***The Official Football Manager Thread***

[Bellsprout]

Re: ***The Official Football Manager Thread***

I spent like my entire transfer budget at Arsenal on Leighton Baines. And I'm not even sure he's made a difference.

I've made one transfer move in my career and it was the club record for the most money spent on a transfer.

[Mo]

Re: ***The Official Football Manager Thread***

This is the squad I'm rolling with. The Goal is to avoid relegation.

Was giving £20m in Transfer Budget. Spent about 5m of it, most of it on Ashley Williams from Swansea.

[Kobalt]

Re: ***The Official Football Manager Thread***

Gladbach lost Marc-André ter Stegen to Barca and replaced him with some random goalie, yet they're still in the top 4 and another chance at CL. I'm jealous.

Bayern just bought Reus in the January transfer window so that's going to be interesting. Dortmund and Bayern are tied for 1st so I'm predicting Bayern to win the Bundesliga after getting Reus. Dortmund lost Lewandowski in the Summer to Chelsea, so it was little surprising to see them at the top. They replaced him with Berbatov, but he hasn't produced much.

[MachoMyers]

Re: ***The Official Football Manager Thread***

This is the squad I'm rolling with. The Goal is to avoid relegation.

Was giving £20m in Transfer Budget. Spent about 5m of it, most of it on Ashley Williams from Swansea.

Dump Claude and Ambrose. Garvan is next to useless in RL but has always been a god for me in FM. This is a pretty bad side to have in the EPL. Good on you!

[BunnyHardaway]

Re: ***The Official Football Manager Thread***

Playing as Hull in FM 2010...had a 1-0 lead against Wolves in the 81st minute and they proceed to rattle off 2 goals in 5 minutes. Now I know why I stopped playing this game.

[Bruins]

Re: ***The Official Football Manager Thread***

Playing as Hull in FM 2010...had a 1-0 lead against Wolves in the 81st minute and they proceed to rattle off 2 goals in 5 minutes. Now I know why I stopped playing this game.

Did you adjust to the situation, or just keep your tactics the same?

Up 1-0 with 10 minutes to go, I definitely would've already changed my approach to a more conservative style. Gone are the days where in FM you could just "set it and forget it" when it comes to tactics. You've gotta actually adjust, because you damn well know the CPU is adjusting, just as in real life.

[ImTellinTim]

Re: ***The Official Football Manager Thread***

Take off a striker, put in another central defender. Make sure a couple midfielders are set to defensive mentality and change your overall strategy to defensive or control.

If the other team is down by 1 late, they're always going to fire 6-7 guys forward. If you don't instruct your team to mark them, you're asking for trouble.

And sometimes, no matter what you do, they still score because that's just what happens sometimes.

[BunnyHardaway]

Re: ***The Official Football Manager Thread***

Did you adjust to the situation, or just keep your tactics the same?

Up 1-0 with 10 minutes to go, I definitely would've already changed my approach to a more conservative style. Gone are the days where in FM you could just "set it and forget it" when it comes to tactics. You've gotta actually adjust, because you damn well know the CPU is adjusting, just as in real life.

I subbed in a defensive mid for one of my attacking mids, replaced a defended, and set my strategy to defensive.

[Bruins]

Re: ***The Official Football Manager Thread***

I subbed in a defensive mid for one of my attacking mids, replaced a defended, and set my strategy to defensive.

Well then, as Tim said, that's just what happens sometimes. That's sports.

[Bellsprout]

What does the Control setting actually do, while we're on the topic?

It's near Attacking on the list, but I never score when I use it. Is it just about retaining possession?

[ImTellinTim]

Re: ***The Official Football Manager Thread***

I actually meant "contain" in that post.

Think of control as like Barca. You maintain possession with shorter passes and look to cut the defense open with through balls. It is not effective unless you have skilled ball control guys in your midfield.

I personally don't like the setting at all. If I want my team to push forward, but not shoot from distance all the time, I set it to attacking, then use the 'Work Ball Into Box' shout.

Also, don't neglect the individual player instructions. Make sure you aren't telling your players to do something they are really bad at. For example, if you have a speedy winger who is very good at crossing and dribbling, but not much else, it doesn't make much sense to instruct him to cut inside and shoot from long distance. Just take a look at them and make sure you aren't doing counterproductive things. A couple tweaks in this area can make all the difference.

[ImTellinTim]

Re: ***The Official Football Manager Thread***

I was approached by Wolves at the beginning of June. They finished 11th in the EPL last season ahead of expectations. Their manager took the Fulham job.

Thanks, but no thanks.

[Ermolli]

Re: ***The Official Football Manager Thread***

Today I began playing FM 13 with a Tercera División team from Spain (it's actually the fourth division), I don't understand the system since that division is divided in 20 something groups and I don't know how to get to the third division (maybe going to group 1 from that division?). The team I chose is in a financial crisis, the only player over 20 years is willing to leave so the club can get some money and the squad is full with sub-16 players. What surprised me was that after four friendlies against superior teams within my division I won 3 games. It will be a good challenge to avoid relegation.

[Bellsprout]

8 wins 6 draws 2 losses for my Arsenal team. Sitting 4th in the league behind Stoke. West Ham and Swansea being the teams that beat me.

I'm getting the hang of this. Or my team is good enough to cover up for my idiocy. One of those.

[rsnomar05]

Re: ***The Official Football Manager Thread***

What does the Control setting actually do, while we're on the topic?

It's near Attacking on the list, but I never score when I use it. Is it just about retaining possession?

I use control as my starting philosophy, and it works brilliantly, but I always make sure to develop/buy CMs with high passing ratings who can shred the defense. I press to win the ball back when turning it over so I can kill teams on the counter attack. I've always amassed a ton of goals, but I use a 4-2-4 with an AMR/L, so it's an attack-heavy formation.