If you want to use it on your site, please e-mail me at shinra9@yahoo.com
The latest version can always be found from
http://www.gamefaqs.com or http://vgstrategies.about.com
Note, that if you've asked me for permission but don't see your site on the
list above, don't worry about it, as it's a real pain to update each time
everyone asks me to use this guide on their site. So as long as you've
asked me, yes, you can put it up on your site. The sites above are the
ones that don't have to ask to use them.
Championship Manager 3 is copyright err...Eidos, I think. Please do
not leech any of this to make your own FAQ out of it. Unless you have
MY permission DO NOT take anything at all from this guide. Don't edit,
don't do anything to it and submit it without e-mailing me with permission
first. You can print it out, but only for personal use, no selling this!
Summing it up, do anything for your own personal benefit (apart from
reading it) without asking me, AND YOU'LL BURN IN HELL!!!!!
---====================---
To get in touch, e-mail me at shinra9@yahoo.com
My ICQ# is 34601221
My webpage is http://www.dcmagus.com
My MSN contact is dcmagus@hotmail.com, but any email sent to that
address will most likely be ignored, as I don't check that
account
My AIM name is dcmagus
Be warned that I'm only on the net twice a week, don't expect replies
from me which are ten minutes after you've sent the mail. Here's some
guidelines about sending me mail:
1.Make sure you put the title of the game you're asking about in the
subject. I've made a fair few FAQs, and it's a bit hard to work
things out sometimes.
2.If it's an FAQ, make sure that it's not already in the guide!!! If
it is, I'll do my best to ignore it.
If it's not in there, make sure that the details you provide
are, well, DETAILED, and not sketchy. Examples are "Hi need to know
how to get past this part, i'm in a room and stuck", I need to know
where you are, etc.
3.Ask nicely. So far, most people have, but if your mail goes along
the lines of "Hi, need code for B2, reply within the next hour
otherwise I'll bomb you" will not get you anywhere.
That's it. Sorry for being a pain, but it had to be said.
---====================---
Version History
v0.1-First edition.
v0.2-Thanks to JArtanto, I added a little notice down the bottom.
Thanks again for telling me!
v0.3-New email addy!
Championship Manager 3 is the pinnacle of soccer management sims.
Sure, the graphics are extremely plain and boring, everything is
text, but there's something about this game that keeps you hooked,
and going back for more. In fact, the reason why I only typed this
up now is because I've been too busy playing it!
The concept is simple, pick a team to manage, and try to fulfill the
club's wishes, which are usually to end up as champions! CM3 is a
highly detailed game, where you can pick almost any club (GO LEEDS)
and find almost any player.
Once you've picked a club (I'll use Leeds in this case), your job
is to check out your squad, see their strengths and weaknesses, and
look for players that could be useful to your team, on the transfer
market. Finding players is a bore most of the time, and don't you
even think about buying all the best ones straight away. Each player
has his own value, and of top of that you've got to pay the wages,
the club, etc... It's a thinking game, this one. If you can't be
bothered finding players yourself, leave it up to your scouts!
Then comes game time. Select players from your squad, a couple of
subsititutes, select formation and tactics, and it's off to the
match! There'll be a few pre-season matches, and they are mainly
for practice. In the game, CM3 gives you stats like no other game has
given you before. Ditching graphics for text commentary has worked
unbelievably well, detailing exactly what's going on the pitch, and
who's affected.
Half time comes, and you can check out how tired your players are,
their effectiveness, passes they've made, succesful challenges,
headers, etc. CM3 is astounding in the way it reports all of this
information to you.
Come home, start the season, qualify for the tournaments, get more
money, and so the game goes on. Like I've said many times before,
this game is amazing in how much information it provides you with.
Each attribute a player has is covered, their form, their history,
their value, and the injuries they've recieved, who's interested
in buying them, your financial status, the transfer market, there's
nothing the game hasn't covered.
Championship Manager 3 is one of the most addictive games around,
it's just got that something extra that none of the other pathetic
attempts as soccer managements sims have. So, what are it's bad
points? Shoddy graphics. Well, they're extremely basic. No players
kicking balls around, just colorful backgrounds and lots of boxes
to click on. Also, it's quite slow, even on a monster of a PC.
However, these factors shouldn't affect your decision in buying
the best soccer management sim around!!!
For: Addictive, extremely informative, fun gameplay. Every little
detail is represented.
Against: Basic graphics, slow, and the fact that I can't even buy
Viduka with 20 million pounds. I'll nab him one day.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
2)Game Basics (or Before you hit that Continue Game button for the
first time)
---------------------------------------------------------------------
*Like the title implies, you'll want to do most of this before
clicking "Continue" for the first time.*
After you've clicked on the new game button, you'll get a screen that
shows all of the leagues available to manage in. Selected is/are the
leagues that you want to participate in, and background leagues are
the ones that you'll get all the results for, but won't be able to
particpate in. I recommend only selecting one league to participate
in, and up to four background leagues, otherwise the game will run
really slowly.
After you've chosen your leagues, CM3 will load up. This takes a
while, don't say I didn't warn you. So go outside, mow the lawn, feed
the fish, walk the dog, and when you come back, it should have loaded.
Enter your name, and a password if you wish. Then pick a nationality.
Then you'll be able to pick your club from the selected league.
Yes, I know all of you will be rushing off and clicking on "MANCHESTER
UNITED" but people, that's not much of a challenge. Try starting
in the Third Division and working your way up to the Premier League
in three years. That is truly satisfying. However, I'll just pick
Leeds for the moment. To pick a club, click on their name, head up
to the top right hand corner, and press "Take Control".
You can also take control of a national team this way. Click on a
player that plays for the country you want to control, and you'll
get their stats. Next to their name should be their nationality,
click on that, then take control of the national squad.
After you've picked your club, the "(Your Name here) News" screen
pops up, and the two/three messages you'll get are that you've been
appointed as manager (and subsequently, the previous manager has
been sacked, sorry Davo), the board will list their expectations of
your management (for Leeds, it's to qualify for Europe, for Arsenal/
Chelsea/Manchester, it's to mount a serious title challenge, and
for teams like Charlton and Nottingham Forest, it's to battle bravely
against relegation), and then you'll get your fixtures.
Expectation Plain English
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Mount a serious challenge Finish on top
---------------------------------------------------------------------
European Qualification Get into European competition, they
don't care how
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Promotion Finish on top, or get to the playoffs
and win. This is for the lower
divisions
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Play-offs Make the playoffs, and hopefully
get promoted
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Respectable position Top half of the table
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Stay clear of relegation Middle of the table
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Battle against relegation Bottom half of the table
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Improve the club Relegation, or close to it
Click on your name (in the sidebar), and then click on the squad
to browse through your squad. Your whole team will come up, and you
can click on each player to see their stats, age, nationality, value,
etc. Don't forget to take a look at your reserves as well. The
reserves are for your under-20s, but there may be a few exceptions
(players just coming off injury should play in reserves for a week,
and there are some excellent under-20 players in the Leeds squad,
which are Kewell, Smith and Woodgate).
-----------------------
Player Stats
-----------------------
If you click on a player, you'll bring their stats screen up. You'll
have five blue buttons, stats, injuries/bans, contract, transfer,
and history.
The stats screen shows the player's age, nationality, and stats. A
rating of 20 is the highest, and 1 is the lowest.
Here's and explanation of what all of these stats mean:
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Acceleration How fast the player can accelerate, usually from a
standstill
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Adaptability How well the player can adapt to his new environment,
especially if he's foreign
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Aggression How aggressive the player is. This helps win balls,
but also helps increase the chance of cards
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Agility How agile the player is, which mainly helps the
goalkeepers make saves
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Anticipation How well the player can anticipate the direction of
where the ball will travel, which is handy for
strikers
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Balance How well the player can balance himself
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Bravery How brave the player is eg. legit last-ditch tackles,
clearing off the line, goalies diving at feet, etc.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Creativity How creative the player is, setting up balls for
attackers, and the like
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Crossing How well the player can cross the ball
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Determination How determined the player is to win not only the
ball, but matches (doesn't give up when he's 1-0
down on the 87 minute mark)
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Dribbling How good the player is at dribbling the ball
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Flair How likely the player is to show off or try wacky
things (back heels, bicycle kicks, shots from half
way =)
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Handling How well a player can hold the ball with his hands,
this is of course a goalie stat
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Heading How well a player can head the ball (direction and
power)
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Influence How well a player can lead your teammates, your
team captain should have a high influence rating as
you want him to motivate your players
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Jumping How well the player can jump to win balls in the air,
this compliments the heading stat
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Marking How well the player can mark opponents
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Off the Ball How well the player can move into attacking positions
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Pace How fast the player can run (top speed)
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Passing How accurate the player's passes are
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Positioning How well the player can move into defensive positions
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Reflexes How well the goalie can react to shots and make quick
saves
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Set Pieces How well the player is at set pieces, moving into
positions, marking players, etc.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Shooting How good the player is at shooting
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Stamina How long the player can last on the field without his
condition deterorating too much
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Strength How strong the player is, physically
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Tackling How well the player can tackle
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Teamwork How well the player uses his teammates
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Technique How well the player can control the ball, and the
overall level of his technique
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Versatility How well the player can adapt to playing in a new
position
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Work Rate How hard the player will work in a match
When looking at the player stats, you'll see a button in the top
right hand corner. Click on it, and you'll have four options:
Relegate to Reserves/Promote to Seniors
Set Transfer Status
Offer New Contract
Release on Free
The first option is pretty self-explanitory. The second option
sets the players' value, how important they are to the club, and
whether they're for sale or for loan. Offer new contract is used
when their contract is about to expire, and release on free is
setting them free from the club, but you have to pay their
transfer fee. Good to get rid of crappy 37 year old defenders that
will only fetch $30K.
You'll want to place most of the under 20s in the reserve squads,
as they aren't as hungry for first-team football than the older
squad members. However, if they have exceptional talent (Alan Smith,
Michael Owen, Rio Ferdinand), leave them in the senior squad.
Clicking on Tactics will bring up the formation for your team
(more on formations later), and the team instructions menu.
That menu will look like:
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Passing Style Mixed Short Direct Long
Tackling Style Normal Easy Hard
Pressing No Yes
Offside Trap No Yes
Counter Attack No Yes
Men Behind Ball No Yes
Free Kicks (L) < <
Free Kicks (R) < <
Corners (L) < <
Corners (R) < <
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Here, you pick a formation, and you can drag players around.
Quite fun. I've detailed the formations in the section below. When
you're dragging players around, you can use the right mouse button
and drag them to a certain position, and that's how you get the lines
showing where they'll run to. For example, load the 4-4-2 Attacking
formation. See the lines that the wingers have? To get them on any
other player, get the right mouse button, click on the player with it,
and then drag him to wherever you want him to go. This means that
he'll play in the position he's normally in, but will make runs to
the spot you've told him to.
In the team instructions menu, you can set how the team will play.
Long passes not getting you anywhere? Make 'em shorter. Tackling
too easy? Set it on Hard. That striker keeps missing his free kicks?
Change him. When picking the Free Kick takers, for the first choice,
you'll want to have the guy with the best shooting rating, and make
sure he's left footed/right footed, depending on which side you're
doing. Same with corners, but you'll want to have the guy with the
best crossing.
Here's a description of what all the funny things in the menu mean:
-------------
Passing Style
-------------
Note that not all of the passes that your team make will be of the
type that you specified, but most of the passes that the team make
will be of that type.
-----
Mixed
-----
This means that the players choose the type of pass which they
think is best for the situation, so you'll get a mix of short and
long passes.
-----
Short
-----
Duh. This means that your players will be inclined to use short
passes. Your team can't be static, you have to keep moving when
using Short passing. If everyone has a decent Off the Ball and
Passing rating, you'll succeed with this passing style.
------
Direct
------
The point of Direct passing is to surprise the enemy and attack
as soon as possible. Players will need to have high Passing
ratings, and need to be fast (Pace, Acceleration).
----
Long
----
You should use long passing when they opposition's got a chunky
midfield, or when you need to get balls up to your attack very
quickly. It's a very "hopeful" passing tactic, if you know
what I mean, as you just have to hope that your strikers can
anticipate the ball well. It helps if they have good Anticipation,
and Heading and Strength ratings, as this will help them score
in the air (I've done it before, pretty cool stuff).
Soft tackling means that players won't try as hard as they would
normally when they want to win the ball. They won't make slide
tackles, and they won't go for balls if they don't have a 50%
chance or higher of winning the ball. You'll really only want to
use this if you're playing a friendly, don't want any injured
players, or you don't want any bookings.
------
Normal
------
Players will now play at their normal level (check out Aggression
and Tackling).
----
Hard
----
Watch the cards fly! Players will now go for the ball at all times,
no matter what the situation. Of course, this helps if you're
playing a team that's much stronger than you.
------------
Offside Trap
------------
The offside trap is something that the defense does, to try and
trap the opposition into runnign offside. Be careful, if the trap
fails, the offense will have a clean shot on goal. So make sure
that your players have good Anticipation, Positioning, and speed
(Accleration, Pace).
--------
Pressing
--------
For pressing, your team (defenders) will need to have good Stamina
as they will relentlessly annoy the person with the ball.
--------------
Counter Attack
--------------
The defence will try to lure the opposition in, and then pounce
quickly and zip it up to the attack. You'll need a good defence
and a good offense for this style to suceed. If the counter attack
fails, you'll need a strong defence to make sure that they don't
end up scoring.
---------------
Men Behind Ball
---------------
This is something you'll want to use if you want to go on the
defensive as it makes your team put as many people as they can
behind the ball, to stop the opposition from scoring.
In the other dropdown menu, you'll get a plethora of options
to choose from, which are mainly changing individual's behavior.
You may want to have your centre backs run forward instead of
your left/right backs. You may want your striker to take long
shots. You might want your midfielder to mark a man, and so on.
-------
Passing
-------
Here you choose what passing style you want a certain player to
use. Say you want your strikers to pass short, and wingers to
pass long, this is where you change it.
--------
Tackling
--------
Same with passing, you can ask your midfielders to tackle lightly,
and defenders to go in hard, etc.
--------
Pressing
--------
More of the same, pick who will press and who won't.
-------
Pass To
-------
Here, you can choose where you want specific players to pass to.
It's a choice out of passing to the left, right or centre.
----------------------
Set Pieces (Attacking)
----------------------
In this menu, you choose which players will stay forward for
attacking set pieces, and which players will stay back. Useful
for making those defenders which are good at heading to run
forward when in a corner situation.
----------------------
Set Pieces (Defensive)
----------------------
In this menu, you choose which players will stay forward for
defensive set pieces, and which players will stay back. Good
to keep a striker back for a quick counter-attack.
---------
Free Role
---------
This determines whether a certain player will have a free role
or not. Free role basically means that they get to run about
a lot, go wherever they want, but for this to work, he'll need
a high stamina rating.
------------
Forward Runs
------------
This is basically the instruction that you'd give to wingers
and wing backs so that they run forward.
-------------
Run With Ball
-------------
Players that are asked to do this will run straight at the
opponent whenever they have possession of the ball, in hope
that they can sidestep the opponent's challenge. Players that
should be given this instruction should have good Acceleration,
Pace, and of course, the ball skills (Dribbling, Technique,
etc.)
------------
Hold Up Ball
------------
Players that are given this instruction will hold up the ball
and take their time, whenever they have possession. The players
that you choose for this should have good Strength as they'll
need to be able to shrug off challenges from the opposing team.
----------
Long Shots
----------
This will tell players to take shots from long range, if they
think they have a chance. Only players with good Shooting should
be asked to do this.
-------
Marking
-------
This will tell players to either not mark anyone, to mark an
area (zonal), or to mark another player.
-----------------------
Training
-----------------------
When you click here, you'll be given an overview of the training
that each player is going under. Apart from the Overview, there's
a couple other preset training routines: General, Goalkeeping,
Fitness, Skill, Tactics, Shooting, and there's two spaces left
for you to create some training programs of your own. To change
a player's training, drag and drop him onto the box of the
training program you wish him to undertake.
When you select the Attributes from the view menu, you'll be
able to see what areas the players have improved in and which
areas they have gotten worse in. The Red indicates a drop in
that skill, a Yellow indicates improvement, and Blue means there's
no change.
If you click on Coaches, you'll see which coaches are set to
coach certain skills. If you click on their name, you'll bring up
a menu not unlike the players, showing all their coaching stats.
Here is a table of important stats:
Type of Program Ability Needed
---------------------------------------------------------------------
General Coaching Outfield Players, Adaptability
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Fitness Coaching Outfield Players, Discipline
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Shooting Coaching Outfield Players
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Skills Coaching Outfield Players, Working with
Youngsters
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Tactics Coaching Outfield Players, Tactical
Knowledge
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Gk Coaching Goalkeepers
To create a custom training program, click on one of the empty boxes,
and click on edit. Make a name, and choose the intensity of training
in each of the five areas. You can also choose to train players to
play in a new position or side, but for the improvement to show,
it takes time. Say you've got a really speedy right back, maybe you
want to make him a winger. If you've got a winger who can use both
feet, but can only play on the left, you might want him to play on
the right as well, and so on.
Goalkeepers of course, go under GK training, but for others
you may want to change their style of training. Leave defenders
under General, put strikers in a Shooting/Skill program, and
midfielders in a Fitness/Skill program.
If you really want to get the most of out training, I suggest
devising two custom Training Programs. Name them whatever you
want.
ShotSkill
Fitness - Medium
Skill - Intensive
Shooting - Intensive
Tactics - Medium
This is where your strikers should belong.
FitSkill
Fitness - Intensive
Skill - Intensive
Shooting - Medium
Tactics - Medium
This is for midfielders.
Just don't put everyone in a Full On training schedule (everything
is Intensive), as their condition won't recover as quick, their
condition will stay low, and they'll be more injury prone.
This shows what games you're going to play, and the games/scores
of games you've already played. You can also arrange games, which
is great for testing out your squad in the off-season. You can
choose to arrange Home Friendlies, Away Friendlies, a Tour of a
country, or a Tournament. In whatever case, you'll get a screen
asking you to pick a date, then select a team. If they're
available on that day, you'll invite them to a match. Just be
warned, if you're a lowly team like Dag and Red, you'll have no
chance of playing a friendly with Chelsea. Even though you'd get
kicked 25-0, there's still no chance they'd accept.
That's basics. Now click on your name again, and hit the Player
Search button.
Here, you search for players and staff. If you want to buy them,
you'll really only have a chance of buying the ones that are
transfer listed (they'll have a grey box next to them with the
letters LST there). Most players will have a box next to them,
here are all the abbreviations:
LST - Transfer Listed
WNT - Wanted by a club
UNH - Unhappy
INJ - Injured
FGN - Foreign
BOS - Leaving the club
RET - Retiring
BID - About to be bought
CTR - On a dodgy monthly contract
That's about all. If you can't be bothered searching for the
players yourself, you can assign your scouts to it. Click on a
scout, click the menu, and assign them to a certain region.
When looking for players yourself, you'll most likely want to open
up the filter window and see what filters you can make. Choose age,
nationality, position, etc. The one that you'll use most of the time
is position. After you select the position that you want to search
through, hit View, and Attributes, and in the Atrributes menu that
pops up, pick the category which you want to search through. This
brings up all the stats that a goalie/defender/attacker will have to
be good in.
After selecting the Goalkeeping attribute from the attribute menu,
you'll get a report of these stats:
Acceleration
Agility
Handling
Jumping
Pace
Passing
Positioning
Reflexes
Strength
However, there are two other stats that you might want to check if
you're looking for a goalkeeper: Balance, which is self-explanitory,
and Bravery, which determines whether they'll dive in low to pluck
the ball from their feet, or if they'll run out and punch the ball
at corner kicks.
Usually, you'll want to make sure that all of the goalie stats will
be above 10, and if it's a good goalie, above 15. However, finding
the perfect goalkeeper is like finding an striker who doesn't like
scoring goals - and you'll have to make a compromise.
Unless the old goalkeeper at your club is really dodgy, you'll
really only want to buy another new goalkeeper to back him up. I
had this bizarre case of goalkeeper buying, once in the middle of
a season. Manchester bought out all the keepers from Chelsea, and
Arsenal, and so forth, and ended up with 10 goalkeepers. Then
Chelsea went searching for goalies, then Arsenal, and they all
ended up with 6 goalies each. Strange.
The four most important stats that you'll want to look out for
are Agility, Handling, Positioning and Reflexes. The goalies that
you are looking for should be decent in those stats. Age may play
a part too, goalies seem to have a "longer life" than other
players. So just because the goalies are 30+ in age, doesn't mean
that they're crap. However, you'll want to buy a couple of
youngsters, and groom them into stars of the future.
Acceleration
Heading
Jumping
Marking
Pace
Positioning
Stamina
Strength
Tackling
Another stat that you'll want to search for is Heading. When you're
in those pesky corner situations, you'll need people to head clear.
The stat that'll be most important to defenders is Tackling. You'll
want to make sure that the defender that you buy is reasonable in
that area. Fast players are extremely useful as wing-backs, so look
for Acceleration and Pace. Especially if you're playing Offside
Trap. Other stats that are important are Strength, as you'll need
to clear the ball, Jumping and Heading, for corners, Marking is
needed for sticking to attackers, and that's about all.
One more thing you'll need to look out for is sides. Buying another
right defender in a squad full of right defenders isn't going to do
you much good. You'll want to have a mix of right/central/left
defenders. If you see any defenders that can play in both right/left
positions, SNAP THEM UP STRAIGHT AWAY! Especially if they're young,
you can train them to be the next Beckenbauer. Oh! Which brings me
to one more point. Sweepers. These guys will need to be fast, and
maybe have good anticipation. However, you'll really only need one
of these, as you shouldn't be playing the sweeper formation all the
time.
There isn't any attribute filter for midfielders. Why? They'll need
both good defensive stats and attacking stats. Apart from sides,
midfielders can also be split up into two groups; attacking and
defensive. When you search for a new player, remember if you need
another attacking player or a defensive player.
Usually you'll place the attacking players as wingers and the
defensive players as central midfielders. This creates a strong
defence in the centre, which in turn allows the attackers on the
sides to run forward and attack more often.
The stats that you want to look out for for midfielders in general
are Teamwork, Work Rate, Stamina, Heading, and Passing. Defensive
midfielders need good positioning, attackers need good Dribbling
and Off the Ball skills.
However, there are those midfielders which are just midfielders,
not attacking or defensive. This means that they're versatile,
and should be able to play an attacking or defensive role.
Creativity
Crossing
Dribbling
Flair
Off The Ball
Passing
Set Pieces
Shooting
Teamwork
Gee, I wonder what stat attackers need to score goals? Was it
Shooting? Gee...
Well, the *ultimate* striker will have a shooting stat of 20, and
all of the other stats listed above will need to be higher than
15 too.
However, Shooting is not the only stat that you'll want to look out
for. Crossing is invaluable as you'll need to get some good set-ups
for your other striker/s. You might even want to get a player who's
got a really dodgy Shooting stat, but instead has great stats of
the things that the other striker doesn't. Example, Mark Viduka is
lacking in speed, crossing and heading, but his strength and shot
are quite good. Harry Kewell on the other hand, isn't too strong
and his shooting can be improved, however, he's fast, can cross
and head well. Try pick players that compliment each other.
Anticipation is another stat that'll be helpful to your goal tally.
Strikers need to be ready to pounce on the through balls that the
midfielders love to play.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Apart from these filters, there's two more; Physical and Mental.
Adaptability
Aggression
Anticipation
Bravery
Determination
Influence
Teamwork
Versatility
Work Rate
This filter should really only be used if you're trying to look for
a foreign player that will adapt well to a new lifestyle.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Bidding for a player
---------------------------------------------------------------------
If you really like a player, and wish to add him to your squad,
click on his name, then Action, and Approach to Buy. You'll get a
screen where you can post your bid for him. At first, offer the club
the price that's there by default. If they reject it, push it up half
a million. Keep doing that until you get out of your price range,
after a while, they might give in and say that "We want $4 million".
On the transfer negotiation screen, you'll have these options:
------------
Transfer Fee
------------
This is the amount of money you play the club you're buying the
player from.
If you can't afford it all in one shot, why not pay by monthly
installments? You may have to offer a little more overall, but it
helps if you don't have any money to spare at the moment.
-----------------------
Percentage Of Next Sale
-----------------------
This means if that you sell this player to another club, the club
which you bought him from will get a certain percentage of the sale.
-------------------------------
Fee After 10 League Appearances
-------------------------------
This is the fee that you will pay the club after he makes a certain
amount of League Appearances.
--------------------------------------
Fee After 10 International Appearances
--------------------------------------
This is the fee that you will pay the club after he makes a certain
amount of International Appearances.
--------
Exchange
--------
Here, you can pick a player from your squad to do a swap deal for
the player that you want. This will only list the players that the
club is interested in, if they're not interested, they won't accept
an exchange deal.
Then you'll have to offer a contract to the player. This can not only
happen in transfer situations, it also happens if you want/if a
player already at your club wants a new contract.
First, the Squad Status screen will appear, with:
This player is indispensable to the club
This player is an important first team player
This player is used in a squad rotation system
This player is a backup for the first team
This player is a hot prospect for the future
This player is a decent young player
You can fiddle around with whichever squad status you want to give
them, usually the for the lower status, you don't have to pay them
as much. However, if you think you can get away with paying Michael
Owen as a decent young player, think again, as he'll soon ask for
a new contract. Unless you leave him in the reserves.
If the player isn't interested as joining the club as a "squad
rotation member" or a first team player or whatever, it's because
a) they think they are valued more highly, or b) they don't want
too much pressure, and they don't want to play at first team
level yet.
After this screen, You will get these options to play around with:
------------
Weekly Wages
------------
This option shows how much you'll be paying the player each week.
The higher you put this, the more enticed they will be to join
your club, but be warned, the more you spend on one players'
wages, the less you have left to spend on other players. So if
you've got half your club earning $35 million a week, your future
contract funds will be significantly reduced.
--------------
Signing On Fee
--------------
When you're signing a player from another club, this is the fee
that you will pay the player when he joins. The more you offer,
the more likely they'll join, but if you're looking to sign a
player on a Free Transfer, you can drop this to zero, and they'll
still join (mainly because they really want to play some
football).
-----------------
Contract End Date
-----------------
This is the date that the current contract will last until. It's
good to sign young players for yonks, but for older players, you
might not want to keep them on such long contracts.
--------
Position
--------
Some older players in CM3 have the ability to both be a player
and be on the club staff list as well. It's here that you choose
whether or not you want them as just a player or if you want
them to coach too.
If the club heads for relegation, this means that the player
will be able to leave the club for free, if the club that
wants to buy the player offers more than stated in this
clause.
Same as above, but if you don't get promoted, he can move
for free.
Then comes the wait. If they agree, you'll sign them. If not, you
can offer them another contract.
If the player isn't with a club though, and is listed as a Free
transfer, that means that you don't have to pay a fee to the club,
all you have to do is offer the player a contract. Simple, eh?
There's also the case of a Bosman Ruling. What's that? It's where the
player's contract will expire very soon, and instead of buying him
off the club, you can just sign him. But if you just sign him, you'll
only get him to join your squad when his contract expires.
Just before you start a match, you'll be give the chance to pick your
squad. Usually you'll only want to use players whose condition is
higher than 90%, and relegate others to the bench. Some people say
you should pick a team according to formation, and some people say
that you should pick a formation according to team. Up to you.
Usually you'll want to keep 2 defenders, 2 attackers, one midfielder
and one goalie on the bench, or 2 defenders, 1 attacker, 2
midfielders and one goalie. Why another goalie? Just in case he gets
injured or gets sent off. That led me to a 7-0 defeat, by bloody
Wimbledon!!! Never put Lee Bowyer in the goals...
If you want to subsitute someone, click on your tactics button, drag
the subsitute on top of the person you want to replace, and he'll be
put on straight away, or at the next timeout (free kick, corner,
throw-in, etc.)
When picking a squad, drag the position from the position bar (the
green bar with all the abbreviations on it), and place it over the
blue box next to that player. Make sure everything's done, and hit
Continue!
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Match Time
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Before clicking on Continue, you may want to check out the other
team's tactics. If they're playing a more defensive style, you could
make your tactics more effective by switching to a attacking style,
and stuff like that.
The screen that you are shown is the main screen. Commentary appears
in the middle, and the other things shown are goals, red cards, and
injuries. Other buttons lead you to other screens, and they will
have more information, but the commentary will be smaller, and down
the bottom.
----------------
Match Statistics
----------------
This screen shows all of the Goals, Shots on Goal (On and Off Target),
Freekicks, Cards, etc. for both teams.
----------
Club Stats
----------
Clicking on either Club's Stats button will bring up the stats for
all the players that are playing for that club. The meanings for
the abbreviations at the top of the screen are:
Abbreviation Meaning
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Pas Number of passes attempted
Tck Number of tackles attempted
Hea Number of headers attempted
Ast Number of assists that the player has had (ie moves
the player has made that have resulted in goals)
Sho Number of shots attempted
On Number of shots on target
Con Player's condition
Int Number of interceptions made
Run Number of successful runs made
Off Number of times a player has been offside
Fou Number of fouls given against
Fld Number of fouls given for
Cmp Number of passes, tackles and headers completed
Key Number of key passes, tackles and headers completed
Won Number of tackles/headers won
------------
Action Zones
------------
Shows the amount of possession in different areas of the pitch, you
can select which time period you want a report on (whole match,
past 5 mins, etc.)
------------
Match Report
------------
This screen shows all of the commentary, so if you want to review
what happened, you can read through this.
--------------
Player Ratings
--------------
Shows all of the player ratings for both teams.
-------------
Latest Scores
-------------
If other matches are being played at the same time, click here to
see the results.
Watch the commentary closely to tell if your defence/midfield/offense
is working hard enough. Messages like "the defence closed him down" or
"he had little space" means that the defence (of either team) is good.
Messages like "that's a great pass to the attack" mean that your
midfield is great. Messages like "goalie's off his line" mean that
your strikers can anticipate well. Use the commentary to your
advantage.
One last thing, if a player falls below 70% condition, sub him.
Morale is very important as the higher the players' morale, the better
he will perform on the pitch. How do you keep Morale so high?
-Losing games is bad for morale.
-Make sure the player is being used as per his contract. If he's a
first team member but always plays in the reserves, he'll be unhappy.
-But don't keep changing his status, as the player will feel confused
as to what his status really is.
-If you're paying a first team member $450 a week, he'll want more
pay.
-Ignoring players' requests is a no-no.
-If you get a foreign player, make sure someone in the club can speak
the same language as him.
-Sometimes, you'll get a message about players disliking other
players. Try not to keep them close.
-Important team members who are unhappy, will shake off some of
their unhappiness onto the rest of the squad.
----------------
Keeping your Job
----------------
Then, there's making sure your position as manager is safe. You know
you're hanging by a thread when your name appears on the Job
Information list, when the board starts losing confidence in you, and
the supporters throw bricks at you. How do you keep your job?
If you can't hold the position that the board expects (or higher),
they'll start questioning your ablility.
Don't give free transfers to everyone. Players worth more than a
million shouldn't be free transferred, in my opinion. It also depends
on where abouts your club is at. If you're a third division team, a
player worth half a million wouldn't be allowed to be free
transferred, however, a player the same price at a club like Chelsea
would be asked to go quickly. If you free transfer a good player,
the board will get upset.
If you're in a bad league position, or did something that the
supporters didn't like, be careful, supporters have power to make
the board sack you. It's called protesting.
If you can't keep the club's finances secure, well, they'll sack
you, so that they can get that little bit more of money.
-------
Finance
-------
The amount of money you will have to spend on transfers is limited
by a reputation, yours, and the club itself. If you're one of the
best managers (check the manager stats screen), then you'll be
allowed to spend more than what a newbie manager would be allowed
to spend. Also, if your club is in the higher divisions, the
competition is tougher, and therefore you might need new, better
players.
-----------
Player Ages
-----------
Each player has a Peak Age, where they'll have reached their
physical limit, and their physical stats will drop a little,
however, their mental stats will still be improving.
Playing Position Peak Age
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Goalkeeper 33
Defender 31
Midfielder 29
Striker 28
Then, you've got ages which players will retire at. Players with
really bad injuries may also be forced to retire.
Playing Position Earliest Retirement Age
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Goalkeeper 35
Defender 32
Midfielder 31
Striker 30
--------
Reserves
--------
You have an option to control the reserves team or not, if you
don't want to, the Assistant manager will. This is the place
where your back-from-injury players should be placed, along with
the younger players of your squad. Even though you aren't
controlling the reserves, you can still pick the players to
include in the line-up.
Treats injured players. The better he is, the faster the injured
players will recover. The most important attribute is of course,
Physiotherapy, but Discipline, Man Management, and Motivation are
attributes you should also look out for.
---------------------------
Coach and Assistant Manager
---------------------------
Coaches are assistant assistant managers, if you know what I mean.
Coaches train players, assistant managers control the reserves, but
if the assistant can't manage the reserve team (or if you don't have
an assistant manager), the coach will take over. They will need to
have good ratings in: Working With Youngsters, Judging Player
Ability, Judging Player Potential, Coaching Goalkeepers, Coaching
Outfield Players, Man Management, Motivation, and Tactical Knowledge.
------
Scouts
------
Scouts look for players that have potential, and tell you about
them so that you can make smart transfer decisions. They'll need
high ratings of Judging Player Ability and Judging Player Potential.
-------------
Did you know?
-------------
When CM3 is processing stuff down the bottom, you can click on
something to get back into the game, however, once you click
Continue again, CM3 will go back into processing.
-------
Weather
-------
Yes, weather effects are in CM3. They effect the players in a
match.
Weather Condition Match Effect
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Breezy Long passes and shots are more difficult to
execute, but so are saves from long shots
Cold Temperature Players with a low work-rate won't give 100%
Drizzle Ball control is more difficult
Dry Nothing
Hot Temperature Players' condition will drop quicker
Wet Ball control is very hard
Pitch will turn into a mini-swamp, players'
condition will drop faster
-------------
Cheats? What?
-------------
Not really cheats, but "sneaky stuff".
----------------------------
Manage an International Team
----------------------------
When picking a club to manage for the first time, click on a player's
nationality and you can manage his country's squad.
-----------
Quick Sells
-----------
If you want to quickly sell a player, transfer list him, then delist
him, put down his value a little, and list him again. You should get
a few offers, if the player is decent.
---------
21-0 Wins
---------
Two days before your next league match, see who you're playing. Add
a manager and control that team. In the match, put the goalie up in
offence, and spread the other guys out to the sides. Here comes a
21-0 win!
-------------------------
Get Players that you want
-------------------------
If you can't seem to buy a certain player from a club, just take
control of that club, transfer list the player, and you should be
able to buy him for cheap.
Give it up for the most widely used formation on the planet. Here,
you've got four defenders, four midfielders, and two attackers. So
everybody's got a role to fill, everyone's got a thing to do. 4-4-2
is basically centered on the centre players, especially the central
defenders and midfielders. Their job is to deny the opposition a
clear path to goal.
The centre backs are set to make forward runs, but don't worry,
they'll return for things like set pieces. However, most of the
time, all they're doing is waiting for the other team to run through,
and the central players will pressure them a little, hoping they'll
make a mistake, and then BAM! they'll steal the ball and set up a
kind of counterattacking thing.
Really, this is the formation that you'll want to be using most of
the time, as it is the most balanced and effective. Just make sure
that in your midfield, your centres have decent defensive stats, and
that the wide players are speedy and have good Crossing skills, as
they'll be the ones making the forward runs.
---------------
4-4-2 Attacking
---------------
^ FC FC ^
¦ ¦
ML MC MC MR
DL DC DC DR
GK
This is a favourite formation among many managers. Okay, fine, it's
one of my favourites, and good reason too. It adds a certain attacking
element to the normal 4-4-2 that was missing before, but to take
full advantage of this formation, you'll need two wingers who are
exceptionally fast, have a good stamina rating, have good crossing,
and have great ball skills.
The two wingers will be relied on to do most of the work here, as
they'll be set to run back and forward. They'll go forward to help
out the attack, but then they'll need to sprint back into defence
and try and gain possession. Once they get possession, their job is
to run up into attack and keep running until they can set up a goal-
scoring opportunity.
Just be careful that when the wingers are in the attacking half,
they're going to leave a whole big area for the opposition to waltz
through. To prevent the other side from running straight through the
midfield, you're going to have to make sure that the two central
midfielders have good defensive stats.
---------------
4-4-2 Defensive
---------------
FC FC
ML MR
DMC DMC
DL DC DC DR
GK
What the defensive 4-4-2 does is pushes the two central midfielders
back into defence. You'll really only want to use this formation when
defending a lead, or when you're in the second leg of a tournament
or something. This formation basically gives you six defenders to
muck around with, but be careful, the opposition will be having more
of the ball, as most of your players as pushed into defence. If your
defenders are good though, you shouldn't have a problem with
defending that lead.
-------------
4-4-2 Diamond
-------------
FC FC
AMC
ML MR
DMC
DL DC DC DR
GK
The 4-4-2 Diamond pushes both of the centre players out wide, puts
the previous left winger forward, and the right winger in defence.
This is great when you've got an attacking and defensive midfielder
stuck in the centre, as now you can put them in a position that
would suit them well. This looks like one of the best formations,
but the midfield is slightly weakened in the centre, so make sure
that the AMC gets back quickly.
These are all of the default formations. However, I've developed
some more 4-4-2 formations you can play around with.
This is like the 4-1-2-1-2 formation, but the MCs don't run out to
the side. This formation is exactly like the diamond except that it
strengthens the centre, but leaves the wings open to attack.
---------
4-4-2 Box
---------
FC FC
AMC AMC
DMC DMC
DL DC DC DR
GK
OR
FC FC
MC MC
DMC DMC
DL DC DC DR
GK
OR
FC FC
AMC AMC
MC MC
DL DC DC DR
GK
This is useful when you've got an even number of attacking and
defensive midfielders, as it places them in their proper spots.
Just be careful of the wing, as the box formation leaves the
wing very vulnerable, but gives tons of power up the middle.
-------------
4-4-2 Sweeper
-------------
FC FC
ML MC MC MR
DC DC DC
SW
GK
This formation just adds a sweeper, but leaves a back row of three.
This is dangerous against attacking formations, but at least you've
got somebody left to clear the ball now.
Placing your two strikers like above can sometimes have a positive
effect. It's more likely to cause more offside calls though. This
also strengthens the midfield, but weakens the offense.
---------
4-1-2-1-2
---------
FC FC
AMC
<------MC MC------->
DMC
DL DC DC DR
GK
Just like the 4-4-2 Diamond, but the MCs run out and cover the wings
too. By default, the AMC and DMC are set to make forward runs, you
may want to change this, depending on your taste.
-----
3-4-3
-----
FC FC FC
ML MC MC MR
DC DC DC
GK
One of the most offensive formation available by default. Now you've
got a three man offense, and a three man defence. The advantage of
this formation is yes, you've got another striker up there to wreak
havoc, but now you've only got three defenders to stop the other
team from scoring. The left and right defenders will mark men by
default, but the centre defender will only defend zonally, and he
will be the only defender to run forward every now and then.
A lot more of the field is covered with this formation, and you'll
want to keep it that way. Make sure your players run in to open
spaces all the time - a high Positioning and Versatility rate should
help - and the forwards should do a great job of slotting the ball
into the back of the net.
Most of the pressure is placed on the midfield here, especially the
centre midfielders, as they are the ones who are trying to stop the
other team from attacking, trying to regain the ball, and trying
to feed it to the attack. The two central defenders have to be good
in their defensive stats for this formation to work well. Be careful
of wingers, and if the opposition plays a direct passing style, as
that's 3-4-3's vulnerability.
Custom 3-4-3 settings:
---------------
3-4-3 Defensive
---------------
FC FC
AMC
ML MR
DMC DMC
DC DC DC
GK
This almost verges on a 3-5-2. If you don't like the vulnerability
of the normal 3-4-3, this may satisfy you.
-----
3-5-2
-----
FC FC
ML MC MC MC MR
DC DC DC
GK
This is the ultimate formation for those teams who are great at
passing and have a very strong midfield. If your previous formation
was 4-4-2, what happens here is that your DL and DR have now become
the ML and MR, and one of the MCs has been pushed back into the DC
position.
As with 3-4-3, this leaves your defence pretty vulnerable. However,
you now have a strong midfield, and you should be able to keep
the ball, and win it back quickly. The central MC should be one of
your best players, as he will be playing the most important role on
the field. The ML and MR will be running about a lot, just like the
ML and MR in the 4-4-2 attacking. Make sure that they have a high
stamina rating, so that they don't pass out in the middle of a match.
The central striker will need to be the striker that has the better
shooting skill out of the forward line, as he's the one who'll be
seeing most of the ball. If you can, make sure that the other two
strikers have a good crossing rating.
Passing plays the biggest role in 3-5-2 formations, and if your team
can't pass very well, I suggest staying away from using this
formation.
---------------
3-5-2 Attacking
---------------
^ FC FC ^
¦ AMC ¦
ML MC MC MR
DC DC DC
GK
What this does is pushes the most important player on the field up
into attack, and encourages the wingers to come forward more. This is
great against teams that are weak in midfield, because now you've
got some attackers that can take the heat off the defence. It's quite
risky though, as if they somehow break through your midfield, your
defence will have to be at their best to stop the attack. This really
only works well if your central midfielder is an attacking player.
---------------
3-5-2 Defensive
---------------
FC FC
ML MC MR
¦ DMC DMC ¦
v DC DC DC v
GK
In the 3-5-2 Defensive, two of your midfielders have been pushed back
into defence, and the wingers are now instructed to stick around in
defence. They'll still make forward attacking runs, just not as often
as they would have used to. This helps conserve stamina, so if you're
nearing the 75 minute mark of a match with a two goal lead, this
formation is ideal to switch to.
The reason the MCs have been pushed back are to combat long lobs, over
the top of the midfield, and straight to their attackers. If they
start using long lobs on you, the defense is going to be caught
completely unaware. So the DMCs are there for a backup, just in case
they start using long passes. It also helps to move the MCs to DMCs
if you can't seem to get much possession in midfield; the opposition
will now deal with the MC first, and if they get past, you've got
two DMCs ready to pounce.
Here, push your wingers back down one step, and push the central
midfielder down one step two. This makes for an extremely defensive
3-5-2, you've basically got 5 defenders. Set your DML and DMR to make
forward runs and run with the ball, so that you've still got that
attacking element. If they somehow get caught in the attacking half,
there'll be the DMC to back up the defense. Best used if you want to
go defensive, or if the central midfielder is a good defender.
-------------
3-5-2 Diamond
-------------
FC FC
AMC
MC MC MC
DMC
DC DC DC
GK
Don't laugh. This is kinda effective. It's the 4-4-2 Diamond, just
that you've only got three defenders, and you've got an extra man in
the middle of the diamond. The weakness? Wing attacks, you've got to
be careful for pesky wingers. They'll rush down, and before your
defence can act, they'll lob a sneaky ball to their striker and
score a goal. So what do you do? Don't set the MCs for forward runs,
and you should be fine.
-----
4-2-4
-----
FC FC
AML AMR
MC MC
DL DC DC DR
GK
This is the most offensive formation available by default. Four
attackers is always good. Two midfielders isn't. From a 4-4-2, the
wingers are pushed up into offense, leaving only two midfielders to
compete against 4, maybe even 5 of the other team's midfielders.
Along with the two centre backs, these players need to be ones who
can quickly gain possession, and feed a good ball to the offense. The
offense in turn needs to have good control skills, and of course, a
good shooting stat to finish it all off.
Long passing seems to be the way to go here, as most of the time the
defenders will be running around, trying to avoid attackers. Direct
passing won't work, as they'll simply overwhelm you in the midfield,
and same goes for short. The only bad thing about long passing is
that your strikers will need to have exceptional ball retrieval
skills, which include off the ball, heading, tackling, and so forth.
You may want to set your centre backs to run forward instead of the
DL and DR, but it's really up to what type of players you've got. All
you need are two great defenders, two exceptional midfielders, and
some strikers that can slot the ball into the back of the net.
Custom 4-2-4 formations:
---------------
4-2-4 Attacking
---------------
FL FR
AMC AMC
MC MC
DL DC DC DR
GK
OR
FL FC FC FR
MC MC
DL DC DC DR
GK
These two custom formations will give you much more attack power,
but it really leaves all the hard work up to the midfield. So, unless
you've got two extremely good midfielders, you're screwed.
-----
4-3-3
-----
FC FC FC
<-----MC MC MC----->
DL DC DC DR
GK
My personal favourite formation. This is for the manager who's got
three really good strikers, but doesn't want to shape the squad
into a 3-4-3. Just remember that now, you're missing some wingers,
who you might need. Set the DL and DR to run forward and they
should do fine.
The central MC should be the guy who's fast and has a great stamina
rating. You know why? You're going to give him a Free Role. What's
that? He'll be the guy running around everywhere. He doesn't have
a position. What this will do will enable the rest of your team
to find a person to pass to, and in turn, he'll set somebody up.
He will be the main man, a nice Influence rating will help a little.
Just be careful that when you set your DL and DRs to run forward,
the defence will be left a little vulnerable. However, the man in
the free role should be able to help out, and this formation will be
the key to many of your victories.
And just because I feel like it, here's what I think is the perfect
squad for the 4-3-3 (Guess which team it is?):
GK Nigel Martyn SB1 Michael Bridges
DL Hussain Abdul-Ghani Sulaimani SB2 Victor Renner
DC Dominic Matteo SB3 Ian Harte
DC Lucas Radebe SB4 Jonathan Woodgate
DR Gary Kelly SB5 Ben Thornley
MC Jason Wilcox SB6 Paul Robinson
MC Olivier Dacourt SB7 Neil Clement
MC Lee Bowyer
FC Alan Smith
FC Harry Kewell
FC Robbie Keane
Second season as manager of Leeds, I've sold 244 million worth of
players, and bought 100 million of players over the two seasons. This
is the best team yet, I've had W19 D3 L1. Pretty good.
Custom 4-3-3 formations:
---------------
4-3-3 Attacking
---------------
FC FC FC
AMC
<-----MC MC----->
DL DC DC DR
GK
Here, release your AMC of the Free Role, and set the MCs to make
forward runs. Maximum power, just make sure that the defense can
handle the heat.
-----
4-5-1
-----
FC
ML MC MC MC MR
DL DC DC DR
GK
On first glance, this looks like one of the best formations out there.
Then you'll soon realise, hey, how come I've only got one striker?
If you're going to play this formation, make sure that your lone
striker is one of the best players in your squad. He'll be placed
under lots of pressure, and if he doesn't play well, your team will
lose. You'll want to make sure he's rounded out in all his stats, so
sometimes you can even put a defender up in the forward role, but
only if that defender is the most balanced member of your squad.
Most of the time, he won't be the one scoring the goals. Instead,
he'll be setting the ball up for the wingers and the other midfielders
to charge through and score. So you also want to make sure that the
striker has a good passing and teamwork rating.
The central midfielder should be set on a free role, and the wide
players should be set to make forward runs. This gives the striker
more options to pass to, and more options means more chances at goal.
Custom 4-5-1 formations:
---------------
4-5-1 Defensive
---------------
FC
ML MC MC MR
DMC
DL DC DC DR
GK
OR
FC
ML MC MR
DMC DMC
DL DC DC DR
GK
This is the defensive version of the 4-5-1. Yes, the 4-5-1 is
already quite defensive, but if you're being scored on too much for
your liking, switching one or two midfielders back into defense will
help a little.
-----
5-3-2
-----
FC FC
^ ^
¦ MC MC MC ¦
DML DMR
DC DC DC
GK
The 5-3-2 is basically the 3-5-2 but with the wingers pushed back
into defense a little. This formation is quite useful, but as with
any defensive formation, or any formation that leaves you short in
the midfield, you'll need two very capable strikers. The strikers
need to make everything - every pass, dribble and shot - count.
The midfielders will need to have good passing, heading and ball
skills, so that they can successfully challenge the other team and
win the ball. You're selecting one more defensive player now, you can
really pick anyone you want, but if you pick someone who likes to go
forward and attack, you'll be seeing more of the ball. Set the
central defender for forward runs and you should be doing well.
This is also the ideal formation to set up a sweeper. Drag the
central defender back a step, and move the other defenders closer
together. In my opinion, this works better than the default Sweeper
formation as the wide players run forward more.
If you've got more than five great defenders in your squad, this is
the formation to use.
---------------
3-5-2 Attacking
---------------
^
FC ¦ FC
^ AMC ^
¦ MC MC ¦
DML DMR
DC DC DC
GK
After the 4-4-2 Attacking and the 4-3-3, this would have to be my
favourite formation. Just that now, you've got a gaping hole in the
midfield. To combat this, set the central defender to run forward,
and make sure he (and the rest of the midfield/defence) have good
heading skills, because what you'll most likely see happening is
the other team lobbing balls high into the air.
Make sure that the midfielder that's just been pushed up is fast,
as you will need him to get back into the midfield at times. Use
this if you've got five great defenders and three great attackers.
---------------
3-5-2 Defensive
---------------
FC FC
MC MC
DML DMC DMR
DC DC DC
GK
This turns your defense into an impenetrable fortress. However, you
won't see much of the ball up front, and your defenders will need
to cope with seeing lots of the ball in this half. But if you can
gain possession of the ball quickly, and feed it to your wingers,
they just might be able to break away and set up the strikers. Leave
this one for defending leads.
-------
Sweeper
-------
FC FC
MC MC MC
DML DMR
DC DC
SW
GK
Yay...a sweeper. All the attention will be turned to him. He will
need to be the best player on your team, as he's going to cover the
others' mistakes, and not make them. Basically, he's working in sync
with the goalie, so you might like them to compliment each other,
stat-wise. The sweeper will need to have excellent Positioning,
Anticipation, everything... Beckenbauer, where are you?
Other formations that you might and might not want to try:
-----
5-4-1
-----
FC
ML MC MC MR
DL DC DC DC DR
GK
Probably the most defensive formation around. It's closely related
to the 4-5-1, but with this formation, you've now got a flat back
line of 5 players. Which is great, defensively, but you won't
have much of a chance of getting the ball into the back of the net.
Setting the wide players (ML and MR) to make forward runs is
advised, and maybe setting the central defender to run forward
will help the attacker out a bit.
-----
2-4-4
-----
FL FC FC FR
ML MC MC MR
DC DC
GK
When our school soccer coach was asking what formation we'd like to
play, someone suggested 4-4-2. THAT'S 4 DEFENDERS, NOT FOUR STRIKERS,
YOU IDIOT!!!! As you can see here, you really don't have much of a
chance at all (neither did we. We lost all 4 matches). Unless your
midfield is like the Great Wall of China, and can keep possession,
your opponents are going to absolutely overrun you.
-----
3-3-4
-----
FL FR
AMC AMC
MC MC
DMC
DC DC DC
GK
Surprisingly, this is the formation that led me to the 3-1 victory
over Inter Milan in the Champions League final. Playing more than
three strikers is always going to leave your midfield depleted, but
if you play it smart, it will work out. Here, from a 4-4-2, you've
pushed the two strikers out waaaay wide, pushed up the two central
midfielders into attack, and pushed one of the centre backs up into
defensive midfield. Of course, you'll definetly be relying on the
skills of your midfield and defence to salvage the ball, and feed
it up to your strikers. You'll want to make sure that the wide
strikers are excellent at their crossing, other wise you won't get
anywhere. Play this only if you're confident that your defenders
and midfielders can handle a big task.
-------
4-3-2-1
-------
FC
AMC AMC
<----MC MC MC---->
DL DC DC DR
GK
Sure, it looks funny, but it works wonders. You have to make sure
that as usual, the lone striker is very capable of slotting the ball
into the back of the net, except this time, he's being backed up by
two very ball-hungry AMCs. You should make the MCs run out wide, so
that the wings are covered, and this formation will bring you lots
of wins. And so will it's cousin, the...
-------
4-3-1-2
-------
^
FC | FC
AMC
<----MC MC MC---->
DL DC DC DR
GK
OR
\ FC FC /
\ AMC /
MC MC MC
DL DC DC DR
GK
Two ways to play this : the first is to have your midfield cover the
wings while the AMC makes forward runs. The second is to have the
midfield cut across diagonally, whilst running into attack. I prefer
the second option. Here, your central MC has to have a very high
Stamina and Work Rate rating, as you're going to give him a free role
to run around and help the rest of the guys. This formation is quite
good.
To the creators of caffeine, to all the great Aussie athletes, to
everyone on the GameFAQs Message Board, to CJayC and Al Amaloo, to
my family, to the creators of CM3, to the Leeds United club, ATadeo,
iamnothing, CSeroya, and to you who are reading, THANK YOU FOR
INSPIRING ME!!!
Also to:
JArtanto - Thanks for telling me about the guide below. If you see
JA's guide, he's not ripping stuff off me, read the section
below to work out what's going on.
Marc Vaughan - This guy's guide! I just found out that this guide is
quite identical to mine, but his was released much
earlier. So I'm just gonna say that I used his guide
as a reference. It's a damn good guide as well, much
more neater than mine...check it out at
www.sigames.com/eng/
Red Phoenix - For telling me about the stuffed URL.
