How are some people so good

...this has bugged me for the last 3 or 4 seasons now on Football Manager!

I have always considered myself a decent manager, but just lately i cant do much right.

Whenever i start a season i always end up doing rubbish.

If im Man Utd, Chelsea, Barcelona or Real Madrid i cant win the league.

Not winning is something which really infuriates me!

However, my latest save saw me get Oxford Utd promoted in 2 consecutive seasons to League 1.

This for me is quite an achievement, when fulham came calling how could i refuse such an offer!

Sure enough i went to fulham and they had some pretty decent new players there

Milevskyi in particular! WOW, what a striker.

After finishing the rest of the that season, i signed some pretty awesome players and thought i had a team good enough for europe.

But i just couldnt, finish higher than 11th.

After finishing, 14th, 12th and 11th i am now trying to figure out where i am going wrong.

Please could someone help me, give me some tips.

Tactics i try to think through for everygame

what tactics do you play?

what tactics do you play against the bigger sides?

I love a challenge but when i cant do anything right i lose patience and end up going back to the editor.

my latest save ^^^ i kept it together and done well, but as i get higher up. tactics seem to become impossible to master

Top level teams will obviously be more harder to beat and compete with than lower level teams. I doubt tactics used in League 2 for example would work in the cut and thrust of the Premiership. Training will also be very different as will player power. For example alot of lower league players will be looking to move to a bigger team so will have to put alot of effort in to catch the eye, where as a player on 100k + and feels like part of the furniture will more than likely be more prone to complacency than the lower league player. Those are just a few reasons that i can think of but to be fair i have the opposite problem where i can easily compete at the top level but when i try lower league management i either get bored or find it very hard and just cant give it as much effort as i would like.

Frankly I just go with the smae tactics all the time. For this there are three options either pick a club where you can use the tactics right off, buy in needed players or train players into positions they half know.

My tactics are:

They have stood me in good stead on this save, and in the FM 09 equivalent got me mucho success at Barca, Fiorentina and Sao Paulo. It was also moderately successful with Wrexham on my last save before uninstalling. But frankly any tactics that you are confident in is all thats needed. The only difference on the top levels would be to give an extra bit of creative freedom to your players.

Frankly your best bet is to follow the advice in the old Carnegie Hall joke. The game will click eventually.

your problem may be team talks, they have a huge impact on performances, read this

http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php?t=176208

thanks for your replies i appreciate it.

i mean sometimes i will find a decent tactic i myself will usually play the same formation as you and do

fluid

attacking

short

expressive

press more

so its not like im doing much different to you?

do you play the same tactics all the time or do you change tactics for away games/physical teams/fast teams/bigger teams etc

teamtalks i usually do for the supporters

wish luck against big teams-gees them up

no pressure in cup games as i usually play youngsters

its just so frustrating

what training do you use? i am urrently using tugs training

I personally never have - and never will - use the team talk 'no pressure'. I don't want them relaxing and treating it like a training session. This is football! There are big pressures, I want them to win not prat about.

I personally never have - and never will - use the team talk 'no pressure'. I don't want them relaxing and treating it like a training session. This is football! There are big pressures, I want them to win not prat about.

It's handy if you're in the midst of an injury crisis and you're forced to play an U18 player for a cup final. Some players end up "playing nervously" from the first whistle if you expect too much of them.

Some players, particularly youngsters, play better when they're not under pressure.

Admittedly I don't use it much but when I do, this is usually why.

I see your point but in my opinion it seperates the weak from the poor. I don't want players in my squad who can't handle the pressure, so I ship them out asap if I find they can't.

OP, finishing 14th, 12th and 11th is respectable with Fulham so you're not doing anything dreadfully wrong.

If you think your players are underachieving then it is likely that your man management could be improved: if morale is low, do things to improve it involving media interaction with players (e.g. recommend an old player takes up coaching when he retires if he is already interested in coaching) or in teamtalks ("you can win this match") or in press conferences (a controversial answer to a question will provoke both good and bad reactions but then you can play the players with positive reactions and bench the players with negative reactions); if morale is superb, demand more from your players in team talks ("expect a win", "dissappointing"/"angry" if not winning) and don't do anything in the press conferences that might lower the morale. If an individual first team player has low morale, give him an easy game in the reserves or bring him on as a sub when you are already winning.

Don't worry too much about tactics: it is possible to be successful using default tactics; if you make your own tactic make it suit your players.

I use no pressure when I'm playing the top 4 of any given league. It works well for the first half, then I chose my HT team talk from there.

I know for me, it's kind of hit or miss. I've had saves where I flat out dominate, on 09 I won the SPL with Aberdeen in season two going undefeated! But other saves with clubs like Real Madrid, I've been sacked for thoroughly under performing. I always think it has to do with my tactics, I generally only have two diferent versions that I run, a 4-2-3-1 and a standard 4-4-2. I can usually attribute my failures to not having the proper players to run my system.

your problem may be team talks, they have a huge impact on performances.

Are you playing identical tactics home and away? vs big, medium, weak teams? I adapt 'my standard tactic' to different kind of matches and I assume that's mandatory for consective successes.

But like El Payaso says, those team talks have way too much influence above all the rest.

You always need to adapt your tactics - I do this varyingly in each game that I approach. Pitch sizes make a difference, as does tactics and team talks.

I avoid teamtalks like the plauge as they can be a mine field - Only praising them if they have completed a victory against a good team, just to keep them from feeling undervalued.

Tactics, width of team and mentality needs to be adjusted according to opponent quality and their playing style/formation.

When you start with a \'BIG\' team as an unknown manager keep your tactics tight, and almost slightly defensive to build up a series of results. after 5-10 games you will find you can become more expressure once the players morale has increased.

Too many people try to play perfect football with a big team from the first game - take your time and build up to perfect football.

OP, finishing 14th, 12th and 11th is respectable with Fulham so you're not doing anything dreadfully wrong.

If you think your players are underachieving then it is likely that your man management could be improved: if morale is low, do things to improve it involving media interaction with players (e.g. recommend an old player takes up coaching when he retires if he is already interested in coaching) or in teamtalks ("you can win this match") or in press conferences (a controversial answer to a question will provoke both good and bad reactions but then you can play the players with positive reactions and bench the players with negative reactions); if morale is superb, demand more from your players in team talks ("expect a win", "dissappointing"/"angry" if not winning) and don't do anything in the press conferences that might lower the morale. If an individual first team player has low morale, give him an easy game in the reserves or bring him on as a sub when you are already winning.

Don't worry too much about tactics: it is possible to be successful using default tactics; if you make your own tactic make it suit your players.

yeah you are right, it aint dreadful, but the quality i had in my squad i think i should have been qualifying for europe!

thing that i dont understand is how people talk about winning the premiership with a blue square premier side, n then going back to the top n bringing that side up to, i cant see how they manage it!

obviously some people cheat n talk **** on here, but surely not all of them do, you know what i mean

since ive been manager of fulham ive been scoring sh** load of goals! with my 2 star players getting more than the majority of them (artem milevskyi -originally from dinamo kiev) and dentinho( from corinthians).

but ive been conceding just as many!

whilst ive been favouring the attacking formula, i forgot to bring the defensive line back!

thank you brian shanahan lol

hopefully il start breaking into the top half at least now! il keep you posted

I play with a 4-2-3-1 and don't change the tactics much, start on contain, but if its against a big team i change it to counter, i change the players settings depending on each players strenghs. i try and buy some good young players for under £5m each (depending on how much money i get given) and play them alot, and give it a season or two, i'm usually challenging for the league and winning a few cups. i also make individual training schedules e.g. gk, fb, cb, dm etc.

yeah i tend to go for the younger players, but who are quite good at same time.

ive made my own individual training schedules, im now testing out tuggs' training to see if his works better!

I think your all talking alot of sense and obviosly are obsesed with the game just like me...one thing Id say is that having a plan B is always good ie.My starting midfielders with sheff utd are usually Castillo, Diaby, Montgomery and Gradel but with Vayyerenen and Vanden borre to bring on at half time and tell the players i wont nothing less than a win and maybe singilar out a striker that missed a few chances that you are disapoitned with his performance nearly always gets a fantasctic second half out of them...aiming for Europe