What makes FM14 so much harder than previous games?

[HappyStreet]

I am starting to think that the AI for this game is pretty botched or maybe i am just bad.

I have put thousands of hours into many earlier editions in the series and as i got better i stopped caring about getting the sack. When playing FM11, 12 and 13 it wasnt really a threat because i was good enough to solve it. Atm i have about 800 hours in FM14 and i have gotten the sack or just quit most of my saves. I am no tactical mastermind nor am i a tactical dinosaur, i would say i am quite decent at it. I just can not for the life of me make the players perform in this game. So i ask, what has changed compared to earlier games? In what ways do i need to adapt as a player to yet again enjoy this series. I can to decent effectiveness look at opposition and tweak my playstyle accordingly but it just doesn't seem to do enough.

[bababooey]

I don't think it's harder than previous versions, granted I've only played FM since FM11.

Please post your tactics, preferably screen shots, and we can help you out.

[HappyStreet]

Please post your tactics, preferably screen shots, and we can help you out.

Basically every formation and playstyle under the sun. The only one i remember having sucess with was a narrow 4312 and a 3421.

[bababooey]

You really need to keep things simple, pick a formation that fits your players, and stick with it. Have you read any of the stickied threads on this forum? Also, try reading some of my started threads. That may get you thinking in the right direction!

[Shake Appeal]

The defending is particularly bad this year, but it cuts both ways.

[HappyStreet]

You really need to keep things simple, pick a formation that fits your players, and stick with it. Have you read any of the stickied threads on this forum? Also, try reading some of my started threads. That may get you thinking in the right direction!

I have read all those threads but this thread was created with the intent of highlighting the differences between FM14 and earlier years when it comes to tactical managing.

[bababooey]

I'm not sure there is a difference. Either you know how to manage / create tactics / make changes or you don't. That's where the threads on here come in handy.

Also, I use guidetofootballmanager.com because it's extremely helpful too!

[Cleon]

I have read all those threads but this thread was created with the intent of highlighting the differences between FM14 and earlier years when it comes to tactical managing.

Honestly there is none. If you could create good tactics on FM5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13 and now 14 that didn't take advantage of any flaws then you'd still be doing well now. Any good tactic that is good and not using flaws like we saw in early versions of the game will always work. That's all that's really changed and good tactics will work on FM15, 16, 17 and so on. What's changed now is there are less exploits so some people before were using them knowingly and some unknowingly (due to no fault of their own) and this is (imo) the main reason a lot of people claim to be good at tactic making yet say they struggle now. It's either that or people weren't as good as they think they are

In your OP you said;

I am no tactical mastermind nor am i a tactical dinosaur, i would say i am quite decent at it.

Yet you are struggling so you can't be good at it with all respect. So my advice to you would be to tell you to forget everything you think you might know and start from scratch again with a clear mind. That way you can keep things simple and try things you might not normally do. FM isn't hard if you stick to a few basics like this;

1 - Decide on a shape you want to use

2 - Decide what type of football you want to play

3 - Find out if you actually have the players in your side to logically and realistically be able to play this way. If not repeat question 2

4 - If you tick all the above then have a good think about the roles you will need to use to be able to play that way. By this I mean if you use a lone striker then you need to make sure he gets support so isn't isolated from the midfield and need people both running to and beyond him. Or if you play 2 strikers then who is going to be creating space and how will you get the ball to 2 strikers? Or you might want to focus passing down the wings and play off crosses, if that's the case then who is going to get on the end of them? How likely is this to happen and what kind of support?

Ask yourself questions like that and before you know it you've already eliminated a lot of roles/duties that won't be suitable for what you are trying to create. Once you've eliminated some of them then it becomes a lot easier and clearer to know which roles you should be using to play the desired way. If you have no real plan of how you want to play then it'll be hard to just stumble across a combination that works because you have no idea of how the team needs to be playing so when it comes to spotting issues then you won't really know what to look for. Or more importantly how to fix things.

So if you want success and to do it really easy start simple like the above and work from that. When you begin to learn more or feel more confident then you start adjusting things and experimenting. But first you need to create a solid base of some kind to work from, the above should allow this

[Torskus77]

The biggest difference I have noticed is you have to give your players space to play in now. Your roles have to be set up so there isn't players trying to use the same space. In previous versions they seemed to find their own space, move in to other areas if it got congested, they almost bump in to each other on FM14 if you set things up poorly. It's challenging, but it's far better in my opinion. I never played FM13, because FM12, although a fantastic game, just became so boring because it was so easy. I got bored of winning every trophy every season without having to think to much about anything.

[HTC]

IT IS harder and this is clear in European matches, or when you manage a mediocre team in big leagues.

You cant overachive that easy and that soon than you could in previous versions.

[Torskus77]

IT IS harder and this is clear in European matches, or when you manage a mediocre team in big leagues.

You cant overachive that easy and that soon than you could in previous versions.

I agree, but I think all previous versions that I've played at least have been far to easy.

[shirajzl]

There are many reasons, but a few stand out.

Firstly, what Cleon explained, there are very few, if any, true match engine exploits. The exploits have been a trademark of CM/FM series since the very beginning and people got used to them (even when not purposely relying on them).

The second reason ties into the first. As a result of the ME not being difficult to beat, people got used to more laid back, casual approach. Experiment with tactics for a little bit, find something that works (without necessarily understanding why) and just stick with the same tactic forever. You'd overachieve from the get-go and trophies would start pouring in as soon as you've established yourself on the scouting stage, i.e. finding most of the future superstars regularly.

Now, you have to pay attention to what's happening on the pitch every match and adjust accordingly, which is perfectly fine for the portion of users who have always played like that, but it's a nightmare for others who love casually winning trophies with their favourite team.

The solution is to learn the way things work tactically, but there lies the problem as well. The lack of documentation is by far the biggest problem of this FM imo. People like Cleon advise to "think about the roles you will need to use", but that's impossible when an average user has no or very little idea of everything that includes player's behaviour in a certain position, role, duty and with different fluidity, mentality etc. The only way forward is to watch a lot of matches in full first to observe what each role does exactly in different scenarios and then apply the knowledge in the future, but that's something a lot of people don't or won't do because it's tiresome/time consuming/not fun/any other reason for them.

[bababooey]

To be fair to SI, I would assume the reason for the lack of documentation is that they're figuring many people who pick up the game already understand tactics and are able to understand everything in the game.

That being said, I agree it would be nice to have more information about certain things.. I always considered myself a knowledgeable fan (I played briefly when I was young, too). But FM has actually forced me to learn quite a bit about tactics than I otherwise would have known.

[HamoudiLFC]

This game has been a tad harder and I used to quit easily. You just have to keep going, I have a save currently with Uniao Madeira and I got promoted to the top division in a season in Portugal, and I know for a fact my tactics and my squad are good enough in this league, and that each win will help us! We went 8 games without a win before (and that including 6-2 and 4-0 drubbings to SLB and FCP, along with a game against Sporting where I was 1-0 up with 10 men before losing it in the last 11 minutes).

I also have changed my tactics during matches to give me the overloads in different positions and I've tried to do my best in cups for finances to help. Also, the "loan back length" has helped me alot as I have sold players for money and loaned them back for a year. Example, once in a match it was my 4-1-4-1 against a 4-2-3-1. They changed to a 4-4-2 in the second half and I decided to go with 3 at the back for a spare man at the back, and went with the 3-4-1-2. This give me 2 wide men, and 3 men in the middle compared to there 2 central midfielders and 2 strikers to take on each of their CBs. You have to look out for things like that. I frankly have seen people who play the game without focusing on tactics (and football is NOT all about tactics, as Jonathan Wilson mentioned) but you have to at least realise the mistakes your team make. If you concede through balls there may be a psychological or footballing reason; may be your CB is tired, injured, low morale or just that he was too high up when he shouldn't have been!

I have learnt a lot by just spurring myself on until I get the sack. Knowledge of shapes and tactics is key to progressing in SOME aspects of the game. The thing about these aspects is that they're very important. I hope I have helped.

[Wizard boy]

If a fm book from cleon was ever brought out about everything from tactics, training to developing youth players. Im sure it would be very popular. I'd certainly buy it.