What is the secret to this game?

I am a casual player. I do not want to spend forever sorting out a tactic/learning the match engine/understanding what each combination of sliders does.

I make it a rule to play the game properly(no cheating). How on earth is it possible to over-achieve?

I CANNOT do it. I am Middlesbrough and I am 17th. I have tried using some tactics I have found in Tactics and Training forum yet I cannot win games when I am supposedly the better team!

What is the big secret?

I know this edition is more about the players than the tactics. I cannot find any players I can afford who are better than the ones I already have. I don't want to cheat and spoil my game with FMGenie scout.

Is this game THIS hard? Do I have to spend forever to achieve ONE single victory?

Plenty of casual players do reasonably well, as seen here.

Overachieving is probably slightly different though but still possible.

You need to focus on keeping players happy, morale up, high squad harmony and players blending. I am cagey most times with the press and loosely follow Wolfsong's guide to team talks.

Players may not want to come if you are struggling. If the players morale is low it can be tricky to bring it back up but not impossible. Try encouraging rather then criticising.

Someone else may be able to give better advice but that may help somewhat.

Thanks for the reply, will check the thread out.

look mate, you get a job, you keep your head down, retire, if your lucky! the main advice i would say, keep your board happy, play the game to this rule, when your starting out, just aim to satisfy the boards expectancies. after a couple of seasons, get ambitious and aim for higher goals, not too high. then once thats done aim for the ultimate. when you do this, you realise how far you have come and look back on a carreer to be proud of

Well I have stated to my board I would avoid relegation but I have just slipped into 18th in the league after 19 games.

It is not looking good. Are there any ways of playing this game which will guarantee I at least play to my teams actual level. I am finding my team like to CONSTANTLY under-perform.

As I said build up morale. Encourage rather than criticise. Make your team difficult to beat. I bet the tactic you downloaded is an attacking agressive one. Try defensive tactics to get yourself not conceding goals. Then you may nick a goal and get a win or at least stop losing matches.

It is not looking good. Are there any ways of playing this game which will guarantee I at least play to my teams actual level. I am finding my team like to CONSTANTLY under-perform.

Yes, choose one of the standard tactics of the game, one that fits your players.

My morale is the first I worry about. Out of my first 11, 7 of the players morale is superb, yet I just got trounced 4-0 at home to Man Utd.

I have tried all different tactics. The theory of leaving the same one for 10 games is a joke as how good is a tactic really going to be after 10 matches if during the first 10 matches you lost 8 games?

I find defensive tactics invite too much pressure. Playing defensive against anyone is suicide.

The problem I am having is, my players are pretty rubbish compared to the players who play for the top 4. I can't find anyone who is better than the players I have, I have scouted and scouted and scouted and scouted, I get recommended players like Gary Cahill - 9.5 mil-14mil to buy him. My transfer budget is 2mil. Can't afford anyone, can't beat anyone, can't get any better? Destined for the sack/relegation (which ever happens first)

Can you recommend any defensive tactics that have worked for you?

If I click to play the default 4-4-2 defensive I get taken apart. It's a vicious circle of irritation-> frustration -> shouting at my players for being thick lol

To be honest though with a team in the relegation zone, attacking tactics are suicide rather than defensive ones.

Have you tried selling any underperforming players that have a good price to get money?

You could have a look in the Good Player and Team Guide for cheap players to help you get along.

The part where you said "I have tried all different tactics" hints that you change tactics a lot. Try sticking with just one solid defensive tactic and then just player the best players you have based on form and morale and see how you get on.

I currently have a set of 5 tactics that I can just switch between when needed varying from shut up shop to attacking. I never veer away from these no matter how bad I do.

Even if you go many games without a win keep doing the same thing.

I am selling a few players who don't quite cut it (like Tuncay, he might be two footed, but as an AMC he is rubbish, play him anywhere else and he under-performs).

I don't want to cheat and get players I haven't found myself in my game. Yeah I have tried different tactics, I generally know not to swap too much, these are on previous games where I have gone down the same road

Doing things the same when you aren't winning is insane.

For an example, I have a slow left back, anyone who plays Right Wing against me basically does me damage (should the team i'm playing against use attacking wingers). Now I think there should be some sort of advice in the game or from the assistant manager - "Grounds is slow for a left back and Riga of Bolton is very superior in the pace department, I suggest giving Grounds a defensive mentality couple with no forward runs etc...."

Have you developed these tactics yourself? If so how long did it take you?

Thanks for trying to help by the way, I appreciate it

I am selling a few players who don't quite cut it (like Tuncay, he might be two footed, but as an AMC he is rubbish, play him anywhere else and he under-performs).

I don't want to cheat and get players I haven't found myself in my game. Yeah I have tried different tactics, I generally know not to swap too much, these are on previous games where I have gone down the same road

Doing things the same when you aren't winning is insane.

For an example, I have a slow left back, anyone who plays Right Wing against me basically does me damage (should the team i'm playing against use attacking wingers). Now I think there should be some sort of advice in the game or from the assistant manager - "Grounds is slow for a left back and Riga of Bolton is very superior in the pace department, I suggest giving Grounds a defensive mentality couple with no forward runs etc...."

Have you developed these tactics yourself? If so how long did it take you?

Thanks for trying to help by the way, I appreciate it

The way I said to do the same things when you are not winning was stupid. :o I did not mean it the way it sounded.

For example as I said I have tactics. In FM09 in my 1st season as Blackburn manager I did well. The next season was a struggle but I stuck with my 5 tactics. I never actually changed the settings in any of them. That is what I meant. I actually got sacked half way through with Blackburn but I had my best players injured for the start of the season, a really difficult fixture list to start off with and I bought several players in the summer so squad harmony was low. My attitude was that the tactics were good in the 1st season so it cannot be that which is the cause of underachieving.

Anyway I created my 5 tactics based on the Tactical and Theorems Frameworks guide. You can have them if you want but you probably will find much better ones out there or you can try reading that guide and creating them yourself. My tactics are ok but not great. They just do the job.

I am not the best one to give advice but I am happy to try and help anyway.

Keep morale up. Keep players motivated. Make good use of team talks and media interaction.

A couple of Tips for you become a better team.

1) Look at the staff, if they suck fire them and hire new staff!

-Scouts

-physio

-GK Coach

-Coach (one Defensive and another Attacktive)

-Assintant manager

2)Have your Scout to scout the opponent team you are about to face and listen to the hints he ll give you. Also, send him on assignments to scouts for cheap good prospects

3)shortlist any player you like and you ll get email alerts when their contracts is coming near an end where you can sign them up for free. Also Purchase players from South America. Older players are cheaper, younger players are the future and are cheap in the begining

4)Attack, set the tabs at slow pace, and short passing, this gives you a better possensions, also play through the middle

5)stick to one tatic and one mentality

6)sell your players at a higher cost, if someone is worth 1 million, sell him for 7 or 10 million

I sold one of players for 6 Million and he was worth 95 000 at the age of 34

7)sell your big players who underpreform to have a bigger transfer budget

This works for me, I m in charge of Once Caldas of Colombia after my first season where I finish one place off a Copa Libertadores spot, I sold my big players since my transfer budget was set to 400 K and free of some space send some players on loan, and bought 11 younger players who neccessarily was not better than some of the other players I had. And now I am on a 15 winning streak! With 5 Million transfer budget!

I am a casual player. I do not want to spend forever sorting out a tactic/learning the match engine/understanding what each combination of sliders does.

I make it a rule to play the game properly(no cheating). How on earth is it possible to over-achieve?

I CANNOT do it. I am Middlesbrough and I am 17th. I have tried using some tactics I have found in Tactics and Training forum yet I cannot win games when I am supposedly the better team!

What is the big secret?

I know this edition is more about the players than the tactics. I cannot find any players I can afford who are better than the ones I already have. I don't want to cheat and spoil my game with FMGenie scout.

Is this game THIS hard? Do I have to spend forever to achieve ONE single victory?

I find that if you sign a few players offering £0 up front and £20m after 50 league appearances is a good start. Then sell the player when he reaches 49games for example. This helps you get some quality players in and then you get some money when you sell them.

I find that if you sign a few players offering £0 up front and £20m after 50 league appearances is a good start. Then sell the player when he reaches 49games for example. This helps you get some quality players in and then you get some money when you sell them.

kind of dishonest IMO cheating a club into giving a player to you for nothing then selling him before you have to pay a penny. but i like your style:p

kind of dishonest IMO cheating a club into giving a player to you for nothing then selling him before you have to pay a penny. but i like your style:p

It's dishonest but I don't see it as cheating as if I really like the player and I have the money then I will sign them. Did this with Bojan and because of his potential after 50league games I shelled out the £40m for him!

It's dishonest but I don't see it as cheating as if I really like the player and I have the money then I will sign them. Did this with Bojan and because of his potential after 50league games I shelled out the £40m for him!

well its fine if you end up paying for him, but if you offer that money then you gotta make sure you can pay it lol

The way I said to do the same things when you are not winning was stupid. I did not mean it the way it sounded.

For example as I said I have tactics. In FM09 in my 1st season as Blackburn manager I did well. The next season was a struggle but I stuck with my 5 tactics. I never actually changed the settings in any of them. That is what I meant. I actually got sacked half way through with Blackburn but I had my best players injured for the start of the season, a really difficult fixture list to start off with and I bought several players in the summer so squad harmony was low. My attitude was that the tactics were good in the 1st season so it cannot be that which is the cause of underachieving.

Anyway I created my 5 tactics based on the Tactical and Theorems Frameworks guide. You can have them if you want but you probably will find much better ones out there or you can try reading that guide and creating them yourself. My tactics are ok but not great. They just do the job.

I am not the best one to give advice but I am happy to try and help anyway.

jod, you got sacked at Blackburn...

I believe you now have the spare time for a nice challenging adventure in another country.

I personally use a couple tactics that I use for most games. I do change settings to suit my team. I even go into personal tactics when I was struggling, and it seemed to do the trick.

My 7 tips of the secret to success:

1. get the best coaches, scout, etc you can
   
2. build my finances. It may include having to sell that bluechip player you love, but if you're not going to win now, there's no point keeping that player
   
3. build your team from the back. most games usually end up 1-0, 2-0, or 2-1. You lose more than you win in 4-3 games.
   
4. use a defensive tactic. I never really used an offensive tactic. The saying goes 'Defense wins championships.' Although I've had a few 6-0 wins in my latest save.
   
5. always pester the board to improve facilities. It will be critical down the road
   
6. scout youngsters from obscure countries, and like Saber said, South America, with small minimum release clauses
   
7. keep morale up. That's means going into player interaction and criticizing him if he has a bad game to boost morale. Don't use disappointing after full time if you lose, always sympathize.