Football Manager 2016 far too difficult

Is it just me or does anyone else find FM 16 really difficult?

I've started 3 seasons now with Man Utd and ended up getting sacked in each one in the first season! I've tried changing up tactics but nothing seems to help.

I've played Football Manager for years now and never had this happen. It just seems to be taking the fun out of it.

no fun either in just winning everything

I think the difficulty is spot on & makes it better challenge which ultimately leads to greater reward at the end.

visit the tactics forum for help, or post yours and visit the united team guide to see what others are doing

It's funny because on almost a daily basis we have threads pop up that claim it is one way or another, either too hard or too easy...

I'm going to take a wild stab in the dark and say you took over UTD with a low rep? of course you'll get sacked if you don't deliver... it's utd, it should be one of the hardest saves around in theory, so much expectation, with no squad to live up to it.

Is it just me or does anyone else find FM 16 really difficult?

I've started 3 seasons now with Man Utd and ended up getting sacked in each one in the first season! I've tried changing up tactics but nothing seems to help.

I've played Football Manager for years now and never had this happen. It just seems to be taking the fun out of it.

I know how you feel and it is frustrating. Im no Arrigo Sachi (more Barry Fry) but Im a decent tactician (I think). Skipped FM2015 so its been a bit of a 'settling in' period with this version. A few years ago I had a cracking save going, managing Red Star in Serbia. Thought I would give them a try this time round. Started off well, picked my basic formation and tactics and watched the first three games on extended highlights. Started changing things slightly and it all falls apart. Players not happy, board demanding I improve morale, fans not happy. Suddenly Im on the verge of getting sacked 11 games into the season, sitting in 7th place.

So for the first time ever I visited various tactics forums. I refuse to altar my basic formation (4-2-3-1) but made major adjustments to team instructions and more importantly, player roles.

Luckily my next and possibly last match was in the cup to a semi pro side and won 3-0. Players morale is now 'okay'. Next match is against a mid table side in the league, won 5-0. Morale is now 'good'. Board now happy that I kept my promise and improved player happiness.

What I don't know at the moment is what caused this turn in fortunes. Is it my new tactics or is it the improvement in player morale after the cup win....or both??

I dare say I will have another bad patch so time will tell.

For me its the ME have a lot of bugs and mistakes like awful defending and GK mistakes that make the game like this

A lot of difficulty problems are related to the manager stats. Picking no qualifications and Sunday League rep for a premiership team is a recipe for disaster.

A lot of difficulty problems are related to the manager stats. Picking no qualifications and Sunday League rep for a premiership team is a recipe for disaster.

Im hearing (or seeing) this mentioned more and more.

Im hearing (or seeing) this mentioned more and more.

It's a club-based difficulty level in disguise. There is also no guide to know how and why they improve which I find shocking as they are very important for managers who aren't tactical geniuses.

Keeping your team motivated can camouflage even some tactical faults imho.

It's a club-based difficulty level in disguise. There is also no guide to know how and why they improve which I find shocking as they are very important for managers who aren't tactical geniuses.

Keeping your team motivated can camouflage even some tactical faults imho.

Aye, thats what I am afraid of in my current save.

For me the difficulty is ok but the full backs are terrible to watch so I stopped playing until the patch is ready

Although morale and motivation are important.

Look at Chelsea. League champs last season. This season, same manager, same tactics as last season, no squad overhaul..........

My full backs are performing better now that I have got to grips with the individual roles/mentality in relation to my overall team instructions. Ratings have shot up too.

Is it just me or does anyone else find FM 16 really difficult?

I've started 3 seasons now with Man Utd and ended up getting sacked in each one in the first season! I've tried changing up tactics but nothing seems to help.

I've played Football Manager for years now and never had this happen. It just seems to be taking the fun out of it.

I'm on my 2nd season with Utd. Came 3rd in the league but it was a struggle. Lost FA Cup final to City. ECL was a disaster - D3 L3 - though I did have some bad luck.

EDIT: Early fixtures were opposite to Moyes IRL for me, I got an easy start so that helped me win games and bought me time.

No complaints though.

This Utd squad you inherit really isn't that good. Defenders are not top level, with future exception of Luke Shaw. Lack of pace and strength in CM (Fellaini excepted re. strength though I sold him to raise funds). A lack of pace / power combo up front makes the side easy to defend against.

I added Alvaro Morata in first season, plus Maicon at CB (a stop-gap short term signing who I sold at the end of the season). Have finished ripping the squad apart close season and 60% new team now.

Lower your expectations in the way you approach matches. You're not gonna win the title with this side unless you're very good / much better at this game than I am.

EDIT 2: I may get found out this season. Due to my poor ECL performance, slipped to 3rd seeds. My group contains Bayern, FCP (beaten finalists in previous season) and AS Monaco who helped dump me out last season. Group of death!

in fairness, the ManUtd board expect you to challenge for the title (being the most reputable club in England has something to do with it)

@4 - you're taking [arguably] one of big-2 sides in Serbia and find them 7th, of course you're going to get sacked

@13 - the ECL seeding has changed, if you finished 3rd in the previous season, then that's what you get given for seedings

I like it - consider a hypothetical (but very real possibility) of a group this season - Juventus, Man City, Shakhtar and Wolfsburg - irl, 2 are topping the group, 1 in 2nd and another in third

in fairness, the ManUtd board expect you to challenge for the title (being the most reputable club in England has something to do with it)

@4 - you're taking [arguably] one of big-2 sides in Serbia and find them 7th, of course you're going to get sacked

@13 - the ECL seeding has changed, if you finished 3rd in the previous season, then that's what you get given for seedings

I like it - consider a hypothetical (but very real possibility) of a group this season - Juventus, Man City, Shakhtar and Wolfsburg - irl, 2 are topping the group, 1 in 2nd and another in third

Re. @13 my post I know that, not sure why you said this in your post? I wasn't complaining. Fact of life

Anyway I've signed Jamie Vardy now (seriously) ... (yes a bit of fun) so onwards and upwards

I had similar issues when not using chats and setting up individual instructions. Let alone reading prozone to see what the opposition is doing in game.

For me its the ME have a lot of bugs and mistakes like awful defending and GK mistakes that make the game like this

Sorry. You'll hate me for this, but it's not the ME, it's you.

This ME is the best I have seen in many years of playing CM/FM.

I've taken the little heard of Loughgall FC from expected relegation in the second tier of Northern Ireland to the verge of qualifying for a continental spot in less than two years. I've played players in positions and tactics that reflect their minimal strengths. Or, to put it in layman's terms, I've adapted the formation and tactics to the players I have.

Personally I think the game's too easy...or I just got lucky with a club that are better than they're deemed to be.

Don't just play the formation you think will win, or what you think deserves to win. Adapt your appraoch to reflect the players you have. I suspect many think they can just jump in to a Manchester United team, play whatever the hell they like and gain instant success. That might stand a chance of working with FC United, but not their big neighbours.

And, instead of blaming the tools, look at what's going wrong, make changes and learn.

I think the balance is just right, there are hundreds of managers irl who have never won anything and move from job to job but they don't have a forum they can seek advice on, the game rewards you when you play patiently and work hard at developing tactics and building a team. I always start in the lower leagues and build my reputation, if at some point I get offered a big move then that's my reward.

Won the league with Arsenal first season on 16.1 just prior to full release. Has it changed much since Beta?

I think it's supposed to be hard. It's why the real football managers get paid lots of money to do their jobs (mostly). If you want an easier experience there are plenty of ways to make things easier for yourself:

Official editor, In game editor, FM Touch with DLC, Playing Experience and Coaching Qualification settings in the manager profile

All of these can make your life easier (or harder if you choose)

in fairness, the ManUtd board expect you to challenge for the title (being the most reputable club in England has something to do with it)

@4 - you're taking [arguably] one of big-2 sides in Serbia and find them 7th, of course you're going to get sacked

@13 - the ECL seeding has changed, if you finished 3rd in the previous season, then that's what you get given for seedings

I like it - consider a hypothetical (but very real possibility) of a group this season - Juventus, Man City, Shakhtar and Wolfsburg - irl, 2 are topping the group, 1 in 2nd and another in third

You're not quite correct with the new seeding system. Pot One is now the winners of the top 7 ranked leagues plus the holders, or the winners of the top 8 ranked leagues if the holders also won a top-7 league. The other three however are still based on the UEFA coefficient, so United could be anywhere from second to fourth having come third.

For me its the ME have a lot of bugs and mistakes like awful defending and GK mistakes that make the game like this

I am also having lots and lots of goalkeeping mistakes. I am MK Dons in the Championship and was doing great until my starting GK went down year 1 with a long term injury. After that, my goalkeepers have seemed to have some kind of hex. I sold him in the offseason and signed two different goalkeepers who have spent their whole careers in the top flights. They come to my team and make blunder after blunder. I wish I had the patience and know-how to put together a highlight reel. I am not being dramatic at all when I say I've probably had 30 goalkeeping errors in the last season and a half with four different goalies (switching when one keeps making errors trying to find a solution). Also, one thing I'm having an issue with is any cross met inside their 6 yard box by my strikers seems to go over the bar 90% of the time. Again, I know people get pissed and are dramatic but I'm pretty cool headed and being realistic with my estimations. I have about two open headers a game from inside the six and both are headed over usually. My striker has 15 heading, 14 finishing, 14 composure so I don't understand how he would be missing open headers from inside the 6 (and central) but it happens A LOT. However, the teams I play are usually pretty clinical whether that be from inside the 6 or from the byline. A lot of that is the goalkeeping errors but sometimes its just unbelievable finishing. I'm also having issues with players not following tactics. If I tell my GK to pass to the fullbacks, regardless of how risky or safe or short or long i instruct him to pass and the whole back line wide open, he always boots it up field and concedes possession over and over. I tell my players to play short passes and some games they are just booting it while wide open, no pressure. Games where their goalie is passing short and they are possessing it, i tell them to stop the short goalkeeper distribution and their whole back line is still left alone for him to pass to and possess more. Its very frustrating because its one thing to lose because you don't have the players or your tactics are off. It's another to lose because your team is ignoring tactics, making child-like blunders, and missing gimmes that even Emile Heskey would put away, dominating games only to have your keeper lazily bat in a cross or slow roller, or worse, let a slow back pass go past him in the last 10 seconds of the match for an OG. Or him back up into the back of the goal on a 35 yard free kick and punch the ball into the underside of the net because its already crossed the line when it reaches him (since he's in the back of the net).....Its just some absurd things. I am at the end of season 2 and I have tried so many things and have yet to find a way to rectify. Signing my 6th and 7th new keeper in 2 years this summer and praying for some stability.

@woodwardm28

could be those GK are on a decline. when you say they've spent their whole careers in the top flights it sounds like they've already had a long career. perhaps this is your issue? Perhaps try signing a younger keeper who is just coming into their prime?

@woodwardm28

could be those GK are on a decline. when you say they've spent their whole careers in the top flights it sounds like they've already had a long career. perhaps this is your issue? Perhaps try signing a younger keeper who is just coming into their prime?

Two of the three I have now are ageing and declining, but they're also still better than most the goalkeepers I face and yet I might see a keeper blunder for the opposition once every 20-25 games whereas for me, its at least once every two games. I have Huerelho Gomes, Rob Elliot, and Jak Alnwick right now. The keeper I had that started all this when my original starter got hurt was Cody Cropper. His ratings aren't great but he played like a Sunday league keeper who was being paid to throw games. Shots at him he'd bat in or let go between his legs. Shots going wide of goal, he'd superman to the ball and bat it back into the middle of the 6 for their striker to tap in. He did that 4 times in 3 months. All three I have now make very amateur mistakes for being professional keepers. I mean I just finished my second season. So Gomes and Rob Elliot are only a year older than they are now in real life. Gomes is doing fine other than one he let slip between his legs for Watford and Elliot pretty much single handedly saved points for Newcastle vs Bournemouth a few weeks ago. It's like they've aged to 50 years old in one season or something.

Im having the same issues . all going well till Christmas and Then the sack . players keep moaning and lose a few games the morale goes down?

is this fault of the game ?

If it was the fault of the game then everyone will be suffering from it. The fact that so relatively few are means it's something the user is doing wrong.

For example in the winter the weather is colder and there's more chance for rain and high wind, so the pitches will change. If you play football on the gound like short passing then a waterlogged pitch will cause you problems, if you play a more direct game then the high wind may cause you problem if you're kicking into it.

Also if you're doing well in the league opponents will play a little more defensively against you. Early on in the season you took advantage of the fact that they're underestimating you and your tactics worked well. Now that you're doing well they'll change their approach to you and of course you've not changed your tactics because it worked well.

Basically you need to learn to adapt your tactics, after all the AI is doiing that to seemingly good effect against you.

One size does not in fact fit all when it comes to tactics I understand that and I'm nowhere near being a tactical genius. I've just learnt some tips that help out when I need to adjust my tactics, soemtimes they work and sometimes they don't.

well please help with tactics

Help can be sought in the tactics forum.

just not fun for me losing every game. i have tried fancy tactics to basic read loads on the forums cant do anything right

Things haven't gone my way this year with FM16, but that's down to my Graeme Souness style of management more than the game being an issue. The game would obviously love me to turn a blind eye to Benteke's tantrums, but I don't, I just fine the man and have him turn out for the U21's. He can complain, but anyone who sides with him will also be excluded. It's more down to management skills than the game being 'too hard' and if like me, your inner Souey cant help but raise it's head every week or so, you probably won't be successful.

the key to this game i have found, is to completey forget anything you learned tactics wise in 2015!

this is what ive struggled with most but im slowly starting to understand it.

Its hard to find a balance but I think SI have tilted too far . In 2015 it was too simple : find a decent tactic, stick with it and win everything on the condition that you had the budget. 2016 has gone too far the other way.

I have tried a few teams Eng Prem, Championship, Dutch Ered, SPL and its almost impossible to win with any consistency. Suspecting that the ME was loaded in a much tougher fashion I decided to test it with just about the easiest challenge imaginable.

Took Celtic , got FMRTE and gave them a 25 million budget.

The team is full of internationals. Emil Forsberg on the left wing , the amazing Jonathan Callieri as a lone forward. Kristoffer Ajer and Scott Brown in midfield. Jefferson in goal. Not a team to trouble Barcelona but in reality would wreak havoc in the SPL.

Its now December of the first season and I am struggling in 3rd place in the SPL.

My last 4 games have been ;

LOST vs Bayern Munich (away ) 0 - 6

WON vs Dundee United (home) 2 - 0

LOST vs Hamilton (home) 0 - 2

LOST vs Ross Country (away) 1-2

Now no one can tell me that echoes reality. You could , in real life, play a straight 4-4-2 with the players I have in the SPL and absolutely decimate the competition.

A back four of ;

DL Emilio Izaguirre 29 years old 80 caps for Honduras

DC Joona Toivio 27 years old 30+ caps for Finland

DC Efe Ambrose 27 years old 50+ caps for Nigeria

DR Mikael Lustig 28 years old 48 caps for Sweden

Have just been taken apart Andy Ryan an 18 year old loan listed striker with not one stat about 12 (and most in single figures) valued at 11K. Scored two goals rated 8.8

Now you could argue that this could happen in real life and I'd agree - plucky youngster from minnow underdogs plays a blinder and embarrasses seasoned professionals.

We can all think of examples - but 7 or 8 times this scenario has occurred in the first half of the season alone.

Sorry but its just nonsense. They have tried to make it more of a challenge and have ended up creating something of a farce.

ME needs a significant overhaul

After all those players being brought in .. how was the team cohesion and familiarity?

ME needs a significant overhaul

Because you're losing? Because you think age and experience by default should equate to defensive stability?

Let's imagine the possibly the issue might relate more to user input. If you post in the tactics forum, you'll likely get the advice you appear to need.

I have quite a lot of sympathy with StonewallJackson. There are now so many factors at play in FM that the role of player quality has been heavily diluted, with the result that even in leagues where there are 2 good teams and the rest are also-rans, that dominance is not reflected to the degree it should be.

A lot has been added to the game since the days when everything depended on player quality alone, a lot of the non-footballing *influences* seem in game to be too much like *determinants* and since roles were introduced there is much less differential in the behaviour of players of different quality who are playing in the same position. The role is constraining the better players too much and not letting them outshine their lesser colleagues. Tactics then become all-important - that may be the game some people want. Many loved the squad-building and club development approach, which now seems marginalised by comparison to tactical expertise.

Most of the additions are worthwhile, but taken all together and weighed against player stats they are beginning to dominate, which makes the role of squad building less important. It's not quite at the point where tactics can totally compensate for lack of quality players, rendering playing stats irrelevant, but it is heading in that direction and that is why there are quite a lot of comments along the lines of 'this is completely unrealistic', 'this team would batter them' etc.

I've struggled a lot this year after doing brilliantly last year. After being sacked by Everton, instead of starting again I just continued and became a journeyman. I did pretty poorly wherever I ended up, but I somehow took over an 18th placed Lyon side and after keeping them up, I'm flying high in 3rd place, still within touching distance of the two rich clubs despite having a midtable squad. It just takes lots of practice and trial and error

this is the first FM in a long time where ive actually been able to win 2 x champions league trophy in a row with chelsea, my fav fm team who i start with every new fm i get, so being more difficult i dont know, but its certainly harder to score alot of goals.

the key to this game i have found, is to completey forget anything you learned tactics wise in 2015!

this is what ive struggled with most but im slowly starting to understand it.

Strange because am using the exact same tactical gameplan as i did in previous football managers, the tactics are practically the same just more detailed in what each category actually effects how your team plays.Ive had no problem with success so far but i am chelsea, i really strong team compared to most.

Is it just me or does anyone else find FM 16 really difficult?

I've started 3 seasons now with Man Utd and ended up getting sacked in each one in the first season! I've tried changing up tactics but nothing seems to help.

I've played Football Manager for years now and never had this happen. It just seems to be taking the fun out of it.

I was having the same problem until I realized that despite playing FM for years and years, I had a very casual and basic knowledge about how the tactics actually work. So I started studying tactics in more detail through the forums and blogs and well, what do you know, now, I don't get sacked no more and am starting to actually win things again.

I've used the exact same base tactic the last five or six versions, takes a season or two, but eventually I'm successful.

edit: the biggest problem I had was my midfield roles, but that's been sorted.

A lot of difficulty problems are related to the manager stats. Picking no qualifications and Sunday League rep for a premiership team is a recipe for disaster.

To be fair, it doesn't make sense to start with no coaching licence and low past experience as a Top Flight manager. That seems more something for a LLM save.

I think sackings are much more common in FM over recent seasons, but that's just mirrored real life, so I'm fine with that. I managed to stay at the same club all year with FM15 but I've already had three clubs on this years game. Tis just the way it goes. Sometimes you find a club that you just click with, sometimes you don't. I think that's part of the fun. I've learned to be less attached to clubs that I'm at now. If I move on, I move on. No biggie.

I think the difficulty is fine. I got promoted with a few games to spare from the Championship with QPR. Now about 15 games into the second season, in the Premiership, and 3pts off first. Mind you I have Vardy, Cabaye, Wilshere etc :-)

I know how you feel and it is frustrating. Im no Arrigo Sachi (more Barry Fry) but Im a decent tactician (I think). Skipped FM2015 so its been a bit of a 'settling in' period with this version. A few years ago I had a cracking save going, managing Red Star in Serbia. Thought I would give them a try this time round. Started off well, picked my basic formation and tactics and watched the first three games on extended highlights. Started changing things slightly and it all falls apart. Players not happy, board demanding I improve morale, fans not happy. Suddenly Im on the verge of getting sacked 11 games into the season, sitting in 7th place.

So for the first time ever I visited various tactics forums. I refuse to altar my basic formation (4-2-3-1) but made major adjustments to team instructions and more importantly, player roles.

Luckily my next and possibly last match was in the cup to a semi pro side and won 3-0. Players morale is now 'okay'. Next match is against a mid table side in the league, won 5-0. Morale is now 'good'. Board now happy that I kept my promise and improved player happiness.

What I don't know at the moment is what caused this turn in fortunes. Is it my new tactics or is it the improvement in player morale after the cup win....or both??

I dare say I will have another bad patch so time will tell.

Barry Fry, tactician?

well please help with tactics

If you post your tactic in the tactics forum, you will receive immediate feedback. As a general comment, I would say that FM16 does a better job than any previous version of putting you on the touchline and forcing you to think through the problems.

Whenever I start a new iteration I try new kinds of tactics and watch a full game at the start of the season with each (you can try friendlies, but variations in fitness make it less revealing IMO). It may be tedious to many, but there really is no better way to figure out what's going on, what's going wrong and why. Pay attention to knock on effects especially as pertains to how opposition may carve open your defence. You can trace opposition attacking moves back to where it all breaks down. Watch it over and pay attention. Did someone close down too much and create a big opening? Why did they? Is it opposition instructions, tactics, PPM? Is someone being persistently drawn out of position? Why is that?

I think part of it is because the Man UTD squad lacks balance(and full of crappy players) and its difficult to challenge the title with them.

Every new FM game each yeah seems to be getting easier for me.

18 Trophies :

Champions League ,European Super Cup, Premiership X7 , Europa League, FA CUP x2, League Cup X2, Community Shield X4 ( Watford )

Our Leading Manager in our online game trophy hall with Watford - I guess its not getting too hard for him ...

Every new FM game each yeah seems to be getting easier for me.

I agree tbh. Not sure if its me getting better or the game getting easier, but can definitely do more this year with a tin pot team than I could in say FM11 or CM4!