Question, from a relapsed FM fan...

[WebbWebb]

I'm 7 years into a Kidderminster Harriers run from the bottom division (Vanarama South), trying to hit the Premier League (eventually). I'm currently in League Two and every year, as soon as January comes in, I hit a slump. Every year without fail. This year though is especially bad. Before January hit, I was on an unbeaten run of 12 games undefeated, scoring 4 and 5 goals a game, smashing teams and dominating pretty much everyone. January comes around and everyone all of a sudden starts missing sitters and we can't buy a win. On top of that, opposing teams have suddenly started scoring wonder goals against me and getting pens all the time now. It's actually quite ridiculous. I've read stuff about people needing a rest and being overworked, but I rotate my squad where possible and no-one is an injury risk. I've also read about opposition teams getting used to a certain tactic or pitches getting worse, but that's the thing, I'm still smashing opposing teams, it's just my team just can't score anymore. I lost back-to-back games against 23rd and 24th, when I'd literally smashed them just a few months ago, ha! What's worse is if I reload a save and instant play it, I smash teams again. What's up with that? My question then, is it just me or is the game actually stacked against the player this year on purpose and less like a sim? Like, it purposely tries to screw the player over. "You're doing well, here, try and manage against the impossible!" It did the same last season by throwing a load of long-term injuries at my best players as well as not being able to buy a win (I chalked that down to not having my top players), which meant I missed out on promotion. Has it been like this for a while or is this a new thing with 21? Is it like this in every league? Or just the lower leagues? It honestly makes me want to stop playing all together, as it's just so goddamn predictable. Thankfully my lead at the top is healthy and I'll weather this largely predictable storm, but that doesn't stop it being any less ridiculous. It just highlights how bad the issue really is. Imagine how annoyed I'd be if I wasn't going to get promoted, ha (like it happened last year when I was top of the league).

Also, I've not played a Football Manager in like 15 years (whenver the last time it was on Xbox, ha), but has SI removed player devolpment completely now? I've got a 22 year old centre-back who's played 40 games a season for 5 years and he's gone up 1 attribute point 

[HUNT3R]

2 hours ago, WebbWebb said:

I've also read about opposition teams getting used to a certain tactic

What they do is make adjustments. At the start of the season, all teams asses the other teams in the league. In your case, being newly promoted, you're going to be seen as an easy team to beat. Teams will be quite aggressive/attacking against you. That will likely leave more gaps in transition for you to exploit etc. At the halfway point of the season, there's another re-assessment (it happens during the season too, but on a much smaller scale) where teams will now take you more seriously as you're doing very well, so you get treated like one of the better teams. Teams, in general, won't be as attacking/aggressive anymore. The weaker teams could even be defensive against you. That leaves less space in the final third and that could affect your performance depending on your tactical setup, also keeping in mind that you're punching well above your weight and with (generally speaking) weaker players than the teams around you. That's one example, but the take away here is that teams do make adjustments based on your rep, form and league position.

 

3 hours ago, WebbWebb said:

What's worse is if I reload a save and instant play it, I smash teams again. What's up with that?

I'm not very familiar with IR, but I think that puts your assistant in charge of the match.

3 hours ago, WebbWebb said:

My question then, is it just me or is the game actually stacked against the player this year on purpose and less like a sim? Like, it purposely tries to screw the player over. "You're doing well, here, try and manage against the impossible!" It did the same last season by throwing a load of long-term injuries at my best players as well as not being able to buy a win (I chalked that down to not having my top players), which meant I missed out on promotion.

There aren't artificial mechanics, like the ones you mention, in the game.

3 hours ago, WebbWebb said:

Also, I've not played a Football Manager in like 15 years (whenver the last time it was on Xbox, ha), but has SI removed player devolpment completely now? I've got a 22 year old centre-back who's played 40 games a season for 5 years and he's gone up 1 attribute point 

Player development still exists. You defender may need to play at a higher level to improve or maybe he's hit his peak.