Training Coaches - Coaching Summary

Training Coaches - Coaching Summary



Asg : number of training catagories assigned to
Gk : Coaching goalkeepers

Strength 34 :
look at blue sky(red) and blue dark(green) colours : 7 players on high training, 27 players on medium training.

Aerobics 34 :
look colours : 6 players on high training, 28 players medium training

Goalkeeping :
look colour 3 players on intensive training

Tactics 34 :
look colour... continue.......

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Training Coaches - Coaching Attributes

Coaches - Coaching Attributes

This important set training coaches attributes :
Set pieces training : Improves a player free kick, crossing, corners, etc
Strength training : improves a player stamina, strength, etc
Aerobics training : improves a player pace, agility, balance, etc
Goalkeeping training : improves a player aerial, ability, handling
Tactics training : improves a player decision making, anticipation, moveement, etc
Ball Control training : improves a player dribbling, techiques, first touch
Defending training : improves a player tackling, marking, etc
Attacking training : improves a player passing, creativity, etc
Shooting training : improves a player finishing, long shots, composure

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Making a General Tactic

Making a General TacticPeople often talk about super-tactics within Football Manager as a method of garenteed sucess. Fact is that there is no such thing as a 'super-tactic' and different tactics work for different teams as in real life. The aim of this short guide is to help create a basic 4-4-2 formation which is very flexible and can in turn be adapted to suit other teams. Its not a method of guarenteed sucess but a good starting point...



Begin by setting up a basic 4-4-2 formation, with the two wingers running forward. Now lets get into the details, player instructions and such.

Start with team instuctions. I set my team instructions to general contol all the attacking players within my team, advantages of this is you can then adjust how attacking or defensive your team is mid match very quickly. Below is how I generally lay out my attacking unit...
Attacking...15
Creative Freedom... 15 (for a less technically gifted side reduce this to 10)
Passing...5
Tempo...5 (again for a less technically gifted side I would probably increase this, but keep passing & tempo in unison)
Width...15 (no wingers in your team? obviously play with less width...)
Closing Down...15
Time Wasting...5 (can be increased as a match wears on)
Defensive Line...Push Up
Tackling...10

For a good side, like my favourite team Man Utd lol, this will mean your team will pass the ball around amongst themselves, using the width of the pitch and generally dominating possession. When they do lose possession however your attacking players will close down from the front and your defenders will push up from the back looking to break down any attacks early. I also find that the push up option leaves your team suitably compact with few spaces between midfield and defence.

The rest depends entirely on your team...whether to base play around your wingers, a playmaker or a targetman depends on the individual abilities within your team. If you have quick defenders you may wish to play the offside trap. If unsure the safe bet is to keep focus passing mixed, marking zonal and tick none of the boxes.

Now you have set up the general theme for your team slight modifications can be made to your attacking player instructions. Keep all their inboxes unticked, as you have already dealt with these areas in your team instructions, and just adjust the sliders to suit their position. If unsure you can follow this general guide...
Wingers...forward runs-often,run with ball-often,long shots-mixed,through balls-mixed,cross ball-often,cross from-byline,cross aim-centre
AM...forward runs-often,run with ball-mixed,long shots-mixed,through balls-often,cross ball-rarely,cross from-mixed,cross aim-mixed
ST...forward runs-often,run with ball-often,long shots-mixed,through balls-rarely,cross ball-rarely,cross from-mixed,cross aim-mixed
TM...forward runs-mixed,run with ball-rarely,long shots-mixed,through balls-mixed,cross ball-rarely,cross from-mixed,cross aim-mixed

I also usually give my strikers closing down-20, and tick the hold up ball bo for the target man.

That's your attacking unit set up, now for your defensive unit. For this you need to adjust player instructions individually. Generally you just want to keep give these players less license to go forward, less creative freedom and hope they hold their positions to allow your more attack minded players to do what they do best...score goals. Below are the instructions I tend to use.
GK...the 'set to...goalkeeper' option is fine, though you may want to change distribution if he is a particurly good kicker or perhaps to defender collect if you are going for a slow, passing tactic.
FB...mentality-6,creative freedom-3,passing-team,closing down-3,tackling-team,forward runs-often,run with ball-mixed,long shots-rarely,through balls-rarely,cross from-byline,cross aim-centre
CB...mentality-3,creative freedom-3,passing-team,closing down-3,tackling-team,forward runs-rarely,run with ball-rarely,long shots-rarely,through balls-rarely,cross from-deep,cross aim-mixed
DM...mentality-5,creative freedom-5,passing-team,closing down-5,tackling-hard,forward runs-mixed,run with ball-mixed,long shots-mixed,through balls-mixed,cross from-deerp,cross aim-mixed

I also tend to tick the tight marking for these players. Now you have a defensive unit that will stay back, stick to your tactics, not lose position through closing down...in general just a solid base to your formation. By choosing forward runs often and coss ball from byline for your full backs you have also ensured if the oppurtunity rises they will not be afraid to overlap your wingers. This also avoids them wasting posession from launching long balls from deep positions.

The only other adjustments to your tactic are minor, checking your set play instructions. For corners just ensure your best header of the ball is attacking the ball wherever your corner taker is sending it to.

And there you have it a general tactic explained in a hopefully simple manner, even if did take more words than I intended!! You chould find that your team is a very balanced, flexible unit but the most important thing is to remember that this tactic is versatile. If you change formation e.g to 4-4-1-1 or 4-3-3, all is needed is a few adjustments to the odd player instruction. Don't be afraid to tinker, like wise in-match you can adjust mentality, tempo etc very quickly and effectively depending how the game is going for you!!

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FM08 Ticking Boxes

Tight Marking

Obviously a defensive instruction, but be aware that defensive instructions also affect your attacking play as well as you defensive.

When your players our without the football, they will stay tight on their man, not allowing them any space. This is good when you don’t want to give opposition attackers room to create chances. However, when you retrieve the ball, a player set on tight marking will initially not have very much room, so any creativity or attacks from this player will be somewhat hamstringed.

So in a very defensive based game you will want all players on tight marking (except strikers) to deny the opposition any space. In an attacking tactic, you will want all players on loose marking (except centre-backs) to give your players lot of room to express themselves. In a totally controversial tactic, you would assign tight marking to defenders and one central midfielder, and loose to the rest.

Use Target Man

The target man is another attacking instruction and can also be a great benefit to defensives sides’ as well.

The target man is usually your striker (maybe sometimes you attacking midfielder) and will look to receive balls from one way or another from your other players. Assigning the target man will make these other players see the target man as, well a target man! I guess that’s just it; he is the general target for your team.

Different target men offer different things and do different things as well. Here are some more in-depth guides on target men:

Run onto ball
Supply to feet
Supply to head

Use Playmaker

The player is a lot like the target man, as your team will look to give the ball to him more often than usual. Coupled with high creative freedom and as long as your playmaker has the right attributes, the benefits can be fantastic. The playmaker main job will be to hit long range passed to slice open the opposition defence and to generally dictate the tempo of the game.

Here are some more in-depth guides on playmakers:

Attacking Playmaker
Deep Lying Playmaker

Play Offside

Playing offside will make sure team keep a straight back line and is usually used in conjunction with a high d-line. If you do these two things together then you are kind off implementing the offside trap into you back-line. In theory it will work something like this, when you win the ball in your own half, your back line will keep a straight line, and push up, leaving the opposition’s forwards in a offside position. To get a more in depth guide on playing offside, go here.

Counter Attack

Counter attacking is a great to catch the opposition on the break, and can often give you that ‘smash and grab’ feeling. The aim of counter attacking is not to keep possession or play fancy football. No, the aim of counter attacking is too let the opposition do that until you nick the ball, then its quick, direct and bobs your uncle you’ve scored a ninety third minute winner of the FA Cup final. There are different types of counter attacking football, some sides like to draw the opposition in and let them willy around with and only counter attack when half the opposition are forward. Others like to just win possession as soon as possible and quickly catch the opposition off guard.

As this was intended to be a quick guide, I will have to leave you to it. I hope to expand on the counter attack part so a guide about counter attacking football will be coming soon!

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FM08 Staff Guide

General Coaches

This applies for Coaches, 1st Team Coaches, Youth Coaches, Fitness Coaches and Goalkeeper Coaches.

Obviously, different coaches need different coaching attributes depending on what category they are coaching. Here is a great guide created for FM07 (but still relevant for FM08) on how to get the best out of your coaches

However, there is still some other mental attributes you should consider for your coaches:

Adaptability – key if the coach is coming from abroad
Motivating - the coach will motivate players better in training
Level of Discipline – making sure your players stay on task and focused during training
Working with Youngsters – a necessity for youth coaches
Man Handling – your coach will handle player’s personalities better

Scouts

In previously version of FM, Judging players ability and potential seemed to be the most important of mental attributes, in FM08, a few more have become equally important.

Adaptability – key if the scout is coming from abroad, but it will also help scouts knowledge increase quicker if he scouting in a foreign country.
Determination – scouts will be more determined to find more players
Tactical Knowledge – important if your scout is ‘scouting next opposition

Physios

Phisios are phisios and they always will be.

Physiotherapy – obviously the physio would be useless without this
Level of Discipline – making sure players do not slack off when they are injured
Motivating – he will be able to motivate players to return from injury as soon as possible
Man Handling – physios who can handle players better, will be able to help them return quicker

Assistant Managers

Seeing as Ass.mans gets paid a fairly large amount, you should do your best to use them to their full extent. Other than the attributes below, it may be important for you ass.mans to have some decent coaching attributes so he can chip in on training; especially if you are on a tight budget.

Judging Player Ability – this will ensure you get better teams reports
Tactical Knowledge – important if he is in charge of your reserve team
Working with Youngsters – important if he is in charge of your u18 team
Man Handling – he will give you better advice on decisions you have to make when handling problems with your players
Motivating + Level Discipline – he will give you better advice on team-talk.

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The My Striker Wont Score Syndrome

The ‘My Striker Wont Score’ Syndrome! - Explained and Solutions

Ever since the dawn of Champ-Man, people have always complained about their strikers not scoring. This year, you may be complaining more so.

I am pretty much oblivious to what actually changed in the ‘Match Engine Revamp’ but there is one goat that is the obvious to most people:

The average conversion-rate in a one-on-one with a goalkeeper has decreased, thus making it more difficult for any given player to score in this situation.

It is not a massive increase in difficulty, but people will naturally exaggerate on the change due to their own tactical flaws. It is important to understand that everything SI does to game, through new releases and patches, is to make the game more realistic (yeah, well done Einstein). If that means a certain part of the game has become more difficult to succeed in, then so be it.

A lot of people would argue that this has not made the game more realistic, but in fact made it more unplayable. These people need to wake up and smell the bacon.

The average conversion-rate for a one-on-one is floating around the 30% mark. Does that sound about right, around 30% of your one-on-ones flying in the back of net?

Less than 30%? - here are some things to consider

Attributes

Attributes are obviously important; they define how well a player will do a certain task on the pitch and ultimately adhere to your tactical instructions.

David Villa and Michael Owen are two fine examples of the best one-on-one finishers in the world. Look at what they have in common:

Villa's Attribute Screenshot

Owen's Attribute Screenshot
The attributes that they have in common that amount to them being a prolific one-on-one goal-scorer are very clear.

Key attributes: Finishing and Composure
Important attributes: Concentration, Decisions and Creativity
Semi-important: Bravery, Technique and Anticipation

Important Tactical Instrutions

Creative Freedom

To much creative freedom will cause your striker to be too audacious, shots will go high and wide in an attempt to score a dazzling goal. It is good if your striker is naturally a good creative player, then you can grant him lots of creative freedom with insurance that he will use it to benefit his game and put the ball in the back of net.

Not giving him enough creative freedom will normally cause a striker to be very precarious with their shots and you will see alot of shots straight at the goalkeeper or fairly close to his body. Any striker needs a decent amount of creative freedom so his shots on goal will be more 'natural' and allow him to beat the keeper in a more clever way.

Tempo and Time-Wasting

A high tempo, very little time-wasting or a mixture of the both will cause players to release the ball quicker when after recieving it. Unless you have strikers with like Villa and Owen, who have great decisions attributes then this can cause players to shoot too soon or make the wrong kind of shot. Lesser skilled players, or even top class players will need time to think, even if it just a couple of seconds.


Alternative Goal Scoring

In real life football, very few teams rely on one-on-one oppurtunities alone to aid their goal scoring tallies. There are lots of different ways to score other than through balls to a pacy striker. If you do attempt this way and this way alone, you may continue to be baffled by score-lines that seemingly unfavour your team.

In my experiance, goals from different 'angles' and areas of the pitch can often favour a side in any league.

Set Pieces

You must take your time setting out your set pieces and attempting to make the most of deal ball situations. You can even do an Everton 05' and pretty much rely on winning and excuting set pieces to win you matches. For now, ask around at the forums for help with set pieces untill I or someone else assembles a much needed set pieces guide.

Down Both Flanks

Invest in a powerhead striker, some talented wingers and get the ball down the flanks. You dont have to always rely on 'down both flanks' but occasionally switching to or leaving focus play 'mixed' will open much more goal scoring oppurtunities from different angles.

Using Your Players

Especially at home, or up against an average/lesser side, get more defensive/controversial players involved in attacks. If different players from different areas of the pitch are pushing up to aid an attack, then the final balls will varie alot more and cause the opposition a lot of grief. Getting players in and around the box will open your team up for alot more passes and eventually shots towards goal; from different angles of the pitch.
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Players' Peaks - The Ups and Downs of Life

Another article I'm writing, this time on players' peaks. Soccer career is just like life; there are ups and downs in it. You can't be Player of the Year forever. So this is what the guide is for: talking about it and explaining why it happens. And for some people who don't know what are peaks, just take it this way: When you're a kid, you grow up under the guidance of your father. When you're a teenager you are at perhaps the years of your life where you will grow and develop very quickly, slowly into the next big thing in the working world. When you're an adult and finally start working, you are at the best times of your life, because your knowledge has been put to the limit and is already at a very high level. But when you grow old and retire, you start forgetting things, and you are hearing your old apprentices call you a "has-been". Well, what can you do? It's just life. It's just peaks.


Simple Explanation on Abilities and Potentials Through Training or Natural Development


Will keep this short. There is a rule that applies to players in every position, and that is:
"Players that are 24 years and above are less likely to see dramatic improvements to their attributes through training or natural progression."
So that means you would have to rely on physical training to increase their stats, unlike youngsters where their stats will increase naturally. However, that doesn't mean you can just stop playing that player and excuse him from training because you would be destroying a youngster's future! Check on your players stats in training and see if you are on the right track; be sure to change the training fast though. Because there are something called peaks, and it differs for different players. For more on current ability and current potential, read Agusta's guide on CA and PA.

After Retirement

For some players, after they retire as a professional football player, they may decide to take on staff roles and become a coach, manager, or whatever. This is a little interesting because it's fun seeing the player you have nurtured for years work as a coach under you. For some, sadly, they just disappear from the gameworld.

Goalkeepers

The players who try to prevent conceding goals for you, as suggested by the name. They are perhaps the players with the greatest workrate, and best stamina in football, as players in this position play on till they are very old. Their peak is also at a very late age: From 31 to 35 years old. And those ages are the times when other players retires. So kudos to them, and you can't help but salute them!

15 to 22 years old - Little improvements in skill. Not the best times of their life yet.
23 to 27 years old - Developing stages. Easy to develop and grow, but also easy to drop in their skills.
27 to 30 years old - Stats and skills may drop a little.
31 to 35 years old - Their peak, finally. Can maintain their skills for long time, and sometimes stats and skills are high.
36 years old and above - Past their peak, if no more future then they will retire. Some will play on as a backup. And if they're still able to cut the mustard, may be called up to represent their nation still.

Defenders

They're always reliable and tend to have a great sense of leadership. They are strong, and are normally given the captain armband. 27 to 32 years old is their peak, being the most consistent part of their career.

15 to 21 years old - Developing stages. If impressive, may be attracting clubs.
22 to 26 years old - Still developing and growing but not that dramatic anymore. Some are being relied on at this age and are always there to do the job.
27 to 32 years old - The part of their life where they can maintain their stats even though they don't improve that much. Normally dubbed as "the rock at the heart of the defence", and is being captained and organizes the defence really well.
33 years old and above - Play for a few more years and will retire. Some can last on though, and is still being made captain due to his vast experience.

Midfielders

Be it playmakers, wingers or defensive-midfielders, these players are sometimes being made captain if they possess leadership qualities. They are normally the backbone of the team, as they are the ones who pass the ball well and in the end lead to the striker scoring, or they help the defence when possible and look virtually tireless.

15 to 20 years old - If impressive in the reserves, they may be given a call-up to the first-team but they probably won't be given major roles such as playmaker. Develops quite a lot.
21 to 26 years old - For elite bloomers, they may be given major roles and become the person who makes everyone else look great, such as creating scoring opportunities. Still develops but not as dramatic for their latter part of their career.
27 to 32 years old - The consistent stage of their career. Stats may drop, but they will try their best to hold on to their current skills. Normally outshined by other midfielders who are up and rising, but will be remembered and the mentor of the younger ones.
33 years old and above - May still play, but at about 35 they stop and call it a day.

Strikers

Here it is. The players whom some people call "the most important players in the club". They are normally in the spotlight, and their peak is the earliest.

15 to 17 years old - Developing stages. Not really dramatic but quite well.
18 to 20 years old - Develop a lot and may be given occasional first-team spots. Some are even regarded as a key-player.
21 to 25 years old - The most explosive years of their life, scoring and providing assists at times. Stats are still increasing.
26 to 31 years old - Their peak. They maintain their stats but don't improve much anymore. The good ones may be key-players for their national team, and regarded as a "legendary striker".
32 years old and above - Lose their skills and consistency. Average players retire at 33. Those who can still play normally play till 38. They are probably one of the weirdest types of players. They have most of the skills they have when they were young but not their stamina. That's why they retire.
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Training/Youth Facilities & Youth Academy Guide

Triple L is back at it again and this time introduces us into the depths of the training/youth facilities and youth academy. Definately check a read!

I am writing this for the 'newer' FM players but if you are more advanced and read it i am sure you will make use of it somehow as it is pretty useful for a re-cap.

In this guide, i will be looking at the aspects of Training Facilites, Youth Facilities & the perpose of a Youth Academy.

Index:-

1a. - Training Facilities
1b. - Youth Facilities
1c. - Youth Academy

2. - Board / Finances / Club Reputation and how they affect your Facilities

1a. Training Facilities
Right to get this off and running we will look at the purpose and needs of the Training Facilities on FM.
You have different 'grades' so to speak when starting the game. The best teams usually have 'Top Training Facilities', others lower would probably be looking at 'Good', 'Average', 'Basic' and 'Minimal' (Others may occur).
The difference in class depends on how well your team train and it determines how much of his potential he can feel, as 'Top' would be the best, letting them achieve all of their potential using the right trainging scheduals, and 'Minimal' making them not achieve much of their potential (remember not all players will reach their potential at any level because of injuries, not enough first team chances ect..).
The lower leagues don't really need GREAT facilities as players need the physical side of the game more so, and be warned if you buy a player who is used to player in the higher leagues he will decrease in potential and ability.
If you are trying to sign someone and your club has better Training Facilities than the club he is at, then he MIGHT be tempted because of the calibre of training you can provide for his future.
In summary, the better your Training Facilities the better your club can run as a whole.

1b. Youth Facilities
As in the last section there are different grades, Ranging from 'Top' or 'State Of The Art' Facilities going as low as 'Minimal', 'Poor' ect.. The lower the league then the worse the facilities will be.
Youth Facilities are very similar to Training Facilities, but it is meant for the younger generation, it determines how your youth players will develop.
Once again the higher the grade, or 'class' of your Youth Facilities, means the better your youth players will turn out (the more potential your youth players have will mean more impact on how they improve, depending on whether they stay fit and have a positive attitude).
If you buy a youth player from a higher league and decide he should be put in YOUR youth team, then he may not reach his potential, but he will strive to be good at your own league level.
As before, the better your Youth Facilities the better your youth team will run and grow as a whole.

1c. Youth Academy
This is where it gets a bit more simple, you either have a Youth Academy or you don't.
Lets put it this way, if your infertile then having children is a no-no for you, if you are a healthy person with no problems at all then having children is a very high possibility, you can think of a Youth Academy in the same way. If you are a team with potential and are in at least the blue square premier then you will have a good chance of having a Youth Academy to produce players. If you are financially poor, and your team isn't in a good state then a Youth Academy won't be the first thing your team have, if you can understand that.
If you have a Youth Academy it means you can produce youngsters for the future, if you don't then you will either have to buy them in, or do without basically.


2. Board / Finances / Club Reputation and how they affect your Facilities

Well now it's crunch time and i will go through this one by one and make it easier to understand, first of all we will explain the boards position in this.
In the 'Board Room' you will have options to 'Improve Training Facilities' and 'Improve Youth Facilities', which is fair enough. Now their are many different attitudes the board can have, they can either look to the future if so they will accept to improve, or be looking to just this season, which means they will decline. It depends on what their own aims are which determines how your request will be dealt with.
Finances come into play alot as well in this. Mainly because if you do not have enough money to improve any facilities then the facilities can't be improved can they? It's like being Everton, wanting to buy someone for 15m+ but not having enough money, you jsut won't be able to buy him. It's the same with improving facilities, if you don't have the money then the request will be rejected, if you do have to money then they might do you that favour to benefit the team.
Finally, Club Reputation, it's straight forward for this one. The better your team then the better chance you have of getting 'Top' facilities. Lets take the English leagues for example. If you are Manchester United, Chelsea or Arsenal your Youth Facilities and Training Facilities will probably be looking very impressive if not 'State Of The Art', where as if you are Grimsby then your facilities aren't going to be anywhere near as good as those other clubs. Of course if you manage to get Grimsby into the Premiership then getting good facilities will be alot easier as the board know the team deserves and needs it to compete with the others.

Well thats all i have time for at the moment lads and ladettes hopefully you can put this to use.
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Counter-Attacking Football for the Small Fry

To counter attack, first the opposition must attack, otherwise, you aren't countering an attack. If you ever read the hints and tips on football manager, you may have heard the expression that a counter attacking style works best with a fast tempo. I suppose that is fairly honest, but is slightly misleading.

When you tick the counter attack box (and this important that you know exactly what it does), your team will only look to attack when they have retained the ball and many opposition players are in your half. This is why, when you want to counter attack, in attacking formation, it is important to play direct and fast. Otherwise your team would be trying to play possession football way in the opposition's half, and although attacking, they would have the mentality of trying to catch the opposition on the break.

The best counter attacking style, in my opinion, is defensive, possession based tactic. Any team, in any league can use it, providing they are at most a mid-table club. You hear these morons on web saying all lower league teams should be looking to play a more direct style. They clearly have experimented; they haven't taken other sliders into consideration. I remember reading an article on a forum, wrote by moron, and someone vey humbly asked why are lower league teams unable to play short passes, he said that surely the shorter the pass the simpler. And he's correct. Its not about passing styles, it's about simplicity, lower league teams should keep it simple. How does your team keep it simple? Man Utd can play a creative, ultra wide, short passing game, but you can't. The underdog must keep it simple.

Width

You must keep it narrow. If you play wide, or even an adventurous normal, your players will be too far apart - passes will go astray and a routine of interceptions will follow. Your players are probably not the most technical passers, so keeping it narrow will keep it short.

Creative freedom

Do not be too restrictive for your strikers and wingers, in order to counter; they need some freedom to move around the channels. Do not lot any one venture over normal, defenders = little always. The crappier team, the less CF. Do not get ultra restrictive, not enough freedom and players get confused, I've made the mistake before and my left winger was running at defenders and eventually decided to hoof the ball out of play!

Defensive Line, closing down and tackling

I feel this is the backbone of counter attacking. I nearly always keep it fully deep. You want to invite the opposition deep into your half so when you get the ball, HOOF. Closing down should never go over the middle, remember you want the opposition to come at you - you need men behind the ball, you need to keep your structure. Depending on their tempo, you should increase/decrease. Fast for example, you should be closing down less, whereas normal to slow should be slightly more. You really can't afford to get players sent off with counter attacking football. I've gone from 2 - 0 total control to 6-2 because a player got sent off. But, with a low-normal closing down, and opposition who are not playing fast football, hard tackling for every midfielder is fine. With this hopefully, you can keep the structure of your formation whilst still making important tackles to retain possession.

Mentality

Defensive is mandatory. The harder the team, the more defensive mentality. I recommend a global mentality (everyone the same) - maybe your target man on a slightly higher setting. Players with a defensive mentality are more likely to play defensive passes that do not risk losing possession. Global mentality ensures that all of your players are close together; remembering you do not want them to far apart.

Tempo and passing style.

Ultra slow, short passing. Nuff said really, it's what this whole article is about, keeping the ball.

Target Man

Pace is important for counter attacking, but your target man doesn't necessarily need to be the fastest forward. In 4-4-2, or a flat 4-5-1, he pretty much does need to be fast (run onto ball). However, a formation such as 4-2-3-1, with more attacking wingers, your target man should be someone who is strong and can hold up the ball, or someone who can knock the ball onto your wingers. Either way, your wingers need to be fast because he should be feeding them through balls which could either lead to a one on one, or a cross for your target man (far post works best for slow target men).

Time wasting

I like to have this a notch before often. You will see a lot stalling, turning on the ball from your midfield and attack which is good, because it draws players in from opening gaps in the opposition's formation. The more defensive you play, the more time wasting you should employ. If you see a lot of defenders randomly kicking the ball into row z, you may want to reduce the slider!

Who?

Derby would be an excellent team in the premiership to deploy this tactic. You get the idea, underdogs. If you are Middlesbrough say, I would not recommend using this tactic as a constant, but for away matches or up against the big team, it could work quite well.

If you have any more questions on counter attacking, ask in the forums, it's okay I won't bite your head off.
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Coach

If you want a 7 star coaching your coach must have at least:

Strength: 18 Fitness

Aerobic: 18 Fitness

Goalkeeping: 18 Goalkeeping

Tactics: 18 Tactical

Defending: 18 Defending and 18 Tactical
19 Defending and 14 Tactical
20 Defending and 10 Tactical

Ball Control: 18 Technique and 18 Mental
19 Technique and 14 Mental
20 Technique and 10 Mental

Attacking: 18 Attacking and 18 Tactical
19 Attacking and 14 Tactical
20 Attacking and 10 Tactical

Shooting: 18 Technique and 18 Attacking
19 Technique and 14 Attacking
20 Technique and 10 Attacking

Set Pieces: 17 Technique and 39 (mental+attacking)
18 Technique and 36 (mental+attacking)
19 Technique and 33 (mental+attacking)
20 Technique and 30 (mental+attacking)

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