If At First You Don't Succeed...

[Haribo1681]

Hello all!

Apologies if this is shameless boasting, but after a frustrating and disappointing time playing FM20 & 21, I thought it might be ok to share some positivity.

Many, many years ago I played an awful lot of Champ/FM but was never really very good, only winning when playing as the best teams and signing the best players. Fast forward to FM19, I downloaded a copy, played a season and a half as my local team when growing up (Plymouth) and got sacked.

At the start of lockdown in 2020 I swapped a social life for FM20 and spent hours and hours playing as Borussia Dortmund. We won everything except the Champions League, but the whole experience was really frustrating as I couldn't find a way to make the team play anything like what I wanted, so any success felt like it was inspite of my involvement rather than because of it. My dreams of playing a customised 'control possession' style with Kai Havertz running the show from AMC felt impossible, especially when the team could just score set pieces and back post headers for fun instead, rarely accruing more than 40% possession, even against the worst sides.

FM21 arrived and I played a bit in the autumn, only really getting stuck in with a save in spring time as my big team (Spurs), which resulted in more frustration and dismissal before the end of the first season. Again, an inability to control games and possession meant limited chances for Kane and Son and, ultimately, the sack.

So I started another save, back with the Argyle, with no ambitions or aspirations. I read a stack of articles about creating balanced, coherent tactics (particularly the Guide to FM) and I spent crazy amounts of time testing out systems on Rate My Tactic. The first season saw a top half finish with a make-do 5-3-2 formation despite frustration at defenders always choosing the big hoof over short and simple passes. In the second season, things changed with some signings based on attributes over star ratings and a refreshed priority on central midfield: one holding player, one 'running' player and one creative player. By rotating these tasks using different roles and duties, as well as switching between a defensive or attacking midfield triangle depending on the situation, we avoided becoming stale and it worked out alright in the end.

We were predicted to finish 14th by the media and the club vision was looking to avoid relegation. It was never easy and felt like a title-winning season should, with ups and downs, great wins, disappointing defeats and occasional daylight robbery both for and against. Our top scorer found the net 31 times and we scored a variety of different goals - yes, plenty of crosses, but also long range thunderbolts, neat interplay and sometimes vast team goals. I don't remember doing better than this in the past and, most importantly, we actually played attractive, attacking football, based around short passes and a positive mentality. My faith in FM is restored and I actually think I could get a different team playing in a style that I envisage, rather than just random results based on anything but my selections. How long will that feeling last...?

NB: this was on FM Touch on iPad as it was easier to pick up and play rather than on the laptop all the time, which devalues the outcome to me slightly as it doesn't feel like the 'full' game.

Edit: ignore the focus play instructions in the screenshot - this was a one-time thing to try and overcome a team playing 2 CMs and 2 AMs, which was something of a kryptonite for us.

Edited July 20, 2021 by Haribo1681
added a comment on a misleading instruction in the screenshot.