FM 2011 iPhone - Anybody else finding this ridiculously hard?

I cant get over how difficult this version is

I dont watch the highlights so zip through a season rather quickly

Coventry City (Cant bring in any players, as only have a measly £120k to spend at the start)

Game 1 - Tried it with my own variation of a 4-4-2 -> Finished 17th

Game 2 - Tried it with an att 4-4-2 I found on here -> Finished 20th

Game 3 - Tried it with another tactic I found here, a 4-3-3 -> Finished 18th

Real Madrid

Game 4 - Tried a different 4-4-2 att I saw on here. Wanted to actually do something other than have a crap finish in the Champ. -> Finished 8th in La Liga!!!With Real Madrid!!!!

Game 5 - Tried Dec's tactics - P 10 W 3 D3 L4 - despite having signed Rooney and having a class squad

The difficulty is taking away from the fun aspect for me. Surely the iPhone versions should be just 'pick up and play' not spending hours and hours tweaking a tactic to grind out a 1-1 draw away at Scunthorpe? Or maybe I'm just hideously crap at this version, although I've never struggled like this before on any of the other FMhandheld games.

I've found it easier than 2010 to be honest. I started as unemployed in Germany and took the Regensburg job in the third division. I had a £26k budget and only a hand full of decent players.

Seeing as there was only one decent left back and he got injured straight away, I've been playing 3-5-2 with an AMC in the middle of two DMCs.

So far my league stats are: Pos: 1st P: 8 W: 7 D: 0 L: 1 F: 24 A: 6 GD: 18 Pts: 21

Although I'm finding it hard to find decent youth players to start rebuilding the squad. I've just signed a few 30+ unsigned players to boost my squad but they seem to tire easily.

whenever i am struggling i use 4-5-1 with wingers pushing up when attacking to make a 4-3-3 you have to be able to find players that work together and work in the formation you are wishing to play. You cannot just pick a formation and expect your players to be able to perform, regardless of how talented they may be.

IMO, start with your defence and get them sorted and not leaking goals in. Two strong CB's are vital but they need the support from full backs otherwise they will be exploited on the wings. Stick 5 in midfield to give extra support in this area and take some of the pressure off your defence whilst hopefully regaining the majority of the possession to control the majority of games you play.

Dont give up mate as it will hopefully become easier and much more rewarding when you get things right and start winning a few more games than what you are currently doing

I don't mean to rub it in but is possible your just not good? I mean I found this game waaay easier than last year's edition.

I took control of Barnet (whose aim is to "avoid relegation") and halfway through the first season, they're 2nd in the leauge.

Also the board only gives you a transfer budget of £6-8k depending on where you set your aims at the start so I couldn't buy anyone but I have taken 1 loaned player.

Not at all, I think the difficulty is just right. Although I lost the Champions League final to Roma on penalties. I was so tempted to replay the match but I stuck to my morals and will try to win this season.

You so did mean to rub it in mate

But I noticed you said you don't watch the matches... Isit possible that it's to do with that? Did you try playing a few matches with highlights to see if results improve :confused: i dunno if matches still get simulated the same

I cant get over how difficult this version is

I dont watch the highlights so zip through a season rather quickly

Coventry City (Cant bring in any players, as only have a measly £120k to spend at the start)

Game 1 - Tried it with my own variation of a 4-4-2 -> Finished 17th

Game 2 - Tried it with an att 4-4-2 I found on here -> Finished 20th

Game 3 - Tried it with another tactic I found here, a 4-3-3 -> Finished 18th

Real Madrid

Game 4 - Tried a different 4-4-2 att I saw on here. Wanted to actually do something other than have a crap finish in the Champ. -> Finished 8th in La Liga!!!With Real Madrid!!!!

Game 5 - Tried Dec's tactics - P 10 W 3 D3 L4 - despite having signed Rooney and having a class squad

The difficulty is taking away from the fun aspect for me. Surely the iPhone versions should be just 'pick up and play' not spending hours and hours tweaking a tactic to grind out a 1-1 draw away at Scunthorpe? Or maybe I'm just hideously crap at this version, although I've never struggled like this before on any of the other FMhandheld games.

Don't worry, my 2011 version of How to have perfect Manager score (And take a BSQ team to the Premier in the process) for 2010 will be out soon....January at the latest.

I cant get over how difficult this version is

I dont watch the highlights so zip through a season rather quickly

Coventry City (Cant bring in any players, as only have a measly £120k to spend at the start)

Game 1 - Tried it with my own variation of a 4-4-2 -> Finished 17th

Game 2 - Tried it with an att 4-4-2 I found on here -> Finished 20th

Game 3 - Tried it with another tactic I found here, a 4-3-3 -> Finished 18th

Real Madrid

Game 4 - Tried a different 4-4-2 att I saw on here. Wanted to actually do something other than have a crap finish in the Champ. -> Finished 8th in La Liga!!!With Real Madrid!!!!

Game 5 - Tried Dec's tactics - P 10 W 3 D3 L4 - despite having signed Rooney and having a class squad

The difficulty is taking away from the fun aspect for me. Surely the iPhone versions should be just 'pick up and play' not spending hours and hours tweaking a tactic to grind out a 1-1 draw away at Scunthorpe? Or maybe I'm just hideously crap at this version, although I've never struggled like this before on any of the other FMhandheld games.

Perhaps half the problem was that you were Coventry?

Tell you what - I'm nearly finished for the day here (nother couple of hours coding and then I'm chilling for the day) .... once I'm off my mission this evening will be to take Coventry places, then I'll post back some suggestions.

Anyone else going to take up the gauntlet and do the same?

I'd rather die than play as Coventry. Our big rivals in the Championship and their fans are a bunch of chavs!

I must admit that, although I'm not struggling quite as much as the OP, I do find this years version much harder than FMHi 2010. There seems to be much more randomness to results, which makes the tactical instructions seem very hit & miss. The new features make 2011 better on paper, but I have to say that I prefer the 2010 match engine at the moment because I feel much more in control of my team.

You actually have more control over your team now...it's the tactics. I've found a tactic that has gotten me promoted (As Mansfield) every season so far (currently sitting in first place in Championship in April). Once I confirm that my tactic works in the EPL, I will write up a guide and release it.

Tell you what - I'm nearly finished for the day here (nother couple of hours coding and then I'm chilling for the day) .... once I'm off my mission this evening will be to take Coventry places, then I'll post back some suggestions.

Anyone else going to take up the gauntlet and do the same?

The Axel Foley / Marc Vaughan Coventry challenge! I'm up for that

How you guys getting on as Coventry manager then?

I dont understand this game.

Started with Real Madrid last night. 10 games in and im in 10th playing a 442 attacking and always using the strongest team possible (including rooney from united for 50mil + gago). I even got knocked out of the Spanish cup by Malaga! Not Good

Never mind. In my game Mourinho was sacked at the half of the first season, because Real Madrid had 15th position in the league.

Hard to play with Madrid.

How you guys getting on as Coventry manager then?

I'm still trying to finish my first season as I haven't had much chance to play over Christmas / New Year.

I started off quite well - I was bouncing around in the top five for at least the first ten games but I went over the wage budget a bit after signing Michael Ball, Jay DeMerit, Julio Cruz and Darius Vassell.

But then I got a few injuries for 2-3 months at a time including Vassell, Cruz, Carsley and Bell. I got Frank Nouble in on a months loan to cover from West Ham then got Argentinian Sergio Araujo on a season long loan from Boca.

Just as my injury problems started clearing up I started getting a few players moaning to the press about not being in the first team. But then Marlon King decided to take it one step further and tell the press that he thought the team was playing rubbish so now most of the team all hate him and they all have low morale.

Tried to get rid of King in January but nobody wanted him - even for free!

After that I went on a slump and went from 7th down to 16th with eight games to go

I did get to the FA Cup Quarter Final though but got beat 2-1 after being 1-0 up only for Carsley to get injured in the 49th minute and they equalised in the 50th minute! I couldn't get back into it after that.

When you start I'd say the best players are Carsley and McSheffrey and Westwood has been decent in net for me up until the whole teams morale dropping. Gunnarsson, Bell and Jutkiewicz are decent too, the later scoring 20 in 34.

For most of the season I've been playing 442 with direct passing and everything else off / neutral.

The usual lineup being: -

GK Keiren Westwood

DL Michael Ball (FBk)

DR Richard Keogh (FBk)

DC Jay DeMerit (CTR)

DC Martin Cranie (CTR)

ML Gary McSheffrey (WNG)

MR David Bell (WNG)

MC Lee Carsley (BWM)

MC Aron Gunnarsson (APM)

FC Darius Vassell (CmF)

FC Lukas Jutkiewicz (Pcr)

If I had to start again I'd probably either try to get more loan players in rather than getting the free transfers in (to keep the wage bill down - you're already close to the wage limit when you start) or try to offload either Marlon King and / or Aron Gunnarsson, who while being a good prospect, could fetch a couple of million and is out of contract at the end of the season and reluctant to negotiate a new deal. For the money you get you could either buy 2-3 decent prospects or put the money into wages to get similar experienced players for free.

Right I'm off to play the last eight games and see if I can get out of this slump. After that maybe I will give it another try.

Harder No! - More random YES!

Generally it is not harder to be successfull within 2011 but the tactical player role options went in and additional statistical information are not available. Therefore you have to try more until you'll find the right combination of players. Nevertheless the players are not delivering every time and in my opinion you have to follow the highlights and act during a game if something is going wrong or players getting to exhausted.

However Marc - For me the new options for player tactical roles might be heavily requested but the game does not provide enough information to analyse the situation and the performances very weill. Therefore I agree that for the most players, especially the "Rusher" the game play might be not appreciated and seems to be very odd.

Random situations encountered during my first 6 seasons:

a) Three red cards in a CL final during the first 20 Minutes???

b) Three goals against me in between 89th and 91st Minute! - I lost 2:3 with 14 to 4 shots on goal!

c) Young Player gets a first national team audition during World Cup in between seasons starts immediately to claim a LACK of team presence. Lol - no games, no presense!

d) CL games getting seriously harder in final rounds and too easy to play in group stage! Kicked Real's butt with Arsenal 5-0 and 3-1 in group stage and lost in QF without a chance.

Anyway, another question:

I bought a 23 year of age Goalkeeper with magnificent skills and pretty good actual ratings for form and potential. Well, he receives always pretty high ratings at all games (8,8,9,9,7,9)! - MMMh - Same time he considered 11 goals in six games with just 13 shots on his goal??? - Funny result - He shows afterwards 6 form stars??? This happened to me now two times with different player (Sergio Asenjo and Marcel Seedorf)?

Ciao Oliver

Tell you what - I'm nearly finished for the day here (nother couple of hours coding and then I'm chilling for the day) .... once I'm off my mission this evening will be to take Coventry places, then I'll post back some suggestions.

Anyone else going to take up the gauntlet and do the same?

Marc - your Coventry gauntlet has thrown up some interesting ideas..

Why not set up a thread where the guys from SI throw down specific challenges similar to the above. Everyone can take part and then post their experiences (with images if possible) to this thread.

Or, and this might be stretching it a bit, add in a feature for future editions of the game where you can select a game type that offers you a classic scenario to manage. For example, it's 2005 and West Brom are bottom of the premiership at Christmas - can you save them from the drop (akin to Robson keeping West Brom up - the first club to do so when being bottom of the prem at Christmas). Another scenario could be it's 1996 and Newcastle have a massive twelve point lead at the top of the prem - as manager of Manchester United, can you close the gap and overtake Newcastle/ or as Newcastle manager, can you sustain the clubs good form and see off the challenge from Manchester United or will you crumble under pressure and meltdown on live tv.

What do people think?

After only finishing 16th in my first season (similar to OP results) I managed to do much better in my second season, finishing 6th and making it to the playoff final loosing 2-1 to Bristol City after taking the lead.

For my second season I changed my 442 normal formation to 442 attacking with McSheffrey as an inside forward rather than a winger which resulted in him scoring nearly five times as many goals without too much of a dip in his number of assists.

I did seem to concede quite a lot of goals, but I made up for it by scoring quite a lot too! Didn't do my GD much good though.

Noticeable transfers included:

* Habib Beye - DR - Free transfer from Aston Villa - played 44 games.

* Carlo Cudicini - GK - Free transfer from Spurs - mainly as backup - played only 10 games and conceded 21 goals.

* Lance Parker - 18yo AMC/SC - £70k from Bristol Rovers - managed to retrain him as both a MC and AML so quite adaptable and scored 14 goals in 30 games.

* Sindre Moen - 23yo D/MRC - Free from R.Mardrid - only played 6 games all season but looking good for season three.

* Steven Thompson - SC - Free from Burnley - played most of the season up front with Jutkiewicz as traget man and scored a good 15+ goals (can't remember exact stats and he's retired now)

* Andy Taylor - DL - Free from Sheffield Utd - backup for Michael Ball, played 19 games as Ball got quite a few injuries.

* Jason Roberts - SC - Free from Blackburn - only played 5 games scoring 1 goal. Brought him in before I got Steven Thompson who was too strong to give reports a chance!

* Ian Black - DMC - £75k from Hearts. Decent enough 26 year old MC. Played 37, scored 1 and got 6 assists. Mainly used as a ball winner. Just sold to Huddersfield for £400k.

So while the first season was tough, the second season was better and hopefully the next season should be better again now I've brought in Kevin Nolan, Dimitar Berbatov, Julio Baptista, Fabio Aurellio, Wayne Routledge and Michael Kightly.

* Steven Thompson - SC - Free from Burnley - played most of the season up front with Jutkiewicz as traget man and scored a good 15+ goals (can't remember exact stats and he's retired now)

Played really well for me in first season also, had him upfront with Vassell and rotated him

Yeah he was a great signing. When I spotted him available on a free I wasn't sure if I should get him as I'd already signed Jason Roberts for that role. I was glad I did in the end though as he kept Jason Roberts and Vassell out of the team all season. If he wasn't retiring I would have considered keeping him for another season.

You so did mean to rub it in mate

More seriously - I'd recommend using the default tactics generally when you first join a club (Man City apart I don't think 4-5-1 suits their players) - the default tactics are designed to be fairly 'sound' and flexible, get settled into the club with them and get a feel for your players - then tweak things further towards what you really want to do once you've found your feet, part of the fun imho is learning how to get the best out of your team and slot them into their ideal setup over time.

i like to have a barcelona save game going but this year it is definitely harder to manage big clubs. i have tried just playing with the default tactics but i lost my first three games. and i was playing with the starting 11 they always play. i have tried bugels and decs 433 tactics but you never get many good results.

i think its because of the sort of form they are in, in real life at the moment and in the league alone they have scored 61 and conceded just 11 in 19 games and won 17

but i cant seem to score more then 1 or 2 per game and i have tried loads of different tactics around the 433 style they play, and even though i have the best playmaker in the world in xavi and the attacking style and goal scoring of iniesta, messi, pedro and villa just to name a few, and i cant seem to score for toffee.

pedro needs to be made into a AM/FRL is that possible for the next update?

Harder No! - More random YES!

Generally it is not harder to be successfull within 2011 but the tactical player role options went in and additional statistical information are not available. Therefore you have to try more until you'll find the right combination of players. Nevertheless the players are not delivering every time and in my opinion you have to follow the highlights and act during a game if something is going wrong or players getting to exhausted.

However Marc - For me the new options for player tactical roles might be heavily requested but the game does not provide enough information to analyse the situation and the performances very weill.

I couldn't agree more with this posting. I gave up playing FM/CM after over 10 years of addiction because it simply became too random and player stats were virtually irrelevant. It's disappointing to see that this mobile version is also too random - except for the big name clubs, and despite who they have as players.

Firstly, there are not enough shots on goal. Of those that are, too many go in. This means that it is almost impossible to tell what has gone wrong. Last game I played is a perfect example. Leading 1-0 at Stoke after 30 mins. I had two shots on goal. They had none. So, we're in control of the game. Or are we? It's actually impossible to tell anything because you don't get anything like enough information. It's like being told that such and such team has a great playmaker before the game, but you can't do anything about it because there's no man-marking. Anyway, last 15 mins of the first half, Stoke also have two shots and equalise. Start of the second half, their third shot also goes. So, you're now losing 2-1 against a team that has had 3 shots on goal. So, make a few changes and despite having a massively better midfield and Stoke now playing a defender in central midfield, create one more chance, Stoke create another 6 and win 3-1. At the end, still none the wiser as to why the game suddenly changed or why my palpably better team were completely stuffed. Yopu never know whether the other team are playing attacking, balanced or defensive football. You need to be able to see their tactics, it's stupid that you can't. And if you can't because it's a mobile game and it's supposed to be easier to pick up and play, it should be less random and less dictated by little tweaks.

Anyway, the chances created to goals scored ratio is wrong. It badly affects the playability when the other team can have a couple of shots and win the game, consistently. Not as one off.

Formations often don't give the results they should. If you play a five man midfield against someone's three man midfield, and the players are all as good as each other, why don't you dominate posession in the middle?

Team form. THis is the worst thing in the game. If you are on a good run, you will score early and often. However, your team can suddenly lose team form for no apparent reason, at which point the other teams (regardless of their league position) will score with the first attack. Teams do not lose form en masse at once for no reason. The players don't all lose form simultaneously. A team that can defend does not suddenly stop defending for no reason. Injuries to key players are the usual trigger for bad results, not some random form guide.

For me, the formations don't work well enough against each other, the player skills are not taken into enough account, there are too few chances and too many goals from those chances.

I wont even go into the poor interface or the design which looks like it was done by a programmer because I can live with those.

I couldn't agree more with this posting. I gave up playing FM/CM after over 10 years of addiction because it simply became too random and player stats were virtually irrelevant. It's disappointing to see that this mobile version is also too random - except for the big name clubs, and despite who they have as players.

Firstly, there are not enough shots on goal. Of those that are, too many go in. This means that it is almost impossible to tell what has gone wrong. Last game I played is a perfect example. Leading 1-0 at Stoke after 30 mins. I had two shots on goal. They had none. So, we're in control of the game. Or are we? It's actually impossible to tell anything because you don't get anything like enough information. It's like being told that such and such team has a great playmaker before the game, but you can't do anything about it because there's no man-marking. Anyway, last 15 mins of the first half, Stoke also have two shots and equalise. Start of the second half, their third shot also goes. So, you're now losing 2-1 against a team that has had 3 shots on goal. So, make a few changes and despite having a massively better midfield and Stoke now playing a defender in central midfield, create one more chance, Stoke create another 6 and win 3-1. At the end, still none the wiser as to why the game suddenly changed or why my palpably better team were completely stuffed. Yopu never know whether the other team are playing attacking, balanced or defensive football. You need to be able to see their tactics, it's stupid that you can't. And if you can't because it's a mobile game and it's supposed to be easier to pick up and play, it should be less random and less dictated by little tweaks.

Anyway, the chances created to goals scored ratio is wrong. It badly affects the playability when the other team can have a couple of shots and win the game, consistently. Not as one off.

Formations often don't give the results they should. If you play a five man midfield against someone's three man midfield, and the players are all as good as each other, why don't you dominate posession in the middle?

Team form. THis is the worst thing in the game. If you are on a good run, you will score early and often. However, your team can suddenly lose team form for no apparent reason, at which point the other teams (regardless of their league position) will score with the first attack. Teams do not lose form en masse at once for no reason. The players don't all lose form simultaneously. A team that can defend does not suddenly stop defending for no reason. Injuries to key players are the usual trigger for bad results, not some random form guide.

For me, the formations don't work well enough against each other, the player skills are not taken into enough account, there are too few chances and too many goals from those chances.

I wont even go into the poor interface or the design which looks like it was done by a programmer because I can live with those.

As much as I'm loving the game, I do have to agree with quite a lot of this. Sometimes it all does seem a little random. Or worse sometimes it seems too set in stone. Like no matter what changes you make it has no effect and a lot of the matches still follow the same pattern.

I think the interface design comments are a bit harsh though.

Hey I also have the same suggestion to make regarding the game. I am a great fan of this game. But this there are certain things as mentioned above didn’t go so well with me. I am just giving my feedback. Indeed I can never say that I don’t like it because I am just a die hard fan of this game.

Im going to have to agree with some previous posters, im finding this game alot easier than last years...

Normally i start as West Ham and tend to take them to champions league, make a good couple of attempts at winning then go to Cambridge United and stay there until i get bored of the game (50 years? lol) and basically win everything with them.

This year i went straight to Cambridge United and got promoted straight away via play offs. I then did the same in league 2 after making a few good free's. It was then that i won league 1 on my first season, which was a complete white wash, i think i won it with 10 games to go. I then won the championship in my first season, this came down to the final game if i recall correctly. I spent 1 year in the premier league before winning it there too. Im now in 2023 and have won the premier league ever since my first win. I have now won everything with Cambridge and continue to do this every year, with the odd cup knockout.

This has all come sooner than usual, and have had my highest unbeaten run in the 90's.... So now i have sold all my awesome foreign players and have a squad aged from 16 to 22 which are all english and they are still "setting the premier league alight" and there appear to not be enough "superlatives" to describe the squad...

Im still not bored, but have reached all my goals...

The game is bound to be easy if you are a Managerial Veteran

Having playing since Champ Man 96/97 (the best imo) right up to this years and last years iphone versions I know the formations, what stats to look for, how to invest in youth, loaning key players etc etc

Think of yourserlf as the Alex Ferguson of FM , I am sure that if AF went to Cambridge / BSP team he would also have positive results.

If you are looking fo a challenge start in a league you have never played, an obscure league and start unemployed with England as a 2nd loaded league, believe me its hard and takes time to move across to England.

Sorry but I find this game pathetic, deleted from my iPhone and will not be buying again.

I know freak results happen but to lose the majority of games after having 60/40 possession and 20 shots to 2 and keep losing 2-1 etc is taking the ****.

Also the winner is always hit by someones first goal of the season, even near the end of the season.

Sorry but I find this game pathetic, deleted from my iPhone and will not be buying again.

I know freak results happen but to lose the majority of games after having 60/40 possession and 20 shots to 2 and keep losing 2-1 etc is taking the ****.

Also the winner is always hit by someones first goal of the season, even near the end of the season.

Seems like you will never find a football manager game to play in your iPhone then.