Anyone eklse suffer the following or am I just unlucky?!

Not a rant just a little fun in a time out I am taking before bashing my head against something solid!!

I thought I was a half decent manager in the FM series but I am flirting with relegation with my beloved Hammers at the moment and for weeks I seem to draw one, lose one, draw one, lose one, draw one etc etc. Pre season was fine, wins and goals galore but then I realised my tactic didn't work in the Premier League.

I have no money for transfers or wages and no real quality to sell so I pull off a Tevez / Mascherano style coup although they are Brazilian and a tad older, Denilson and Rivaldo. No matter, age is no barrier they have class, control and creativity. The reality is they couldn't pass water straight let alone a football and the couldn't hit a cows ass with a banjo, although they do hit the keepers chest practically every one on one they get!!!

I tinker and change and get a decent result, an away win against Man City. Great, up and running, confidence will be soaring. Next up Hull and Birmingham at home. Pah, compared to an away day at the City of Manchester Stadium no problem. OOps 0-2 (Someone's first ever goals for the Club in 6 years), and 0-1 (someone scores after going 3396 minutes without actually having a shot),. Where did the confidence go from a great win??? Ah I forgot it's not down to players or tactics or confidence, I must have got my team talk wrong or answered that brilliant question in the press conference incorrectly, you know the one, the one that is asked every week. Ah I remember now I leave them to my Assistant Manager because I get bored to tears!!

Never mind I now have cracked it... I played a 4-1-2-1-2 narrow formation that works because anything with "wide" in the title doesn't! I would love to play a 4-4-2 like 90% of real life English sides but I don't think 4-4-2 has ever worked in FM!! I lose narrowly at Anfield but have 65% possession and more shots on target but a deflected free kick in the 89th minute does me. That's ok because at least I dominate possession, unlike a week later at home against Stoke when I manage 35%!!! I am pleased though because I only actually concede 4 types of goals..

1. The classic Liverpool manouver from Gerrard to Torres with a ball through the middle of your two centre backs, and the AI score his one on ones!! Tottenham do this well too, and Man United and Arsenal and not forgetting the samba kings Bolton!

2. 30 yard screamers, usually from players with about 12 for long shots and usually when I am one up¬!

3. Set pieces, especially corners no matter how many people you have covering and if I keep them at bay they can always rely on Matthew Upson to score an own goal for them!

4. Penalties. Conceded 7 in 9 games I think on normal tackling. I complain afterwards but the Referee is never wrong of course!

Now it's Arsenal at home. One up then 3-1 down (penalty, 30 yarder and own goal) but I don't know how but I score 2

in the last two minutes. I click save on those tactic changes because I will employ those in next weeks home game against Portsmouth who haven't won for 9 weeks but manage to beat me 3-0!

Oh well, I'll wait for the patch in February which should iron out all the problems and render my tactic totally useless. Wish I could use my 08 and 09 ones but of course they won't load!!

And why does it always rain in FM??!!

Have a nice day!!!

totally agree tbh m8 i love fm10 but it is very annoying ur right width never works for me except once 4-1-2-1-2 only works for me and as for unluck i have been ac milan for 4 years came 2nd every year and lost last 2 titles by a point and now i am buyondcust and lost the leauge to mogren by what a ****ing point really annoying and ye u beat top teams but poor teams walk over you :S

My thoughts are that personally, I never change my basic tactics too often. I feel that the team need at least 3/4 games to get used to your tactics and how they work. If I found I was constantly losing with my tactic, I would change one or two things, but it would take a hell of a lot to change my formation, as I feel the downside of the players trying to adapt to the formation outweigh the upside of the new tactics.

FYI I always play a classic 4-4-2, and have won the FA Cup, Europa League with Watford, and this season I am challenging for the Premiership title (Ok, I am in season 2018/19!), so the 4-4-2 does work with time, patience, the right players and a lot of luck!

totally agree tbh m8 i love fm10 but it is very annoying ur right width never works for me except once 4-1-2-1-2 only works for me and as for unluck i have been ac milan for 4 years came 2nd every year and lost last 2 titles by a point and now i am buyondcust and lost the leauge to mogren by what a ****ing point really annoying and ye u beat top teams but poor teams walk over you :S

Don't forget to breathe!

And try 3-4-3.

Things that I absolutely hate:

- In set pieces defending player always loses the ball. Attacking player almost always gets chance to head head the ball in. It's just stupid that defenders don't move as well as attacking players even though they're used to defend high balls.

- When there's a through ball attacking players always move to the ball and defending players just stand and don't make even an easy interception if the ball just actually doesn't hit them.

- Nine times of ten defending player misses interception or header when the ball is played in to the box.

- Defending players don't mark the player who doesn't have the ball at the moment. Even though they're set to tight man marking.

- Attacking players almost always winning 1 on 1 battles even though defenders are much stronger. They don't use their strenght to get the ball.

Yeah. I've been playing loads of seasons with this new patch and match engine is broken.

Just finished my first season with Benfica. Won league and two cups. Conceded 17 goals but if my defence would play like defenders play IRL I would have conceded under 10. Or maybe my goalkeeper wouldn't always save me from defenders' mistakes IRL.

Tested if players' attributes have really any meaning. Set Cardozo as free kick taker and shoot long shots often. Scored once from free kicks (attribute 20) and zero from long shots (attribute 19). He had loads of chances to use his leathal left foot but no success. Aimar instead banged those in with good percentage.

Not a rant just a little fun in a time out I am taking before bashing my head against something solid!!

1. The classic Liverpool manouver from Gerrard to Torres with a ball through the middle of your two centre backs, and the AI score his one on ones!! Tottenham do this well too, and Man United and Arsenal and not forgetting the samba kings Bolton!

2. 30 yard screamers, usually from players with about 12 for long shots and usually when I am one up¬!

3. Set pieces, especially corners no matter how many people you have covering and if I keep them at bay they can always rely on Matthew Upson to score an own goal for them!

4. Penalties. Conceded 7 in 9 games I think on normal tackling. I complain afterwards but the Referee is never wrong of course!

1. It could be Liverpool or it could be Forest Green or Mafra or someone else. They score that way at a success rate of almost 75% (131 goals scored in 176 CCC). Data from 5 seasons. Wonder about myself? Well 287 goals from an amazing 799 CCC. The likes of Neymar and Dzeko are just crappy players. And if you start the "it's your tactics thing", yes, it works: 3 times champions, 1 champions league in 2 final attempts. As much as i'm succeeding, I find it simply stupid. Maybe SI can't do some basic math and physics?

2. 12? That's too good. I remember a game when Mafra (oh yes, the mighty Mafra) get a 4-3 defeat with 3 screamers from a guy with 5 Long Shot.

3. About the set pieces, it's really annoying that every opposition player could win a header when jumping against a 16-18 Heading with 16-20 jumping and 15-16 anticipation. Oh, but it could be better than any of your defenders, right? Nope, 10-12 H, 11-15J, 10-15A, but i got a brace from someone who was below 10 every item. Well, another math problem, I think?

4. 3 sent offs with easy tackling. And yes, the referees are always right, even when the 75 yard long ball finds a clear offside guy who simply taps it in. And I'll stop now with the most annoying thing about this game, something called the rule of offside: if it's yours, it's off (really, it's on, but who cares?), if it's for them, it's on (even it's clearly off).

The poor thing about all of this is that FM2010 is not much different than 09. The same mistakes are visible, with a couple of "plastic surgery" here and there. So, when I hear/write that is the best game of the series, I recall 08 and ask if anyone ever played that game.

A piece of advice to SI, if they care: if you don't know how to cope with reality, keep it simple, don't try anything new until you got the basics right. It's incredible how someone could release a game with that kind of defensive problems and then, instead of solving it, create a bug to keep the scores "real". Yep, I read it in this forum: you correct a bug with another bug. Brilliant! So, to avoid this, keep it simple. Baby steps, it's what you need, SI.

And thank you for allowing me to get my beloved Sporting CP win a Champions League for their first time. Oh, and I'm a "talented manager".

To the OP, I too am playing as West Ham and I too have experienced the frustrating inconsistency of winning 2 then losing 3 or winning games I should lose and losing games I should supposedly win. But I don't have a problem with that. West Ham aren't a great team and only have 2 or 3 good quality premiership players to start with. They also have a history (in real life) of being very random in terms of performances against the top teams and the bottom teams.

I'm confused by you post. What do you expect to achieve with West Ham? To win every game? To finish in the top 4 in your first season? To be able to play well against different teams (who each play differently) with the same tactic? To always play normal tackling and not get bookings or sendings off?

You talk about the new patch ironing out the problems in the ME and rendering your tactic useless? Sounds like the only way is up, as your tactical approach couldn't possibly be any more basic.

And to finish, wide tactics work perfectly well. Numerous people on these boards have won things using wide players and formations requiring width.

Ha ha, some great stuff. I agree with it all... I forgot a couple.

***My left back on little CF and mixed for everything stands still with the ball until a winger grabs it off him and hey presto, goal.

*** I bought Beckham twice. Never saw a goal from a free kick or him getting a cross on my forwards head!

*** A free role and high CF for my star player with creativity of 17 and flair of 18. Never seen him do anything right!

I agree with Pexego. I love the series but the same errors in 09 are in 10. Marking, CCC's, Closing down, Long shots.... And again if it's meant to be realistic why make it that only unrealistic formations generally work.

I have said it before and I'll sadly say it again, not always but 9 times out of 10 football results are down to players. Not tactics, not team talks or coaches or press conferances but players. Yes Reading beat Liverpool but at the end of the season look at the tables across the world and aal the teams at the top will have the best players!

To the OP, I too am playing as West Ham and I too have experienced the frustrating inconsistency of winning 2 then losing 3 or winning games I should lose and losing games I should supposedly win. But I don't have a problem with that. West Ham aren't a great team and only have 2 or 3 good quality premiership players to start with. They also have a history (in real life) of being very random in terms of performances against the top teams and the bottom teams.

I'm confused by you post. What do you expect to achieve with West Ham? To win every game? To finish in the top 4 in your first season? To be able to play well against different teams (who each play differently) with the same tactic? To always play normal tackling and not get bookings or sendings off?

You talk about the new patch ironing out the problems in the ME and rendering your tactic useless? Sounds like the only way is up, as your tactical approach couldn't possibly be any more basic.

And to finish, wide tactics work perfectly well. Numerous people on these boards have won things using wide players and formations requiring width.

Daryn with all due respect mate here we go...

No I'm not asking to make top 4 straight off. I won League in 09 in my first season with one tactic and that was unrealistic!! I am far from a numpty with tactics and have never really struggled with the game, so gawd only knows how some of the newbies are coping!!

Again with due respect I have played and managed IRL. Still do at a fairly high level and I can tell you right now that you do not change your tactics dramatically every time you play. You may play a 4-4-2 when favourites and may play a 4-5-1 when not. You may man mark a specific player but on the whole you play the same way. My team IRL plays a 4-1-4-1 which becomes 4-1-2-3 when attacking, similar to the way Chelsea used to play. You can't play that way in FM because you play wide as you go forward knocking it to the wide forwards but when you lose the ball you get me behind the ball and play narrower. In FM you play narrow or wide or normal, that's the way you set up.

Anyway, it's the irritating repetitiveness of things happening that irritates. Yes I expect to concede penalties on normal tackling but not 7 odd in 9 games when I don't get any. I expect a striker on 16 finishing to slot the ball through a keepers legs or go around him or shoot into the corner once in a while rather than straight at the keepers chest. Not have goals reduced by a bug as has been said before. If an opposition player has a long shot stat of 6 don;t let him blast one on from 35 yards especially when my long shot specialist on 16 keeps hitting the guy sitting in Row Z.

Yes West Ham IRL have had many a dodgy result over the years I have seen most of them!! But if a game is meant to use things such as confidence then use it. By winning away at Man City it should boost a team, lets not have it taken away because I say something wrong when trying to say something right in the press conferance.

Iron out the repetitive problems that occur every release and we will have a cracking game on our hands.

Sussex, respect taken and thanks for the post back.

Not suggesting you are a numpty concerning tactics, just thought you were alluding to a one size fits all tactic for every situation. Sounds like you have experience of playing football and managing at a decent level and a good point about how a tactic can change when in posession and when not. Playing devils advocate here, just because you manage in a certain way and don't make a raft of tactical changes for every game your team plays, do other teams / managers approach their matches in the same way??. Those tactical changes or player instructions wouldn't all have to be done before the game either, perhaps they are done throughout the course of a game............FM gives you the chance to do both

Concerning conceding penalties, is the same players fouling? When are they doing it? Point I'm trying to make is that the reason you are conceding quite a few penalties could be down to a myriad of other factors unrelated to how hard you've set tackling.

Strikers missing a certain type of CCC has been done to death and has been covered by SI.

Confidence is massively important in the game and in real life. I'm a Liverpool fan, the two recent league wins did nothing to instill any confidence in our team, we then went on to produce an insipid performance against reading which lacked confidence and urgency. You can't say that after one win confidence is automatically going to be high, doesn't work like that

Fair points made mate. I guess maybe the game is so in depth these days a lot of us don't have the time to read through hours of advice and having to check which player is doing this and which player is doing that. Not quite asking for plug and play but you know what I mean. Prime example was a game I just played against Fulham away on the back of two wins. I was 2 up so withdrew often forward runs for my two central midfield men. That should make me more defensive right? Minutes later it's 2-2. A cross which deflects off James Tomkins head into the net and a 30 yard screamer from Simon Davies whose long shot stats are 10. I get it to 3-2 and I then have Behrami sent off, a straight red. Not a good tackle granted but when Carlton Cole is clean through he gets brought down and Hangelland only gets a yellow!! With 10 men I make changes to keep it tight and concede two more to go 4-3 down. Two goals by players who havent actually scored a goal all season. See what I mean at times it just seems that when you are doing ok the ME conspires against you to make sure the AI wins!!!

My only concern is opposition corners and our freekicks.Can't score from freekicks(sometimes 1-2 for season,total flukes).And AI scores a lot from late corners,it's the most annoying thing ever.

About tactics,i'm playing football since the day i was born and still playing as a semi-pro,and know a thing or two about tactics,in the game i always try to set things as basic as they can be and i wait for it to settle.Cause i know that i cant be champion with a mediocre team in one season.Right now i'm managing hoffenheim and finished 1st season 1 point! behind münich,then next season finished 2nd again and now i'm in the third season racing with münich again.It's the most exciting thing ever,i cant stop playing now cause i dont care about the match engine or tactics anymore

Whatever is happening to you it is happening to all of us.Rome wasnt build in one day and this is an endless game

The series has certainly moved on and it is a lot more in depth now than it was 2 or 3 years ago. I enjoy it (but can totally understand how people might not have the time to fully explore the game and the info it provides) and I like the fact that I have the chance to analyse why a player isn't playing well and find out what I can do to change his performance at any moment during a game. I'm pretty geeky like that.

I've never managed but did play football to a pretty high standard and without doubt there are features / experiences that I feel are not represented correctly in the game (like training, manager personality to a greater extent, feedback from playing staff and coaching staff, AI managers changing tactics mid game too often / without due cause) but on the whole it's a really good simulation of football management

I can't lie, I've had plenty of games similar to the one you've mentioned. I feel like I've made all the right changes in the circumstances but still been picked off and lost games that I had no right to lose. Conversely I've won games that I've had no right to win off the back of tactical changes that I've made and felt great doing it. Works both ways.

Give the hammers another go mate. I'm in my 3rd season now and have just qualifed for the champions league. Hard work but great fun. Keep Upson as well, he's a rock......

The series has certainly moved on and it is a lot more in depth now than it was 2 or 3 years ago. I enjoy it (but can totally understand how people might not have the time to fully explore the game and the info it provides) and I like the fact that I have the chance to analyse why a player isn't playing well and find out what I can do to change his performance at any moment during a game. I'm pretty geeky like that.

I've never managed but did play football to a pretty high standard and without doubt there are features / experiences that I feel are not represented correctly in the game (like training, manager personality to a greater extent, feedback from playing staff and coaching staff, AI managers changing tactics mid game too often / without due cause) but on the whole it's a really good simulation of football management

I can't lie, I've had plenty of games similar to the one you've mentioned. I feel like I've made all the right changes in the circumstances but still been picked off and lost games that I had no right to lose. Conversely I've won games that I've had no right to win off the back of tactical changes that I've made and felt great doing it. Works both ways.

Give the hammers another go mate. I'm in my 3rd season now and have just qualifed for the champions league. Hard work but great fun. Keep Upson as well, he's a rock......

I totally agree that just because you make changes you shouldn't get punsihed by bizarre happenings but not week after week. I can promise you that 99% of goals I have conceded are either set pieces, penalties, the one on one's with that split pass through the middle or 30 yarders. That's it and no matter what I try they continue.

It can be a pain especially when real life goals are rarely scored. When was the last time you saw a player shoot through the keepers legs in FM? Or round the keeper or get a penalty by trying to go around the keeper? How about a ball played along the floor from out wide for a simple tap in?

The other annoying thing is PPM's. I am trying to do a PPM for Carlton Cole so he places his shots. Takes me ages for the game to allow me to do it and even then he says he doesn't see the point in trying it. You can't win!!

Good thread actually...

Interesting Sussex that you have managed IRl and your team tactics remain the same but flexiable. I too have managed IRL at a high level, and has it currently sits with FM at the moment, the tactics are very restrictive. I wonder what input SI have had on the actual set up of the tactics module with in the game?

totally agree tbh m8 i love fm10 but it is very annoying ur right width never works for me except once 4-1-2-1-2 only works for me and as for unluck i have been ac milan for 4 years came 2nd every year and lost last 2 titles by a point and now i am buyondcust and lost the leauge to mogren by what a ****ing point really annoying and ye u beat top teams but poor teams walk over you :S

Can somebody translate this?

On topic, the game is more detailed definately. It doesn't mean that you have to read through tons of guides and tinker though. I keep things relatively simple and I'm still enjoting great success this version. I think sometimes people can over-complicate things tbh.

For me it is much more the inconsitency between clubs which has done for me.

Had great success at Cambridge Utd before taking the challenge of newly promoted Leyton Orient in the Championship. Have been very vigilent with making the neccesary changes to ensure survival, but 2 wins from 20 league games speaks for itself and I lay virtually condemned to relegation half way through the season.

At least if you go down as West Ham you manage to with some dignity!

I use the Touchline Shout - stay on your feet and have been able to use hard tackling with very few sendings off or penalties given away. Before I used the touchline shout it was very bad.

Good thread actually...

Interesting Sussex that you have managed IRl and your team tactics remain the same but flexiable. I too have managed IRL at a high level, and has it currently sits with FM at the moment, the tactics are very restrictive. I wonder what input SI have had on the actual set up of the tactics module with in the game?

It sadly is restrictive to those that actually play the game. No disrespect to those that maybe don't but as a player and manager I try to play the game as realistically as possible. Therefore I refuse to try out a 3-1-1-1-1-1-1-2 or whatever it is that works!! As I said before IRL i play wide going forward but yet keeping a narrow shape at the back. You can't do it in FM. Last year I suggested another row of discs was needed in the tactics screen because if you play a diamond in FM your central midfielders are either too wide or too narrow. A real life diamond is not incorporated on the tactic screen.

As a footballer you do what is neccessary in a match. I have played either central midfield or up front in my time and I can guarantee that as a striker there are times that I have made a slide tackle at the right back slot!! Your performance is not alloted to one place on the pitch.

I have also coached and one of the first things you say to a young striker is shoot across the keeper because if he saves it there is a chance your striking partner will slot in the rebound. How do you set that up in FM????

I am a real fan of West Ham's way of playing in 1985-86. For those to young to remember it was the era of McAvennie and Cottee. A real old school winger in Alan Devonshire and two class centre backs in Alvin Martin and Tony Gale. No pace there but great reading of the game.

The Hammers then played deep due to that lack of pace at the back, but they played short passing, quick tempo attacking football with balls played either over the top or played to the wings with effective near post crosses.

Try putting that into FM.....?! Short passing and quick tempo? Deep defensive line but yet an attacking mentality? Damage done due to effective wide players and width? If anyone knows how to achieve this in FM with a 4-4-2 a Nobel Prize is yours!!