In The Details: Stories and Theories towards Enjoying FM

[wwfan]

As some of you are by not doubt aware, I staunchly defend FM against some of its less well thought through criticisms. For a change, I'm going to talk about my experiences with my current save which might hopefully open a few eyes here and there.

Because I am so involved with the Tactical Creator and Beta Testing, it is rare for me to get much time to actually play FM for sheer enjoyment nowadays. Even when I do get the time to do so, it is a bit of a Busman's Holiday for me, partly because of my involvement with the TC and partly because of my full time job in management research. As such, when something does happen that I appreciate, I tend to try and eke out the full enjoyment possible.

In my current save, I started my career with Stalybridge Celtic, grabbing promotion at the first attempt and challenging for the BSP the season after. Given I was Beta testing, I started with a pro-footballer reputation so the players would behave themselves for when I was looking at the ME, which gave me somewhat of an advantage. Just after the 3rd round of the FA Cup at my second season at Stalybridge I was approached by Watford, who were languishing at the foot of the Championship with no money, a poor squad and shot morale. Confident of my ability of saving them, I decided to accept the job.

Keeping Watford up that season was the biggest challenge of my FM career. Three of my first four matches were away against the 1st, 2nd and 3rd placed teams, all of which I lost, plunging me deeper into trouble and further damaging morale. Many of the squad disliked each other and quickly took a dislike to me. Over half of my staring eleven wanted to leave. I managed to snag a Danish winger on deadline day with the little money I had, which gave me at least some quality on the left flank and set about trying to survive.

I put every ounce of knowledge I had into trying to survive that season. However, the lack of player quality and shot morale kept on killing me. I drew games I dominated, either failing to score or conceding soft equalisers when I did. I played well away only to lose to late kick in the teeth winners, often from set pieces. Alongside this, I sometimes picked up a win and sometimes got completely battered. With three matches to go, I was still dead last. However, two of these games were against the teams in second and fourth last positions, with the third and last against a team in a safe mid-table position. The way the other fixtures worked out meant I still had my destiny in my own hands.

I doubt I have ever prepared as meticulously as I did for those last three matches. I checked out their defences and decided my tall but slow forward would be muscled out of the game and provide no threat, so I picked my speedy youngster who had hardly scored all season. Although still providing no physical presence, he would cause the defences problems with his speed.

The opening match saw him speed through onto a through ball late in the first half only to be hauled down in the penalty area, leading to a red card and a penalty, which he converted himself. Form thereon in I played keep ball and comfortably saw out the 1-0 victory. The second match was the tricky one, being away against the fourth bottom side in which a draw would pretty much kill my survival chances off. Not surprisingly, it was dour and dirty, with neither side taking any risks. However, with time added on being played, the speedy forward latched onto a punted clearance, outpaced the cover and coolly slotted home to give me a vital victory that took me out of the bottom three for the first time since I took over.

I still needed to win my last match to be sure of safety. In the first half that looked a certainty as my team outplayed the opposition from beginning to end, taking a deserved 1-0 lead into the break. However, midway through the second half, the 'soft goal from set pieces' weakness came back to hit me again and we conceded. A quick glance at the table saw that I had dropped back into the bottom three. Throwing caution to the wind, I went overload. Nothing. No chances, no highlights. The nerves had struck my side and relegation looked inevitable.

After 20 minutes of chanceless football and with the match once again entering time added on, I finally won a corner. My 36-year old playmaker, playing his last ever match before retirement, strode up to take it. As it swung to the near post I could see none of my players were going to get there and it would be headed clear. However, the opposing defender allowed it to glance off his head into the side of his teammate and then into the goal. A totally undeserved last minute own goal out of the blue. I quickly shut up shop and saw out the win.

The next two seasons saw me turn Watford from relegation battlers to champions, winning the Championship by a country mile in my third season as manager by using a combination of loans, frees and transfer listed players. As I was preparing for the Premiership, I was offered a job by the Argentinian side, San Lorenzo de Almagro. Never having managed in Argentina before and frustrated by Watford's board, I decided to take up the position. For realism's sake, I tend to take jobs with big wage increases, which tipped the balance in this case.

For those of you who haven't played in Argentina, the season is split into two stages, the Opening and Closing stage. The Opening Stage is paralleled by the Copa Sudamericana, the latter by the Copa de Libertadores. When I took over, San Lorenzo had just come off winning the previous two stages of the Argentinian league. Although they were missing the really good players of some other teams, they had a very experienced spine that had played together for years and loved the club. Managing was easy and I quickly added a third stage win and the Copa Sudamericana to their trophy cabinet.

However, the second half of the opening season began to offer some interesting challenges as the team began to break up. My right winger was sold under me by my board. My centre forward asked to be transferred as he wanted a new challenge. My four midfielders (aged 31, 32, 33, 35) who rotated to form a three man midfield started to drop in stamina. For the first half of the season, it was easy to rotate them and see out matches. However, as they begin to decline physically, the harsher conditions and rapid match turnover began to ask serious questions of them. I found that if I hadn't made games secure after 60 minutes, my midfield, previously so dominant, would begin to get overrun. I began to concede late goals and drop points I would never have done first half of the season. I still came second in the Closing Stage, and first overall, but was dumped out of the Copa de Libertadores at the quarter final stage and was totally outclassed in the end of season Recoba.

Going into the pre-season of my current season, I realised I had to change things around if I were to compete. I spent a large chunk of my budget on securing a replacement DMC and an extra DC to try and bolster the defence. I replaced the right winger with a like for like player and picked up a creative MC, who had been released because of a cruciate injury, on a free. I also brought in a fair amount of cheap but raw talent to act as cover, expecting to bring them on to replace tired legs later in the game.

My pre-season back room meeting then provided me with a bit of a shock. I was told our lack of height would be a problem. Looking through the starting eleven, I could see why. My midfield and right winger were all tiny. Up until then, I'd been using my standard free kick/corner set up. Seeing the jumping issues, I switched things around and kept the small guys back.

As I hit the start of the season, my first serious injury crisis of my save hit. My starting keeper, DCR, DMC, AMR & AML all picked up injuries, some of which had 2-3 months recovery prognoses. Furthermore, the cruciate injury still hadn't fully healed and my back up 18-year old DMC got injured in a reserve game. Suddenly, I was having to play 16-year olds in key positions and backup/out of position players on both flanks. I struggled through the opening two games, with my new set piece routine paying dividends. However, the third game, at home against Velez, saw me being completely outplayed. I lost 2-0 and was lucky it wasn't five. I was never in it.

I bounced back in my next game through two set piece goals and am in 5th. I now find myself in a situation where I cannot win games through outfield dominance as my squad is a combination of too old, too raw, not talented enough or talented but not gelled. My set piece routines need to be excellent as I will not score so many from outfield moves. I have to be more cautious tactically as my midfield will not provide the possession and cutting edge of the previous season.

My save has seen me dominating through having the complete respect of my players (Stalybridge), struggling when not having it (Watford: 1st season), developing a side in my own image (Watford: 2nd and 3rd seasons), dominating with a side that knew each other inside out and barely needed me (San Lorenzo: 1st Stage), trying to keep an ageing side performing (San Lorenzo: 2nd Stage) and rebuilding a team (San Lorenzo: current). Each challenge provides completely different man, motivational, strategic and tactical challenges. Each is fun in its own unique way.

In playing, I am not trying to develop a classic tactic that 'breaks' and 'outperforms' the ME, but only the creator settings and touchline shouts. The only exception is using the advanced options to set up set pieces that suit my players. Again, I am not trying to break the ME but employ realistic routines that get the best out of the players I have. When I win, bar perhaps the early San Lorenzo matches when I inherited a top side just after its peak, I know it is down to my strategic (squad management), tactical and motivational decisions. If I win it is because I deserved to. If I lose, it is my fault.

The way I play the game, I see all this information and detail. Partly it is my understanding of the ME and AI from Beta testing/designing the TC, partly it is down to my background in management research. Because I see it, the game is incredibly rewarding. Good decisions bring good results. Bad ones disaster. However, I believe I only see it all because of my deep involvement in the game and real life management. Many forum discussions and posters fail to capture the depth and context of the game, which is where frustration lies.

Perhaps some of the motivational, strategic and tactical management elements need to be a little more specific so others might better appreciate their intricacies? Perhaps it would make things too in your face? I'm not sure.

What I am sure of is how much I am enjoying the game playing in this manner. Perhaps it is just me and my managerial/tactical geekiness, or perhaps this is how the game could be if all its elements were more explicit and easier to understand. Whatever the answer, I'm hoping this post might generate some interesting discussion about elements that people like/dislike/miss/are aware of/work/don't work. If not, then at the very least I hope you enjoyed the story of my save

[SFraser]

Great read. That's FM in a nutshell.

I have never understood those that accelerate through seasons, downloading tactics and training regimes and then come on the forums asking rediculous questions like "how do I stop conceding goals?"

Do these people not like football?

I was going to respond to your post in GD but it is in GD. I don't know why you still post there.

[ZdlR]

Yeah, another from me. There seems to be more of a story-arc to seasons and individual matches in this version. I have no idea how SI have managed to do it, because it feels so much like football sometimes that it surely can't just be random. The game must have 'known' what that last-minute own-goal must have meant to your Watford team, even if it is just embodied in both sets of players. It would be interesting to learn what the own-goal scorer's "important matches" stat was.

Each match has its own story, too. If you click on any rivals match result, championship head-to-head or basement battle, there'll be a story that unfolds over the course of the 90 minutes.

[WoIfsong]

A very interesting read!

[Sokem]

Good read and I agree with you about there needing a better understanding

It's great to have people like Cleon, Wolfsong and Justified who put in time to try and explain whats going on and how to make certain things work and usually after reading through their posts what they are saying is common sense but sometimes you just need that starting point to get your own thinking on track

I think SI could go along way if they gave more feedback, if, for example, you picked short passing on the lowest setting and had the team play as wide as possible the feedback would be "your team is playing too wide for a short passing game" from your backroom staff so you then have the option to change your tactic to play a more direct game or a more narrow game depending on your tactical ideas

knowledge is power as they say

[jaycar]

Great read, maybe a lesson in enjoying the game and not obsessing about 100% winning streaks

[Cleon]

Great read. That's FM in a nutshell.

I have never understood those that accelerate through seasons, downloading tactics and training regimes and then come on the forums asking rediculous questions like "how do I stop conceding goals?"

Do these people not like football?

I was going to respond to your post in GD but it is in GD. I don't know why you still post there.

I think that's were a lot of problems come from, with the people who download certain tactics without knowing how or why they work. A lot of people don't read full threads but rather just look for the download link and expect to understand them.

I've got a game on the go now with Sheffield FC and I've never had more enjoyment from the game. Normally I also don't get the time to play for enjoyment but this version of the game I've found I've had the time to play for fun. Personally I'm enjoying this version of the game much more than any other version. But I think that's more to do with the fantastic tier 10 league structure by Super Bladesman. Its made the game much more long term for me now.

Good read and I agree with you about there needing a better understanding

It's great to have people like Cleon, Wolfsong and Justified who put in time to try and explain whats going on and how to make certain things work and usually after reading through their posts what they are saying is common sense but sometimes you just need that starting point to get your own thinking on track

I think SI could go along way if they gave more feedback, if, for example, you picked short passing on the lowest setting and had the team play as wide as possible the feedback would be "your team is playing too wide for a short passing game" from your backroom staff so you then have the option to change your tactic to play a more direct game or a more narrow game depending on your tactical ideas

knowledge is power as they say

It would be good if when selecting short passing for example if a little clip played and showed you what it does. A bit like the TC alreay tells you what something does, but instead of saying a more visual picture or clip would go a long way to making it much more clearer.

Nice post wwfan btw

[itsallaboutthierry]

I personally enjoy how much the FM series has grown up with me. Like many I started playing champ man from the original to CM2 etc as a kid. As I've grown up and my knowledge of football has increased so the game has evolved in complexity to keep pace with me and keep it challenging.

The only concern I have with that; whilst it suits me fine; is that kids who are new to the game now have a lot of catching up to do and there is a possibility that FM is becoming a bit too expansive as a simulation for them. I'm a teacher so I tend to have conversations with teenagers about football and really, beyond knowing that Ronaldo and Gerrard are good they don't yet have the depth of knowledge that comes from watching football for years. I hope that FM doesn't become inaccessible to them and becomes a club for a particular generation instead of being open to all. I think FM is on the brink of this happening as it becomes more and more sophisticated and it's important to remember that both football and gaming are just a casual interest to a lot of people.

Then again the game's sales figures each year would tend to suggest otherwise...

[phnompenhandy]

It would be interesting to learn what the own-goal scorer's "important matches" stat was.

It wasn't important for him - his team were midtable with nothing to play for.

A big from me too for a superb narrative. This is exactly how I enjoy the game as well. Sure there are flaws in the ME but if you look beyond that, just like in real life if you look beyond refereeing decisions that go against you, you can appreciate the unique experience that FM is.

FWIW when I got my mits on FM10 I resolved to only use the TC and avoid the sliders. however, I have justified clicking 'advanced' for certain tweaks such as telling an individual player on a yellow to go easy in the tackling. When you want a realistic experience it isn't too hard to apply a littel common sense.

[phnompenhandy]

I've got a game on the go now with Sheffield FC and I've never had more enjoyment from the game. Normally I also don't get the time to play for enjoyment but this version of the game I've found I've had the time to play for fun. Personally I'm enjoying this version of the game much more than any other version. But I think that's more to do with the fantastic tier 10 league structure by Super Bladesman. Its made the game much more long term for me now.

REALLY!!! I must confess I've skipped over your threads on Sheffield United because I enjoy lower league management. I'm managing in Tier 10 at the moment. So i'm fascinated to see you managing the oldest club in the world. Have you posted about it in a thread I've overlooked, or are you planning to?

[Cleon]

REALLY!!! I must confess I've skipped over your threads on Sheffield United because I enjoy lower league management. I'm managing in Tier 10 at the moment. So i'm fascinated to see you managing the oldest club in the world. Have you posted about it in a thread I've overlooked, or are you planning to?

Not posted about it yet as it would draw the fun out of the game for me. That's why I always write about Sheffield United as those kinds of games never last more than 4 or 5 seasons for me. I might do though eventually when I finished doing all the other stuff I'm currently involved in.

I'm a LLM at heart, you'd never guess though eh?!!

The game as more of a lifeline the further you start down and you really do feel more fun and enjoyment as you don't over complicate things and things like finding players and staff take much more time for me. So the game is played a lot different on my part than it would compare to Sheffield United due to all the things wwfan touches upon.

[FunnyBunny]

Hi, nice thread.

I've been playing this game since CM3 and a lot has changed since.

But the greatest difference is between 2009 and 2010. I always could create a nice tactic and outplay the opposition.

This year I find it hard to be the dominant side. And this thread explains why I'm failing to manage. I always hated to do speeches after the game, giving interviews etc...

That's why I have an AM... To do the stupid jobs

I also hated making my own training regime, so I always downloaded a nice one from the forums. Since it always takes loads of times to create a good one.

Why do I hate all this? When I come home I want to play macthes, try to win trophies with my own created tactic, which also takes time to create but gives you satisfaction and make you think bout the way you play. If you have to think about everything every single game, it takes ages before you have played a season...

This is just a personal opinion, but most of the players of this game don't like to micromanage every aspect.

I want it to be realistic, but if you have to look after so much stuf to do it right, it bores me fast.

Maybe I need a bit more time to appreciate it. Gonna start a new game and try to do better.

[phnompenhandy]

The game as more of a lifeline the further you start down and you really do feel more fun and enjoyment as you don't over complicate things and things like finding players and staff take much more time for me. So the game is played a lot different on my part than it would compare to Sheffield United due to all the things wwfan touches upon.

Completely agree. I've got no money to buy my way to success, so I have to do my best with my squad of 36, half of whom are 16 or 17. Therefore, I have to squeeze the most out of tactics and man-management. I feel I really get to know my players too, which is a very rewarding experience.

[SFraser]

Hi, nice thread.

I've been playing this game since CM3 and a lot has changed since.

But the greatest difference is between 2009 and 2010. I always could create a nice tactic and outplay the opposition.

This year I find it hard to be the dominant side. And this thread explains why I'm failing to manage. I always hated to do speeches after the game, giving interviews etc...

That's why I have an AM... To do the stupid jobs

I also hated making my own training regime, so I always downloaded a nice one from the forums. Since it always takes loads of times to create a good one.

Why do I hate all this? When I come home I want to play macthes, try to win trophies with my own created tactic, which also takes time to create but gives you satisfaction and make you think bout the way you play. If you have to think about everything every single game, it takes ages before you have played a season...

This is just a personal opinion, but most of the players of this game don't like to micromanage every aspect.

I want it to be realistic, but if you have to look after so much stuf to do it right, it bores me fast.

Maybe I need a bit more time to appreciate it. Gonna start a new game and try to do better.

I don't find that there is all that much micromanagement outside of matches and tactics during the normal course of a season but I certainly do a lot of micromanagement during the off season. A normal week for me would be sending my key scout to follow up on reports coming from other scouts that are building up my scouting knowledge or watching particular leagues, maybe switching a couple of training schedules around for players that are not recovering quickly from games or are injured, flicking through the player profiles of my club to see what's what with everyone from youth to 1st team, looking up the calender to plan my next few games and then building up to the next match.

During transfer windows I might fiddle around with a few loan players, hunt for some affiliates, look through my scout reports for any bargains and gems, do the same with player search but nothing major.

During the off season however I would be going over my club with a fine tooth comb, rearranging scouting patterns and altering my scout network, looking over contracts, studying the Training details of most players for the past year, hunting through the scout reports and player and staff search for people that will improve my club, organising my youth team and loan players and first team squad status, redoing all my mentoring, planning friendlies to try and gain additional income combined to match experience and fitness, and doing my best to consider every possible aspect of my club that can be improved to make sure my run at next season is starting from a superior position to the last.

It is really the start of the first year at a new club that is by far the most time intensive. Everything else from then on in is a matter of keeping your eye on the ball and doing what is necessary to improve and gain results. You don't need much in the way of dramatic overhauls if you get a good basis setup for your club in your first few months on the job, and it is generally better to consider longterm evolution for a club rather than short term dramatic and invasive surgery. Once you get that initial setup and strategy on the go you can sit back and get on with the job of managing your club day to day and watching it develop.

If you don't know what the game is capable of and how to make use of it and set things up for maximum gains for mininum micromanagement then yes the game is brutally time consuming, but there are guides for just about everything in these forums including things like how to develop a simple system that acts like a proper "youth academy" for maximum returns from minimum fiddling. The game is really all about setting up the best environment to produce what you want, and providing the necessary tweaks and pushes and changes here and there. You could argue that the more you get involved in the game, the less you actually have to do.

[Svenc]

Sorry for the thread resurrection, but I've got to say reading this thread was a joy. However having not played FM 2010 I'm starting to suspect whether this season there are multiple versions of the game going around. There is a copy of FM11 going around in which even newcomers make Barcelona, Inter and Real look ordinary if they just set up a tactics and stick with it, never bothering with any of the detail: pitch dimensions, elaborated match plans, elaborated analysis and the tactical changes that should spring from that, and so forth. As long as you're able to keep your players happy, you're well set to overachieve.

Sure, there's also the issue with unrealistic scouting mechanics which you can opt to exploit or not. But is morale overpowered this season? Is the game even halfway as solid a sim as it is depicted in the opening post? I'm also talking personal experience. In every season I had prolonged series of always getting results even managing teams that were at best compared to the competition. I'm currently managing the cheapest side in 2. Bundesliga, the media predicts me to finish dead last, but a series of fantastic results saw me collecting 25 points in 13 games. Unless something terribly bad is going to happen, the predicted relegation battle should be over come January. How I won promotion prior? By witnessing prolonged series of good results despite managing an average at best side. A side that was then equally tipped to get relegated a tier below. That is Saarbrücken - with better sides compared to the corresponding league's standard players report series of 20+ matches unbeaten. Players that are completely new to the game, that is.

Maybe enthusiasts can argue about theories how FM can be enjoyed as the simulation we're being told it to be. But success appears as easy to come by as in your run-off-the-mill management game. Even if you disagree, I'm offering this as a counter opinion to those who claim the opposite, see Funny Bunny's post. ;-)

[lam]

I have found a new love for the game again......... mostly through some very inspirational threads from the usual culprits (most of you have posted in here!).

Funnily too, this is the most enjoyable its been for a while, as I have gone back to the raw game, at least my interpretation of it...... Full game viewing (2D classic of course!!!), and NO cheats - FMRTE and Scoutgenie.......

Back to actualy playing the game I paid for.............

ps.... whats the Teir 10 stuff.... i ahve done a search and can't find anything.... anyone got a link?

[Mike_Cardinal]

Great stuff. The game is so much more enjoyable and so much less frustrating when you play it properly - like you ARE a football manager, not someone playing a game who has a god given right to win everything with ease. Playing realistically and motivating/getting the best tactically out of an average set of players who you bring in over time to success is so much more enjoyable than just finding the best 'cheat tactic' and splurging money on every star you can find - and it's more effective!

[furiousuk]

I've always tried to play as realistically as possible but this year has found it more achievable. I only buy FM every 2 years as I'll still be stuck into a save when the new one comes out so this year has also seen me reading and posting more on here and reading some of the really long, good threads from the past year and a half. It really has encouraged me to try much more with the game and even encouraged me to write a thread to help others who may struggle with the complexities of the game. I'm a sports coach in RL but this year, more so than previous FMs, philosophies and methods that I adopt in RL can actually achieve good results in FM. FM is definitely moving towards more realism in my opinion and the TC is a great addition (I was a real slider hound before but love the change and use the TC almost exclusively, fiddling with roles and duties to get the sliders roughly where I want them).