HHUK

That's a weird quirk of Serie D, they have playoffs but they only get promoted if there's an empty spot. Most years nobody gets promoted, other years multiple spots are open due to teams going into administration.

I use these files for my build a nation saves, with the amount of fixes I view these files as an unofficial patch. As a player you'll probably only notice a few differences like more realistic wages and a lesser amount of high potential regen wonderkids, There's a lot more "average" players but that's a good thing if you're playing in a lesser league, you'll be able to focus on standout stats instead. The next update is out Friday and adds U17 international tournaments so personally I'd wait til then, it'll probably be a lot of fun scouting those!

I've used him in leagues like Portugal, Netherlands and Germany, a step below the Premier League in quality but still decent. He can almost be the best defender in the league, absolute mentality monster. Develops pretty well but has a major flaw in that his jumping is around 10 and it's not the type of thing you can train easily as you'll eventually run into the cap. For some people his jumping would be weak enough for him to never reach the elite level. Peterborough are a goldmine this year, I'd recommend Harrison Burrows, he looks like he'll reach Premier League level. They've also got the classic Ricky-Jade Jones I don't think his potential is as high but his pace means he'll stay relevant.

I'm liking the 4-4-2 with two DMs. Just a mid block with orders to step up more, you want to compress the defence and midfield so you defend with 8 men behind the ball. Pretty loose with the roles for most of the positions but the inverted wingers make it all tick.

I like to attack on the left so mainly Gets Further Forward on Zaniolo and Moreno. Roam More on Diaby. I think the deep 4-4-2 shape is really strong in this year's match engine with a mid block and high/mid defensive line, you end up with 8 men behind the ball and it's hard for anyone to pass through you. I've seen the AI manage to qualify for the Champions League a few times with Villa, very fun squad this year!

This year I'm basing my tactical shape on something I saw in one of JoshDaly's videos. The instructions were a little too OP for my liking so I've simplified them massively, it's more fun to tinker and add instructions during games anyway. It's a 4-4-2 that forms a box behind the front 2. LB and LM pushing up in individual player instructions. The Diaby/Bailey role is a False 9 with permission to roam more to try stretch the line or turn up to overload. I think it replicates how Villa are playing in real life pretty well, it just requires some positional training for the LM and RM slots. Kamara's more likely to play on the right side in real life but I think the left side needs more defensive strength ingame. In terms of transfers I'll usually ship out Chambers, Hause, Dendoncker and Traore. Brought in Stuart Dallas (£7m) and Daniel James (£8m) as backups, really liking high work rate, high teamwork players right now. Diego Carlos usually starts with some interest from Real Madrid but he's not their top target, I'd be inclined to sell if they made an offer as his value drops like a rock after 1 season.

Just think of it as slots for people who wouldn't get a work permit, everyone in the football pyramid gets at least 2. In game they don't seem to have any of the requirements they have in real life, I assume they've simplified the whole idea due to lack of definition surrounding certain terms.

I'm happy to wait, even with some things that need addressing the match engine is enough for me to keep playing my first save. Keep bashing out those commits devs.

Good shout, I logged out of the Xbox app and back in but still couldn't play, logged out of the Microsoft Store app and back in and it worked.

I've played CM/FM games from the start and I wouldn't say older games were any more perfect, they were simpler so you could patch out more game breaking bugs before release but they were still flawed. In FM22 we had strong inverted fullbacks, shadow strikers and strikerless overperforming, in FM23 we have a really strong 4-2-4. In CM 03/04 we had the Diablo tactic, in CM2 you could run 4-4-2 with the fastest wingers you could find and they'd pump out chances regardless of their crossing ability. With more users online, we're a hivemind noticing more and more bugs. The code is so much more complex than it used to be and fixes take longer, testing takes longer. I want the patch as much as anyone else but go easy on them. The test build gets updated most days so we can assume they're working nonstop.

I think all the merch is gone but I'd suggest a shirt with an FM sponsorship, AFC Wimbledon are the best shout, the blue goes nicely with the SIGames branding. Last year's Hashtag United shirt was a pretty good one too if you can still find it. There's always Etsy if you're after a home made FM themed t-shirt on the cheap.

Where it says 1-10, 11-20, 21-30, etc, they're tabs you can click on to see them.