u/Entire-Reality5604

The fastest way to become ten times better at this game in a short period of time is actually to slow down.

If you want to learn defending properly, stop using defenders with 100 Defensive Awareness and 90+ Speed and Acceleration. Use weaker highlight cards instead, players with around 90 Defensive Awareness at most, and below 80 Speed and Acceleration.

Because now you can’t rely on recovery speed to save you every time you make a mistake. You’ll start focusing on positioning your defenders properly, anticipating through balls earlier, cutting passing lanes, and reading attacks before they happen. You know that if you rush out carelessly, it’s over. you can't enter a race with an attacker, the only way is to stop the attack before it even happens, So your own defensive awareness as a player improves much faster.

Same thing with midfielders. Use midfielders with lower passing stats. It forces you to build up play properly instead of spamming long lofted passes every time. You become more aware of positioning, body angles, weak foot usage, and choosing the safest and smartest passing option instead of forcing impossible passes all game.

For attackers, same idea. Use forwards with lower Attacking Awareness, lower Physical Contact, lower Speed, and lower Finishing. It sounds terrible, but it actually teaches you how to create chances correctly. You stop relying on broken mechanics or simply outrunning defenders. Instead, you learn how to build attacks patiently, create space, pick the best shooting angles, and take higher quality shots instead of throwing random haymakers with 95 Finishing players or Blitz Curlers.

spend a week like this then comeback to your main squad and you will feel like you have super powers now

you can make this learning phase fun by building themed squads, players from only one club or country...etc

For example, some people say Arteta’s Long Ball Counter is more defensive than Capello’s, or that Hansi Flick’s Possession has a higher defensive line and more aggressive pressing.

But if those differences were actually real, wouldn’t Konami advertise them as features? Players would spend way more on new managers instead of keeping older ones with the same playstyle.

So is this an actual hidden mechanic, or just placebo and confirmation bias from players?