FM11 10.3 - Thoughts

I don’t know how many matches I’ve played on FM10, or how many on the newest patch, but I’m guessing it’s quite a lot. Considering that the last patch has been released – making FM10 final - any current complaints would best serve trying to improve the next game in the franchise. Will I buy FM11? After FM09 I wasn’t so sure about the whole thing, but I bought 2010 anyway and I’m glad that I did. Looking at the gaming market, there are a scarcity of games that can last longer than a few months and not feel stale and repetitive. The beauty of Football Manager is its ever-changing and evolving world, that every new game can be different from the last. That’s why I, like so many others, just cannot stay away, even though periodically the game has frustrated and angered me.

Looking at FM10 10.3, I think it’s a fairly solid game, but there still remain a few noticeable smudges. I debated with myself on whether I would be discussing the ME or not in this post. I decided not to, because it’s not really something you can just point out. The inner workings of the ME is too complex for me to start accurately criticising it. When I do, it’s often a misunderstanding which many will happily correct for me, so I’ll not waste anyone’s time with that. What I will do, however, is going over some bothers I’ve been having.

The writing (media, etc.): I think I’ve mentioned this before in a previous post but I know there’s more to be said on the matter. I’ve played the series since the CM board game from 1964— nah, just kidding , but I have been around for some time. It bothers me that the writing haven’t really developed like the other areas of the game. I think it’s actually quite amazing that this area has remained so static over the years. Whether it’s the commentary, the media or player interaction, I haven’t really seen any real improvement. Many big situations like resigning from a club or winning a major trophy doesn’t really feel important at all when you’re given the same standard message every time. The same text. The chairman will “congratulate” you on your huge success by shrugging his shoulders and reminding you of future challenges. He will praise you for your “fantastic commitment” when you sign a new lucrative 1 year contract. Then we have other all too familiar situations with the same written text we’ve read at least a thousand times (counting previous games). Writing some new stuff (A LOT of new stuff) would go a long way to make the game (even FM11) feel fresher. Why should I care about all this text when it’s always the same over and over again? I think most of us can read the first three words of a particular message and instantly know the rest. This is not acceptable. I don’t know how the company is organised but if there isn’t one, there should definitely be a dedicated writing department that continually refines and adds content to the match commentary, media, player interaction, press conferences, biographies, special occasions and so on. It would add a lot to the game and it’s a very important aspect, at least to me.

Interaction: I see myself as a disciplinarian type of manager. I never shy away from giving my players the hairdryer treatment or regular warnings/fines depending on their performances. Sometimes it works and the player will learn from the situation, other times the player will throw a hissy fit, declaring “unfair treatment”, which is a phrase that’s all too common. Even if the player admits he is “one of the best players at the club and should lead by example”, he still shouts that he’s been treated unfairly and could be looking to leave the club. I send him down to the youth team, where he’ll stay until he has apologised for his behaviour. How long this takes depends on the player. I always use this method, no matter who it is. But it has become rather tiresome to hear my players declaring unfair treatment all the time like a broken record. It’s a game of luck. Hit the right button, for example issuing a one week fine instead of two, or even a one week fine instead of a public warning (!), and you’ll win the prize. The same goes for praising/criticising a player’s form. I’m always astounded when I hear that one of my players is actually disappointed that I wasn’t harsh enough. How does that even make sense? Did his morale get even lower because I wasn’t angry enough?

One thing that always infuriates me (even after all this time) is the now infamous: didn’t seem to be listening. Honestly I can’t even begin to understand how this got green-lighted. In my view, it’s very poor from SI. I stand by that statement. Fine, if a player is known for being a low-professional jerk, then I can accept it. But when the entire team seem to be completely indifferent to what I’m saying in the locker room, I would demote every single one of them to the reserves, were I a real manager. I wouldn’t even hesitate. But of course I don’t do that in the game, because I know I’m just reacting at a game flaw, and not necessarily at my players. But I beg of you, SI, do away with that one line, or at least rephrase it. I don’t want to work hard to fuse my team together just to be met by that in my own locker room. It just feels that I’m being undermined by the game. I go the route of Alex Ferguson by creating a strong fellowship and always reminding my players that no-one’s bigger than the club. If a player doesn’t seem to be listening, then give me an option to remind him of his place, or remove it altogether. I don’t want my authority to be undermined like that – not if I’ve spent seasons building it up. That’s all I’m saying.

This inevitably leads me to team-talks. It just feels like a lottery. That’s the best way I can describe it. Suddenly – one day – you say the “right” thing and your players are inspired. Why are they inspired? I don’t know. I just said the right thing, I guess, whatever it may be. That’s how it feels. I want to inspire my men but I feel cut off from them. It’s like I’m playing charades with my players left guessing my meaning. I want to know what the locker room “feels” like, how the atmosphere is. How are my players behaving after 45 minutes. Are they cracking jokes and acting complacent? Are they staring at the floor in dejection, or at they looking to me for guidance, as a pupil to his mentor?

Another thing I’m not too happy about are the limits of your authority as a manager. I’ve had situations where a player would publically criticise a decision I’ve made, perhaps loaning out a player or selling one . Of course, I would proceed to warn him for his unprofessional behaviour, or even discuss it, only to find that I can’t. I’m the manager and I can’t even talk to my players. No wonder they act so brazenly.

Numbers: One thing that decreases overall realism is the game’s dependancy on numbers. This has become more obvious with the newest patch, when your players tire faster on the pitch. If my player has 71% left of his fitness, naturally I’ll look to sub him. But how would I know that? If it was real life I would observe his body language, as an example, to determine how tired he was. Players have their morale spelt out in that they are ‘motivated’ or ‘playing nervously’. Why aren’t the fitness levels displayed in the same way, i.e. ‘tired’, ‘exhausted’, ‘winded’? I shouldn’t be able to know the exact level of stamina my players have left. I always get nervous when my players are nearing 70% and it shouldn’t be like that. Even if a player is tiring I shouldn’t always feel compelled to sub him – it depends on the player – but when I get the cold hard percentage thrown at me, of course I’ll act. I think the game needs to be stripped of its numerical nature. I’m not supposed to have all the facts all the time.

Training: I think a big part of a manager’s life revolves around training sessions. He’ll monitor his players, test ideas and players, judge match fitness etc. Currently, however, the training is made out of schedules and a weekly (?) report from your assman on how well players have trained. Why is he telling me? Why can’t I judge that for myself? I’ll have to go into the training area, click on a particular schedule and then see if they’ve perfomed well in training, which is represented by a red or green arrow. That’s it. What should I gather from that? Move a widget a little to the left? I think training should have it’s own representation, much like matches. I think every now and again you should be able to oversee a training session. You’ll confere with your staff on site and watch your players perform various duties, according to their schedules. You’ll test out new ideas in practice matches or gauge the mentalities of your players. A simple “Superb” in morale is not good enough to display this. What does superb mean anyway? Does it mean they’ll be extra motivated for the game? Nope, I know that much. This is just an idea. I might be wrong but it’s just something I’ve been thinking about.

Weaker foot: I hate this. I don’t hate the fact that there’s one-footed players out there, but I hate the fact that SI feels the need to compensate them for their weakness. If you’re very one-footed, that’s your handicap. Deal with it. Whenever I see a player’s inflated attributes because of his one-footedness, I just shake my head in disappointment. I heard that this was implemented so that they would act right in the ME, but I still don’t like it. Have them act strangely or handicapped then. The attributes is pretty much the only thing we have to properly judge a player’s ability. When it’s corrupted like this, what am I supposed to believe? What are we to make of these one-footed mutants? Do their attributes accurately represent them or do they live under a special rule? I think the inflation should be removed altogether. It’s just deceptive.

Well, I guess that’s it. I probably have some more criticisms stashed away in my head, but I can’t think of anything else right now. There’s still some question marks concerning the ME but I won’t go into that. I’ll leave that debate for others. I know FM10 is done and the only thing that matters now, in terms of further development, is FM11. I hope some of this can be taken to heart, or at least give you a new perspective on things. I'm going to bed now, so good night.

Great effort with the post, some interesting thoughts here. I personally feel that the one remaining serious flaw in the game is the lack of private, personal player interaction. It irritates me that I cannot speak privately to a player who is playing poorly, without publicly humiliating him.

Your other points are all valid, but they are changes that should take place gradually. You cannot rewrite a module without there being serious bugs, and I think training works well, albeit in quite a simplistic, 'game-y' way.

Yep, agree with the first three points especially a refresh and broadening of the writing.

If training were to be more complicated, and we were obliged to put any effort into it to get better results from players, the game would take sooooooo long. It'd bore the hell out of me, because i don't have a whole day, real life time, to sit for an hour and analyse training. In real life the procces of training is visceral, but this IS a game, and such it is a statistically natured game. I think you're asking too much.

I agree with the 'text' stuff. It's all incredibley mundane but i think this is an AI issue, in that the AI is not sufficientley evolved enough to be organic, reactive, or even evolve all that much. But some fresher, more dynamic writing would be very welcomed. 10 seasons in and it's tiresome.

I especially agree about manager authority however, which is a great point. If i tell a young player i want him to play an aspect of his game a certain way, he'll do it. If i tell an older player, i essentially get told to F***k off!

'Oh hi Didier, just wondering if you could, y'know, try and go round the keeper when one-on-one, instead of blasting at him everytime?'

'F***k off, i'm too old to change the way i play'

'Ok then not to worry.'

I feel completley undermined, and i can't even tell him where to go! I'd like a sort of ultimatum type scenario, because afterall, if a player isn't playing how you want, or for you, then he should be got shot of, regardless of who's right. Also, teamtalks, either take it out or let us get the hairdryer out if a player isn't listening

i love it atm as it is . prolly only thing to me would make the game 3d grafics and game play better

Player interaction is still the weakest thing about the game IMO

in the teamtalks there's several options such as 'Pleased' which you never use because it makes the team go out and play an appalling 2nd half (shouldn't happen if you have a squad rated as being 'professional' IMO that should be the bonus you get from signing hard working, solid players instead of flair players)

on the latest patch every foreign player I sign is homesick. Yes sometimes players don't settle, but not every single one! and I find it ridiculous that well traveled players seem to be affected now too.

dude most of ull can hate me for saying this or deny it...but its a game for crying out loud...its like suggesting that another game in the action genre...add something else to it...for example MW2...we should have the ability to smoke a sig while camping....thats a good thought but a crazy idea...its all very nice and imaginative to think of new ways to improve the game...but i think some of it really have to be realistic...i think FM should come up with better ways for sure and really take us in depth into the life of a football manager but at the same time not really bore you out...thats what makes a good game...it needs to have depth and at the same time shouldnt really drag on forever...I think most of what i've read from the forums are all some really good ideas but can they be implemented?? thats the question...its always going to be really hard to take a IRL situation and but it in a game...however in saying that FM should be looking at giving us an experience that is closest to what a manager goes through during his career and his regular day at the club...it would be foolish to suggest that you as a manager should be allowed to go the supermarket and buy your groceries...or pick up ur kids from school...or shag ur missus...its all sounds very appealing but does it add anything to the game??? if it doesnt really add anything to the game then its a waste...one thing that I really feel needs to be changed is the realism of FM as a whole...youll get some wacked out wonderkids who cost like 15 milion quid to come to a club of Luton Town stature just cause you have the money...honestly i dont think anyone would want to go there...i think a bit of realism needs to be added in the game regarding transfers...cause if you can get kaka to aston villa...something is really wrong...that dude turned down 125 million pounds to go to MAn City but went to Madrid for a mere 56 million...Players need to be really hard to get...cause what i've noticed is that most people take small clubs and wheal and deal for the first couple of season and then spend big on major stars...honestly IRL no one would come to that club...unless they have proved themselves over the years...players should have a bigger say in the transfers..

Great opening post. Whilst I have no problems with the game and play it for hours every day, I can accept the notion that some big changes are needed.

The writing part is hugely important imo, and I wholeheartedly agree with the points made. The irritating thing is that this , surely, is the easiest part of the game to change and rejuvenate. Why do we see only a handful of new messages with every new incarnation of FM, it is I imagine such a simple thing, yet for the user would go an enormous way to improving the gaming experience.

I genuinely might be tempted to play into my 21st season rather than just start over again if there was a slight possibilty that something different would happen at the end of it - at the moment there is absolutely no chance of that - we all know the messages off by heart.

Please SI give us more oppurtunity to interact, more oppurtunity to be congratulated and lauded after something good happens and more variety in things like team talks and press conferences. Correct me if i'm wrong but it's only a matter of wiriting new lines!!!!

Trainig I'm not that fussed about, I don't think I would spend a lot of time on it even if it were available, but I why some want this as to improve the managerial experience

Please SI give us more oppurtunity to interact, more oppurtunity to be congratulated and lauded after something good happens and more variety in things like team talks and press conferences. Correct me if i'm wrong but it's only a matter of wiriting new lines!!!!

I agree with what you want but it is definatley more than a matter of writing new lines, you have to code and programme all the possible reactions, depending on the players, your reputation, club and so on. It's not a case of writing new lines and that's it, but i'm sure this will be dealt with in future FM's

Some good points.

First off training could be much more detailed and easier to grasp (just look in the training forum at SFraser's and ProZone's posts, the current system is easy if you've read their research) without having to spend ages watching players train. If maybe you had to set up your routines, that are much more detailed and targeted then the current ones, and then could just leave them for a season or evena couple of season that would be better. Forcing players to watch training would be like removing Key or Extended from the match view you'd lose pretty much every "casual" player.

Interaction with players is okay. I mainly ignored it until the backroom advice came in and now I sometimes do what my assistant suggests. I do hate how there is only one way to be a "good" manager, and bringing discipline to a squad is basically just fining a player if he gets sent off. Now good man managment is rarely blowing your top at every little mistake, but in the game it's safer just to take the positive/neutral option in almost every case where you are allowed to actually interact. I especially dislike the fact that the only way to make your players more determined or professional is to buy a determined/professional player and then tutor them, why can't I suggest that they buck their ideas up and be more professional or they are out?

The rest of it I'm not really that bothered about. I skim read the news to get the jist of it so adding more detail would almost completely pass me by. Numbers don't bother me, FM is a glorified spreadsheet at times and the numbers are quicker and easier to understand then words for some things.

I agree with what you want but it is definatley more than a matter of writing new lines, you have to code and programme all the possible reactions, depending on the players, your reputation, club and so on. It's not a case of writing new lines and that's it, but i'm sure this will be dealt with in future FM's

To an extent. I think what many people would like to see is not an over complcation of things but simply some variety. Have the same question, with the same answers, but vary the words used such that it feels a little more fresh.

I could think of ten ways to phrase "Do you think the opposing team will win today?" or "Are you interested in buting X player?" and a good writer could probably come up with 30 or more. Why does the game use so few variations? There are many questions a manager gets asked on a regular basis, but at least the questions have some variation.

Love it when people post serious, non-ranting and thoughtful suggestions! Nice effort.

The commentary needs significant improvement.

Today we have:

"He puts the ball into row Z"

"He's taking no chances there"

Then, on the very next attack by a determined opposition

"He puts the ball into row Z"

"He's taking no chances there"

At the very least, they should run through all the different phrases for that event before returning to the first one (which, in this case, is usually grossly inaccurate - unless row Z is where the ball boys sit).

The silly thing is that text phrases are the least resource intensive of all. You can download The Dictionary in less than 5MB.

So, asking for 50 separate commentary phrases for putting the ball out under pressure is not a big ask.

Here, I'll do the first 35 myself:

(X = the defensive player, Y= attacking player)

"X puts the ball out"

"X sees the danger and gives away a throw in"

"X snuffs out the danger"

"X does the simple thing and puts it out"

"No nonsense from X, he's taking no chances"

"X clears the ball into touch"

"X knows what to do! He puts it out under pressure from Y"

"Good marking by X. Simple but effective. Throw in."

"X hoofs it out. Not the most attractive football, but it gets the job done."

"Ouch! The ball boy won't thank X for that!! Throw in."

"'When in doubt, boot it out!' Textbook defence from X."

"A valuable clearance from X"

"X gets the better of Y and puts it out for a throw"

"X boots it out. One lucky fan catches it and throws it to a ball boy."

"X boots it out of play. That one's not coming back!"

"X kicks it where it can do no harm!"

"X hoofs the ball out. The referee orders a replacement - he burst the ball!"

"X deals with it the only way he knows how!"

"A good hoof by X! He's done Sunday League football proud!"

"X gets rid of it!"

"X belts it into the stands. That's made the trip worthwhile for one lucky fan!"

"X deals with the situation in a no-nonsense fashion!"

"X gives Y no quarter and dispatches the ball into touch."

"X bangs it out! He leathered that one!"

"X senses trouble and does the sensible thing."

"Ask questions later from X! He buys time for his team to reorganise."

"Under pressure, X leathers it out of play."

"X lumps it over the stand and into the car park."

"X thumps it. It's gone out of play."

"X sends it out. He's done the simple thing! He's done the right thing!"

"X takes one look at Y and knows what to do! Throw in."

"X lobs it high into the stands."

"X hoofs it out! Even the birds were scared of that one!"

"X does his job and puts the ball far from danger."

"X thumps it out. Lucky no-one was in the way of that clearance!"

None of those should be seen twice before the others have been shown - the engine should decide what order they'll be shown in and, on the second go around, repeat phrases with an "again" addition, also removing the unlikely parts of the phrase where appropriate.

So "X lobs it high into the stands" would become "X lobs it high into the stands again"

or "X belts it into the stands. That's made the trip worthwhile for one lucky fan!"

Becomes "X belts it into the stands again." ["That's made the trip worthwhile for one lucky fan!" gets deleted after the first iteration].

The commentary needs significant improvement.

Today we have:

"He puts the ball into row Z"

"He's taking no chances there"

Then, on the very next attack by a determined opposition

"He puts the ball into row Z"

"He's taking no chances there"

At the very least, they should run through all the different phrases for that event before returning to the first one (which, in this case, is usually grossly inaccurate - unless row Z is where the ball boys sit).

The silly thing is that text phrases are the least resource intensive of all. You can download The Dictionary in less than 5MB.

So, asking for 50 separate commentary phrases for putting the ball out under pressure is not a big ask.

Here, I'll do the first 35 myself:

(X = the defensive player, Y= attacking player)

"X puts the ball out"

"X sees the danger and gives away a throw in"

"X snuffs out the danger"

"X does the simple thing and puts it out"

"No nonsense from X, he's taking no chances"

"X clears the ball into touch"

"X knows what to do! He puts it out under pressure from Y"

"Good marking by X. Simple but effective. Throw in."

"X hoofs it out. Not the most attractive football, but it gets the job done."

"Ouch! The ball boy won't thank X for that!! Throw in."

"'When in doubt, boot it out!' Textbook defence from X."

"A valuable clearance from X"

"X gets the better of Y and puts it out for a throw"

"X boots it out. One lucky fan catches it and throws it to a ball boy."

"X boots it out of play. That one's not coming back!"

"X kicks it where it can do no harm!"

"X hoofs the ball out. The referee orders a replacement - he burst the ball!"

"X deals with it the only way he knows how!"

"A good hoof by X! He's done Sunday League football proud!"

"X gets rid of it!"

"X belts it into the stands. That's made the trip worthwhile for one lucky fan!"

"X deals with the situation in a no-nonsense fashion!"

"X gives Y no quarter and dispatches the ball into touch."

"X bangs it out! He leathered that one!"

"X senses trouble and does the sensible thing."

"Ask questions later from X! He buys time for his team to reorganise."

"Under pressure, X leathers it out of play."

"X lumps it over the stand and into the car park."

"X thumps it. It's gone out of play."

"X sends it out. He's done the simple thing! He's done the right thing!"

"X takes one look at Y and knows what to do! Throw in."

"X lobs it high into the stands."

"X hoofs it out! Even the birds were scared of that one!"

"X does his job and puts the ball far from danger."

"X thumps it out. Lucky no-one was in the way of that clearance!"

None of those should be seen twice before the others have been shown - the engine should decide what order they'll be shown in and, on the second go around, repeat phrases with an "again" addition, also removing the unlikely parts of the phrase where appropriate.

So "X lobs it high into the stands" would become "X lobs it high into the stands again"

or "X belts it into the stands. That's made the trip worthwhile for one lucky fan!"

Becomes "X belts it into the stands again." ["That's made the trip worthwhile for one lucky fan!" gets deleted after the first iteration].

This is a good post and was exactly my point.

It's not hard / particularly time consuming / even remotely expensive to write new lines, the poster above has just done it effortlessly.

If this was done for commentary, news items, team talks and press conferences the gaming experience would improve ten fold.

It wouldn't even necessarily be coded into the game. Just give us some variation.

A revamp of all the text could feasibly be done by one person in one week - adding a decent number of variations to all news items, team talks and press conferences - how much more interesting would this make the game, if only on a superficial level

The most annoying thing I have about the text is when I arrive at a club and ship a few players out every time I play the team they move to after that I get asked how my relationship with the player is. It should only ask that if they played a set number of games under you, obviously I think they are crap otherwise I'd have kept them.

go into the training area, click on a particular schedule and then see if they’ve perfomed well in training, which is represented by a red or green arrow

I didn't realize this was there. Thanks!

I hope people at SI see this thread before it dies. Some excellent ideas and constructive, well thought out criticism

We will only know when FM11 is released. Until then your guess is as good as mine.

I'd like to see extra time spent ensuring that the version bought in the shop isn't a buggy mess, and is enjoyable to play from day one.

Also, I believe the majority of the frustrations raised here still exist.

I have to agree with the player interaction in the game, really needs working on, and as previously said, it can't cost that much and take too much work to get the text stuff more intresting.

I think you're fully right about weaker foot - it shouldn't be linked to CA at all.

Brilliant post, fully agree, trouble is, my past experience is that the fundamental nitty gritty things dont change much from release to release, it would be great if for the new game they really took the trouble to make some major upgrades in the sort of areas that those who play a lot really notice and appreciate but aren't easy to advertise and shout about in pre-release marketing.

Weaker foot: I hate this. I don’t hate the fact that there’s one-footed players out there, but I hate the fact that SI feels the need to compensate them for their weakness. If you’re very one-footed, that’s your handicap. Deal with it. Whenever I see a player’s inflated attributes because of his one-footedness, I just shake my head in disappointment. I heard that this was implemented so that they would act right in the ME, but I still don’t like it. Have them act strangely or handicapped then. The attributes is pretty much the only thing we have to properly judge a player’s ability. When it’s corrupted like this, what am I supposed to believe? What are we to make of these one-footed mutants? Do their attributes accurately represent them or do they live under a special rule? I think the inflation should be removed altogether. It’s just deceptive.

You're thinking about "weaker foot" in completely the wrong way.

SI do NOT compensate players for their weak foot.

There are two ways of looking at it: the right way and the wrong way. However, even following through with the "wrong way" leads to the conclusion that the situation is accurate.

The wrong way:

A player's CA is a sum of their attributes. "Weaker foot" is an attribute. If two players have the same CA, but one has a weaker weak foot, then they'll have more attribute points to spread around.

However, the same applies to any other attribute. If two players have the same CA, but one is worse at finishing, then he'll have more attribute points to spread around his remaining attributes, including weaker foot.

The right way:

Two players can do all the same things to the same level of competence. All visible numerical attributes are equal. However, one can use both feet, whereas the other is very one footed. Which is the better player, and therefore deserves a higher CA? Of course, it is the one who can use both feet.

That's what's happening in the game. Players who can only use one foot aren't being magically boosted by this fact, they're being penalised.

Bump

Well, I have to say, that OP is the best example of constructive criticism I think I've ever seen on these forums. Great post

Rather than creating a new thread I thought it would be best to add to this already exising one, with some new observations and opinions I’ve amassed. I’m currently playing my longest FM10 career yet, with 243 matches played overall at 2014. During my career I’ve seen some things which I think is worth commenting on, so consider this an addendum to what I’ve already said.

One disheartening thing that I’ve noticed is the perceived lack of managerial intelligence in AI managers. The idea that you build your team around a leading player (such as Lionel Messi) seems to be completely absent in the game (correct me if I’m wrong). I’ll use Barcelona as an example in this. During five or six seasons they’ve played a regular 4-4-2, using Messi as a right wide midfielder (!). His rating is still impressive but his goal tally is anything but. He has managed to score 14 goals during his last two seasons, when we know that he can do so much better, both in-game and in real life. The main reason for his modest amount of goals is Guardiola’s insistence on playing him as a right midfielder in an ordinary 4-4-2 formation, which completely wastes his ability, in my opinion. He’s basically been morphed into a one-dimensional crossing type of player, instead of the devastating inside forward he really is. So instead of scoring 25+ goals a season Messi is barely scoring a dozen from his new deeper role, and it’s not like he has plenty of assists either. Now, why is he playing there in the first place? Anyone would realise in a second that Messi’s place is on the right wing, ready to cut inside and NOT beside the central midfielder. Now, Guardiola is smart and knows this – in real life – but in the game it’s entirely different.

What I want to see is dynamic judgements made by managers based on what is available to them. What this would entail is properly analysing the squad and playing a formation that best uses the team’s strengths (if the manager is a good one, like Guardiola): in this case it would probably be a 4-5-1 formation with Messi playing an advanced role on the right wing, but we all know that. I’ve seen so many teams with really talented attacking midfielders which have been converted into central midfielders or something similar, to fit a pre-determined tactic of the team/manager. Would you really play Pastore or Hazard in a central role, instead of an advanced one? Most AI managers seem to, with those two players used as an example. What I’m getting at is that there is very little – if any – adapation made by managers in regards to their squad. They brutally enforce their pre-set tactical mindset on the team, even if it’s detrimental to star players being played out of position. Adaption, proper judgment and a dynamic thinking. I don’t want to see Messi/Ronaldo/Arshavin in a cut-off position just because their managers can’t think outside their limited AI box. I guess I feel compelled to address this because it hurt, even though I wasn’t even the Barca coach, seeing Lionel Messi as a wide midfielder. No wonder he never performs against me – he’s never been close to the goal! Please do something about this, I don’t want to see more talented attacking players in the future being converted into weird subdued positions just to fit their manager’s obstinate thinking. I still remember in FM09 when Liverpool (or someone) bought Diego Buonanotte for expensive money and proceeded to convert him into a central midfielder. It was pitiful to say the least. What business does he have there, when he should be attacking down the centre or on the wing? Gaarghhhburglgrumblegrumble. Well you get the idea. Moving on.

Another thing which I couldn’t fail but notice is the flawed transfer system, along with squad building. I’ll use Barcelona again as an example. In 2013, for a fee of €10.5M, Barcelona bought… wait for it… Alan Judge. He played a total of five matches before being loaned out to West Ham. Brilliant buy. Clubs like Barcelona, Milan, Real Madrid and so on never have to regret buying bad players, or outright disastrous players, because they have seemingly unlimited funds to spend on players every season. I’ve found that Real Madrid (the most rampant of them all) have gone close to actually breaking the game, by hoarding the very best players available and crushing any adversary. If there’s a good player somewhere, they buy him: this cycle repeats itself every new season. This leads me to ask, why do Real Madrid need all those players? Width? No, I think they have a reasonably wide squad. Why do they keep buying players they don’t need? This goes for many big clubs. They just keep buying, and buying, and buying. Where’s the strategy? Real Madrid (in real life) have gone rampant by buying some of the best talent available, I’ll concede to that, but even in that madness there’s been a strategy – mainly merchandising but that’s beside the point. They bought a world-class winger, a deep playmaker, an attacking midfielder, a striker, a full-back. They strengthened their squad, they didn’t pad or stuff it. They had all the money in the world but they didn’t go crazy (the fees were crazy, granted, but the squad building in itself was not). There was an idea of a complete squad made fit to challenge for the biggest trophies. The AI in FM doesn’t seem to grasp this idea - at all. The only thing it grasps is hoarding a vast army of footballers and hoping that will be enough. But it doesn’t hold up. Many times managers buy players without any slightest intent of actually playing them. Why did Barca buy Alan Judge? They bought Cristian Benitez too, and Sebastian Larsson. But why? All of them are now on the transfer list after one season, with less than fifteen matches between them. Together they cost the club about €24M, give or take, and nothing was gained. It feels frustrating knowing that I am the only sane manager in the game, when it comes to buying players.

This leads me to yet another nuisance. How many British/Irish players chooses to move abroad to Italian or French clubs? Not many, at all. Italians don’t often go abroad either, nor do Spaniards. They often go to national clubs, rather than foreign. These are natural rules or tendencies which happen to exist in Europe. They should exist in FM too, if it really aspires to be realistic. I know there are some exceptions like Beckham or Zapater, but it happens very rarely. British people are more inclined to go to domestic clubs, so too are Germans, Italians and Spaniards. I don’t know how tricky this would be to incorporate into any future game but I think it’s worth a consideration at least. It’s a big step leaving your country and most prefer to remain there, rather than going abroad, at least in those countries I mentioned. There’s probably statistics to back up my claims but I don’t know where to look for them.

Oh and another thorn in my buttocks, this one a little trickier. Positions. We all know that Messi plays on the right at Barca and likes to gravitate towards the centre and penalty area. That’s his position. He isn’t a wide midfielder at all. He’s an attacking midfielder, who happens to play on the wing. That’s why I suggest you remove that hidden rule, which exists in the editor, that says that wingers are automatically “accomplished” in the deeper wide midfield role. I don’t think Messi would be that effective if he played as a wide midfielder in a 4-4-2. He would still cause havoc, no doubt, but it wouldn’t be the same as playing further up the pitch. That’s what I think. Managers react to accomplished ratings as much as natural ones. That’s why Arshavin’s been known – in some FM careers – to play as a wide midfielder, just because he happened to have an “accomplished” rating in the RM/LM positions, but those only existed because he can play as an attacking left or right winger. A natural AMC doesn’t automatically get an accomplished rating in the deeper CM position, so why do wingers get that? It messes with managers’ minds. Or am I completely lost on this matter?

You might be thinking, “This guy sure likes to criticise Football Manager. He must really hate it.” This is not true. I think I love it TOO much, which prompts me to write these things. I want the game to be perfect, which is my curse, being a perfectionist. I can’t just look at poor Alan Judge in his Barca shirt and be happy for him. I would’ve been happy for him had he been a true revelation and truly earned that move, and carved a good career in Spain. But he performed exactly like you would expect. Averaging 6.82 (not unlike his ratings during his previous two seasons at Stoke City) under 5 matches before Barca realised their mistake and listed him. They should’ve realised that before even considering buying him. That’s exactly what I’m saying here. Guardiola should have known that Alan would flop, because he was never close to offer anything substantial to the squad. I think the only reason Guardiola bought him in the first place was because he was a natural right midfielder, which was perfect for the 4-4-2 which Barcelona inexplicably adopted. It’s no big surprise that they’ve slipped behind me (Valencia) and the ever so dominant Real Madrid. At least Real know how to play Cristiano Ronaldo, who average 20+ goals a season.

Gah, I’m the Messi of the SI Community, because once I’ve started you can’t stop me. So I’ll continue onto more serious matters, namely the kids. One thing that AI managers seem to do well or at least diligently is buying young talent. But actually nurturing them along with home-grown talent seems to be flawed. They’ll leave them in the youth squad, perhaps move them up to the reserves after a season or so. Then they loan them out to various domestic clubs. Several clubs in fact, during several seasons. Then… well, they either get released, transfer listed or get the extremely rare chance of actually breaking into the main squad. It’s quite amazing at how paranoid most of these managers are at their own talent, often keeping them at arm’s length. I remember in my second season as the Montpellier manager. I was inspecting expiring contracts of various players and was surprised to find a young Gael Kakuta with a contract on the verge of ending. I took him for my own on a free and he was quite productive in my attacking midfield. He was eighteen or something. But why did Chelsea act so nonchalant over it all? Why not just offer the kid a contract at least, perhaps keep him for another season and then sell him for a profit? If they really didn’t want him (for whatever reason) then the club should’ve at least attempt to sell him. That they allowed his contract to just expire, without batting an eyelash, is pretty surprising. He’s a very promising player and still very young. Why not just offer him a contract and see how it goes at least? That would be the sensible thing to do. However sense and AI management rarely mix. This has to change, in my opinion, because it becomes absolutely vital for long-term games. Too many home-grown talents have slipped through their fingers for no good reason at all. I often see cracking youngsters emerging at Old Trafford but the manager simply doesn’t care. The youngster will get a loan deal to some League One club, perhaps get tutored and then fades away, until a Championship club snaps him up for a nominal fee or even on a free. If anything make squad management your top priority for FM11. Teach those managers how you actually manage a club, at least the good ones like Guardiola.

Newgens! No, I'm not talking about the youngsters. I'm talking about the coaches, the scouts and physios. There's a big problem with the newgen staff. They'll often have a 20 or something in coaching stats, which makes them world-class in that special field, but they often have terrible mental stats. This is an oxymoron in my opinion. You can't be world-class at defence training if you have the determination of a sloth. Here's what I suggest: Have the newgen staff be generated with good or at least decent mental stats, ranging from 12-18 or whatever. Then, with a bit of luck and tenacity, particular talents like defence training and mental training will be increased as they train players at various clubs. Reverse the whole thing. Instead of having awesome coaching stats, let them have reasonable mental stats instead - and let the coaching stats improve over time, if it's warranted. I don't like seeing a coach with a full 20 in Attacking but a measly 1 in Determination.

Anyway, these are some of the grievances I’ve been having. I get those a lot and I’ll continue having them, because I’m picky like that. I’m planning to continue my career beyond 2014 but it does detract from the game when I see things like I’ve mentioned. FM will progress no matter what, but in what direction I don’t know. The only thing I can do is think of ways of improving it, which I will continue doing, whether I want to or not. Cheers. Will anyone even read all this? If you do, I tip my hat... if I had one. Which I don't. But I would.

PS: I've just realised that the thread titled is wrong. It should be "FM10 10.3 - Thoughts". How embarrassing. If any moderator could change that I'd be grateful, if only to prevent confusion.

Some brilliant ideas in this thread

Excellent stuff, Burgshield.

I hope the directors (SI) of this football club (FM) will take on board your suggestions.

One thing I especially dislike are the many oxymorons which have crept into the game. Certainly unintentionally, as a result of trying to balance everything out.

Here's one example. Real life players (even youngsters) with high CA/PA in the game all have very decent hidden/mental stats. Yet newgens with the same CA/PA range have totally random (i.e. poor overall) hidden/mental stats.

The way I see it, it's not logical for a player to have that PA in the first place, if the hidden stats are not at least somewhat in line with his potential. So, tutor them, one might say. Sure, and run the risk of having your best young striker falling out with your best senior striker.

These are the sort of things that have me reaching for third-party editors, when I don't really like editing. But I'm a bit of a perfectionist too and can't stand these flaws.

FM should be improving all the time, in line with the flaws being discovered and remedies suggested for the same. There are way too many aspects of the game which have been left to stagnate, or have been "explained away" to try make us see how the square peg fits a round hole (i.e. weaker foot issue, which I agree should not be tied to CA at all). Players should simply start off with Weaker Foot: Very Poor, Poor, Reasonable, Good, Either (no 1-20 values). And maybe special training (like for PPM's), could raise a player's quality by one level in this respect.

wow, fantastic agree with nearly everything thats been said

training does need improving as training has to be one of the biggest parts of football management and it is no where near as important as it should be, but I think your idea could be a little long winded and bore alot of people, I havent got a particular idea but I do agree it needs improvement, although I would like to practice certain corner kick routines and free-kick routines and then get player feedback "yeah boss we like this we'll implement it during a game" or "no gaffer we dont feel comfortable with it" or something like that.

player interaction i'd say is the number 1 problem, I cant believe I cant talk to my players, I should be able to "call a player into my office" and have a conversation with them press conference style, I ask them some questions about there form, fitness, general happiness etc and also players come and ask me questions why did u sub me, why arent I starting, new contract etc, also like to call a squad all together and talk to them about good or bad form, before a big game and try to motivate them.

agree about the weaker foot it really annoys me when a player who has amazing stats but can only use 1 foot whereas a player who can use 2 feet his stats arent as good that is very unrealistic, also why has every quick player got poor technical and mental stats I know that si have implemented the capped stats so a player can only be so good and be a "super player" but surely not every quick player is an idiot who cant cross or shoot from distance