Inconsistency

[LG2694]

I have played FM since around FM 2007 but have missed the past couple of games. I have gotten back into it this year but it is really testing my patience: in my first season with Spurs I was able to win the league (helped by not having European games to tire the players out) playing a kind of 2-4-3-1 which was mostly:

GK: Vicario (SK - S)

WBL: Udogie (WB - S)

WBR: Porro (CWB - A)

DC: Van de Ven (BPD - C)

DC: Romero (BPD - D)

DM: Bissouma (HB - D)

DM: Skipp - (VOL - S)

AML: Son (IF - A)

AMC: Maddison (AP - S)

AMR: Kulusevski (IW - S)

ST: Richarlison: (AF - A)

 

I did make quite a few changes to this team in the summer, Son and Skipp wanted to leave, I signed Ferguson so Richarlison has been dropped, Kulusevski and Maddison have played less so to some extent I should expect some issues with having made so many changes but it's now the back end of the season and I am still struggling. The most frustrating part is players making stupid passes and decisions that they didn't last season, getting much lower average ratings, etc.. Is there something that has been changed since I was last playing a few years ago that would affect things?

[Dagenham_Dave]

More fixtures with more European games, players will be more mentally and physically tired. New players in your squad maybe not as effective as the ones they replaced. Teams setting up more defensively against you based on your success the season before. 

All factors that could be affecting your team, or you might have just over performed in the first season. 

Not a lot of info to go on though. What have injuries been like? Have you had any unhappy players causing rifts in the dressing room? There's loads that could be causing this. 

[LG2694]

18 minutes ago, Dagenham_Dave said:

More fixtures with more European games, players will be more mentally and physically tired. New players in your squad maybe not as effective as the ones they replaced. Teams setting up more defensively against you based on your success the season before. 

All factors that could be affecting your team, or you might have just over performed in the first season. 

Not a lot of info to go on though. What have injuries been like? Have you had any unhappy players causing rifts in the dressing room? There's loads that could be causing this. 

I recognise that a lot of these things will be a factor but what I can't understand is the same players who carried my team last year making stupid passes to no one whilst under no pressure when this didn't happen last season. 

Injuries have been fairly standard and no major rifts in the dressing room at all. Clearly some signings haven't worked out but it doesn't make sense to me how we win back to back matches against some of the top teams but then not win for three or four more games

Edited December 10, 2023 by LG2694

[Dagenham_Dave]

20 minutes ago, LG2694 said:

it doesn't make sense to me how we win back to back matches against some of the top teams but then not win for three or four more games

I suppose it made perfect sense for you to win the league in the first season though   It's football, it happens. Plenty of current real life examples, many in the same league you're managing in, who experience the exact same thing.

If you want to know why, you can try and use the analysis from the games you're losing to see if there's any patterns there, and tweak your tactic to try and stop it happening again. 

Edited December 10, 2023 by Dagenham_Dave