This game is too easy!

ok so im not being big headed or nothing so please, stick with me. i started the games as my beloved everton. the only player i signed was landon donovan who incidently got signing of the season. i used the formation that was suggested in my first backroom meeting which was 451 as it suited the players i have. the only thing i changed on it was increasing width and tempo ever so slightly. as for the players i picked a role that most suited their ability. eg on my tactics page, i click on say, cahill and all his atributes come up with the ones highlighted that you should look for in that particular role. in his case the one that matched his attributes closest was box to box on support. i did this for all of my starting 11 AND THAT IS IT.

In my first season, i finished 3rd and won both domestic cups. i won manager of the year and my reputation changed to 'world class'. In the 2nd season, im now into feb, 7 pts clear at the top, still in the champions league and both cups.

i still havnt signed anyone other than some decent looking 16/17 year olds. seriously, ive harldly done a thing.

untill yesterday, i used the default training schedules, i havnt touched the editor, i do the press confrences, pre match, team talks etc ive even started doing opposition instructions and on the odd occasion, taking charge of the reserves. im literaly going through the motions now and have come to the conclusion that ive either unwhittingly stumbled across the perfect tactic for Everton or this game is too easy????

Your in the Premier League with a decent team so its always a possibility. And the fact that its the team you support so you should know your players inside out. Try managing a BSN team who you know nothing about and see if you find it easy. If all your doing is listening to backroom advice and selecting the best role for your players, you should be able to do that at any club if its easy.

Sometimes I feel it's to easy to even when in control of lower league teams

It seems that things have certainly clicked for you dave so well done. It will be interesting to see how you fair in the next few seasons. I am not sure you should be referred as 'world class' based on what you have achieved in the first season. I have won the CL and La Liga in the first season before and only been Continental.

I do disagree with Steve to an extent. Winning the two cups with Everton and finishing 3rd would be far better than winning the BSN league with any team - based on a one season shoot out IMO.

I must admit I am finding this edition much easier.

I started as Ipswich and anyone that has played with them will know they have a really thin and quite average side,I am now in January and am 11 points clear in the league but even more so I am in the final of the league cup.

I know this "COULD" happen but the results in the league cup have been somewhat unreal,a 2-0 win against Everton was quite nice but with a couple of my better players out seemed a surprise...

..then came the quarter final against Aston Villa at Villa park....5-1 to my Ipswich side..the game itself seemed it could have been 10-1,we really were that much in control.

I kept on thinking "I bet Roy Keane wishes he had my skills"

i think i got ''world class'' for 2 reasons. the first being how much better i did than my own and the media predictions. the other being that i had, at that point a 70% win rate. i do think tho that in the background somewhere, you rack up points for everything you do and that when you get 'x' amount you move up. ust an idea!

as far as managing down the bottom, thats even easyer. spend half an hour searching for players your club could attract/loan and you will get a leg up on the rest of the league anyway.

after a while, i always end up startin a new game with someone like leighton orient and try to work my way up. the thing is tho, after a while of playing this game you kind of get a good feel for what players are what so its not much of a task flying through the leagues.

Year in people ask for skill levels without realising football manager has them. If you manage certain teams and buy certain players each time your win the leagues and that, if you want a challenge you go low down and follow alot of the LLM rules and see how easy that is.

It isn't too easy for me.

I think it depends on your team and the way you interpret the challenge set, i.e not going over wage budgets, having attribute masking on, not spreading transfer fees over an excessive amount of time to allow you to sign loads of expensive players [if you can still do that].

Im Harnosand in the bottom swedish division, worse team in the division with a weekly wage budget of around £420. With attribute masking on i've found my first season so difficult! i'm currently 9th and joint on points to team below me with 2 games to go. 10th is a relegation playoff (in a league of 12). I am a fairly apt football manager in FM 2010 I won the treble with Fulham (after about 8 or 9 seasons mind) and I managed to get Blue Square South team Thurrock into the championship in ALMOST successive seasons (i spent an extra year in one division.) (which i was winning when the new game came out).

If you manage sensibly and responsibly to the confidements of your club i think its harder to do well than if you over spend and bank on over achieving to account for that.

I must admit i haven't read the whole of this post yet, just thought i'd add my too penneth and vent about my relegation scrap!

I've also found it too easy. Have started saves with Liverpool, Tottenham and Everton and have won the Premier League in my first season at each. Also in the first season, won Euro Cup and League Cup with Liverpool, FA Cup with Everton and domestic cup double with Tottenham. Once the new patch comes out I plan on starting a career save with a lower division team in another country in the hope that it's going to be more difficult. In my Tottenham save, I accidentally had my centre mid set as my target man with the setting "run onto ball" for around 3 months, and still managed to win the league. WTF lol?!

I used different tactics with each club also. With Liverpool I used a formation I have had the most success with on the last few versions of FM (kind of a 4-3-3 with one out and out winger and 2 central strikers). With Everton I used a standard 4-4-2, and with Tottenham I played 3 at the back and attempted to play "total football". I feel that I shouldn't be able to win the league with all 3 of those teams, using 3 different tactics, but not really sure what to think at the moment as I've only got 3, 2 and 1 season in the respective saves.

Personally i'm finding this year harder than last year. Last year, I won multiple league and European titles with Liverpool in one save, and turned Burton into a great Prem team in another. So far this year, i've been sacked by both Man City and Liverpool within 3 years. Consistency is the main reason for my sackings as i'm finding it very tough to string more than 5/6 unbeaten games together.

It's not too easy for me.

I started a save with spurs, got to x mas and had done very well, between 2nd and 4th in the league each week, top of cL group. The game got deleted somehow.

I restarted, up to october, although unbeaten i cannot but a win. Draw almost all games at home. It is stark contrast to my previous game. But then again, i make it harder for myself-I put defoe on the injury list for 5 months as irl, don't but anyone pre season, i never look at opposition player attributes, and have to go on what my scouts and ass.man tell me, which is generalised nonsense most of the time. I scout players and decide if i wish to buy them based on scout reports etc....

I don't think it's too easy, it's about right. And also, to whoever said the diffculty settings are the level you play, well, there shoudn't be a prejudice against those who want to play top level. Not everyone wants to manage Blyth Spartans ffs

Like Paul I am managing in the Swedish lowest tier (Enskede) and it is by no means easy. When you have a budget the size of a shoe string, and you have to spend hours scouting players just to get a few double figure attributes you know it is certainly not a walk in the park.

If anyone thinks its too easy and wants a challenge then go to the Swedish lowest tier and see how you do!!!!

It's not too easy for me.

I started a save with spurs, got to x mas and had done very well, between 2nd and 4th in the league each week, top of cL group. The game got deleted somehow.

I restarted, up to october, although unbeaten i cannot but a win. Draw almost all games at home. It is stark contrast to my previous game. But then again, i make it harder for myself-I put defoe on the injury list for 5 months as irl, don't but anyone pre season, i never look at opposition player attributes, and have to go on what my scouts and ass.man tell me, which is generalised nonsense most of the time. I scout players and decide if i wish to buy them based on scout reports etc....

I don't think it's too easy, it's about right. And also, to whoever said the diffculty settings are the level you play, well, there shoudn't be a prejudice against those who want to play top level. Not everyone wants to manage Blyth Spartans ffs

Your right not everyone wants to play with Blyth Spartans, but what is the point of people saying the game is to easy with top teams and a list of who the best players are? The game is as easy or as hard as you want it to be, the joy of Football Manager is we get to set the level of hardness on the way we decide to play it, whether that be Blyth Spartans or Real Madrid.

Thing is Roman, if you want to play as a Chelsea, Man Utd, Liverpool etc, and buy the best talents and that, great and fair play to you as its your game and your rules, but saying the game is to easy afterwards is just like a broken pencil, Totally Pointless!!!

i have not found this game easier, in fact i would say its much harder than the last FM, by three seasons i would be winning the SPL with Aberdeen and have a lot of money in the bank, this time i have scrapped 4th in the first season and 3rd for the other two and im still struggling financialy.

I´m managing Haverfordwest, from Wales. I´m in 2019 and i have won the Welsh Premier 9 times. But i can't pass from this level. The Welsh league is 104th of the world. I only sign youngsters that are released from english clubs and train them for years. Average players doesn't want to come to my club. After these youngsters get older, they want improved contracts. My average attendance of the season grows a little every year, but still to few for supporting my team (my average attendance is about 700). So, try to play the game in Wales, with attribute masking. Your goal is to be World Champion with your team. This will take you a lot of time, trust me, and it's not easy. Specially because you find that wonderkid in Cameroon and can't sign him because of work permit

My stadium gets sold out in Champions league games, but the board doesn't want to extend it because of league games. The capacity :2000 seats.

I always start at 2nd round playoff in CL and pass to groups. Sometimes i get to next round till get knocked out, sometimes qualifies for EURO, till being knocked out. That´s my main income. I have 50 milion pounds after all those years. Training and youth academy at max, but no one wants to come. Also i play frindlies with average english clubs the whole season (not realistic) but football is not profitable at Wales.

I found a english guy that want to come for my team, his monthly salary: 120.000 pounds, half of my whole payroll. He's much better than my players, but not thaaaat good.

I challenge you

As you all can see i'm not native speaker

Haven't been having huge success(promotions with Piacenza and Dusseldorf, won Europa League and German Cup with Dusseldorf) but now with a few wonderkids and a really young team things have been starting to click as i also seemed to find a tactic that works, even though i'm slightly ****ed because i'm about to lose a very promising midfielder since an agent with 3 on patience was determined to get a release clause of 5M when i paid 6M for the kid in the first place!

On Germany the Prize Money is just awesome so it gets a little easier.. will play that save a few more seasons before trying to start something harder somewhere else.

Once patch 3 hits early next year I am going to holiday until June 2011 and save and keep reloading until FC United get promoted and try to take them all the way.

As for the suggestion's of playing in some obscure league for a challenge you have to remember that the game is supposed to be fun and slogging it out in the Welsh league just for a challenge is not everyone's idea of fun.

As I said in an earlier post with my Ipswich save it really is a lot easier than previous releases,I always start a release as Ipswich(not sure why just always have)and I would sometime's get promoted in the 1st year but would be a very tight affair and maybe through the play-offs or indeed just miss out and do it in my 2nd year.

This time around at the end of January I am almost sure to win the league 13 games to go and 14 points clear,also the final of the league cup with a win at Everton and a big win at Villa park,I always have attribute masking on and as this is my 1st save for this edition it is not that I know what players to buy.

I think the transfer "bug" is quite a big part of the problem though,while searching for transfer listed players I see the likes of Fahey(valued at 2.6 million) being offered for 0,so of course I am going to sign him as thats the job...improve your team.

I am sure the transfer thing will be sorted by or on the 3rd patch so will hopefully have a bigger challenge with FC United.

Once patch 3 hits early next year I am going to holiday until June 2011 and save and keep reloading until FC United get promoted and try to take them all the way.

As for the suggestion's of playing in some obscure league for a challenge you have to remember that the game is supposed to be fun and slogging it out in the Welsh league just for a challenge is not everyone's idea of fun.

As I said in an earlier post with my Ipswich save it really is a lot easier than previous releases,I always start a release as Ipswich(not sure why just always have)and I would sometime's get promoted in the 1st year but would be a very tight affair and maybe through the play-offs or indeed just miss out and do it in my 2nd year.

This time around at the end of January I am almost sure to win the league 13 games to go and 14 points clear,also the final of the league cup with a win at Everton and a big win at Villa park,I always have attribute masking on and as this is my 1st save for this edition it is not that I know what players to buy.

I think the transfer "bug" is quite a big part of the problem though,while searching for transfer listed players I see the likes of Fahey(valued at 2.6 million) being offered for 0,so of course I am going to sign him as thats the job...improve your team.

I am sure the transfer thing will be sorted by or on the 3rd patch so will hopefully have a bigger challenge with FC United.

I'm sorry i didn't meant to tell you how to play your game or having fun. I play this game since 97/98, so the only way i find to have is to play in obscure leagues. Now with dynamic system i'm very excited with the game. I agree when you stated that maybe this year is easier than previous, and i agree that the game should be fun at any level, including with Ipswich.

It's just me that likes challenges, i'm sorry again, i guess my first answer in english sounds agressive, it's the language barrier

It didn't come across as aggressive at all renatuspradus.

I have found this FM quite harder than the rest, it is quite hard to string together a big win streak, even with the big teams you get that little team that always cause an upset!

Your post was not at all aggressive renatuspradus (copy and paste for the win) and I am sorry if my reply made you feel it was...just a nice debate

Well, nice that this has been sorted out

Back in the topic. Except from the fact of signing big names easily (which i haven't because i don't play in big leagues), i guess that maybe we find this season easier because we are already experienced.

Nathozz is right when he said that there are no more of those big winning streaks... Or it's my tactics, but there are always some little team in the way.

There´s no victory conditions in this game, so it's like setting your goal and try to achieve it. That's where i find my fun. Many of you know, but here are some examples: Build a team with only national players or follow LLM rules. Last year i managed Sport & Leisure from Northern Ireland, after 25 game years, i never managed to be world champion.

When i play as the manager of my team here in Brazil , Corinthians, i also find the game easy and never spent more than 10 game years time with it since my first FM or CM game

I have been doing very well this edition of FM, starting in a bottom league club and working my way up, perhaps a little better than I have in previous editions.

I attribute my success to two main factors.

#1, having played Football Manager Live for the last 6 months or so, I know the match engine very well already and have spent a lot of time tuning tactics against very strong human opponents, meaning that my tactics in general I think are very strong

#2, there seem to be a LOT of free players available to lower league clubs who will sign for very low wages. These players are better than what you would start with in Blue Square South, and ask for less money and are usually younger. Perhaps more players need to retire rather than go into LL football, not sure, but it means I have been able to boost Blyth (two mentions in this thread how random) with a lot of talent despite a miniscule wage budget.

Sometimes I feel it's to easy to even when in control of lower league teams

yep, but once you got promoted its gets harder cuz your reputation is lower and is harder to recruit better players

It's an easy game if you don't overcomplicate things. FM11, I think, awards consistency in tactical decisions. I think if you lose two or three and try to tinker around or change formation entirely, then you're in danger of losing ten.

I've got to agree, this game is a little on the easy side. Just finished my 1st season with Liverpool, winning the Euro Cup and League Cup, and finishing 4th in the league. It doesn't sound too impressive, but after losing 7 of my opening 11 games in the league, I changed my tactics from using the classic style sliders (which I've had success with in the past) to using the new system, and went 22 games unbeaten. My aim for this save is to win everything possible with Liverpool, then try and win everything in Spain and Italy (my other active leagues), before starting a new save as a BSP side. Hopefully I'll find a bit more challenge there.