LMA Manager 2004 - Strategy Guide
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LMA Manager 2004 Guide Version 1.00 - By Andrew Giorgi (Forum User RedmanJB) Hello This is my guide for LMA Manager 2004 (Released 12th March UK) Copyright Andrew Giorgi 2004 Update 1.01 +Increased Recommended Player Size +General Spelling and Grammar Check Update 1.02 +Once Again Increased Recommended Player Section +Added some Dugout Calls +Improved ideas and wording in tactics +Improved Fast Tips Section Contents: Basics 1 Fantasy Mode 2 Tactics 3 Dugout Options 4 Transfer Market 5 Recommended Players 6 Fast Tips 7 Conclucusion 8 Legal Bits 9 1 Basics LMA Manager is one huge game. It might not seem so when you think about it. Choose a team. Pick players. Watch them play. Of course if you wanted to play like this, go ahead, but your sort of missing the point of the game. Things that are included are tactics, team training, indivual training, formations, transfer market, youth teams and different competitions. LMA Manager can be really addictive in a very good way I may add. Firstly you must pick a mode. Normal or Fantasy. Normal Mode is like being the manager of a real team. All the players are at there real clubs as of 31st January. So if you want to manage your real side Normal Mode is what you want. Read below for info on Fantasy Mode. Then you must pick another mode. Normal or Expert. Normal is self-explanatory, the main game. Expert is the mode for the real masters of the game to hone there skills. It's the same as Normal BUT the overall bar is invisible. The overall bar is a green bar showing how good the player is rated, based on there skill bars. Skill bars are indivual bars showing how good the player is at a particular skill. For Example (Not actual stats) : T.Henry may have 9/10 for shooting, 9.5/10 for pace but only 3/10 for tackling. If you just want a player then look at the overall bar, but if you want a player who is good at heading and is highly creative you'll want to check out the skill bars. After you've chosen either Normal or Expert, you have to choose your team. It'll show how much money they have, and what they are expected to achieve in the coming season. This could be from getting promotion to avoid relegation. Knowing this, you should also know that if you fail to achieve this you have a high chance of being sacked and having to manage another side, that needs a new manager. The first thing your going to want to do is check out your squad. See where you don't have the best players for and perhaps look in your youth squad to see if anyone can fill the void. You can sign youth players on a real fulltime contract or a temporary one, if you only need him for a game or two. You don't want to get rid of the players, that perhaps aren't your best, because they might have a usefill skill. The Skills include: Free Kick: The player is capable of doing decent free-kicks Penalty: The player is capable of doing decent penalties Corner: The player is capable of doing decent corner kicks Big Throw: The player is capable of long throws Captain: The player would make a fine Captain You also might want a playmaker. A playmaker is a player who makes the great passes and helps you score loads. You'll want someone with great passing abilitys, high intelligent, and good pace for this position. You might want also want a man-marker, but I've failed to see this technique work so I'd probably steer clear for the moment. After you've checked your squad, you need to really make your team. This is the end of the basics section so if you need more basic info check your manual. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2. Fantasy Team Fantasy Team Mode is a new part of the game incorporated into the game. It is only in 2004+. Basically you get to make your team, however you want. Your own little team. Say your favourite players are all at different, side now you can have them all in one side. You must pick which league there in, and at first only england and scotland are unlocked, but once you complete seasons you get rewards points which unlock other countries. You must also pick a location to be situated in that country so you know who your rivals are. Then you must "create" your team. You pick your teams name, and there nickname. Strip, stadium and logo must also be made. Then you must pick your team. Self-explanotary. I have now covered the easy stuff. Below is all my personal recommendations, aswell as others taht have helped me. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. Tactics Tactics play a big role in LMA. Pick the wrong ones and your buggered. Get it right and you'll be playing at your best. Below i will explain each bar, and what I think you should use. Counter-Attack Counter-Attack can be brilliant in some situations. You could be 1 - 0 down, and the opposition could be cruizing down, with players coming forward to attack. If you are able to stop this, then counter-attack can come in great. What it does is makes it so as soon as you regain possession from an attack, it sends your players down on a break, catching them offguard and theres a good chance you'll have a go at goal. Also it can have bad effects if your strikers play around with it too much as it brings nearly your whole team up forward. Passes need to be fast and accurate. My Suggestion: If you want to try it out, test it on a friendly. If it doesn't work, then you might not want to use this. Defence: Conceding goals can be heartbraking. If I concede a late equaliser in the dying seconds, in a big match, I'd normally get really mad and punch a cushion. To prevent leaks, you need to get your Defence tactis "just" right. The defence bars has two sides. "Deep" and "Pressing". Deep places your defence back, and waits for the strikers to come to them prevent loss of energy, and bad mistakes. Pressing places your defence more forward, making the opposition make the mistake. Pressing is also what you want to use if you want to use the offside trap. But if the oppositions strikers are very good, this isn't the best way to play. My Suggestion: If you have a strong defence, try pressing. If your up against very good attacking force, play a bit deeper. If your defence are a bit weak, for your division, play deep. Focus: In General, focus asks the question "Do you want to playing offensive or defensive"? It's self-explanotary really. My Suggestion: Unless you want to draw a match, or your against a big team in your league, tilt the bar to attacking, but not all the way. Passing: Short or Long. Short balls don't cover as much ground, but you have a better chance then long balls to keep the possession. Long balls are basically the opposite. My Opinion: Unless playing safe, in which you should play short, put this bar in the middle. Attacking: The bar determines whether your team are going to go straight for goal, or play around waiting for an opening. The only real factor is that if you want a goal quick, playing patient is a bit bodge. My Opinion: It depends really. If you have pacey strikers direct is good, but if your team are in no rush and your team's passing is quality you may want to play more patient. Distribution: Basically this bar decides if you push forward in the centre of the pitch or the wings. My Opinion: If you have good wingers, do wing attack. Vice versa with centres, do central. If they're about the same i'd say in the middle of the bar. Now remember these are only my recommendations and they might not work for your team, so change them at your will, but remember, if you change them to frequently your team will not have enough time to adapt to these tactics and won't play as well as they should be. Also remember, as your tactical bar get's higher so will your performance. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. Dugout Options It's great to have good dugout calls. I will only talk about a few, mainly the ones I use. Clearance Rating: 4/5 This is the wonder tactic if your trying to maintain a score. Basically it's useful to have as one of the shoulder buttons. Keep Ball Rating: 5/5 This call is great if your trying to keep a lead. Your team play a very safe game kick to eachother and if they ever look to be in trouble they kick it back to the defence. It reminds me of the French Side. All Out Attack: Rating: 3/5 Good if you need a quick goal, but it does leaving gaping holes in your defence. Defensive: Rating: 2/5 Basically the opposite of attack, but I don't use it because I have Keep Ball. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5. Transfer Market This could make or brake your team. This is where you can't muck up. Believe me you don't want to waste $20m on a royal dufus. But if you pick the right people you could have a great team for years and years to come. Sure, anyone with $100m in the bank can go buy Henry, Beckham and Angel. You've probably chose great people too. But the giant key in LMA is................... Buy Young. If you learn one thing from the Guide/FAQ let it be that. I'll tell you why. If you buy young, the benefits are great. You have a player who isn't going to retire for 15 years, who isn't going to demand really high wages, has potential to turn big and is normally pretty cheap for what they turn into. Looking at someone like Giggs he fits none of those. He's old enough to retire. He's experienced and will want high wages. Already been at his best, and will only go downhill from now and his value is still pretty big for someone with 5 years max of good in him left. Things To Look at when buying a player: Age: You don't want them to be too old if your looking for a person to last you years. Position: If you can get someone who can play 6 positions then its great, because if you ever need some for a position, chances are he can do it. Now whenever buying someone, its almost always necassary to scout them. They may have a great 8 bar rating, but they could be pants at shooting, tackling and passing. If your buying someone young, check there potential. If they have excellent or world class you know you have one of the next football superstars. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6. Recommended Players This is in segments of position to make it easier for you. Also note that these players are only available to high quality teams and it is impossible to get these players at Div 2 below. Still they are good for when you are up there with the best. These players are all tested and all excel in their position. These are proven stars. Goalkeepers ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- M.Amelia Rating: 3/5 When I played him, he wasn't playing very well but everyone reckons he's the bomb, so you may want to check him out. I.Casillas Rating: 3/5 A good solid keeper and also young. Very good. C.Kirkland Rating: 4/5 The Englishman shouldn't be underestimated. He is a great shotstopper and is quite cheap too. Rivalled by Schmiechel, Howard, Frey, Casillas and Cech as the best young keeper in the game. S.Pietikosa Rating: 3/5 Isn't the absolute best player but is cheap and solid for smaller premiership and Div 1 sides. P.Cech Rating: 5/5 This 21 year old is a very good keeper, as he is young, reliable and improves a lot. The only disadvantage he has is that he is Czech and it's hard to find him a Czech friend. A.Isaksson Rating: 5/5 Many peoples choice of the best keeper in the game, this young keeper is slightly better then the rest, apart from maybe the superstars ;) K.Schmiechel Rating: 3/5 A young, solid keeper great for back-up at big teams and good enough to hold the number 1 shirt at clubs without an already successful keeper. Let's hope he's as good as his relation. Defenders ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- C.Metzelder Position: Centre/Right Defence Rating: 5/5 A very solid defender, who's overall reaches high peaks. He isn't really cheap though. J.O'Shea Position: All over Defence Rating: 5/5 This player is excellent in defence, is cheap and can play all over defence. His stats are very good and he is only young and becomes a star. M.Dawson Position: Centre Defence Rating: 5/5 His value may be slightly high for his overall bar but he is a great defender, who can offer that extra defensive edge to promotion-bound Div 1 teams and small - medium premiership sides. He requires a bit of training to play at the very best standard, but once he's trained his value can easily reach 40m I.Mitreski Position: Centre Defence Rating: 4/5 A great value-for-money player and is great if your transfer funds are low and you need a brickwall defencemen P.Mexes Position: Centre Defence Rating: 4/5 A firm favourite at the forums, Mexes is young, classy and improves a heck of a lot. Capable of the highest-flight football. N.de jong Position: Centre/Right Defence Rating: 5/5 A partner of Sneijder at Ajax, I was able to get this guys overall bar to 9. He's a brick wall in defence. He is only valued at 2m at the start of the game, and if trained will become one of the best defenders in the game. M.Lequi Position: Left/Centre Defence Rating: 4/5 Lequi is great to have as he is a solid left back who can also play in the centre and can be improved heavily. P.Cannavaro Position: Centre Defence Rating: 5/5 In my opinion, one of the best cheapo defenders in the game. Great with de jong. I had this guy in my premiership fantasy team from the start. Still there, 6 years later as a first 11 usual. PS: Been 8 years here and still gets alot of first-team football. O.Mellberg Rating: 4/5 Position: Centre Defence A tad older then the other defenders here, he is a strong, solid defender which is reflected by his high 13.5m value Midfield ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- B.Storm Position: All over Midfield Rating: 3/5 This 16 year old is a great player to buy, and is cheap too. Even lower Div 1 teams should be able to buy him. Joaquin Position: Right Midfield Rating: 4/5 If you can afford him, which is a big ask for medium/below Premiership sides he is a great player who makes great runs down the wing. S.Gerrard Position: Centre Midfield Rating: 5/5 Probably the best English midfielder in the game, you can get much better. He's young, a brilliant passer and can command a team to glory. He is worth a look at for anyone. May take over 30m to tempt Liverpool to sell though as he is already proven in the world. K.Kallstrom Position: All of Midfield Rating: 3/5 Another great buy for premierships sides, he is one for the future and is great for backup as he plays all over. Rivaldo - The Young One Position: All of Midfield Rating: 5/5 The 16 year old is easiestly the most favourite at the forum as he always plays well, scores piles full and improves immensely well. Will join Div 1 teams. W.Sneijder Position: Centre Midfield Rating: 4/5 If your in need of a young midfielder with a deadly free-kick this is your guy. The dutchman is capable of being in any team, aswell as being relatively cheap. Ozkan Position: All of Midfield Rating: 3/5 Probably the only player in the list who can't be a premiership player, he is still marvellous and is incredibly cheap for what he's worth. Diego Position: Centre Midfield Rating: 5/5 Highly Recommended by The official LMA Board Supposedly the free-kick master, he is probably one of the best buys of the game. That's why he is here. C.Obodo Position: All of Midfield Rating: 4/5 A jack-of-all-trades player who is class in midfield and is great to have in back-up as he can play basically anywhere. R.Van Der Vaart Position: All of Midfield Rating: 4/5 For those with a slightly larger wallet, he is great at any top team, although the price would put most off. He still is a brilliant player and a supoib free-kick taker Strikers ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- L.Saha Position: Striker Rating: 4/5 If you want to buy him, it would be upwards of 16m but he is available on the loan list at the start of the game. He is a great finisher with a bit of pace and I'm not sure why Man U don't play him as much as they should do on the game. D.Bellion Position: Striker Rating: 3/5 For those who need a cheap, young striker Bellion fits the job. His abilitis are great and he won't set you back much. Luis Fabiano Position: Striker Rating: 4/5 A great buy, the brazilian is great to pick up as he is relatively young, cheap and classy for premiership sides. Fernando Torres Position: Striker Rating: 5/5 A superb young player with a very bright future in football, his overall is great and his value, which is pretty high, still is an understatement for his ability to play football on this game. C.Tevez Position: Striker Rating: 5/5 This young argentinian is someone to look out for. His bar may not be as huge as others his age but don't let that stop you buying this football machine. Although not showing, he is a great free-kick taker as well as being able to pump in the goals. O.Martins Position: Striker Rating: 5/5 There's nothing you can say bad about this guy. Honestly he's pure brilliance. A.Robben Position: Striker Rating: 4/5 Partnered with Martins, the duo is magic. Partnered with anyone, brilliant. Robinho Position: Striker Rating: 4/5 Had him in my SPL team. LEt's just say the amounts of goals he's scored is about equal to how many games hes played, maybe a bit more. Not sure how he'd do in a tougher league though. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7. Fast Tips Buy young Pay around 1.5x the value of someone in the market It's always good to have good headerers. It makes you so much better on crosses or corners and now I found myself getting abou the same about of goals from the foot then off the head. Scout every player you want to buy and see if they would fit into your team Learn from your mistakes Recommend this FAQ to everyone you know Look at the out-of-contract list at the start of each season and you should find some real bargains Same as above but the loan list Take chances Try out all of your players and see how good they play. Some players play much better then they're overall suggests. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8. Conclusion I will be updating this FAQ where I see I need to. To contribute, please see me at the LMA Forums at Thanks to all who helped Mainly The LMA Board RubberGenius And and others. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9. Legal Bits This may be not be reproduced under any circumstances except for personal, private use. It may not be placed on any web site or otherwise distributed publicly without advance written permission. Use of this guide on any other web site or as a part of any public display is strictly prohibited, and a violation of copyright. Copyright 2004 Andrew Giorgi
