Thursday, January 22, 2009

FM 2009 Facepacks

Hello all, I have been asked a few times what facepacks I am using so I thought i would share and make it easy for you all to get them. My favorite face pack is made by Sneijder over at sortitoutsi.com His work is simply brilliant! Check out these examples:



























English Premier Division Pack

I have put all of his current 09 work for the English Premier Division into a single file which can be downloaded from here:
Download the English Premier League FacePack (50 MB)

The teams included in this update are:
Arsenal, Aston Villa, Blackburn, Bolton, Chelsea, Everton, Fullham, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Middlesbrough, Newcastle, Portsmouth, Sunderland, Tottenham, West Brom, West Ham United, and Wigan.

Bundesliga Pack
There is also a full Bundesliga pack as well, which can be downloaded from here:
Download the Bundesliga FacePack (26 MB File)

Champions League Pack
And last but not least is a UEFA Champions League pack that contains great images for ALOT of teams in Europe and will be a great start to adding images for a great number of teams. Thanks to RowRow78 at sortitoutsi for this work.

This pack can be downloaded from here:
Download the Champions League FacePack (40 MB File)

Teams included in this pack are:
AaB, Anorthosis, Arsenal, Athletico Madrid, Barcelona, Basel, BATE, FC Bayern, Bordeaux, Werder Bremen, Celtic, CFR Cluj, Chelsea, Dynamo Kyiv, Fenerbahce, Fiorentina, Inter, Juventus, Liverpool, Lyon, Manchester United, Marseille, Panathinaikos, Porto, PSV, Real Madrid, Roma, Shakhtar, Sporting CP, Steaua, Villarreal, and Zenit.

Hopefully you enjoy these face packs!
You can check out the latest updates from Sneijder in this thread:
http://sortitoutsi.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=34849

Tips on how to install face packs:

1. Extract the zip/rar file into My Documents\Sports Interactive\Football Manager 2009\graphics\pictures\players
2. You may need create the above folders, if they do not exist.
3. Load up FM, go to Options --> Preferences --> Display and Sound
4. Untick ''Use skin cache'' box
5. Tick ''Always reload on confirm''
6. Then click ''Confirm''
7. Then finally restart FM.

Thank you to Sneijder and RowRow78 for all the work you have done with these great facepacks!
Until next time.......

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

The Secret of my Success - Tactics and Formations

Stokes's TT&F Diamond Set
Click here to download

Hello all, I have been using this tactic with Tottenham for a few years now and it has produced very good results for me. In 2012/13 I won the Champions League using this set. Most of these tactics are based on the TT&F thread and Matt's TT&F Tactics posted in the SI Games forum.

Important Note: This tactic uses a lot of width which means that is more suited for higher levels of football, and it will rely on long creative passes and through balls to be successful. I have not tested this with a lower league team however my assumption is that it would not work well.

There are a total of 4 tactical formations in this set, however the "Standard" tactic should be used to start almost every game. Here is a breakdown of the tactics:

Standard: 4-4-2 diamond formation that uses an attacking mentality with overlapping fullbacks that get forward to assist the wingers. I use the AMC as the playmaker and this player MUST be a very gifted and creative talent in order for this to work properly.















Attack:
4-4-2 diamond formation similar to standard with much more emphasis on attack. This tactic should be used late in games when searching for a equalizer or when the opposition has parked their entire team in front of their own goal in attempt to draw the match.
















Defensive:
4-4-2 diamond formation that instructs players to stay in between the ball and their own goal, and uses a counter attack long-ball approach when possession is gained. Use this tactic when you are extreme underdog and would like to attempt to hold the game scoreless early on. I will use this for the first 20 minutes or so and if things are going well I may switch to standard.















Shut the Door:
4-5-1 formation using a very defensive mentality to close out a close match. This tactic has proven to very successful for me when leading by a goal and AI goes to a 4-2-4 formation.

















Key Points:


- As always team talks are critical to making this tactic successful. Most often I use "for the fans" when at home and "wish luck" when the club is away. When complacency is a concern I will instruct a handful of players with Superb morale that I expect a performance from them.

- You must close down the oppositions play maker at all cost. Most of the time your ass-man will tell you the proper MC or AMC to close down, however if you are losing the possession battle you should check the opposition stats and make sure you are closing down the midfield player with the most passes and key passes.

- Try to stay away from tight marking always setting in the midfield OI instructions as it will pull your side out of shape. The AMC and DMC in your squad will either move forward or retreat to ensure the tight mark is set however it will leave a large gap in your formation.

- You can use target man if you feel the need, however it is not necessary.

- You can reduce the forwards on the AMC to "Mixed" if you feel the player is not linking play effectively or if you feel he is getting to close the marking of the opposition DC's. I have good results when this setting is set either way however I think it can be changed based on the attributes of your AMC and the opponents tactics against you.

- When using the 4-5-1 formation make sure your side as the proper personnel at DMC and DC as the tactic is highly reliant on crowding the box, winning the aerial battles, and making quick clearances.

Most positions in these formations require standard attributes for their positions. I would however recommend the following:
FCd (striker with forward runs set to rarely): Technique, Creativity, Long Shots, Strength, First Touch.
FCa (striker with forward runs set to often): Acceleration, First Touch, Off the Ball, Finishing, Composure
AMC: First Touch, Technique, Creativity, Flair, Decisions. This role has been the most important one in my experience, and you must find a forward who can produce big time results from this position.

These tactics worked on 9.1 and 9.2.
Your feedback is welcome and I would love to hear about everyone else's results when using this set.

Download Links

Full Tactic Set
Standard
Attack
Defensive
Shut the Door 4-5-1

2011/12 Season Recap - Tottenham Champions League Winners!

It has been a while since my last update so I am going to summarize the entire 2011/12 season in a single post. The season was highlighted with an incredible ECC victory that nobody could have predicted! I was able to get my club into a great run of form in the second half of the season and we were unstoppable in this competition.


















English Premier League Finish: 5th


It was a somewhat disappointing league campaign for me, as I had hopes of winning the title this year. I got off to my usual horrible start but pulled back with a great second half of the season.
















Notable Roster Moves:


David Bentley Out: He finally got his wish to leave the club, and my decision to hold on to him until the last minute cost me dearly as I only got 10 million for him.

Carlos Eduardo In: The talented Brazilian was bought for £24 million (which is a lot I know) and he played very well all year, and was a huge part of my success in the ECC.

Willians Santana In: Another big money Brazilian players comes into my club however he dd not play very well however I am hoping next year will be better.






























Here is a summary of my transfer and finances:


























Looking Forward


In 2012/13 I have decided to my squad fully intact and not bring in any new players. In years past I have made changes every year and I believe it has been the cause of my slow start each year. I ma going to keep the squad the same and see how the season goes. I obviously have the talent to succeed with this group as evidenced by winning the ECC, so I am gong to give them every opportunity to bring home domestic glory as well. My goal for the season is to win the Premier League. I would love to defend the ECC title as well but I think that may be an unrealistic expectation. Stay tuned!