Halp plis, I'm almost quitting this game.

[mrpnd]

Short version: I need in-depth help.

So, i play FM since 2011. Buy it every year. Rock it every year. Not this year.

Have read all the tactical guides in the internet. I could give you roles and duties for a team out of the blue. But oh well, FM16 broke my brain for real.

I started a save with Everton as i usually do every year. Tried 10 or so different saves until i won the league in the first season. Awesome, right? Wrong. It was a lucky strike because the tactics i tried to employ on that save had the same issue my other 9 or so tactics had. They concede too much. WAY.TOO.MUCH. My crowned side conceded roughly 70 goals through the season. Yep, it was a goal bonanza every single game. Not to mention some crazy, unexplainable results like 0-4 to Watford, Aston Villa and stuff like that.

My tactical style: Shorter passing, work ball, push higher up, use offside trap (Unless mentally weak CBs) higher/normal tempo (Tried with low, and it doesn't really make a difference in regards to my issue), look for overlap. That's it. Since FM2011 i use this base for nearly every team i play and except these ones I know the defenders are defensively leaky, it had solid defensive stats. Because except against crazy OP players like Messi and Ronaldo it was possible to actually defend with a higher line. Turns out it just doesn't seem viable this year. It's amazing how any player with 16 accel/pace can burst through the whole field and get himself a CCC. I've never lost to West Ham so frequently in my FM life lmao.

I tried different stuff, different teams. My midfield always has a sitter, a roamer and a creator, not necessarily defined by themselves, but i always have a CM(D) or at the very least a DLP(D) in the MC or a half back in the DM. Doesn't matter, they are useless for anything other than closing down opposition midfielders, and if i'm lucky, they'll win a tackle. For some reason this year has some unexplainable glitches like my GK kicking the ball forward even though i instructed the (insert offensive word here) to roll it to the defenders. And i'm also incredibly annoyed by the frequency these (insert offensive word here, in plural) squander possession away like babies, like heading the ball to the opposition's feet. Simply put, i'm at a very thin rope between playing and uninstalling this game even though it cost me almost 200 bucks to get it. (Yeah, inflation is a thing in Brazil, so).

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That said, i decided to give it a last try before i hang up the boots (or pens?!) in FM. Something very unusual to me: Playing a top club with a ridiculously large transfer budget. Because Arsenal and Manchester City have too many injury prone (Insert offensive word here, in plural) i went with Manchester United. Seems pretty easy, the squad only really needs depth and youth.I'll update this thread regularly and the first one should come 30 or 40 mins from now as I'll go through the transfer window and build my base tactics.

22/02 17:22 (GMT-3): WIP, will update with 1st team squad and tactics very soon.

 

[mrpnd]

22/02 21:37 (GMT-3): Tactics:
4231 - Quick passing game, run at defence
View attachment 175463
4411 - Safer passing game, 2 lines of four men to provide a more solid and simple game
View attachment 175462
Except for goalkeeper there are no individual player instructions. Note that obviously i'll only use players on their accomplished at least positions. (For short: team selection isnt that at all, its just something i threw at friendlies)

 

[iamauser]

I find that the scout report on the opposition is give me lots of joy. I look at 3 main stats when I look at the opposition and they are:

Top Assister - I get the player closest to him to man mark him tightly

Where they have conceded most from - Attack that side

Manager Style of play - Depending on how the managers passing style is, I do the following:

Shorter - Get all player but defensive line on highest closing down. Move defensive line higher
Long - Get strikers to close down highest, make defensive line deepest.
Direct - Slightly deeper defensive line, with my midfielders on highest closing
Mixed - Analyse the game and see how its going

Obviously this wont work every time, but I have found success by doing this on my current Journeyman save in the lower leagues.

 

[mrpnd]

So I guess this is it. From my point of view it's impossible to win in FM16.

First league game in the season against Arsenal. Re-played the match about 10 times. Lost all of them. (Switched tactics to all possible and imaginable game strategies there is in terms of defending and attacking, mentality and fludity). It just won't work. And in 2 of these games my team concede a stupidly large amount of goals. Not to mention there wasn't a single game my team actually managed to dominate the game. I just don't get it dude, seriously, the more i try to make something work, this game just seems to be more and more of a random slot machine. Goalkeeper will kick it long even though i instruct him to pass to CBs, squandering away possession. CBs will clear it long even though there are passing options near them. Anyone in the attacking positions will try to deliver a Pirlo-like 30 yard pass whenever they get the ball. When a full back supports the attack, no one supports him. When my team is in possession, it takes so long for the whole block to get forward that everyone just try a killer long ball to my slow lone striker. Central midfielders look absolutely useless as they don't either defend or attack.

Dude, just WTF. This game isn't the same thing anymore. Should i just quit it?

This pic below uses the 4231 tactic I posted earlier. Fun fact: Both our goals didn't came from build-up. Mertersacker own goal and Depay free kick hit. Also, somehow, my team had more key passes than Arsenal. And these prozone stats just seem more and more useless as I went to check interceptions, as my team also got an edge.

View attachment 175205

 

[Dobrin]

...

Dude, just WTF. This game isn't the same thing anymore. Should i just quit it?

Yes. Every year the game is weaker and weaker. Last working FM was 2012, when every team I had was playing just the way I WANTED. The training was, on that time, a nice method to improve a player and was complex and fun. I could make a slow player to be faster, I could improve every attribute I wanted. Now, the training is a joke. After 10 months of training one of my young defensive midfielder, with good potential, didn't improve his tackling a bit, despite his position role and additional focus set for tackling. Despite I have 4.5 stars coaches and excellent training facilities. It is absurd, I didn't ask him to improve dribbling or crossing, finishing or any other attribute not suited with his position and role.

After a whole season, from 25 players only one improve attribute selected in additional focus. Many time is frustrating that a player improves other attributes not useful for his role, but not the attribute in additional focus. If Sports Interactive keeps the pace of changes, I assume in FM 2018 will be no individual training.

Don't bother with the tactics, you can have a good tactic and still you'll concede. Sometimes slow strikers, with 11 pace and 11 acceleration pass by my pacey center back (14 pace, 14 acceleration, 14 positioning). Other times one of opponent's midfielder will score from 30 meters and if you search for his long shots you'll find he has 9. If you watch in game stats you'll see that he has only one shot attempted in the whole match. How on the earth he scored? Sometimes your opposition has only 3 shots in the whole game and it scored twice and we don't talk here about Barcelona or Real Madrid, I speak about Watford or Norwich.

However, the problem isn't the fact that you concede more than you want, but the fact you didn't score enough. Concentrate on that. I have succeeded with very aggressive offensive formation with 3 strikers and always I score more than my opponent. He gave me 2 goals, I gave him 3, he scores 3, I score 4. That's my finding. Score more. Press more, tackle harder, play higher tempo, get stuck in, don't use offside trap.