Detailed Player Skills and Positions

written by Butlee

General Knowledge
1.1 Player Skills
1.2 Goalkeeper Skills
1.3 Positions

1.1 Player Skills

The first lesson someone should always have on FreeKick. This is essentially what separates FreeKick from any other game in the free online football manager genre. FreeKick takes the actual skills and puts them in one-on-one situations against other players. This make each skill vital. And it is important to know about each skill, what it does, and when it is used in these one-on-one situations.

The key thing to remember is that many skills can be useful for many positions. You have to know how and when to use them:

Scoring (SC) Used for putting the ball in the net, scoring goals. If there is a shot, its power is in part generated by SC. That includes normal shots (which are basically 100% SC), longshots (PA and SC), freekicks/set pieces (PA and SC) and also headers (AE and SC) . The exception is penalty kicks. Please don't mistake your scoring ability as the ability to get a shot off. SC is only about the finish, the final kick towards the net, nothing more, nothing less.

Offensive Positioning (OP) Whenever there is a chance for your player to receive the ball, OP is used. If there is a pass for him to get to, he needs to use his OP to get away from the defender. If a player dribbles into the penalty box, he also uses his OP to find space, though how well he can dribble effects this. Also, if there is a loose ball from a challenge, or a keeper letting out a rebound, your player will use OP to get to the ball first.

Ball Control (BC) Ball control does two things: Receive passes and perform dribbles. So whenever a player has used his OP to get to the ball, he uses his BC to control it. Whenever a player dribbles he is using his BC. When there is a high ball coming to him, BC works with AE to receive. Another use for BC isn't as common or important, but BC is sometimes used for helping determine who the best set piece taker is. If a player can get one-on-one with the keeper, how well he controls the ball helps him dramatically.

Passing (PA) Passing in FreeKick has two uses. The first is obvious: passing! When the ball is passed, a player uses his passing skills. The other use for passing is probably best defined as "The ability of the player to play in midfield". While that is an important note to make, it is not necessary to go into right now. Just keep it in mind.

Aerial (AE) Any of the "on the ball" actions (meaning, not the positioning actions) that are in the air use a combination of their primary skill and AE. For example, a pass in the air will be received by a player who uses his BC and AE in combination. There are different rules for how each skill (SC, BC, PA, TA) works with AE, but these we'll go into later. For now, the best general rule is to remember that anything in the air needs a bit of AE, and having huge AE without any supporting skills isn't that useful either.

Constitution (CO) I think many users would agree that CO is really just a great tool for ensuring the longevity of a player. Having higher CO allows the player to keep his stamina up during matches, and also to avoid injuries. This makes high CO players the more likely ones to last past their 20's. Currently, you need 32 for a youth player and 40 for a senior to complete a 90 minute match without getting tired. Youth always get a +8 bonus to CO.

Tackling (TA) I see tackling as a direct counter to ball control. Basically, think of any situation where BC is used and there will be a defender mentioned, trying to use his TA to stop him. There is not much more to say. A defender will use his positioning to get near the player, and if he is near enough he will use his TA to tackle, to challenge in the air (TA combined with AE), or to block the pass/shot/dribble, or even to prevent them. This is another rule about where and when players can use their preferred choices, so we'll go into that later.

Defensive Positioning (DP) Where TA counters BC directly, DP counters OP directly. If you imagine whenever your attacker may need to use his OP to get the ball, there will be a defender trying to use his DP to get there. From rebounds and loose balls, the defending team uses it's DP to get to the ball first, but other then that, DP is used to get close enough to attackers to make the challenge. You can get right on top of the player virtually, and the challenge will be easier, or you can be close but not quite there and then you have to rely on a block which is a bit riskier. Or if your DP isn't good enough you can end up nowhere near the attacker, leaving him free to do what he likes.

These are the outfield skills in a nutshell. If you think about them, and what I was saying about how they all effect every position, can you start to see how it works? A forward can use his SC, OP, BC to score, but also his TA and DP to block defenders trying to clear the ball. Or a midfielder can basically use every skill and be as offensive or defensive as you like, keeping in mind if he is completely one or the other there will be a weakness for the opponent to exploit.

1.2 Goalkeeper Skills

Reflexes (RE) The Freekick manual is very strict not to say which skills are most important for certain positions, but the one exception to this rule is Reflexes. Reflexes are the primary skill for a goalkeeper, so get the highest that you can. If in doubt, use the highest RE value, or train the RE skill. In terms of actual gameplay, reflexes is the last and main skill for making a save. If the keeper is sharp enough to get a hand to everything, then your opponent can't score!

Goalkeeper Positioning (GP) Reflexes might be the main skill for a keeper, but no matter how fast he is, he can't make a save 100% of the time if he can't get his body in the right position to save the ball. When a shot is fired in, the keeper's positioning is judged and after that he tries his best with his reflexes to get the ball but this might not be enough. On the flipside, if your goalkeeper gets into the right position then the save is easier, it is easier not to give the ball away for a rebound, and there is less chance the ball will be parried away for a corner or something more sinister.

Interceptions (IN) There are two main actions for a goalkeeper's IN skill as I see it. The first is dealing with high passes into the penalty box. Upon seeing his high pass, the keeper uses his IN to decide if he should come out, and then how well he comes out if he does. So the consequences of bad IN are making a bad decision to come out to the wrong ball, or just generally not reaching the ball which can have disastrous effect! The second use for IN is covering one-on-one situations where an attacker gets free from the defence to shoot. The keeper may use his IN to cut down the angles it is like with the high passes things, bad IN leads to bad decisions and bad execution, neither being great news since he is your last line of defence.

Control (CT) Not to be overlooked, CT is sort of like a handling or catching skill for a keeper. IN, GP and RE are essentially how well he will get to the ball, but CT is used to ensure he hangs onto it! There is nothing worse then doing everything right, making an awesome save, then dropping the ball at the strikers feet! Low control leads to rebounds, which are often 50/50 in the Penalty box and the worse the control skill the worse these rebounds can be. Low CT can mean saves are only pushed out for corners, or worse, bad CT can mean the ball goes straight through the keeper and into the goal. Don't get too carried away with CT, RE is still the primary skill, but keep in mind that you need some CT skills to stop those bad situations happening.

Organisation (OR) The theoretical side to OR is that your keeper can organise his defence (penalty box), which can save him a lot of effort in the long run. OR actually contributes to a fifth of the overall defensive workload by your players in the penalty box. So I see OR as something of a bonus to your defence if you have it. The other major use for OR is for defending freekicks. The keeper's OR skill helps set the wall and his own positioning, lessening the importance of GP a bit. It is quite a complicated skill actually, and we'll need to go into it more later. As always, just keep in mind that you can't totally ignore OR.

1.3 Positions

Once you know what player skills do, then you can start to think about moving them around the pitch. There is no absolute guide to what works where, which is why FreeKick offers a lot of tactical variety. Currently there are some restrictions to what formations and positions you can play players in, but that doesn't prevent a lot of the strategy elements available through positions.

Here I wish to go through all the possible positions, and try offer some styles of build in that position. It might get a bit complicated, and if that is the case you can come back to this later. Oh, and keep in mind these aren't rules, or even guidelines really. They are just tips.

Central Back (CB)
Does the bulk of the work at the back. Won't be running up out of the penalty box much. Won't be supporting the attack. But will be stopping attackers when they come into the PB. If he's the best AE defender he'll go for it, and if he's got nice DP he'll likely be the most there to cover the passes.

Balanced CB - There's not many positions so easy to choose for. With a CB, sometimes the best option is to get TA and DP as close to one another, and pick the highest combination you can get. And you'll find that that will either be enough to stop your opponent, or it won't. Happens all the time. If it doesn't you need to employ other tricks. The balanced CB often has dec-good CO, and sometimes dec AE too. But he's still just a TA/DP junkie.

You might need AE in a CB. If your opponent prefers high passes, then your best AE-CB will challenge him. It is not important that all CB's have AE. Some CB's on your team should have it and for others it is not necessary. Consider using the tactic "Aerial angles" for a CB that has low Aerial and he will try his best.

Example: AE/TA/DP = 40/55/60 is the minimum.

Flanking Back (FB, LB, RB)
Left and right side of the central defender. I guess a good tip here is if you don't know what you're doing, get a guy with at least dec PA and then as much TA/DP as you can find. If (somehow) he has more then exc/exc TA/DP (or good/sup or bril/dec etc…) then he'll need more PA. The story goes that flanking backs need PA to allow them to use their defensive skills when they're in midfield. Theoretically, without PA, the player obviously hasn't been trained in "midfield", so he can't use his full defence skills. Look for high CO also.

TA FB - Probably not as common, but I am assured it is the best way to go. The FB supports the PB in two ways: firstly he's got a job to do in stopping the ball getting into the box, and then he's used to support the zone there and the CB going for the challenge. TA is a good choice, as it's believed to support more than DP, and TA is also a valuable tool for swamping midfielders, as BC is a more "primary like" skill for the midfielders he'll be up against.

PA FB - There is an offensive element to the FB. He uses his PA to help the attacking flow in midfield. So this is a good way to make your side slightly more attacking, by taking a few points less in TA and DP and putting a bit of PA and BC on your FB. Do not forget CO.


Wing Back (WB)
This position was specifically created to allow attacking flank backs. They won't help out defensively as much, though they'll still be forced to defend their flank, but they'll support the midfielders more then a standard flanking back. Generally for WB's, keep in mind they want CO. They get some large incentives to use large CO so it's worthwhile. Think of these as very defensive midfielders.

Question: What is the difference between a RB and RWB?

Answer: The RWB will contribute more to the MF (midfield) zone in terms of defense and attack. The RB will contribute, but no as much (I believe its half as much), and instead contribute more to the PB (defending penalty box) zone. Also, a wingback may start opportunities based on his constitution above decent (40). I feel that's as simple an explanation as you need for now.

Balanced WB - Probably the most common style of wingback. Generally he just pretty strong CO (exc or more) and comparable defence to any possible FB's (maybe a bit less), and he has just enough PA, BC and OP to make him worthwhile supporting his midfielders offensively.

Mono-defense-skilled WB - The more skills you require on a player the more variations there are, but I'd say the other major type of Wingback is one that is a lot more offensive in PA, BC and OP, while trading off for one of his defensive skills, TA or DP. So your typical player here is likely to have a high CO, high TA build, or a High CO & DP build, and have just enough of the other defensive skill, but something quite nice in PA, BC and OP.

Defensive Midfielder (DM)
The most common midfielder used to break down attacks in midfield. This guy supports midfield and the penalty box defensively so he can be valuable when you are up against a heavy attacking side, or defending a lead.

PA DM - A lot of DM's are just FB's with huge PA. While BC and OP are useful if you have them, the main purpose of the DM is to defend midfield, so TA and DP are a priority, and the high PA makes him useful for passing the ball around.

Mono-DM - Similar to the WB mono version, this DM is often played to shut down a particular player. If your opponent scares you with a huge BC player in midfield, you will play a high TA DM to stop him, for example. Same goes for OP and DP to combat that.

Central Midfielder (CM)
Central midfielders are the hardest positions to fit with players. If you have a central midfield who is too defensive, he's likely a great DM. If you have a CM that is great offensively, he's likely a Winger or Offensive midfielder.

PA CM - The trick to a CM is his secondaries, needing OP, BC, TA, DP all as high as possible. In this build, the CM has considerably high passing skills, and tries to get an acceptable level of the other 4 skills he needs.

Balanced CM - It's viable to not have heaps of PA on a midfielder. So long as the PA is comparable to all his other skills, you can get away with a CM that has 5 or 6 skills at the same level.

Flank Midfielder (FM)
This position is exactly the same as a CM. The trick to remember though, is that most opportunities will go down the centre, so it's wise to remember to keep your best CM players at CM, and your weaker CM players at FM. Though, not having as many plays down the flanks does open up a bit of freedom: these guys don't always need to be as balanced, as they'll be exploited less often, but could make a difference once or twice that changes the game.

Winger (RW, LW)
Introduced into FreeKick to allow the attacking version of the Flank midfielder. They still have the same offensive and defensive duties on the field, but the major difference is that the flank midfielder helps support your midfield more, whereas the winger supports your front line more.

OP Winger - If your winger is looking to beat more balanced FM's (Flank Midfielder) (and FB's), it's likely he'll be able to find himself some space if he can position himself well. Once you get free, the main bonus is that you can use your preferred passing/crossing/dribbling choices.

BC Winger - You'll find that this option came about mostly because teams used to try defend to stop the OP Winger. So, as soon as you find a FM (Flank Midfielder) or FB with lower TA, then the BC winger can plow right through him, beating the challenge and then doing what he needs to do.

CO Winger - This is a bit of an "old school" impression of the winger because the position used to be more stamina-intensive then most, meaning sides needed more CO on their wingers to play a full game. The CO winger is still a valuable asset though, as CO always is. It keeps your skills up because it avoids a lot of fatigue (stamina loss) during matches and helps you avoid injuries.

Offensive Midfielder (OM)
The midfielder in this position is chosen to attack the penalty box. He-s likely to be involved offensively a lot, and he supports your front players in your attacking penalty box, the same way the DM supports the CB-s in your defensive penalty box.

BC OM - The most common style of OM, and it is also a sort of "old school" impression. It's perfectly viable and it takes a very specialised sort of CM or DM to stop him. The player has huge BC, and a bit of PA and OP and often some SC as well. The golden rule is that if you can't take the ball off him, he's likely to get the ball into the box easily.

No TA/DP OM - There's not much else in terms of variations in OM's. You can go higher PA or OP or even SC, but another common player you will find at OM is the MF with OP,BC,PA but no TA and DP. These two skills are still important for the OM because he is still a midfielder, but often teams find it easier to defend with guys behind the OM, and leave the OM free to terrorise with his offensive skills only.

AE OM - The trick with an OM is to have a guy that your opponent can't stop. High passes in midfield is a very cunning trick that most normal CMs and DMs won't be able to stop. If you combine high AE with a bit of BC he’ll be hard to challenge, and a bit of PA to allow him to head on or volley on to other front men, he becomes a valuable style of player.

Forward - Striker (FW, ST)

Ball Control Forward
(SC/OP/BC)
He needs very good skills in at least two of these: SC/OP/BC

Example: This would be a forward for the lower (amateur) divisions.
65/55/60 in SC/OP/BC are the minimum requirements.

Offensive Positioning Forward
(SC/OP/BC)
The OP-FW needs exc or sup (or even more) for assistance to the other FW.

Example: SC/OP/BC = 50/70/45 is the minimum. He can score often, but more importantly he provides assistance to help his teammate, the Ball Control-style FW to score.

Aerial Forward
(SC/OP/BC/AE)
He is very different from the previous two. He is something special in all matches. You can see an option on the Tactics page . There is "demand high passes" option for him. If you want high passes in the penalty box, you need this guy. You could also use the "seek corner" option and see him score from a set piece. Don't expect to use this player every week.

Example: SC/OP/BC/AE = 50/50/40/60 is the minimum.Why do you need BC for an AE-FW? Because BC is important for making a reception and battling in the air against tall players.

(My guess on the calculation:)
Reception: BC+AE/2
Heading: AE+SC/2 if AE>SC

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Butlee talking about Forwards

In general, OP is the better and more important skill for a FW than BC. OP helps him get free, might get him more bonuses with the keeper and sometimes means you don't need to use much BC if you get away from a defender.

Besides all that, OP also offers more contribution to the PB zone when you're attacking, so from an assistance point of view having OP higher then BC offers a bit more.

But it's never that simple really. It's a good guide to say OP is stronger, but BC can be used to beat TA better if you can't get away from the defender. BC also helps get around the keeper in one-on-one situations. BC can help put the keeper out of position if the forward receives really well, especially in aerial AE situations.

If you haven't got a full handle on how it works just yet, OP is usually a better option. A guy with both OP and BC is stronger than one with extremely good OP and extremely bad BC.