Personality Attributes
Each of the personality attributes is analysed below.
Ambition
Description: how much a player wants to achieve success.
Effects
A player with high Ambition is:
- More likely to have good training progression.
- More likely to want his manager to speak positively about the player’s or his team’s prospects; for example, during team meetings or pre-match press conferences.
- More likely to want to join a club that has a higher reputation or competes in a higher reputation league division.
- More likely to want a higher value contract.
- More likely to want his club to sign and keep high reputation players.
Management
High Ambition in your players has generally positive aspects. However, it can also have negative aspects and so it should be managed carefully.
Nonetheless, Ambition is a very useful personality attribute to look for when building a squad and selecting tutors, particularly if you manage a club that has a high reputation.
When speaking to or about a player who you believe has high Ambition it can be a good idea to speak positively about the player’s or your team’s prospects.
If many of the players in your squad have high Ambition (in which case your squad may have an ambitious squad personality) then it can also be a good idea to speak positively about your team’s prospects in the media and during team meetings.
You should be careful not to let the contract of a high ability, ambitious player, who may potentially want to join a bigger club, get too close to expiry before you try to renew his contract or try to sell him.
If a player tells you that he wants to join a bigger club but you want to keep him then it can be a good idea to tell him that you will sell him but only if another club meets your asking price, then set a high, but still realistic, asking price (say, three to four times his value) on his Transfer > Transfer Status screen. This is likely to discourage potential bidding clubs but if an offer is made that meets the asking price then it is advisable to keep your promise to the player and accept the offer. If successful, this enables you to either keep the player or receive good funds to reinvest in your squad (if the money is made available by the board).
However, you may still need to give a player with high Ambition a higher value contract in order to keep him happy, especially if some of his teammates have higher wages than him. Similarly, you may need to sign and retain higher reputation players to show him that the club matches his ambitions.
Controversy
Description: how outspoken a player is.
Effects
A player with high Controversy is:
- More likely to criticise his manager if he is unhappy with their management; for example, following a team talk or during a team meeting.
- More likely to oppose his manager’s opinion in his manager’s interactions with players and the media; for example, by refusing to tutor a young player.
Management
High Controversy in your players has purely negative aspects and so is very difficult to manage.
You may want to use less critical, demanding or disciplinary man management with a player who you believe has high Controversy to reduce the likelihood of him speaking out.
You may also want to avoid signing players who you believe have high Controversy and possibly even to consider selling any known high Controversy players already in your squad.
Loyalty
Description: how strong a player’s allegiance to his current club is.
Effects
A player with high Loyalty is:
- More likely to support his manager’s opinion in his manager’s interactions with players and the media; for example, by agreeing to tutor a young player.
- More likely to want to stay at his current club.
- More likely to accept a lower value contract at his current club than he might be able to get if he demanded it or joined another club.
- More likely to accept the player transfer decisions made by his club.
Management
High Loyalty in your players has purely positive aspects and so is very easy to manage.
If you are managing a club that has a low reputation or competes in a low reputation league division then it can be a particularly useful personality attribute to look for when building a squad.
Pressure
Description: how well a player copes with demanding situations.
Effects
A player with high Pressure is:
- Less likely to feel under pressure and display nervous body language before or during a demanding match scenario; for example, following positive comments on his team’s prospects that raise expectations, following pre-match comments on him, when a critical or demanding team talk is given, when he or his team are in poor form or when his team is challenging for honours or attempting to avoid relegation near the end of the season. This means that his match performance is less likely to be adversely affected by a negative mental state.
- Less likely to react anxiously to critical, demanding or disciplinary man management; for example, during a team talk, during a team meeting or during a private chat about his performance.
Management
High Pressure in your players has purely positive aspects and so is very easy to manage.
However, you may want to avoid commenting on a player in the media who you believe has low Pressure and use more sympathetic, relaxing or praising man management with him to reduce the likelihood of him reacting anxiously.
In addition, it is advisable to use more sympathetic, relaxing or praising team talks with any players who display nervous body language before or during a match.
Professionalism
Description: how good a players attitude is to his match performance, training performance and career.
Effects
A player with high Professionalism is:
- More likely to have good training progression.
- More likely to have a later natural decline.
- More likely to work hard in training and so less likely to complain that his individual training workload is too heavy.
- More likely to take a professional approach to his fitness – your physio may mention this on the player’s training report.
- More likely to display professional body language before, during and after a match. This means that his match performance is less likely to be adversely affected by a negative mental state; for example, complacency.
- More likely to react well to man management, even if it is critical, demanding or disciplinary; for example during a team talk, during a team meeting or during a private chat about his performance.
- More likely to support his manager’s opinion in his manager’s interactions with players and the media; for example, by agreeing to tutor a young player.
Management
High Professionalism in your players has purely positive aspects and so is very easy to manage.
Professionalism is probably the most beneficial of all the personality attributes, making it an excellent attribute to look for when building a squad and selecting tutors.
You can afford to give players who have high Professionalism heavier individual training workloads, subject to fitness remaining ok.
You can also afford to use more critical, demanding or disciplinary man management with such players.
Sportsmanship
Description: how ethical a player is.
Effects
A player with high Sportsmanship is:
- More likely to respect the opposition team during a match; for example, by not trying to fool the referee into giving his team a free kick or penalty, or by putting the ball out of play when an opposition player is injured. This means that his match performance is more likely to be ethical.
- More likely to support his manager’s opinion in his manager’s interactions with players and the media; for example, by agreeing to tutor a young player.
Management
High Sportsmanship in your players has essentially positive aspects and so is very easy to manage.
However, it can require slightly more effort from your team to succeed if they miss opportunities to unethically gain an advantage in matches.
Temperament
Description: how disciplined a player’s conduct is when events go against him.
Effects
A player with high Temperament is:
- Less likely to lose discipline or display frustrated or aggressive body language when match events go against him; for example, when his team is struggling, when refereeing decisions go against his team, when he is fouled by an opposition player or when a critical team talk is given. This means that his match performance is less likely to be adversely affected by a negative mental state.
- Less likely to react angrily to critical or disciplinary man management; for example, during a team talk, during a team meeting or during a private chat regarding his performance.
Management
High Temperament in your players has purely positive aspects and so is very easy to manage.
However, you may want to avoid criticising a player individually who you believe has low Temperament and instead use more sympathetic or encouraging man management with him.
In addition, it is advisable to use more calming team talks with any players who display frustrated or aggressive body language during a match.
