[auto renewal after certain games/contract offer]

Been on both sides of this situation - offering a contract to a player who would agree and then having that transfer cancelled / have one of my players getting offers and then cancelled. Auto-renewal does not kick in automatically once player reaches agreed number of games (like, complete 15 games, one more year extension). Once player meets conditions for auto-renewal, you have to activate that (on player profile, click on contract and an option to extend will show up).

If your player has not meet conditions for auto-renewal before signing up for another team there's nothing you can do. If he has accepted an offer AFTER meeting conditions though, you can trigger auto-renewal clause to cancel that. But auto-renewal is only triggered AFTER and IF you click on that - otherwise I believe it's like you have no interest on triggering that clause.

 

[FM 2020 - Is it just me or game seems a bit weird?]

Thanks for all input. But that happens regardless of team, league and tactical approach. That happened in Brazil, Spain, Italy and England leagues, five different teams. In every single one of them I've been using 3 different game plans (one offensive, one defensive and one balanced). No unhappy players, no poor morale, no low respect from players. Again, they are responding well to team talks and instructions. Been playing every single version of this since CM 01/02 so I kinda know what I'm doing at this point.

But it seems same pattern repeats regardless of team and tactical approach. Having like 4 or 5 one-on-one opportunities, in ALL of those your player hits a super weak shot which opposing keeper proceeds to save easily. Headers in goal area going straight to keeper hands or up and away. Or having 5, 6 balls hitting a post during a match. Only to see your defense stopping after 88' and easily conceding easy goals.

I really thought those were isolated, unlucky matches. But then I started to recall previous mathces in different teams and leagues and figured out there's a pattern as to how players behave when wasting opportunities / conceding goals. There's also a pattern as to when/how those losses happen. As a title contender, whenever my team is in great form and starting to get ahead in first place, there's a 5-1 loss against an underperforming team. And then one month without winning at all when we're like 2/3 into the season.

In Brazil, that happened in Sao Paulo FC for two years, 5-1 losses against Bahia (17th) one season and Santos (8th) another - both were chances to consolidate in 1st place. Then during August (season ends in 1st December week in Brazil) my team didn't get a single win, during both seasons and, of course, in both seasons we lost first place (being able to overcome later). Losses with a lot of wasted chances in semi-finals in Brazilian Cup, with defense conceding an easy goal after minute 88, both seasons. From there i went to England, same happened in Leicester. Was in 4th place, two points behind United and Liverpool, one point behind City and running for a title attack. Then suddenly comes 5-1 loss against Wolves (16th), right after a draw with Liverpool in Anfield and a win against City at home. Another unbelievable loss against Everton in FA Cup semi-finals. No wins at all during February, ended in 6th.

Next season, Spain, Sevilla. Again, 4th place but in a good form and starting to get closer to Barcelona, Real and Atletico. A 5-1 loss against Valencia (10th), an incredible loss against Atletico in Copa del Rey semi-finals (1-1 at home, goal conceded at 92 and 0-1 away after sending 5 balls against the post, goal conceded in 89). After no win February, was still able to keep 4th place, but couldn't try for something better.

From Sevilla, I went to Juventus. They were really bad and ended last Serie A in 10th place. First season expectations were simply qualifying to Europa League, which I did by finishing 5th while rebuilding squad. Nothing unusual happened this season,team performance was consistent to what is expected. But second season? Great form, attacking title (tied with Inter in 1st place), playing at home against Perugia (expected to be 10th but currently 18th). Guess what? Another 5-1 loss. Italian cup semi-finals? Guess what: 1-1 at home (wasting that much opportunities and conceding at 91), 0-1 away (again, wasting a lot and conceding at 90'). To make things worse: Europa League Semi-finals against Chelsea. 1-1 at home (same thing) and 0-1 away (conceding in 92' but this time was much worse because Chelsea had a player sent off in minute 62). And after no win February, ended Seria A 7 points behind Inter, 2nd place.

Comes in a Man City offer, after they were in 6th place last three EPL seasons. Again, unexpectdly going for a title run. Great form, two point ahead United in 1st place. Another 5-1 loss, against Leicester (11th). This time I didn't care for FA Cup, my reserves lost for Everton in quarter-finals - that was a fair loss. But Europa League semi-finals? Another 1-1, 0-1... this time against an inferior Napoli. After no win February, ended in 3rd place - behind United and Liverpool.

Second season in City, started winning ALL matches. Jumped ahead in EPL by winning ALL matches so far. After beating Liverpool in Anfield (a really tough battle), here comes Tottenham, currently sitting in 11th... and you guessed right: a 5-1 loss. United is now in 1st place (they haven't lost yet but have a draw).

You see, different leagues, different teams, different situations. It's a pattern. Not a pointless rant nor looking at it as a supporter mad his team didn't win a game despite playing better. This is why I thought about posting it here - was wondering if anyone has gone through the same or if I am really that unlucky

[FM 2020 - Is it just me or game seems a bit weird?]

Like, your team, with some of the best offensive players in league has to finish 36 times to score 1 or 2 goals. Then you play against worst team in league... 2x2, when they score 2 out of 3 shots. Or when playing against other good teams in your league, 36 shots/1 goal vs 8 shots/2 goals. Or even worse, when playing against a better team in international competitions...

Also, most goals are the same. Your team spends most of the match wasting countless unbelivabe opportunities to score. Then:

88': A through pass, your defenders stop and stare at the ball, your goalkeeper stops and stare at the ball... opposing strikers comes running from far away, no one does anything to stop him. Goal.

89': Your team waste another unbelivable opportunity.

90': Opposing keeper makes an impossible save.

91': Opposing defender makes a magnificent sliding tackle between your player legs to block a shot.

92': Long cross and/or a free kick in midfield... long ball to box, your defense decides to stop and stare. Someone on opposing team hits an incredible header. Goal.

In ALL seasons, this intensifies during February, I've had a team coming up from 15 straight wins to getting not a single win during whole February month (would always be a loss or a draw with one or more goas conceded after 88'), no matter what I do - changing starting players, tactics, formations, team talks or any other strategies. That happens even if I don't sign up or sell any players during winter transfer season. During that month there is AWAYS a 1-5 loss against a mid-table team and another heavy loss (by 3 or more goals) in a local derby.

EVERY SINGLE PLAYER performance drops significantly during that period.

This also happens in specific moment/games like "win against 18th place and you take 1st place in league", semi-finals in national cups, whenever you play against a title contender in international cups playoffs (even if said team is a little bit inferior to yours). I make sure to ALWAYS rotate players, so they are in good shape, they are always reacting well to team talks and instructions, no players unhappy at all.

This same pattern repeats to all leagues I've been on this save file: Brazil, England, Spain and Italy. It's like the game is trying to hold you back, but sometimes it's too late to recover when that ends.

Am I really doing anything wrong or is the game just like that for everyone? Honestly, this is killing the game for me, been playing less and less...

[Getting a player in the red (match sharpness) back fully fit... who cannot play U18 and U23 football!?]

Schedule some friendly matches to your first team. Pick the worst team you can find available to play against you. Pick whatever players from your squad needing to get into shape, complete with youth players. Make sure you leave players needing to get into shape playing as much time as possible (90 minutes would be better, make sure your instuctions for those players have them playing with as little intensity as possible).

Do that a couple times and Lacazette should be able to get a few minutes as a sub on first team, from there it's easy getting back into shape

[Signing dramatically good players in the non-league]

That's the magic of LLM. You will have to rely on your own judgment when it comes to players attributes and tactics. But if you're in England, focus on physical attibutes - strong and fast players before skilled ones. I think my last save like this in England has been in FM15 (or was that FM13?) when I took Carshalton Athletic from Conference South to Champions League title. Took me a very, very long time to achieve that though.

I am not sure how lower England leagues are working in recent FM like 2020 and 2021, but I recall most teams are so bad they won't be able to do much by passing the ball around, at least half the teams would focus exclusively at a more defensive play style with direct passing approach. So I would use some wierd formations to counter that, but I settled for a 4-3-2-1 (with wingers).

Four tall and strong defenders, wingbacks never ever leave defensive position. Two defensive midfielders who should focus on controlling space on midfield. One "creative" midfielder with good passing and, if at all possible, pace. Two VERY FAST wingers (doesn't matter if they suck at anything else, decent dribblling and cross help). A tall, strong stiker (if at all possible, some pace to keep up).

Team instructions without the ball: Very deep defense line, high and intense pressure line. This will leave some open space between lines? For sure. But high pressure will likely force opposing team to try a long pass, which your defenders will likely bounce back. Your defensive midfielders should take control of that space between your defensive and midield line.

Team instructions with the ball: Higher tempo, focus your passing through both wings. Instruct your wingers to always run with the ball and aim their crosses at your striker. Like, get the ball, pass to wingers, run, cross. 

This took me easily to League Two, almost got a playoff spot in first season there, when I was still struggling to rebuild my team and getting the players who didn't leave to sign full-time contracts.

[Do you disable the transfer window on your first season?]

Nope. Right at the start of a game, during first transfer window... it's the best chance you have to implement your own playing style. And sometimes you'll need a few players you don't have available right off the bat. I also like to use this first transfer window to sign up talented young players and start preparing them for next season.

[I let my star striker go to Barcelona, did I do the right thing?]

You did the right thing. I am the kind of manager that won't hold players. When an offer comes and they are interested, I'll try to negotiate a good fee and just let them go. It's much easier replacing a star player than dealing with unhappy players on squad.

[How do you handle team rotation?]

That's really up to the team / league I am playing on. Also up to which formation I use. Some leagues are more laid back in requirements for subscribing squad members while others are more strict. Anyway, what I figured out to work best in any situation (regardless if you're a title contender or avoiding relegation, in top leagues or lower leagues) is: having 1 goalkeeper + 16 starting players (meaning all those 16 are good enough for starting team) + 2 or 3 veterans (usually a striker and a goakeeper towards the end of their careers, if there's another good veteran for any other position available I'll sign him up). Then it's just a matter of filling in whatever else your squad needs with younger players with good potential.

So I split those 16 starting players in two groups of 8. Each group is completed by my goalkeeper (I avoid rotating goalkeepers as much as possible) + a veteran + a youngster. My formation is usually a 4-3-3 with defensive wingbacks, two hard-working midfielders and two very fast wingers. So positions I left open in rotation is one midfielder and striker. Which are filled by a veteran and/or youngster according to each group.

Of course there are players suspended and/or injured through the season, so some of those starting players will need to play more than others eventually. When that happens and any starting player needs to play 3 matches a week, I make sure he gets no more than 60 minutes per game. Sometimes when facing much weaker teams I'll pick no more than 2 or 3 starting players and fill up with youngsters and a veteran.

For more important/hard matches, I pick 11 of those 16 starting players, place all others in bench and that's it.