How Set Pieces work in FM24

The introduction of Set Piece Coaches and a refresh of the Set Piece Creator delivers you new and refreshed ways to create match-winning routines in every scenario.

New Backroom Staff Role

Set Piece Coaches are making their debut in FM24, and that will help power a refreshed Set Piece Creator.

Set Piece Coaches are now a specialised staff role. Consequently, there's a new Set Pieces attribute to every coach in the database that indicates their ability to train players in the tactical aspects of set pieces.

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However, the profile of a Set Piece Coach looks a bit different to those of other coaches.

Instead of a Scouting Knowledge panel on the right-hand side, you’ll now see their Set Piece preferences clearly indicated. These preferences cover everything from the sort of delivery style they prefer to how they like to set up defensively.



If you're lacking a Set Piece Coach at your club and you've got the space to hire one, you'll be encouraged to sign one in a Staff Meeting.

Set-Piece Flow

The refreshed Set Piece Creator marks a significant shift from the way set pieces worked in the past.

Now, the focus of every routine and scenario is on the players with the most appropriate Attributes instead of their positions in your tactic.

Your Set Piece Coach will present you with six key questions that focus on both your defensive and offensive preferences from dead ball situations.

The first question will ask you to indicate whether you want your team to defend with Zonal, Hybrid or Man Marking.



Each option will have its own contextual explanation and visualisation, as well as a tooltip that illustrates the key pros and cons of each approach.

There's also an indication of your Set Piece Coach’s preferred option.

From there, you’ll be asked further questions.


The second question will ask how you wish to defend from corners.



The third question will ask about how aggressively you want to counter-attack from your opponent’s set pieces.



The fourth question will ask if you want your takers to aim for the near post, far post or centre of the box.



The fifth question will ask about how many players to send forward during an attacking set piece situation.



The sixth and final question will ask if your preference is for inswinging or outswinging deliveries into the penalty area.

Smarter Routines

Your Set Piece coach will use the answers you provide to craft some initial corner and free kick routines for every scenario.

When these routines are created, you’ll now see that every set piece has specific roles attached to it.

For example, at a corner the key roles outside of the taker are:

• Aerial Threat
  
• Box Threat
  
• Recovery Defender
  
• Creators
  

Instead of you needing to manually assign instructions to specific positions, instructions are now automatically assigned by your backroom team to each of these four role categories.

For example, instead of saying that you want your right-side central defender to attack the far post, your biggest Aerial Threat will now be given that job.

Each role category is ranked from top to bottom, with the top instruction being assigned to your most suitable player on a matchday.



These rankings automatically update as you change team selection, formation or make substitutions, meaning that you'll no longer need to micromanage your setups every time something changes.

These player rankings are accompanied by a new Priority List, which allows you and your Set Piece Coach to determine which roles you think are the most important at each type of set piece.

If one of your players, based on their Attributes, is ranked number one in more than one role, they’ll be assigned to the one that’s positioned higher in the priority list.



There's also a new concept of Set Piece Familiarity to reflect the work your players do on each routine in training.

Having this greater understanding, as well as a smarter way of prioritising your threats, will help you to unlock opposition defences and better implement your set-piece philosophy.



When you want to add new attacking corner and free kick routines, you’ve got the choice of either duplicating the one initially created by your Set Piece Coach or selecting an alternative.

The addition of any new routines will trigger a pop up that allows you to indicate the frequency with which you use each one in matches, giving you another tool to optimise your attacking threats.

When reviewing your free kick routines, you'll notice some new instructions that better reflect the way teams approach them in real life.

These include one for defensive line height on wide free-kicks and a 'Wall if needed' instruction that allows goalkeepers to decide if they're necessary.

Revamped Throw-Ins

You’ll be asked by your Set Piece Coach to indicate how you want to tackle throw-ins in the defensive, middle and attacking third of the pitch.

The first two give you the option to 'retain possession' or 'work the line'.



For the attacking third you can choose to work the ball into the box or go straight for a long throw.



Once you’ve selected your preferences for each of the three areas of the pitch, your Set Piece Coach will generate routines in the same way they did with the corners and free kicks and your players will be automatically assigned roles based on their Attribute breakdowns.

Set-Piece Takers

Your set piece takers are all automatically assigned by your backroom team.

The takers themselves are ranked based on their relevant Attributes, while deliveries are now categorised by swing, rather than left or right side.

As such, instead of having to copy over your setup to both sides, you now only need to create a routine and it will apply to either side of the pitch, as long as you have a suitable-footed player in your takers list.



If you want your players to do outswingers from one side and inswingers from the other, you can do this by either setting a player as your 'designated specialist' from the takers menu which makes them take every corner or free kick, or by only selecting right or left-footed takers for that specific set piece.

Elsewhere, Penalties are now separated into their own tab.

There are two additional customisation options here, including one that allows you to change taker if your first-choice missed a penalty earlier in the game.

Delegate Responsibility

The routines your Set Piece Coach creates aren’t entirely set in stone and you’re empowered to edit, amend and customise them.

If you are happy with them though, this is where your Set Piece Coach can come into their own as you can delegate full responsibility for all aspects of set pieces in your career.

Should you want them to, they can handle everything in training and update the personnel and set piece takers lists as you make changes to your team selection and wider squad.

This means that your set piece routines will now be better aligned with your specific preferences.

Once they're set, you can be involved as much or as little as you want knowing that you've got the expertise and support of a specialist behind you.

Opposition Set Piece Report

Apart from the creation and development of your set piece routines, you can also get greater insight into the set-piece approach of your opponents.

There are some new visuals that illustrate how strong teams and individual players are at both attacking and defending set pieces.

There's also a new type of visual that will be useful for seeing where a team tends to aim their deliveries.

This insight enables you to work with your backroom team to evolve and adapt for every fixture.

Information Source: footballmanager.com

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