Cider Ed

Going to give this a go Play the game fairly slowly with very limited success so don't expect to see Buxton in the football league anytime soon. Just in cast though here is my starting profile Its all about playing 4-4-2 for me as well

Hi there FM has become quite stale for me (not because im any good) and play it rather slowly. The thought of not having to worry about scouting and transfers intrigues me, should speed my play up and make me concentrate on the tactical / development side of the game. What are the best leagues to try this challenge in for speed of play?. A 46 game league season in England doesn't really appeal. Cheers

As the title suggests ive had 3 crash dumps in the space of a week. Got myself a new (2nd hand cleaned up etc) PC about a month ago and FM had seemed to be running fine on it. The last 2 crash dumps happened during a match (once using the 3d engine, once the 2d engine) cant remember the first one. The first 2 happened on the same save but at different points, the most recent one in a different save. The first two were second season and the last one October first season. Ive always got something running in the background (I-Tunes / Youtube). I have a trial version of Norton Anti-Virus. Is there a common problem that I should look into. Its not game-breaking (I save now after every match) but getting annoying, I obviously need to see if I can stop this happening Regards Eddie

Havent been able to get into a FM15 save, and then ive stumbled across this. I suck at football manager and find stuff that I used to love like Scouting and signing players really boring. Ive never been able to get to grips with training either and tactics im very hit and miss with. Maybe just maybe this challenge is exactly what im looking for as I will have to be a master on the training fields and a bit of a tactician. I will also have to get along with my players. So im just holidaying in Scotland before picking my team. A quick question. What staff are key for who you bring through and what makes them stand out. For example should I have the very best head of youth development I can find and should I be looking at his favoured formation or is their a couple of key attributes to bring through the type of player I want?

I personally would sell. Clearly a very very good player but his mental stats might be a little low to be considered the best there is. He also doesnt enjoy big matches which would put me off him. An amazing offer really especially if you are to get 25% of any future fee too. In my opinion the guy is not a £50million + player

I agree with the poster above that you need wingbacks as that is where your only true width is coming from. Maybe its worth changing De Jong from an anchor man to a Half-Back. This will spread your two CB's out a little to help cover for your wingbacks bombing forward. Your front five are also very attack minded, I would be tempted to make Poli perhaps a ball winning midfielder (defend). This way he will still win the ball but offer protection when you lose the ball high up on the pitch

Gonna attempt to take a Conference North/South team to European glory (ive got no chance, i cant even do it with European Powerhouses). So looking at the teams, the logical choice is Wealdstone. Do you want some?

I have just taken over as Iceland manager in January 2016. My first game isn't until May so i thought I should arrange a couple of March friendlies. Its saying unavailable for me too, although some countries have friendlies

I play my friendlies and the first few games of a season on full to see if my players are following my tactical instructions. I then go for comprehensive for the remainder of the season unless I have any big games, then full is quite fun.

Dont suppose you could do the same with every position in the game x

Hi I had to use this formation with Fiorentina in this thread: http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/387570-How-important-is-a-quot-formation-quot-A-community-tactical-experiment I had a decent time with it, finishing 2nd in Serie A and getting knocked out on away goals in the Europa League Semi-Finals. Ultimately I found it a struggle against teams towards the end of the season when they sat back and countered me. I set up with a couple of wingbacks, 2 BWM(d) in midfield either side of a DLP (s). This helped protect the flanks. I could never get the player behind the strikers to work properly and found the front 3 didnt quite have enough space to do their thing. In most matches though I had more chances and most of the ball. Away from home I had some great results and I would say this formation might well help you in the champions league not hinder you. Its at home to your Ross Countys you might struggle as its hard to spread their defence when they sit back and you dont have any real width and the width you do have you have to wait for it to bomb forward. Good Luck

Any of them would be nice. De Rossi might not be value but I wouldnt think twice about buying him. Thinking about it Roma didnt do that well in my game, stayed up though. Udinese went down though. Benteke and Di Natale could be the ultimate big man/little man partnership.

Jambo I really feel your pain, that is sick. Peekay that was a solid effort. So far every finished season has produced 2nd place. Im sure someone out there will win the league. Just for interest value, the board threw a bit of a "war-chest" at me 2nd season and in return for a promise to finish in the top 3 again I signed Benteke (£29m), Verratti (£22m), Chirches (£14m) and Coentrao (£5m). I also drove Gomez to Manchester myself so that he would sign for Utd for £15million. Im looking to play a different way in the 2nd season (once again a formation ive never tried) so I will keep looking in this thread for ideas.

END OF SEASON REPORT (4-3-1-2) Everything was going well, Despite being knocked out of the Italian cup by Atalanta (not that bothered) in the Quarter Finals I was still challenging for both the Serie A title and the Europa League. After knocking out Spurs on penalties in the Quarter Finals my team decided that was the end of the season for them. I was unlucky to get knocked out on away goals in the Semi-Finals to Schalke 0-0 away followed by 1-1 at home. Unfortunately Schalke used 2 deep defensive mids and this was the 1 formation I struggled against all season. On the league front at one stage I was five points clear of Juventus and we were both well clear of everyone else. Goals totally dried up though. Gomez scored 2 goals in the whole of the 2nd half of the season (1 was a penalty), I wasnt creating as much and had no plan B to my previously highly successful counter attacking strategy. I was still in it up until the 2nd last game of the season when I had to go to Juventus. My team didnt show up and I was easily beaten 2-0. In the end I finished 2nd though so I qualified for the Champions League, something I wouldnt have dreamed about when I had 2 games to save my job in October. 2nd Half of the season: THE TACTIC This how I played in nearly every game, this was my biggest downfall though, I just didnt have a plan B The Positives: * Full Backs always got forward well and supported attacking play. Even on Attacking Duties I never got "done" down the sides, even by teams playing advanced wingers. The only player that gave me any problems was Insigne of Napoli * Playing two BWM(d) made my team so defensively sound. Although I lost out on possession due to sitting back It was nether in or around my penalty area. * The DLP(s) - Valero - ran the show. Always available for a pass and always moved the ball on to a player in a better position * The front 3 when on form (up until the last 10 games) were a real handful for any team. The Advanced Forward - Gomez/Matri - was chief goalscorer and always seemed to have at least a couple of really good chances per game. The CF(s) always seemed to complement the AF well and got into some really good positions. * The Formation really came into its own when the opposition were chasing the game and were trying to attack. This led to the front 3 finding loads of space. NEGATIVES * Not enough people joining the attack. I bet at least 80% of my goals were scored by the front 3. This was due to my choices of roles in midfield but earlier in the season I attempted more attacking roles for my midfield and I was carved open far too easily. * Two BWM(d) meant lots of yellow and red cards in midfield. My defensive minded midfielders averaged 1 yellow every 2 games and I suffered towards the end with lots of suspensions * When I was doing well towards the end of the season teams sat back against me and my counter style proved horrendous. I attempted to change things up changing styles and trying to press high up the pitch but it didnt seem to do much good and just left me more open to the counter. * I couldnt get the role or player behind the 2 strikers right. I attempted AP(s) and AP(a) - Ilicic and Wolski, Treq's - Rossi and Ilicic and even Support Strikers but the player in the role was nearly always played the worst of the front 3. The best way was to probably use a Treq but Rossi's PPM "Come deep to get the ball" meant he was coming too deep and Ilicic probably just wasnt good enough to play a free role. Rossi played best for me as a CF(s) but I did rest him a lot because I was scared for him to get injured (which he didnt really) * The tactics worked worst at home to poorer teams because of the opposition sitting back. If I managed to get ahead I nearly always won. SUMMERY This experiment has really helped me understand how role changes and little subtle instruction changes can make the difference. In the end my downfall was I didn't have a plan B. Im defiantly going to carry on my game as although I didn't win anything I think I could be on to something. Its a formation I would never ever have considered playing and now I know how I can get good use out of it. I think it will be really useful in the Champions League against better teams. Im definitely going to learn another formation though with wide men so I can break opponents down who have come to park the bus. On the player front Ive already signed Coentrao from Real Madrid (5.5 million) for the start of next season and have got a big shopping list. A Center Back, Deep Lying Playmaker and striker are high priorities. During the season I had too rebuff Monaco and Liverpool for Cuadrado so I need to tie him to a better contract. I would love it if a team came in for Gomez because he would be off in a jiffy.

My two cents would be: * Choose one of the ways you have set up and stick to it, altering instructions and roles when you see fit but keep a base style of play for all games. * Use wing-backs and not full-backs. They will get forward better and you have 2 players on each side that can play these roles well * More Direct Passing and Pass Into Space will keep giving the opposition the ball especially when you have no real width. * Use an Advanced Playmaker (possibly with a CM(a)) as you need someone to link the midfield with the attack. Valero or Ilicic can perform these roles fine. * If playing Counter dont hassle opponents and Push Higher Up unless your chasing the game. Counter from my experience works best when you let the opponents come at you.