Football Manager 2014 - Update 14.3.1 Update FEEDBACK THREAD

[maxlanders]

There will be a new update, with features changed until FM15 ? For instance, in Lyon, when we see the season in reality, there are a lot of underrated players in the game (Bedimo, Lacazette, Ferri, Fékir, Fofana, Anthony Lopes, Tolisso), could they be changed until FM15 or not ? 'Cause it's very hard to do oneself objectively...

[HUNT3R]

The latest changes were included in the 14.3.0 database update. Any more updates to the database will only be for FM15.

[Jimbokav1971]

I know there has not been an update. I know it and I accept it. But I have seen 2 "square" balls played over the weekend that I never thought possible before.

[johnhughthom]

I just had Neymar send a penalty wide in a shoot out, I heard that was impossible. Perhaps there has been an update...

I've seen a few square balls in my current save, not many, but just enough to get excited at the possibility when someone gets in "that" position. Then 99 times out of 100 hits that annoying near post shot out for a goal kick.

[Jimbokav1971]

I just had Neymar send a penalty wide in a shoot out, I heard that was impossible. Perhaps there has been an update...

I've seen a few square balls in my current save, not many, but just enough to get excited at the possibility when someone gets in "that" position. Then 99 times out of 100 hits that annoying near post shot out for a goal kick.

There was a discussion about this in another thread. I still haven't missed completely, but hit a post from the spot this morning.

[ajw10]

So I've started a new game with Southampton sorted a tactic out that worked in pre season against very good sides. First game of the season seems me at home to Fulham and my players just can't do anything right. It's like watching a completely different team from pre season. Stage fright? Or does pre season literally count for nothing?

[HUNT3R]

Pre-season counts for fitness.

[scott MUFC]

I know how that is, on my Wigan save, Striker scores 8 in 2 in preseason..... he hasn't scored since :/

it would be nice if, when reminded of backroom advice meeting, if there was some advice to be given... lol

[forameuss]

I know how that is, on my Wigan save, Striker scores 8 in 2 in preseason..... he hasn't scored since :/

it would be nice if, when reminded of backroom advice meeting, if there was some advice to be given... lol

You've probably set a time interval in which you want to have backroom meetings, but that doesn't mean there's always going to be something to say at that time.

[deiwuzas]

First of all - sorry for my english, it's not my main language I'm a big fan of FM already around 8 years, it was my passion, the only one game that i was gaming and paying for (yep, the one and only , but FM 2014 including 14.3.1 update - my worst experience i ever had by playing this game. Crazy bugs, unrealistic and disappointing. Starting from crashes, awful transfers (for example 14.3.1 i can't even loan to other clubs, at first season, F.Torres, Ginkel with zero wages and zero other requirements). I still hoping for at least one update for FM2014, because at the moment i think, this will be the last time i bought this game. Deivydas (Lithuania).

[HUNT3R]

First of all - sorry for my english, it's not my main language I'm a big fan of FM already around 8 years, it was my passion, the only one game that i was gaming and paying for (yep, the one and only , but FM 2014 including 14.3.1 update - my worst experience i ever had by playing this game. Crazy bugs, unrealistic and disappointing. Starting from crashes, awful transfers (for example 14.3.1 i can't even loan to other clubs, at first season, F.Torres, Ginkel with zero wages and zero other requirements). I still hoping for at least one update for FM2014, because at the moment i think, this will be the last time i bought this game. Deivydas (Lithuania).

If you're having problems with crashes, create a thread here and you will be helped: http://community.sigames.com/forumdisplay.php/360-Crashes-Game-Launch-and-Technical-Issues

[ajw10]

Pre-season counts for fitness.

So there's not real point bothering with tactics in it as they clearly don't transfer to actual competitive matches.

Luke Shaw and Jose Fonte decided to switch for 10 minutes during the game. My LB played at CB and there was nothing I could do about it. Cost me a goal and a win. Amazing.

[RTHerringbone]

Luke Shaw and Jose Fonte decided to switch for 10 minutes during the game. My LB played at CB and there was nothing I could do about it. Cost me a goal and a win. Amazing.

That sounds enormously like a bug, so if you can upload a .pkm of that match for SI to review, I'm sure they'd love a look to try and iron out any issues.

Certainly the first time anyone has mentioned anything like this on here.

[ajw10]

I'll upload it when I'm next on the save. Which may be never. Might just go back to 13 and forget that this abomination happened

[HUNT3R]

So there's not real point bothering with tactics in it as they clearly don't transfer to actual competitive matches.

Luke Shaw and Jose Fonte decided to switch for 10 minutes during the game. My LB played at CB and there was nothing I could do about it. Cost me a goal and a win. Amazing.

They don't transfer as well because the other team cares about getting their players fit, while you're going all out for a win apparently. Other teams will throw in reserve players to get them all fit. They might even sub all 10/11 players off at half-time to give the other 10/11 on the bench a run.

Pre-season is great to bother with your tactics if you care about seeing how your tactic works. Seeing how your players move, behave and interact with each other on the field is incredibly useful. You seem to be only focusing on the score and you're proving that it can be disastrous.

The players switching sounds like a bug, so please report it if you can.

[HUNT3R]

Luke Shaw and Jose Fonte decided to switch for 10 minutes during the game. My LB played at CB and there was nothing I could do about it. Cost me a goal and a win. Amazing.

Did you have specific man-marking set by any chance?

[penza]

Take over at Barcelona and sign eleven conference players, see how you get on in La Liga and the Champions League.

yeah? try to edit all your team with '20' stat for pressure (which is a hidden stat) and you will win the league with Frankfurt..

[Jibby123]

Let me get this right.....

So the Ox is 20 years old and is a wonderkid.

Arsenal are so keen to get rid of him that they accept an offer of £20M from Barca and then agree to subsidise the move by continuing to pay the Ox £3.6M in wages over the next 3 years.

That's madness!

So their £20M is now down to £16.4M.

Then they have to give Southampton £400k, (seems very low), and they are left with £16M.

Does this seem wrong to anyone else? :confused:

Liverpool paid £35m upfront for Andy Carrol. Not sure how many goals he scored for Liverpool before they binned him out, even at net cost, but I think there's madness somewhere in that.

Define 'madness' in the real world.

[Piav86]

Brighton bid 300k for Dedryk Boyata whom is valued at 1.5M by the game. I say I want 1.5M, suggest terms and they withdraw. Brighton then bid again, 350k which I negotiate again to his value - offer withdrawn, Brighton sensing there is a deal to be done make a shrewd move and bid............................................ 375k! Unrealistic behaviour and I've seen lots of examples of it.

[HUNT3R]

Do you give a reason why you reject it like "the offer is not good enough" or do you just reject it without a reason given? Also, if you want 1.5m for him, set it as his asking price.

[marcuscicero]

I have continuously been dismissing the last two patch updates, saying there are issues with weak defence and constant crossbar hits, and high scoring games.

I have, given my love for the the Football Manager brand, gave it one more go, and tried to be reasonable, and check if there was anything wrong with tactics.

After playing it for some considerable time, I have now reached a conclusion: the game is fine. In fact, it is the best one yet.

The game makes sense. The tactics system makes sense. The whole mechanism is made for you to express your tactical theories, and if you tweek tactics to that style, use all the buttons there are in the game, it is the most realistic football management experience you will ever get (other than becoming a real football manager).

I have noticed that the constant bar hitting is not as bad as I thought, and it is not an issue for me any more.

As for the defence, I have continuously thought that it was the problem with the match engine, but it occurred to me those past few weeks that it wasn't, and it was really just my tactics.

Many issues surrounding "weak defence" was that defenders are not closing down properly, the tackles aren't working, players are leaving too much space behind etc. But I have realised (to my astonishment) that the solutions to these problems all exist in the tactics. Bravo SI.

One game I had a huge trouble not conceding against Man Utd (I was managing Newcastle) and could not contain Ashley Young. He was constantly getting into dangerous positions in my final third, and when he was dribbling, my defenders just wouldn't close down. But rather than blaming the match engine, this time I tried to look further into details; was my defender not capable of closing down? are his attributes for anticipation, marking, positioning, pace high enough to manage Ashley Young? Is my tactic telling him to get forward more, which would naturally leave more space behind? My answers to these were all YES.

My defenders (Full Backs, who were Haidara and Debuchy) weren't good enough to "digest" my instructions and tactics. I had been asking them to manage quick Ashley Young by closing down with hard tackles+tight marking when they didn't have good enough marking, tackling, pace, acceleration, anticipation and positioning attributes. Some were around 15, some were below that figure. So a thought occurred in my mind for once moment: "Maybe, just maybe, I am asking my players to do impossible".

I ran 15 test games with using the same fixture (using re-load function without saving the game after the match) and tried various different tactical alterations. One thing I changed first was to tell my fullbacks to stop closing down (unchecked it on their preset). Next, since they always leave too much space behind them, I checked "Hold Position" option to make sure they don't leave their space. I also unchecked "tight marking", since they didn't have pace to catch up Ashley Young, nor did they have marking or tackling abilities to deal with him. In those 15 games I ran, most games I lost 0-2 and 0-3. But as soon as I made those changes, I got a clean sheet.

I was amazed. All this time I had been blaming the match engine, but alas, I had been wrong. The problems were in my instructions and tactics not the engine. I then figured that there aren't that many buttons which relate to the defence of a team. Those buttons are:

1) Push Higher Up

2) Much Higher Defensive Line

3) Use Man-Marking

then in the preset menu of the players:

4) Close Down More

5) Tackle Harder

6) Tight Mark

There were only six buttons. And I just needed to use those buttons to find out the correct defensive set-up that "SUITS" my players. So I ran 30 more test matches using the fixture and applying different combinations:

Push Higher Up+Tight Mark (and 0 preset clicked on player page)

Push Higher Up+Tight Mark (and 1 preset clicked - close down more)

Push Higher Up+Tight Mark (and 1 preset clicked - this time tackle harder)

and tried ALL the possible combinations of those buttons (which comes to about 16 combinations or so - I suggest you draw up your combinations to test). I marked "X" when I lost the game, and "O" when I lost the game but got a clean sheet. I also watched all the matches just to make sure the goals United score were from field goals, not the set piece mistakes, which isn't about defensive set-up, but more about defensive set-pieces setup. So when United won 2-0 but those 2 goals came from corner kicks or free kicks or even penalty, I ignored that result and ran the same test again.

And after trying those combinations one by one for around 7 hours, there was one combination that "clicked" - I had won 2-0 against Man Utd. This was the right setup for my defenders, and I have been getting great results against big sides since then. Two draws against Chelsea, one draw against City, two wins against Arsenal, two draws against Liverpool. It was finally a game that was close to reality, and that "truly" reflected my tactical instructions.

I get the impression that too many out there are demanding their players too much, rather than suiting tactics to their needs. You cannot ask, for example, Dirk Kyut to play like Leo Messi. You can't place Kyut as lone striker and assign him to be False 9, because he doesn't have attributes for it. Learn what your players are capable of, and learn what each attribute stands for. Do you know, for example, what the differences are between "positioning" and "anticipation", and did you know, for example, that some attributes work together? YOU HAVE TO UNDERSTAND THOSE CORRELATIONS TO PLAY THIS GAME. I am sorry, but you cannot blame the match engine, unless you learn the game first. You only have your lack of knowledge to blame. Examples:

Anticipation+Off the Ball work together.

Anticipation also works together with Positioning. Did you know that?

I would get a striker with 13 Finishing attribute but 17, 18 Anticipation and Off the Ball any day of the week over a striker with 20 Finishing but poor anticipation and off the ball. These are things that you MUST analyse and study, and see if your player can play the football you want them to play.

Try tactics until you find one that works. There is a setup that clicks and works for YOUR specific team. The days are gone for those who play one tactic downloaded from the internet and think "one size fits all". That is not how this game works any more, and that is not how real football works. I am glad that SI has therefore moved towards the right direction, where good results not only depend on good tactics, but the players who can EXECUTE those tactics. If your defenders are slow, don't press high. If your defenders are slow, don't tell them to close down. If your defender's marking attribute is low, then don't expect too much from him. Make him stay back, in front of goal, and tackle at right moments. SUIT your tactics to your players' abilities.

The same goes for defensive corner kick setups, defensive free kick setups and all other aspects of the game.

Wingers shoot too much into the air when they have a greater opportunity in squaring the ball in the middle to your striker? Go to the preset, and click "shoot less" and change the way he passes the ball. Make sure also that he has the ability to cross, or ability to dribble. If your winger has 17 crossing but 10 dribble, you shouldn't ask him to dribble more. Tell him to dribble less, and cross from deep. If your AMC has low creativity, then don't tell him to play dangerous passes, because he can't make it work. He isn't Fabregas. Tell him to use short pass, and retain possession and only pass when decent opportunity occurs. Again, it goes to the same point: don't ask him to do something he CANNOT do. Tweek around with your tactics, try different combinations, try different flows of the game, play narrow, wide, quick tempo or slow, try to play tiki-taka or play counter attack - THIS IS WHERE THE REAL FUN IS IN THIS GAME. I LOVE IT. I ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT.

I have reached a conclusion: there is nothing, absolutely nothing wrong with the match engine. It is all down to your tactics, and your abilities as a football manager.

[penza]

I have continuously been dismissing the last two patch updates, saying there are issues with weak defence and constant crossbar hits, and high scoring games.

I have, given my love for the the Football Manager brand, gave it one more go, and tried to be reasonable, and check if there was anything wrong with tactics.

After playing it for some considerable time, I have now reached a conclusion: the game is fine. In fact, it is the best one yet.

The game makes sense. The tactics system makes sense. The whole mechanism is made for you to express your tactical theories, and if you tweek tactics to that style, use all the buttons there are in the game, it is the most realistic football management experience you will ever get (other than becoming a real football manager).

I have noticed that the constant bar hitting is not as bad as I thought, and it is not an issue for me any more.

As for the defence, I have continuously thought that it was the problem with the match engine, but it occurred to me those past few weeks that it wasn't, and it was really just my tactics.

Many issues surrounding "weak defence" was that defenders are not closing down properly, the tackles aren't working, players are leaving too much space behind etc. But I have realised (to my astonishment) that the solutions to these problems all exist in the tactics. Bravo SI.

One game I had a huge trouble not conceding against Man Utd (I was managing Newcastle) and could not contain Ashley Young. He was constantly getting into dangerous positions in my final third, and when he was dribbling, my defenders just wouldn't close down. But rather than blaming the match engine, this time I tried to look further into details; was my defender not capable of closing down? are his attributes for anticipation, marking, positioning, pace high enough to manage Ashley Young? Is my tactic telling him to get forward more, which would naturally leave more space behind? My answers to these were all YES.

My defenders (Full Backs, who were Haidara and Debuchy) weren't good enough to "digest" my instructions and tactics. I had been asking them to manage quick Ashley Young by closing down with hard tackles+tight marking when they didn't have good enough marking, tackling, pace, acceleration, anticipation and positioning attributes. Some were around 15, some were below that figure. So a thought occurred in my mind for once moment: "Maybe, just maybe, I am asking my players to do impossible".

I ran 15 test games with using the same fixture (using re-load function without saving the game after the match) and tried various different tactical alterations. One thing I changed first was to tell my fullbacks to stop closing down (unchecked it on their preset). Next, since they always leave too much space behind them, I checked "Hold Position" option to make sure they don't leave their space. I also unchecked "tight marking", since they didn't have pace to catch up Ashley Young, nor did they have marking or tackling abilities to deal with him. In those 15 games I ran, most games I lost 0-2 and 0-3. But as soon as I made those changes, I got a clean sheet.

I was amazed. All this time I had been blaming the match engine, but alas, I had been wrong. The problems were in my instructions and tactics not the engine. I then figured that there aren't that many buttons which relate to the defence of a team. Those buttons are:

1) Push Higher Up

2) Much Higher Defensive Line

3) Use Man-Marking

then in the preset menu of the players:

4) Close Down More

5) Tackle Harder

6) Tight Mark

There were only six buttons. And I just needed to use those buttons to find out the correct defensive set-up that "SUITS" my players. So I ran 30 more test matches using the fixture and applying different combinations:

Push Higher Up+Tight Mark (and 0 preset clicked on player page)

Push Higher Up+Tight Mark (and 1 preset clicked - close down more)

Push Higher Up+Tight Mark (and 1 preset clicked - this time tackle harder)

and tried ALL the possible combinations of those buttons (which comes to about 16 combinations or so - I suggest you draw up your combinations to test). I marked "X" when I lost the game, and "O" when I lost the game but got a clean sheet. I also watched all the matches just to make sure the goals United score were from field goals, not the set piece mistakes, which isn't about defensive set-up, but more about defensive set-pieces setup. So when United won 2-0 but those 2 goals came from corner kicks or free kicks or even penalty, I ignored that result and ran the same test again.

And after trying those combinations one by one for around 7 hours, there was one combination that "clicked" - I had won 2-0 against Man Utd. This was the right setup for my defenders, and I have been getting great results against big sides since then. Two draws against Chelsea, one draw against City, two wins against Arsenal, two draws against Liverpool. It was finally a game that was close to reality, and that "truly" reflected my tactical instructions.

I get the impression that too many out there are demanding their players too much, rather than suiting tactics to their needs. You cannot ask, for example, Dirk Kyut to play like Leo Messi. You can't place Kyut as lone striker and assign him to be False 9, because he doesn't have attributes for it. Learn what your players are capable of, and learn what each attribute stands for. Do you know, for example, what the differences are between "positioning" and "anticipation", and did you know, for example, that some attributes work together? YOU HAVE TO UNDERSTAND THOSE CORRELATIONS TO PLAY THIS GAME. I am sorry, but you cannot blame the match engine, unless you learn the game first. You only have your lack of knowledge to blame. Examples:

Anticipation+Off the Ball work together.

Anticipation also works together with Positioning. Did you know that?

I would get a striker with 13 Finishing attribute but 17, 18 Anticipation and Off the Ball any day of the week over a striker with 20 Finishing but poor anticipation and off the ball. These are things that you MUST analyse and study, and see if your player can play the football you want them to play.

Try tactics until you find one that works. There is a setup that clicks and works for YOUR specific team. The days are gone for those who play one tactic downloaded from the internet and think "one size fits all". That is not how this game works any more, and that is not how real football works. I am glad that SI has therefore moved towards the right direction, where good results not only depend on good tactics, but the players who can EXECUTE those tactics. If your defenders are slow, don't press high. If your defenders are slow, don't tell them to close down. If your defender's marking attribute is low, then don't expect too much from him. Make him stay back, in front of goal, and tackle at right moments. SUIT your tactics to your players' abilities.

The same goes for defensive corner kick setups, defensive free kick setups and all other aspects of the game.

Wingers shoot too much into the air when they have a greater opportunity in squaring the ball in the middle to your striker? Go to the preset, and click "shoot less" and change the way he passes the ball. Make sure also that he has the ability to cross, or ability to dribble. If your winger has 17 crossing but 10 dribble, you shouldn't ask him to dribble more. Tell him to dribble less, and cross from deep. If your AMC has low creativity, then don't tell him to play dangerous passes, because he can't make it work. He isn't Fabregas. Tell him to use short pass, and retain possession and only pass when decent opportunity occurs. Again, it goes to the same point: don't ask him to do something he CANNOT do. Tweek around with your tactics, try different combinations, try different flows of the game, play narrow, wide, quick tempo or slow, try to play tiki-taka or play counter attack - THIS IS WHERE THE REAL FUN IS IN THIS GAME. I LOVE IT. I ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT.

I have reached a conclusion: there is nothing, absolutely nothing wrong with the match engine. It is all down to your tactics, and your abilities as a football manager.

very good summary i agree although you that is my problem i can only play 30 mins per day so in order to be successful i would have to spend my life on it (FMC is not an option) so i had to stop ....

[YKW]

....

Great post! I think being able to see the team train in 3d would really help people come to the kind of conclusions that you have drawn.

[Cougar2010]

Great post! I think being able to see the team train in 3d would really help people come to the kind of conclusions that you have drawn.

Maybe but with many people struggling to find time to look into the game in more detail its unlikely they would spend the time watching any kind of training.

Even those of us that take our time to work things out and play matches in slower speeds would we really want to watch training as well?

[themadsheep2001]

Great post! I think being able to see the team train in 3d would really help people come to the kind of conclusions that you have drawn.

I'd hate to watch training and I'm one who takes more time in playing. But a better way of showing all the tactical phases is needed, as a priority in my humble opinion.

[wwfan]

SNIP....

Wingers shoot too much into the air when they have a greater opportunity in squaring the ball in the middle to your striker? Go to the preset, and click "shoot less" and change the way he passes the ball. Make sure also that he has the ability to cross, or ability to dribble. If your winger has 17 crossing but 10 dribble, you shouldn't ask him to dribble more. Tell him to dribble less, and cross from deep. If your AMC has low creativity, then don't tell him to play dangerous passes, because he can't make it work. He isn't Fabregas. Tell him to use short pass, and retain possession and only pass when decent opportunity occurs. Again, it goes to the same point: don't ask him to do something he CANNOT do. Tweek around with your tactics, try different combinations, try different flows of the game, play narrow, wide, quick tempo or slow, try to play tiki-taka or play counter attack - THIS IS WHERE THE REAL FUN IS IN THIS GAME. I LOVE IT. I ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT.

I have reached a conclusion: there is nothing, absolutely nothing wrong with the match engine. It is all down to your tactics, and your abilities as a football manager.

I love this post, but am concerned it spreads the notion that you have to spend masses of time on FM to succeed. Whilst a few of us have gone through similar trial and error experiments in previous FMs (the TC, TT&F and my 12 Step Guides were born from a 50+ match experiment with Maidenhead against Cambridge City in FM06), the basics don't really don't take much extra time once you've grasped the overall concept. Defence slower but taller than the opposition attack, then drop deep. Defence quicker but smaller than the opposition attack, then push up. Hard working midfield with lots of stamina against a bunch of lazy cowards, then hassle and get stuck in. And so on. Takes 30-60 seconds to check the opposition prior to a match and sort out a specific match strategy.

In my current game, I'd actually got a little lackadaisical and complacent, and was relying on my base tactic to see me through games. Unfortunately, my team wasn't really good enough to win without trying, and I was seeing what a lot of people complain about. Good performances had a tendency to turn into low scoring draws with my dominance not rewarded and poor performances resulted in a battering. I could not put a good run together for love or money and was languishing near the foot of the table at the end of the first half of the season. I had a couple of evenings were I could play relatively uninterrupted and played the second half of the season putting that extra 30-60 seconds of thought into each match. I went from 18 to 9th, thanks to a long unbeaten streak which included draws against Chelsea, Man Utd, Arsenal, Spurs, Southampton and Man City (top six in the league (I'm Brighton three seasons in)). Had I paid more attention early in the season, I'm sure I'd have qualified for Europe.

I found that the biggest error I had made was overly trusting the pace of my defence (which was good). With a little more observation, I saw that my pace advantage was generally only slight and often non-existent, whereas my height advantage was usually excellent. Dropping deeper in such matches (I was previously pushing up due to the good pace) shored up my defence hugely. I then took note of if I had height or pace advantage up front and adjusted my passing style accordingly. For some matches, I targeted opposition players or areas to attack, but generally didn't bother as I was reasonably confident in my midfield to be competitive against all but the best teams.

[pret]

Here's another: Best player says he wants to leave for a bigger club. I tell him we can qualify for the Champions League this season. He says okay, but if you don't, I'm off. Fair enough.

I come second in the PL, win the Europa League and my club rises from about 16th to 7th in the world rankings.

Still wants to leave as we've apparently not qualified for the Champions League.

[llama3]

Here's another: Best player says he wants to leave for a bigger club. I tell him we can qualify for the Champions League this season. He says okay, but if you don't, I'm off. Fair enough.

I come second in the PL, win the Europa League and my club rises from about 16th to 7th in the world rankings.

Still wants to leave as we've apparently not qualified for the Champions League.

Can you please load a save game into the bugs forum please? It would help pinpointing the issues.

http://community.sigames.com/forumdisplay.php/364-Interaction-Conversations-Team-Meetings [bugs forum - interactions]

http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/368795 [FTP details]

[HUNT3R]

Here's another: Best player says he wants to leave for a bigger club. I tell him we can qualify for the Champions League this season. He says okay, but if you don't, I'm off. Fair enough.

I come second in the PL, win the Europa League and my club rises from about 16th to 7th in the world rankings.

Still wants to leave as we've apparently not qualified for the Champions League.

I'm sure SI and their testing team would greatly appreciate if you could report this in the bugs forum, pret. It should be accompanied by a save game from just before the player requests a transfer because of the failed promise.

Edit: Or what llama3 said!

[Neil Brock]

I'm sure SI and their testing team would greatly appreciate if you could report this in the bugs forum, pret. It should be accompanied by a save game from just before the player requests a transfer because of the failed promise.

Edit: Or what llama3 said!

Actually for these kinds of issues we generally need the save just before you even make the promise. Saying that it's an issue we're aware of related to the game sometimes misconstruing the end of the season date.

[Jimbokav1971]

marcuscicero. Really interesting post but.....

I marked "X" when I lost the game, and "O" when I lost the game but got a clean sheet.

How do you keep a clean sheet and still lose? Penalties?

[marcuscicero]

marcuscicero. Really interesting post but.....

How do you keep a clean sheet and still lose? Penalties?

Haha. I see why you got confused. I hope you read this bit:

So when United won 2-0 but those 2 goals came from corner kicks or free kicks or even penalty, I ignored that result and ran the same test again

So I would lose 2-0 (both goals from penalties) but would count it as a clean sheet since I didnt concede any field goal (though I would still run the same test again)

[gorkembjk]

Guys -

I am little unsure about if the Steam has most up to date database on my FM 2014. Should the database be called 14.3.1 or 14.3.0?

See this screenshot for more detail? http://screencast.com/t/sqJlXcQ903d

Any help is appreciated.

thanks

g

[johnhughthom]

The database is 14.3.0.

To check if you are running the most up to date version, go to your preferences, the version number should be along the top.

[DrIgz]

Your database is fine. you have a choice between default and 14.3.0

It's all good.

[isignedupfornorealreason]

What's this media snafu thing?

"XXX has overcome a slightly disappointing start to the season with this good run of form"

I've won 6 in 6... How is that a disappointing start? O_o That's a post-match media report btw (news feed).

In a pre match media report (Preview) - "XXX's home form has been shaky recently..."

I've not lost at home and every win (no draws) has been a comprehensive battering of the opposition.

[imp44791]

To be honest, if you want to enjoy this ME you pretty much have to get away from the mindset of expecting the 3D to look like real life football.

That's why I still play with the top down dots. No 3D engine can ever match my imagination, plus I'm much less infuriated at my boneheaded players this way.

On another matter, after a season and a half in the Conference I have yet to miss a penalty, or save one. That's only in my own games, so it's a low statistical sample, but still...

[scott MUFC]

is there any way to stop teams bidding on players, I have set asking price to 100m, and every single day, 32.5m and 31m bids on 2 of my players.

the collisions on the ME need sorting, far too many players falling over after hitting a collison box.

[Äktsjon Männ]

That's why I still play with the top down dots. No 3D engine can ever match my imagination, plus I'm much less infuriated at my boneheaded players this way.

I watch 3D but have it one notch from the fastest setting. I think it has a similar effect plus the added eye candy. Takes a little getting used to as it's Benny Hill funny at first, but it's better than watching it in 'real time', which must be one of the most frustrating experiences one can inflict on himself.

[scott MUFC]

thier contracts end in june 2019, I have just reached February 2015, it wouldn't be so bad but it is every single day.

also these red cards

this number seems to happen once or twice a month

[ajw10]

Finishing on this game is an absolute joke. For both sides. It's like watching Sunday League, there's only so many times you can watch players like Cazorla and Walcott hit shots out for throw ins before you have to concede that it's not tactical and it's very much a flaw with the game.

I think the most used commentary on this is "doesn't strike the ball cleanly". It's ridiculous.

[ajw10]

A few more things. I assume lowering the tempo is the only way you can time waste? It seems like it doesn't actually make a difference because my team decided to carry on attacking at pace which cost us the win. Also, Chelsea went down to ten men and they were light on the wings. So I told my team to exploit the flanks. Nothing happened. Why?

[howhigh1337]

A few more things. I assume lowering the tempo is the only way you can time waste? It seems like it doesn't actually make a difference because my team decided to carry on attacking at pace which cost us the win. Also, Chelsea went down to ten men and they were light on the wings. So I told my team to exploit the flanks. Nothing happened. Why?

time wasting option is available with "contain" mentality

[HUNT3R]

A few more things. I assume lowering the tempo is the only way you can time waste? It seems like it doesn't actually make a difference because my team decided to carry on attacking at pace which cost us the win. Also, Chelsea went down to ten men and they were light on the wings. So I told my team to exploit the flanks. Nothing happened. Why?

Lower tempo only affects tempo. The lower your overall mentality is, the more they will time-waste.

What do you mean by nothing happened?

[ajw10]

Lower tempo only affects tempo. The lower your overall mentality is, the more they will time-waste.

What do you mean by nothing happened?

I went to contain and lower tempo. In theory that should mean that we time waste no?

The team kept trying to play through the middle. Chelsea went down to ten men and had no full backs. My two wide players (plus full backs) were in loads of space but my midfielders kept trying to pass through the middle.

[HUNT3R]

I went to contain and lower tempo. In theory that should mean that we time waste no?

Yeah, switching to contain will definitely get your team to time-waste. As howhigh1337 said, I think you get an additional instruction on Contain to set time-wasting to a maximum.

[ajw10]

But it didn't work. That's my point.

Decision making is utterly dreadful too. Walcott is instructed to shoot less. He is running down the right hand side and decides to shoot from an impossible angle. This happens a lot. I'm seeing lots of wide players cut in and then shoot at the near post, which usually hits the side netting. Hazard tore my RB to shreds, but it didn't matter because every shot of his went into the side netting.

[CityAndColour]

Takes a little getting used to as it's Benny Hill funny at first, but it's better than watching it in 'real time', which must be one of the most frustrating experiences one can inflict on himself.

You learn to laugh, trust me.

[scott MUFC]

fast mode is fun, you just see keepers standing there with the ball when they catch it, even if the shot was along the floor.

[ajw10]

Yet another thing I think is wrong with this game. Players just giving up after you've won the league. It's a great way to lower morale before important cup finals.