Lost the will to manage (please help)

I am losing my patience with this game. I had FM09, loved it, had this since it came out, hate it. Started at Rotherham as I fancied a challange, but I gave up halfway through the season, sitting in 10th place (bookies prediction 1st) I had players making loads of mistakes, getting sent off and scoring own goals. I started again, but with Leicester who had a bit of money.

Bought players like Henri Lansbury, Kyle Walker, Alex Smithies,and Don Cowie. Had 4-4-2, control. I had an awesome pre-season without letting in a single goal until I played Rangers, which finished 2-2.

Played 8 games of the season and we were 19th! Then played bottom of the league Preston...and lost 5-2:mad: . I am so angry with this game. I have tried everything, and before you just say I am rubbish, I am not, I achieved quite alot on FM09. Has the game changed that much, that I don't know what to do anymore?

Am I missing crucial stuff? Is there a starters guide to this game, or am I going to have to throw this in the bin?

In my last game at Leicester, I changed my formation to 4-5-1, as we were playing top of the league, lost 4-1 at home, so I quit.

If anyone can advise basics, that you all do before doing anything else, I will see if I am missing something.

And should I start as Chelsea, see if I can win a game with them?

Cheers

Tom

Not trying to be a dick, but I find the game very random.

I usually play with a "fancy" tactic, I do all the match preparation, usually things go well. Even, thought, I always miss a lot o clear cut chances (my personal record was against Chelsea, I had 8 c.c.s., not even a goal, and they scored 2 goals in 3 or 4). Anyway, after a while my team always start to have really bad results and/or exhibitions in a row, and I have to change the tactic.

Last time I used a 4-1-2-3 (1MC, 2 Offensive MC and 3 Forwards), team instructions all "normal" (everything really, pressure, mentality, whatever), didn't even change nothing in players instructions (not even their role), no match preparation at all, changed 2 or 3 players at max (in the initial team), and guess what, I won the next 3 games (I was playing with Napoli), won against, Fiorentina, Genoa and Palermo, only conceded 1 goal (from a penalty), played very well, dominating all games and scored 8 goals, with that stupid "tactic".

I find when things get a bit hairy that i've usually over complicated things.

Try a simple formation that suits your team, say a simple 4-4-2, nothing fancy. Try a balanced approach, standard starting strategy. And default the other options on the list (except maybe for man marking)

Then play your best XI - in simple positions, avoid complicated roles such trequartista's and defensive wingers, especially as I see you play in lower leagues, so rarely will players have the competance to operate these successfuly. Stick to basic Central Midfielders on Support/Attack/Defend. Wide Midfielders.

You will start to get results, and as you see the team play and bond develop the simple tactics you've started with. You might notice one of your wide midfielders bagging some assits by running down the wing with pace and puting in a few good crosses, so develop him, set him as a winger with attack role. Make small changes, so you notice when these things work or dont. Making lots of drastic changes makes it impossible to spot where/why/when things are going wrong and not working...

Be patient and get a few good results going, you'll get the feel good sensation and you can really build your team and push them forward by starting with simple tactics from the outset..

Hope this helps you...

I'm sort of in the same boat. I'm actually doing quiet well in my save, but i am not enjoying it at all. I can't get any tactic working the way I want it, and the ammount of times my strikers miss the target from inside the box is really starting to grind my gears.

Cheers guys, I will give it a try. Do you watch the games as well, or just commentry only?

Cheers guys, I will give it a try. Do you watch the games as well, or just commentry only?

Usually just extended highlights, though its remarkable what you pick up if you watch a game in full.

Be patient, just try and get the 'feel good factor' about a game going... Good Luck

"FM works in mysterious ways"

Jokes aside, to be honest I'm not enjoying FM11 in the slightest... Basically I feel as if the game is playing me rather than me playing the game.

No matter what I do and what I try, I struggle to actually SEE the effect said changes and tweaks in the game.

There's plenty of matches you can't really tell the difference when you switch from a "conservative 4-3-2-1" to a "all out attack 4-3-3"... Players don't seem to have basic grasps of concept like "Retain Possession" and will keep on wasting said possession.

The least said about players' moodswings the better...

I can totally see how playing FM11 can feel awkward, frustrating and ultimately unrewarding.

I suspect it's something in the game that you're either not doing as well as you could, or just plain missing something.

I'm playing the Big Euro Nation: Small Club to Big Club challenge at the moment, and in my 2 seasons I've consistently exceeded expectations.

I've seen season reports of people going back-to-back promotions all the way from BSN/S up to the Championship. If it were the game that was to blame I think nearly everybody would be having the same problems as you.

I can only suggest you stick at it. Perhaps take the time to browse the Tactics forum for some tips. I know that reading the TT&F's from past years have done me the world of good.

Well, if you use only Control Strategy for all your games then I would guess that at home you might not be attacking enough and maybe too attacking away from home. For me, Control Strategy has a Mentality Framework that suits more situations where you are slight underdog at home or very large favorite away from home - also a good option if you are favorite on a neutral pitch. You won't be in these situations every match, so just off the top of my head I think you might want to experiment a little with the different strategies to get the most out of games...