Advice for a beginner learning the game

[ClumsyKea]

Hi all,

I'm very new to fm, I've dipped my toes in the water a couple of times but got a bit overwhelmed each time.

Is there any advice you can give a noobie for learning this game.

For example should I just pick a big, rich team whose players I don't know and go from there or manage the team I support irl (watford) despite them probably being more of a challenge? Or is just learning one section of the game at a time the best way to go, like just doing team selection and tactics for games until I'm actually adequate at it then moving onto say training etc? 

And is it viable to just leave my staff to manage almost everything while while I stumble my way through each section of the game? 

Hopefully thats easy to follow, any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

[99]

Hi,

If you're a beginner I'd recomend some big, rich team yes. So you can try out and experiment a bit with tactics without terrible consequences (the quality of your players would allow you to recover even if you make mistakes) and at the same time you can also try to manage other areas, like setting up a staff, managing training (team and individual), scouting center... and then you see what you like to do, and what you don't like to do (and delegate those to your staff). Because, again, with a big team you can make mistakes in every area and still have a nice chance to win.

Finally you can gradually go for harder jobs. Imagine, you start with an overpowered Liverpool or an overrich Manchester City, and when you win the title, you can go to a big team but not as much favorite, like Arsenal, and when you win the title you try Leicester or Wolves... and your Watford. If you're like many of us you'll end up in lower leagues trying to bring clubs up!

Have fun!

[ClumsyKea]

Thank you for your reply @99

Rich club it is then ive started watching a 3 hour video on tactics and opposition instructions on bustthenet YouTube channel. He seems very knowledgeable on the subject so I think that'll be a good starting point for tactic creation.

Do you have any suggestions for material that explains scouting in good digestible detail?

Thanks

 

[FM_Prospect]

Hi mate, welcome to FM, if you follow a team in the Premier League, LaLiga, Bundesliga etc, i'd recommend starting with them playing through a season or two seasons to get a grip on training, scouting, tactics, youth Intakes, transfer windows, off-seasons, and squad building.

Bust the Net is probably the guy you want to watch and he occasionally posts here under the name Rashidi, although I'm a relatively experienced player now, Zealand puts out some decent informative content too, it's sometimes basic stuff but good if your a beginner and he put's a lot of effort to make the videos humorous and seems like a good dude!. 

I'd suggest reading through the tactics forums here for some tactical help, A dude called Experienced Defender who is a moderator who usually helps and is very good!, also more in depth there are some guides still floating around by a guy called Cleon that are always spot on but he doesn't write anymore unfortunately I'd love to hear his thoughts on the new versions of FM!.

Once you get a feel for the game, I wouldn't be shy to try a team from League One, and build them up slowly...me personally that's where I find the most satisfaction!.

[99]

1 hora atrás, ClumsyKea disse:

Thank you for your reply @99

Rich club it is then ive started watching a 3 hour video on tactics and opposition instructions on bustthenet YouTube channel. He seems very knowledgeable on the subject so I think that'll be a good starting point for tactic creation.

Do you have any suggestions for material that explains scouting in good digestible detail?

Thanks

 

Yeah mate bustthenet / @Rashidiis my Football Manager mentor. Good choice.

[Matt ex SEGA]

4 hours ago, ClumsyKea said:

Hi all,

I'm very new to fm, I've dipped my toes in the water a couple of times but got a bit overwhelmed each time.

Is there any advice you can give a noobie for learning this game.

For example should I just pick a big, rich team whose players I don't know and go from there or manage the team I support irl (watford) despite them probably being more of a challenge? Or is just learning one section of the game at a time the best way to go, like just doing team selection and tactics for games until I'm actually adequate at it then moving onto say training etc? 

And is it viable to just leave my staff to manage almost everything while while I stumble my way through each section of the game? 

Hopefully thats easy to follow, any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Welcome on board, friend.  A few tips, although its been a few years since I was a rookie.

I'd probably start with a team I was familiar with - it just means that there's one thing that you're not learning.

When you start setting up tactics - let the game do the heavy lifting, just for a bit.  Pick a style, and a formation, and get through a few games just playing around with the mentality - you'll see plenty of things just changing that a bit.  I'm sure, like all of us, you're the second coming of Pep Guardiola and Arrigo Sacchi - but there are SO MANY things you can start to mess with and until you've had a look at what your team are doing, the temptation is just to do everything.

Get a good look at your backroom staff, make sure you have decent scouts, and don't worry too much about the youth teams for now - unless you've got a gem or two in there.

Use the tutorial to get familiar with how the game works!  And don't be afraid of using Staff Responsibilities to offload some stuff while you're figuring other bits out.

Before you know it it'll be Xmas (in your first season, not 25 days from now) and you'll have played half a season, and you'll have a better idea about where you are!

Good luck.

[Johnny Ace]

Use your assistant manager's advice for creating a tactic, he'll recommend a style & formation to get you started, then you can take it from there with your adjustments

Delegate as much as you can to your staff in the Staff Responsibilities screen, it'll give you less work to do then you can take responsibility as you go along  

[DementedHammer]

One thing I would recommend with tactics is to keep it simple, especially in the beginning. If you throw too many instructions together at once and things don't work out then it is very hard to figure out what to change. 

When starting a new version of FM, on my very first game I start with a totally empty tactic (no team or player instructions at all) to see how the match engine naturally plays out. Then, I'll start making minor incremental changes until my team is playing the way that I desire. 

Also, in the beginning, I'd recommend at least watching part of your match in full. You'll more quickly learn what is working and what is not, and be able to tweak your tactics much more quickly then if you're only watching quick highlights. 

Finally, there's no shame in starting out with FM Touch first to get used to the core of FM, then moving to the full version if you want to get more hands on with some of the more immersive parts of the game. 

Edited December 1, 2020 by DementedHammer

[ClumsyKea]

Thank you for the replies! You've been very helpful

[ClumsyKea]

4 minutes ago, DementedHammer said:

One thing I would recommend with tactics is to keep it simple, especially in the beginning. If you throw too many instructions together at once and things don't work out then it is very hard to figure out what to change. 

When starting a new version of FM, on my very first game I start with a totally empty tactic (no team or player instructions at all) to see how the match engine naturally plays out. Then, I'll start making minor incremental changes until my team is playing the way that I desire. 

Would you recommend watching the full game or comprehensive highlights

[DementedHammer]

1 minute ago, ClumsyKea said:

Would you recommend watching the full game or comprehensive highlights

Personally, I watch full. But I think the majority would use and recommend comprehensive. 

Some people use a combination of both, and start out watching full matches and then switch to comprehensive once they get a feeling for how the match is progressing. 

Ultimately, different people prefer different levels of highlights. But, if you really want to analyse your tactics, the more of the match that you watch the better. 

[ClumsyKea]

Thanks @DementedHammer, I just re read your first message (its getting late here so my brains going to sleep) I was thinking of asking if touch would be worth trying to begin with. Especially for just trying to dive into tactics first up. So I think I'll do that for a bit. 

Are there any limitations to training or scouting on fmt if I feel I have a grasp on tactics and decide to dabble a bit in those areas of the game?

Edited December 1, 2020 by ClumsyKea

[DementedHammer]

15 minutes ago, ClumsyKea said:

Are there any limitations to training or scouting on fmt if I feel I have a grasp on tactics and decide to dabble a bit in those areas of the game?

The tactical side is identical (except there is no tactical familiarity penalty, so players instantly learn new tactics in FM Touch). But, both scouting, and (in particular) training are significantly simplified in Touch compared with the full version. (At least in FM Touch 20 - I haven't tried FM Touch 21 yet.) 

Edited December 1, 2020 by DementedHammer

[ClumsyKea]

Sweet I'll use fmt to muck around with tactics then. How deep into the match analysis do I need to go? Like the heat maps and stuff coz that stuff makes my head spin haha 

[wazzaflow10]

13 hours ago, ClumsyKea said:

Would you recommend watching the full game or comprehensive highlights

I usually watch the first 10-15 mins to make sure I didn't miss anything obvious like I really need to man mark a certain player out of the game or if a team is high pressing unexpectedly to play more direct and on the counter if I'm not already. Those are more advanced tweaks but if I feel good about the rhythm and flow of the game I might switch it to comprehensive at that point. Maybe check back in at the half hour mark and watch a little more to see if there's any half time adjustments to make.

One thing to note on the full fat version (and possibly on fmt) messing around with the tactics mid game will confuse your players. I try to give them at least 15-20 mins at one setting before making any further tweaks unless I'm getting carved open or there was a sending off etc. 

This also may be quite helpful for you old but still mostly relevant. There might be a 2020 version floating around somewhere.

 

[UKFA]

On 01/12/2020 at 00:44, ClumsyKea said:

Hi all,

I'm very new to fm, I've dipped my toes in the water a couple of times but got a bit overwhelmed each time.

Is there any advice you can give a noobie for learning this game.

For example should I just pick a big, rich team whose players I don't know and go from there or manage the team I support irl (watford) despite them probably being more of a challenge? Or is just learning one section of the game at a time the best way to go, like just doing team selection and tactics for games until I'm actually adequate at it then moving onto say training etc? 

And is it viable to just leave my staff to manage almost everything while while I stumble my way through each section of the game? 

Hopefully thats easy to follow, any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

I always start with my teams rivals, so I don't care about losing, or just mucking around with stuff to try it out. Then once I'm starting to get the hang of it I'll switch to a neutral club, who I don't mind winning stuff. I would start with as much as possible delegated to staff. In the past I've used the editor to give my team perfect backroom staff, with perfect decisions, so I can see how it should be done. Some people will say it's cheating, which is true but when you're just learning who cares? Everyone has different ways of doing things, there's no right or wrong it's about enjoying the game.

[FMunderachiever]

On 01/12/2020 at 00:44, ClumsyKea said:

Hi all,

I'm very new to fm, I've dipped my toes in the water a couple of times but got a bit overwhelmed each time.

Is there any advice you can give a noobie for learning this game.

For example should I just pick a big, rich team whose players I don't know and go from there or manage the team I support irl (watford) despite them probably being more of a challenge? Or is just learning one section of the game at a time the best way to go, like just doing team selection and tactics for games until I'm actually adequate at it then moving onto say training etc? 

And is it viable to just leave my staff to manage almost everything while while I stumble my way through each section of the game? 

Hopefully thats easy to follow, any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Id start with a team thats pretty familiar to you who are pretty decent. Like for example your own club or a good premier league team.

Id start with simple tactics without lots of instructions that take some real life inspiration and dont attach too much importance to this save, just play around and learn the effects of tactical tweaks.

For things like training you can delegate this but also look for schedules others have created and learn from them. You can do a lot of more "general" training to good effect and use match preparation training close to the game.

If you have a familiar team you probably have an idea where it needs strengthening so set up a scout assignment to look into this talent but a broader current ability one rather than wonderkids and get used to getting availibility feedback from the agent and desirable characteristics you want.

Start slow and delegate things at first and then pick up more responsibility IF you want to.

 

Good luck!

[emil_sbn]

Stuff I do and get fairly successful is focusing on the things I like about the game and delegate the other to my staff. There is no point in playing imo if I'm sitting and doing stuff I find boring like training schedules, analyze heatmaps and passing lanes. 

Stuff I like to prioritize are tactics, transfers and man-management. 

Oh and one last tip dont ever listen to your assistant manager he's almost all the time wrong with what he says!

[ClumsyKea]

thank you for the latest replies

[f.zaarour]

There is a lot. What you could do is watch some youtube vids, there is a lot about Fm21 for beginners with nice tips etc

 

[Harper]

The biggest thing for me was to read the descriptions of the player roles and team instructions. Don't assume you know what each thing does from your real-world knowledge

[BigRedMart]

On 01/12/2020 at 02:28, ClumsyKea said:

Thank you for your reply @99

Rich club it is then ive started watching a 3 hour video on tactics and opposition instructions on bustthenet YouTube channel. He seems very knowledgeable on the subject so I think that'll be a good starting point for tactic creation.

Do you have any suggestions for material that explains scouting in good digestible detail?

Thanks

 

My favourite content creator too along with Fox in the box. Also explains things very well. @Rashidi

Edit:Typo 

Edited December 5, 2020 by BigRedMart

[Junkhead]

I understand the advice about starting with a top team as it's more likely to turn things around as you make mistakes, but even as a veteran player I personally find that this is something that I have to build up to in each version.

I find it a lot easier to get my head around the new features at the lowest level as there is much less to worry about on a daily basis. 

For example, if you started at St Albans, you are at a side local to Watford with a realistic aim of getting the job you want somewhere down the line. However your squad will be about 20 players in total, expectations will be much lower, they will be part time so training is easier to manage, and you can then learn and bring new parts of the game in as you go. If you start with no first window transfers it means you can just concentrate on your own squad for a time and then learn transfers and scouting later. If you have no youth players to start with you can worry about u19s staff after the first intake, etc.

Not only that, but simple tactics are the bread and butter of the lower leagues. The players struggle to cope with anything too advanced, and therefore you can try new things as you improve and advance through the leagues.

Again, understand the general advice about starting with a big club, but a club with 60 odd players and 30 staff, full time training schedules, more pressure, more media interest, better opponents etc seems more hassle to a new player in my eyes than a team with much less of everything. 

Edited December 5, 2020 by Junkhead
I can't spell.

[ClumsyKea]

hi all, back again. what is the opinion on downloaded tactics? are they considered cheating. despite wanting  to really get into this game i find i just don't have the time around work and rl to sit for hours tinkering with tactics and ti's and pi's like i would like to do. obviously i can do want i want in regards to this, im just curious of the consensus on this in the community?

[Junkhead]

2 minutes ago, ClumsyKea said:

hi all, back again. what is the opinion on downloaded tactics? are they considered cheating. despite wanting  to really get into this game i find i just don't have the time around work and rl to sit for hours tinkering with tactics and ti's and pi's like i would like to do. obviously i can do want i want in regards to this, im just curious of the consensus on this in the community?

Different people will have different opinions on this. 

Personally I have never downloaded a tactic as this would fundementally go against the way I play.  As far as it being "cheating" goes, I don't really know how you can cheat at a single player game. On the flip side, a number of downloadable tactics are designed and built to capitalise on weaknesses in the AI/match engine. It depends what you are comfortable with.

If it's the time that you're worried about, I would just use one of the preset tactics that come with the game. They shouldn't need much tinkering initially, you might have to change things here and there to suit your squad, but shouldn't be too heavy.

Set pieces on the other hand are a nightmare, IMO, and can take hours to set up. But in my experience it is time well spent as there are clear benefits once done.

Hope you are enjoying the game.

[ClumsyKea]

15 minutes ago, Junkhead said:

If it's the time that you're worried about, I would just use one of the preset tactics that come with the game. They shouldn't need much tinkering initially, you might have to change things here and there to suit your squad, but shouldn't be too heavy.

 

that might be the way to go then, thanks. i've tried figuring out things from ground zero, adding one ti here, trying to see what effect it has. rinse and repeat. but i cant seem to make heads or tails of whats going on haha might just be im a bit dense though

[Zardoz]

HI,

I would recommend to set up several saves with your team to make experiments with tactics etc. without ruining your main save. You have to learn and I think you will learn if  you test different approaches. One save is your REAL save and if you feel prepared start a match there.

With this way you even do not reload matches on your REAL save and learn much.

I would recommend to start with a lower league because youth development, scouting etc. is easier on that level.

[LolloViola]

7 ore fa, ClumsyKea ha scritto:

hi all, back again. what is the opinion on downloaded tactics? are they considered cheating. despite wanting  to really get into this game i find i just don't have the time around work and rl to sit for hours tinkering with tactics and ti's and pi's like i would like to do. obviously i can do want i want in regards to this, im just curious of the consensus on this in the community?

Is not about "cheating", but is like playing someone else's game. You may take inspiration or learn from famous tactics around the communities, as it normally happens in real football, but nothing beats the feeling of building up a tactic from zero learning by every single mistake.

[Weller1980]

You could try fm touch its a more streamlined experience. FM touch is more foccused around the things that really matter such as match days, transfers, squad building and tactics. 

[ClumsyKea]

Fair enough, thanks all for your replies. I shall persist with my fm tactical journey slow and steady wins the race i guess 

[DominicForza]

1 hour ago, Weller1980 said:

You could try fm touch its a more streamlined experience. FM touch is more foccused around the things that really matter such as match days, transfers, squad building and tactics. 

Agreed 100%

 

I haven't played the FM Touch version, but my understanding is that it's similar to the classic FM (formerly Championship Manager) many of us grew up on.  As FM is much more detailed/complicated than it used to be, but it's been a progression.  I can certainly see it being very overwhelming for someone new to the game.   

[freddieos]

Don't get involved. It will ruin your life.

[ClumsyKea]

4 minutes ago, freddieos said:

Don't get involved. It will ruin your life.

Haha thats a grim outlook

[sporadicsmiles]

15 hours ago, ClumsyKea said:

hi all, back again. what is the opinion on downloaded tactics? are they considered cheating. despite wanting  to really get into this game i find i just don't have the time around work and rl to sit for hours tinkering with tactics and ti's and pi's like i would like to do. obviously i can do want i want in regards to this, im just curious of the consensus on this in the community?

It is difficult to cheat in a single player game like FM, play however you feel comfortable with.

What I will say is that downloading tactics is not a good way to learn the game. Most of the downloaded tactics you will find are horribly unbalanced and normally work by exploiting something within the ME. Rather than being built on solid principles. This has two effects, one is every patch there is a high chance a downloaded tactic will stop working as an exploit is patched. The second is that you simply do not learn how to set up a tactic, how to understand the game and make sensible changes yourself. 

So if you want to play the game without worrying about the tactical side right now, then use a downloaded tactic, and you can take the plunge into doing things on your own another time. There are a million things to learn in FM as it is, so there is nothing wrong with that. In the end, whatever makes you have the most fun whilst playing is how you should play, and people who tell you different be damned. 

[Colorado]

5 hours ago, Weller1980 said:

You could try fm touch its a more streamlined experience. FM touch is more foccused around the things that really matter such as match days, transfers, squad building and tactics. 

Surprised FM Touch didn't get a mention until this far down.

It's absolutely perfect for new or younger players.

This isn't mentioned nearly enough imo given it's nicely balanced by being testing yet streamlined. 

Best advice I can give, is start in FM Touch and when you are settled and confident with that, then perhaps look at the more micromanagement and depth in the full FM.

Edited December 16, 2020 by Colorado

[bbuullddoogg]

Many people, like me, are FM vets (not saying I’m any good or anything but been playing forever) and MUCH prefer Touch over the “full fat” version which to me is bloated with boring lengthy unrealistic silly mini games. Touch contains all the things that make FM amazing, in my opinion.

Good luck whatever you do! Great to see how helpful everyone is to a new player.

As for cheating, the only person you can cheat is yourself. If you can avoid it, don’t download tactics. You’ll get greater enjoyment and understanding of the game in the long run.

Edited December 17, 2020 by bbuullddoogg

[ClumsyKea]

12 hours ago, bbuullddoogg said:

Good luck whatever you do! Great to see how helpful everyone is to a new player.

Thanks mate, everyone has been proper helpful. Its been great.

Ok I'll stick with fm touch for now and just persist with tinkering away. I'm going through all of bust the nets tactic videos. Doing my best to retain all the info about ti's. 

I'll be back if I think of something else