[Where can I get an older version of FM20?]

After the updates for the epic store I have not been able to play a single online game with my two friends on Steam. Please let us download a version from before you ruined the game for Steam users.

[The Unofficially Official Training and Mentoring Guide]

How am I supposed to use the Leadership courses? Is it for youngsters, or for established players that are Team Leaders? Since they feel so disconnected from the rest of the training to me, I don't really use them.

The few times I've used them they didn't have any effect (though that was in FM19). I also wonder if Leadership can be mentored, or if the courses are the only way?

[New board buying players I dont want]

On 08/07/2020 at 05:42, avseg said:

New president forcibly signed two players (could not cancel transfer offer / withdraw contract offer) that used up the rest of my budget that I'd been building up for years, and that don't fit into my tactic at all, to boot. But that's not why I'm posting.

Because then the board complained about the transfers for the salaries being too high (board transfer reaction grade E for both). Couldn't make this #@*! up.

Totally killed the save.

You should watch Sunderland Till I Die... This is perfectly realistic!

The owner of Sunderland sells the league top scorer in January for a pittance, and buys Will Grigg for millions of pounds - even though the manager says he isn't worth more than a million and he doesn't want him. A couple episodes later (later the same season) the owners are talking about how it's the manager's fault that Grigg doesn't perform and how the manager isn't getting enough out of such an expensive player. Manager ends up getting fired after a disappointing season without promotion.

Sucks to be a manager in that position, but it's ultimately not YOUR club and dumb stuff like this happens all over the world IRL.

[Can I change the mind of a player who "Disagrees with learning new position"?]

8 hours ago, Zemahh said:

I wouldn't pay too much attention to his moaning, as long as he has the attributes for the position you're training him for. If so, him throwing a fit indicates low professionalism, meaning you should look towards improving his personality if he's still young enough.

Thanks. Unfortunately, his lack of professionalism is shared with the rest of the squad.

[Can I change the mind of a player who "Disagrees with learning new position"?]

I brought in a new star winger for my team this summer, and I am retraining him so he fits my tactic. Now he is unhappy about the retraining. Is there anything I can do about this?

[Quickfire Questions and Answers Thread (Tactic and Training Questions Only)]

31 minutes ago, Experienced Defender said:

If you ask me, having a winger with the "Cuts inside" PPM is great IMO. Let's assume he is right-footed and I play him on the right flank in a winger role. He'll normally stay in wider areas until he gets the ball. Once he's with the ball, rather than running out wide, he'll look to drive diagonally toward the box and then either cross the ball from a lot more promising position than a regular winger would, or play a cut-back pass for an onrushing teammate arriving in the box. And of course, the PPM "cuts inside" does not mean he will do that in every single situation. Sometimes (for example) he will be forced by an opposition defender to run out wide and behave like a standard winger. So what you would get is a sort of "hybrid" between a winger and IF, which can be quite nice.

I am not opposed to that in theory, but I need to remove that PPM. What I was asking was whether I can still remove the trait if I have tried and failed removing it once already.

[Quickfire Questions and Answers Thread (Tactic and Training Questions Only)]

I have a young right winger with all the right attributes for what I want him to do, except he has the PPM "Cuts inside from both wings." I have tried to make him unlearn the PPM, but it didn't work. Is there any randomness involved, or is it set in stone that he can never unlearn it?

I don't mind making him try several times if there's a chance it'll work, but if he will never change then I have to just sell him.

[My guide to hoofball]

On 09/11/2018 at 21:11, Peljam said:

https://strikerless.com/2018/11/09/do-you-even-delap/

 

Well timed ong throw article. I’ve used these routines as I’ve got my own but it’s very similar.

I quite prefer a solid Delap over the more "en vogue" overlap and underlap.

 

20 hours ago, witticism said:

Finally something to contribute, decided to try my hand at this:
 

It's not quite  the whole nine yards hoofball but it has gotten me up to the top Norwegian division, only player instructions are:
 

BBM:
Pass Shorter
Get Further Forward

DLP:
More Direct Passes
Take More Risks

Fullbacks:
Cross to Target Man

 

Good job How is this working for you in the Tippeliga?

[My guide to hoofball]

10 hours ago, Peljam said:

Awesome Glad it helped. There's nothing you can do about Braunschweig though, they've stormed to the title. 2nd place is great. I get the feeling 73pts might be enough for the title some seasons?

I beat them at home, and they only lost one other game in the league all season long. Looking at the quality around the league, I think that you just have to accept that the teams relegated from the league above are a class apart. I assume 73 points will be enough to get promoted most years, though. I hope hoofball keeps me from getting relegated immediately

10 hours ago, Pedroig said:

I have a Rostock save and Braunshweig sniped 1st from me in the last three games.  86 point to 85 points.

Staying up is a challenge due to less than 100k wage budget with no transfer budget.

Yeah, my wage budget is at 57k, but I have been able to wheel and deal my way to 71k of transfer spending. It's a struggle, because while most of my starting 11 is decent, I have to bring 4 german U23s on match day. I have 3 of these who have been on the bench every game, but that I don't trust. It really narrows the options when my bench only has 3 viable subs.

9 hours ago, Peljam said:

Right. I've bounced around teams a bit trying to iron out my hoofball. I've had a few terrible starts at the likes of Scarborough and Grantham were I recruited badly and just went a bit nuts with the formations (ending up with a flat 5122 that was pants). I then had some success at Portadown (1 FA cup, 2 minor regional cups) but then hit a roadblock when I had a really unlucky run of results. The tactic was okay I was just powerless to stop some of the goals against me. I then went to Cobh Ramblers, lost out on a playoff place (we were predicted bottom) and won a minor regional cup (but against a top flight side).

I ended up a East Fife in the Ladbrokes League 2. We were predicted 10th, which is bottom

Praise Hoofball!

I was fortunate in arriving at a team that had a decent keeper, and two decent centrebacks for me to build the team from. As you can see in the table our defence was tight, but we weren't prolific up front. We created chances but one on one we were wasteful and I think that's more a reflection of the limited composure of our strikers than the tactic itself. A pacey composed striker and a slightly more mobile TM will do the trick (if I can get any to join).

We had a lot of 1-0's. The chances almost entirely came from through balls/long balls, crosses or set peices (usually indirectly).

For example...

Two long throw routines, dedicated to the throw in God himself Rory Delap. I'm sure we squeezed an extra 4-5 goals out over the course of the season. Usually the ball got to TM who flicked it on to one of the waiting or attacking players to nod in/tap in. We also had about the same number disallowed though as some defences stepped forwards and left me with 2-3 players stood offside waiting for the flick on. I used a narrow pitch this season and we turned a lot of throw ins into attack. It got to a point where I prefered the throw ins to a corner kick.

Corners and free kicks followed a similar pattern. Get it to the TM or best header for a flick on. Chaos and crowding in the box for the scraps. I did have some issues setting the taker though, at one point my TM ended up taking a lot of them without me realising which ruined things for a bit.

Importantly, for other style considerations, we were close to the bottom for pass completion and possession. Near the top for fouls, tackles and headers. Interestingly my left back was 1st for cross completion and these seemed to come from quite deep. My right back was 4th, and back up right back was 7th.

 

Tactics:

This is what I've settled on.

My orignal Portadown version was more expressive and passed into space. I removed these based on what was mentioned in the thread ( @Experienced Defender) and it made a huge difference to the defence. With more expressive on, and pass into space on, it was real gung ho long ball. Aiming to score more than conceeded. My defense and keeper couldn't do it. This was more structured and kept it solid at the back.

Additional PI's included shoot less often for everyone in the midfield but the attacking right winger. The fullbacks had cross from deep and aim for target man.

 

When I needed to protect a lead or or be more cautious I changed the support role for the full backs to defend which kept them back and compact with less space to exploit behind them but still left them with the cross from deep/aim at targetman PI's. When I was desperate to hold onto a lead I changed them to no-nonsene full backs. Very solid but very much a shut up shop approach. They offered a lot less going forward.

Wow, those are solid stats! Congratulations. Conceding 29 in 36 is pretty great  I had almost no 1-0 games myself, but that is probably because 1860 are tipped 6th of 20 in 3.liga. I assume I just have better players than you, compared to the league I am in. That will probably change, now that I have been promoted :/

 

Peljam, do those set pieces actually behave like they should in-engine? I have set up routines as well, but it seems like my team uses the default routines instead. It's really obvious, since my CDs stay back on long throws and my "mark keeper" player on corners just comes short. Turns out the only person doing what he is supposed to is the taker. I didn't even bother with setting up free kicks after that disappointment.

Fortunately, my very own Rory Delap imitation - who was already at the club - still manages to generate a lot of good situations from his throws. Only 3 assists, but most of them are flicked on or fought over. Even with my routines not working, I also think I prefer throwing to corners  

 

 

[My guide to hoofball]

On 06/11/2018 at 02:32, Peljam said:

That's a great home record!

Maybe rather than passing into space and attacking more away you would benefit from improving your defense away? 14 goals in 8 games isn't bad in terms of goals scored but cutting out a few goals conceded would squeeze out a few more points for you. You've conceded twice as many goals away as you have at home.

When I play away against bigger teams I sometimes change by FB's from support to defend, but keep the cross from deep/aim at targetman instructions on them. There's less space behind them for the opposition to exploit but they still cross from deep and provide through balls/long balls.

 

So I just wanted to say thanks again for the tip. While my home form suffered a slight dip after the winter break, my away form is enormously improved. With 4 games to play now, I need 1 point to secure 2nd place.

My away record after restricting the full backs away from home is 5-2-2 so my total away record is currently at 7-7-3.

 

I have also found success raising my tempo and defensive line when chasing a goal - though I do not dare do this unless my fast CD is on the pitch (I only have the one T_T).

 

Now if only I didn't have a ridiculous Braunschweig in this division...

[My guide to hoofball]

11 hours ago, Peljam said:

That's a great home record!

Maybe rather than passing into space and attacking more away you would benefit from improving your defense away? 14 goals in 8 games isn't bad in terms of goals scored but cutting out a few goals conceded would squeeze out a few more points for you. You've conceded twice as many goals away as you have at home.

When I play away against bigger teams I sometimes change by FB's from support to defend, but keep the cross from deep/aim at targetman instructions on them. There's less space behind them for the opposition to exploit but they still cross from deep and provide through balls/long balls.

 

Thanks for the tip, that does sound like it might help. I will try that going forward 

[My guide to hoofball]

I am attempting a style very close to this in my 1860 München save. After 16 games in the league with this style I am in 2nd place.

 

However, it is not all rosy. While at home I am 7-1-0 with a a goal difference of 20-5, I struggle away from home with a much more modest 2-5-1 and goal difference of 14-10.

To be honest, I was kind of expecting it to be the other way around

I have tried tinkering with the line of engagement, maybe if I pull that back a little and pass into space? I have also tried changing one of my wingers to wide midfielder.

 

I have also noticed in the last 2 games that my set piece routines are not followed by all my players. On long throw-ins my CD comes short to the trow instead of being in the box. On corners, my winger marking the keeper comes running out to be a short option just before the corner is taken  Can this be intentional, or should I report it as a bug? The players are familiar with the tactic, if that matters.