GUIDES
Tactics set how the team plays. They are separate from who stands on the pitch. The lineup picks the names. This screen picks effort, mentality and the substitutions you planned before kickoff.
Effort runs from 50 to 150 percent. 100 percent is normal. Higher effort lifts condition and puts more strain on fitness. Lower effort does the opposite. Condition and fitness below 90 weaken a player in the match, so a week of maximum effort is visible on the teamsheet, not only on this slider. Training intensity pushes the same two attributes from the other direction. Intensity is daily and is explained under training. Effort is the match setting.
Friendlies are a safer place to test a high effort, because they do not change the league table and the injury risk is lower than in a competitive match. Gate receipts still count. See friendlies and stadium income.
You pick one of three mentalities. The effect is about 2 percent, applied to the technique of the players in a duel, and it depends on which team has the ball.
about 2 percent stronger without the ball, about 2 percent weaker with it.
no bonus and no penalty.
about 2 percent stronger with the ball, about 2 percent weaker without it.
Change mentality for the opponent, the competition and the lineup you actually named. A weakened defence does not become solid because the slider says defensive. It becomes slightly harder to play through while your own attacks give a little away. Two percent is a nudge next to fitness, experience and who was trained this week.
You can plan up to five substitutions: the minute, the starter who comes off, and the bench player who comes on. A substitution happens only if both players are still available at that minute. Injured, suspended, or no longer in the lineup means the plan is skipped. If you edit the lineup after saving substitutions, set them again. From version 1.8.12 the lineup screen shows a clearer wait while automatic substitutions are applied.
The bench only helps if those players were named. A green-table loss is still 0:3 when the starting sheet is short, and a team can also fall short during the match after red cards. Experience still ticks for an unused substitute, at +0.001, which is half of a player who plays. See lineup.
Tactics will not repair a wage bill. They will not qualify you for Europe. The country coefficient and the league place do that, on competitions. Set the mentality, check that five substitutions still name players who exist, then open finances before you go to the transfer market.
