gunnerfan

One of the things that FM lacks is a realistic laboratory for developing tactics. When one takes over a team, one is confronted with the need to create a new tactic on Day One. I do this by spending time studying my new players, their best roles and attributes, and piecing together a tactic I think will work. If I’ve arrived on the scene during the season, I have no choice but to test my tactic in ongoing competitions (of course, I can cheat and quit-no-save results I don’t like, but that hardly feels realistic). If I arrive on the scene during the offseason, I can use pre-season friendlies, but I’m also using those to evaluate players. IRL, a lot of tinkering and experimenting would take place on the training pitch. It would be great if the Match Practice session included an option for tactical review, so that one could break down tactics, player and role by role, to see how they work. I know this belongs in the Desired Future Features section, but I’m posting it here because this discussion really brings into focus how useful a feature like this would be, and I’d like to know how @rashidi and others on this thread would view it.

Do you set your focus for "top", "regular", or "ongoing"?

Playing a pre-season friendly against an inferior side. In a 4-2-3-1 DM Wide, my BPD (center back) plays an apparently soft pass to my IWB who has moved up into the DM strata as an opposing forward moves in. The IWB doesn't close on the ball, but continues his upfield run. As a result, the opposing forward intercepts the pass, swoops in and scores. I realize that the visual representation isn't necessary how the play really happens, but the point is that even with the great improvements we've seen in the ME, I never see players closing on a ball that's played to them unless it's a leading pass. When I coached youth soccer, this was something I pounded into them all the time (along with communicating on the pitch). Has anyone seen players move away from the goal and to the passer, closing on the ball to prevent a turnover?

Thanks, Dave. I appreciate your advice and will take it on, but this really doesn't answer my questions.

I wish there was a complete guide to the scouting system that was introduced in FM23 that would answer the following: 1. How may scouts do you need to sufficiently cover a country? A region? 2. Once a country or region is selected to be scouted, do you really need to establish a separate recruitment focus for competitions within those nations? For example, I have a recruitment focus for Central Europe, and now I'm getting suggestions that I may want to establish focuses for Croation, Austrian, and Hungarian top divisions. I would think that would be automatic with the region. 3. What is the best way to set up a focus for an established player to fill a specific positional need (CA and PA)? If I set CA at the level I really need (say, 3 stars), I get no results. Too low, and I get flooded with players I can't use. 4. Does the personality of my chief scout really matter (i.e. the way it matters with the HOYD)? Thanks for any and all replies.

The linked article in Eurogamer suggests that games like FM (I.e. commercially successful) will be the most affected of by the pricing change. Given that the article appeared over 4 months ago, it would be nice if SI either gave assurances that their plans for FM25 are going forward (and some Renee of any price increases we can expect) or notice that their plans for FM25 have changed and what we can expect (late release, staying with the existing platform, etc).

My solution would be to let him go to Arsenal, then use the IGE to bring him back at the same salary Arsenal is paying him. I know that takes it out of the pretense of realism, but how realistic is this part of the game to begin with?

I’ve had zero desire to go back. The new match engine is so much better.

Thanks. I should have realized that, because I do my own at the time I get the opposition scouting report. If my AM comes up with something contradictory, I ignore it. If it’s something I haven’t thought of (like going in hard on a particular player, I’ll take it.

What is “OI”?

I use a 4-2-3-1 with a ramdeuter at AMR, a shadow striker at AMC, an IW at AML, and a complete forward. Works well, but you need the right players (as with any tactic).

I’m 11 years into my save, and I’m nearing the end of my second contract with my current club. I usually don’t pay attention to my own salary, since this is, after all, pretending. But when the offer came several (game) weeks ago, it was for an increase from 33,000 p/w to 34,000. When I tried to negotiate, the very highest they’d go was 35,500. This after multiple league titles and Champions League wins. I walked away. Since then, they have come back to me several times, each time with the same opening offer and the same result. Recently, there have been news stories about how they’re worried about losing me but are looking into possible replacements. And the three names mentioned are all making 6 to 8 times what they’re offering me! But when the next offer came, it was the same as before. I think this is an aspect of the game that needs improvement (much like the team that repeatedly makes the same non-negotiable offer for the same player).

Having coached youth soccer for many years, I don’t see much in FM to get me riled.

I’ve noticed it, but there is usually a huge gap between their CA and their PA (like a CA of 79 and a PA of 175), so it’s a long shot that they’ll ever reach their potential. And many of them have personalities that aren’t conducive to rapid development.

I just wish the choices included features at least remotely like mine.

One of the things that drives me batty: I get endless "suggestions" from my staff to loan out promising 16- and 17-year-olds. Given the quality of my coaching staff and training facilities, my policy is to never loan out a player under 18. The manager should be able to set loan policy so that staff do not make such suggestions, and the Loan Manager can reject out of hand unsolicited requests from other clubs to loan U-18 players, usually for free and usually guaranteeing no better than Fringe Player status. While it's true that one can set loan parameters for compensation and playing time via the Developmental Centre, it's only on a player-by-player basis and only for those who are available for loan (which none of my U-18s are).

I understand. I was referring to the lack of any comment by SI on the matter. I also agree that there are more tools for addressing player issues in FM24. Thanks for replying. I enjoy your posts.

So, someone with an adaptability rating of 5 would still be productive as a scout in a country other than his own so long as he has "extensive" knowledge of that country? I can see why adaptability is overlooked in scouting.

Actually, you would likely have players complaining about playing time, not based on promises made, but on poor performance by someone ahead of them on the depth chart, which I would think is quite common.

Looks good as a guide, but it's still descriptive rather than quantitative. And that strikes me as odd, given that this is a game driven by numbers and percentages. It's as if AI wants to keep us all in the dark.

I just noticed something interesting in my scouting staff: Scouts with low adaptability (under 10) have extensive knowledge in more nations than those with high adaptability (over 15). So, just how did the low adaptability people acquire such extensive knowledge? And what is the relevance of adaptability to scouting?

These are listed in the manual for FM24, but they are only qualitative descriptions. As we all know, the quantitative drives FM24. Which means that there are numeric equivalents to each tier of playing time. I have tried before to discover what those equivalents are, but to no avail. I've asked here and only gotten crickets in return. I'm not sure why this is regarded as top secret, but apparently it is. So, if anyone knows what percentage starts separates a star player from an important player, or an important player from a regular starter, please post it. Thank you.

We've had a few solid wins, and I transferred in a topflight player, and the atmosphere in the club has improved.

I carried over a save from FM23. Previously I’d had several intakes that ranged from very good to outstanding. But my first one in FM24 was very mediocre and the most recent was awful. Wondering if some aspect of recruitment was tweaked for 24.

I recently saw a drop in my club's atmosphere, and the on the Dynamics/Happiness page, the only negative was "there are many contrasting personalities throughout the club. It's odd, because the roster has remained constant since the start of the season (it's now January). But there doesn't seem to be any way to learn WHICH contrasting personalities might be causing the problem. Any suggestions?