[FM24 - PC/Laptop advice thread *** PLEASE READ OPENING POST BEFORE POSTING ***]

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07M741WKD/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=B07M741WKD&linkCode=as2&tag=footballma085-21&linkId=dc4f387d3263d50b25f67f04b159a8b8

 

Is this a good one? Seen it here: https://footballmanagertips.com/the-best-laptop-for-football-manager-2021/

 

My budget is £500 max and looking to play around 10-15 leagues, but 60-70k players on a medium database (this is the setup I always go for, but for my current 5 year old laptop it's way too much)

 

Besides FM I just want to do normal stuff (study, work, watch Netflix and maybe play Paradox games)

 

 

[When's the BETA out speculation thread FM 21]

Just now, tyro said:

As I don't play in the lower leagues, I have only heard of Portsmouth but from the names I would take Bristol Rovers. Sounds the coolest.

Their badge is pretty cool too:

 

[When's the BETA out speculation thread FM 21]

2 minutes ago, PAFC_Dugout said:

Plymouth Argyle, never been in the top flight. You know it makes sense 👍

Nice colours and a great sadium for the 3rd tier, definitely a good one

[When's the BETA out speculation thread FM 21]

1 minute ago, CTID86 said:

Northampton are pretty bad, go for them. Portsmouth will be too easy

I like your logic , I'll give them a try

[When's the BETA out speculation thread FM 21]

Help me decide (I'm going for League One this year): Portsmouth, Lincoln, Bristol Rovers or Northampton?

Basically: a sleeping giant or a small team to build up?

[When's the BETA out speculation thread FM 21]

You're all salty because of Euro 2016 and the Cod Wars 

[Football Manager 2021 - New Headline Features]

7 minutes ago, Zemahh said:

Oh, xG tables included in the Team Detailed and Player Detailed competition stats would be sweet! Or even just a column one could add to a Squad view.

Also, I'm wondering how many of such demolitions we'll be able to see. 

The Holy Grail of FM20 (an unrealistically agressive tactic and unrealistically high morale) should make you demolish smaller teams like that. Hopefully XG will be used to balance the ME

[Playing like Greece 2004]

5 hours ago, scratchmonkey said:

I think that this would be an excellent first starting point for trying to recreate Greece 2004: http://www.zonalmarking.net/2010/03/29/greece-euro-2004-tactics/

The real challenge for recreating this style is that it's very much predicated on man-marking the opposition's attacking players, my best stab at replicating this in FM would be to have several versions of the same tactic with individual marking instructions set out by position -- one system for 2 forwards, one system for a tridente, etc. making sure that you set your defenders to man-mark particular positions.

In terms of shape and roles, it's hard to say because Greece changed so much during that tournament, sometimes looking like a 4-4-2 Narrow Diamond, sometimes, a 4-5-1, difficult to say again, with defenders happily moving around to follow the other team. My suggestion would be to play a 5-4-1 with a narrow diamond, with the attacking midfielder offset to the side along with the lone forward and a wingback as the runner on the other side from the AM. There's a lot of different ways that you could go with roles, especially for the Basinas role, could be a DLP(D), could be a HB, could be an Anchorman (I would probably go with the first option personally). At least one of the CMs should be a BWM.

In terms of Team Instructions, I'd start with Defensive, then:

• In Possession: More Direct, Higher Tempo, Floated Crosses, Play for Set Pieces
• In Transition: Hold Shape, Counter
• Out of Possession: Use Tighter Marking

There's a thread in this very forum from 2014 covering the same territory that has at least one person reporting on trying to create and play with such a system:

 

A narrow diamond with a back 4 suits my side a bit better than a back 5, so I think I'm going with that and a HB or Anchorman to mimick the sweeper. As Fyssas often tucked in as a left back, I think an IWB on support would be my best bet? And a standard FB-A to provide width on the right. In the middle, I'm going with a BWM, and haven't decided the other role yet, I'm torn between BBM, CM and CAR (all on S). Don't know about the AM yet, and one of the strikers could become another CB.

 

As for TI's, you're pretty much spot on I think. I'd just maybe add hit early crosses, be more disciplined and maybe waste time in possession, regroup and distribute slowly in transition, and get stuck in out of possession. OI's would be set to always tight mark everyone, and most players would have "mark tighter" and maybe "tackle harder" PI's for good measure.

 

Also, is it possible to have hold shape and counter on at the same time? I always thought it was one or the other.

 

 

[Playing like Greece 2004]

Looks like people got bored and fell asleep midway through reading the post

[Playing like Greece 2004]

I'm currently using a bog standard 4231 gegenpress, but since it seems like it's the meta this year, it's become quite boring. And since it became dull, I thought "why not go all the way and bore everyone to death?"

And that's exactly what I'm trying to do. Rehhagel's 2004 Greek side is the most boring team I could think of, and before devising a tactic mimicking it I decided to ask how you'd do it.

Enough said. Let's turn all our teams into a cure for insomnia!

[Low Block- 442 Diamond]

1 hour ago, Experienced Defender said:

First off, a low block alone does not automatically make you defensively solid. Yes, with the lower Line of engagement you do have a low block nominally. But that's just one of many elements that constitute a tactic, including its defensive aspect.

For example, look at your midfield roles: you don't have a single holding midfielder (although you do have a covering CM in the form of the carrilero), and even your DM is not played in a holding (defense-first) role. At the same time, both fullbacks are played in a very attack-minded role (CWB). Don't be misled by their "support" duty, because CWB as a role is inherently attack-minded - actually the most attack-minded of all fullback and wing-back roles. On the other hand, CWB as a role does make sense in narrow systems - much more than in wide ones - but only if it's employed properly in terms of your intended style of play and as part of a well-balanced tactical setup. 

All stated above means that your setup of roles and duties is too shaky (poorly balanced), which is why your version of low block does not work as you hoped. 

Then you use the "tighter marking" instruction, which may work in a low-block type of tactic, but not in any formation. It's more effective in formations that are bottom-heavy and compact, which yours obviously is not.

Speaking specifically of the narrow diamond as a system, it's not a good choice for passive defensive styles of play (such as catenaccio or parked bus for example). And considering your team instructions - cautious mentality + shorter passing + more disciplined + hold shape + slow pace down + regroup - it seems that you are trying to implement that very type of defensive football (as opposed to counter-attacking styles, which are more proactive). 

Thanks for the advice, I'll try to change the regista to a half back, and the B2B to a second shuttler or a CM on automatic. As for the CWBs, a simple FB-S with maybe some instructions might work, as apparently the CWBs have too much ground to cover, supporting attacks more aggressively and then keep dropping back to a lower DL. I wanted to implement a more direct style of play instead of a more passive defensive one, but with that many central midfielders I thought it wouldn't quite work, so I went with those instructions. I'll give it a try though, and post here again once I start having more of a clue about the game

[Low Block- 442 Diamond]

So, I'm quite new to FM, bought it after the free week and started a save with Ipswich recently. I wanted to play using a Simeone or Dyche style 4-4-2 low block in cup games against bigger teams (can't really use it in League One as they're one of the favourites for promotion), but Ipswich doesn't really have any good and natural wide midfielders, particularly on the left side, so I've decided to go with a 4-4-2 Diamond formation. It worked wonders against weaker L1 teams, normally going for the default gegenpress or a form of fluid counter-attack, but it was quite leaky in defence. I figured out I needed to be much more defensively solid against stronger teams. I tried to build a tactic based on an old guide about how to build a defensive diamond (it was from FM14 I believe), and this cluster was the end result:

Long story short, it's even leakier at the back, just got beaten 4-1 by Fulham in the EFL Cup and 2-0 by Oxford in the league, and now I'm looking here for a way to build a low and solid diamond. Thanks in advance