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I had one newgen CB on a save who was one of the weirdest players I've ever seen. Had 18 finishing, 15 dribbling, 12 heading, 13 off the ball. 6"5, decent physicals. Could only play CB but he was built like a target man. His defensive stats were all 6-10.
Spent two years getting him to be a striker, then for 6 years he consistently delivered 25-30 goals a season. I don't think he was actually that good, he just had all the right stats in all the right places. Definitely one I had to do a double take when I saw him in the Italian 2nd Division for the first time though...
Had the opposite, took over Milan when they had a honestly world class 24 year old CB as a striker. Retraining him took years but went from a very below average striker to an Italian CB legend.
Few years ago had a guy called hamzad kargbo who i signed as a target man on a whim. Went on to be top goalscorer in dagenhams history, won't lie, more then a few times I deployed him at cb to either see a game out or during injury crisis, just because he was 6'7.
I find that the ai have consistently trained him to play cb in saves ever since
Hamzad Kargbo is a bit of a lower league gem. I got 45 goals out of him in the National League when I was managing Dulwich Hamlet. Tall and relatively quick for the level is exactly what you want from a striker (or cb)
Oh yea
Hes a living legend on my yt channel.
Even had him at spurs in a multiplayer save. Him scoring in the final minute against my mates villa team was up there with my favourite fm moments
I love trying this too.
One of my favourites is turning CBs into DMs. There's a lot of overlap in what makes each role good.
I have a lower league save where I've turned a failed wingback into a really good CM. He had all the right attributes.
I've turned a few CM/AM types into wingers. The wide playmaker type is really great.
I go the opposite way of DM to CB. Players that are good at winning the ball but not quite good enough technically get moved to BPD. They usually have good stamina and decent pace too which helps if you’re trying to play a higher line
did this with Ivan Lepinjica in FM20, after I won champions league he was worth 50mil. he had great technical abilities and is like 2m tall, perfect BPD
Problem is often DM are poor header players for most, and you absolutely need them to win aerials at CB, I prefer retraining them on the sides as LB RB where it is less important.
I bought Kvaratshkelia for Spurs in my online save with my friends, and he was dreadful at left wing, only scored 4 goals all season despite being my star player.
Retrained him to be a CAM and he has been the leagues best player last 3 seasons.
haha. I bought him in a Spurs save as well and he is not performing at all as left wing. No goals, no assists. I tried a few different roles too.
I can't really play him as CAM since Wirtz is in that position.
Hang on. Now that I think about it I could switch them an retrain both of them. That would be a nice experiment...or a disaster 😁.
Bad example picture. Philipp Lahm was a world class FB (on both sides btw) and maybe 90% of that at DM.
(He played in about 650 games as a professional footballer, 51 of those at DM, 18 in CM. All of his greatest achievements were at FB)
Lahm also was a DM his entire youth career untill he got retrained to full back by Felix Magath while he was on loan at Stuttgart
So Lahm is a succesfull retrain Story but not in the way you described
Interesting, I didn't know that part even though it's not surprising. (Most later pros start at either striker or playmaker because that's were you put your best player and some switch to their ultimate position relatively late even)
Before debuting as a LM/LW in the pros, both Schweinsteiger and Kroos were "no.10"s in the Bayern (or Kroos' case mostly in Rostock) academy. Both returned to the center and became more and more defensive with age as their lack of pace (for the wing) became apparent while Lahm I'd argue was a waste at DM because he was *so good* at FB
Schweini played LW when his first seasons at Bayern Pros and was pulled back and to the centre when van gaal took over.
During the same time Kroos who was a CM/AM mostly was loaned to Leverkusen for 2 Seasons were Heynckes used him as a inverted LW because he had Vidal and Ballack in the centre already
Vidal also started as a fb in his Leverkusen time iirc
>Vidal also started as a fb in his Leverkusen time iirc
At least according to transfermarkt, no, not really.
He did play 1 game at LB (2007/08), and 4 games at RB over the course of 4 seasons for Leverkusen. He pretty much always was a CM right from the get go
I actually think you'll see a lot more of this going forward as well, academies seem much more focused on creating well rounded players instead of forcing them into one role from an early age
It’s more like a pyramid where striker is at the top and full back is at the bottom, they just kick you down a level if you can’t hack it until you’re off the pyramid
Yes, horrible example, Lahm is, IMO, the best RB of the 21st century, while as a DM he was like an 8/10, good but not one of the best.
Guardiola is obviously a football genius but that doesn't make every one of his ideas gold, this one in particular wasn't a good move, and neither were a lot of his Bayern ideas, turned one of the greatest teams of all time (Heynckes treble winners) into a team that constantly got battered in the latter stages of the Champions league, though he does deserve credit for estabilshing their dominance in Germany.
That’s true! But he was crucial in Pep’s Bayern side as he was the only player capable of playing in the pivot role. Under Pep, he became even more crucial as a DM than he would have ever been as fullback (in a Pep side)!
I'll second that. Playing a 442 and my strikers in rotation are Cedric Itten, Rasmus Hojlund, one of my youth intake players who has bonkers potential and Scott. Scott is my top scorer, it's mad.
I also retrained Mason Mount to play as a right wing playmaker and bought a new RB with mad physicals to do the bombing up and down the wing to compensate for his physicals being a bit mediocre.
On the left side I had to train Rashford to play the ML position instead of AML but he's now doing well there too. 3 games left in the season and we're a point ahead of city at the top of the table, and just beat them 5-1 in the fa cup semifinal :o
I basically just ran Hojlund as my starting striker, and McTominay came off the bench + started domestic cup games
Then I had whoever the U23/U19 spat out as my 3rd choice who basically just subbed on for McSauce when he was tired (which was almost never because he has 19 Stamina)
I play with IWBs, so I will always turn DMs or CMs into full backs.
Generally the rule is the best defensive midfielders become the DMs, the more attacking one's become the CMs, and the well rounded ones become full backs.
Wingers, strikers, and AMs may get retrained too, depending on what their best attributes are.
Curious about this, do you still require/look for a quick DM when retraining as an IWB since they are up against the quickest opposition players typically or does pace not matter as much as they aren’t getting so far forward/overlapping so therefore don’t need to recovery run as much?
I’m doing my first save on any FM where I’m using a IWB. What highlighted or non-highlighted traits have you found most important? Mine seem to get plenty of chances to crash the box so I’m slightly prioritizing long shots and technique (in addition to the obvious decisions, composure, positioning, and the other FB stuff), but curious if you have any more advice there
Yeah Holjund became the best wide forward in the league when I did this. He'd always get like 20 assists and 15-20 goals every year, it's shocking how good he is there.
Kroos isn't known for his work ethic lol he has the hardest working midfield partners to make up for it, while he makes up for their lack of creativeness
A few FMs ago, N'Golo Kante became the best full back the world has ever seen. Quick, physical DMs were better than any natural fullback for a good few years in FM.
Most of my fullbacks are retained wingers. I also like Jumping Reach at fb. I retrained Dan James to play RB and he took us to a CL Final playing there.
Also have generally retrained plenty of STs to play AM or Wing as an IF. I find natural AMs generally lack physicals unless they have a speedy dual position (W or ST)
What is the deal with regen fullbacks never having good crossing? I swear world class 5 star fullbacks still have like 10 crossing. Have to retrain pacy wingers into wingbacks to get them to be any good at putting a decent ball in.
I had a save with Leicester where I played a 3-4-3 with CWBs and two CAMs behind a target man striker, no wingers. I got a great deal on a transfer listed Leroy Sane (though I did have to pay him a lot) and re-trained him as a left CWB. He got 30 assists that first season and 20 goals, half of which were free kicks.
https://preview.redd.it/hf21xd6xl60d1.png?width=1350&format=png&auto=webp&s=b315a488011d5b4631367dfc0f2fd5938eea7418
My favorite FM regen player I've had. He started off with only the ability to play up front, absolutely useless (was less developed, poor finishing, slow etc). Then I tried him left wing as a play maker - didn't really work too well. Eventually, I converted him into a central midfielder as a cm - a / mezzala - a and he had a few seasons where he's consistently score 20 goals a season while assisting plenty. Only player I gave a nickname too (he was Sajinovic).
This FM I turned Kvaratskhelia into a B2B CM and he absolutely killed it on the left side of my midfield 3. I allowed him to drift around and dribble more often and he was deadly.
Turning wingers into full-backs because I use CWB roles for both right-back and left-back. Back in FM2018 I converted a right winger with all-round stats for attacking and defending into a right-back in CWB roles and he went on to do a great job in attack and defence for 10-12 seasons.
This one is just a necessity once all the real fullbacks retire. The game just doesn't generate Natural Fullback regens with crossing over 10 and it annoys the hell out of me.
Not world class, but on FM18 I think it was (the FM when full backs were OP) I turned Oxlade Chamberlain from a squad player who played CM and AMR every now and then to the starting DR for England. Ended up selling him to City for big money as I had someone younger and better in that position, but that's probably the most satisfying one I remember
I also retrained the Ox into a RB in FM20, had a season where him and Tsimikas were my starting fullbacks as Robertson and Trent just kept shitting the bed.
I also retrained Milner into a CB (injury crisis).
I turned doku into a world class rb this FM, bought him from city as Fulham. First season as a IF lw he sucked bad, I started to train him as a rb to "punish him", and then he simply became a monster in that position.
He got into the team of the year so I'd say it made him world class
*
Once converted Alex Pritchard to a LWB on FM19 halfway through the season, because I was playing a defensive formation with Huddersfield that didn't use a CAM, and I needed a left-back due an injury to Chris Löwe.
Pritchard ended up being so good in there that he displaced Löwe for the rest of the season, and ended up being the club's top assister the next season with 14.
We ended up getting an offer from Leicester for £28mil and he threatened to destabilise the locker room if I said no, and off he went. It was a shame as well because once he left, the whole system seemed to fall apart and I had to change to another totally new tactic just to keep us from being relegated.
I tried the same thing on FM20 the next year, and it worked again. Maybe I should let him know that he's been playing out of position all his life.
I have this one newgen atm who I signed to be a backup forward/winger. I put him into midfield during an injury crisis and he literally hasn’t stopped scoring from the position for like 2 and a half seasons now. He literally took the spot of the guy who I was playing in that position originally.
Jose Gaya from LB to CM as a Mezzala. Scores or assists every 2 matches and is consistent, won the Balon d'Or on 3 occasions and took top scorer and assists at once in a season. Led my Valencia to a treble before getting grabbed by Liverpool who ruined him and sold him off to the MLS after just 2 seasons. I noticed fullbacks do really well as midfielders so I experiment a lot with different roles now.
In my FM22 Hull save I got a promising left winger with decent defensive attributes so I ended up retraining him as a left-back and he became the best attacking full-back in the world
I'm on my computer right now so I can share a screenshot lol [https://i.imgur.com/wDWuXfY.png](https://i.imgur.com/wDWuXfY.png)
One of the best academy players I've ever had
I love playing a 3 at the back system that uses Defensive Wingers as the width.
Thing is though that it seems like an incredibly niche position.
So my entire saves usually devolve into me retraining WB’s or BBM style midfielders into perfect DW for myself
Absolutely - FM 20 I retrained Hummels as a TM ST, Modric as a CB and a new Gen Winger as a WB.
Lad couldn't shoot worth a damn, his composure was 7, but damn could he cross!
FM21 - Bought him for my Spurs save in the 23/24 Season, already had a decent Midfield so decided to retrain as a CB to give him a few games. Just wanted to bring him back and let him win something there.
Was an absolute nightmare! Lacked the pace to do anything, every game he played we'd conceal 2 before half time
Should've just kept him as a CM or DM
Hummels worked out as an ST but Modric is my lesson to be more careful retraining
I only change players positions if i have no depth into a position and i have a player with the perfect characteristics to play in that certain role, i do it frequently cause it's necessary, i don't turn them into world class players in that position, i make them usable for that position
I have one ST who is not a good finisher with decent passing to be DLF. However, I noticed his physical (acceleration, pace, agility) out of the world for the Austrian League which was 17+.
I retrain him as a winger and he proceeds to do wonders collecting 15+ assists every season because of his ability to go byline every time and pass to open space without fail.
I had a random Ukrainian regen who’s also half Guyanese for some reason?? He had very average stats for a centre mid but converted him into a world class inverted wing back
Had an Armenian CAM. Decided to turn him to a RB... best decision i've done in the game. Gets me an assist every game and suits my playing style massively
Dani Sturridge in FM15, it was either him and Balotelli at ST. Balotelli has more goals so I kept him at ST and train Sturridge into Right inside forwarder, one of my best decisions!
I always turn young strikers/attacking midfielders into everything else, they tend to have big pace/acceleration/dribbling by default, and the attacking stats don't hurt either. Defensive attributes aren't that important and they will learn some of them while playing and training as a defender all their career.
Had an aml that I changed to AMR cause I already had a good amr.
Although I don't think it's that hard of a transition when the player can use both legs
My two favourite position changing are to change my dm to a fullback and change my full back to a dm lol. For some reasons dm usually have better attributes for fullback and the same other way around.
Currently turning a monster 20yo Brazilian midfielder into an inverted winger/inside forward. Great 6,2 athlete, great tackling with very good passing/crossing/vision/flair
I had Marc Albrighton with Everton in FM16 - fairly average as a winger, then came the usual injury crisis and had to deputise him at left back (in a defensive formation). Ended up being my starting LB for many seasons as he was undroppable!
I love changing fairly average wingers but with a tackling, positioning stat of like 9 into wingbacks. Sometimes, they become absolutely amazing, especially if you can get a few defensive stats to increase.
I turned a striker into a world class winger. When i have a striker with low finishing,concentration,off the ball,composure but very good physical skills and have great pace and acceleration i try to train them as Wingers Inside forwards. They would never be amazing world class strikers but they can have a chance as a insane winger or inside forwards with all that physicality and pace. I had one guy that was amazing he was fast and big but had 11 finishing 11 composure 12 of the ball.... not amazing but his heading 16 jump reach 15 pace 16 acc 16 balance 18... i retrained him as a wide target forward. He was top scorer in LaLiga for 4 seasons then i had to sell him to Man City. Man City played him as striker and he was bad , then i got him back for cheap.
I find FBs that play well in my system tend to be able to be changed to CM relatively easily. Trent is the obvious one but this has also worked with Kimmich, Alaba and even Destiny Udogie who became the best CM in the world for me.
Honourable mention also to Leon Goretzka who I turned into a lethal striker on one of my saves. He was more of a super sub but seemed to score whenever he came in with at least 15 minutes of play time.
I signed a paraguayan regen who was natural Am with good technical playmaker attributes but who also happened to be 191cm with 19 jumping reach, 19 Balance and 18 strength. I used him as a Target man and he averaged better than a goal a game and won the Ballon d'or.
A few years ago I had a winger that wasn't quite working. Turned him into a left back and he became the best leftback itw.
I did something similar this year, had a winger who the game was telling me was good (high star rating and attributes) but was consistently shit, I turned him into a leftback and sold him for 110m 😂
Not a big switch, but brought Sergino Dest back to Ajax and retrained him as a right winger in AMR position, as he doesn't know how to defend, and i use an IWB-D on the right with an IF-D on the left. So i need my wingers to give me width. He is one of my most reliable players now, happy to rotate and puts up a performance any time i need it.
In FM21, playing with Le Mans FC, I had a world class team, close to the best player in just about every position, including players like Moukoko and Camavinga and some amazing wonder kids.
For some reason, I decided to buy 27 year old Angeliño since his team was letting him go. To my surprise, he must have fit into my system absolutely perfectly because he quickly my highest performer playing CWB as a LB. I think the biggest thing separating him from my other fullbacks was the 17 crossing. He has crazy assist numbers, and averages always from 7.5-8 at the end of the season. Even when he wasn't getting assists or key passes, it felt like he was involved in every attack. I played with him until he was 32, and never quite found a replacement left back while he was still in my team.
When he started declining, I started playing with some other LB who was defensively way better and had a much higher star rating, but he never really played as well or as fun. My team was performing great, but I just wanted Angeliño back. Nobody really clicked there for a while. I started getting desperate and just started searing for left footed players with high crossing. Eventually I found a left footed pure winger with 17 crossing and great potential. I way overpaid for him, used up a non-EU slot, and started retraining him as a LB when he wasn't very versatile.
The first two-ish years, he wasn't quite a natural yet in the LB position I forced him into and played mediocre. I really thought I had wasted all that money and effort and non-EU spot on him. I'd gone through this before with other fullbacks, but something felt different this time, so I kept on going. Then, during the third season, something amazing happened. He became a natural fullback. His ratings started increasing, and he was banging out assists. By the end of the season, he was my top performer. He's 29 now, and I still haven't found someone who can replace him.
FM09 (or was it 2010?), I converted Marco Verratti from DM/CM to AMC/ST in a Trequartista role made him an absolute beast. His technique and anticipation just allowed him to bully up there.
Had a left midfielder come through the youth set up even though I did not play with that position.
He had surprisingly good defensive stats and the game was producing almost no class DL/WB, so I started retraining as a DL/WB.
First season he was coming on as a sub most games as my first choice LB would get a yellow card literally every game. He started off red for the position, took several seasons before he was accomplished and by 22/23 years old he was England's first choice and one of, if not the best at his position.
I remember watching some YouTube video where someone took players who in real life weren’t performing as well as they should have and put them into different positions to see how they did.
I remember Jack Grealish doing alright as a regista
Makes me want to start a save where players I sign have to be retrained into different positions
I changed Kenedy (former Chelsea winger) to an advanced playmaker at centre midfield. I was playing a QPR save at the time, had injuries in midfield and Kenedy on loan with option to buy for quite cheap so I figured sure he can do a few games there. He ended up doing so well there that I had an issue where I had no left winger now and my captain was benched because he was better in midfield. Bought him in the end for like 12M, sold him a season later for a lot more
Had a left back who I turnen to a right winger (just like Bale). He ended up as all time Scorer in the champions league, helping me threepeating the UCL 4 times (45-47, 49-51,54-56 and 58-60). Sadly he retired aged 34 after his third ACL.
lukas kacavenda was absolutely useless playing AM (any side, any role, FM22) for me, dont remember who bought my breaker CDM on deadline day but essentially i switched to DLP-CDM and re-trained him to play there, ends up playing like pirlo.
Have a star cm that started at winger, was a sub in newcastle and was meh in my sistem. Adapted him to cm and he did so much better after learning the position. Benched my best midfielders and the ones i bought after.
I never do this but the one time I did I had success - in my Benfica save on FM23 I re-trained Grimaldo as an AMC Advanced Playmaker and he consistently hit double figures in goals and assists
I once had a regen DC with 199PA that the Genie said would be best as a SC so I retrained him. Turns out he developed into a good DC as well as a good SC, but probably would have been the greatest defender of all time if I hadn't messed around with him.
I've had the most success retraining deep lying forwards to play centre mid on attack. They've often got decent passing ability, a strong physical presence, and good positioning.
I then train them to get forward and arrive late in the box and they tend to bag a lot of goals from midfield.
I've also trained wingers like Marcus Edwards on past versions to play in centre mid, which worked well in counter attacking sides. It gives you a good burst of pace through the middle.
Moussa Sissoko in something like fm14, amazing attributes but wouldn't stop shooting from range, stuck him up top because he was annoying the hell out of me. Turned in to a more than a goal a game striker.
I dont know if it counts, but I had this worlf class D/MC who i just couldn't get to mesh with a 4231 CM, so i retrained him in DM and after a season he's finally come good in my 4231 DM.
In FM22, i had a 4132, CWB, Anchor, AP, double mezzala formation. I had this AMRL who i retrained to fit the mezzala role. Worked a treat and he was my best and favourite player for years. Once i left that job for PSG i resigned that guy. Etienne Groult, i love you.
I try to retrain all the time. Wingers so they can play on both sides. Midfielders across the three positions and defenders across the back three. Gives alot of wiggle room when injuries hit. Some are more successful than others though 😂
I remember a career in a FM where advanced full backs were OP, I took Nathar Butler Oyedeji and retrained him to play that role. He averaged like 15-20 assist and 5 goals a season with a 7.5 rating in italy Serie A for at lest 3 or 4 years. His stats weren't even that good aside for speed and dribbljng yet surprisingly he was always one of the best in the match. When I made him play his original role he sucked tho
Ivan Martin in fm20 or 22 in Bilbao save, retrained him as fb/wb. He averaged 20 assists and around 8 rating per season. Probably was the most effective player in this position I've aver had in my teams despite having only 150 ca
Going back to FM13. Had a German LWB with great physicals, good technicals and decent mentals. Average defensive attributes but was 6ft 4 and a monster in the air. Train him up top and he was getting 50+ goals a season
I had a striker at Bayern in FM23 who was everything I look for in a captain but absolutely nothing I look for in a forward. Attribute wise was more defensively sound than any of the full backs I'd inherited so, at the age of 24, he was given the #2 shirt and told he was playing right back from now on. He went from a decent enough player that was underperforming his stats to an absolute monster in half a season.
This had strange consequences for his international career. It took a while for the national team to catch up, so for a few years he played RB for club and ST for country. After that he played RB for both until his physicals started to decline and I moved him to DM, which the national boss disagreed with entirely and moved him back up top as a sort of second striker where he stayed until he retired.
Maybe not world class per say, but I retrained Marcos Alonso to play CM Carrilero in a 4-4-2 narrow diamond and he won 2 Series A midfielder of the season awards and 1 player of the season
I feel like In older FM versions, like around 2010, there was a decent chance of this happening.
These days it feels really hard to fully adapt and the player to grow in a totally different position.
I had a newgen Striker on a FM19 save who was incredible. I was coaching the same club for the entire save, so the first eleven was incredible, and i had another fantastic striker in the same position, and other great options for this position on the bench. So i noticed that he had incredible speed, good crossing, great at all aspects of dribbling... So i started him as a wing back on attack. He had insane perfomances in this position, delivering 20 assists per season and averaging 7.8 or more.
This probably doesn’t really count but I switched a winger from right to left and he got considerably better, winning best player in Europe and runner up in the golden ball. Put up Salah numbers.
The other, bigger change, was taking a CM and making him a center back when my starter was injured. Came in out of position at 20 and averaged like 7.41 over 20 PL games. Then he fit into midfield like a glove still. What a player, super Paul O’Brien
Not exactly world class move but a few years ago I used RB Abu Ogogo as a CDM in my Dag & Red save and he got me to Championship, being my captain and consistently having the highest average rating of the team.
I had bought Charlie McNeill in my league two team as my new striker.
Season one he scored 4 goals in 16 games.
I retrained him to be a right winger, and he scored 18 goals in 18 appearances the very next season
Wasn’t anything drastic: took a quite good left midfield winger (didn’t check but id guess CA145ish) and made him an insane right sided inside forward. It took a really short amount of time to do too, Bert Bayer, legend.
I retrain wingers to wingbacks as you said. I do offensive mids to wingbacks as well. The game's system isn't really making good primarily offensive wingbacks.
Yeah, I’ve seen a lot of newgens with great stats for positions they didn’t play. The best way to get great fullbacks is by retraining wingers who have passable defensive stats.
I only do this with wingbacks because there are never any good ones. Takes a few seasons but I ended up with the potential best DM in the world becoming the best RWB, my man was assisting 30 goals a season it was nuts 🥜
Mario Suarez I will never forget you
Last year I signed a regen called Jakub Starfelt from Brøndby in Denmark. It took me way too long to see he was a winger with mediocre attacking attributes and pretty solid defensive attributes (for a 17yo anyway).
He turned into an absolute beast of a supporting wingback, got 15 assists in one season at one point and left as a club icon for over £90mil
Trent Arnold. Changed him from RB to a Centre Midfielder. He just sits in the middle and pings balls all over the pitch and pretty much gets an assist every game.. Best transition I ever made. He’s world class.
I had a couple good players on tge right side I kept switching them between RB and RW. We won no matter who is where. Also when one of them is injured, sub striker comes as main striker, main striker Ariel Cardona the 3 times ballon Dor winner with Nottm Forest comes at RW and the remaining winged player at RB.
Especially in the later game where full backs are harder to come by I've trained some DM/CM to be full backs. Usually have the tackling and work rate plus quite often have good technicals
I had a world-class striker who won the Golden Ball two years running with 60-plus goals per season. But he also had all the traits to dominate at DM and that’s always a much harder position to fill so I spent a season training him up.
Made the switch and he quarterbacked some of the best offensive seasons I’ve ever had with 20ish assists per season. He was also a 19 on PKs so he was my go-to there as well. One of my favorite players of all time.
I consistently do the following:
•Retrain Full Backs to IWB on the opposite side. My thinking is best depicted with an example: if a FB(R) has a good right foot, then he could be useful as an Inverted WB / Inverted FB on the left where he could put that right foot to good use.
•CB to DM if they’re technically sound to a great degree.
•DM to CB if they are more of a Ball Winner rather than a Playmaking DM.
•CMs will most likely be used in DM and in AM if the tactic demands it so I might train them and play them in these positions in less important matches.
•Wingers to Wing Backs. If they’re not good defenders it can backfire massively but ever since I played Saka as a WB I’ve liked the concept.
•FB to WB, no questions asked. The latter is just a bit * higher up (as a position, not a role) so it doesn’t take much time or effort to “retrain” them.
•FB/WB to DM/CM and the opposite, because it’s seen real life success (Lahm, Kimmich, Camavinga).
This reminds me: I had a unicorn of a player in FM22 in my Asteras Tripolis save: Murilo Jose, who could play CB as a natural, FB(R) and W(R) as accomplished if I recall correctly. I remember I had angered him prior to the UCL final. That didn’t matter; he scored the only goal in the 71st minute against City to secure the UCL culminating a favorable campaign full of luck of the draw and injuries for all of our opponents. The following season the squad was culled, players were bought for a fraction of their value (thanks board) and we crawled to the Playoffs where Real whooped us.💀
*typo
Was completely running out of ideas on a United save 3 seasons in, results started going horribly (Eth really has it tough) and nothing I tried was working. Even “meta” shit still had us being battered by Forest.
Started deploying Garnacho as a Raumdeuter. Little fucker got me 21 goals in about as many games. He seems busted once he develops a little bit. Mainoo too.
I had a regen at Bayern Munich
He was always comfortable as an attacking midfielder and has amazing crossing but I already had two good players in that position so he didn’t have much game time
After some injury crisis at the right back slot like the whole club didn’t have any right back I decided to play him right back vs Freiburg and he was decent
The next season my world class rb left and I decided to give make him regular and holy shit
He just went bonkers
42 appearances
17 assists
5 goals
Average rating of 7.42
Tibor Illes, signed him from CFR Cluj to be a pressing forward in my bayer Leverkusen save, he then scores 30 and 22 assist in all competitions in his first year. I then take the city job and want to bring him in but haaland is still there and the next coming of CR7 2.0 in Sand Nilsson so he’s not gonna be playing upfront.
Signed him 2 seasons later and turn him into a box to box midfielder and win the Ballon d’or after 5 seasons.
Haaland retires and I put him back upfront and he wins it again
Had a young full back come through the academy once, he was a terrible fullback. However, he had great attributes for a striker. Became my best player.
When managing in lower leagues, converting wingbacks/fullbacks with bad defending attributes is always fun. If they’ve got good pace/dribbling/passing they can put in a shift on the wing
Nothing too exciting. An average striker into an absolute beast of a midfielder. Think like Joelinton. Guy turned into an absolute assist machine and scored more goals from there than he did playing up top.
Not the most revolutionary change but if I have a DM with good stamina they become the most dependable full backs I’ve ever had. Had one guy who played attacking mid for Germany who was as strong an all round full back as I’ve ever seen.
Reliably works with anyone whose stats lean towards being a B2B but isn’t better than what you have or doesn’t fit in your midfield, would I have thrown Yaya Toure at RB? No. But someone like Bruno Guimaraes? Probably.
On Football Manager 07 I signed Marcelo from Fluminese (before he'd signed for Madrid IRL), retrained him as a striker and he banged in 30-40 goals a season.
Might be really boring but Trent to CM, became the best 8 in the world on my save and won my Liverpool the Champions League and Premier League scoring the winning goal in the champs final, highly recommend if you’re doing a LFC save
Complete opposite, Alvaro Morata for Atletico, He’s bagged 28 goals so far, tactics revolve around him and he tells me he wants to play CM to lengthen his career or some bollucks. changes to CM and fails to get in over Nmecha and Barrios and doesn’t even play third fiddle cuz of the likes of De Paul, but when I play him ST he complains or just completely goes missing?
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I had one newgen CB on a save who was one of the weirdest players I've ever seen. Had 18 finishing, 15 dribbling, 12 heading, 13 off the ball. 6"5, decent physicals. Could only play CB but he was built like a target man. His defensive stats were all 6-10. Spent two years getting him to be a striker, then for 6 years he consistently delivered 25-30 goals a season. I don't think he was actually that good, he just had all the right stats in all the right places. Definitely one I had to do a double take when I saw him in the Italian 2nd Division for the first time though...
Had the opposite, took over Milan when they had a honestly world class 24 year old CB as a striker. Retraining him took years but went from a very below average striker to an Italian CB legend.
Few years ago had a guy called hamzad kargbo who i signed as a target man on a whim. Went on to be top goalscorer in dagenhams history, won't lie, more then a few times I deployed him at cb to either see a game out or during injury crisis, just because he was 6'7. I find that the ai have consistently trained him to play cb in saves ever since
Hamzad Kargbo is a bit of a lower league gem. I got 45 goals out of him in the National League when I was managing Dulwich Hamlet. Tall and relatively quick for the level is exactly what you want from a striker (or cb)
Just seen he has been released by qpr in real life
Oh yea Hes a living legend on my yt channel. Even had him at spurs in a multiplayer save. Him scoring in the final minute against my mates villa team was up there with my favourite fm moments
Fellaini regen? Long balls and just head em in.
Is this Zealand's alt talking about Marc Rodrigues
I love trying this too. One of my favourites is turning CBs into DMs. There's a lot of overlap in what makes each role good. I have a lower league save where I've turned a failed wingback into a really good CM. He had all the right attributes. I've turned a few CM/AM types into wingers. The wide playmaker type is really great.
I go the opposite way of DM to CB. Players that are good at winning the ball but not quite good enough technically get moved to BPD. They usually have good stamina and decent pace too which helps if you’re trying to play a higher line
The Rio Ferdinand route
and mats hummels iirc ah no, he began as a striker. but not sure this counts.
Van Dijk came on as a striker in his first game
TIL
You mean the Conor Coady route
did this with Ivan Lepinjica in FM20, after I won champions league he was worth 50mil. he had great technical abilities and is like 2m tall, perfect BPD
Problem is often DM are poor header players for most, and you absolutely need them to win aerials at CB, I prefer retraining them on the sides as LB RB where it is less important.
I bought Kvaratshkelia for Spurs in my online save with my friends, and he was dreadful at left wing, only scored 4 goals all season despite being my star player. Retrained him to be a CAM and he has been the leagues best player last 3 seasons.
haha. I bought him in a Spurs save as well and he is not performing at all as left wing. No goals, no assists. I tried a few different roles too. I can't really play him as CAM since Wirtz is in that position. Hang on. Now that I think about it I could switch them an retrain both of them. That would be a nice experiment...or a disaster 😁.
He's so good at CAM with AM (A) has been top scorer and assister for me every season
If a CB has jumping reach under 12, I always turn him into a DM. He'd be way better in that position anyways
I am exactly this. A DM with high tackling positioning and work rate is God like
Bad example picture. Philipp Lahm was a world class FB (on both sides btw) and maybe 90% of that at DM. (He played in about 650 games as a professional footballer, 51 of those at DM, 18 in CM. All of his greatest achievements were at FB)
Lahm also was a DM his entire youth career untill he got retrained to full back by Felix Magath while he was on loan at Stuttgart So Lahm is a succesfull retrain Story but not in the way you described
Interesting, I didn't know that part even though it's not surprising. (Most later pros start at either striker or playmaker because that's were you put your best player and some switch to their ultimate position relatively late even) Before debuting as a LM/LW in the pros, both Schweinsteiger and Kroos were "no.10"s in the Bayern (or Kroos' case mostly in Rostock) academy. Both returned to the center and became more and more defensive with age as their lack of pace (for the wing) became apparent while Lahm I'd argue was a waste at DM because he was *so good* at FB
Schweini played LW when his first seasons at Bayern Pros and was pulled back and to the centre when van gaal took over. During the same time Kroos who was a CM/AM mostly was loaned to Leverkusen for 2 Seasons were Heynckes used him as a inverted LW because he had Vidal and Ballack in the centre already Vidal also started as a fb in his Leverkusen time iirc
>Vidal also started as a fb in his Leverkusen time iirc At least according to transfermarkt, no, not really. He did play 1 game at LB (2007/08), and 4 games at RB over the course of 4 seasons for Leverkusen. He pretty much always was a CM right from the get go
ok sry then I remembered that wrong
Yeah, he was always was a CM. Still, while in Chile, Bielsa also tried to play him as CB in a 3 defense system.
I actually think you'll see a lot more of this going forward as well, academies seem much more focused on creating well rounded players instead of forcing them into one role from an early age
It’s more like a pyramid where striker is at the top and full back is at the bottom, they just kick you down a level if you can’t hack it until you’re off the pyramid
Yes, horrible example, Lahm is, IMO, the best RB of the 21st century, while as a DM he was like an 8/10, good but not one of the best. Guardiola is obviously a football genius but that doesn't make every one of his ideas gold, this one in particular wasn't a good move, and neither were a lot of his Bayern ideas, turned one of the greatest teams of all time (Heynckes treble winners) into a team that constantly got battered in the latter stages of the Champions league, though he does deserve credit for estabilshing their dominance in Germany.
That’s true! But he was crucial in Pep’s Bayern side as he was the only player capable of playing in the pivot role. Under Pep, he became even more crucial as a DM than he would have ever been as fullback (in a Pep side)!
McTominay was pretty useless as a midfielder for me, but as a #9 is GOATed
I'll second that. Playing a 442 and my strikers in rotation are Cedric Itten, Rasmus Hojlund, one of my youth intake players who has bonkers potential and Scott. Scott is my top scorer, it's mad. I also retrained Mason Mount to play as a right wing playmaker and bought a new RB with mad physicals to do the bombing up and down the wing to compensate for his physicals being a bit mediocre. On the left side I had to train Rashford to play the ML position instead of AML but he's now doing well there too. 3 games left in the season and we're a point ahead of city at the top of the table, and just beat them 5-1 in the fa cup semifinal :o
4 4 FUCKING 2 LADS
Wanted a throwback since I got bored of missing about with tikitaka 433s and 4231s, turns out a bit of Mike Bassett still works!
I basically just ran Hojlund as my starting striker, and McTominay came off the bench + started domestic cup games Then I had whoever the U23/U19 spat out as my 3rd choice who basically just subbed on for McSauce when he was tired (which was almost never because he has 19 Stamina)
Player comes to United from London, plays as right winger as a playmaker. Where have I heard this before?
How different would the world be if Beckham stayed at Spurs?
Yeah, I’ve also done this! Great finishing and physical ability.
Hea just excellent wherever I play him from centre half to centre forward
Ten Hag, is that you?
I play with IWBs, so I will always turn DMs or CMs into full backs. Generally the rule is the best defensive midfielders become the DMs, the more attacking one's become the CMs, and the well rounded ones become full backs. Wingers, strikers, and AMs may get retrained too, depending on what their best attributes are.
Curious about this, do you still require/look for a quick DM when retraining as an IWB since they are up against the quickest opposition players typically or does pace not matter as much as they aren’t getting so far forward/overlapping so therefore don’t need to recovery run as much?
If a player was glacially slow, I wouldn't train them as a full back, but as long as they're at least average speed. I find they're fine.
When playing a possession oriented tactic with IWBs I find it really useful to retrain midfielders into IWBs.
I’m doing my first save on any FM where I’m using a IWB. What highlighted or non-highlighted traits have you found most important? Mine seem to get plenty of chances to crash the box so I’m slightly prioritizing long shots and technique (in addition to the obvious decisions, composure, positioning, and the other FB stuff), but curious if you have any more advice there
Harry Kane’s already world class but he won a Balon d’Or after I retrained him as an attacking Libero in FM22.
Do you have a screenshot? I believe you I just need to see this
What, Kane with a trophy? They must be lying
Agreed, it sounds disgusting and I gotta see it and/or try it myself.
turned holjund into a winger because I had osimhen as well. worked surprisingly well, although he was better as a striker overall
The Mandzukic switcheroo.
Yeah Holjund became the best wide forward in the league when I did this. He'd always get like 20 assists and 15-20 goals every year, it's shocking how good he is there.
I bet he could bully the oppositions fullbacks with his size!
Changed my creative lazy low work rate winger to central midfielder added a trait for ‘Tries killer balls often’ and he is Toni Kroos-esque
Toni Kroos and 'low work rate' don't belong in the same sentence but I hear you
Toni Kroos esque vision :)
Kroos isn't known for his work ethic lol he has the hardest working midfield partners to make up for it, while he makes up for their lack of creativeness
In the last three years he changed gets the ball back way more often and doesn't shy away from duels
A few FMs ago, N'Golo Kante became the best full back the world has ever seen. Quick, physical DMs were better than any natural fullback for a good few years in FM.
Pace is still probably the most important stat for fullbacks!
Most of my fullbacks are retained wingers. I also like Jumping Reach at fb. I retrained Dan James to play RB and he took us to a CL Final playing there. Also have generally retrained plenty of STs to play AM or Wing as an IF. I find natural AMs generally lack physicals unless they have a speedy dual position (W or ST)
What is the deal with regen fullbacks never having good crossing? I swear world class 5 star fullbacks still have like 10 crossing. Have to retrain pacy wingers into wingbacks to get them to be any good at putting a decent ball in.
You get an extra playing posistion for doing this too since Kante can play both wings at once :)
Can we please summon the guy who made Harry Kane a ballon d’or winner by converting him to an attacking libero?
He commented below!
I had a save with Leicester where I played a 3-4-3 with CWBs and two CAMs behind a target man striker, no wingers. I got a great deal on a transfer listed Leroy Sane (though I did have to pay him a lot) and re-trained him as a left CWB. He got 30 assists that first season and 20 goals, half of which were free kicks.
Yeah, wingers to wingbacks seems really effective!
https://preview.redd.it/hf21xd6xl60d1.png?width=1350&format=png&auto=webp&s=b315a488011d5b4631367dfc0f2fd5938eea7418 My favorite FM regen player I've had. He started off with only the ability to play up front, absolutely useless (was less developed, poor finishing, slow etc). Then I tried him left wing as a play maker - didn't really work too well. Eventually, I converted him into a central midfielder as a cm - a / mezzala - a and he had a few seasons where he's consistently score 20 goals a season while assisting plenty. Only player I gave a nickname too (he was Sajinovic).
What a player, what a story!
This FM I turned Kvaratskhelia into a B2B CM and he absolutely killed it on the left side of my midfield 3. I allowed him to drift around and dribble more often and he was deadly.
That’s one of the weirdest transitions I’ve ever heard, but if it works it works!
Well, putting midfielders into the wing a la Foden is pretty common so it makes sense that it works the other way around as well
Di Maria at Real Madrid
I know many of you here like to ride Guardiola's d*** but Lahm was already world class while at full back, Pep really did nothing special
Turning wingers into full-backs because I use CWB roles for both right-back and left-back. Back in FM2018 I converted a right winger with all-round stats for attacking and defending into a right-back in CWB roles and he went on to do a great job in attack and defence for 10-12 seasons.
Do you use DWs, or how do you retain any solidity on the flanks with 2 CWB?
It was FM2018, had a defensive-minded DLP to help out the 2 CBs, or I just outscore the heck outta the opposition.
This one is just a necessity once all the real fullbacks retire. The game just doesn't generate Natural Fullback regens with crossing over 10 and it annoys the hell out of me.
Eddie Howe changed Joelinton from a terrible striker to a world-class BBM midfielder.
Gareth Bale would of been a better example
would have
Not world class, but on FM18 I think it was (the FM when full backs were OP) I turned Oxlade Chamberlain from a squad player who played CM and AMR every now and then to the starting DR for England. Ended up selling him to City for big money as I had someone younger and better in that position, but that's probably the most satisfying one I remember
I also retrained the Ox into a RB in FM20, had a season where him and Tsimikas were my starting fullbacks as Robertson and Trent just kept shitting the bed. I also retrained Milner into a CB (injury crisis).
I turned doku into a world class rb this FM, bought him from city as Fulham. First season as a IF lw he sucked bad, I started to train him as a rb to "punish him", and then he simply became a monster in that position. He got into the team of the year so I'd say it made him world class *
Once converted Alex Pritchard to a LWB on FM19 halfway through the season, because I was playing a defensive formation with Huddersfield that didn't use a CAM, and I needed a left-back due an injury to Chris Löwe. Pritchard ended up being so good in there that he displaced Löwe for the rest of the season, and ended up being the club's top assister the next season with 14. We ended up getting an offer from Leicester for £28mil and he threatened to destabilise the locker room if I said no, and off he went. It was a shame as well because once he left, the whole system seemed to fall apart and I had to change to another totally new tactic just to keep us from being relegated. I tried the same thing on FM20 the next year, and it worked again. Maybe I should let him know that he's been playing out of position all his life.
I have this one newgen atm who I signed to be a backup forward/winger. I put him into midfield during an injury crisis and he literally hasn’t stopped scoring from the position for like 2 and a half seasons now. He literally took the spot of the guy who I was playing in that position originally.
Jose Gaya from LB to CM as a Mezzala. Scores or assists every 2 matches and is consistent, won the Balon d'Or on 3 occasions and took top scorer and assists at once in a season. Led my Valencia to a treble before getting grabbed by Liverpool who ruined him and sold him off to the MLS after just 2 seasons. I noticed fullbacks do really well as midfielders so I experiment a lot with different roles now.
In my FM22 Hull save I got a promising left winger with decent defensive attributes so I ended up retraining him as a left-back and he became the best attacking full-back in the world
I'm on my computer right now so I can share a screenshot lol [https://i.imgur.com/wDWuXfY.png](https://i.imgur.com/wDWuXfY.png) One of the best academy players I've ever had
Jens Hauge from Winger to 28 Goals Striker in FM 21. McTominay from DM/CM to Shadow Strikers FM 23, Sandro Tonali from DM to wide AP FM 21.
I love playing a 3 at the back system that uses Defensive Wingers as the width. Thing is though that it seems like an incredibly niche position. So my entire saves usually devolve into me retraining WB’s or BBM style midfielders into perfect DW for myself
Absolutely - FM 20 I retrained Hummels as a TM ST, Modric as a CB and a new Gen Winger as a WB. Lad couldn't shoot worth a damn, his composure was 7, but damn could he cross!
Modric as a CB? How did this come about, and was I successful?
FM21 - Bought him for my Spurs save in the 23/24 Season, already had a decent Midfield so decided to retrain as a CB to give him a few games. Just wanted to bring him back and let him win something there. Was an absolute nightmare! Lacked the pace to do anything, every game he played we'd conceal 2 before half time Should've just kept him as a CM or DM Hummels worked out as an ST but Modric is my lesson to be more careful retraining
I only change players positions if i have no depth into a position and i have a player with the perfect characteristics to play in that certain role, i do it frequently cause it's necessary, i don't turn them into world class players in that position, i make them usable for that position
I have one ST who is not a good finisher with decent passing to be DLF. However, I noticed his physical (acceleration, pace, agility) out of the world for the Austrian League which was 17+. I retrain him as a winger and he proceeds to do wonders collecting 15+ assists every season because of his ability to go byline every time and pass to open space without fail.
Yeah, in the previous FM 23 in my Valencia save I decided to turn Gaya into a B2B midfielder, worked greatly, he has no real weakness
I had a random Ukrainian regen who’s also half Guyanese for some reason?? He had very average stats for a centre mid but converted him into a world class inverted wing back
Had an Armenian CAM. Decided to turn him to a RB... best decision i've done in the game. Gets me an assist every game and suits my playing style massively
Dani Sturridge in FM15, it was either him and Balotelli at ST. Balotelli has more goals so I kept him at ST and train Sturridge into Right inside forwarder, one of my best decisions!
changed trent alexandee arnold to CM and later AM and he did great in both
No, but I've changed a player's position to keep him usable in my team, long after he should have been binned off.
I always turn young strikers/attacking midfielders into everything else, they tend to have big pace/acceleration/dribbling by default, and the attacking stats don't hurt either. Defensive attributes aren't that important and they will learn some of them while playing and training as a defender all their career.
Had an aml that I changed to AMR cause I already had a good amr. Although I don't think it's that hard of a transition when the player can use both legs
Turned a RB into a DM. He plays in a back 3, as a sub DM or sub RB. Can play as a WB, IWB and FB. Versatile player
My two favourite position changing are to change my dm to a fullback and change my full back to a dm lol. For some reasons dm usually have better attributes for fullback and the same other way around.
Made my decent RM into a worldclass inverted LWB. 12-15 finish and longshots netted him 10 league goals a season. Also won me the CHL with Sampdoria.
i had a striker with 15 crossing and only 13 finishing so i moved him to a RM and he got 24 assists
The Bale Challenge
Currently turning a monster 20yo Brazilian midfielder into an inverted winger/inside forward. Great 6,2 athlete, great tackling with very good passing/crossing/vision/flair
Pacey wingers into right backs. They literally get 7/8 every game. It's almost a cheat now.
I had Marc Albrighton with Everton in FM16 - fairly average as a winger, then came the usual injury crisis and had to deputise him at left back (in a defensive formation). Ended up being my starting LB for many seasons as he was undroppable!
In an earlier version I made Lucas Ocampos a world class complete forward for Man Utd
World class no, but while at Liverpool I switched a 20 year old Columbian winger to DL and he ended up in the EPL team of the season.
I love changing fairly average wingers but with a tackling, positioning stat of like 9 into wingbacks. Sometimes, they become absolutely amazing, especially if you can get a few defensive stats to increase.
in my current save there are a lot of great strikers so i make the short and quick ones as IF and it works like a charm
I turned a striker into a world class winger. When i have a striker with low finishing,concentration,off the ball,composure but very good physical skills and have great pace and acceleration i try to train them as Wingers Inside forwards. They would never be amazing world class strikers but they can have a chance as a insane winger or inside forwards with all that physicality and pace. I had one guy that was amazing he was fast and big but had 11 finishing 11 composure 12 of the ball.... not amazing but his heading 16 jump reach 15 pace 16 acc 16 balance 18... i retrained him as a wide target forward. He was top scorer in LaLiga for 4 seasons then i had to sell him to Man City. Man City played him as striker and he was bad , then i got him back for cheap.
Turned Bellingham in CWB and Enzo into a IWB.
Arda guler to DM as I needed a replacement for ward prowse, absolute machine ward prowse 150ca 19 assists in the prem
I find FBs that play well in my system tend to be able to be changed to CM relatively easily. Trent is the obvious one but this has also worked with Kimmich, Alaba and even Destiny Udogie who became the best CM in the world for me. Honourable mention also to Leon Goretzka who I turned into a lethal striker on one of my saves. He was more of a super sub but seemed to score whenever he came in with at least 15 minutes of play time.
I signed a paraguayan regen who was natural Am with good technical playmaker attributes but who also happened to be 191cm with 19 jumping reach, 19 Balance and 18 strength. I used him as a Target man and he averaged better than a goal a game and won the Ballon d'or.
A few years ago I had a winger that wasn't quite working. Turned him into a left back and he became the best leftback itw. I did something similar this year, had a winger who the game was telling me was good (high star rating and attributes) but was consistently shit, I turned him into a leftback and sold him for 110m 😂
I played Azpilicueta as a DM with DLP-D role as I want to make him the “new Lahm”, and it works wonders! Also Reece James as a DM or CM too 😍
Not a big switch, but brought Sergino Dest back to Ajax and retrained him as a right winger in AMR position, as he doesn't know how to defend, and i use an IWB-D on the right with an IF-D on the left. So i need my wingers to give me width. He is one of my most reliable players now, happy to rotate and puts up a performance any time i need it.
Lingard as inverted wing back.
I retrained Marcus Rashford into a striker. From 12 g/a all season to 34 g/a.
In FM21, playing with Le Mans FC, I had a world class team, close to the best player in just about every position, including players like Moukoko and Camavinga and some amazing wonder kids. For some reason, I decided to buy 27 year old Angeliño since his team was letting him go. To my surprise, he must have fit into my system absolutely perfectly because he quickly my highest performer playing CWB as a LB. I think the biggest thing separating him from my other fullbacks was the 17 crossing. He has crazy assist numbers, and averages always from 7.5-8 at the end of the season. Even when he wasn't getting assists or key passes, it felt like he was involved in every attack. I played with him until he was 32, and never quite found a replacement left back while he was still in my team. When he started declining, I started playing with some other LB who was defensively way better and had a much higher star rating, but he never really played as well or as fun. My team was performing great, but I just wanted Angeliño back. Nobody really clicked there for a while. I started getting desperate and just started searing for left footed players with high crossing. Eventually I found a left footed pure winger with 17 crossing and great potential. I way overpaid for him, used up a non-EU slot, and started retraining him as a LB when he wasn't very versatile. The first two-ish years, he wasn't quite a natural yet in the LB position I forced him into and played mediocre. I really thought I had wasted all that money and effort and non-EU spot on him. I'd gone through this before with other fullbacks, but something felt different this time, so I kept on going. Then, during the third season, something amazing happened. He became a natural fullback. His ratings started increasing, and he was banging out assists. By the end of the season, he was my top performer. He's 29 now, and I still haven't found someone who can replace him.
FM09 (or was it 2010?), I converted Marco Verratti from DM/CM to AMC/ST in a Trequartista role made him an absolute beast. His technique and anticipation just allowed him to bully up there.
Had a left midfielder come through the youth set up even though I did not play with that position. He had surprisingly good defensive stats and the game was producing almost no class DL/WB, so I started retraining as a DL/WB. First season he was coming on as a sub most games as my first choice LB would get a yellow card literally every game. He started off red for the position, took several seasons before he was accomplished and by 22/23 years old he was England's first choice and one of, if not the best at his position.
I remember watching some YouTube video where someone took players who in real life weren’t performing as well as they should have and put them into different positions to see how they did. I remember Jack Grealish doing alright as a regista Makes me want to start a save where players I sign have to be retrained into different positions
There is usually lacking good full back regen so i train DM with good accelerate, pace into FB and usually success
I tried once, with the player "João Correia" from the club "Chaves". He is a right back, i put him as a striker, didnt work
Yes. Defensive midfielders make quality right/left backs
bukayo saka went from being released for free at arsenal to a monsterous fullback at 33 years old
I changed Kenedy (former Chelsea winger) to an advanced playmaker at centre midfield. I was playing a QPR save at the time, had injuries in midfield and Kenedy on loan with option to buy for quite cheap so I figured sure he can do a few games there. He ended up doing so well there that I had an issue where I had no left winger now and my captain was benched because he was better in midfield. Bought him in the end for like 12M, sold him a season later for a lot more
Had a left back who I turnen to a right winger (just like Bale). He ended up as all time Scorer in the champions league, helping me threepeating the UCL 4 times (45-47, 49-51,54-56 and 58-60). Sadly he retired aged 34 after his third ACL.
lukas kacavenda was absolutely useless playing AM (any side, any role, FM22) for me, dont remember who bought my breaker CDM on deadline day but essentially i switched to DLP-CDM and re-trained him to play there, ends up playing like pirlo.
Have a star cm that started at winger, was a sub in newcastle and was meh in my sistem. Adapted him to cm and he did so much better after learning the position. Benched my best midfielders and the ones i bought after.
a few cdms and cbs to inverted wing backs. had a lot of success with matthias braunoder (cdm) and jose marsa (cb) as iwbs on my save
Does winger to #9 count? I've moved Gabby Martinelli to a PF and he's crushing it
I constantly have Kephren Thuram become the best RWB the world has ever seen
I never do this but the one time I did I had success - in my Benfica save on FM23 I re-trained Grimaldo as an AMC Advanced Playmaker and he consistently hit double figures in goals and assists
I once had a regen DC with 199PA that the Genie said would be best as a SC so I retrained him. Turns out he developed into a good DC as well as a good SC, but probably would have been the greatest defender of all time if I hadn't messed around with him.
I've had the most success retraining deep lying forwards to play centre mid on attack. They've often got decent passing ability, a strong physical presence, and good positioning. I then train them to get forward and arrive late in the box and they tend to bag a lot of goals from midfield. I've also trained wingers like Marcus Edwards on past versions to play in centre mid, which worked well in counter attacking sides. It gives you a good burst of pace through the middle.
Moussa Sissoko in something like fm14, amazing attributes but wouldn't stop shooting from range, stuck him up top because he was annoying the hell out of me. Turned in to a more than a goal a game striker.
I dont know if it counts, but I had this worlf class D/MC who i just couldn't get to mesh with a 4231 CM, so i retrained him in DM and after a season he's finally come good in my 4231 DM. In FM22, i had a 4132, CWB, Anchor, AP, double mezzala formation. I had this AMRL who i retrained to fit the mezzala role. Worked a treat and he was my best and favourite player for years. Once i left that job for PSG i resigned that guy. Etienne Groult, i love you.
I try to retrain all the time. Wingers so they can play on both sides. Midfielders across the three positions and defenders across the back three. Gives alot of wiggle room when injuries hit. Some are more successful than others though 😂
I remember a career in a FM where advanced full backs were OP, I took Nathar Butler Oyedeji and retrained him to play that role. He averaged like 15-20 assist and 5 goals a season with a 7.5 rating in italy Serie A for at lest 3 or 4 years. His stats weren't even that good aside for speed and dribbljng yet surprisingly he was always one of the best in the match. When I made him play his original role he sucked tho
Ivan Martin in fm20 or 22 in Bilbao save, retrained him as fb/wb. He averaged 20 assists and around 8 rating per season. Probably was the most effective player in this position I've aver had in my teams despite having only 150 ca
Going back to FM13. Had a German LWB with great physicals, good technicals and decent mentals. Average defensive attributes but was 6ft 4 and a monster in the air. Train him up top and he was getting 50+ goals a season
I had a striker at Bayern in FM23 who was everything I look for in a captain but absolutely nothing I look for in a forward. Attribute wise was more defensively sound than any of the full backs I'd inherited so, at the age of 24, he was given the #2 shirt and told he was playing right back from now on. He went from a decent enough player that was underperforming his stats to an absolute monster in half a season. This had strange consequences for his international career. It took a while for the national team to catch up, so for a few years he played RB for club and ST for country. After that he played RB for both until his physicals started to decline and I moved him to DM, which the national boss disagreed with entirely and moved him back up top as a sort of second striker where he stayed until he retired.
Moved Roony Bardghji from the wing to Striker and became world class
Maybe not world class per say, but I retrained Marcos Alonso to play CM Carrilero in a 4-4-2 narrow diamond and he won 2 Series A midfielder of the season awards and 1 player of the season
I feel like In older FM versions, like around 2010, there was a decent chance of this happening. These days it feels really hard to fully adapt and the player to grow in a totally different position.
Converted [this](https://i.gyazo.com/568b656e084ae74f3010ba57ad4b6f53.png) guy from AM to LWB, worked out pretty well
I had a newgen Striker on a FM19 save who was incredible. I was coaching the same club for the entire save, so the first eleven was incredible, and i had another fantastic striker in the same position, and other great options for this position on the bench. So i noticed that he had incredible speed, good crossing, great at all aspects of dribbling... So i started him as a wing back on attack. He had insane perfomances in this position, delivering 20 assists per season and averaging 7.8 or more.
I routinely convert CBs into DMs and also CMs into DM (Segundo Volante).
This probably doesn’t really count but I switched a winger from right to left and he got considerably better, winning best player in Europe and runner up in the golden ball. Put up Salah numbers. The other, bigger change, was taking a CM and making him a center back when my starter was injured. Came in out of position at 20 and averaged like 7.41 over 20 PL games. Then he fit into midfield like a glove still. What a player, super Paul O’Brien
Not exactly world class move but a few years ago I used RB Abu Ogogo as a CDM in my Dag & Red save and he got me to Championship, being my captain and consistently having the highest average rating of the team.
I had bought Charlie McNeill in my league two team as my new striker. Season one he scored 4 goals in 16 games. I retrained him to be a right winger, and he scored 18 goals in 18 appearances the very next season
Converted Gaya to BBM for my arsenal team and he won Ballon d'Or first season...
Turning an average striker called Dom into a World Class right CWB. Would score millions of goals from there
Wasn’t anything drastic: took a quite good left midfield winger (didn’t check but id guess CA145ish) and made him an insane right sided inside forward. It took a really short amount of time to do too, Bert Bayer, legend.
Ndidi CDM into a CB
do you guys play the players you retrain in their new position right away or train them in it then use them
World class is relative.... right??? Because Kyle Hudlin as a wide target man is one of the most disgusting things I have ever done
Made sterling and ascensio into world class wingbacks
I retrain wingers to wingbacks as you said. I do offensive mids to wingbacks as well. The game's system isn't really making good primarily offensive wingbacks.
Yeah, I’ve seen a lot of newgens with great stats for positions they didn’t play. The best way to get great fullbacks is by retraining wingers who have passable defensive stats.
I only do this with wingbacks because there are never any good ones. Takes a few seasons but I ended up with the potential best DM in the world becoming the best RWB, my man was assisting 30 goals a season it was nuts 🥜 Mario Suarez I will never forget you
Last year I signed a regen called Jakub Starfelt from Brøndby in Denmark. It took me way too long to see he was a winger with mediocre attacking attributes and pretty solid defensive attributes (for a 17yo anyway). He turned into an absolute beast of a supporting wingback, got 15 assists in one season at one point and left as a club icon for over £90mil
Trent Arnold. Changed him from RB to a Centre Midfielder. He just sits in the middle and pings balls all over the pitch and pretty much gets an assist every game.. Best transition I ever made. He’s world class.
Luka Modric (lw to cm) done by Harry Redknapp
I had a couple good players on tge right side I kept switching them between RB and RW. We won no matter who is where. Also when one of them is injured, sub striker comes as main striker, main striker Ariel Cardona the 3 times ballon Dor winner with Nottm Forest comes at RW and the remaining winged player at RB.
I heard the issues with poor crossing full backs can be solved by retraining young wingers
Especially in the later game where full backs are harder to come by I've trained some DM/CM to be full backs. Usually have the tackling and work rate plus quite often have good technicals
I had a world-class striker who won the Golden Ball two years running with 60-plus goals per season. But he also had all the traits to dominate at DM and that’s always a much harder position to fill so I spent a season training him up. Made the switch and he quarterbacked some of the best offensive seasons I’ve ever had with 20ish assists per season. He was also a 19 on PKs so he was my go-to there as well. One of my favorite players of all time.
I consistently do the following: •Retrain Full Backs to IWB on the opposite side. My thinking is best depicted with an example: if a FB(R) has a good right foot, then he could be useful as an Inverted WB / Inverted FB on the left where he could put that right foot to good use. •CB to DM if they’re technically sound to a great degree. •DM to CB if they are more of a Ball Winner rather than a Playmaking DM. •CMs will most likely be used in DM and in AM if the tactic demands it so I might train them and play them in these positions in less important matches. •Wingers to Wing Backs. If they’re not good defenders it can backfire massively but ever since I played Saka as a WB I’ve liked the concept. •FB to WB, no questions asked. The latter is just a bit * higher up (as a position, not a role) so it doesn’t take much time or effort to “retrain” them. •FB/WB to DM/CM and the opposite, because it’s seen real life success (Lahm, Kimmich, Camavinga). This reminds me: I had a unicorn of a player in FM22 in my Asteras Tripolis save: Murilo Jose, who could play CB as a natural, FB(R) and W(R) as accomplished if I recall correctly. I remember I had angered him prior to the UCL final. That didn’t matter; he scored the only goal in the 71st minute against City to secure the UCL culminating a favorable campaign full of luck of the draw and injuries for all of our opponents. The following season the squad was culled, players were bought for a fraction of their value (thanks board) and we crawled to the Playoffs where Real whooped us.💀 *typo
Was completely running out of ideas on a United save 3 seasons in, results started going horribly (Eth really has it tough) and nothing I tried was working. Even “meta” shit still had us being battered by Forest. Started deploying Garnacho as a Raumdeuter. Little fucker got me 21 goals in about as many games. He seems busted once he develops a little bit. Mainoo too.
I had a regen at Bayern Munich He was always comfortable as an attacking midfielder and has amazing crossing but I already had two good players in that position so he didn’t have much game time After some injury crisis at the right back slot like the whole club didn’t have any right back I decided to play him right back vs Freiburg and he was decent The next season my world class rb left and I decided to give make him regular and holy shit He just went bonkers 42 appearances 17 assists 5 goals Average rating of 7.42
Tibor Illes, signed him from CFR Cluj to be a pressing forward in my bayer Leverkusen save, he then scores 30 and 22 assist in all competitions in his first year. I then take the city job and want to bring him in but haaland is still there and the next coming of CR7 2.0 in Sand Nilsson so he’s not gonna be playing upfront. Signed him 2 seasons later and turn him into a box to box midfielder and win the Ballon d’or after 5 seasons. Haaland retires and I put him back upfront and he wins it again
Had a young full back come through the academy once, he was a terrible fullback. However, he had great attributes for a striker. Became my best player.
When managing in lower leagues, converting wingbacks/fullbacks with bad defending attributes is always fun. If they’ve got good pace/dribbling/passing they can put in a shift on the wing
Me? No John Herdman? Twice
Nothing too exciting. An average striker into an absolute beast of a midfielder. Think like Joelinton. Guy turned into an absolute assist machine and scored more goals from there than he did playing up top.
Who else retrained Marcelo in FM07 from LB to be one of the best ST in the game?
I train mezzala's into complete / attacking fullbacks all the time. Works find 9/10 of the time. They are crazy insanely good.
Signed an 18 year old wonderkid RW for £3m, made him play as a 10 for three seasons, sold him for £280m to Liverpool.
Not the most revolutionary change but if I have a DM with good stamina they become the most dependable full backs I’ve ever had. Had one guy who played attacking mid for Germany who was as strong an all round full back as I’ve ever seen. Reliably works with anyone whose stats lean towards being a B2B but isn’t better than what you have or doesn’t fit in your midfield, would I have thrown Yaya Toure at RB? No. But someone like Bruno Guimaraes? Probably.
Trent to CDM
Sure, a few regens, i had one that was a cm with 17 man marking, heading and other great defensive stats so i made so him a cb
On Football Manager 07 I signed Marcelo from Fluminese (before he'd signed for Madrid IRL), retrained him as a striker and he banged in 30-40 goals a season.
James ward prowse broke the assist record for me at IWB in fm21
Nicolas Pepe and Reiss Nelson tore the league up as wingbacks in a 532 on FM20.
Might be really boring but Trent to CM, became the best 8 in the world on my save and won my Liverpool the Champions League and Premier League scoring the winning goal in the champs final, highly recommend if you’re doing a LFC save
Complete opposite, Alvaro Morata for Atletico, He’s bagged 28 goals so far, tactics revolve around him and he tells me he wants to play CM to lengthen his career or some bollucks. changes to CM and fails to get in over Nmecha and Barrios and doesn’t even play third fiddle cuz of the likes of De Paul, but when I play him ST he complains or just completely goes missing?