FreeKick

Manual

Tactics

Although FreeKick is about long-term strategy and building a resilient club, the clash of two squads in the pitch is the highlight of the week and shows the success of the manager. We provide many tools to outwit your opponent and to utilize the players to their maximum in order to create the most successful squad.
The main tool is the skill of your players and what position your choose to put them in. Instead of offering broad tactical settings that risk smearing the effects all over your squad, FreeKick also offers individual settings for each player dependent on where he is playing. Use these settings wisely to get them out of your players.
We recommend that you read the "Match Engine" chapter to fully understand the effect the tactical choices have and to fully enjoy the match reports. Our aim is that intuitive choices based on basic football knowledge and gaming should take you a long way, but reading about how we choose to simulate football will likely be beneficial.
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Team Order

The creation of opportunities is not reliant on the team order, and most other tactical elements depend on the combination of skills on the players you use and what position you use them in. But there is still some general instructions you can give to your squad that will affect their way of playing.

Creative

This instruction enables the squad to use technique in order to create opportunities. Your squad will deny the opponent any benefit from trying to stall the match. If the opponent doesn't stall, then the squad has more time to use their superior skill in midfield.
Effect:
  • Allows midfielders to use the best of Ball Control or Passing when calculating midfield domination.
  • Counters opportunity loss caused by the Stall team order.
  • Reduces the risk of hasty actions in midfield for your squad.
If opponent doesn't stall, then this is also in effect:
  • Effect of short passes on opponent penatly box assistance +25%
  • Your long shots are curved and lead to rebounds more often.
  • Easier to get clear margin for your midfielders that does NOT have the short pass or long shot order
  • Opponent counter attacks more easily (+25%)

Flexible

While your squad plays flexible they give away less when using advanced positions and orders. The midfielders will have an easier time predicting opponents run in order to challenge them. When calculating midfield domination, the squad can use the skills of each of the flank defenders instead of the skills of up to two midfielders
Effect:
  • Can use one advanced position (OM, W or DM) or Isolate/Mark midfielder without giving away an opportunity to the opponent.
  • When calculating midfield domination, the squad can use the skills of each of the flank defender instead of the one of up to two midfielders.
  • Own midfielders: +5 effective Defensive Positioning for the purpose to catch up with opponent midfielders.

Long Ball

To hurl long balls (high or low) into the box of the opponent is the oldest trick in the book. In effect your attack can avoid troublesome defensive midfielders several times during the match. On the hand, the squad cannot gain extra attacks through dominating midfield.
Effect:
  • Passes that normally would go to attackers in midfield (one per attacker) will go directly into the penalty box instead.
  • Two of the base opportunities (25%) will also go directly to the attackers in the box.
  • A squad that plays long ball can never win midfield domination.

Opportunistic

It may seem like the spur of the moment, but a successful counter attack may be rehearsed and set up by the countering squad. When the squad spends time looking for the mistakes of the opponent, opportunities are more likely to occur.
Effect:
  • Increased chance to get counter attacks. If combined with two Wingers, the counter attacks will also be dangerous (giving +5 OP and BC) to the receiver of the first midfield pass or control of the first dribble.
  • Opponent has a raised risk (+50%) to be forced to hasty actions in midfield.

Stalling

Trying to reduce the action isn't the most fun thing to do, but if you want to defend a lead or go for a draw, this could be the choice to make. Don't expect the spectators to cheer for you though.
Effect:
  • Reduces the number of opportunities for both your side and the opponent (with 33% if used full match).
  • Isn't cumulative with a fall back by the leading squad.
  • Boring for the attendance (penalty to fan mood).
  • Increases the risk for yellow cards for your side.
  • Although stalling gives most effect if you use it the entire match, starting to stall later will have a higher effect per minute. For most effect per minute, start stalling after the 60 minute.
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Player Orders

Your players will handle the match without the interference of the manager, but they welcome orders what they should do in specific situations. There are no real drawback with any of these settings besides that they are mutual exclusive, which means that if you choose one, you cannot choose another. Ponder on which advantage you have most use for in the particular match! All players can also choose to play "mixed", which means that they will alternate between the choices below during the different opportunities in the match.

Attacker Orders

The player can only be given one order and it only works for the player when he is the active attacker in the penalty box. The attacker will only manage to follow his order 50% of the time (unless otherwise stated). The settings are not active during set pieces.
  • Tricky shot
This setting increases the effect (+50%) of the keeper being out of position. There is no drawback if the keeper is in position.
  • Feint
This setting increases the effect (+50%) if the keeper losing his organization defence versus the pass into the box. If the keeper wins the skill duel, there is no drawback.
  • Power Shot
This setting means that the attacker focuses on power, causing the keeper to have more trouble (-10 Control) controlling the ball (more rebounds or even fumbles). The likelihood of a player managing to fire a power shot is based on how high Scoring he has compared to his other offensive skills. For every percentage less scoring the player has compared to the average of the the two highest of OP, BC and AE, he will have 2% lower chance (starting at 100%) chance. So if a player has 75 scoring and 100 op and 100 bc, he would fire power shots 50% of the time. Power shots also denies the keeper to make fingertip saves.
If the attacker has less than two denomination (20 points) less Offensive Positioning than the defender he is facing has Defensive Positioning, his power shots will be less effective. Every 3 points of additional (besides the first 20) lower positioning will make the powershot one point weaker. This means that if an attacker has 50 (or more) lower positiioning than the defender he faces, his power shots will have no power effect at all.
  • Lob
The attacker tries to outsmart the keeper with a soft, high finish. The attacker needs to have higher passing skill than the keepers interception skill for it to be effective. If succesful, the keeper will be more out of position than normally.
Details:
The amount of Passing the attacker has above the keeper Interception skill is deducted from the positioning skill of the keeper. The effect diminishes after the first ten points deducted.
  • Demand High Pass
This setting gives 100% high passes, although most of the time it results in the attacker having to header from a bad angle.
  • Demand Low Pass
This setting gives 100% low passes, although it often results in the attacker having to make a finishing attempt from a bad angle.

Midfielder Orders

A player that controls the ball in midfield does the simple and right thing: pass the ball into the box to an attacker. If he managed to win the duel in midfield with a clear margin he will get other choices. Default is to advance and make a short pass, but the manager can order him to try other fancy stuff. A player that reaches clear margin several times in the same half might not be able to follow his order (and carry out a short pass instead).
  • Short Pass
The passer uses his knowledge about how to score (the Scoring attribute) to make his passing more lethal.
Details:
The base effect of a short pass is to penalize the defence with an assistance effect (not the denomination) with -2 at poor or lower Scoring to -5 if decent Scoring and a small increase if higher Scoring than that. Read about assistance under that segment for information about assistance impact.
  • Seek Corner
If successful, the pass will be blocked to a corner. This setting is only viable in the flanks.
  • Target Striker
If successful, the pass will go to the striker. Very useful when one of the attackers is much better than the other. This action overrides any attempt to isolate the striker.
Details:
If a striker that is Isolated gets targeted with passes through the midfield order Target Striker, the effect will be that the attacker is considered Marked.
  • Long shot
If successful, the player will unleash a long shot. This setting is only viable in the centre, or in the flanks if the player is skilled in the inside foot.
Details:
When firing long shots the shooter uses the lowest of Passing and Scoring as his skill to compare with both Reflexes and Goalkeeping Positioning. There is a +15 bonus (max 50% of the actual skill) for all long shots. Positioning and reflexes has reversed importance for saving long shots compared to saving shots from the penalty box. The keeper also gets a bonus of 50% of his Interceptions skill to Positioning above 50 (30 if youth).
  • Long Pass
The midfielder (or attacker in midfield) stays back a bit in order to not get caught in too much opposition.
Effect:
* +5 OP & BC in midfield
* Cannot use any individual order (including short pass) for winning with clear margin.
* Always make long passes, which means they don't help reducing defense assistance.
* Risk for bad angle for the receiving attacker.
  • Dribble & Pass
The player dribbles into the box and tries to pass to an attacker. The pass within the penalty box cannot be intercepted by the goalkeeper and the receiver cannot be closed down by the keeper if he gets totally free. Attackers, Wingers and Offensive Midfielders don't need to win by a clear margin to try this move.
  • Dribble & Score
The player dribbles into the box and tries to score. Attackers, Wingers and Offensive Midfielders don't need to win by a clear margin to try this move.

Defender Orders

The player can only be given one order and it only works for the player when he is the active defender in the penalty box. The settings are not active during set pieces.
  • Aerial Angles
When the defender faces an attacker in the air, he focuses on trying to force a header from a bad (or even really bad) angle.
  • Ground Angles
If the defender wins the positioning duel with a clear margin, then the likelihood of the attacker being forced to shoot from a bad (or even really bad) angle is a reality.
  • Breakthroughs
This means that the defender is aware that he might not be able to keep up with the attackers speed and smart running. Although this doesn't increase the chance of the defender catching up, he will make sliding tackles to shield the goal and remove the effect of being totally free. This is not an exact science but works about half of the times, but only when the defender is the active one.

Goalkeeper Orders

The keeper will of course study the different ways the opponent attacks before matches to not allow them to caught him off guard. During the match he can focus on one method (although he is free to rethink and switch area of focus with conditional orders) and be less likely to make mistakes when facing different types of attacks.
The effect of the order, if the chosen situation occur, is that it is harder for the attacker to score. Note that this bonus only applies on direct finishing attempts and not on secondary situations when the ball bounces around in the penalty box, as these situations by definition are unpredictable.
Areas to focus on:
  • Flanks
  • Centre
  • Long shots
  • Set pieces
Details:
If a free kick results in a long shot towards goal, it's still regarded as a set piece, not a long shot for keeper focus purposes. The effect of this setting is about a denomination.
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Advanced Positions

By using positions like Winger or Offensive Midfielder the manager has the power to direct more passes to that player. This can be rather powerful as the manager can pick his star player as the target in midfield.
There are additional effects by using more than one of these positions. If using more than one Winger, the chance for counterattacks for their squad will increase and they will always be dangerous. If using more than one Offensive Midfielder, the chance for winning with a clear margin increases in the centre and by using a combination of an OM and a W, the chance of these players getting the ball is even more increased than if using only one of them. The drawback is that each of these positions give away an opportunity (see match engine for details).
Using one or two Defensive Midfielders gives away one opportunity. The DM has much higher chance of being the defensive player in the centre.
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Mark or Isolate midfielder/attacker

Only one attacker and one midfielder can be Isolated or Marked at any one time. Flank defenders are not possible to Isolate/Mark as midfielders as their running on the flanks is too erratic. Isolating/Marking a single attacker has no effect.
The effect of Isolation is that you try to cut off angles to the player, giving him half the amount of passes (for midfielders in midfield and for attacker in the penalty box) during normal play. The effect of marking is that you try to have an extra eye on that player so your guys are fast on him, giving an extra denomination in assistance.
As always there is a drawback. If you Isolate/Mark a midfielder the opponent will get an extra opportunity. If you Isolate/Mark an attacker you will have on less denomination in assistance when facing any other attacker(s) your opponent has fielded and they also get better angles to score. Isolating/Marking an attacker when his partner is almost as skilled is therefore often a mistake.
Details:
If a striker that is Isolated gets targeted with passes through the midfield order Target Striker, the effect will be that the attacker is considered Marked.
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Team Captain

The team captain's role is important because it makes your squad perform a little better. Positive personality traits and high experience are needed for them to be effective. You may change who the team captain is for each match, but a player who recently joined your team would be a less effective (25%-100%) captain until they have spent at least one player year in the club. A newly drafted youth player from your scout does not suffer this "newly bought" penalty as he is loyal to his club, and the National Team is immune to these issues. If your captain doesn't play or is removed from the pitch mid-game, the vice-captain will resume the responsibility. If you don't choose a captain then your assistant will choose one for you.
The captain will contribute to your team in three ways. The first is to organize the squad by raising the effective experience level of the team - especially amongst the least experienced players. The second is to talk to the referee and calm things down to reduce the number of yellow cards and suspensions. The third way is to rally your squad in the second half if you're behind and make them play more effective offensively.

Raising experience

The captain will boost 66% of an experience level for each positive personality trait he has (in excess to the negative he has), and that boost applies to each individual player on the pitch. This effect is 33%, however, once a teammate has at least half of the captain's experience level, and if the teammate has higher experience than the captain, then the boost is 25%. If the captain has the "Team Player" personality trait, he is extra good at this task.

Countering yellow cards

You will notice in the match report when your captain steps in to talk to the referee. Just be careful as a bad captain (see further below) will cause MORE cards than otherwise. If the captain has the "Charming" personality trait he is extra good at this task.

Rally

So you're behind in the second half and want the squad to push forward for the equalizer? The captain will do his best to get the lads going by giving you a maximum of two extra opportunities, but because you are pushing hard to get the equalizer, you will also give up a maximum of two opportunities to your opponent. If you don't start losing till towards the end of the second half, you may not have the chance to use both opportunities and will only use one or sometimes none. A captain who has time to spare in his rally might make the opportunities created extra dangerous.

Positive and negative personalities

Much is probably intuitive, but we list exactly what affects what below. Remember that negative effects accumulate just like positive ones, and it's quite possible for a captain to be worse for the squad than without him
Positive
  • Charming (double bonus to counter yellow cards)
  • Confident
  • Extrovert
  • Loyal
  • Resolute (double bonus to rally)
  • Team player (double bonus to boosting xp)
Negative
  • Diva (only negative when rallying)
  • Egoist (double penalty to boosting xp)
  • Nervous
  • Obnoxious (double penalty to countering cards)
  • Reserved
  • Turncoat
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Conditional orders

You can set orders that will come into effect when the conditions you defined are true. This is the best way to simulate the interaction of a coach in an online game without forcing managers to sit by their computers during the match.

Conditions

As long as a condition is true, the orders in that conditional order will be executed or maintained, but the order will not be undone just because the condition is no longer untrue. You must make another conditional order for that.
  • if/if not Drawing
  • if/if not Leading by x goals
  • if/if not Trailing by x goals
  • if/if not minute x (or later)
  • if/if not half time
  • if/if not Our player
  • if/if not Opponent player
  • if/if not Opponent formation
  • if/if not Statistics
  • if/if not Opponent Statistics

Orders

Each order has a speed rating to them; "s" stands for slow (5 minutes), "m" for medium (3 minutes), and "q" for quick (1 minute). The minutes given are both for preparation of the order and consolidation afterwards.
While an order consolidates, no other conditional order will be processed. If you only set a minute as condition, or you set a minute and another condition that has been in effect a while, the order will be executed at that minute as you can remove the preparation time.
  • Change a Team Order (s)
  • Move a player (m)
  • Substitute a player for another (m)
  • Change target of Isolate or Marking (m)
  • Change any or all of a players orders (q)
You can tie any amount of orders to a condition (or group of conditions). If you tie more than one order to a condition, all orders will come in effect at the slowest order possible. For example if you give order to change player order, substitute a player and move a player to another position - all orders would take 3 minutes to prepare and 3 minutes to consolidate. This is far more effective than making several separate conditional orders.
You can also set an order to be crucial. This means that if this order collides with a conditional order of higher priority it will not be carried out (as usual), but also no other orders in that conditional order will be executed either.

Conflicting Orders

This is when there are orders in two sets of conditional orders that collide. If this happens, the highest priority conditional order will always be the order that is carried out or is maintained. Orders conflict if they are of the same type and simply cannot be carried out at the same time.

Substitutions

Each side is allowed three substitutions of outfielders and two substitutions of goalkeepers. This is more than in real life, but we feel that the game benefits of allowing extra keeper substitutions outweighs the drawback of not copying real life. The players will substitute based on separate conditional orders set by the manager. A player is only eligeble to come in as a substitute if he has been on the bench since the start of the match.

Priority

When you add a conditional order it will be set as highest priority as default. You can alter the priority of conditional orders by using the arrows next to them. As long as a condition in a higher priority conditional order is true, no other conflicting orders in lower priority conditional orders will be carried out.
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