Why can't i get any points!?

Hi, i'm relatively new to the world of Fm. im currently playing fm 2010 as sheffield united. In my first season i won the championship in the last 5 minutes of the season . this is quite good for me as im not very ood when it comes to managing my team, my premier leauge expectation is to avoid relegation which is fair enough. but with 7 games in and only 2 points in getting worrid. ive played hull, stoke, sunderland and 4 larger teams. i would expect to have beaten or at least taken on he first 3 but i got absolutely hammered. i have players of good quality (mosty on loan) with a tactic that has worked well throughout the career, but i cant put down many poins. dos anybody have any suggesios for me. I'd like to get more than 2 points bythe end of the season any help would be much appreciated

It’s the ‘mostly on loan’ part that strikes me as a potential reason for your poor form. Loans are a great idea in the lower leagues but I find in the big leagues you need players that are fully committed to YOUR club, and having more than a couple of loan players seems to hinder the performances…

I could be talking nonsense but that’s just what I’ve noticed from my 15 years experience playing the game…

Typical United, complaining about nothing. Stoke and Sunderland beating you seems fair

Seriously, though, you may need to change tactics. They've worked well so far for you but you've stepped up to the big league now and might need to change tack slightly. Or you could try to tough it out and wait for your players to adjust. I'd suggest a few loan signings but being in the premiership obviously there's no loan window. Other than that I'm not sure what you can do. Just identify where you're team is losing you points and then deploy tactics that make that area more effective and start training your players to deal with situations that trouble you. e.g. if your problem is too many goals from set peices, then you might want to select players with more physical presence, have more players back for set peices and/or even put an extra defender in your formation then set your match preparation training to "defending set pieces" and start your defenders training on marking etc. or if the problem is that you're dominating but not scoring, you could change the type of service your strikers are getting and give them some finishing training, and setting your match preparation to "attacking movement"

Have a look at the sticky threads at the top of the Tactics forum for help.

can an of you suggest a good tactic for me to download then? probably worth a try

can an of you suggest a good tactic for me to download then? probably worth a try

It is more fun developing your own tactic, figuring out what works and why.

Since you have started the season badly, you will need to build morale as it is probably starting to become pretty low now. Try to play defensively and do everything in your power to grind out a result. Talk to players who played 6.5 or lower and tell them that their performance in the last game was unacceptable. Stand your ground. If they refuse to listen, he is not professional enough to be a PL player so get rid of him. A successful chat will increase his morale before the next match.

Put less pressure on your team. Avoid "For the Fans" even at home, go for "No Pressure!" or "You Can Win This". "Wish Luck" may work too, but preferably when you are a major underdog and the team is in ok form and has good morale. Say "none" or "you have faith" to new players (until the assistant no longer mentions them as struggling to fit in). Be nice to them and use "pleased" liberally. Say "No Pressure!" to strikers who haven't scored for 4+ matches, regardless of morale.

Sign players with high Determination. Sign fast players. Decisions and Technique are also important attributes overall.

i'll give the talks a go. as i said at the start of the thread though im not very experienced with these games so making my own tactic at this time especially when struggling so badly, wouldn't be the best idea. ive had to loan players ue to a tight budget in both transfer and wages

go to the tactics forum mate, have a good read of stuff on there, wwfan, SFraser, Cleon and Heath all have very good tips and advice, and of course there are plenty of downloadable tactics to get you started.

FM is daunting for a 1st timer, i would suggest downloading some tactics, having a good look through all aspects of them and then start building your own, you will struggle if you dont really have enough footballing knowledge to begin with, and btw thats not ment as insulting or anything not everyone is a tactical guru from the off. Its a lot of reading on the tactics side of things, but if you want to really get into this game i would suggest it as almost vital so you avoid the usual traps and failings many posters dont fully grasp.

Im really not that good at these types of games which is why i was shocked to win the championship. i'll have a look at some tactics but ive got a feeling im gonna be getting relegated. on the bright side i just scrapped a 3-3 draw with bolton

to be honest i find the chamionship very easy to get out of with almost any team, a bit of a failing of the game i guess, but the EPL can be tough. Dont overly worry about relegation, its not the end of the world, but be prepared, what worked in the championship with that team might not work in the EPL.

Yer, i'll make sure to try and actually buy some players next transfer window and hopefully be able to avoid relegation which would be nice

i'll give the talks a go. as i said at the start of the thread though im not very experienced with these games so making my own tactic at this time especially when struggling so badly, wouldn't be the best idea. ive had to loan players ue to a tight budget in both transfer and wages

Well, I prefer to make symmetric tactics. I avoid extreme slider positions and "often" instructions. Attacking mentalities are good because the players actually attempt to get the ball then, but this involves higher risk. I normally push up and have high closing down instructions overall because this ensures domination and more chance creation. The defending part of the Match Engine isn't so good, so it is very difficult to make a balanced tactic. The most important thing to keep in mind when trying that is to ensure that there is little space between the defense, midfield and the forwards.

If you use the Tactic Creator and Shouts during the matches, it is probably easier for you to make the correct changes during matches, as they are designed to follow certain football-tactical logic. I disagree with some of the assumptions and designs SI have made in this respect, but that doesn't mean you do.

People have had great success adjusting Starting Mentality, Player Roles, Depth, Width and otherwise using shouts during matches, so there should be no reason you can't succeed doing that too. This means you can't lock and adjust sliders, though, because I believe this interferes with shouts (as the only thing they do is auto-adjusting the sliders).