Football Manager 2014 - Full Game Out Now!

[TroyF]

Originally Posted by Alan T

I'm Arsenal, playing primarily with Giroud up front. He just never seems to bury anything much. Seems to be a much better player for them this year in Real life than he has been for my FM team

I had great success with him when I started my career. Was my lead striker for 4 years. I had him set as a target man with Walcott on the right, Cazorla out left and Ozil in the center. Wilshire rotated in at all three spots, with Ox and Gnabry getting some time as well.

Grioud averaged something like 20 goals 12 assistst a season for those years and was a key player for me.

[Flame Eater]

I'm getting frustrated! FM12 - I kicked it's ass. FM13 - I held my own. FM14 - I can't get out of my own way!! I noticed with my most recent team: CAN'T FOLLOW INSTRUCTIONS? Clear to flanks - they piss the ball across the middle. Pass short - they boom balls the entire length of the field. I keep stopping matches to ensure I haven't accidently changed something. No, they're just stupid asses. The more I think, plan, analyze and scheme the more trouble I get into. Aaaaahhhhh!

[bhlloy]

I have found in this version, keeping it somewhat simple, putting your players in their best positions, playing to your obvious strengths and a couple key player instructions really pays dividends. I have a talented winger/inside forward and when I added the PI's "get further forward" and "dribble more" he started tearing it up and sparked a run of form that got us promoted. With the new interface that allows you to assign PI's to individual players rather than a position, it's even easier to do.

[bhlloy]

DOLA - I'd also add that clear to flanks and pass short are pretty conflicting instructions, so if you are seeing your defense panic and hoof it I wouldn't be too surprised. What division are you in?

[bhlloy]

Nice to see the bug where teams will endlessly bid the same amount for one of your players wasn't completely squashed - Derby have happily spent the entire half season so far bidding the exact same amount for one of my players. And no, assistant manager. Raising the amount I'm asking for him clearly won't deter them from offering again. I'm already asking 3x what they are bidding, and I'm scared to go any higher in case I piss him off and make him want to leave.

[bhlloy]

Another really weird thing, Cardiff and Villa both got relegated to the Championship last year, and since then they've started exchanging teams. Three transfers so far to each other (Mason, Marshall and Cowie to Villa and Delph, Sylla and Baker to Cardiff) with another one in the pipeline.

[SackAttack]

Dunno if these will show up in the thread or if you'll have to click them, but I thought this was funny.

Manager of Man City was asked about my confidence that our 16 point lead with ~10 to play will hold up. His response and a snapshot of the table are attached to this post.

Math is hard, mmkay.

[DaddyTorgo]

That's LOL worthy for sure!!!

[Flame Eater]

Originally Posted by bhlloy

DOLA - I'd also add that clear to flanks and pass short are pretty conflicting instructions, so if you are seeing your defense panic and hoof it I wouldn't be too surprised. What division are you in?

I'm playing in the Dutch Jupiler league. I've taken your KISS approach to team/player instructions, and I'm getting some results. Actually exceeded the "mid table" expectations last season and made it to the third round of the promotion/relegation playoffs. Signing some new, stronger players this season, and things are looking pretty good.

[flere-imsaho]

Maybe he was talking about next season?

[Flame Eater]

I got SACKED.........AGAIN! Make the playoffs they say. Season starts out with DWDDLL(meeting with the board) and D - SACKED. 4 points off a playoff spot, 7 games into a 38 game season? Really? Psht! Oh well. Off to Scotland to try and save Hearts!

[SackAttack]

Originally Posted by flere-imsaho

Maybe he was talking about next season?

Or maybe he figures, since he took over Man City in mid-season, that all that counts is since he was hired.

"What do you mean, the other 19 matches still stand?!"

[Grover]

Not sure how many of you (if any of you) who frequent these posts have been following along with my RB Leipzig dynasty.

We just finished our first year... and this is how.

[sovereignstar v2]

Looks about as hard as it was to play Napoli in Serie C in FM 2006.

[Grover]

Question for Marc!

Why don't penalty kicks losses count as losses in terms of the game counting an unbeaten streak. Is it because the team went the distance tied?

I am 53-6-1 as Leipzig in my current game, the one loss being in PKs in a Cup match. However, the game has just said we have gone unbeaten in 60.

[Marc Vaughan]

Originally Posted by Grover

Why don't penalty kicks losses count as losses in terms of the game counting an unbeaten streak. Is it because the team went the distance tied?

Thats basically it - losses are considered during 'normal time', in a similar manner its possible to go out of a cup on away goals and it isn't counted as a 'loss' despite having knocked you out of a competition.

[TroyF]

Originally Posted by SackAttack

Dunno if these will show up in the thread or if you'll have to click them, but I thought this was funny.

Manager of Man City was asked about my confidence that our 16 point lead with ~10 to play will hold up. His response and a snapshot of the table are attached to this post.

Math is hard, mmkay.

I put this in another thread about problems with sports games which use media. As much as I love FM, I know that if I have a big lead with 10 matches or less left, the quotes will get silly. My favorite was needing one point out of the final 5 games to clinch the title (had really already clinched with goal differential) One of the managers made a statement that my team didn't have the ability to go the distance and questioned my management skill.

Mourinho could get wasted drunk and wouldn't try to play that mind game.

[flere-imsaho]

Oh, I don't know about that. I'm not sure I'd put anything past Mourinho.

[DaddyTorgo]

As I just said to Foz

"Here I go again."

Keep in mind that I'm in the future (2019 now) so money has exploded.

So I ended up splashing out $86m (plus future fees that there's no way to see in summary) in 2017 on an 18 year old wonderkid ST. It's worked out hella well as he's now a starter for me and banging them in quite regularly.

Now I've fallen for another kid. 23 years old. MC. I managed to talk FC Porto down from $271m asking price to what is in total, $158m. $105m initial fee, and then two $20m clauses (over time, and one for 50 league appearances).

I already recouped roughly $50m in fees through selling a couple players (one of whom I bought for $1.8m and sold for $37m) this year, but still I'm having a hard time. Then again, I spent 3-4 real life days debating the ST before and that worked out okay.

I need a stud GK, but nobody's letting any of the younger ones go for anything short of like this price for a 27 year old. I'd rather go younger in that case.

I don't NEED a midfielder at this very moment, but Arturo Vidal is like 32, so I will within the next couple years, or to play in rotation. I could also get rid of my Japanese DMC (long story there) and probably turn a profit.

Anyways...need to agonize over this. Here's the kid.

[DaddyTorgo]

Dola

So I post that and then I start thinking maybe not. But that's the same thing that happened with the other kid who's turned into a bona-fide stud for me...so I dunno. We'll see.

Maybe I'll get RL-drunk so I can spend FM-$ this weekend.

[Grover]

Buy him. Spend all the dollars on him.

[cartman]

MAKE IT RAIN

[TroyF]

It's strange how FM is for me. When I play as Arsenal, I'm so stingy with the money. I'll have a 250 million dollar transfer budget and be like "You want 60 million for that world class winger, I dunno, let me think about it"

I take pride in winning the league while finishing in the bottom half in transfer spend. Why I'm so stingy I have no idea. I mean, my debts are paid off, my salary is in complete control, my transfer record is solid, what is causing me to flip over something less than 1/4 of my transfer budget?

I need professional help I think

[Grover]

Originally Posted by TroyF

It's strange how FM is for me. When I play as Arsenal, I'm so stingy with the money. I'll have a 250 million dollar transfer budget and be like "You want 60 million for that world class winger, I dunno, let me think about it"

I take pride in winning the league while finishing in the bottom half in transfer spend. Why I'm so stingy I have no idea. I mean, my debts are paid off, my salary is in complete control, my transfer record is solid, what is causing me to flip over something less than 1/4 of my transfer budget?

I need professional help I think

I'm generally the same way. I'd much rather find the player at 17-18, develop him myself for 2-3m rather than spend 20+ when he's 22-23 years old.

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by TroyF

It's strange how FM is for me. When I play as Arsenal, I'm so stingy with the money. I'll have a 250 million dollar transfer budget and be like "You want 60 million for that world class winger, I dunno, let me think about it"

I take pride in winning the league while finishing in the bottom half in transfer spend. Why I'm so stingy I have no idea. I mean, my debts are paid off, my salary is in complete control, my transfer record is solid, what is causing me to flip over something less than 1/4 of my transfer budget?

I need professional help I think

I'm typically the same. I have a general rule to spend roughly 30% of my transfer budget on U20 players (typically U18s) in order to keep feeding my youth system.

In fact I have 3 wing defenders who are youth players I picked up for like less than 2mil each who are pushing for first team places, and 3-4 STs who are the same.

Hell - in my FM2013 game I have an entire first team coming off back-to-back CL wins where the average squad age is like 24.

[Marmel]

Help!

So I am playing Classic mode and I cannot win, ever! For instance, I take over Newcastle and have a nice first year, finishing 6th place and Euro qualify. The next year I am barely above the drop line, rally late and finish 12th. Hot seat. The team is bought out, they double my wage budget and give me $60+M in transfer money. I go a little wild and upgrade a few positions, get some depth and once again, hovering around the drop line and I get fired.

Now, when I say I upgrade positions, I have to admit, I go entirely by star ratings, which I can't help but think is hurting me. Also, I don't know a thing about tactics. I basically looked up a good one to use for Newcastle and went with that. Later I realized in Classic mode, you can use any tactic at anytime and not be penalized, so I started switching around, usually going with what my scout says the opponent is most vulnerable to. Doesn't help.

So, any help on what I am doing wrong? I know I can highlight the attributes that are important to a particular position, but it is all sort of meaningless to me. Is a 13 in heading good enough? do I need an 18?

I've searched far and wide for a real basic beginners guide, but they all assume you have some soccer knowledge. I've bought this game for 3 seasons now, and love how it plays, I just don't get it.

So anyway, would anybody give me a team to play in the Premier league, tell me what their strengths are, and why they are strengths...what are the weaknesses and why are they weaknesses....what tactic to use and why? Why is this 3 star guy great and this other one is averaging a 6.5? Anything that explains why I should be doing something would be of tremendous help. I mean, I can read dynasties and help guides and it says to sign this guy and play this tactic, but that doesn't help me learn why.

[Blackadar]

Originally Posted by Marmel

Help!

So I am playing Classic mode and I cannot win, ever! For instance, I take over Newcastle and have a nice first year, finishing 6th place and Euro qualify. The next year I am barely above the drop line, rally late and finish 12th. Hot seat. The team is bought out, they double my wage budget and give me $60+M in transfer money. I go a little wild and upgrade a few positions, get some depth and once again, hovering around the drop line and I get fired.

Now, when I say I upgrade positions, I have to admit, I go entirely by star ratings, which I can't help but think is hurting me. Also, I don't know a thing about tactics. I basically looked up a good one to use for Newcastle and went with that. Later I realized in Classic mode, you can use any tactic at anytime and not be penalized, so I started switching around, usually going with what my scout says the opponent is most vulnerable to. Doesn't help.

So, any help on what I am doing wrong? I know I can highlight the attributes that are important to a particular position, but it is all sort of meaningless to me. Is a 13 in heading good enough? do I need an 18?

I've searched far and wide for a real basic beginners guide, but they all assume you have some soccer knowledge. I've bought this game for 3 seasons now, and love how it plays, I just don't get it.

So anyway, would anybody give me a team to play in the Premier league, tell me what their strengths are, and why they are strengths...what are the weaknesses and why are they weaknesses....what tactic to use and why? Why is this 3 star guy great and this other one is averaging a 6.5? Anything that explains why I should be doing something would be of tremendous help. I mean, I can read dynasties and help guides and it says to sign this guy and play this tactic, but that doesn't help me learn why.

I can't help you with any specifics and I don't even own 2014, but I may be able to provide you some advice overall.

First, I'd advise playing a lower level of a league. Blue Square in England or perhaps the Aussie league. In lower leagues, you can mainly concentrate on evaluating physical abilities and finding free guys. The clubs tend to be more lenient and the overall game is easier. Guys who can run fast and are strong will tend to do well against guys who are slightly superior technically but woefully inadequate physically. Especially if you have a really fast forward and play a lot of balls over the top of the defense. That's the easiest way to excel in the lower leagues.

Now if you're determined to play with the big boys, the first thing you do is either pick a tactic to fit your team or you build a team around your tactic. Personally, I find it easier to do the latter than the former. So in FM 2012 I found and downloaded a 4-2-1-3 tactic. 4 guys back, 3 guys forward and 3 midfielders staggered around. The ball was funneled through the DMC and one other midfielder while the other went forward on the attack.

Ok, so what do I need? Let's look at it from a positional group.

From a defensive standpoint, my guys don't need to play forward much or advance on the sides. So I'm looking for guys to get the ball and punch it back up with accuracy to the DMC. That's it. So I don't need guys who are great dribblers or are particularly dynamic, but I do need guys who are mainly defenders who can pass. Marking, defending, heading are also good characteristics. Now if I had my DR and DLs pushing up, then I might need those guys to be better dribblers, have better positional awareness so they don't get caught too far forward and are better at crossing but perhaps aren't as good passing. Follow me so far?

The key to making my formation work is in the midfield, where I'll often be outnumbered. The DMC MUST be able to start the attack and will be covering a lot of ground. That means I need a guy who can pass, knows where his teammates are and has a great work rate. He doesn't have to be a top notch defender. The LMC is the guy who bridges my defense and attack. As such, I need a great passer and I tend to select this guy as the guy who can take free kicks, throw ins and other set pieces. Don't underestimate the value of having a set piece specialist on your team. Mine is that LMC position because the guy is just the conduit in the chain on my attack and not all that important. However, the MC pushes forward on the attack, so he is absolutely the most dynamic and important piece on the pitch. This guy has to be "The Man", otherwise the whole attack shuts down. I need a guy who is the absolute best at this position, who can fly by his defender, create the attack and just otherwise dominate everyone who comes his way. As such, I've paid huge amounts to get the right guy and I'll keep paying him because he can pass, take long shots, dribble and is creative. He doesn't have to be an exceptional defender, but man does he have to be a wizard at getting the offense moving. Not only do I have a monster at this position, but I also need an awesome backup who can fill in if he's injured. The position is that critical.

So now we come to my 3 forwards up front. The guy in the center is easy - just need a finisher. He's going to get a lot of chances and it helps if he's strong so people can't knock him out of position. The guys on either side need to be able to cross the ball, dribble a bit and be able to use their left/right foot. I tend to pass short rather than long, so my guys don't need top-notch heading skill. We work the ball in with our feet and fire at close range, using our superior numbers (4 guys including the midfielder) on the attack to create problems.

Knowing all this, my Birmingham City team not only advanced to the Premier league, but has now won it SEVEN straight times. The last year we were undefeated. We've won the every major world competition at least 3 times. I'm considered the "best manager of all time", beating out Sir Alex. I have over $200m in the transfer fund that I don't even need and a stocked reserves team that's won the reserves title 4 years running. The trick was to get that tactic, understand what each position on the field is trying to do and then going out and finding the players to do it.

So when you're asking a question like "is 13 in heading enough or do I need 18", it depends on what you're trying to do on the pitch. Do you have midfielders crossing it in from wide and a lot of over-the-top long balls? Then a high heading stat is a MUST for your target man and 13 is woefully inadequate. Go find a tall guy with a heading skill of 18 and you'll probably double your goal output. But are you working the ball through the center on the ground? Then 13 is fine, but make sure you have a guy who can really finish and won't get knocked around.

I hope that helped.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

I do think the previous advice I got in this thread about keeping expectations low even in the interview process was great advice. This version of the game is far less forgiving from a hire/fire standpoint.

[Ajaxab]

Wow, managing in Brazil is a slog of a season. A 19 game State league and then a 38 game national league all mixed in with the Copa do Brasil and the potential South American competitions, the Copa Sud America and Copa Libertadores. Is there a nation in the game with a league that has more games? It's almost enough to move one to resign after one year.

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by Blackadar

I can't help you with any specifics and I don't even own 2014, but I may be able to provide you some advice overall.

First, I'd advise playing a lower level of a league. Blue Square in England or perhaps the Aussie league. In lower leagues, you can mainly concentrate on evaluating physical abilities and finding free guys. The clubs tend to be more lenient and the overall game is easier. Guys who can run fast and are strong will tend to do well against guys who are slightly superior technically but woefully inadequate physically. Especially if you have a really fast forward and play a lot of balls over the top of the defense. That's the easiest way to excel in the lower leagues.

Now if you're determined to play with the big boys, the first thing you do is either pick a tactic to fit your team or you build a team around your tactic. Personally, I find it easier to do the latter than the former. So in FM 2012 I found and downloaded a 4-2-1-3 tactic. 4 guys back, 3 guys forward and 3 midfielders staggered around. The ball was funneled through the DMC and one other midfielder while the other went forward on the attack.

Ok, so what do I need? Let's look at it from a positional group.

From a defensive standpoint, my guys don't need to play forward much or advance on the sides. So I'm looking for guys to get the ball and punch it back up with accuracy to the DMC. That's it. So I don't need guys who are great dribblers or are particularly dynamic, but I do need guys who are mainly defenders who can pass. Marking, defending, heading are also good characteristics. Now if I had my DR and DLs pushing up, then I might need those guys to be better dribblers, have better positional awareness so they don't get caught too far forward and are better at crossing but perhaps aren't as good passing. Follow me so far?

The key to making my formation work is in the midfield, where I'll often be outnumbered. The DMC MUST be able to start the attack and will be covering a lot of ground. That means I need a guy who can pass, knows where his teammates are and has a great work rate. He doesn't have to be a top notch defender. The LMC is the guy who bridges my defense and attack. As such, I need a great passer and I tend to select this guy as the guy who can take free kicks, throw ins and other set pieces. Don't underestimate the value of having a set piece specialist on your team. Mine is that LMC position because the guy is just the conduit in the chain on my attack and not all that important. However, the MC pushes forward on the attack, so he is absolutely the most dynamic and important piece on the pitch. This guy has to be "The Man", otherwise the whole attack shuts down. I need a guy who is the absolute best at this position, who can fly by his defender, create the attack and just otherwise dominate everyone who comes his way. As such, I've paid huge amounts to get the right guy and I'll keep paying him because he can pass, take long shots, dribble and is creative. He doesn't have to be an exceptional defender, but man does he have to be a wizard at getting the offense moving. Not only do I have a monster at this position, but I also need an awesome backup who can fill in if he's injured. The position is that critical.

So now we come to my 3 forwards up front. The guy in the center is easy - just need a finisher. He's going to get a lot of chances and it helps if he's strong so people can't knock him out of position. The guys on either side need to be able to cross the ball, dribble a bit and be able to use their left/right foot. I tend to pass short rather than long, so my guys don't need top-notch heading skill. We work the ball in with our feet and fire at close range, using our superior numbers (4 guys including the midfielder) on the attack to create problems.

Knowing all this, my Birmingham City team not only advanced to the Premier league, but has now won it SEVEN straight times. The last year we were undefeated. We've won the every major world competition at least 3 times. I'm considered the "best manager of all time", beating out Sir Alex. I have over $200m in the transfer fund that I don't even need and a stocked reserves team that's won the reserves title 4 years running. The trick was to get that tactic, understand what each position on the field is trying to do and then going out and finding the players to do it.

So when you're asking a question like "is 13 in heading enough or do I need 18", it depends on what you're trying to do on the pitch. Do you have midfielders crossing it in from wide and a lot of over-the-top long balls? Then a high heading stat is a MUST for your target man and 13 is woefully inadequate. Go find a tall guy with a heading skill of 18 and you'll probably double your goal output. But are you working the ball through the center on the ground? Then 13 is fine, but make sure you have a guy who can really finish and won't get knocked around.

I hope that helped.

This is all great advice.

I think the issue may lie in downloading a complicated tactic, or in not understanding what the tactic you're trying to play needs if you're not familiar with the game. If you download a tactic then odds are it's going to require a certain type of player to get the most out of it.

So I guess the first question is: What style of football do you want your team to play?

And that's where lower leagues are easier - you can focus on being physically better, on pace and work rate and tend to do fine.

If you want to play higher leagues though, my advice would be something like this:

1) Pick a team
2) Look at where that team's strengths are. Use the Team Depth Chart for a quick snapshot of where you have the players with the highest star rating to get a sense for "is my team strong in attack, in midfield or defense?" You can even find out how your team stacks up versus other teams in the division in things like pace/skill/etc on one of those pages (I don't have it open but will edit with where that is when I get home).
3) Once you figure out where on the pitch you're strong, look at those individual players that were identified by the assistant manager. Look at what their individual strengths are (heading, passing, crossing, finishing, whatever).
4) Now pick a standard tactic from the standard tactics list that is designed to highlight your best players. If you have a guy who's a 4-star AMC then you should be playing a tactic with an AMC. If you don't have anyone good at playing as an AMC then don't pick a formation with one. Same with wingers, defensive midfielders, etc.
5) Let the AI auto-assign roles and specialties. Go through and tweak the specialties based on the individual talents of those players who excel at their positions if necessary.

Try that.

[Blackadar]

Originally Posted by DaddyTorgo

This is all great advice.

I think the issue may lie in downloading a complicated tactic, or in not understanding what the tactic you're trying to play needs if you're not familiar with the game. If you download a tactic then odds are it's going to require a certain type of player to get the most out of it.

So I guess the first question is: What style of football do you want your team to play?

And that's where lower leagues are easier - you can focus on being physically better, on pace and work rate and tend to do fine.

If you want to play higher leagues though, my advice would be something like this:

1) Pick a team
2) Look at where that team's strengths are. Use the Team Depth Chart for a quick snapshot of where you have the players with the highest star rating to get a sense for "is my team strong in attack, in midfield or defense?" You can even find out how your team stacks up versus other teams in the division in things like pace/skill/etc on one of those pages (I don't have it open but will edit with where that is when I get home).
3) Once you figure out where on the pitch you're strong, look at those individual players that were identified by the assistant manager. Look at what their individual strengths are (heading, passing, crossing, finishing, whatever).
4) Now pick a standard tactic from the standard tactics list that is designed to highlight your best players. If you have a guy who's a 4-star AMC then you should be playing a tactic with an AMC. If you don't have anyone good at playing as an AMC then don't pick a formation with one. Same with wingers, defensive midfielders, etc.
5) Let the AI auto-assign roles and specialties. Go through and tweak the specialties based on the individual talents of those players who excel at their positions if necessary.

Try that.

I like your advice too. I'm better DLing a tactic and picking the players to play in it. Some people are better at looking at their existing players and picking the right tactic.

[Marmel]

Thanks for all the advice. It makes sense for the most part. First, one general question: what is a set-piece?

OK, so let's say I want to try to play a team in League 1. I think I prefer a strong defense, holding teams to 0 or 1 goals and winning games 1-0 or 2-1. What are good defensive tactics and what teams in League 1 or otherwise could you guys suggest?

thanks a ton!

[whomario]

Originally Posted by Ajaxab

Wow, managing in Brazil is a slog of a season. A 19 game State league and then a 38 game national league all mixed in with the Copa do Brasil and the potential South American competitions, the Copa Sud America and Copa Libertadores. Is there a nation in the game with a league that has more games? It's almost enough to move one to resign after one year.

yeah, Brazil is brutal. Depends a little bit on which local state league you play in though, there´s some leagues where you get a few less games The fun part is that you get to experiment a bit in the state league as there´s some cannon-fodder teams around. But yeah, overall the season drags on and on and on ... Haven´t lasted more than 3 seasons in any FM yet.

[Blackadar]

Originally Posted by Marmel

Thanks for all the advice. It makes sense for the most part. First, one general question: what is a set-piece?

OK, so let's say I want to try to play a team in League 1. I think I prefer a strong defense, holding teams to 0 or 1 goals and winning games 1-0 or 2-1. What are good defensive tactics and what teams in League 1 or otherwise could you guys suggest?

thanks a ton!

Set pieces are throw ins, free kicks, corners, etc.

As for teams in League 1, I can't help you on that one.

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by Marmel

Thanks for all the advice. It makes sense for the most part. First, one general question: what is a set-piece?

OK, so let's say I want to try to play a team in League 1. I think I prefer a strong defense, holding teams to 0 or 1 goals and winning games 1-0 or 2-1. What are good defensive tactics and what teams in League 1 or otherwise could you guys suggest?

thanks a ton!

Like blackadar I don't feel qualified to offer advice on League 1 teams, but try this out...

You know you want to play strong defensively - go through and look at all the squads in League 1 like I mentioned (using the "Team Depth Chart" under "Report" after clicking on "View Squad." Also - the other thing I mentioned, the comparison versus other teams, is available under "Comparison" in that same "Report" bar). Find one that's got strong strength and depth in defense. I'd advise playing something like a 5-4-1 or a 4-5-1 with one or two DMC's in general if you want to be super solid defensively.

I just took a quick peek - actually you can't scout them that way when you're unemployed at the beginning of the game. Okay - so I vote you "cheat" in this instance. Create a throwaway game and start as the manager of a big English club (say Manchester United), and go in and do what I said up above in order to pick a team, and then start a new game with that team.

[Marmel]

Update:

I decided to just take the team that was expected to finish 1st in L1: The Wolves. I figure, if I can't win with them and at least make the playoffs then this game is not for me. I went with a standard 4-4-2 formation to get started because I still don't really understand the difference between formations yet. My wages were a little over budget so I trimmed down the squad and it is pretty thin now, but I like having less players to manage. A rash of injuries can put me in some trouble but so far I have managed.

I hired a new assman and chief scout and then spent a lot of time reviewing each player (set up a nice little excel spreadsheet) and determined each person's role and I choose a rigid formation based off of what I learned from the little pop-up tips.

I try to play the same lineup most of the time and sub out due to injuries or fatigue, then I instant result it.

I am in first place on Feb 1, by about 18 points! I am also in the Paint Cup finals! I know the real challenge will begin next season in the next league up, but thanks for the advice, it helped a lot!!

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by Marmel

Update:

I decided to just take the team that was expected to finish 1st in L1: The Wolves. I figure, if I can't win with them and at least make the playoffs then this game is not for me. I went with a standard 4-4-2 formation to get started because I still don't really understand the difference between formations yet. My wages were a little over budget so I trimmed down the squad and it is pretty thin now, but I like having less players to manage. A rash of injuries can put me in some trouble but so far I have managed.

I hired a new assman and chief scout and then spent a lot of time reviewing each player (set up a nice little excel spreadsheet) and determined each person's role and I choose a rigid formation based off of what I learned from the little pop-up tips.

I try to play the same lineup most of the time and sub out due to injuries or fatigue, then I instant result it.

I am in first place on Feb 1, by about 18 points! I am also in the Paint Cup finals! I know the real challenge will begin next season in the next league up, but thanks for the advice, it helped a lot!!

Great to hear!

Once you get more comfortable I recommend experimenting with little tweaks to learn more about tactics.

Now obviously if you get "attached" to your savegame you may not want to use it as a laboratory, but you can always create a second savegame called "Tactical Learning" or something with your team and use it to experiment with tweaking different things to try to learn what they do.

Also - if you have the time - the more of a game replay (versus an instant-result) that you can watch will definitely give you a more solid grasp of what your tactical instructions are translating into on the pitch.

[bulletsponge]

Originally Posted by Marmel

Update:

I decided to just take the team that was expected to finish 1st in L1: The Wolves. I figure, if I can't win with them and at least make the playoffs then this game is not for me. I went with a standard 4-4-2 formation to get started because I still don't really understand the difference between formations yet. My wages were a little over budget so I trimmed down the squad and it is pretty thin now, but I like having less players to manage. A rash of injuries can put me in some trouble but so far I have managed.

I hired a new assman and chief scout and then spent a lot of time reviewing each player (set up a nice little excel spreadsheet) and determined each person's role and I choose a rigid formation based off of what I learned from the little pop-up tips.

I try to play the same lineup most of the time and sub out due to injuries or fatigue, then I instant result it.

I am in first place on Feb 1, by about 18 points! I am also in the Paint Cup finals! I know the real challenge will begin next season in the next league up, but thanks for the advice, it helped a lot!!

dont be afraid to DL some formations from steam. they can be real informative about player directions

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by bulletsponge

dont be afraid to DL some formations from steam. they can be real informative about player directions

Eh - if you do this at least be careful and find one that talks about what the player directions and types and such are, and don't just download a "super tactic."

If you're actually trying to learn the tactics and how they interact with the attributes though I think you absolutely learn more by fiddling around yourself and observing the results.

[BreizhManu]

took me 25 seasons but i made it won the champion's league with an andorran club



now i can move on to something else

[DaddyTorgo]

Whoa - congrats Breiz!!

[vex]

That's pretty awesome to build up and win with that team. Grats!

[whomario]

just as an FYI, the transfer update/final (major) patch has been out for a few days.

Can´t judge on improvements as i´ve only started playing after it was released.

Been playing with Anderlecht in Belgium. Lots of young talent on the roster (basically half a dozen guys you´d try to nab with any big team), great youth setup and facilities.
Plus, Belgium has a unique league, with 16 teams playing each other twice, then the best 6 playing each other twice more. The twist: All points from the first phase get cut in half, so if teams divided by 12 points are suddenly only 6 apart with 2 more head-to-head games to come. Cost me the titel in the first season. Up 6 to 3rd place Genk that got cut in half and i lost both head to heads.

The challenge is juggling the wage budget. There´s quite a few players wanting to play for you after the first season, but with a 15 mio budget and the young guns slowly rising in wage, you just can´t afford to pay what most guys ask. Also, lots of wanting to be a key player to come to the team.

[Shepp]

Its probably also worth mentioning that it is on Sale for $17.00 on Steam for two more hours.

[dolfin]

There's also a 20% voucher which brings it to $13.60.

Edit: from green man gaming

[SirFozzie]

So.. what if any EDT files do you use?

Some that I found interesting:

the 77 nation megapack: Sports Interactive Community

Theoretically allows you to play in 77 nations previously not in FM14. So if you have an urge to play in Lichenstien, or Papa New Guinea, this is the mod for you

Free Transfer Database: Steam Workshop :: World Free Transfer Database

What it says on the tin. Every player and staff member in the world is now available on a Free Transfer. This leads to some very weird teams as teams scramble to sign players.

Regional Competitions:
Sports Interactive Community)

The world is broken down into 11 regional leagues (for example, one region is made up of teams solely from the UK and Ireland, another is made up of teams from Russia and its former satellites , one for the Middle East, etcetera)

American Dreaming: (three seperate files): Steam Community :: RS-shruewski :: Workshop Items

a fantasy American League, fantasy north american continental competition, and fantasy world competitions.

And just a reminder with the new updated player database, after every patch, go to the lnc directory and delete the files there to make the German National Team and some other things playable)

You'll find the files you need in
(drivename)\SteamLibrary\SteamApps\common\Football Manager 2014\data\db\1430\lnc\all

[whomario]

tricky situation for me right now ... I´ve been planning to play out the current 2016/2017 season with Anderlecht and then switch onto the big leagues. Problem is, that all sorts of interesting clubs want to interview me now, including Tottenham and ManU...

I actually found it decently challenging in the belgian league. Admittedly i improve the finances of some competitiors with the editor, but they did a nice job putting those to use. After winning the title my first season, i finished 2nd twice now and thus wanted to reclaim the title before leaving. Which will happen in all likelihood, as my team is playing ridiculously good despite me selling 3 starters from a year ago and only adding a new GK. But lots of young guys made the leap from good to great and as a result i´m 17/1/1 with 43-6 on goals. Still, at 52 points i´m only 8 ahead of Standard. And with the special rules of Belgium (as mentioned, after 30 games the points get cut in half) there is still some risk of getting caught by them. Especially since they beat me 4 out of the last 5 matchups.

In the Internationally, i reached the QF of the CL twice, got knocked out in the group once and now am in the first knockout round. Problem is we are facing Barcelona who are still as awesome as ever ...

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Well, I thought I finally had a viable career going, then POOF!

Took the reigns at Puerta Bonita at the lowest level of the Spanish Leagues. They had just been promoted to the lowest playable level, so expectations were low. I managed to land a couple of veteran leaders and then stock up on young kids with lots of potential. I ended up managing them to a 2nd place finish and we won the promotional playoff to advance up to LIGA Aldente (sp?).

Second year, the payroll went up some and we added the mandatory seating to get it up to 10K. Started the first half pretty well, getting up to around 10th place at the halfway mark. Second half, we lost two key players and plummeted to the bottom of the league and were relegated.

Third year, expectations are no more than mid table, but I've got a negative vibe from the boardroom. Given how well I did in the first year, you would somehow think that the injury-riddled relagation wouldn't be that big of a deal. Instead, it hounded me until they finally booted me after I got sick of their constant harrassment despite being in mid-table as was expected.

***sigh***

Back to the drawing board because no one would hire my fired coach.

[Marmel]

Thanks to all the advice from a few weeks ago, I am totally immersed in my save. I started with the Wolves and moved them all the way up to the PRM division, but I couldn't really move into the top half of the table due to low wage budget and transfer budget (plus my inability to determine good cheap buys and utilize the free transfers). I ended up down loading a home and an away 4-3-3 tactic that I like. I enjoy trying to fit my team around this tactic and create the team. I am still playing FMC and instant resulting everything.

The Tottenham job opened and they hired me. It took a while but I finally won the PRM division after several top 3 finishes and looked on my way to defend the title with about 8 games left. Out of nowhere my star DC got all cranky about squad size. Instead of assuring him that he is still my starter, I basically told him to screw off and not worry about it. He got super pissed, it killed the squad harmony and we went something like 1W-1D-6L down the stretch to fall into 4th place. I had to sell him.

In the meantime, I made 3 Champions Cup finals, but lost to Barcelona, Man U and then Man U again on penalties. The 2 Man U losses were in back-to-back years. The year of my PRM division meltdown, I torched Barcelona 6-2 agg in the 2nd knockout round, but we got blasted by some 2nd rate squad in the quarters due to the total meltdown.

It is the 2028-2029 season now and we are atop the division once again with 13 games to play and heading into the Champ Cup knockout rounds. I feel like I need to win that damn cup to have a complete career. I'll probably move on from Tott once I do it and take over a lower level team again now that I have a good grip on the game.

[whomario]

Nice run with Tottenham ! The Champions League is really tough to win, part of it is the different style of play of some of the main competitors that can often be very unusual compared with your own league. Also the Knockout-character (even in best of 2) adds an element of randomnes to it.

I myself have stayed on at Anderlecht, figure there will be plenty of offers in the Summer as well. Lost almost all my lead in the league before stopping the slide with an ugly 0-0 against main competitor and fierce rival Standard. Since then built it up to 6 again with 4 games left in the main round (so that´d be 3 in the 6 team champions round).

Just had my team play the greatest game in my tenure as well I have had some results against big teams before, but allways kind of lucky. This time though, we beat Barcelona at home 2:1 and it could have easily have been 5:1 if not for Barca keeper Hugo Lloris and the woodwork. 16-6 shots, with 12 of them on target.

I´ll definitely try to take a couple of those players with me, whereever i go ...