be one of the first people into the world, so counting my good fortune I decided to sign a few players that will form the backbone of my new team.

I think the approach of signing a couple of decent players and then getting whatever you can with the rest of your money is better than get a well balanced squad. Most of your initial squad will have been dumped somewhere between season one and two. I decided to buy a striker, a playmaker and a central defender. Whilst I had a few lists from previous beta game world launches, I knew who I wanted the most.




Firstly I signed Daniel Montenegro, the Argentinian playmaker. Whilst he is already 29, he is one of the best cut price playmakers I have seen in the game. His shoots from distance and shoots with power PPMs, plus his set piece ability make him a real attacking force. Montenegro currently has 10 goals in 19 games. Signed for £110k Montenegro is now worth £190k.






Secondly I signed Asamoah the powerful Ghanian striker. He served me well in GW15 and was very popular with other managers. I played him slightly out of position then, preferring Wanderley in the key striker position which at the time I thought might have been a mistake. Asamoah currently has 17 goals in 18 games. He was signed for £130k and is currently worth £250k.



Thirdly I wanted a DC that could last throughout this season and single handedly hold my defensive line together. I was impressed by Oguchi Onyewu in a previous gameworld. He's a big American defender - very strong - but a bit slow. I signed him for £85k and he is now worth £130k.


So £325k spent on three players. I then signed two good youngsters in Gui Assulin and Alex Nimo. Both have high potential and can be protected under youth contracts at the end of the season. This cost me another £100k so I was left with £75k to sign 11 players. Tomi Petrescu apart - the other guys probably won't be around at the end of the season.

Yesterday I hastily signed Javier Pinola when I realised the left back I signed can't really play left back very well - he was a wing back only. Always a good idea to check the positions tab on any player you sign. I did the same thing with Lucas Trecarichi in GW15. Pinola is a solid left back and won't need replacing any time soon.

Before the season kicks off I am hoping to add a couple more faces to the squad - a striker and a central defender. Having signed Pinola yesterday I missed out on Upson - which in hindsight is another mistake because I think Upson is a better player - and has the pace to cover for Onyewu. I guess the point here is managers make mistakes all the time. It's not a problem making mistakes - it's how you react to them and what you do to correct things. Considering a restart every time you think something went wrong is not the right way to go. FML is a long term game, immediate success comes to very few managers - and even fewer good managers. It takes a couple of seasons to sort out the good from the great - so don't get put off by a few minor setbacks early doors - as Big Ron would have said.

First taste of retail

The volume of posts on the official FML forums has risen dramatically over the last week. Even experienced beta testers were getting the jitters as the launch of the game came closer. And whilst there were a few issues for some players, the servers launched pretty much on time. Lag was noticeably lower than at the launch of a beta gameworld.

Community is really important in FML, and beta testers have the opportunity to help those guys new to the game and lend the mods a hand in answering those same questions that keep coming up:

1. You have to play 10 games to get ranked
2. You don't get your full daily income allowance until you are ranked
3. No you can't cancel a bid. The reason is if you could cancel your bid, managers would put bids in to force the price up and then simply withdraw their bid.
4. It's considered bad manners not to talk to your opponent during a game. At least say gl (good luck) at the beginning and gg (good game) at the end - it's our culture
5. Yes the lobby is full of 14 year olds talking themselves up - give them a break they just don't know any better yet
6. If you have a question don't suffer in silence - type your question into the help chatroom - and many managers will be happy to help
7. Always be learning a skill - the next one doesn't start automatically

Which reminds me, I need to log in and start Finance level 3.

Great teams are built on defense

There is a reason why many world class players end up playing for teams ranked over 250. That's because the top teams take their defense very seriously and that's where they spend a great deal of their money. There is no point having Fernando Torres up front if you central defenders are going to get run a merry dance by a couple of mediocre opponents in their attack.

Central defenders are one of the most important positions in your team. You should aim for central defenders with a AF of over £200k each. Good central defenders have both high mental attributes and high physical attributes. Never buy a central defender with less than 11 (at an absolute minimum) pace. Having a left footed DC on the left of your pair can help you in possession - but it's no deal breaker. You should aim for one DC dominant in the air, and the other one fast and alert (anticipation).

To get the most out of your defensive unit you should learn a few tactical skills. Tackling, individual tackling, individual marking, tight marking, offside trap and show onto other foot can all help. The only problem being you will end up making a bunch of tactical changes at the start of every match to map out your individual marking plan. This will change depending on how the opposition line up looks when their team is first submitted. Here are few examples.

451

Against 451 you central defenders only have one striker to mark. Remember the strong and fast DCs I mentioned earlier? This is why you need them. The strong DC marks the loan striker - change his marking to specific and click the striker (tight marking), the fast defender is switched to zonal marking with tight marking turned off. This will allow him to sweep and deal with onrushing midfielders who join the attack. Because there is less covering for your fullbacks in this formation, I favour switching them to tight, specific marking on their wingers too. If you are really anal (like me) you might also want to check out the play of the opposition fullbacks. If they are playing aggressively you could assign your strikers to closely mark them too. However this is will limit your ability to counter attack.

442

Against a flat 442, tight and specific marking on both strikers. Only if one is a known to drop deep (ie Totti or Rooney) or is being played deeper should you hold off this strategy. A DC following a striker into no mans land creates massive gaps in your defensive line. Your defensive minded midfielder should also track the opposition's most aggressive MC/AMC. Look at the attributes of their strikers. If they are both fast strikers set your d-line deep and ensure closing down is set to a minimum. If your defenders are roughly equal in pace - send your d-line up high.

Weird formations

Some managers play weird formations in an attempt to fool the match engine or you. One pain to play against is a formation with no striker. Somestimes this comes as a 4-6-0 formation that many claim that Man Utd played last year. Sometimes you see two wingers push right up to the top line and no striker with the AMC plus MCs breaking forward. Anyway - both are a pain because your DCs get confused about who they should be marking. Many standard formations make your DCs man mark. Against these formations make sure your marking is set to zonal for DCs and tight-specific man marking on the wingers with your fullbacks. Also ensure your fullbacks are set to forward runs rarely. Man marking fullbacks should not be given too much to do in possession - they need to find their man and stick with him. Sometimes it pays to keep attacking fullbacks and defending fullbacks in your squad and swap them against the right opponent.

Most of this advice is aimed at managers wanting to reach the top 50 and who want to compete in the premier leagues and cups. Speaking of which, congratulations to Jim Furlong and his wonderful This is Anfield team who beat me 1-0 in the All Evening FA Cup Final yesterday. Jim and I got promoted together in the first season to the All Evening Premiership so I knew what his team would bring - unfortunately I just couldn't enough about it. As the beta ends tomorrow I have closed the doors on beta. I was ranked 4 last night and have maintained a top 10 position for quite a while now - so I am confident for beta. I also had to switch from Blissett to Saunders due to the change in launch dates.