I can't bear this game

[king kenny111]

Its so annoying im 2- 0 up 80 mins gone, they score two in 5 mins and then score one in the 97th miniute when there's only 3 minites of extra time, this has happened to me nearly every game and im in the relegation zone, I feel like I'm the only one because loads of people have stories of how they took some BSN/BSS team to the PL but i manage to get aston Villa relagated!!!!!! I can't bear it

[chob]

I get results like this all the time but it's part of the game and can happen in real life.

[wazza]

Sounds like your players tire at the end of the game. Fetch subs on at 80min or so or check your assistant reports to see whose tiring during the game. Start to use defensive and contain tactics also at about 80 minutes and telling your players to take a breather to slow the game down. Settle for a draw as well if necessary especially away from home. Hope this helps it works for me 4 out of 5 times

[GesterX]

When the other team brings subs on make sure you set opposition instructions for them. Without doing this your defenders will go from tightly marking and closing down a striker to "ignoring" his replacement.

[SnakeXe]

You're probably using a system that relies on the players working their socks off. Hence they knacker out and get sloppy. Try playing more simple and direct.

[sando123]

to be honest when people say they got teams from there with back to back promotions there either a tactical wizard or they cheated a bit

subs are the best bet when i am using a poor club i take 1 player off who is playing bad at half time if any then save the other two, to replace a defender so theres a fresh center back on the pitch and right or left back

[Kenco]

I would love to see screenshots to see if this really happens "nearly every game".

I'm going to quote a popular term in this forum, but it's your tactics. In this case it's very true, you need to learn how to change your tactics at the right time so that you hang on to, or even improve on your 2-0 lead. Do you change anything at all? Go defensive, retain possession, play narrower, etc. These are all standard things I do in the last 10 minutes of games, and I quite often go on to score another goal or two without conceding as i hit team on the counter. I would recommend going to the tactics forum for some proper advice.

[Kenco]

to be honest when people say they got teams from there with back to back promotions there either a tactical wizard or they cheated a bit

I wouldn't say you needed to be a tactical wizard, you just need a decent understanding of how tactics work and how/when to apply them and need to be pretty good in the transfer market to achieve that sort of thing.

[Azuru]

Something tells me the game isn't supposed to be that complicated. I mean c'mon, maybe he's exaggerating a bit but your team should be able to hold a 2-0 lead for 10 more minutes without having to change anything. Not all the time but about 80-90% of the time

I doubt that changing anything would make that much of a diff anyway

[Bababui]

Something tells me the game isn't supposed to be that complicated. I mean c'mon, maybe he's exaggerating a bit but your team should be able to hold a 2-0 lead for 10 more minutes without having to change anything. Not all the time but about 80-90% of the time

I doubt that changing anything would make that much of a diff anyway

Its important to play more defensively holding a lead in the last 10 minutes and to replace a striker with a DM/Anchor man.

[Wilson123]

just try and break the game up

That's what I do when I hold a tight 1-0 lead going into the last 10/15. I'll bring on a sub, I'll tweak my tactics - anything that will stagger the game and hopefully see out those last few minutes. It's a nightmare when the '93rd minute' horror goes in but when you stave it off, it's bloody good

[TacticalGenius]

I wouldn't say you needed to be a tactical wizard, you just need a decent understanding of how tactics work and how/when to apply them and need to be pretty good in the transfer market to achieve that sort of thing.

This.

Also, keeping morale as high as possible is key.

[Azuru]

Its important to play more defensively holding a lead in the last 10 minutes and to replace a striker with a DM/Anchor man

That would make more sense if you were only up 1 nil with only 10 minutes to go. If you lose 2 nil in the last 10 minutes or something that's just the games randomness totally going against you, i.e like your goalie or a def having a shocker in the dying minutes of the game

That's why you always have this ability to bash your players in the game

That's what the games all about too

[kimoss_isc]

FM should introduce a difficulty mode option or at least a plug and play option for the people who just want to enjoy winning and winning.

[Up The Villa]

Its so annoying im 2- 0 up 80 mins gone, they score two in 5 mins and then score one in the 97th miniute when there's only 3 minites of extra time, this has happened to me nearly every game and im in the relegation zone, I feel like I'm the only one because loads of people have stories of how they took some BSN/BSS team to the PL but i manage to get aston Villa relagated!!!!!! I can't bear it

Gerard Houllier?

[hugo_rune]

FM should introduce a difficulty mode option or at least a plug and play option for the people who just want to enjoy winning and winning.

If people want to enjoy winning and winning, they maybe should look for a different game genre than sports management simulations?

A difficulty mode would necessitate giving human players either some advantage or disadvantage that AI players don't enjoy - and that destroys the integrity of the simulation.

[Bababui]

That would make more sense if you were only up 1 nil with only 10 minutes to go. If you lose 2 nil in the last 10 minutes or something that's just the games randomness totally going against you, i.e like your goalie or a def having a shocker in the dying minutes of the game

That's why you always have this ability to bash your players in the game

That's what the games all about too

TBH..I almost never lose or draw with a lead. I play 4-1-3-2 and go 4-2-3-1 with two anchors. It might be boring for the fans but I play for points.

[wwfan]

That would make more sense if you were only up 1 nil with only 10 minutes to go. If you lose 2 nil in the last 10 minutes or something that's just the games randomness totally going against you, i.e like your goalie or a def having a shocker in the dying minutes of the game

That's why you always have this ability to bash your players in the game

That's what the games all about too

Yet again, you are spouting total nonsense and really not helping the OP.

What happens in such games is this:

The first goal back hits the player confidence. For a highly professional, determined, disciplined, experienced squad, then the effect shouldn't be too bad. However, for an inexperienced, flaky, low determination, ill-disciplined squad all sorts of things can happen. The most common reaction is for players to get nervous and start making mistakes. If the user continues with an aggressive system, then holes will appear in the defence and the opposition will have more chances.

If the user has little confidence in his squad, the best reaction he can make is to play more defensively to cover for possible mistakes and to sub on a high determination player for one showing signs of nervousness. Ideally, this player would be a defensive one, but anywhere will do. The user can also choose to change formations and play an Anchor Man to shield the back four.

As with all elements of FM, if you sit back and do nothing, you are increasing the chance of a decision making AI punishing you.

[Ego Scriptor]

In other words, it's not so much his tactics as the mental traits of his players and those of his opposition... factors he has little control over outside the transfer window and the team talk screens. Under normal conditions, tactics are on equal footing with team talks and basic player attributes in terms of determining the result of a match. If you're in a rubberband situation (you've won "too many" consecutive games, you're at the top of the table with an overachieving team), the importance of team talks and player attributes are magnified. Commenters here who reflexively say "it's yo' tactics" must not be playing FM11, because tactics are only a small part of the game.

Having recently undergone similar problems with my Nottingham team, I can assure you the main problem is likely your defenders' Concentration and Composure. Get better CB's in the next transfer window and the problem will go away. Tactical adjustments won't help too much. If anything, it will cause more mistakes as your players are expected to adjust to an unfamiliar formation in a high pressure situation.

[Kenco]

In other words, it's not so much his tactics as the mental traits of his players and those of his opposition... factors he has little control over outside the transfer window and the team talk screens. Under normal conditions, tactics are on equal footing with team talks and basic player attributes in terms of determining the result of a match. If you're in a rubberband situation (you've won "too many" consecutive games, you're at the top of the table with an overachieving team), the importance of team talks and player attributes are magnified. Commenters here who reflexively say "it's yo' tactics" must not be playing FM11, because tactics are only a small part of the game.

Having recently undergone similar problems with my Nottingham team, I can assure you the main problem is likely your defenders' Concentration and Composure. Get better CB's in the next transfer window and the problem will go away. Tactical adjustments won't help too much. If anything, it will cause more mistakes as your players are expected to adjust to an unfamiliar formation in a high pressure situation.

Tactical adjustments won't help too much? Get better CB's? Seriously, how is this helpful?

Not everyone can just go out and buy new players because their team is struggling, and tactical adjustments are key for these in-match situations. Simply switching from a control strategy to counter or defensive can work wonders in this situtation, as it's almost a certainty that the AI team has gone more attacking, so you have to adjust.

[milnerpoint]

In other words, it's not so much his tactics as the mental traits of his players and those of his opposition... factors he has little control over outside the transfer window and the team talk screens. Under normal conditions, tactics are on equal footing with team talks and basic player attributes in terms of determining the result of a match. If you're in a rubberband situation (you've won "too many" consecutive games, you're at the top of the table with an overachieving team), the importance of team talks and player attributes are magnified. Commenters here who reflexively say "it's yo' tactics" must not be playing FM11, because tactics are only a small part of the game.

Having recently undergone similar problems with my Nottingham team, I can assure you the main problem is likely your defenders' Concentration and Composure. Get better CB's in the next transfer window and the problem will go away. Tactical adjustments won't help too much. If anything, it will cause more mistakes as your players are expected to adjust to an unfamiliar formation in a high pressure situation.

if you dont adjust your tactics to suit the players in your team you will never be successful. Tactics play a HUGE role in every game of FM, if they are set up wrong then your team will make mistakes more often. Mistakes in football are inevitable, there is no perfect team, what you have to learn is how to deal with the mistakes and how to avoid them in the future, THAT is the biggest problem with FMer's the inability to learn from the mistakes they have made, and the want to just blame SI rather than have a look at what they might have done wrong.

[dctimc]

This for me is what dampens my enjoyment of the Football Manager series. I'm not great at this game and when I read threads like this, I see people say 'use defensive or containing tactics in the last 10 minutes' or 'when they substitute players, make sure you set instructions to cover them' or 'see how tired each of your players is'.

I'll admit that these are all things that you would have to do in a real life match, we're you a real life manager. And for those who are fans of realism and want as much realism as they can get, having to do all this fluff is probably fun. For me, I always enjoyed the transfers, picking the team and then during matches, I would just let it run, I hate having to do stuff during matches, I'm not even that in to making substitutions. I hate having to constantly change styles of plays and give direction. To me, it slows my game down considerably and I find it dull. I find it dull selecting various players names and setting whether they tackle a certain way. So many times in the past, I have done the logical thing and selected 'defensive and contain' when a couple of goals up with little time to go and the opposition end up equalising or winning, and I just think 'now, would that have happened had I just left it as it was?'.

I think this brings back the argument of whether the detail takes the fun out of the game. I suggested in the past, a difficulty level, and many were against it, using the age old 'start as Chelsea if you want easy blah blah' which actually isn't valid. Others said you would have to recode everything to have difficulty levels and it wouldn't be viable. Fair enough. But I wonder whether a "more fun" version of the game could be achieved using the 'level of detail' option? At the moment, you can choose the level of detail in your player database, perhaps choosing low detail could also remove some of the features that slow down the game, so strips back the game to something more akin to the old CM series, is faster to run and more playable.

I understand that some people are very good as this game and some of those are so arrogant that they just dismiss these changes because they don't struggle and love to sit smugly stoking themselves, content in the knowledge that they are good at a computer game and others aren't. But if they could for one minute empathise with those who perhaps used to be half decent at the game and now can't win with Chelsea against Barnet without playing about with fluff, then maybe they could understand how frustrating it is for some people. I wouldn't profess to be a master of football knowledge/tactics etc. but I watch football every week and have done for twenty years, I think I've enough knowledge to do the basics, so when I choose a standard formation with the wealth of superstars at Chelsea's disposal. I can expect them to go out with no instructions and beat Barnet. Not lose 4-0. Sorry but Avram Grant proves that with little knowledge and a good team, you can basically get by.

[milnerpoint]

That was quite a good post until you went off on one in the last paragraph, the harsh reality is, this is the way FM is going, the older versions are still available to play and if you dont want the extra features they are your best bet, you may even find a database update for one of them if your lucky. Si wont ever introduce a difficulty level because there is none in real life, it would be almost impossible to code into the game and it would take them away from the various other things they should be working on. not having a pop at you and not trying to smugly sit and stoke myself in anyway but if you dont like the level of detail play another game because i would imagine FM will become more and more in depth as the versions come out.

[dctimc]

That was quite a good post until you went off on one in the last paragraph.

Just to clarify. I specified 'some people'. I understand that many players are only trying to help. But you have to admit, there are some that dismiss these points out of hand because they are so brilliant at the game and it doesn't affect them. I was merely pointing to an example with Chelsea of something that happened to me, where I just thought 'ah c'mon, they could be Barnet with their eyes closed'.

[milnerpoint]

Just to clarify. I specified 'some people'. I understand that many players are only trying to help. But you have to admit, there are some that dismiss these points out of hand because they are so brilliant at the game and it doesn't affect them. I was merely pointing to an example with Chelsea of something that happened to me, where I just thought 'ah c'mon, they could be Barnet with their eyes closed'.

you will find people on here a lot more responsive and helpful if you avoid posting like that last paragraph, all that does it take a good point and make it sound like your spitting the dummy out.

There will always be people who think they are gods gift at the game and speak down for it, just like there will be people terrible at the game who refuse to believe they are and would rather blame SI than look at their own actions, there is very little middle ground on here especially in the GD forum.

What you have to remember is no one beats anyone with their eyes closed, no matter what you think, every single game requires thought tactically. Look at Real getting beat by the lower league spanish team last year, you would have thought no matter what team they put out it would be better than a second division spanish team, but because they took it too easy and went in "with their eyes closed" they got beat and put out the cup.

[dctimc]

you will find people on here a lot more responsive and helpful if you avoid posting like that last paragraph, all that does it take a good point and make it sound like your spitting the dummy out.

There will always be people who think they are gods gift at the game and speak down for it, just like there will be people terrible at the game who refuse to believe they are and would rather blame SI than look at their own actions, there is very little middle ground on here especially in the GD forum.

What you have to remember is no one beats anyone with their eyes closed, no matter what you think, every single game requires thought tactically. Look at Real getting beat by the lower league spanish team last year, you would have thought no matter what team they put out it would be better than a second division spanish team, but because they took it too easy and went in "with their eyes closed" they got beat and put out the cup.

OK thanks, I will refrain from the little digs. But I think in the case of the Madrid match, I wouldn't draw a comparison because 1. Were they at full strength? and 2. Did they get totally thumped? It was the ease in which my full strength side were beaten that irritated me more.

I know I'm not great at the game, but many are, so that's nobody else's fault but mine. I just think the game would benefit from a more stripped back version (like Adobe Premiere Elements) for those who aren't great and are looking for a more fun version that plays quicker. I used to spend many more hours on the game in the past than I do now, smiply because I now get bored much faster.

[Cougar2010]

This for me is what dampens my enjoyment of the Football Manager series. I'm not great at this game and when I read threads like this, I see people say 'use defensive or containing tactics in the last 10 minutes' or 'when they substitute players, make sure you set instructions to cover them' or 'see how tired each of your players is'.

Personally I feel I hold onto a lead fairly well but I don't do as much as what people are suggesting.

I make subs, use a couple of touchline shouts and if under pressure make slight changes to the tactics - Maybe something like changing fullbacks roles from automatic to defend, wingers to support rather than attack etc.

I certainly don't make wholesale tweaks to my tactics or OI and I don't usually change my formation.

[Kenco]

I don't think many people are suggesting wholesale changes, and if they are then they are not needed.

Mine is simple; keep the same formation and simply change the strategy, which in turn changes any players on an automatic role.

[Ego Scriptor]

A logically structured base tactic is important, but if you're suffering repeated lapses like the OP describes, it is likely a more fundamental problem with traits. Late tactical adjustments won't do much to guard against basic lapses in Concentration and defender emotional meltdowns, and in many cases, they hurt either because switching strategies kills your team's comfort with the formation (leading to errors) or simply inviting loads of pressure (thus increasing the chance of a defender making a critical error). Granted, it can work sometimes, but the sort of advice given in this thread backfires just as often.

The best advice given in this thread are those who said you should just get used to losing sometimes. Sometimes, you pick the wrong team talk and sometimes the external variables (pressure, opponent morale, the gods of the woodwork, etc.) are weighed too heavily against you. Tactical tweaks, especially wholesale strategic shifts, are acts of desperation that basically amount to a crapshoot as far as their effectiveness is concerned.

[evora69]

There's no need for a degree or something to play the game. Or to lose many time in the preparations.

In the match preparation i always keep 3 tactics (1 counter attack, 1 support and 1 attack/overload).

Usually I start with the support tactic and in the match i change them around if something isn't going well or if i take the lead or if someone is sent off, etc. It's pretty simple and does not require much time. Sometimes i do small adjustments like man marking a especific player, but for big changes i just select another tactic that is more suitable.

[Mojby]

there are a lot of things you can do to help you.

1. keep an eye on the commentary as you will see a lot of times - the opposition will change formation and go more attacking late on if they are chasing the game.

2. change your tactics through the sideline shouts - go to a more defensive style, tell your players to retain possession, take a breather (this will slow down the tempo of the game). just a few suggestions here.

3. I do not do this but change your formation and maybe employ a sweeper late on to help out your defence.

4. have a closer look at your defenders and their attributes. Pace, stamina, positioning, decisions and some other stats are very important.

Give them a go.

[Brian Shanahan]

FM should introduce a difficulty mode option or at least a plug and play option for the people who just want to enjoy winning and winning.

It already exists, it's called Champ Man. It's not SI's fault that that franchise is dead.

[king kenny111]

I just got bored so in the end i decided to quit that save and start one with Benfica, apart from the champions league its really easy

[Azuru]

C'mon, with only 10 minutes to go? It's way more likely that some of his players are playing poorly to concede 2 goals in the last 10 minutes as often as that. Why are we always blaming tactics? Players are supposed to make mistakes etc and that's why you have the ability to bash your players in the game. I hate to say this but sometimes it takes a draw or a lose like that to get your players playing again.

[Wiitastic]

i doubt the lad had this problem in almost every game, I think he exaggerated just a tad. Clearly he didn't bother tweaking his tactics or he has average players.

[Azuru]

Listen you can't prevent say your goalie hitting 5, can you? Sometimes it take bad performance every now and again and a bit of individual warnings now and again to get a player back on his feet and to get more consistency

the game isn't about the 'here and the now' it's about the overall performances

[lewis999]

What I do when i'm having a bad run is even if i'm mad at the players and they haven't played very well, I sympathise with them or say good effort, it keeps their morale up which makes it easier to get out of the slump you're in. But keeping hold of leads is a very important trick to learn as obviously it can win and lose you titles and competitions so, as a few people have already said in this thread further up, try and use instructions and shouts that you think would work in real life, it is mostly common sense. i.e take a breather will mean, less men bomb forward so you have more behind the ball when they have it, or play narrower will restrict the opposition's team's space in the middle of the pitch but if you are playing on a wide pitch and they have two 6ft2+ strikers that can head a ball, your going to concede a lot of crosses and probably goals.

Just think logically

[Kenco]

A logically structured base tactic is important, but if you're suffering repeated lapses like the OP describes, it is likely a more fundamental problem with traits. Late tactical adjustments won't do much to guard against basic lapses in Concentration and defender emotional meltdowns, and in many cases, they hurt either because switching strategies kills your team's comfort with the formation (leading to errors) or simply inviting loads of pressure (thus increasing the chance of a defender making a critical error). Granted, it can work sometimes, but the sort of advice given in this thread backfires just as often.

The best advice given in this thread are those who said you should just get used to losing sometimes. Sometimes, you pick the wrong team talk and sometimes the external variables (pressure, opponent morale, the gods of the woodwork, etc.) are weighed too heavily against you. Tactical tweaks, especially wholesale strategic shifts, are acts of desperation that basically amount to a crapshoot as far as their effectiveness is concerned.

I would hardly say a strategic shift is an act of desperation, it's simply taking an option to play more cautiously which teams do all the time in real life if they are leading late in the game. Players won't lose comfort with the formation if you keep it the same, you are just asking them to reduce their attacking impetus whilst keeping the same shape. I can't speak for anyone else, but in my experience on FM11 I have never lost a 2 goal lead in the last 10 minutes of a game because of my methods. More often than not I go on to win by 3 or more goals.

[Coentrao]

I just generally increase time wasting,maybe get a fresh sub in and remove runs from deep from full-backs(just setting them to "defend" does the trick), it helps holding a lead most of the time.

[milnerpoint]

I can't speak for anyone else, but in my experience on FM11 I have never lost a 2 goal lead in the last 10 minutes of a game because of my methods. More often than not I go on to win by 3 or more goals.

I have before i learned how to deal with the situation, and how to read the game and decide when it was getting risky.

[Techno-fear]

I know I'm not great at the game, but many are, so that's nobody else's fault but mine. I just think the game would benefit from a more stripped back version (like Adobe Premiere Elements) for those who aren't great and are looking for a more fun version that plays quicker. I used to spend many more hours on the game in the past than I do now, smiply because I now get bored much faster.

The real world of football has changed in the twenty years that you have been watching it, why isn't it any differnet for a Football game? We've got defensive forwards and wingbacks and new formations in todays modern game, Fm is the closest thing we all have to actually being football managers! I sugest that maybe you've played this game for too many years and it's time to retire. You've always got premier manager!

[triple-j]

This for me is what dampens my enjoyment of the Football Manager series. I'm not great at this game and when I read threads like this, I see people say 'use defensive or containing tactics in the last 10 minutes' or 'when they substitute players, make sure you set instructions to cover them' or 'see how tired each of your players is'.

I'll admit that these are all things that you would have to do in a real life match, we're you a real life manager. And for those who are fans of realism and want as much realism as they can get, having to do all this fluff is probably fun. For me, I always enjoyed the transfers, picking the team and then during matches, I would just let it run, I hate having to do stuff during matches, I'm not even that in to making substitutions. I hate having to constantly change styles of plays and give direction. To me, it slows my game down considerably and I find it dull. I find it dull selecting various players names and setting whether they tackle a certain way. So many times in the past, I have done the logical thing and selected 'defensive and contain' when a couple of goals up with little time to go and the opposition end up equalising or winning, and I just think 'now, would that have happened had I just left it as it was?'.

I think this brings back the argument of whether the detail takes the fun out of the game. I suggested in the past, a difficulty level, and many were against it, using the age old 'start as Chelsea if you want easy blah blah' which actually isn't valid. Others said you would have to recode everything to have difficulty levels and it wouldn't be viable. Fair enough. But I wonder whether a "more fun" version of the game could be achieved using the 'level of detail' option? At the moment, you can choose the level of detail in your player database, perhaps choosing low detail could also remove some of the features that slow down the game, so strips back the game to something more akin to the old CM series, is faster to run and more playable.

I understand that some people are very good as this game and some of those are so arrogant that they just dismiss these changes because they don't struggle and love to sit smugly stoking themselves, content in the knowledge that they are good at a computer game and others aren't. But if they could for one minute empathise with those who perhaps used to be half decent at the game and now can't win with Chelsea against Barnet without playing about with fluff, then maybe they could understand how frustrating it is for some people. I wouldn't profess to be a master of football knowledge/tactics etc. but I watch football every week and have done for twenty years, I think I've enough knowledge to do the basics, so when I choose a standard formation with the wealth of superstars at Chelsea's disposal. I can expect them to go out with no instructions and beat Barnet. Not lose 4-0. Sorry but Avram Grant proves that with little knowledge and a good team, you can basically get by.

Why buy a football simulation game if it's unrealistic? Just play an arcade-style game instead.

It's really not difficult to hold on to a lead 9 times out of 10. Whatever your starting tactics are for the season, create an alternative tactic that is ultra-defensive and then in the last 10 minutes of games just switch the tactic. How long would that take? 5 seconds.

[Blidly]

nah its awesome i won quite a few games with last minute goals

[terrybecker]

If people want to enjoy winning and winning, they maybe should look for a different game genre than sports management simulations?

A difficulty mode would necessitate giving human players either some advantage or disadvantage that AI players don't enjoy - and that destroys the integrity of the simulation.

football manager is not a simulation, if it was a simulation you would have to sit and watch 90 minutes of football being played out.

[Kenco]

football manager is not a simulation, if it was a simulation you would have to sit and watch 90 minutes of football being played out.

You can if you watch full match...

[Kiwi_Mark_LFC]

Sort out the ****ing injuries for a ****ing start - un ****ing believable...what moron programmed the injury routine...clearly doesnt have a ****ing clue...

[Kiwi_Mark_LFC]

i mean seriously - i have had more injuries in one game than normally happens in a whole season...and before all you smelly greasy spotty virgin nerd fanbois **** on about tactics, team talks, or other total unrelated crap...the frequency of injuries in the game is beyond stupid. its about as realistic as finding an american who knows something about football.

[milnerpoint]

learn how to post without acting like a child please.

[Kenco]

Somebody wants a ban. Post reported? Check.

[Lazaru5]

You can if you watch full match...

actually, full match at normal speed takes about 45-50mins (I play all my matches in full... )