Football Manager 2024 Official Feedback Thread

[NineCloudNine]

1 hour ago, -Jef- said:

And how quick would someone comment "Its your tactics mate"

 

That’s true too . Too few are willing to accept that part of the joy of football is how totally random it can sometimes be !

[NineCloudNine]

14 minutes ago, Nick_CB said:

This happens to me quite often
Now for example I lost 3 consecutive matches with the AI having 80-90% success in offensive actions.
And my team with wasted opportunities and an average of 3 balls on the post

It’s your tactics mate 

[Mike_G25]

Want to add my overall thoughts on FM24. Long time FM player and whilst I've played nearly 300 hours in this years game which pretty much on the whole I've enjoyed, there's been some instances where I think the game has just felt broken which ruined/nearly ruined my saves. 

Positives - overall, I've still enjoyed the game this year, my main save was playing the Glory Hunter challenge which I managed to complete. The game had it's usual hook whilst I played through the challenge and I liked the new positional play elements, it made me re-think my possession based tactic I created on FM23 and helped me evolve it to the next step. In terms of usual FM gameplay, this version has been the same, enjoyable FM from previous years. That being said, some issues have frustrated me and led to me turning away from the game for the first time. 

Negatives - The 'lack of goalkeeper depth' bug really hit me hard and I was so close to having to abandon my Glory Hunter challenge early on because of it. It led to squad unhappiness and I had to sell key players just to try and keep squad dynamics as close to positive as possible but it still proved to be a struggle. I did in the end turn off until the patch was released but to have to do that so early into the release of the new game was bitterly disappointing and took the shine off the start of the game for me.

The other big drawback for me is player power and wages, particularly for smaller clubs working their way up. Now I get realism where players may kick off and ask for new contracts after getting promoted, it's been in FM for years and has always been something I've managed to resolve pretty much most times. On FM24 however, it feels completely unrealistic and OP. For example, I had a save as Wigan focusing on youth players and developing a financially stable side (sign young, develop, sell, repeat) after I completed Glory Hunter, just something fun to take me up to FM25. I managed to get promoted to the Championship through the play offs in the 24/25 season.

After promotion, my wage budget increased from £120k p/w to £150k p/w. I released some of the deadwood which gave me around £50k p/w free in wage but left me with only around 14 players in the squad so I needed a bit of a rebuild. Then, I had several players come to me in the space of about 2-3 weeks all asking for new deals and pay rises. For example, Sam Tickle was on £3k p/w but was then asking for £20k p/w, Steven Sessegnon (who was given a new deal 6 months earlier) was on £7.5k p/w and wanted £35k p/w, Thelo Aasgaard was on £3.8k p/w and wanted £16k p/w, Sinclair Armstrong was on £5k p/w and wanted £17k p/w. Now if I'd given in to these pay rises for some of my key players, I'd have no money left to get anyone else in. As I ultimately didn't want to go overboard on the wage budget, I had to then look to sell these key players (again, just after promotion, it left a sour taste in my mouth, why should I be forced to sell a big part of my team straight after being promoted, how often does that happen?). Then, guess what, it was difficult to sell the players and get interest early on which led to the rest of the team getting upset at me not offering new contracts to the other players which, of course, caused a squad revolt . 

I've had to bin the save. 

I've been looking at other threads where this has happened to other players and seen the feedback to say it's normal, you need to sell etc. but on this scale? I think it's too much and ruined the save for me. I've seen other comments about how the players compare their wages/ability vs the rest of the division which is why they ask for such huge increases but with the smallest wage budget in the division against huge, multi-million budgets, it's not realistic and needs to be addressed. 

I'll always love FM and I'm looking forward to hearing about FM25 but I sincerely hope for a better overall experience. I know a lot of people have had frustrations this year, I've been lucky to not be affected too bad but when the issues hit, they hit me hard. 

[adrianhbk]

Look at those stats!!! What are the odds? In 14 years of playing this game this never occurred to me.

 

[sirgiorgio]

One aesthetic thing I don't like this year is when you start the game and get the same contract as the manager who's just been sacked. 

I find it very unrealistic: after all, this'll be your first job as a manager and there's no way you can ask as much as someone who probably has years if not decades of experience. 

[iAlwaysWin]

to many disallowed goals

shots always hitting the woodwork

to many missed penalties

difficulty selling players

lack of direct free kick goals

 

I could seriously go on and on but you get the message, the game is a complete let down and anybody with any FM experience would notice the multitude of problems with this game, but hey on to FM25 who cares.

 

[Johnleegriffin]

On 03/05/2024 at 16:59, chris72 said:

does anyone else find it annoying when u see a player from another club leave that club when u know in real life that wouldn't happen so soon

 

like for e.g. kevin de bruyne leaving city I feel like it ruins the game

 

Also in this game they should have let mbappe go to real madrid it never happens

 

hope next years game is much better 

The last update was annoying as well, nothing hardly was changed. 

Bring on 25

[aiston]

Played first game of a new season and two players complain about game time....after they both took part in those games anyway

 

The system is a joke and zero difference to FM 2022.

[El Payaso]

7 minutes ago, aiston said:

Played first game of a new season and two players complain about game time....after they both took part in those games anyway

 

The system is a joke and zero difference to FM 2022.

That's quite odd. I have played probably about five seasons in total with many teams and have had zero difficulties with player interactions or happiness. 

[fc.cadoni]

Player interactions and happiness are easy to manage. Only when you arrive to a new club is like storm in some cases, but the best remedy is winning matches. Then they forget about issues.

[whatsupdoc]

Player interactions are ok now. 

You still get too many players unreasonably angry that a teammate isn't getting what they want, but overall I find it manageable. 

It's trickiest during the transfer window but that's fine. 

Also knowing the "right" response helps. E.g. for players wanting a new contract the only reply I have success with is "club can't afford it".

[Johnleegriffin]

Players moaning about selling VVD and never ever happy ever ever again even when I sign Silva. 

 

[Johnleegriffin]

Just now, Johnleegriffin said:

Players moaning about selling VVD and never ever happy ever ever again even when I sign Silva. 

 

At least I remember to reduce playing time to not star player then other players don’t moan.  

[aiston]

1 hour ago, fc.cadoni said:

Player interactions and happiness are easy to manage. Only when you arrive to a new club is like storm in some cases, but the best remedy is winning matches. Then they forget about issues.

A defender wants to leave after I didn't improve the forwards, despite signing; Olise, Tel & Pino...to join Isak, Mokokou, Konate

When do the easy interactions kick in.

Getting issues 1 game into a season for play time is ******** as well

 

[XV20]

how big was your squad all through those years/seasons? @El Payaso

 

Edited May 10 by XV20

[fc.cadoni]

2 hours ago, aiston said:

A defender wants to leave after I didn't improve the forwards, despite signing; Olise, Tel & Pino...to join Isak, Mokokou, Konate

When do the easy interactions kick in.

Getting issues 1 game into a season for play time is ******** as well

 

I am completely ignore such things. Few games in the bench, especially if I have equal quality in his position and some space-bar / winning games will be fixed itself. 

[fc.cadoni]

2 hours ago, Johnleegriffin said:

Players moaning about selling VVD and never ever happy ever ever again even when I sign Silva. 

 

 

2 hours ago, Johnleegriffin said:

At least I remember to reduce playing time to not star player then other players don’t moan.  

There is a pattern of "clicks" and choosing answers and what to ignore. Takes time to learn the pattern. 

[NineCloudNine]

8 hours ago, aiston said:

A defender wants to leave after I didn't improve the forwards, despite signing; Olise, Tel & Pino...to join Isak, Mokokou, Konate

 

Don’t promise to improve the forwards then . Those are not improvements on the players you had.

Edited May 11 by NineCloudNine

[Svenc]

On 07/05/2024 at 00:04, rodau said:

Just started a new game. AI had 2 shots and 2 goals. I had 19 and one goal. Great game!
BTW: game cheats better than me Kappa

Plotspoiler: If you can't do that to an AI ever, you're a really lousy FM player and the defensive/counter AI tactics coded already have an edge over yours.  

(More plotspoiler: Only works if AI is actually applying attacking tactics tho, visibly. Most hilarious of which ca. FM 2016, going gung-ho as early as 5 minutes into the match if they go behind 0-1 early. And having ZERO cover after own attacking setpieces too.

Top of the league despite conceding the most shots and having the least shots of any of the top teams. Good times. I mean, take a look around: Almost anyone with experience in this series can win some. That's not the challenge. Up your game and git gud.)

 

Edited May 12 by Svenc

[Hzano123]

On 11/05/2024 at 02:16, fc.cadoni said:

Player interactions and happiness are easy to manage. Only when you arrive to a new club is like storm in some cases, but the best remedy is winning matches. Then they forget about issues.

Blud I need your guide for interactions made. Just like for shout only encourage and praise, the other are just barely functional.

 

I need to know what's the meta options to choose for player interactions 

[Itego]

Mennn I need a guide on direct free kicks my players ain't scoring and like for five years and its not just me, even the AI like in an entire season only one direct freekick goal what the hell is that

[NineCloudNine]

1 hour ago, Itego said:

Mennn I need a guide on direct free kicks my players ain't scoring and like for five years and its not just me, even the AI like in an entire season only one direct freekick goal what the hell is that

It's not weird - goals direct from free kicks are very rare. For example, there have only been 9 in the EPL this season, out of 1,126 goals, shared between only 6 teams (Man City have 3 and Phil Foden is the only player to have scored more than 1). It's been in decline for years. This is an interesting read: https://www.premierleague.com/news/4001463

[endtime]

It appears that the game no longer displays an inbox message when another team offers a contract to one of my players, is this something that got broken by the latest "patch"?

[marioNOW]

On 06/05/2024 at 18:49, marioNOW said:

Be utterly disappointed that there is seemingly no logic on what agreed playing time will be when you "sign" the player from another club when you create a club. Yet the salary comes with the original amount????

Completely ruins the immersion and no I will not buy the editor to modify the status of offered contract or remove unhappiness.

Another function that is not working.

Or if there is a way of checking during the player picking (not the draft, squad assign screen) on what will be the agreed playing time, please let me know. There is a column that shows the current aggreed playing time e.g. Backup for Karius, but he was at Star player when my save starts at the fictional club. I imagine the broken reputation system has to do something with it, but again why then Omorodion expects to be a star player when in every aspect Lucca is rated higher then him, or my 3rd choice LB over Alioski and a current national team player?

For anybody who is intererested - or will search for the same issue:

When creating a club in Football Manager, if you chose to "add a player" to your team when creating the roster, every added player will be immediately considered a "Star player" agreed playtime. So don't fill/add the backup players to your roster, only the real stars you know will play every game.

Edited May 12 by marioNOW

[SPE3D]

On 08/05/2024 at 21:36, Mike_G25 said:

Want to add my overall thoughts on FM24. Long time FM player and whilst I've played nearly 300 hours in this years game which pretty much on the whole I've enjoyed, there's been some instances where I think the game has just felt broken which ruined/nearly ruined my saves. 

Positives - overall, I've still enjoyed the game this year, my main save was playing the Glory Hunter challenge which I managed to complete. The game had it's usual hook whilst I played through the challenge and I liked the new positional play elements, it made me re-think my possession based tactic I created on FM23 and helped me evolve it to the next step. In terms of usual FM gameplay, this version has been the same, enjoyable FM from previous years. That being said, some issues have frustrated me and led to me turning away from the game for the first time. 

Negatives - The 'lack of goalkeeper depth' bug really hit me hard and I was so close to having to abandon my Glory Hunter challenge early on because of it. It led to squad unhappiness and I had to sell key players just to try and keep squad dynamics as close to positive as possible but it still proved to be a struggle. I did in the end turn off until the patch was released but to have to do that so early into the release of the new game was bitterly disappointing and took the shine off the start of the game for me.

The other big drawback for me is player power and wages, particularly for smaller clubs working their way up. Now I get realism where players may kick off and ask for new contracts after getting promoted, it's been in FM for years and has always been something I've managed to resolve pretty much most times. On FM24 however, it feels completely unrealistic and OP. For example, I had a save as Wigan focusing on youth players and developing a financially stable side (sign young, develop, sell, repeat) after I completed Glory Hunter, just something fun to take me up to FM25. I managed to get promoted to the Championship through the play offs in the 24/25 season.

After promotion, my wage budget increased from £120k p/w to £150k p/w. I released some of the deadwood which gave me around £50k p/w free in wage but left me with only around 14 players in the squad so I needed a bit of a rebuild. Then, I had several players come to me in the space of about 2-3 weeks all asking for new deals and pay rises. For example, Sam Tickle was on £3k p/w but was then asking for £20k p/w, Steven Sessegnon (who was given a new deal 6 months earlier) was on £7.5k p/w and wanted £35k p/w, Thelo Aasgaard was on £3.8k p/w and wanted £16k p/w, Sinclair Armstrong was on £5k p/w and wanted £17k p/w. Now if I'd given in to these pay rises for some of my key players, I'd have no money left to get anyone else in. As I ultimately didn't want to go overboard on the wage budget, I had to then look to sell these key players (again, just after promotion, it left a sour taste in my mouth, why should I be forced to sell a big part of my team straight after being promoted, how often does that happen?). Then, guess what, it was difficult to sell the players and get interest early on which led to the rest of the team getting upset at me not offering new contracts to the other players which, of course, caused a squad revolt . 

I've had to bin the save. 

I've been looking at other threads where this has happened to other players and seen the feedback to say it's normal, you need to sell etc. but on this scale? I think it's too much and ruined the save for me. I've seen other comments about how the players compare their wages/ability vs the rest of the division which is why they ask for such huge increases but with the smallest wage budget in the division against huge, multi-million budgets, it's not realistic and needs to be addressed. 

I'll always love FM and I'm looking forward to hearing about FM25 but I sincerely hope for a better overall experience. I know a lot of people have had frustrations this year, I've been lucky to not be affected too bad but when the issues hit, they hit me hard. 

And what part of this is unrealistic?  

[janrzm]

I think it's widely accepted now the you can literally find a real life result or statistic and make a case to mitigate any perceived AI anomaly in this game.  The PSG/Dortmund Semi Final legs were certainly a classic example. I tend to look at this slightly differently though and where I do think there's potentially some anomaly isn't in peoples perceived AI injustices it's in the frequency that we see them vs real life. Now this statement is purely anecdotal on my part, I don't sit here and record the frequency of my perceived "anomalies" because I'm generally spending my playing time bug reporting, making feature requests and trying to enjoy a bit of escapism. But, it is an impression I generally take away at the end of each game cycle. 

[Svenc]

8 hours ago, janrzm said:

I think it's widely accepted now the you can literally find a real life result or statistic and make a case to mitigate any perceived AI anomaly in this game.  The PSG/Dortmund Semi Final legs were certainly a classic example. I tend to look at this slightly differently though and where I do think there's potentially some anomaly isn't in peoples perceived AI injustices it's in the frequency that we see them vs real life. Now this statement is purely anecdotal on my part, I don't sit here and record the frequency of my perceived "anomalies" because I'm generally spending my playing time bug reporting, making feature requests and trying to enjoy a bit of escapism. But, it is an impression I generally take away at the end of each game cycle. 

A combination of things, mostly:

- Reporting bias: You're more likely to report frustrations rather than joy. Or in other words: You winning the EPL with Luton first season is a reason of joy (and not a possible game flaw). But you conceding off few shots is immediately foul at play.

- Match engine not being actual football, but an approximization. 

- AI match management trying to replicate actual managers, but also not being the "real thing". On older releases, even top teams would often "park the bus" from kick-off, leading to more statistically one-sided matches all by itself -- thus increasing the number of matches where a team eventually scores from few shots all by itself. You can't avoid that entirelly. Every shot, however poor, is a chance at a goal. Probabilities and all. Even on releases where it was super easy to completely dominate the pitch and possession, you're going to concede at some point. Opposition may be awarded a few set pieces still every other match -- and by match day 7, 8, 9, it would happen: goal.

- More importantly though: Actual managers eventually adapting -- and not letting 11 out of 11 players bomb forward 24/7 whilst belting continue to get to the end results ASAP.


My point still stands: Anybody of this who cannot do this to the AI ever is a bad player. Anybody who sees these perceived anomalies more in own results than in AI managed top teams, is a bad player (or in the best of cases triggering a marking bug the AI doesn't). The notion that the AI were cheating needs to be challenged at any point. Because if it were to improve to challenge the better players , the "cheating claims" would be all over the place. And the "Anomalies" happening even moreso.

Imagine AI managers being able to "read" where the space to exploit is in the match play, visibly, same as a better player can. And there's always gonna be space for as long as it's not possible to cover every inch of the pitch at all times (which it isn't in-game also). In theory, an AI aware of the space inside the ME would be possible, as SI could code the AI to "read" the positional heatmaps in a match analysis. That'd be good for the better players. But would make everybody claiming to be cheated quit the game and never come back as a paying customer. So a no-go for SI. Good for some. Bad for others.
 

Edited May 13 by Svenc

[Viking]

Why are MLS-clubs randomly releasing recently signed players at the start of the game? 

[Cloud9]

2 hours ago, Viking said:

Why are MLS-clubs randomly releasing recently signed players at the start of the game? 

Noticed this too, many under contract players IRL from the MLS are free agents at the start of the game. Thought it was something to do with MLS weird registration rules at first (ie. available to sign from the clubs on a free) but they are literally w/o a club at the start of a save.

 

[Cloud9]

11 hours ago, Svenc said:

The notion that the AI were cheating needs to be challenged at any point.

One of the classic FM myths, often perpetrated by the majority of FM YouTubers or people on Reddit. SI Forums remain one of the best places for people to learn how to actually play the game.

Edited May 13 by Cloud9

[Cloud9]

On 12/05/2024 at 04:30, Itego said:

Mennn I need a guide on direct free kicks my players ain't scoring and like for five years and its not just me, even the AI like in an entire season only one direct freekick goal what the hell is that

If you're struggling with free kicks, you can assign a competent member of staff to set up your set pieces for you. I prefer this since they're quite decent at it and you avoid running into exploitation territory. One a season is actually over performing what we expect to see from top flight clubs IRL.

Here's a qoute from Opta on why you're seeing less direct free kicks: 

• "As things stand, there have been no more than 16 direct free-kick goals in any of the top five leagues this term. We could, for the first time such records began, see final tallies of under 20 in the Premier League, LaLiga, the Bundesliga, Serie A and Ligue 1. One of the beautiful game’s most majestic breeds of goal is endangered."

The full article including some nice data analysis/graphics: https://theanalyst.com/2023/04/free-kicks-why-are-teams-not-shooting-as-much/

Edited May 13 by Cloud9

[Cloud9]

On 09/05/2024 at 14:22, iAlwaysWin said:

to many disallowed goals

shots always hitting the woodwork

to many missed penalties

difficulty selling players

lack of direct free kick goals

 

I could seriously go on and on but you get the message, the game is a complete let down and anybody with any FM experience would notice the multitude of problems with this game, but hey on to FM25 who cares.

 

The ME is a reflection of what's going on behind the scenes. "Frustrating" elements like a shot hitting the woodwork is just the ME telling you that you missed. 

[Cloud9]

On 09/05/2024 at 06:00, sirgiorgio said:

One aesthetic thing I don't like this year is when you start the game and get the same contract as the manager who's just been sacked. 

I find it very unrealistic: after all, this'll be your first job as a manager and there's no way you can ask as much as someone who probably has years if not decades of experience. 

You can start with 0 coaching badges/experience to make the feel of a new manager stepping into a post more realistic. The players will be against you from the start!

[XaW]

11 hours ago, Svenc said:

The notion that the AI were cheating needs to be challenged at any point.

If the game is cheating, then I often feel I'm getting the benefit. I mean, I just had this game now.

Did I deserve this 8-1 win over QPR? I would say we were good for a win, but not by 8 with a sub 2 xG. Some times you get lucky, some times you get unlucky, just roll with it. If you are unlucky almost every match, then I'd challenge if it's even got anything to do with luck at all!

[Cloud9]

17 minutes ago, XaW said:

If the game is cheating, then I often feel I'm getting the benefit. I mean, I just had this game now.

Did I deserve this 8-1 win over QPR? I would say we were good for a win, but not by 8 with a sub 2 xG. Some times you get lucky, some times you get unlucky, just roll with it. If you are unlucky almost every match, then I'd challenge if it's even got anything to do with luck at all!

XG is oftentimes a very poor indictor of who should have won the match. The way it's calculated will always favor the time who plays possession football (small chances adding up to a high number). Just listen to the pundits backtracking every year trying to explain how Madrid won on the counter attack again in the Champions League despite the XG 

Even reputable sources like the Athletic perpetrate this misinformation on XG being a definitive answer to who should actually win matches. After Madrid beat Liverpool in the Champions League final they published this article: "Only in an alternate reality should Real Madrid be Champions League winners."

Spoiler

Source: https://theathletic.com/3339033/2022/05/29/real-madrd-champions-league-xg/

XG also doesn't take into account player error or skill, ie. a striker who over performs his XG consistently is a very strong finisher. A goalkeeper who outperforms his XgA is an excellent shot stopper. This graphic, also from the Athletic, uses XG to demonstrate how Son has been one of the most clinical scorers in Europe over recent years:

IMO it's a strong statistic for distinguishing the quality of individual players and a poor statistic for indicating match outcome. 

Edited May 13 by Cloud9

[XaW]

1 minute ago, Cloud9 said:

XG is oftentimes a very poor indictor of who should have won the match. The way it's calculated will always favor the time who plays possession football (small chances adding up to a high number). Just listen to the pundits backtracking every year trying to explain how Madrid won on the counter attack again in the Champions League despite the XG 

Even credible sources like the Athletic perpetrate this misinformation on XG being a definitive answer to who should actually win matches. After Madrid beat Liverpool in the Champions League final they published an article: "Only in an alternate reality should Real Madrid be Champions League winners."

  Hide contents

Source: https://theathletic.com/3339033/2022/05/29/real-madrd-champions-league-xg/

XG also doesn't take into account player error or skill. IE. a striker who over performs his XG consistently is a very strong finisher. A goalkeeper who outperforms his XgA is an excellent shot stopper. This graphic, also from the Athletic, uses XG to demonstrate how Son has been one of the most clinical scorers in Europe over recent years:

IMO it's a strong statistic for distinguishing the quality of individual players and a poor statistic for indicating match outcome. 

I agree with you, at least to a certain degree. I think xG can be a valuable identifier of which side created the most or best chances in a game. Which in itself often is a factor in who "dominated" the match. But as with everything else, it needs to be viewed in a big picture, and not in isolation.

[Cloud9]

57 minutes ago, XaW said:

I agree with you, at least to a certain degree. I think xG can be a valuable identifier of which side created the most or best chances in a game. Which in itself often is a factor in who "dominated" the match. But as with everything else, it needs to be viewed in a big picture, and not in isolation.

I don't mind it for games where both sides look to play progressive styles in terms of seeing who created the best chances, but I think it's a metric that falters in the face of different approaches to a match (particularly so if a side is set up to play out of possession). 

Edited May 13 by Cloud9

[wazzaflow10]

On 12/05/2024 at 08:43, NineCloudNine said:

It's not weird - goals direct from free kicks are very rare. For example, there have only been 9 in the EPL this season, out of 1,126 goals, shared between only 6 teams (Man City have 3 and Phil Foden is the only player to have scored more than 1). It's been in decline for years. This is an interesting read: https://www.premierleague.com/news/4001463

Interesting link.

Quote

There have been 264 attempts directly from free-kicks across 2023/24, with those strikes coming with a cumulative Expected Goals (xG) of only 16 – a measly 0.06 per shot.

Not surprising - suggests that either the quality isn't there or the xG is too high and might come down over time to match reality.

However 0 is a very large gap to 9 in the context of simulating multiple seasons. 0 should be possible but it should be an exception not a norm. I'd love to see the distribution of goals scored from DFK from independent saves. If it's heavily weighted towards zero there's a problem. Its not a huge problem given the total number of goals isn't far off but it does ruin a bit of the immersion in game knowing a dfk has 0% chance of going in.

[whatsupdoc]

On 12/05/2024 at 22:43, NineCloudNine said:

It's not weird - goals direct from free kicks are very rare. For example, there have only been 9 in the EPL this season, out of 1,126 goals, shared between only 6 teams (Man City have 3 and Phil Foden is the only player to have scored more than 1). It's been in decline for years. This is an interesting read: https://www.premierleague.com/news/4001463

These kind of stats have an impact at the top level too. Managers see the stats and instruct and train players to cross/pass more and shoot directly a bit less. 

Which is to say it might not be a purely quality issue as much as a stat driven play issue. 

[Polando]

Has Daveincid's development of newgens and talents been improved with the May update of Increase Realism?

[Svenc]

12 hours ago, XaW said:

I agree with you, at least to a certain degree. I think xG can be a valuable identifier of which side created the most or best chances in a game. Which in itself often is a factor in who "dominated" the match. But as with everything else, it needs to be viewed in a big picture, and not in isolation.

The best use is in the longer term. E.g. stats such as xG difference also (average quality of shots - average quality of shots conceded). Classic Statsbomb article from back then. https://statsbomb.com/articles/soccer/can-borussia-dortmund-win-the-bundesliga/

At such differences, it was pretty safe to say for them that Bayern were still the dominant force.  Also, teams outperforming their Expected Points by huge margins (like 12-14 points plus), there's also usually something more at play, e.g. a bit of luck. Union Berlin in the Bundesliga had an Expected Points tally last season of ~40 points. They qualified for the CL (which didn't go so well) and for a long time had a chance of being champs. This season, they have exactly the same ~40 xPoints, but may be relegated. Five Thirty Eight have stopped doing rankings, but they listed them as an average Bundesliga side also in their SPI rankings.

I'd love to see Matt Benham's ranking though rather than public ones. :-) In 2008ish, similar happened in Berlin. Hertha for the first time in decades had a chance of winning the Bundesliga, well until the final weeks into the season. Even tabloid papers argued them to have a bit of "luck", as they won close matches week after week. The next season they were prolly relegated. Still remember a Benham interview where he argued this Berlin side wasn't any much better than the  Nuremberg side relegated a season prior. Despite almost being Bundesliga champs. And that guy has made millions with ranking teams -- as well as (successfully) applying his knowledge at his club/s. See Brentford, consistently outperforming their budget for like years now in whichever league the play.

As for individual players, there's few who consistenly outperform their xG. This is a reflection of that despite public perception, any competitive sports is decided in small margins. Clubs are spending gazillions in an attempt of hopefully gaining a few extra percentages over their peers. (E.g. the public misconception that when Messi et all moved to PSG, they would completely destroy the league -- PSG already had pretty decent forwards before and there's only so much you can still upgrade from this. Plus, if you're competing on a level with the likes of Messi, you're one of the top athletes of your generation, no matter which club you play for. FM has always reflected this some, from my experience. Hence players get mid forwards scoring, whilst others have always struggled to get Messi rolling.).

Edited May 14 by Svenc

[bahmet]

When is the news about FM25? It was promised in the second quarter of 2024.

[sirgiorgio]

19 ore fa, Cloud9 ha scritto:

You can start with 0 coaching badges/experience to make the feel of a new manager stepping into a post more realistic. The players will be against you from the start!

I always start with continental pro licence (because I think it's required to be a manager in Serie A) and semi-professional footballer (because I'm a nobody). Up to FM23, my contract reflected that, this year I get the exact same contract as the previous manager. e.g. Juventus, Allegri earns € 9.700.000 /year;

1. I start a new career game and take charge at Juventus: my wage is € 9.700.000 /year;

2. I start unemployed, then create a new manager and take charge at Juventus: my wage is € 9.700.000 /year;

3. First I modify the db and remove Juventus manager, then I start a new career game and take charge at Juventus: my wage is € 2.700.000 /year;

With FM 23 (22, 21...) my wage was always € 2.700.000 /year whenever I started a new career game with Juventus.

[DavutOzkan]

1 hour ago, bahmet said:

When is the news about FM25? It was promised in the second quarter of 2024.

Sometime before June 30, then. 

[andu1]

Can the 3-4-2-1 formation that Leverkusen used all season be improved in FM25?

Right now any AI team that uses this system is crippled by the lack of movement of the front 3 and the 2 wingbacks... It's one of the worst AI formations in FM24...

[potbellypigs]

I don't think this needs its own thread but hopefully I can get some feedback on it. Started Sunday League rep (this might be the issue), mid table in NLN, won NLN, 2nd in NL and into L2. Wanted to move on and was kind of expecting some better offers to come in from league clubs. But literally can't even get an interview anywhere. Even clubs which are in the NL won't even give me an interview which in terms of realism feels a bit off. I'm 6th in League 2 so will stick it out for a bit and currently doing another coaching badge, but just wondering if this is supposed to be the case? I feel like from what I read about other peoples non league careers that I should have had at least interviews with teams in the league below me by now. 

[Cloud9]

14 hours ago, andu1 said:

Can the 3-4-2-1 formation that Leverkusen used all season be improved in FM25?

Right now any AI team that uses this system is crippled by the lack of movement of the front 3 and the 2 wingbacks... It's one of the worst AI formations in FM24...

A 3-4-2-1 is incredibly strong. If you're struggling with it I'd recommend going to the tactics section of the forums. 

[Cloud9]

5 hours ago, potbellypigs said:

I don't think this needs its own thread but hopefully I can get some feedback on it. Started Sunday League rep (this might be the issue), mid table in NLN, won NLN, 2nd in NL and into L2. Wanted to move on and was kind of expecting some better offers to come in from league clubs. But literally can't even get an interview anywhere. Even clubs which are in the NL won't even give me an interview which in terms of realism feels a bit off. I'm 6th in League 2 so will stick it out for a bit and currently doing another coaching badge, but just wondering if this is supposed to be the case? I feel like from what I read about other peoples non league careers that I should have had at least interviews with teams in the league below me by now. 

Winning trophies helps! Promotions are of course important as well. 

If you start with 0 reputation, you will need to build your reputation (and complete coaching courses) to start attracting interest. 

[andu1]

8 hours ago, Cloud9 said:

A 3-4-2-1 is incredibly strong. If you're struggling with it I'd recommend going to the tactics section of the forums. 

I was referring for the AI.. I can be strong with any formation i use. IT's not an issue for me at all.

[Nick_CB]

 I had a player on loan and was using him as IW in the position agreed in his loan contract and respecting his playing time. However, this contract also required (I don't know why or why this is necessary) that he play as a Winger instead of IW.
His team's coach caught my attention because I wasn't using his player in the best way, as he was doing very well as an IW, I said that it didn't matter since he was playing. The coach got angry and asked the player back.
 I am unable to cancel the option of not letting the original team ask for the player back, I am obliged to put in a position and ROLE that the GAME forces me to do.
SI needs to review these interactions and the way in which the contract, especially the loan contract, is drawn up. Immersion in FM 24 is completely ridiculous due to these problems generated by interactions.