More realistic player form and non-pitch stuff?

[mchbitil]

In all previous FM versions, there was a glaring lack of "player being out of form" functionality.

For example, in real life, Di Maria, while having great attributes, just couldn't play well for Manchester United - because he didn't like the weather in Manchester, or because his house was burgled, etc. So the manager chose players who are objectively worse instead of him.

But in FM, up to FM15 at least, you would always choose the player who is better over someone worse, as long as the better player has enough condition and match fitness.

There is "happiness" but it's unclear how it affects the play (and whether it affects it), how it can get worse or better. In addition, if you don't select a player with bad mood, his mood gets worse from not playing, so your hand is kind of forced.

In reality, it's clear when somebody had a bad game, when the head is not in the right place. For example Debuchy or Gabriel in Arsenal vs Bayern, or Schweinsteiger vs Arsenal, Depay in his last games, etc. In FM, the most "form" information you get is that the player tried his best but is getting an "average" rating of 6.1 or so. You wouldn't drop a player with high attributes from the side in FM15 for just having a low-ish rating recently. In short, I never benched a fit high-quality player in FM15 on account of "form" (I would bench only if he is not fit, or if I need to give a start to a youngster) and I feel that it is far from reality.

TL;DR: it's a comment, a question and a feature request - all at the same time. I hope in FM16 there would be situations where you have to bench your 4-star player and replace with 2-star and actually expect that this 2-star would play better than 4-star player today.

[cleaner475]

Form is already in the game and it plays a massive part, I always try to pick in-form players.

So I don't really get this post.

[mchbitil]

Form is already in the game and it plays a massive part, I always try to pick in-form players.

So I don't really get this post.

Can you be more specific? Why and how do you pick in-form players, and why do you think it is helpful? Do you just check that people have high average score in last five games? Do you ever pick the people who had bad rating again?

There is no discussion about form anywhere in tactical guides, and I feel it is about time to start talking about it, especially if it's not properly implemented in the game yet.

[cleaner475]

Can you be more specific? Why and how do you pick in-form players, and why do you think it is helpful? Do you just check that people have high average score in last five games? Do you ever pick the people who had bad rating again?

There is no discussion about form anywhere in tactical guides, and I feel it is about time to start talking about it, especially if it's not properly implemented in the game yet.

Well there's loads of examples. I had a young German CAM on FM12 Arsenal save called Chrisian Kiedorf (regen) he was 17 and had a really high potential, only rated about 1 star at the time. Due to injuries I thought I'd give him a go at CAM and see how he did. Scored on his debut, I was pretty delighted with that. I thought I might as well give him a go in the next game as well. He scored again. Eventually he scored about five goals in his first seven games for the club, eventually that petered out and I chose to replace him with my more experienced player again.

Especially notable when I do lower reputation leagues (Croatia, for example) I have two very good strikers for that level, both 3.5 stars, relatively similar stats, I also go through periods where I'm picking one over the other due to the one of them scoring in a run of games. Sometimes I'll start player A to give player B a rest, even though player B has scored in his past five games. Eventually towards the 60th minute player A has had no impact, yet player B comes off the bench to replace him and scores with his fourth touch.

It's not just goals though, with defenders that are largely similar and yet one is playing worse than the other, I pick the one that's continually playing well.

It happens all the time. Always play in-form players, otherwise you'll play them out of form.