Overview
Last updated on 2020-08-27, based on current version of game.Since the release of the game, there have been some changes to skills. Therefore, I’d like to share my recommendations on how to choose skills for each position, based on my own experience. These tips suit a heavily tactics-focused playstyle.Contents are under construction. Please DM me if you’d like to be a contributor! I would appreciate the help 🙂
First, Some Explanations
For most of the positions, I will provide separate guides for Underdogs and Late Game.
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Guide for Underdog
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Suitable when you want to go against opponents at least 1.5 stars higher than your club. You will frequently encounter these higher-level opponents if you wish to get promoted to Premier League as soon as possible, rather than stall for time in the Amateur to First Leagues.
In this play style, your forwards will almost always have lower Atk than opponent GK and defenders’ Def, your midfielders will usually have lower Pas and Def than the opponents’, and your defenders will often have lower Def than the opponents’ forwards. You will depend entirely on tactics, skill combinations, and crosses to score; and on combinations of multiple defenders to defend your goal.
The guide will focus heavily on how to make crosses and skill combinations work. This is the play style that I am rather proficient at, having been promoted to Premier League in just 6 seasons (on Normal). I have confidence it will be helpful to you.
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Guide for Late Game
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Alternatively, this guide is suitable when you get into Premier League and start to face opponents no more than 1 star higher than you. Although not exactly “late game”, this guide will also help you if you don’t want a very aggressive play style and don’t mind stalling for time in lower leagues.
In this play style, your footballers’ stats can be a match with the right development strategy. This guide will help you develop the stats you need to win games. I am also open to collaborators who wish to contribute to this guide.
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Other Instructions for Position:
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Primary stat: The higher the better. Prioritize training this skill.
Secondary stat: Still serves a purpose, but not as important as the primary stat.
Skill rankings (position-specific):
—-S: The reason to play a position. If a footballer can train this skill with high or medium compatibility, train it to lv.3 ASAP, and speed up training as soon as you have enough Glory. If a footballer cannot train this skill or has low compatibility, he should not be trained as this position. A position with a Rank S skill will not have any Rank A/B skills.
—-A: Really useful skill(s) for the position. Train it/them if a footballer has high or medium compatibility. Speed up with Glory if it/they prove useful before an important game (like Semifinals and Finals of Cup games).
—-B: Good skill(s) for the position. Still useful, just not as useful as Rank A skills. If a footballer does not have a Rank A skill with high or medium compatibility, train this skill. Speed up with Glory if it/they prove useful before an important game (like Semifinals and Finals of Cup games).
—-C: Backup skill(s) for the position.
—-All other available skills: Don’t bother training, they are either useless or very niche. It’s better to let stamina recover quicker than to train other skills.
Tactical Tips
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Defensive tactics (against stronger opponents)
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0. For every match, you must use at least 5 defenders, up to even 7 defenders. You only need 1 main scoring forward on the field (but try to develop a few main scorers to be subbed-in when the first one gets tired). Use DM if you have one, and 1-2 other midfielders for passing. For that matter, upgrade your defender coach as soon as possible to 5-star–don’t even upgrade the other coaches until then.
1. Rainbow Feint is the single biggest threat if you don’t have a GK with Reaction. a) Try to block the path to the GK using CD with Reaction. b) Alternatively, place 2 CDs side-by-side on the back row, who will try to tackle opponent Rainbow Feinters when they enter your penalty area. c) if Def of your CDs is significantly lower than opponent Ctr, clear the backline so opponent cannot Rainbow Feint over it deleted because of high risk of conceding goals.
2. Defend against Cannon Shot: place either a SW on the back line or a DF/CD on all the dangerous diagonals. Often times this means you need to put a defender on every single back row tile. Be sure you also check if opponent midfielders have Cannon Shot skill.
3. Defend against header (>=lv.1 headplay for CFs or lv.2 for FWs): place two non-SW defenders in front of opponent header.
4. Defend against Nutmeg: place two defenders in front of the nutmeg opponent. SW can be used, unlike defending against header.
4. Defend against wing forwards: occupy the break-in corner tile with any footballer. You can use even a forward to do the job, but make sure you don’t move him as long as the opponent wing forward is still in position.
5. If the opponent uses an AM + someone with Cannon Shot/header: You must occupy all 6 tiles in your penalty.
Coach Upgrade Priority
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For Underdog:
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Many guides have given a preferred order of coach upgrades. If you mostly play matches instead of simulation, and rely on good tactics, then I recommend the following priority (from highest to lowest):
–Defender Coach: Usually the most numerous footballers, and their levels are vital to not conceding goals. Highest priority, upgrade to 5 stars as soon as possible.
–Midfielder Coach: Passing stat is very important for lofted passes, get them up as soon as possible. Should keep the same level as Defender Coach, but three stars should be sufficient to last you till the end.
–Goalkeeper Coach: The easiest way to win matches is by not conceding goals! Focus on training Def stats, but raise Ctr stats to a decent amount (about 1/2 of Def stat). Should trail about 2 stars behind Defender Coach.
–Forward Coach: In the higher leagues, it is very hard to score through the defenders and GK using accuracy alone. Personally, I rely on skills and tactics on scoring goals, and I love scoring with headers and crosses. For my playstyle, I prioritize skills over stats for my Forwards, and I mostly raise their Ctr stats for 1) holding position in corner kicks and 2) LF/RF break-ins. Low Priority, only becomes important late into the Premier League.
–Bench Coach: I won the treble on Hard without ever upgrading my bench coach. Could be useful if you mostly play simulations, but still should be at lower priority than the others.
Goalkeeper (GK)
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For Underdog:
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Primary stat: Def
—-High Def helps stop most precision/power shots.
Secondary stat: None
Skills:
—-Reaction: Rank A (lv.3 removes the need to worry about Rainbow Feints, which is the single biggest threat to high Def GK)
—-Strong Goalkeeper: Rank B (eliminates the need to defend against Cannon Shots, which can also be countered by tactics)
—-Long Pass: Rank B (Starts to shine after reaching Lv 2. Best paired with a Long Pass midfielder to penetrate opponent line.)
—-Playing Out: Rank C (niche, will stop Olympic Kicks, and reduce the Ctr stat you need to train)
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For Late Game:
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Primary stat: Def
Secondary stat: Ctr
—-Keep Ctr as high as GK level. 100 Ctr translates 150 Ctr in-match, which effectively stops conceding goals to headers, removing the need for the defensive tactic. The requirement is lowered by 16 for every level of Playing Out.
Skills same as [For Underdog]
Universal Defender (DF)
DFs are as helpful in the midfield (yellow) as they are in the defensive tiles (blue).
Universal Midfielder (MF)
MFs are as helpful in the attacking areas (red) as they are in the midfield (yellow).
Universal Forward (FW)
Sweeper (SW)
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For Underdog:
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Don’t bother training sweepers.
As they move around on the back row, they actually lower the total Def that can be used to block a shot. They are also almost useless in stopping headers. Instead, use static DF to stop Nutmeg/Cannon Shot.
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For Late Game:
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Primary stat: Def
—-The only trainable stat for SW. SW needs Def to body block opponents’ shots.
Secondary stat: None
Skills:
—-Reaction: Rank A
—-Long Pass: Rank B (Long Pass from SW can reach most midfielders)
—-Head Play: Rank B (can finally stop SOME headers)
—-Layoff Pass: Rank C (Used to move Long Pass teammate to a better position)
—-Olympic Kick: Rank C (Can be used to score. Train it if you don’t have the others above)
Central Defender (CD)
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For Underdog:
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You should have 2-3 CDs in your club as soon as possible. 3 CDs on the back row is the best defense against Rainbow Feint.
Primary stat: Def
—-High Def not only helps in the automatic tackle, but also helps in blocking opponent shots passing through his tile in case the tackling fails.
Secondary stat: None
Skills:
—-Reaction: Rank A (Basically makes a wall that can’t be Rainbow Feinted over and can tackle if opponent Rainbow Feints next to him)
—-Layoff Pass: Rank A (Used to move Long Pass teammate to a better position)
—-Long Pass: Rank B (can reach most midfielders, but harder to position compared to Layoff Pass)
—-Head Play: Rank B (Can contend directly with opponent CF of the same Headplay level, making it unnecessary to put another footballer behind him)
—-Olympic Kick: Rank C (Can be used to score. Train it if you don’t have the others above)
—-Slide Tackle: Rank C (Be careful as tackling with CD leads him out of position. Watch out for opponent CF)
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For Late Game:
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Same as [For Underdog]
Full Back (LD/RD)
Since the change to talent mechanic in the Football Stars DLC, full backs become incredibly good, because they can largely reduce the skill defense potential of an opponent defense player to as low as 1, which gaurantees your success of using a skill against him. I recommend putting a fullback in the wing forward position, to allow your Long Pass midfielder to send the ball directly into the opponent’s penalty area.
Under this strategy, you should get a full back with as high giftedness/star level as possible. You will not be running around with him, so age doesn’t matter as he won’t be spending stamina in matches.
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Primary stat: None. The strength of the full back lies not in his stat or even skill, only in his giftedness.
Secondary stat:
Def (Allowing the full back to tackle the ball from an opponent midfielder, when the position is convenient)
Ctr (Allowing the full back to utilize the three squares movement range.
Skills:
—-No particular strong skill on the full back. You should avoid using skills on the full back as skills consume a large amount of stamina, which hinders the full back’s ability to interfere with opponent’s skills.
—-Layoff Pass: Rank B (Could potentially create very convenient scoring opportunities. Use it sparsely.)
Defending Midfielder (DM)
A personal favourite. With high Def, a DM can deny more than half of the opponent’s passing attempts, forcing them to use Lofted Pass instead.
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For Underdog:
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Primary stat: Def
—-The reason you would play a DM.
Secondary stat: None
Skills:
—-Layoff Pass: Rank A (Very useful when paired with a Long Pass midfielder or an AM.)
—-Intercept: Rank B (a DM trained to Lv.3 intercept gets +50% bonus to his Def attribute, which applies to both pass interception and tackling. A huge boost to defensive capability.)
—-Slide Tackle: Rank B (If successfully used, can save an action compared to regular tackle. When paired with Long Pass midfielder, can create goal opportunity.)
—-Long Pass: Rank C (Long Pass from the DM position cannot reach the bottom row in front of opponent’s goal. Can replace a Long Pass MF in a pinch.)
—-Head Play: Rank C (Can stop lofted pass, but hard to play.)
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For Late Game:
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Primary stat: Def
Secondary stat: Ctr
—-Once your Def can reliably stop most shots (about 120), start training Ctr so that your DM can hold onto the ball he just intercepted.
Skills: same as For Underdog