Awesome in friendlies, lousy in the season

Not sure where to post this, sorry if it's in the wrong place. This isn't exactly a moan, more a sigh and a query. I've played FM on and off since it's inception, and in FM 14 I'm coming across an issue I've never encountered before, and one which is making the game at best unenjoyable, at worst, unplayable. I'm not sure if it's a bug, or something new in 14 I'm not picking up on.

I've tried various teams at various levels in various leagues, from Arsenal to Wrexham, Barcelona to Basingstoke. I've always been better at picking out 'decent' staff and players and building a team than the actual tactics. However, in 14, I'm finding that generally, my pre-seasons go really well....in my latest effort, Wrexham of the Skrill Premier beat 2 League 2 and 1 League 1 teams, drew with Liverpool Under 21's, and also beat four lesser teams. I was creating 15-20 chances a game, with an average of 1 in 3 being clear cut, and 2 in 5 scored, more or less. Skip to my first 4 league games. Home draw to Welling, 2-2. 5 chances, 0 clear cut. Away loss to Halifax, 0-1. 9 chances, 1 clear cut. Away loss to Hyde, 2-0, 13 chances, 2 clear cut. Home loss to Tamworth, 2-0 8 chances 0 clear cut. Again, this has happened now in 6 seperate 'campaigns'. I've yet to see an FM14 game in to double figures in terms of competitive matches as, the second I move from friendlies to competitive, the game becomes unbeatable and my players turn into gibbering idiots. There must be something different in the 'competitive' matches, as my tactics (this time) resulted in only 1 loss and 5 wins, yet the exact same team with the exact same tactics couldn't buy a win. Or in many cases, a goal.

I've not changed anything, I've not brought new players in who've never played in the team before. No tweaks, no alterations. I had a player on trial, he scored 4 in 4 friendlies. In the 4 league matches, he had 1 shot...in the four. He missed. Another striker scored 5 in 7 friendlies, and didn't have a single shot on target in the 4 competitive. Add to that the frustration of seeing my team go behind to a goalkeeper spilled freekick after 58 seconds of the first match, and I'm wondering...

Am I doing something wrong in not changing things up from the friendlies, or is this just a very, very annoying part of the game......be it glitch, bug, or simply too big a jump from one to the other? Ideas, thoughts, opinions, and 'oh yeah I've had that' welcomed!

In addition, I can't post tactics as I've saved over the last game. And this has happened with a wide variety of formations and styles, from an attacking 4-3-2-1, to a defensive 5-4-1. I've tried a variety of combinations of holding, pressing, wide, narrow, shoot on sight, everything. It doesn't depend on the ability of my players, it doesn't depend on whether I'm trying to patiently probe, or whether I'm going all out. Technically gifted, or part time players, no difference. Players who tear up friendlies like tissue paper end up not being able to hit a barn door as soon as the first competitive game starts. I've utterly lost faith with the game, and I'm hoping someone can advise!

1. Completely ignore the results in friendly games. They are nothing more than an exercise in earning some money, gaining match fitness, and getting your players used to the system. Lose 10-0 or win 10-0, it's exactly the same.

2. Have a look in the T&TGF and in particular have a look at the stickied threads at the top.

[Edit]

As per pm, there are lots of sub-forums within the SI Community.

Look at the top left hand corner of this page and you will see the following.

Forum. Football Manager Forums. PC/Mac General Discussion. Awesome in friendlies, lousy in the season.

Forum. This is a clickable link and it takes you to a whole list of forums that relate to absolutely anything and everything you can think of, (including FM related forums).

Football Manager Forums is a clickable link and it takes you to a list of forums which only deal with FM related content.

PC/Mac General Discussion is a clickable link that takes you to this forum which deals with, (as the title suggests), Football Manager, (because it is a sub forum of Football Manager Forums), but then specifically general discussion with regards to FM played on either PC or Mac. If you were playing the game on Android or Vita for example then there would be another forum for you. It can also be called GQ sometimes because it used to be called General Questions Forum.

Awesome in friendlies, lousy in the season is not clickable because it is the name of this thread and you are already here so it doesn't need to be clickable.

My advice is have a look around and see what's what. There is a LOT of info available. A LOT. When you get to T&TGF, don't start reading everything all at once. It will confuse the hell out of you. Just stick to the sticked threads at the top and see how you get on with them for a start.

Give me a shout if you need anything, (or of course ask people in here). In the main people are really helpful and friendly.