What tactical mentality is in a football manager
Mentality is the team's tactical attitude: how much it risks to attack and how much it protects itself at the back. It runs from very defensive to very attacking.
Two teams with the same formation can play very differently depending on their attitude. One can sit in its own half, the other can go looking for the game from the first minute. In manager games that attitude is set with the mentality. An attacking one commits men forward and creates more chances but leaves space behind; a defensive one shuts the roads to your goal but attacks with fewer. The choice depends on the opponent, on home advantage and on what you need from the match.
In ELDT mentality has five levels: very defensive, defensive, balanced, attacking and very attacking. The match engine uses it to tilt the balance: the more attacking ones add attacking strength at the cost of defensive solidity, and the defensive ones the other way round.
You pick it in the line-up screen together with the formation, style, captain and set-piece takers, and you can save it in tactical templates to apply with one click before each match.
See it in the game: the manager's guide.
Related terms
More on Tactics
See also: online football manager · guides on the blog