ZaZ FM - (English)

ZaZ

Hi, everyone!

I got region blocked before and could not post here anymore, but I want you guys to know this is one of the best communities of FM.

I will use this post to keep my updated stuff (tactics, training, set pieces, etc), and to discuss anything related to the game. I am always open to learn more, so feel free to let me know if you have any feedback about how to improve anything.

Training Schedules
The idea here is to have full days of rest after match days, to activate super-rest, and the training with focus on the most important attributes. Full rest in other days is to avoid injuries, because they are only rolled in days with training. Research says concentrating training reduces injuries compared to spreading the same sessions over the week. The compromise is that you lose 0.5% match sharpness for each day without training except the day after the match.

#1 Priority: Pace, Acceleration and Stamina
#2 Priority: Anticipation, Strength and Jumping Reach
Intensity: Double for good and excellent condition, no pitch or gym work below that.
Individual Training: Quickness and GK Shot Stopping

Growth: [Conditioning]x1 + [Light Conditioning]x1 + [Attacking Ball Work]x1. Maximum growth of important attributes.
Tactical Understanding A, B, C, and D: Same as Growth, plus tactical understanding training. Each version has two different of the eight tactical understanding sessions, so they must alternate to train everything.

Recommendation: Use Tactical Understanding until you reach 50% tactical effectiveness, then use Growth when above that threshold.

Tactical Effectiveness
According to some research from chinese players, tactical effectiveness is composed by 50% of tactical understanding, 10% of player ability, 25% of player buy in, and 15% of next match info. Tactical effectiveness has four components, each responsible for 12.5% of the total 50% score:

1. Player Tactical Ability, based on the median (not average) between Anticipation, Decisions, Composure, Concentration, and Versatility
2. Tactical Simplicity
3. Training Contribution
4. Match exposure

Match Exposure and Training Contribution decrease by 38 points each day, with a maximum of 10,000. It is not yet know how much is increased by training, but matches seem to give 300 points of Match Exposure.

The increase in win rate based on tactical effectiveness is presented below, against opponents with maximum tactical effectiveness. Credits to Harvestgreen22 and people from playgm forum.

0 → 20: Maximum profit zone, +15.3%
20 → 25: There is an increase but it is relatively small, +3.8%
25 → 30: Steady, no profit, +0%
30 → 40: Steady, no profit, -0.1%
40 → 50: There is a profit but it is relatively small, +3.1%
50 → 100: Profit is very low, +1.6%

As you can see, tactical effectiveness is very important up to 25, and has some slight benefit on the 50 range. You should be able to get 25 match effectiveness without even training tactical understanding, and in most cases it starts close to that when you load any tactic. Considering only match exposure, for example, a team plays around one match per week (52 matches). If they get 300 points per match, and lose 38 * 6 = 228 per week in days without match, that means match exposure will naturally reach maximum after 139 weeks, which is around two and a half seasons. That alone is 12.5% of the match effectiveness. Then you have all other factors, each contributing a little, even without training, allowing you to reach the 25 threshold very easily without any effort, or the 50 threshold with a little of training every month.

Special thanks to Harvestgreen22 for the research on influence of attributes on performance.

ZaZ

ChoreaW 发表于 2026-11-6 21:19
Hi ZaZ! I'd love to ask about your general approach when creating tactics. Do you build them based o ...

That is a complex question, but I guess it starts a bit with my background. I have education in computer science, with PhD in experimental algorithms (mathematical optimization, metaheuristics, and stuff like that). I also obviously love football, and I like to think about it as a multiobjective optimization problem. You have two complex systems with many variables, and they need to move those variables to create opportunities while denying opportunities to the opponent. To do that, they need to battle for space in the pitch, so I look to the field during matches trying to see what spaces are vulnerable to attack and to defend.

One thing I want to make clear is that I am not the type of person who thinks football should be played with high possession to be entertaining. What I see as entertaining is when my team creates many opportunities and suffers very little. It does not matter who holds the ball, what matters is who creates opportunities. The objective of a football match is not to control the game, it is to score more goals than your opponent.

That being said, when I create tactics what I look for is how my team will create opportunities, and how I am going to stop opportunities from the opponent. For that, I do a mix of computational tests to collect data (like GD, Points, goals from corners...), and simply playing the game to see where the opportunities are being created and where I am vulnerable. Those things guide where I should change for the next test. In short, no one can test everything because there are too many variables, so you need to try and move in the direction with the highest chance to improve the tactic, and you can only identify those things with experience (or luck).

There is also a third factor other than analysing data and playing. FM is a game, so understanding the engine can help you create better tactics. For example, many people believe players and the ball move freely on the pitch. Some believe that when a player passes or shoots the ball, other players will run to the ball and try to intercept, or do a tackle, something like that. In reality, the ball is always attached to an anchor (player, goal, out of bounds...), and the movement of the ball is merely cosmetic instead of based on physics. When a player passes the ball, the game already calculated what the defender will do, if he will hit or miss the tackle, if he will run to intercept, so the animations play after the decision is made, moving the ball to the next player and animating the defender with the action he made. That is why sometimes you see the ball teleporting during a shot to the hand of the goalkeeper to be deflected, or going through the goalkeeper when a goal is scored. In other words, the game is not based on physics, but it is a sequence of random events with animations.

Other than that, I also check what is working for other people, and when I think something makes sense, I test it on my tactics to see if it gives positive results. People use my tactic as inspiration all time, so it would be unfair if I was not allowed to try tweak of others in my tactics too.

I hope that answers the question, because it is hard to define a process since I am just enjoying the game, and not working on it.

liqinbest

lilizhimao 发表于 2026-11-6 18:27
nagezhanshuzuihaoyong？

笑死了，要么中文，要么英文，你这样人家想翻译都没办法翻译。
你故意的吧？

ZaZ

Player Attributes

Priority: Pace, Acceleration and Stamina are by far the most effective attributes, with a small edge to Pace. Get as much as you can.
Minimum requirements: 6-12 (depending on your league) in Work Rate, Anticipation, and Strength. These hurt a lot when below 6, but do not improve as much above 12.
Special: Jumping Reach (especially for defenders). This does not help much when below 6, but it is one of the most important attributes when above 12 (only below Pace, Acceleration, and Stamina).
Good to have: 6-12 (depending on your league) in Balance, Concentration and Natural Fitness. These hurt a bit when below 6, but not improve as much when above 12.

Example of ideal player

Pace: 12-20++
Acceleration: 12-20+
Stamina: 12-20+
Work Rate: 6-12
Anticipation: 6-18
Strength: 6-18
Jump Reach: 12-20*
Balance: 6-12
Concentration: 6-12
Natural Fitness: 6-12

+ Priority attributes, to get as high as possible

* Does not hurt much below 12, but helps a lot from 12 and up, especially for defenders.

This is the impact of each attribute when increased from 1 to 6 > 12 > 18.

Pace: 13.2 > 40.0 > 59.4
Acceleration: 12.6 > 34.0 > 48.1
Stamina: 11.8 > 29.4 > 43.4
Work Rate: 15.8 > 22.0 > 22.0
Anticipation: 11.0 > 19.8 > 24.6
Strength: 10.0 > 18.8 > 23.4
Jumping Reach: 5.8 > 18.0 > 33.4
Balance: 6.0 > 14.2 > 14.2
Concentration: 7.8 > 13.4 > 17.8
Natural Fitness: 8.6 > 12.6 > 15.5
Pressure: 13.6 > 15.6 > 20.8

Special thanks to Harvestgreen22 for the research on influence of attributes on performance.

ChoreaW

ZaZ 发表于 2026-11-6 21:58
That is a complex question, but I guess it starts a bit with my background. I have education in co ...

Thank you so much for taking the time to share such a detailed and insightful response! It's especially fascinating to me because I also have a computer science background (though in a different field).

I actually only started playing this series this August, and unfortunately, my very first entry was FM26—which had a rather rough reputation! Before this, I always found myself struggling to manually force the team to play the exact 'brand of football' I envisioned. But reading your perspective on optimization and learning how the engine runs on algorithmic sequences rather than physical simulation completely clicked for me. Treating it like a 'multi-parameter semi-black-box optimization problem' makes it feel so much more intuitive and familiar!

Most importantly, I love your mindset of just enjoying the game rather than treating it like work. Thanks again for your time, your insights, and everything you contribute to the community. Wishing you all the best with your FM27 saves!

(Note: This message was translated with the help of AI to make sure my thoughts are conveyed clearly. Thank you!)

圣剑遗失

呦呦鹿鸣07 发表于 2026-11-6 14:59
有几个加载不出来是为什么？

任意球的那个要加载所有套路，加载套路是看不到这个文件的

呦呦鹿鸣07

Is this viable for weaker sides?

呦呦鹿鸣07

有几个加载不出来是为什么？

呦呦鹿鸣07

ZaZ - Ace of Clubs 0.3.fmf 这个确实牛逼

wangshangan777

I have a question. When I load your first tactic patch, all tactical instructions under In Possession and Out of Possession are Balanced, without any tweaks.

26号队员

You are really ZAZ？

26号队员

圣剑遗失 发表于 2026-11-6 16:51
任意球的那个要加载所有套路，加载套路是看不到这个文件的

任意球战术是哪个？

蒙奇D1740

what's the differences between Training 1/2/3/4?  

lilizhimao

nagezhanshuzuihaoyong？

呆呆已呆

Welcome to the forum! Your tactics are amazing, great work. Hope you stick around and share more with us. The community here is really friendly.

ZackChen1102

请问这些战术适合手打吗？我都不跳过比赛的

ZaZ

I do not know how to multi-quote, so here I go:

1. Is this possible for weaker sides?
2. Why can't several of them load?
3. ZaZ - Ace of Clubs 0.3.fmf This is really awesome

1. Yes, I test my tactics in four teams predicted for the title, and four predicted last in the table, from four divisions in England.
2. For the training, you need to select the schedule after loading it. For set pieces, you need to choose "load all routines".
3. Thank you!

I have a question. When I load your first tactical patch, all tactical instructions under In Possession and Out of Possession are Balanced, without any tweaks.

That is odd. Is anyone else experiencing the same thing?

You are really ZAZ?

Yes. Not sure what I can do to confirm I am me, though. =)

what's the differences between Training 1/2/3/4?  

They are based on what I used in FM26 (credits to Harvestgreen22), which is basically 2x physical + 2x attack, plus each of them have 2 of the 8 sessions for tactical understanding. I divided in four so you can train all tactical understanding things without affecting much your attribute growth.

ZaZ

nagezhanshuzuihaoyong?

This translates here to "What is the best way to use nagezhanshu?", which I have no clue how to answer. =D

Welcome to the forum! Your tactics are amazing, great work. Hope you stick around and share more with us. The community here is really friendly.

Thank you for the kind words!

Are these tactics suitable for hand-to-hand combat? I don't skip any games

I am not used to the term "hand-to-hand combat" in FM. Does it mean multiplayer? Anyway, I think it is suitable for any form of play. It is a beta tactic, so there might be better tactics around, and definitely there will come better in the next weeks or months.

Isn't this the famous zaz? Whose tactics are you planning to copy this time?

I get surprised every time people call me famous, when I am not a streamer or anything like that. Anyway, not sure what you mean with copying tactic. If you mean I steal tactics from others, there is nothing I can do to prove my innocence. FM-Arena had the history of all tactics with dates they were posted, but unfortunately the place is down.

圣剑遗失

26号队员 发表于 2026-11-6 17:20
任意球战术是哪个？

set pieces

ChoreaW

Hi ZaZ! I'd love to ask about your general approach when creating tactics. Do you build them based on certain core tactical principles or structural blueprints?

I often try to meticulously shape my teams to mirror modern real-world football structures—such as transitioning into a 3-2-5 or 2-3-5 in possession, and dropping into a 4-4-2 or 5-4-1 out of possession (by carefully assigning roles and observing player positions across different phases of play). However, tactics I tweak this way often turn out to be quite unstable.

I'm curious how a top author like you balances structural aesthetics with engine stability?

(Note: This message was translated by AI, I hope it conveys my question clearly. Thank you very much!)

muxidebaobao

Is it necessary to give specific instructions at the start of each match?

ZaZ

muxidebaobao 发表于 2026-11-6 21:34
Is it necessary to give specific instructions at the start of each match?

No, but you can do changes to counter your opponent, like using "trap outside" when they create most of their chances through the middle.