Am I the only one finding this too hard.

Hi all,

First of all this is not a troll.

Everyone is posting on here that the game is too easy, but I am finding the opposite. I haven't played this game since the first installment of Champ Manager on the Amiga, back in the early 90s.

I would post here with what I need help with, but I am honestly so lost I don't know what I am doing wrong. I guess the main problem for me is the sheer depth of the game and the number of options open to me to 'fix' things, but I don't know where to start. Is there any part of the game I should be concentrating on to improve things, is there any way of reducing the number of things I need to concentrate on, for example is there a coach I could hire that would handle training for me?

Sorry for being such a noob, and thanks.

You can get your assistant to handle training, contracts + team talks so perhaps do that while you're getting to grips with the game.

Don't forget to use the tutorials too! They're really good this year.

Well, there are three skill-sets in FM: tactics (creation and adjustments), team talks/morale (man management/motivation) and squad building (transfers, player development). You can succeed in the game by mastering one of them, so I suggest concentrating your effort on the one you like the best.

Thanks BiggusD,

That's actually the most useful piece of information I have had so far.

I am managing a Luxembourg. Now I am not doing this to win, that would be stupid, but I have been looking at their real world results, where they typically get beat by 2-3 goals, I am typically getting beat by double this margin, and not even holding my own against other minnows. I change my tactics and talks constantly, but it's not helping at all. My only aim is to hit Luxembourg's pretty low standards. If I can build on that after, great. But first I have to get there.

Thinking I might be changing too much, I have tried leaving my tactics alone till the familiarity bar is full, but this doesn't help either. I get roughly the same result no matter whether I tinker or leave things alone. I guess the real world Luxembourg coach does something I am missing, but I can't work it out.

Should I be going with pretty standard tactics and leaving the Team/Player Instructions alone? I am worried the tactic I am creating is a mess.

Do I need to be using shouts too? I have not touched them so far.

I went through the Tutorial, but most of the stuff in there I had figured out.

Tactics wise, your players are going to be absolute rubbish so make it as basic as you possibly can. Use the creator and only assign the most basic roles. Try to go by real life logic with the strategies - set it up so you're not asking anything too difficult from your players. And the familiarity thing definitely matters alot so try to get this as close to maximum as you can. You don't need to use shouts but they can be helpful.

off topic. BiggusD you have great nick!! i couldnt stop smiling when i saw your nick. hehe

Thanks BiggusD,

That's actually the most useful piece of information I have had so far.

I am managing a Luxembourg. Now I am not doing this to win, that would be stupid, but I have been looking at their real world results, where they typically get beat by 2-3 goals, I am typically getting beat by double this margin, and not even holding my own against other minnows. I change my tactics and talks constantly, but it's not helping at all. My only aim is to hit Luxembourg's pretty low standards. If I can build on that after, great. But first I have to get there.

Thinking I might be changing too much, I have tried leaving my tactics alone till the familiarity bar is full, but this doesn't help either. I get roughly the same result no matter whether I tinker or leave things alone. I guess the real world Luxembourg coach does something I am missing, but I can't work it out.

Should I be going with pretty standard tactics and leaving the Team/Player Instructions alone? I am worried the tactic I am creating is a mess.

Do I need to be using shouts too? I have not touched them so far.

I went through the Tutorial, but most of the stuff in there I had figured out.

My first thought is that this is a game and it is hard for SI to balance it in all aspects. You are playing with amateurs against worldwide superstars, and it is actually quite possible that FM can't replicate the difficulty of playing against miniature-nations like Luxembourg in real life. I think your best hope is not tactics but by putting as much pressure as possible on the opposition side in press conferences, while attempting to give your own players a little hope. If you gamble on employing a direct, attacking game from the whistle goes and somehow manage to score a goal, the opposition players may go from complacent to nervous. What you need to do then is to park the bus and hope for the best.

But seriously, try club football - it is much better! Luxembourg! Your'e crazy!

What you need to do then is to park the bus and hope for the best.

I disagree. Parking the bus is always a bad idea in FM, especially if you're a smaller team going up against world class international players. While getting the early goal and playing negatively for the rest of the game is the low risk tactic in real life, the way Concentration and Determination work make dramatic late equalizers/winners the rule rather than the exception in FM. Offense, even if you have an epically crappy team, is not only the best form of defense, it's basically the only defense. Run up a lead and try to keep 60%+ possession or you will be punching your monitor at the 85th minute time and time again.

Simplify, especially if you're not use to the features. Don't try to be clever with your tactics, training or team talks. Maybe even as has been said, until you are more use to the newer game let your assistant handle them.

AM I best to skip team talks or let the assistant handle them?

AM I best to skip team talks or let the assistant handle them?

I suggest doing hwat I do and using assistant for matches you are confident of winning, and you do them when It Is an important fixture.

start with a big club side your familiar with..the arsenals, man utds etc . its much easier to get to grips with the game with the larger sides...

you can leave training as is until your comfortable, and you can get your assistant manager to take control of teamtalks, conferences and opposition instructions etc..

and you can use the tactic creator to make quite complicated tactics and formations easily and without fuss...

and then of course when you want to, you can start to pick up these things yourself..

also.. use the good team and player guide forums and the tactics/training forums on here.. always people willing to help

start with a big club side your familiar with..the arsenals, man utds etc . its much easier to get to grips with the game with the larger sides...

you can leave training as is until your comfortable, and you can get your assistant manager to take control of teamtalks, conferences and opposition instructions etc..

I'd completely endorse that. It's much easier to play with a big club so start with one you like and have seen play a lot so you know the players. With a big club you have good staff who don't need much help from you. You can leave training alone, the default training schedules are perfectly adequate. Just use one of the default formations and start getting used to tactics, learning as you go along.

Conceding too many goals? Try playing an anchorman. That kind of stuff. Watch how your assistant manager gives teamtalks then when you've seen how he does it try for yourself.

If you're playing with one of the top Premier league sides you've got a fair amount of leeway: you don't have to make ideal choices to win, just not terrible ones. Then when you're learned how to win with Man Utd try something more challenging.

Hello,

I'm not trying to be obstinate with this post. I just don't understand when you say:

"Just use one of the default formations and start getting used to tactics"

To my noob mind, that seems contradictory. If I use the default tactics, then I am not getting used to tactics as I am leaving them alone. Is that correct? Or do you mean messing about with how much I am attacking/defending, or the fluidity buttons. Or are you saying for me to have several sets of default tactics trained to use in different situations, and getting used when to switch? I know this probably seems obvious to you guys, but I am floundering. I followed the advice in the other posts last night and I my results are more or less going as you would expect real world form to go, but with the opposition scoring 1-2 more goals than you might expect. Consistently so.

Hello,

I'm not trying to be obstinate with this post. I just don't understand when you say:

"Just use one of the default formations and start getting used to tactics"

To my noob mind, that seems contradictory. If I use the default tactics, then I am not getting used to tactics as I am leaving them alone. Is that correct? Or do you mean messing about with how much I am attacking/defending, or the fluidity buttons. Or are you saying for me to have several sets of default tactics trained to use in different situations, and getting used when to switch? I know this probably seems obvious to you guys, but I am floundering. I followed the advice in the other posts last night and I my results are more or less going as you would expect real world form to go, but with the opposition scoring 1-2 more goals than you might expect. Consistently so.

I think he meant that when you create a tactic, don't change anything at first. Instead tweak it in small portions based on what you see in Extended Highlights mode.

An Attacking mentality, for instance, means that the player will be eager to challenge for the ball and take risks, while a Defensive mentality means he will make sure he doesn't leave space behind him, and he will be more difficult to dribble past because he will try to stay on his feet and not get in too close. So if their winger dribbles past your defender who rushes towards him or fails his tackle, you may try to reduce his mentality to a more defensive one to fix that particular problem.

... Or you should perhaps sign a better full back asap.... or he may be nervous so next time make sure you don't put as much pressure on him. (Or all of the above).

"Just use one of the default formations and start getting used to tactics"

To my noob mind, that seems contradictory. If I use the default tactics, then I am not getting used to tactics as I am leaving them alone. Is that correct? Or do you mean messing about with how much I am attacking/defending, or the fluidity buttons. Or are you saying for me to have several sets of default tactics trained to use in different situations, and getting used when to switch? I know this probably seems obvious to you guys, but I am floundering. I followed the advice in the other posts last night and I my results are more or less going as you would expect real world form to go, but with the opposition scoring 1-2 more goals than you might expect. Consistently so.

All of the bolded above. I'm sorry if what was meant to be helpful confused. You could start with 4-4-2 which has been successful for years, let the tactics creator assign player roles, then see what happens and try making adjustments according to how things work out. If you're conceding too many goals try different things to change that: a more defensive mentality overall, or if the opposition are getting behind your defence set the team to defend deeper.

If you're not scoring enough try switching from 'Standard' to 'Control' mentality, see how 'Control' works out: still not scoring enough, try 'Attacking'. That type of thing.

Familiarity with tactics helps your team a lot, so you're probably better concentrating on a single formation to start with, and tweaking that, but I'd suggest setting up a second formation which your team train too, and give that a try either (a) when the first formation is definitely not working (but give it time, teams need time to learn any formation) or (b) when you're confident you've got the first one working well and the familiarity bars are virtually full on the second it's time to give it a try and see if it's better than the first.

Just jump in and do something would be my advice, then react to what happens. The tactics section on this forum is very helpful if you have a specific problem, let's say one of your strikers is playing well but the other isn't, if you look through there you'll probably find someone else has already had the same experience, or if they haven't just post what your problem is and people will offer suggestions.

Hope that makes my meaning clearer: start with the tactics creator's suggestions but see how they work and tinker to improve. And if your changes make things worse drop them.

Hi all,

First of all this is not a troll.

Everyone is posting on here that the game is too easy, but I am finding the opposite. I haven't played this game since the first installment of Champ Manager on the Amiga, back in the early 90s.

I would post here with what I need help with, but I am honestly so lost I don't know what I am doing wrong. I guess the main problem for me is the sheer depth of the game and the number of options open to me to 'fix' things, but I don't know where to start. Is there any part of the game I should be concentrating on to improve things, is there any way of reducing the number of things I need to concentrate on, for example is there a coach I could hire that would handle training for me?

Sorry for being such a noob, and thanks.

You are not a troll and even if I think the opposite I respect your opinion as a valid one.

Hey wednesday, don't ever be concerned if you're finding the game too hard than most people who post on this forum. It has a HUGE learning curve, most of us commenting on the difficulty, whatever we're saying, have played previous versions of FM for anywhere from a few hundred to well over two thousand hours. For me, there has been probably dozens of hours of reading on top of that, and also over a hundred hours in the past year watching actual football, that has given me tactical insights that - I am delighted to say - translate into the actual game, that's a testament to just how awesome FM is.

The first time I played FM years ago I would had thrown it out of window because it was too difficult, that's why I suggest to introduce difficulty levels.

Now I can win pretty much every game 4-0 with a middle roster team, the very first season apart.