niallwalsh.net

In the first of a series we are going to look at the wonderkids of Football Manager 2008 and how they are getting on in real life.

The first one is the defensive midfield sensation that is Éver Banega who starts the game at Boca Juniors and can be picked up for around £2.5 million if you get him early enough and is worth every penny.

Éver came through the youth ranks at Boca Juniors and it was not until he moved to the first team that he won international recognition, thanks to his fantastic passing average and a collection of great performances in the local league.

He made his professional debut in the 4-0 victory against Banfield on February 10, 2007. Just a few matches after making his debut he was a key player in the Boca side and was a firm fan favorite with his tireless running in midfield and tough tackling.

After making only 27 appearances for Boca Spanish side Valencia had seen enough of the young Argentinean and decided to stump up £13 million pounds to sign him in in January 2008.

Full Name: Éver Maximiliano David Banega
DOB: 29/06/1988 (age 19)
POB: Rosario, Argentina
Clubs: Boca Juniors (2000-2007), Valencia CF (2008-)
Position: Midfielder
Height: 1.74m
Number: 11
Preferred Foot: Left

(20 votes, average: 4.4 out of 5)

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I don’t know about you but the little hints and tips that pop up while the game is loading etc appear a little too quick for me so here is a selection of some of the better ones:

• The shooting training category covers a player’s finishing, long shots and composure.
• The set-pieces training category covers a player’s crossing, corners, free kicks, penalty taking and long throws.
• Players will naturally develop their mental attributes through experience as they get older.
• When training players for lower league clubs, it would be important to focus more on the physical aspects such as pace and stamina.
• Youth team coaches only train youth players, they do not work with or train senior players.
• Goalkeeping coaches work with and train both senior and youth goalkeepers.
• Fitness coaches work with the senior and youth players, but only deal with the physical aspects of training.
• First-team coaches only work with and train the senior players, they do not work with or train youth players.
• When consulting your Groundsman over pitch dimensions, it is important to keep in mind how your team plays.
• Having a wide pitch may suit teams that play with wingers whereas it may have a detrimental effect on a team that plays narrow and through the middle.
• When watching a match you can keep an eye on the opposing team’s formation and changes made during the game by selecting ‘Formations’ from the ‘tree’ menu in the side-bar.
• When using the ‘Use Playmaker’ tactic, your players will generally look to try and pass the ball to the person you’ve assigned to that role.
• A playmaker is someone who generally looks to receive the ball and dictate play.
• A target man is someone who will look to bring others into play via flick-ons or holding up the ball.
• If you find you’re leaving too much space behind your defence, try setting your centre-backs mentality to ‘Ultra Defensive’ or using a deeper defensive line.
• Pace, acceleration, dribbling, technique, finishing and off the ball are just some of the important characteristics that make for a good pacey striker.
• Jumping, heading, strength and off the ball are just some of the important characteristics that make for a good target man.
• The ratings for reflexes, handling, communication, jumping and positioning are generally a good indicator for how good a goalkeeper is.
• If you’re looking for a good wing-back pay special attention to an individual’s positioning, tackling, stamina, pace and acceleration.
• Positioning, tackling, pace and anticipation are just some of the important characteristics that make for a good full-back.
• When choosing your captain, the most important attribute to consider is his influence.
• When signing scouts from a foreign country, your team will benefit from the scout’s knowledge of players from that nation.
• Scouting a player more than once will increase the likelihood of the scout finding out more about his strengths and weaknesses.
• The more scouting knowledge your club has, the more players will appear on the player search screen.
• Assigning a scout to ‘Scout Next Opposition’ and to a country/region in another continent will result in that scout spending a lot of time travelling rather than actually scouting players
• Your club’s level of scouting knowledge can be increased by either signing scouts who already have a large knowledge base, acquiring an affiliate club or by sending your existing scouts out to investigate new territories.
• Scouting your next opposition will give you an insight into their tactics and key players and help you plan your tactical approach for the game.
• Be more generous with your praise for good performances when playing away from home.
• Be less harsh with your criticism for poor performances when playing away from home.
• Be more demanding of your players when playing at home, where your fans will be expectant of you to push on to try to get the right result.
• Team talks can be very useful for morale, but don’t always follow the same route. Constantly saying the same thing to your players may have less of an affect in the long-run.
• Ignoring your players at half-time is generally a bad idea, but on rare occasions leaving them to stew over their performance may result in a better second period.
• Keep your players happy. Praising wins keeps morale up and provides greater impetus for the team to string good performances together.

I’ll maybe post some more later in the week.

(8 votes, average: 4.5 out of 5)

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To obtain a maximum 7 star training setup in Football Manager 2008 (Worldwide Soccer Manager) your coaches should have at least the following attributes:

Strength: 18 Fitness

Aerobic: 18 Fitness

Goalkeeping: 18 Goalkeeping

Tactics: 18 Tactical

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

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

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

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

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

Oh yeah before people post saying it’s 5 star I can assure you in 2008 it really is 7 star!

To give people a helping hand I’ve included the training scedule I’m currently using. While it isn’t perfect just yet it is definitely better than the default.

It would be good to hear peoples comments on how they get on with this.

niallwalsh.net Football Manager 2008 - Training Scheme Download

When you download a training scheme, the correct place to install it is:

C:\Documents and Settings\User\My Documents\Sports Interactive\Football Manager 2008\schedules

This can often be confused with the below, but do NOT put it there:

C:\Program Files\Sports Interactive\Football Manager 2008\data\shedules

(25 votes, average: 4.12 out of 5)

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Installing new graphics in Football Manager 2008 isn’t as easy as it used to be. Here is a pretty rough guide outlining how to install the facepacks, kits, logos and skins in Football Manager 2008:

Firstly we need to create some folders. First folder is “graphics”. Go to My Documents, you will see Sports Interactive folder followed by Football Manager 2008 which were pre-created when you install the game.

C:\…\My Documents\Sports Interactive\Football Manager 2008\graphics\

Installing Club/Country Kits

And now, if you wish to install Club/Country Kits, create 2 folders, “pictures” and “kits” folder in graphics folder like below:

C:\…\My Documents\Sports Interactive\Football Manager 2008\graphics\pictures\kits\

Go into “kits” folder. Extract all kits files you downloaded in there. Look at the screen shot of how you can organise it.

Installing Player Pictures

As for Player Pictures, you need to create “players” folder under graphics.

C:\…\My Documents\Sports Interactive\Football Manager 2008\graphics\players\

Go into “players” folder. Extract all player files you downloaded in there. Look at the screen shot of how you can organise it.

Installing Club/Competition Logos

If you wish to install small, huge logos of clubs and competitions, you may do so by creating “logos” under graphics.

C:\…\My Documents\Sports Interactive\Football Manager 2008\graphics\logos\

And in “logos” folder, take a look at the screen shot how you can organise it.

Game Settings for graphics to appear

Load your game in FM 2008, go to Preferences > Display & Sound > Untick Skin Cache

Then you should be ready to rock and roll.

If you haven’t got any graphics to install then these links should get you started:

A nice way to add an extra bit of functionality of Football Manager 2008 is to install some extra graphics such as player faces (facepacks), team kits, team logos and skins for the look of the site.

Here is a selection of links that should help you get you started with the graphics:

• sortitoutsi.net - Football Manager Fansite
• Football Manager 2008 Portal - Download FM2008 Graphics
• Underground FC Forums -> Download Manager -> Graphics
• CMFrenzy.Com - FM 2008 Graphics

Don’t forget to read, rate and comment on some other Football Manager related articles on the site, always good to hear peoples views! (22 votes, average: 4.55 out of 5)

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As you would expect in Football Manager 2008 (Worldwide Soccer Manager) different coaches need different coaching attributes depending on what they are coaching. It’s important though that you consider certain attributes when picking your coaches.

Here is a quick breakdown of what yousshould be looking for.

General 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

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

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

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-talks

Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section below.

(15 votes, average: 4.53 out of 5)

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