Has FM Turned A Corner?

[Gregorio Thommassi]

Just started playing FM16 and am currently experimenting with tactics and whatnot. Course, I didn't realise I'd have to experiment with tactics, since the same tactic has produced the same results on each of the last 3 or 4 FM's... but not this time.

Yes, I'm one of those players that just creates a good tactic then hits continue over and over again. The real joy I got from the game was in player recruitment/development and club building.

So I create my usual possession-based 4-1-2-2-1 DM Wide (or 4-3-3) - basically Guardiola's Barca tactic - inside forwards, deep-lying forward, attacking fullbacks, high-pressing etc... I think most of you know the type of tactic I'm on about without me going too deep into it.

But lo and behold, this time, for the first time in years, the tactic doesn't do what it's supposed to do. I play Leicester (a counter-attacking 442), and end up shipping 3 goals in the first 16 minutes. Hey, that can happen, but what was more surprising was that they also somehow had more possession than me. Just to be clear, this is the same tactic that used to get 65-70% posession in each of the last few editions of FM. (Hey, you! Yes, you! Don't worry, I'm not about to start crying about bugs!)

On FM15 I would average about 30 shots on goal per game, with about 10-15 of those on target. This year, it's more like 10 shots on goal and 3 or 4 on target. I can no longer predict if I'm going to win or lose in the last minute (come on, you know what I mean). I score goals when I shouldn't, and concede goals from nowhere. Sometimes tactical changes clearly affect the match, sometimes they have no effect at all.

Now, I've only got around 15 hours game time so far, with a few different teams and tactics, but what this is leading up to is... Has Football Manager turned a corner? I still can't quite decide if what I'm experiencing is simply an increase in randomness, or a concerted effort at more realism. Don't get me wrong, I'm enjoying it, and this is the most engaged I've been with FM in years. But at the same time I'm worried that a future patch might reveal that I've been engaging with a faulty system, and mistaking it for increased realism.

So, what has changed about this year's FM? Has there been any kind of manifesto published by SI that explains a new set of dynamics for FM16? Or am I simply imagining all of this? I definitely feel like there's been a major change this year.

[Guest]

Odd that you'd find it surprising that a tactic designed around a counter attacking approach would not be a possession dominant approach.

There were no significant changes made, plenty of minor tweaks here & there but if you were successful on recent versions you should be fine on FM16, the fact that you're finding it difficult could suggest that your previous approach either intentionally or unintentional exploited flaws in past ME's that have since been addressed or that weakness in your approach are now being exposed when they weren't previously.

[Gregorio Thommassi]

Sorry, I might have been unclear - what I meant was that I played against Leicester, a side who play 442 counter-attacking football.

[Guest]

Ah, right.

Second part of my reply still stands.

[Dagenham_Dave]

Sorry, I might have been unclear - what I meant was that I played against Leicester, a side who play 442 counter-attacking football.

Watch the game again, check the analysis, find out the root cause of why you struggled against that set up, and tweak your tactic to help avoid that in the future. But of course, there's a hundred more variables involved, including the team you are, the mentality and personality of your players, how fit they were at that stage, the morale, the conditions, and of course the fact the opposition might just have 'clicked' on the day. But there's enough feedback available to at least get some sort of handle on what's going wrong. Use it, that's what it's there for.

And finally, forget about previous versions of the game, it's largely irrelevant.

[Guest]

Experiences on previous do matter but I agree that every new FM release should ideally be approached with a clear mind & no baggage from previous versions.

[Gregorio Thommassi]

Both reasonable responses so far, no arguments here. I'm watching the full games, analysing what I can from the match as well as the stats.

I'm inclined to think I might have been unintentionally exploiting the ME in the past. I just won against Steaua 5-4, after being 4-3 down within 30 minutes. It seems like playing with fullbacks on attack (even with an anchor man and a 3-man midfield) is no longer an option.

Like I say, I'm still experimenting.

[Guest]

It's a process, hopefully the extra effort will increase the feeling of satisfaction if you manage to replicate past successes.

[HUNT3R]

The biggest thing to remember : this isn't FM15 anymore. Counter attacking is finally dangerous and AI managers are better (but can still improve quite a bit) in setting up tactics. Being overly attacking or defensive could be dangerous.

[thomit]

I'd say that there are two things in particular that has changed considerably between FM 15 AND 16; leaving your flanks open for exploitation is now much more risky than it used to be - and also playing with a high d-line is made more risky now. If your FM 15 tactics took advantage of one of both these areas (being not as risky as they should be), you probably will have more problems now if you simply ported your FM 15 tactics over to 16. For me, it was my high d-line that met with problems, and I had to adjust my FM tactics in that area particularly in order to make it work properly on FM 16.