SMSL's Guide to FM09

Including tactics ,oh and some training;)

My guide to the greatest game in the World

Hopefully my guide will be a simple one and everyone should be able to reproduce the results. I don’t believe you need to micromanage FM. You have never needed to and hopefully the game will never change that.

MY EXEPERIENCE

I have been a 10 hours a day (usually 7 days a week) player of FM/CM since I first played CM2 on my IBM way back on its first day of release and have been on these forums since the year 2000 so hopefully I know what I am talking about. I have played the game the same way since at least CM3 and my method STILL works today.

Being a Bolton Wanderers fan I always obtain World conquest before moving onto the minnows but whether you are Man Utd, Chelsea, Man City, Penerol, LA Galaxy, FC United or Sutton United the method works fine. I’m currently about 10 games into my second season but hopefully I can recap.

BEFORE HITTING THE CONTINUE BUTTON FOR THE FIRST TIME

The first thing to do is to sort out your club. THE most important thing you MUST do straight away is sort out the ASSMAN!!! He is absolutely vital to my plans for World conquest and although he is also a useless git NO EXPENSE must be spared in obtaining the correct one.

So what exactly does he do???

Does he coach my players? NO! That is not his job!!! Obviously if you are in the Second Division of Northern Ireland (been there too many times) then he chips in but do not get an ASSMAN based on his coaching ability. THE most important attribute for an ASSMAN (which a lot of so-called experts miss) is his “judging ability” attribute. Blindingly obvious when you think about it. HE is the guy who after all recommends your best team. HE is the guy whose report shows up on the “assistants report” screen. And he is the one who gives me the FINAL recommendation when I am deciding whether or not to buy or sell a player. The next most important attribute for you ASSMAN is “motivation”!!! Again pretty obvious why and most players already know this – he can do my team talks. BEWARE however that even with a 20 rating the ASSMAN can give the occasional stupid team talk. I NEVER EVER let him give NO TEAM TALK. Watch for this as I never ever seen it be beneficial. Thirdly and a real bonus is “judging potential” although I am not entirely convinced that it matters as all ASSMEN seem to be able to spot how much a player can improve by.

At Bolton we have “Chris Evans”. No not that one but it might as well be. His attributes absolutely suck so immediately I get rid by mutually terminating his contract and then I go searching for a new ASSMAN. Not always possible if your ASSMAN is on a 5 year expensive deal already and the board block the departure so you may have to wait a year. All I do in search of a new guy is “staff role” = “ASSMAN” and tick “Ask AssMan to filter”. When the list comes up I simply sort by “judging ability” and then I check “motivation” and “judging potential” and up comes a coach by the name of Massimo Neri. NEVER HEARD OF HIM! But hey it doesn’t matter and neither does his reputation of “regional”. It turns out he’s one of Fabio’s mob at England but he doesn’t have a club. No compensation needed to pay so it’s a bonus and I offer him a 5 year deal.

The rest of the staff

Next its off to “team options” – REMEMBER TO DO THIS EVERYTIME A STAFF MEMBER JOINS OR LEAVES.

I get the ASSMAN to do the press (annoying gits) and of course arrange friendlies. He also takes charge of friendlies. Why? Friendlies are good for ONE thing and one thing only – MATCH FITNESS. The result is completely irrelevant. If morale is that bad at your club don’t take charge still let the ASSMAN handle it because he is actually better at getting your entire squad match fit than you (it is one thing he actually does right). Instead to increase morale sort out friendlies yourself against the easiest opposition you can find. Bagging 10+ goals at home to Atherton LR Reserves for instance isn’t too difficult and 6 similar games should have morale up there with the best. I always let my ASSMAN run the ressies with the same tactics however, make sure he does not renew contracts. The same with the youth team under the control of the coach who works best with youngsters.

More than one physio?

GET RID OF THE DEADWOOD. Physiotherapy rating is all that matters and again his reputation is irrelevant.

Scouts?

Useful if you are playing with hidden attributes. Again though get rid of the deadwood. The vital stat is obviously “judging ability” followed by “judging potential”. If you have 5 scouts who all have excellent scouting abilities for England but nowhere else then lose four of them and replace them with scouts who can search the biggest Leagues in the World. “Germany”, “Spain”, “Italy”, “France”, “Holland”, “Brazil” and Argentina” is what I go for.

Coaches and training?

Easier than you might think. The number of times I see training schedules heavily worked on when its not necessary! I’m sure it may well make a slight difference somewhere and their contribution and discussion is appreciated but it does make me laugh as the default training is fine.

What isn’t fine is two things. Firstly, all coaches coaching as much as they can. “CLEAR” coaching then “auto assign” the coaches. Even that isn’t worked out to its best by the AI though. Try to get coaches doing as little as possible. When the contracts run out for “1st team” coaches and “youth coaches” offer them a “coaches” contract or get rid! I like my coaches to be able to coach both. Get rid of the deadwood! i.e. if you have TWO GK coaches lose one by offering the “mutual termination”. Below is a guide to what makes a good coach: -

Strength - fitness >= 18

Aerobic - fitness >= 18

Goalkeeping - Coaching Gks >= 18

Tactics - Tactical >= 18

Defending - defending = 18 & tactical >= 18 or

defending = 19 & tactical >= 14 or

defending = 20 & tactical >= 10

Ball Control- Technique = 18 & Mental >= 18 or

Technique = 19 & Mental >= 14 or

Technique = 20 & Mental >= 10

Attacking - Attacking = 18 & tactical >= 18 or

Attacking = 19 & tactical >= 14 or

Attacking = 20 & tactical >= 10

Shooting - Technique = 18 & Attacking >= 18 or

Technique = 19 & Attacking >= 14 or

Technique = 20 & Attacking >= 10

Set Pieces - Technique = 17 & Mental + Attacking >= 39 or

Technique = 18 & Mental + Attacking >= 36 or (f.ex. Mental=(20,18) + Attacking=(16,19))

Technique = 19 & Mental + Attacking >= 33 or

Technique = 20 & Mental + Attacking >= 30

For categories with two stats primary stat weighes 4 time more than the secondary stat

For set pieces primary stat weighes 3 time more than secondary and tertiary stats

The squad and tactics!!!

Now that I have a decent ASSMAN I have a very good starting point for knowing how good my squad is.

Chances are that a guy with ***** is better than a guy with ***. But what else is important? One attribute again overlooked by so-called experts is “REPUTATION”! There is a reason for instance why Cristiano Ronaldo has “World Class” rep,… Its because he’s bloody good! A blindingly obvious statement really when you think about it. However, a ******* player with World Class reputation will only be the man 99% of the time. Why? Well he can have his 7 stars and his WC rep but if he is a centre back with jumping of 4 FORGET IT! It’s not so much as looking for brilliant stats it’s a case of looking out for POOR vital stats. Again clear the deadwood. If your two best players are left backs sell one to Manchester City.

Now for the bees knees…TACTICS!!! There are some good tactics out there but if you look at some of them they are so micromanaged with 12 stats needing to be 18+ for each position it’s annoying. As for the “I won everything with my tactic (followed by finding out they were Chelsea or Arsenal) situation”, don’t get me started!!!

Basically you can play whatever tactic you like, just use common sense. THE OPPOSITION ARE IRRELEVANT. I have never changed my tactic before a game because of who I am playing because it isn’t necessary. Usually I play 442 although in the past I have used 4132, 353 and 433. This year however, I am being much more adventurous and going 4-2-4.

I’m simply using the standard 4-2-4 formation with the following change. I unclick “man-marking” for centre backs. The only time in real life management I use man-marking is on set piece defending and I take the same attitude with the game.

So with the standard tactic set up and ready to go what else can I do to ensure WORLD DOMINATION???

SET UP YOUR SET PIECES!!!

I cannot emphasise enough how VITAL this is. 33% of all goals in football are as a direct result of set pieces!!!

In my formation this is what I do.

For attacking corners my best centre back (jumping, heading, strength, bravery and OFF THE BALL) challenges the keeper. The other centre back attacks the near post and either the left or right back attacks the far post. EVERYONE ELSE STAYS BACK! No point in clogging up the box and I intend not to be caught on the break. Delivery is always into the 6 yard box by the best available corner taker who is NEVER one of the three supposed to be in the box.

For defending corners what the hell is the point in having two full backs on the posts? THEY ARE DEFENDERS!!! Instead put your wingers on the posts, centre back marking tall men and EVERYONE ELSE (bar the GK) MAN-MARKING!

For free-kicks (Att & Def) I leave everything as is and deliver to the centre. Again make sure you have your best free-kick taker taking the kicks but not one of the three that go up for corners. Why not? Because cleverly the game will set you up as an attacking corner when you have a free kick wide near the box just as you would do in real life.

Same with throw-ins that are delivered quick by the wingers on the same side the default setting are fine. If a full back or winger on that side has good long throws then change it to “long”.

BUYING AND SELLING PLAYERS!

I am happy buying the best starred players with as high rep as I can get. Generally that will be good enough to have a good side but if you want to be winning titles there are four players you MUST have!

The most important guy to look for is the guy who can deliver a quality CORNER! Break the bank for him! HE IS VITAL! HE IS VITAL!! HE IS VITAL!!! Make sure he is NOT a centre back and if he is a right back then it’s your left back who attacks the far post and vice-versa. Remember that he who takes set-pieces is obviously removed from the set-up. Something that noobies cannot seem to grasp when they complain tactic doesn’t work!!!

Next is your centre backs. They are going to score you goals from corners! Could be worth 20-30 goals if you manage to set it up spot on! They must have (jumping, heading, bravery, strength, off the ball). That list is in order so if you cannot find a centre back at the lower levels with all those stats then simply go for one with good jumping and heading.

Next is your free-kick taker. Got to be worth a good 10 goals per season! If he doesn’t score himself then he’ll place it perfectly for someone else to do the scoring. Obviously a good free-kick rating is needed. Again do not let him be a centre back and remember what to do if he is a full back.

Throw-in taker. Not as vital but if you can have a full back or winger who can launch a throw into the box then BUY HIM! Quite difficult to come across one of these though.

One added bonus is that quite often an excellent corner taker is also an excellent free-kick taker. BREAK THE BANK AND BUY THEM!!!

WATCH OUT!

We can all spot a quality player but why do some struggle and some win titles?

Two reasons: -

1 – Its not usually a case of what attributes are they good at it’s what are they bad at! Look out for centre backs who can’t jump or head, defenders who can’t tackle or who are slow, strikers with no composure, wingers who cannot dribble or cross etc.

2 – Sooo many times I see noobies saying how the game is rubbish because after 10 games they are 6th with Man U. But often its because at he start of the game you have set your experience to “automatic” or worse “Sunday League footballer”. Take over Forest Green at it might not be a problem but at a big club most of your stars with have “doesn’t think the manager’s experience will help the club” or something similar on their personal page. This means that for the first few games they WILL under perform. New guys who you sign will not have this. If you are having difficulty in choosing which of your **** central midfielders to play then check his personal page. One of them might not be bothered about your lack of experience.

NOW ONTO MY CAREER

As stated I am a Bolton fan so I always start here. Evans is gone, Neri is in and the deadwood has been got rid of. All scout were sacked and replaced by an English scout and Christian Karembeau who has knowledge of Spain and France (Remember that Neri is Italian so I have a decent knowledge of Italy already). Next I shoot off to the player search screen. After asking the assman about realistic players I sort by value then get him to scout the entire first page followed by the second page later on.

Having checked my squad I am disappointed to find that my best corner taker is wingback Matt Taylor. I don’t use wingbacks so he is useless. The next best has just 14 for his corner taking attribute. Free-kick wise again its 14 and I have no long throwers. Although I have a quality ***** centre back with continental rep in Gary Cahill, he and *** centre back Andy O’Brien only have 15 for jumping and 15 for heading. Sadly before the season starts I am unable to rectify these problems and so following the sale of Ricardo Garner to Man City for £7m I purchase ***** striker Ricardo Palacio for £9m!

One gripe I have always had with the game is that unrealistically too many players are happy at their clubs and its difficult to get bargains before the first transfer window closes.

As expected with my “Sunday League footballer” experience I get off to a slow start. Being 18th after 6 games with 1 win and a draw. Gradually though the season gets better and the goals are flying in at both ends with my 4-2-4. Striker Palacio is starting to find the net more than my other ***** striker Elmander and eventually Palacio becomes a ****** striker! Goals from corners are pretty decent and perhaps Palacio taking the corners (and therefore getting the assists) as well as scoring the goals is the reason for his improvement to ******.

By the time the January transfer window comes around my scouts and assistant have done a lot of scouting but the only quality players are way too expensive therefore if anyone is interested in my players at this stage I up their asking price to £20m and it scares them away. When the transfer window closes I reset their values because I know at the end of the season there will be a few bargains to be had.

We sat 14th (14th predicted by the media) when January 1st came along and it was then I took made the decision to bring in Matt Taylor. Now as you remember he is a wingback but also an accomplished ML. Now my formation uses an AML so I simply drag it back a notch to ML and put him into the side. Why? I am hoping his 16 ability for delivering corners will work out better than Placio’s 14. I know the formation is asymmetrical but it did the job. We finished 10th with centre back Cahill bagging 6 goals in the second half of the season. Palacio ended up top scorer with 19 goals and lots of clubs wanted my players. So the revolution begins…

Or does it?

You see one big problem I had was that Cahill was attracting interest, my only other centre backs were rated *** and I really wanted a top quality set-piece player for season two. Cahill went to City for £10 after his agent said he wanted to go. I went out and splashed the cash on AML (seeing as I didn’t really have one) Stewart Downing! Corners 18, free-kicks 17. He cost me nearly all my transfer budget a staggering £15m but would he be worth it and what about those centre backs?

I managed to draft in a couple of *** centre backs on loan from relegated clubs. Faye from Stoke and Zayette from Hull. Excellent jumping, heading and physical ability so even if they weren’t better than what I had already got at least they were now a serious threat on set-pieces. Always check relegated clubs for bargains! After Spurs bought Muamba for £7m I desparately need another MC to partner Nolan and noticed that my English scout had come across a 19 year old at Southampton (now league one) about 9 months ago. At the time he was rated CA *** PA ****. So I sent Neri to check on Schneidlin. He came back with the same rating however the asking price range had dropped from £2.3m to £900k so I took the risk. Well with our excellent training facilities and coaches he soon became a CA **** PA *****.

And now?

Four games in things didn’t look to good with 1 win and 3 losses however, the next 7 games gave us 6 wins and a draw (4-4 at Blackburn). We sit 4th in the Premiership and are by far the top scorers. Downing has not only got more than 1 assist per game but has over twice as many assists as the next best in the Premiership. Palacio has missed a few games due to injury but having spotted wonderkid Altidore going for just £4.7m with ratings of CA *** PA **** he is now covering and covering so well that now is a CA **** PA ***** compared to Elmander who is now a CA **** PA ****. I think Elmander’s rating have gone down a tad not because he’s crap but because the club’s stature has increased. However 19 year old Altidore will probably partner Palacio now. During the 1st window bids came in for Nolan (£12.75m Liverpool), Riga (£7m Tottenham) and Palacio (£24.75m Arsenal) however, they were all in instalments and when I re-negotiated at the same price the clubs pulled out leaving these 3 players unhappy. Thankfully it doesn’t seem to be having much of an effect at the moment.

UPGRADING

A big stadium is not the most important thing in FM, it’s training facilities. At the beginning of June ALWAYS ask for upgrades in this order: -

1 – Training facilities

2 – Youth facilities

3 – Stadium expansion

Hope all this helps. It’s worth reading and really simplifies the game. I'll try and uplod some screenshots later...

A very interesting read! Some good points made in their about set pieces.

Very good guide.

Great for new comers to the game

Brilliant thread!!!

hmm will try the set-piece u put there

Hi SMSL,

I have been lurking in the SI Community (Under a couple of different names) for years.

Fantastic post my friend. Best guide on here by several country miles. More-or-less EXACTLY how I play, albeit with my beloved Plymouth Argyle. Not quite Bolton, but we maybe one day, one can live in hope!

Regarding scouts... I find the "Tactical Knowledge" attribute gives a more enhanced incite into the oppositions tactics. I.E. identifying a more potent danger man, plus a more in depth look at how the opposition work the ball and the shape they play.

I have also had wonderful success with setting all players to; Forward Runs, Run With Ball, Long Shots, Try Through Balls and Cross Ball all to "Often".

I'm sure other manager's will find this useful. It’s nice to know other people play the game like me!

Happy New Year!

Alex

For attacking corners my best centre back (jumping' date=' heading, strength, bravery and OFF THE BALL) challenges the keeper. The other centre back attacks the near post and either the left or right back attacks the far post. EVERYONE ELSE STAYS BACK! No point in clogging up the box and I intend not to be caught on the break. Delivery is always into the 6 yard box by the best available corner taker who is NEVER one of the three supposed to be in the box.

For defending corners what the hell is the point in having two full backs on the posts? THEY ARE DEFENDERS!!! Instead put your wingers on the posts, centre back marking tall men and EVERYONE ELSE (bar the GK) MAN-MARKING!

For free-kicks (Att & Def) I leave everything as is and deliver to the centre. Again make sure you have your best free-kick taker taking the kicks but not one of the three that go up for corners. Why not? Because cleverly the game will set you up as an attacking corner when you have a free kick wide near the box just as you would do in real life.

Same with throw-ins that are delivered quick by the wingers on the same side the default setting are fine. If a full back or winger on that side has good long throws then change it to “long”.[/quote']

So - for defending corners - who do you leave up the pitch... or like it says - do you have "EVERYONE ELSE" on man marking - do you not find it hard to get out of your own half following a corner?

UPGRADING

A big stadium is not the most important thing in FM' date=' it’s training facilities. At the beginning of June ALWAYS ask for upgrades in this order: -

1 – Training facilities

2 – Youth facilities

3 – Stadium expansion[/quote']

Can you do this at the start of a brand new game??

Sorry to sound thick here - just trying to get this corner routine straight.

Who goes up...

CB with good heading - to challenge keeper.

CB other - attacks near post.

Now - if for example, my best corner taker is a winger - do BOTH full backs go up?

You mention that if the corner taker is a FB - then it's the other on who attacks the far post - thats fine. But what if it's a winger who is the corner taker - where should that other FB be?

Please advise! :-)

I'm sorry but while I agree with most of what your saying, Training is important as if you don't develop training for specific positions then players wont maximize their potential as they will waste CA on needless attributes like center backs on dribbling. Also I would say that while getting rid of deadwood is important if you are managing a lower league team with little finances then I wont hurry to get rid of my assman as it will cost too much and at the end of the day it is me who selects the team, takes the team talks and buys the players.

Edit: I would also say that while set peices are important you seem to be playing a version of the game where you just rely on set peices which is stupid, I havae managed to win leagues in FM scoring very few set peices and I would say it is your 4-2-4 formation that led to a poor first season as bolton as it is not a sensible tactic as you will give the oposition to much space and be absolutely spanked by top teams.

No Mike you get it. I leave no-one up the pitch. The rest ALL man-mark. Some teams will do this and so do I. Also if a winger is taking the corner just have one full back push up. The other should stay back.

The statement that training isn't important has not been made. What I said was that it is not THAT important because the standard settings will do. My record of winning all 7 trophies in one season with Bolton actually PROVES that does is not?

Also 4-2-4 in the game behaves exactly as it should so I don't see your arguement. In season 2 (14 games in) I sit THIRD having scored 4 goals more than the next best scorers and leaders Arsenal.

G-man11 - As for relying on set pieces? Well duh!!! What do you think the best managers do??? AT the moment I have 4 goals from corners level with Arsenal and Man U (so no exploit there), Wehaven't scored a direct free-kick yet but then again only 4 have been scored in the Premier so far (no exploit there) and we have 4 goals from IDFs, one behind Newcastle (so no exploit there)!

A total of EIGHT GOALS in 14 games from set pieces! The poor 1st season is down to poor players and not maximising set pieces. The players will obviously get better as we go on.

Yes we have conceeded 24 goals for a goal difference of +13 which is the 3rd best. Now if I playing 5-4-1 for instance I would imagine the goal diff off +13 would be the same but goals would have been probably 15 for and 2 against.

I prefer to play on the assumption that if you score 3 I'll score 4. There is no right way in footy just plenty of wrong ways.

Oh and latest result: -

Manchester United 3-4 Bolton Wanderers

Including tactics ' date='oh and some training;)

After asking the assman about realistic players I sort by value then get him to scout the entire first page followed by the second page later on. QUOTE']

How on earth do you do this? Do i have to select every player and get a scout report?

Yes Sparky, just hold Ctrl and click the arrow beside every players name then right click on a player to click on scout the 26 players. It'll take a good AssMan in the Premier about a week to scout them all. Obviously longer for a poor AssMan in the Conference North.

Yes Sparky' date=' just hold Ctrl and click the arrow beside every players name then right click on a player to click on scout the 26 players. It'll take a good AssMan in the Premier about a week to scout them all. Obviously longer for a poor AssMan in the Conference North. [/quote']

It's easier to hold shift instead. That way you only have to select two players and all players in between will be selected.

If you find out that you don't want to scout one of the players in the middle then simply hold ctrl and click his arrow.

It's easier to hold shift instead. That way you only have to select two players and all players in between will be selected.

If you find out that you don't want to scout one of the players in the middle then simply hold ctrl and click his arrow.

I have to say shakey - I didn't know that.

A fun read SMSL! Should be very useful to new and old players alike.

Excellent mate great work.....This should be sticky post

It's easier to hold shift instead. That way you only have to select two players and all players in between will be selected.

If you find out that you don't want to scout one of the players in the middle then simply hold ctrl and click his arrow.

also, ctrl+a selects all.

Great post, very interesting to use stock tactics witha few tweaks.

Heh I loved reading your guide, KUTGW!

Fantastic read thank you very much.

Nice post mate... I don't agree with everything 100%, but the bit about the coaching attributes is very useful

Cheers guys.

Please remember that this guide is not the be all and end all. Its meant to be the simplest way to get success at FM09 and it is reproduceable by others.

So how did season 2 go?

Well it ended better than expected hoever, it should have been more.

Firstly Downing got injured for two months reminding me to get a decent replacement should my main corner/free-kick taker be unavailable. Secondly and this is something I do not usually forget. The clever ones amongst you will have notice that my on-loan centre backs are both African and is back up Danny Shittu. I forgot all about the African Cup. I was also tempted to get rid of Gavin McCann whose contract was running out without having a suitable replacement. this meant that quite often the team was a lot weaker than it should have been (my fault).

Going into the last game believe it or not I was in 5th and I still had a great chance of getting that last Champions' League spot. Unfortunately our 3rd straight defeat put pay to that. Thankfully though we hung onto 7th and earned a UEFA Cup spot.

Now the likes of Barca are chasing Downing. Being vital to the cause though I up his asking price to £40m but sadly Barca and Chelsea are still interested. Shockingly Tottenham wanted a massive £0 for transfer listed DM Ponzio. With continental rep and ****** CA I couldn't resist and secured his services for the new season. This of course means I will be changing to the standard 4-3-3 utilising the DM. I also brought in a few Bosmans to avoid having a weak squad at anytime next season. The board have now given me £21m to spend and of course being in the UEFA Cup means better quality players are interested. With me going with only 1 striker next season should another £20m+ bid come in for Palacio I will have to let him go. I need a couple of strong DCs and at least 1 quality MC if I am to obtain the target of Champions League Qualification.

where are the screenshots?!?!

great post mate keep it going. here's me with 10-15 years experience and to say this has opened my eyes a little is an understatement.

also good to see you playing with bolton i normally play as sunderland but also have a colchester united game with me about to start in the prem so this guide will be extremely important.

SMSL - Have you got any advice for me, I have just been promoted with Wolves from the 1st division to the Premier League. What do you think I should do the start of the season. Stick with the same formation and sign better players? Change things around and go defensive and just try and dig out results. I'd like to hear your thoughts on how you would handle promotion?

Cheers

SMSL - Have you got any advice for me, I have just been promoted with Wolves from the 1st division to the Premier League. What do you think I should do the start of the season. Stick with the same formation and sign better players? Change things around and go defensive and just try and dig out results. I'd like to hear your thoughts on how you would handle promotion?

Cheers

if i were you mate don't go defensive this will just allow teams to come and have a go at you.

with an attacking approach to the game i have taken a poor sunderland side (season 2) from 17th to 7th with 8wins and two draws. if iwere you just play a high def line at home and high tempo with short passing(i.e 1-3) working a treat for me so far.

away try playing a bit more direct, but whatever why play defensive? at least you can say you gave it a go? best of luck mate keep us updated.

Obviously you have a reasonable tactic so stick to it. Play the game as above and you should improve.

One word of warning though: -

Sign players who speak ENGLISH

Something I had forgotten to mention. Even with World class players if too many don't speak the lingo you'll fail miserabley. Oh and don't rely on the game filter for languaged because it doesn't work properly.

I wouldn't really agree with the above... Usually if I manage a team and it has a lot of different languages I'll try to find the one or two most of them speak, which will usually be Spanish/Portuguese/French/Italian. Then I'll hire one or two coaches speaking that language. After a wee while you ass manager will stop moaning about communication difficulties during matches

But that might just be my way...

I wouldn't really agree with the above... Usually if I manage a team and it has a lot of different languages I'll try to find the one or two most of them speak, which will usually be Spanish/Portuguese/French/Italian. Then I'll hire one or two coaches speaking that language. After a wee while you ass manager will stop moaning about communication difficulties during matches

But that might just be my way...

I agree with you there dud. It also takes a while for any team to gel and no matter if they speak english or not it doesn't always happen. I've had plenty of english speaking players but have found it hard to communicate with others. Would say it also depends on players personalities.

what tactic are using now, do you have a link?

cheers.

Cahill went to City for £10

Hell of a bargain for City

Nice guide

Easier than you might think. The number of times I see training schedules heavily worked on when its not necessary! I’m sure it may well make a slight difference somewhere and their contribution and discussion is appreciated but it does make me laugh as the default training is fine.

I've put all my players on the default training and it really does work!!! players are playing like i feel they should. I think i will stick to it from now on.

Can someone tell me how the OP managed to get his 353 formation to work?