Book it in your diary, November 7th, the day Football Manager 2015 is fully released. Known for their attention to detail, Sports Interactive have added a host of new features, from a revamped match day experience to the new interface.
All these features bring the game closer to real life. The most realistic of these? Deciding what type of manager you are, tracksuit or tactical. You can set your level of coaching badges, playing experience and tweak your style. Then customise your skill set, from motivation, to man management and everything in-between.
But how will this affect the game and what should you be, tracksuit or tactical?
In a nutshell, the more tactical you are the better your voice will be heard in team talks and the boardroom. Tracksuit will put you on the training ground, literally. You will be able to assign yourself to specific training categories as you would a coach.
First and foremost, you must set the level of coaching badges and playing experience to the highest for a full set of points to distribute. The lower your badges and experience the less points you’ll gain, then using a style focus slider you can pick how many points are used for tracksuit and how many for tactical.
The question posed to us at FMS is “how will this impact the game?” Find each skill set below with an explanation:
Tracksuit Manager
Attacking – Affects the ability to coach the attacking aspects of the game in training.
Defending – Affects the ability to coach the defensive aspects of the game in training.
Fitness – Affects the fitness coaching ability in training.
Goalkeepers – Affects the ability to coach the goalkeeping aspects of the game in training.
Tactical – Affects the ability to coach the tactical aspects of the game in training.
Technical – Affects the ability to coach the technical aspects of the game in training, like shooting and ball control.
Mental – Affects the ability to coach the mental aspects of the game in training.
Working with youngsters – Affects the ability to work with younger players in training, so your effectiveness coaching the youth teams.
IMPORTANT TIP – Your coaching ability is also affected by level of discipline and motivation, these can be the difference between 4-star ability and 5-star.
I made myself a tracksuit manager in one save and a tactical manager in another, see the difference this has to my coaching ability below.
Tactical Manager
Adaptability – No its not something out of ‘Power Rangers’. It affects the chances of a manager finding employment in a foreign league.
Determination – Affects how adept the manager is at getting their own way with the board: a less determined manager is more likely to have their requests turned down.
Player knowledge – Affects default knowledge of individual senior players attributes. (Only applicable with attribute masking on.)
Youngster knowledge – Affects default knowledge of individual youngsters attributes. (Only applicable with attribute masking on.)
Level of discipline – Affects how likely a player is to bring their concerns to you; a strict manager will find players are less likely to bring up minor issues to them.
Man management – Affects the ability to manage training overall and how you interact with players on an individual basis.
Motivation – Affects your ability to motivate your players as a group in team talks and team meetings.
Conclusion
Pick your style with care, as it will affect the in game experience. When managing lower league, good coaches are hard to come across and the board restrictive, so Tracksuit manager may seem best. However, you will still be added to training anyway and most likely at 4 star ability in any single training category. All you will gain is an extra half star if you choose tracksuit.
However, the potential cost of a poor tactical manager is far greater. You will have more one on one player complaints to deal with, team talks won’t have their full effect and you may lose out when making requests to the board. These are vital to make your game experience more enjoyable, unless you like a challenge of course.
So, who will you be? Bump up the motivation and strut your stuff like Mourinho, or hike up your discipline and management to reign down as Sir Alex Ferguson? Let the games begin!
FM 15: The Perfect Manager?
Footballmanagerstory.com (FMS) is an official Sports Interactive approved fan site and one of the most popular out there, providing top notch FM 2015 downloads, guides and player profiles.
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