A question...

For anybody that can answer it. How come my team seems to have a mysterious lack of form in the last 5 or so games of the season. Just enough to ensure that my team wont make the playoffs. Its not just 11, i noticed it in previous games aswell altho it seems much more pronounced this time round. The team can be playing well, morale is high and suddenly, just when the players should be putting their very best into playing, the team goes limp (for want of a better word) Is this somebodys idea of difficulty? If im going to get beaten out of the playoffs at least let it be because the other team played well instead of my team playing badly, it almost looks like my players have gone on strike. If any of the more experienced gamers want to tell me how to manage my way past this without using reload im listening.

prime example of this. Im playing against a 4141 team. I got 2 central defenders who are tottering around doing nothing despite the fact i told them to always mark always close down the SINGLE striker they have to deal with. The ball gets punted wildly out of midfield, my defense does nothing and the single striker scores, after running between my 2 defenders.... the game blames my left back, i guess for not stopping the pass. wtf? How do i make my defense defend? Why is it that its not the other team playing well, its my team not playing at all that leads to this sort of thing. Its not even like i can get angry with them or they will cry (low morale) and thats just another excuse to play badly. Boooooooooooooooring

And so the game ends, i lost 3 - 0 including an own goal just after half time, incase i was under any illusions there was any chance of me winning. This was a home game that was apparently favourite to win aswell. I have to wonder what is the point? nothing i could have done would have made any difference. Pretty much sums up why this game isnt worth putting any time into.

You've just got to pull through the bad patch of form. Keep morale up, keep it tight at the back. Try and counter teams, and grind out a win. Once you pick up that win, morale should improve and then so should performances.

and worst of all!!! despite my team turning in a load of low 6s and 5.xs im not allowed to fine any of them for poor performance. What happens in the match engine has no correlation to what the AI thinks is going on.

You've just got to pull through the bad patch of form. Keep morale up, keep it tight at the back. Try and counter teams, and grind out a win. Once you pick up that win, morale should improve and then so should performances.

There was no poor form, my team just decided that they wernt going to play. Had they been real players instead of a game i would have said they did it on purpose. I have no doubt that as soon as i have missed my play off chance ill start winning again, as i said it used to happen in previous games but its just totally in your face in 2011.

Case point how this happens.... my club (IRL) last season went from January to middle of March, playing 12 games, winning 8; drawing 4; losing 0; scoring 17 and conceding 3 goals. The next 8 games our record read won 1; drawn 2; lost 5; scoring 14 and conceding 22! If that isn't a sharp change of form nothing is!

As for your game, the game like in real life learns to evolve. A slight tweak here, or there could in the end make you reach the playoffs. Of course it could do the absolute opposite, but since that is happening anyway, why not give it a shot?

Give me an example of a tweak that will fix this mysterious inability to play that crops up around the last few games of every season in this game and previous versions. Maybe i just dont know how to play, help me out here. In game terms pls not real life comparasons. Why not give it a shot? because its happened a couple of seasons in a row now and its getting tiresome. I wouldnt mind if it didnt stand out as being so obviously out of the run of things.

Keep your chin up: my first season in charge of Blackpool, we only won three times in 2011. The last one came at home against Birmingham late in February. We only earned one more point the whole rest of the season in a home draw with West Ham. Luckily, our early form was good enough to keep us from relegation and now in my fifth season we're a solid team.

Give me an example of a tweak that will fix this mysterious inability to play that crops up around the last few games of every season in this game and previous versions. Maybe i just dont know how to play, help me out here. In game terms pls not real life comparasons. Why not give it a shot? because its happened a couple of seasons in a row now and its getting tiresome. I wouldnt mind if it didnt stand out as being so obviously out of the run of things.

Wish I could mate. I'm one of the worst FM players you'll ever meet. Although I have relative success it never leads anywhere in the end, apart from me resigning/being sacked for failing. Maybe have a read of the tactics forum if you're really struggling.

nevermind i was being sarcy anyway there is no tweak, the game just ramps up the difficulty at the end of ever season and by ramps up the difficulty what i really mean is makes your team play like a dogs dinner. The fact that the player can notice this is just sloppy game design. Ill try to keep my chin up cheers arrano

I've just experienced this with my Havant & Waterlooville side. Top of the league by a few points with around 15 games to go with two home games against teams in the lower half. Play awful in the first and after winning 1-0 I concede two really awful goals. Second, I get outplayed but draw 0-0. It's not as if the difficulty gets higher but as you said, your players just seem to lose it. My bad run came out of nowhere, was on a 7 match unbeaten streak and then bam, can't win. I've gone four without a loss and had to score a last minute winner to beat bottom of the table.

You start conceding stupid goals and my most reliable defenders are struggling and making lots of mistakes. My strikers are missing lots of chances they were burying before the slump too. Very strange but hope it's just a one off!