FM20 and Earlier Versions v FM24 and the versions post FM20: What changed?

[Hoofenballen]

Hello Everyone

 

Recently, ive found myself playing FM20. Why go back so far to such an out of date game? Because i had a good grasp of how the game worked, and I could design good tactics on it. Ive been looking back at previous tactics on FM20, none of which translate into the modern versions, especially FM24.

The difference is especially noticeable in away games, where they used to be normal on FM20 and previous, whereas now they fall anywhere between extremely hard to impossible to win.

So what changed on the game? because i feel the game has passed me by totally.

The attached tactic is one i deleted years ago but reinvented starting a new season as Benfica. Yes theyre a good team, but the tactic works nicely and plays balanced possession and defensively solid football. Its no harder winning an away game with this tactic as a home game

Now, i know you probably wouldnt play with high lines and counter press every game in real life. Although if you were a good team you would in the vast majority of games.

I do know that every mentality under balanced used to be pretty much useless too. Everyone was playing gegenpress, aggressive risk tactics in older versions.

but play this tactic in FM24, im getting battered 3-0 or 3-1. Every away game. Without fail. Regardless of opposition formation.

But every tactic i try in FM24 away from home also gets battered. From a deeper lines basic 442 where players are asked to regroup and not counter press, to 4231. Counter press or not.

 

So for now im sticking with FM20, because in whatever situation the game throws at me, i feel like i know what changes need to be made to counter them. The game makes sense to me.

 

FM24, and particularly away games, do not.

 

Please help me make sense of why the game has left me. Why I was a good FM20 and earlier player, and now a horrible modern FM player, as im losing interest in the game sadly.

 

Thank You

 

 

Edited May 19 by Hoofenballen

[Cloud9]

6 hours ago, Hoofenballen said:

Hello Everyone

 

Recently, ive found myself playing FM20. Why go back so far to such an out of date game? Because i had a good grasp of how the game worked, and I could design good tactics on it. Ive been looking back at previous tactics on FM20, none of which translate into the modern versions, especially FM24.

The difference is especially noticeable in away games, where they used to be normal on FM20 and previous, whereas now they fall anywhere between extremely hard to impossible to win.

So what changed on the game? because i feel the game has passed me by totally.

The attached tactic is one i deleted years ago but reinvented starting a new season as Benfica. Yes theyre a good team, but the tactic works nicely and plays balanced possession and defensively solid football. Its no harder winning an away game with this tactic as a home game

Now, i know you probably wouldnt play with high lines and counter press every game in real life. Although if you were a good team you would in the vast majority of games.

I do know that every mentality under balanced used to be pretty much useless too. Everyone was playing gegenpress, aggressive risk tactics in older versions.

but play this tactic in FM24, im getting battered 3-0 or 3-1. Every away game. Without fail. Regardless of opposition formation.

But every tactic i try in FM24 away from home also gets battered. From a deeper lines basic 442 where players are asked to regroup and not counter press, to 4231. Counter press or not.

 

So for now im sticking with FM20, because in whatever situation the game throws at me, i feel like i know what changes need to be made to counter them. The game makes sense to me.

 

FM24, and particularly away games, do not.

 

Please help me make sense of why the game has left me. Why I was a good FM20 and earlier player, and now a horrible modern FM player, as im losing interest in the game sadly.

 

Thank You

 

 

Positional Play in FM24 and Fatigue changes in FM23.

If you're getting battered away w this setup, drop on the the IWBs. Formation is also very narrow, try using traditional wingers w/your IWBs and narrow width.

[Draakon]

I don't have much experience in all FM-s (I've skipped some versions) but in FM22 it's evident that positive mentality tends to lead to goals and wins games. And at least in FM22 it usually is that AI teams play with more attacking mentality at home and are cautious/defensive in away games, sometimes WAY too defensive. It's shows especially in Champions League where I can beat almost any team at home. I play as Ajax and have nowehere the quality of the teams like Real Madrid or Bayern, but when they come to Amsterdam with their cautious/balanced mentality, I usually beat them with my positive 4-2-3-1.

However, at home they're positive too (sometimes even attacking mentality) and I have to change my whole setup to get something out of the game and not to be destroyed 0:5 or something similar. Going positive vs. positive against the team with a better quality is just suicidal.

 

In conclusion, the change might be easily in how AI approaches games against you (especially home vs. away games)

[Aoyao]

On 20/05/2024 at 12:25, Cloud9 said:

…… drop on the the IWBs. Formation is also very narrow, try using traditional wingers w/your IWBs and narrow width.

How about IWS with stay wider PI?

[Cloud9]

1 hour ago, Aoyao said:

How about IWS with stay wider PI?

They will still invert at a stage, even with the PI. 

IWs are great for build up play phases but ultimately the role will cut in side through hard coding. 

IW(a) is a role I use very rarely, I usually prefer the IF driving runs at goal or an off footed winger (a) attacking movement. 

Edited May 24 by Cloud9

[De Nile]

I like returning to FM21 occasionally, because I feel like the rest attacks are stronger and support duties especially in the am and st positions drop too deep when defending. That being said one of the problems of FM21 being lack of tiredness for players and therefore playing aggressive pressing systems were great for wins, didn't really bother me as I rarely played that sort of football. 

I still play the latest versions mainly to download interesting databases.

[rrreee3]

On 20/05/2024 at 05:16, Hoofenballen said:

Hello Everyone

 

Recently, ive found myself playing FM20. Why go back so far to such an out of date game? Because i had a good grasp of how the game worked, and I could design good tactics on it. Ive been looking back at previous tactics on FM20, none of which translate into the modern versions, especially FM24.

The difference is especially noticeable in away games, where they used to be normal on FM20 and previous, whereas now they fall anywhere between extremely hard to impossible to win.

So what changed on the game? because i feel the game has passed me by totally.

The attached tactic is one i deleted years ago but reinvented starting a new season as Benfica. Yes theyre a good team, but the tactic works nicely and plays balanced possession and defensively solid football. Its no harder winning an away game with this tactic as a home game

Now, i know you probably wouldnt play with high lines and counter press every game in real life. Although if you were a good team you would in the vast majority of games.

I do know that every mentality under balanced used to be pretty much useless too. Everyone was playing gegenpress, aggressive risk tactics in older versions.

but play this tactic in FM24, im getting battered 3-0 or 3-1. Every away game. Without fail. Regardless of opposition formation.

But every tactic i try in FM24 away from home also gets battered. From a deeper lines basic 442 where players are asked to regroup and not counter press, to 4231. Counter press or not.

 

So for now im sticking with FM20, because in whatever situation the game throws at me, i feel like i know what changes need to be made to counter them. The game makes sense to me.

 

FM24, and particularly away games, do not.

 

Please help me make sense of why the game has left me. Why I was a good FM20 and earlier player, and now a horrible modern FM player, as im losing interest in the game sadly.

 

Thank You

 

 

There's Match Engine rework in FM21 that replaces FM20's Match Engine. It's a lot of changes so i won't explain all of it and i'll refer you to this site instead 

There's also significant improvements for defensive organizations in FM23, hence why in FM23 and later versions low block tactic performances are competitive to high press or mid block tactics. This is also the FM version where the "Out of Possession" team instruction options changed

And then finally, the positional play ME update in FM24. This significantly, if not radically, changes how players move towards areas on the pitch and how players interact with other players' movement regardless if it's opposition or their own team's players. From what i've observed, the positional play ME update almost exclusively affects movement in possession. You can learn more about positional play in FM24 right here

 

 

I don't think FM24 is harder than FM20, in my experience it's even the opposite. I can set instructions and roles without giving it a second thought in FM24 and i'm still winning games, although not always. That doesn't happen to me in FM20. If i do the same thing in FM20, i'd lose more games compared to my time in FM24. But again, i'm only speaking from my experience so take it with a grain of salt.

 

My hypothesis of why you're seemingly having a more difficult time in FM24 is because your tactic have weaknesses that FM20 ME's can't exploit, but FM24 ME's can. I'd suggest you to try to adapt to FM24 because there's a lot of quality of life updates there that's not in FM20, but obviously the decision lies in your hands. Cheers! 

 

Edited May 29 by rrreee3
vocabulary, formatting, and spacing correction

[crusadertsar]

@HoofenballenBut the tactic you showed is not very balanced. Even by FM20 standards. It's very narrow and the extremely aggressive defending instructions must tire your players out a lot. It's not a winning FM24 tactic by a mile. I would take a lot of the good advice on here and try to integrate it. The good thing about recent FMs is that tactic creation has become much more natural and logical. You can't just create tactics with inverted wingbacks and inside forwards on both wings and expect to open up AI defences. No you really need to create width and exploit half-spaces to win matches.

Edited May 30 by crusadertsar