Is Footbal Manager 2011 too easy?

I constantly have outstanding results with the weakest sides in the leagues. I made some crazy modifications in tactics to make things more difficult for my teams. But still the game is too easy for me.

Don't you think FM 2011 is very easy game? Much easier than FM 2010 and previous versions?

Mr Ferguson by any chance? Stop boasting!

No I think its just about right. If its too hard then people will stop playing it. This is my favourite version since FM07.

Can't say i find it easy, I've been having mixed results in the 2 long career games I've done with Juve and Spurs.

Actually it's being really hard for me to get something out of it. Finally I'm getting decent results in my 4th different save.

No I think the balance is just right.

I find it very easy. I often don't win the league on purpose so my board don't have the "Expect to win League" expectation at the start of the season.

Sometimes I'll throw the Champs League final so I don't win it more than twice in a row.

Sometimes I'll buy the best player (most expensive) in the game for the hell of it, just because I can.

Even starting at lower leagues I find I get moved up to the higher leauges with management offers very quickly.

Mr Ferguson by any chance? Stop boasting!

Shame on me!

Can't you read or I feel some prejudice? I didn't wrote that I'm a genius. I'm normal. But for me FM 2011 is too easy. That's just my opinion, man. I posted the thread just to get to know your opinion! So why are you attacking me?

I know many guys that feel disappointment about level of difficulty in FM 2011.

Im going to come and see you and have a rub up on ya for some luck if ya dont mind lol

Im still struggling, im still on my first save which i started as man utd manager and got sacked after a 2-1 loss against liverpool, gerrard of all people put the nail in my coffin :/

Carried on and got offered the sevilla job and im doing ok but still im nowhere near flying anywhere fast, if anything im hovering, and not too far off the ground at that!

Im going to come and see you and have a rub up on ya for some luck if ya dont mind lol

Come on! Get on the plane to Gdansk, Poland NOW!

the difficulty setting is set on it being easy to play with big teams. if you don't use the editor or any other application to scout player, if you don't use "cheats" and make your own tactics, then playing with a low level team is not that easy. i think easy depends on the time you spend playing. for instance you need to spend quite some time finding the right players, tweaking tactics and training etc, then it would be a horrible game if it didn't get any results.

but i do agree somehow that it can be made more difficult in that the computer controlled teams are not holding up that well over the seasons. usually they start all to decline and make bad purchases.

the difficulty setting is set on it being easy to play with big teams

I disagree, i use my own tactics with big clubs and still find it difficult, plus ive not patched up at all so wouldnt download a tactic because most of them are for the patched versions of the game

I didn't manage big teams in FM 2011. Only weak sides. Too easy for me.

Maybe I've created a killer tactic. I don't know.

I don't use scouts, editors, tactics from net.

Are you using a patch or are you unpatched?

Yes I'm. Version 11.2.1.

In 11.1.1 was even easier.

Unpatched game has an annoying bug - human team's players aim the Gk in about 90% of one on one situations.

It's great though. You find it easy. Someone else finds it hard. Because they find it hard they accuse or insinuate that there is cheating going on.

Mind bottling.

if it is, someone needs to show me how to play fm11, 10 was easier XD

@Nadessico and bytheway

My actual "killer" tactic is:

Team Instructions:

Philosophy: Balanced

Strategy: Counter - Standard

Creative freedom: Modified - defensive duties: 6-10; support duties: 11-15; attacking duties: 16-20

Passing: modified - "Insanely direct"

Closing down: Stand off

Marking: Zonal

Tackling: Default

Crossing: Default

Roaming: Default

Width is modified - generally I try to fit the width to opponents - I don't like to play to narrower than opponents.

Speed is modified - I want to play counter-attack and very direct passing so I need a rapid tempo.

Roles and duties:

Goalkeeper

Right full back - support

Left full back - support

Central defender - stopper

Central defender - cover

Ball winning midfielder - defend

Box to box midfielder - support

Attacking midfielder - attack

Right inside forward - attack

Left inside forward - attack

Complete striker - support

And also some modifications in Player Instructions, such as Run With Ball, Long Shots, Through Balls and Crossing.

IMPORTANT: Roles, duties and player instructions are set to fit to my actual players. Don't copy this thoughtlessly

If you think the game is easy, you should challenge yourself to manage in a place outside your comfort zone. Get out of England, get out of Europe for that matter. Brazilian Serie C, Chinese Jia League, Malaysian Premier League. Perhaps have a go in South Africa? The ultimate FM-manager should be able to manage anywhere with success.

FM11 is alright to me btw, not too easy and not too hard.

I'm doing that after the next patch comes out. Decided months ago. Not going to load a single team in Europe.

Shame on me!

Can't you read or I feel some prejudice? I didn't wrote that I'm a genius. I'm normal. But for me FM 2011 is too easy. That's just my opinion, man. I posted the thread just to get to know your opinion! So why are you attacking me?

I know many guys that feel disappointment about level of difficulty in FM 2011.

Calm down, it was a joke, I was hardly attacking you!

If you think the game is easy, you should challenge yourself to manage in a place outside your comfort zone. Get out of England, get out of Europe for that matter. Brazilian Serie C, Chinese Jia League, Malaysian Premier League. Perhaps have a go in South Africa? The ultimate FM-manager should be able to manage anywhere with success.

FM11 is alright to me btw, not too easy and not too hard.

Very good idea!

It will be hard to say goodbye to Polish Ekstraklasa, cause I'm Polish, but I need to try this.

Calm down, it was a joke, I was hardly attacking you!

The only reason why I find it to easy is that after a seasons or two, I seem to have an unrealistic amount of millions of millions of pounds to spend and buy the best players available, often in the form of youngsters/wonderkids. In reality, they should be either rejecting mid-table teams and waiting for big European clubs, or staying at their current club to develop. I think the transfer system needs a big revamp.

After two seasons, I signed Neymar as Portsmouth.. I will guarantee that in two years time, a club that has just finished 15th in the prem will not go and sign Neymar.

The only reason why I find it to easy is that after a seasons or two, I seem to have an unrealistic amount of millions of millions of pounds to spend and buy the best players available, often in the form of youngsters/wonderkids. In reality, they should be either rejecting mid-table teams and waiting for big European clubs, or staying at their current club to develop. I think the transfer system needs a big revamp.

After two seasons, I signed Neymar as Portsmouth.. I will guarantee that in two years time, a club that has just finished 15th in the prem will not go and sign Neymar.

I agree with this. English teams in general are way, way overrated. Signing young players from Spain, France and Italy is next to unheard of outside of the massive clubs like United and Arsenal (Because of Wenger). Players with a massive PA would, in reality, know they are going to be special because they would be told so constantly. Signing for an English team that isn't United or Arsenal (Possibly Chelsea & City now as well) wouldn't even be considered.

And the financial system is ridiculous. Look at real life. Everton sell a player for £3m and aren't allowed to sign anyone. They can't even negotiate a loan deal because of the finances and how tight the board is. On the game however you could just sign Lukaku, Kadlec, Badelj and Dzeko on 48 month deals and storm to the title in a year or two.

The consequences of poor signings in real life are career threatening for managers. On FM they would just take out a loan and give you another £50m to waste. On the game you can just sign anyone, no questions asked. In real life a manager like Moyes at Everton would have to convince the board that it was worth the money first, they wouldn't sanction signing some foreign wonderkid for £8m on a 48 month deal.

Of course the game's developers have to factor in the fans of the 'non-entity' clubs. The likes of Southampton, Portsmouth, Tranmere, Forest. Fans of those clubs wouldn't play the game if it were not possible to turn them into Premier League Champions. So in making it possible to do that, it becomes ultra easy to dominate if you begin as an established Premier League outfit.

The idea of difficulty levels appeals to me I must say. Easy would be as it is now, Normal would tone down the finances and signings and Realistic would have the same kind of pressures real managers go through. I.e 90% of the time you have no chance of success in a job and are just waiting for the sack.

Its easy if you take advantage of the games features...

By that i mean using the search filter and finding players by there stats, applying for jobs you'd realistically never get IRL i.e e=English manager in League one applying and getting the brazil job is ridiculous.

Basically using any tool that wouldn't be available to a Manager in real life makes the game that much more easier...

You can mass-edit the AI-managers with FMRTE, make them better, that makes a difference.

Obviously it's going to be too easy when you hack or modify the game in anyway, doesn't take a genius to understand that.

Consecutive promotions with Truro all the way to league 2 and sitting in 2nd place at the moment. You can find so many great players on free while the AI just seems to completely ignore them, that's what makes it easy.

I agree with this. English teams in general are way, way overrated. Signing young players from Spain, France and Italy is next to unheard of outside of the massive clubs like United and Arsenal (Because of Wenger). Players with a massive PA would, in reality, know they are going to be special because they would be told so constantly. Signing for an English team that isn't United or Arsenal (Possibly Chelsea & City now as well) wouldn't even be considered.

Really?

If they arent in the list, it doesnt mean I left them out to fudge the results, just means I couldnt find a nice easy list to use, and im too far into my FM game to use that.

(british includes irish, sorry, I know thats not right, but I couldnt be bothered to type out all the irish ones as well as its not really the same situation)

Arsenals reserve/Youth team:

1 spanish

3 French

5 non British

Birmingham reserve/Youth team:

2 Spanish

1 German

5 Non british

Blackburn reserve/academy team:

1 Spanish

1 French

7 non britsh

Bolton reserve/Youth team:

1 French

1 non british

Chelsea reserve/Youth team:

1 French

1 Italian

17 Non Britsh

Fulhams reserve/Youth team:

1 French

2 Italian

1 Spanish

12 Non British

United reserve/Youth team:

5 Italian

4 German

2 French

4 Non British

City reserve/Youth team:

1 French

1 German

1 Spanish

16 non British

Stoke reserve/Youth team:

1 German

4 Non British

Spurs reserve/Youth team:

1 German

1 Italian

3 Non British

(Far an away the most english youth team!)

West Ham reserve/Youth team:

1 Spanish

10 Non British

So - almost all clubs have numerous youth players from 'big' nations and lots of others from other good countires (eg south america, scandiavia)

I was initially of the 'FM 11 is too easy' brigade but a recent save has completely changed my view on the matter. Struggled to even score with a newly promoted BSN side.

All the things mentioned in here that are deemed to make the game easy, can not be taken advantage of. An AI Portsmouth would not buy Neymar, only a human manager would. However there is a choice in the matter! Don't sign these types of players if you decide it would be unrealistic, don't take advantage of the 48month installment thingy.....no-one is putting a gun to your head.

At Spurs i decide to do a few things, such as turn 1st transfer window off(i do that with every save), NEVER use the 48mth installment thing, NEVER sign players on a free who i think would not be available on frees and let other clubs take them-I did get Sahko on a free in the second season but this was before i clicked that it was an issue, NEVER sign world class players such as Pastore, Hernandez, Neymar etc, mainly because i don't think Spurs would do that as of now etc etc. I also rarely spend the money given to me, partly due to there not being anyone i actually find worth buying for big money, and also i will keep a strict wage budget, and will not break it for any player. If i can't negotiate down, i won't buy.

Also, if it's needed, i will go into FMRTE and jig the league about, giving my closest competitors more points to make it a tighter race for the title. I have only ever done that once before though, with the previous 3 seasons have been tight of their own accord. I will also upgrade certain managers attributes and CA/PA if i feel like it, althought truly, i'm not sure this counts for anything.

What i do think needs sorting is the AI squad buillding capabilities. In my 4th season, and the likes of Arsenal and UtD are just buying utter dross. It's disheartening, and potentially makes me lose a connection with the game. Also, please let's have WC clubs hiring WC managers, not Alex McLeish or Tony Mowbray.

Basically the ai needs improving in order to make the game more competitive after season 3. And yes, i would be up for difficulty settings if possible, because i don't see why FM managers shouldn't be able to have good competition as a top club. Because unless you are Barcelona, the reality is that life at the top is still challenging, although not as much as LLM, but we shouldn't have to manage there for a challenge. That said, my Spurs save has been quite hard at times, and i have had some terrible results.

Obviously it's going to be too easy when you hack or modify the game in anyway, doesn't take a genius to understand that.

For me it's very easy without hacking or modifying, Lindhoffen. That's why it worries me.

I don't like to do such things. As a veteran I prefer fair play. There's no fun when hacking.

All the things mentioned in here that are deemed to make the game easy, can not be taken advantage of. An AI Portsmouth would not buy Neymar, only a human manager would. However there is a choice in the matter! Don't sign these types of players if you decide it would be unrealistic, don't take advantage of the 48month installment thingy.....no-one is putting a gun to your head.

At Spurs i decide to do a few things, such as turn 1st transfer window off(i do that with every save), NEVER use the 48mth installment thing, NEVER sign players on a free who i think would not be available on frees and let other clubs take them-I did get Sahko on a free in the second season but this was before i clicked that it was an issue, NEVER sign world class players such as Pastore, Hernandez, Neymar etc, mainly because i don't think Spurs would do that as of now etc etc. I also rarely spend the money given to me, partly due to there not being anyone i actually find worth buying for big money, and also i will keep a strict wage budget, and will not break it for any player. If i can't negotiate down, i won't buy.

Also, if it's needed, i will go into FMRTE and jig the league about, giving my closest competitors more points to make it a tighter race for the title. I have only ever done that once before though, with the previous 3 seasons have been tight of their own accord. I will also upgrade certain managers attributes and CA/PA if i feel like it, althought truly, i'm not sure this counts for anything.

What i do think needs sorting is the AI squad buillding capabilities. In my 4th season, and the likes of Arsenal and UtD are just buying utter dross. It's disheartening, and potentially makes me lose a connection with the game. Also, please let's have WC clubs hiring WC managers, not Alex McLeish or Tony Mowbray.

Basically the ai needs improving in order to make the game more competitive after season 3. And yes, i would be up for difficulty settings if possible, because i don't see why FM managers shouldn't be able to have good competition as a top club. Because unless you are Barcelona, the reality is that life at the top is still challenging, although not as much as LLM, but we shouldn't have to manage there for a challenge. That said, my Spurs save has been quite hard at times, and i have had some terrible results.

I don't agree that the 48 month thing is an advantage. This is still taken from your budget in subsequent seasons and is realistic in that a lot of clubs pay for players in instalments these days.

Also you say you don't buy world-class players for Tottenham because they don't in real life. Surely van der Vaart would qualify?

One of FM 2011 facts:

Season 2012/2013. Polish club Zaglebie Lubin buy Nigel de Jong

Is this normal?

It's on the enjoyable side of ok, so leaning towards 'easy' but it's only easier once you've trawled through all the different formations to find something that works. If you download other peoples tactics that have been proven to be world beating (there isn't anything wrong with that btw) then it's not going to be particularly 'hard' for you.

I think the difficulty is just right on FM2011. The game certainly isn't easy, but it's not too hard either.

I hope the difficulty isn't changed in the final patch as it feels right.

@Howie

I didn't download anything. I did use a word "killer" cause my teams are almost invincible in the leagues under my tactics.

I've trawled through the different formations, that's true, but first of all I've tested some instructions to find the style of playing that I've wanted to see on the pitch.

I found the style and it turned out to be very effective/successful BTW.

FM11 is alright to me btw, not too easy and not too hard.

Same here - just right. It's the most I've enjoyed any of the FM editions. Testing enough without being hard, and let's you get a little taste of glory to come back to try for more.

the difficulty setting is set on it being easy to play with big teams

I disagree, i use my own tactics with big clubs and still find it difficult, plus ive not patched up at all so wouldnt download a tactic because most of them are for the patched versions of the game

How and why have you not patched?! The game out of the box is horrible!

I wish it was easy!! I am struggling to find my way on this game at the moment. I played FM09 for 2 years and felt like I was enjoying a good run on there, but on FM11 so far, I am struggling. But I will not give up...yet.

But you must know what tactics work for you, so good on ya. Would like to read a FM Story from you, taking on a Non-League team.

Currently first in the Premiership in my first season as Bolton. I haven't done much to earn this tactically. I've actually stopped playing that save as it's too easy. Will wait for 11.3

try playing as blackpool if your finding it too hard, thats a challenge!

try playing as blackpool if your finding it too hard, thats a challenge!

Depends on your ambitions. It is easy to save them from relegation, but making them champions is a bit harder I guess.

I destroyed everything with Luton Town in my first season and thought it was really easy. But now in League 2 i've been knocked out in the first round of the league cup and LDV Vans or whatever that things called now. In the league i'm on a good early run but the results are getting a bit patchy now where I win one lose one. So I think the game isn't too easy it's just like all manager games. Once you get the hang of it, find what works and doesn't it will be easy but for the long run you will have challenges.

@Howie

I didn't download anything. I did use a word "killer" cause my teams are almost invincible in the leagues under my tactics.

I've trawled through the different formations, that's true, but first of all I've tested some instructions to find the style of playing that I've wanted to see on the pitch.

I found the style and it turned out to be very effective/successful BTW.

Sorry a very late response but when I say 'you' I didn't mean you specifically, I was talking about anyone.

I think not, because I started a save with Chelmsford City, I contract great youth players fired from Chelsea and I lose the first 5 games. And still with terrible exibicions

After only 5 years my Southampton is 6th in Premier League, despiting that I had to produce lot of efforts to achieve that so my opinion is that it is not so easy.