LLM Finance Control (aka, what would you do?)

[rightbackgranty]

Advice please!

I've taken Torrington, a level 10 club, to the Vanarama North. Back to back promotions until this point with a self made tactic (resisted my usual technique to download something off here & forced myself to learn the tactical system for once) and ALWAYS kept under the wage limit, had decent cup runs, low scouting budgets & staff costs etc.

However, i'm in a rut, and i'm fairly certain it's due to my financial constraints. We're £500k in debt, have an owner that keeps turning down takeover offers and have the lowest wage budget by far in the division. To be honest, it means my successive finishes of 9th & 10th are over-achievements. I reckon with a half decent budget i'd escape and carry on my march up the divisions. I had something similar in last years game but a takeover got me out of trouble.

I've considered my options and wonder what you'd all do. They are...
Using an editor to force the owner into selling.
Just continue plugging away with a low budget and hope that through luck i'm promoted OR a takeover takes place. (but this risks getting boring...)
Give in and download a tactic, hoping they're overpowered and leads to promotion which will eventually sort out my financial problems.

Love to know how others cope with the LLM finances, they've damaged me for 2 years in a row now and I have no idea what i'm doing wrong!

 

[Vanjagl]

In the spirit of true LLM, you need to suffer trough it. When you're that low, best thing to look at the player are their physical attributes. You're going to have turnovers each year, you'll hardly get to keep one player for multiple seasons. There aint the other way other than to grind it, however that is not for everyone.

Try to use loanees as much as possible, they wont cost you any money and they are usually similar or better than your players.
Try arranging friendlies with as high profile clubs as possible, you should get decent fee from these games.
When it comes to tactics, the simpler the better. Players in Vanarama division can't really understand what gegenpress is, I suggest using plain simple 4-4-2 tactic.

If you wanted it easy, you wouldn't pick a lvl10 club, you would go with some rich club from the beginning. As someone who used to play a lot of LLM it doesn't get any better when you get a promotion the "right" way. Cheating is fine, it is your game after all, but I promise you it won't give you the same satisfaction as if you did it the "correct" way.

 

[anekdotakias]

I second the loans also i would say go for free agents.
For me in lower leagues there are 2-3 things you need to care about a player
Defender = 180cm + bravery, Jumping , marking , heading 10+
FB = Acceleration + agility + positioning 10+ to use wb you need crossing 12+
DM = Marking + positioning 10+
CM = First touch +Passing + Vision 10+
Winger = Acc + Agil + finishing 10+
Striker =185cm + Heading and finishing 12+ and one with finishing 12+ first touch + acc + agility 10+

As Vanjagl said above the less instructions the less you will have players make mistakes
A simple 4-4-2 or the 4-5-1 are the best working system there.But if your team has 5 great defenders you can go with 3 on the back be flexible use your best current players and don't try playing young players to develop that's the problem i saw in most people doing lower league saves they waste money on 17 - 20yo players which obviously isn't on the level of premier league or will ever reach.
About scouting you need 2 scouts
1 -> Search end of contract in england
2 -> Search loan in england
You don't need anything else till you hit premier league. Sell any player you get good offers for him they won't be useful in long run you will not get a premier league 3+ star player till you get in skybet 1.

Keep asking for facilities upgrades even when they reject go tell them they aren't ambitious or you will need them fulfill their demands etc

On training really important: each week have at least team bonding - community outreach - Defending corners - Attacking corners - Defensive shape - Attacking movement you then fill the rest with overall don't bother too much with training properly your players they are all disposable you want them perform well winning the games.

I upload an example of schedules for reference i used in my Stockport save anyway GL

 

[Soccerates]

One thing that's a great money-maker for LLM - Friendlies.

Play friendly matches at home against teams of bigger reputation than yourself. If you can get enough of them, sometimes the revenue that they generate can give you a year's worth of money.

Sometimes, teams such as yours over-perform the organic growth of the infrastructure. Just keep plugging away and the advice about loans and free transfers is good advice.

Don't take on a big squad. A lot of people do end up doing that and suffer for it, especially youth squads. If they're better than your top 3 at that level, then take them, otherwise just let your youth intakes go.

If you have injuries in the season, remember that you can still sign a free transfer and because that player may have been waiting around, you could offer them a non-contract, pay-as-you-play deal.

 

[rightbackgranty]

Thanks for the advice, particularly with the attributes. I wondered why so many were talking about how overpowered crosses were this year, whilst I have struggled. On checking, all of my strikers were <175cm...
I chose to suffer through it and avoided the editors. We made the playoffs, but the teams inconsistency culminated in a 4-0 playoff lead to a 6-5 loss AET. Sigh.
This season i've switched to a 442 to try and keep things simple, but due to a takeover bid during preseason (still ongoing in November) i've got a very small squad and having to rely on youth. Hopefully they write off the debt and I get a slightly larger wage budget - and the ability to sign a striker over 180cm!

 

[Vanjagl]

All the pain in the world will be worth it when you finally do it. Good luck on your journey.

 

[StormToChampion]

Agree with all the advices above. more important is to look at CA of players. for me i will look at stars first as a first filter. second step i look at attributes of players. Good luck!

 

[anekdotakias]

Agree with all the advices above. more important is to look at CA of players. for me i will look at stars first as a first filter. second step i look at attributes of players. Good luck!

If you play as Barcelona Real City that's ok but when you play as a 5th division club even Mbappe isn't 5/5 full stars , the scouting reports are so inaccurate in lower leagues which is better trust yourself