Alright boyz, here we go!!! FM 2006 First Impressions

[Icy]

Anyway i don't get what is the problem with super tactics, this is a single player game mainly so unless you want to cheat yourself i dont' see any problem. If i read at sigames that putting 11 goalies will make me win all games.... well then i just won't put 11 goalies as anyway that is not realistic playing. It's like cheating playing solitaire...
Of course it's not the same for multiplayer leagues where what you do affects the others.

[AlexB]

Originally Posted by jbmagic

on fm 2006, i hope there not one super tactic that you can win games regardless of talent.

442 works well enough, if you tailor it to your players... Maybe a little too well: 1st start I picked Aldershot, who are bottom of the Conference IRL and by the end of October (when I quit as I did not have the right set-up ) I was 2nd...

Now end of January 2006 with Leicester (in the end I always have to play as the mighty Foxes) I'm top (just) of the Championship and in the final of the League Cup, having beaten Bolton and Chelsea away, Liverpool at home and Arsenal over two legs in the semi (losing 1-0 against their mix team and beating the full team 2-0 at our place in the return).

IRL we are a mid-low table side building for the future: in FM 2006, with no major difference I'm the Championship Jose, and Dion Dublin is scoring the equivalent of about five years worth of goals in six months!

I'd love to think it's coz I'm great but am worried about the difficulty level a little...

[RPI-Fan]

Originally Posted by Icy

Anyway i don't get what is the problem with super tactics, this is a single player game mainly so unless you want to cheat yourself i dont' see any problem. If i read at sigames that putting 11 goalies will make me win all games.... well then i just won't put 11 goalies as anyway that is not realistic playing. It's like cheating playing solitaire...
Of course it's not the same for multiplayer leagues where what you do affects the others.

I kind of agree with you, however, if I happen upon something saying "three forwards is always better than two" and it is corroborated, I feel like I'm cheating MYSELF if I _don't_ use this info (and if I WANT to play 3 forwards I feel like I'm cheating)... so I'd rather just have this kind of thing not be out there, period (i.e. not exist in the game engine) than to have to take it upon myself to avoid it.

[jbmagic]

Originally Posted by FrogMan

do you know any super tactics for FM2005? What I read is that it was already tougher to build one with FM2005 than it ever was in past versions...

FM

thats good news.


it going to be my first soccer game.

[vyshka]

Originally Posted by klayman

Should be able to as long as the match is not that old. The game only stores so many matches (depending on your settings), so it could be that it has passed the threshold for storing highlights.

If not, then it should be on the bottom of the overview screen of the game (at least on the skin I'm using).

It was immediately after the match had completed. I was guessing it was because their opponent was some nobody team from elsewhere in Europe whose league I wasn't simming. I looked at the first week of EPL games though and the same thing there. I don't remember seeing anything in the setup, and there doesn't appear to be anything in preferences. I have the db set to normal size.

[klayman]

Originally Posted by vyshka

It was immediately after the match had completed. I was guessing it was because their opponent was some nobody team from elsewhere in Europe whose league I wasn't simming. I looked at the first week of EPL games though and the same thing there. I don't remember seeing anything in the setup, and there doesn't appear to be anything in preferences. I have the db set to normal size.

Are you by chance not managing in Europe?

As from what I can figure out, the Champions League and etc, are only on full detail if you have a European leauge in full (either by setting or managing in one). I'm managing in the English Conference, and as such, have full access to the highlights for CL, EPL, Championship, etc. I also have several other leagues on normal detail (like Spain, Italy, MLS), but I cannot access any highlights from those leagues. Nor can I see any highlights from non-European cups and tournaments.

Other than that, I'm out of ideas.

[AlexB]

Originally Posted by Jari Rantanen's Shorts

Now end of January 2006 with Leicester (in the end I always have to play as the mighty Foxes) I'm top (just) of the Championship and in the final of the League Cup, having beaten Bolton and Chelsea away, Liverpool at home and Arsenal over two legs in the semi (losing 1-0 against their mix team and beating the full team 2-0 at our place in the return).

Woo hoo! Won the final 3-1 against Man Utd - first trophy of FM2006, many more to come! OK, it wasn't a full strength Man U, but it wasn't an all out reserve side either - European football next year at The Walkers Stadium .

Now we've got to keep up the Championship form (still top on GD) and maybe even go for a cup double - we've got Everton in the 5th round of the FA Cup. (when we play the Toffees, it will mean that we have played all of last season's top 6 Premiership sides in the cup: tough draws!)

Even though it does seem to be coming a little easily, doesn't mak it any less fun

[Marc Vaughan]

Originally Posted by Jari Rantanen's Shorts

Woo hoo! Won the final 3-1 against Man Utd - first trophy of FM2006, many more to come! OK, it wasn't a full strength Man U, but it wasn't an all out reserve side either - European football next year at The Walkers Stadium .

Congrats

Now we've got to keep up the Championship form (still top on GD) and maybe even go for a cup double - we've got Everton in the 5th round of the FA Cup. (when we play the Toffees, it will mean that we have played all of last season's top 6 Premiership sides in the cup: tough draws!)

Thats likely to be a tougher challenge than Man Utd as Everton aren't likely to be still in any other competitions at that stage (unless they've had some freaky European results) ...

Even though it does seem to be coming a little easily, doesn't mak it any less fun

LOL

Glad you're enjoyig the game, let me know how you get on next season in the Premiership ... if you roll through that then I want to take a look at your tactics .... so we can work out if you're exploiting an AI flaw we can but but ... also not least because I'll use them next time we play an inhouse network game

[Icy]

Marc show that Jari's post to the Sigames forums whiners about the game being impossible

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by Icy

Marc show that Jari's post to the Sigames forums whiners about the game being impossible

thing is, there are about as many posts about the game being too easy...

FM

[sovereignstar]

I've pretty much decided that I'd like to take control of a lower level team in England once I get my hands on the game. I do have some questions as to the nationality that I choose when I add myself as a manager though.

I don't have any interest in coaching the English National Team, but some struggling football nation instead. That leads me to a few questions:

1) If I do choose a nationality other than English, does that affect my ability to manage my English club in any way?

2) How realistic would this be? Are there any international managers in England?

3) What would be some national teams to consider?

Thanks

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by sovereignstar

I've pretty much decided that I'd like to take control of a lower level team in England once I get my hands on the game. I do have some questions as to the nationality that I choose when I add myself as a manager though.

I don't have any interest in coaching the English National Team, but some struggling football nation instead. That leads me to a few questions:

1) If I do choose a nationality other than English, does that affect my ability to manage my English club in any way?

2) How realistic would this be? Are there any international managers in England?

3) What would be some national teams to consider?

Thanks

To (1), no it won't affect anything regarding your management of your club. I always set my nationality to Canadian and I've taken my club to the Premiership twice.

To (2), I can't say about the conference level, but there are many Premiership manager who aren't English: Arsène Wenger with Arsenal (French), Rafa Benitez with Liverpool (Spanish?), Jose Mourinho is probably another with Chelsea. Even the national team manager is a Swede...

To (3), I don't know what you would like but I've been offered and have accepted the position of Ivory Coast manager and I'm having a blast with them... Weird enough, but Canada could be agood choice, as it's been a long while since their last presence in the World Cup .

FM

[Ajaxab]

I have to respectfully disagree with Frogman () on this one as I would assume FM2006 to be the same as FM2005 with these questions. Your starting nationality does have an influence on your management of the club insofar as it slightly changes the kinds of players you can bring to the club. If you choose to begin the game as a Dutch manager of an English team, it will be slightly easier for you to bring Dutch players to your chosen squad. The language you speak can also make a difference. It could be slightly easier for you to bring Argentines to a German club if you start the game as a Spanish manager because you speak the same first language.

Froggie is spot on with his other answers though. I've started as a Canadian and managed several different nations in the past.

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by Ajaxab

I have to respectfully disagree with Frogman () on this one as I would assume FM2006 to be the same as FM2005 with these questions. Your starting nationality does have an influence on your management of the club insofar as it slightly changes the kinds of players you can bring to the club. If you choose to begin the game as a Dutch manager of an English team, it will be slightly easier for you to bring Dutch players to your chosen squad. The language you speak can also make a difference. It could be slightly easier for you to bring Argentines to a German club if you start the game as a Spanish manager because you speak the same first language.

disagreement accepted and understood

Makes a whole lot of sense too, never thought about it since as a Canadian, I always started with both French and English as languages spoken, which very accurate and realistic for me, since I do speak both Never thought that my nationality could make it easier/tougher to sign players. I'd also guess that your reputation must have an even bigger bearing on who you're able to bring to your club, no matter what language they speak. Just an educated guess though...

FM

[Ajaxab]

Picking a Canadian nationality gives us a bit of an advantage I suppose (even if my French is pretty poor in real life ). I guess this variable also means that being Swiss would be the most advantageous nationality to choose as far as languages go right? German, Italian and French? Of course this advantage is offset by the fact that Swiss players don't exactly light the world on fire compared to those from some other nations.

[Coffee Warlord]

Heh. So I get added difficulty as an American low level coach in England, 'cause, well, you can never get freakin' USA players across the ocean.

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by Coffee Warlord

Heh. So I get added difficulty as an American low level coach in England, 'cause, well, you can never get freakin' USA players across the ocean.

but you at least speak English, even though the Brits don't understand a frigging word your saying

FM

[Coffee Warlord]

Originally Posted by FrogMan

but you at least speak English, even though the Brits don't understand a frigging word your saying

FM

They understand my team strategy well enough. "Run, run run run RUN!"

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by Coffee Warlord

They understand my team strategy well enough. "Run, run run run RUN!"

from the "run Forest, run" school of thoughts, I see

FM

[Coffee Warlord]

Originally Posted by FrogMan

from the "run Forest, run" school of thoughts, I see

FM

If you aren't going full out all the time, you ain't playing Nielsen style football!

[FrogMan]

FM

[Coffee Warlord]

As a side. I'm overjoyed that in '06 you can actually train Pace. I'll have my whole squad flying at mach 10 down that field in no time.

[Izulde]

Originally Posted by FrogMan

To (3), I don't know what you would like but I've been offered and have accepted the position of Ivory Coast manager and I'm having a blast with them... Weird enough, but Canada could be agood choice, as it's been a long while since their last presence in the World Cup .

FM

Is it possible to get lower tier nations like the IC to qualify for the World Cup?

Good to hear that you have them though, as it seems to mean that even if you don't have the league in the game, you can still coach the national side.

[Butter]

Originally Posted by Coffee Warlord

As a side. I'm overjoyed that in '06 you can actually train Pace.

Not realistic though, is it? As the old cliche goes: You can't teach speed... which I think is true mostly.

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by Izulde

Is it possible to get lower tier nations like the IC to qualify for the World Cup?

Good to hear that you have them though, as it seems to mean that even if you don't have the league in the game, you can still coach the national side.

Take a look in my dynasty (link in sig) and you'll see that I got them through to group play of the 2010 World Cup qualifiers. There is a reasonable chance of me taking them to the WC, we just got to win and hope we don't suffer too many injuries, as the national pool of players is pretty thin.

As for having the league in the game, it really didn't matter for the Ivory Coast squad as most (maybe even all) of the National Teamers are playing abroad. Didier Drogba playing for Chelsea is probably the best example...

FM

[sovereignstar]

Doh! For some reason I was under the impression that you could only manage your "home" national team.

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by Butter_of_69

Not realistic though, is it? As the old cliche goes: You can't teach speed... which I think is true mostly.

yeah, mostly, but one can improve his speed with drills, no? I mean a playre who's a "3" in pace should never become a "13" or "15", but he could become a "4" or a "5", no? I think it makes sense, as long as the hidden potential pace is not always very higher than the original...

FM

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by sovereignstar

Doh! For some reason I was under the impression that you could only manage your "home" national team.

Nope, you can only "play" for your national team, but for managers, it's open bar

FM

[Butter]

Originally Posted by FrogMan

yeah, mostly, but one can improve his speed with drills, no? I mean a playre who's a "3" in pace should never become a "13" or "15", but he could become a "4" or a "5", no? I think it makes sense, as long as the hidden potential pace is not always very higher than the original...

FM

Totally agreed.

[FrogMan]

another use of being able to train pace I hope is coded in the game is to help delay the loss of pace that sometimes comes with older players. You know, this player who's great all around but has only 6 or 7 in pace and over the course of one offseason drops three points to 3 or 4. Maybe if he were training a bit more in pace, he'd have kept these 3 points for another season... Just a thought...

FM

[Coffee Warlord]

Originally Posted by FrogMan

yeah, mostly, but one can improve his speed with drills, no? I mean a playre who's a "3" in pace should never become a "13" or "15", but he could become a "4" or a "5", no? I think it makes sense, as long as the hidden potential pace is not always very higher than the original...

FM

Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's exactly the case. You can make people a bit faster by quality conditioning/drilling, but not like...ridiculously so.

But, since I only transfer in players with 10-11+ pace minimum, my guys will hopefully fly.

[Eaglesfan27]

Only one more day until download!

(Despite loving Civ4, I can't wait for this to be available.)

[Butter]

Originally Posted by Coffee Warlord

But, since I only transfer in players with 10-11+ pace minimum, my guys will hopefully fly.

I usually try and find wingers and strikers even faster than that... but I'll take slow players down the middle. One of the best AMC's I ever had in a 4-4-2 diamond had a pace of around 6, as I recall.

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by Butter_of_69

I usually try and find wingers and strikers even faster than that... but I'll take slow players down the middle. One of the best AMC's I ever had in a 4-4-2 diamond had a pace of around 6, as I recall.

I think CW is still in conference play, so 10-11 is not bad for him. At the EPL level, I go for 15+ on the wings and at least one burner up front. The other's gotta be strong and a good header/jumper, or have crazy creativity/passing/off the ball skills to feed others around him...

FM

[Ramzavail]

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

Only one more day until download!

(Despite loving Civ4, I can't wait for this to be available.)

Who is sick tomorrow?

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by Ramzavail

Who is sick tomorrow?

I wish I could do that, but now isn't a good time to play sick. Oh well, I'm sure I'll still find plenty of time to play after work tomorrow evening

[vyshka]

Originally Posted by klayman

Are you by chance not managing in Europe?

As from what I can figure out, the Champions League and etc, are only on full detail if you have a European leauge in full (either by setting or managing in one). I'm managing in the English Conference, and as such, have full access to the highlights for CL, EPL, Championship, etc. I also have several other leagues on normal detail (like Spain, Italy, MLS), but I cannot access any highlights from those leagues. Nor can I see any highlights from non-European cups and tournaments.

Other than that, I'm out of ideas.

I am managing in Conf South. I guess they need to be set to extra full detail instead of normal detail.

[Coffee Warlord]

Originally Posted by FrogMan

I think CW is still in conference play, so 10-11 is not bad for him. At the EPL level, I go for 15+ on the wings and at least one burner up front. The other's gotta be strong and a good header/jumper, or have crazy creativity/passing/off the ball skills to feed others around him...

FM

Yeah, I'm down in League Two. The talented speedsters aren't exactly lining up to come to Notts County...yet!

[Coffee Warlord]

Originally Posted by Butter_of_69

I usually try and find wingers and strikers even faster than that... but I'll take slow players down the middle. One of the best AMC's I ever had in a 4-4-2 diamond had a pace of around 6, as I recall.

And I'll dola by noting I play a high paced 3-4-3. I need speed everywhere, especially in the middle, as my two midfielders are heavily charged with supporting the defense.

I'll try and post a screeny of my tactics in my dynasty thread tonight.

[MrBug708]

I wish Foz would finish up his first season as Im curious as to the MLS draft. Are there anyone halfway decent coming out? Or mostly useless players?

[Pumpy Tudors]

So at what time can we expect the download to be available? For every SI release that's downloadable, I keep hoping that it'll be released at midnight GMT. I don't think it ever happens. I can hope, though!

[TazFTW]

Originally Posted by Ajaxab

I have to respectfully disagree with Frogman () on this one as I would assume FM2006 to be the same as FM2005 with these questions. Your starting nationality does have an influence on your management of the club insofar as it slightly changes the kinds of players you can bring to the club. If you choose to begin the game as a Dutch manager of an English team, it will be slightly easier for you to bring Dutch players to your chosen squad. The language you speak can also make a difference. It could be slightly easier for you to bring Argentines to a German club if you start the game as a Spanish manager because you speak the same first language.

Froggie is spot on with his other answers though. I've started as a Canadian and managed several different nations in the past.

Hmm, now I have to wonder if several Italian players didn't want to come to my Italian club because of my Hong Kong nationality.

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by Pumpy Tudors

So at what time can we expect the download to be available? For every SI release that's downloadable, I keep hoping that it'll be released at midnight GMT. I don't think it ever happens. I can hope, though!

patience, patience...

FM

[MrBug708]

You also seem to have an edge to coach the national team of your choosen nationality. I was offered the England job, I didnt have to apply. I proceeded to get fired of course when I lost in the second round in the Euro Champs to Italy. I took over Holland, qualified for the WC, took over France and won it all. Now Im the Italian national coach. Can't get the United States job to save my life though.

[Ajaxab]

Originally Posted by TazFTW

Hmm, now I have to wonder if several Italian players didn't want to come to my Italian club because of my Hong Kong nationality.

I'm also pretty sure that managers, like players in the game, learn the languages of the countries they manage in over time. I want to say that it takes a couple of seasons for you to learn the language of the country you manage in if you don't know it already.

I guess it's possible that Italians woudn't come to your club if you didn't speak their language. If you learned Italian at some point in your managerial career, that could go a long way in helping you get some Italian players in.

But like Frogman said earlier in the thread, your reputation is key. Players ultimately want to play for a winner no matter where they come from.

[TazFTW]

Yeah, you do learn the language. When I started my second season with the Italian club, I learned Italian (basic).
My concern was would I be given enough time to rebuild the club. If my not knowing Italian hurts the chances of signing players then that would make it even harder to survive there.

I was also concerned about what I think is a bug. I first managed FC Dallas and got fired 2/3 the way into my second season. When I joined the Italian Serie B club, the games won in my profile went back to 0 while the games drawn and games lost stayed the same. I wondered if my new chairman would look at that and say, "He's won 0 games?? Fire him!".

Yeah, I also figured reputation was a factor. Being obscure was probably a bad thing. Oh, well now I'm local.

[Pumpy Tudors]

OK, it's past midnight GMT. Where's the download?

[AlexB]

Originally Posted by Marc Vaughan

Congrats


Thats likely to be a tougher challenge than Man Utd as Everton aren't likely to be still in any other competitions at that stage (unless they've had some freaky European results) ...

Got past Everton with a convincing 3-1 at Goodison, but then drew Middlesborough in the QF (so I had drawn Chelsea, Arsenal, Man U, Everton, Liverpool, Bolton and Middlesbrough in the two cups - all seven European qualifiers from 2004-2005 . After 1-1 at our place, lost 2-0 at the Riverside in extra time for dreams of an unprecedented treble to be shattered

Originally Posted by Marc Vaughan

Glad you're enjoyig the game, let me know how you get on next season in the Premiership ... if you roll through that then I want to take a look at your tactics .... so we can work out if you're exploiting an AI flaw we can but but ... also not least because I'll use them next time we play an inhouse network game

I was getting a little carried away in the previous post - I seem to remember for some reason I have found the Championship pretty easy in all CM versions (and the one FM05 game I played was the same): whether playing as Leicester or as a lower league team I seem to remember literally always getting promoted through at the first attempt. This is the only league this seems to happen for (for me anyway) - the others often hold me up for at least a season. Strange.

Nothing to see in my tactics: standard flat 4-4-2 with big man/little man combo and wingers getting to the byline. Individual instructions according to what the players can do well, but I do change marking, attacking mentality, tempo, width, defensive line and counter attacking reguarly according to who I'm playing, their formation, pace of forwards and whether I'm home or away, and change a few times mid game as well, As a result it takes me an age to play: four hours just gone and played 8 games, and 5 game weeks. Only 5 more games to go though (hopefully)

But both my top scorers (who are *cough* Dion Dublin and Elvis Hammond *cough* ) are now likely out for these remaining 5 league games, and have been for the last 3-4 (Everton player's retribution! Dirty Scousers!), but have moved to 3 points clear with a game in hand, and 5 clear and a game in hand over 3rd. Should be OK, but now my two senior GKs are injured as well!

Desperately trying to get loan players in to cover - Viduka came in up front, scored on his debut, and he's now out as well. If one of the 3 GKs I've got loan offers out to don't come in the next 3 days, 19 yr old Conrad Logan gets a debut in goal with a 17 year old rubbish youth midget goalie on the bench (seriously, all of my under 18 squad are between 5'4" and 5'9"! Even the DCs...)

Marc, as you can probably see, FM2006 has got me into the series again...

Just when I thought I was out, they drag me back in

[TredWel]

Maybe somebody can help me.

I've played around with the new training system in the demo, working out a few schedules. Which category in training does Off The Ball skill fall under? My strikers and mids all lost points there after a few months, so I figure I'm not training whatever that falls under.

[SirFozzie]

probably attacking/tactics.