Football Manager 2014 Discussion

Its All Wright

Devil08 wrote: »

I have an average of 20 shots per game 5 games into my season, most of them on target yet ive still only scored 2 goals.
Whats going on here??

Could be your strikers finishing/composure attributes or it could be your tactics like taking a lot of long range shots. people tend to think with FM you sign the best players & play 4-4-2 or 4-3-3 & win everything. The game is smart & very detailed, the teams you play against prepare how to counter your tactics etc with there match preperation. You should have your owm team preparing 3 formations & tactics so you can use the right one against certain opposition. I manage a newly promotes mid table premier league club that came from League 1 & against the top 4 clubs i pack my midfield, sit deep, play with quick wingers & play counter attack where as against teams on my level i play players with good passing stats, play possesion football & go with 2 up top & im getting results

Devil08

Its All Wright wrote: »

Could be your strikers finishing/composure attributes or it could be your tactics like taking a lot of long range shots. people tend to think with FM you sign the best players & play 4-4-2 or 4-3-3 & win everything. The game is smart & very detailed, the teams you play against prepare how to counter your tactics etc with there match preperation. You should have your owm team preparing 3 formations & tactics so you can use the right one against certain opposition. I manage a newly promotes mid table premier league club that came from League 1 & against the top 4 clubs i pack my midfield, sit deep, play with quick wingers & play counter attack where as against teams on my level i play players with good passing stats, play possesion football & go with 2 up top & im getting results

But surely my tactics are working if im getting so many chances. Im not conceding many either. Very tight at the back. Maybe its just my strikers composure/finishing as you say. Im also playing short passes and working it into the box so not many long range shots

Tony EH

Set your training to "finishing" on your strikers for a few weeks. That might make a difference.

TBH, though, I think there's a lot of simple random equations going on with the match engine in FM14.

Irishcrx

Devil08 wrote: »

But surely my tactics are working if im getting so many chances. Im not conceding many either. Very tight at the back. Maybe its just my strikers composure/finishing as you say. Im also playing short passes and working it into the box so not many long range shots

As mentioned though it's a huge variety of thing's , How good are the passers in your squad to break down the oppisition defence effectively? How high on the bar are your tactics known by your squad? In your pre match are you focusing on attacking movement?

Finishing and composure are important for strikers but so is off the ball movement , acceleration , pace , decisions , anticipation. Some strikers will benefit from playing a more direct style , and it also depends on the roles they are asked to play.

Best to have 3 tactics , What's being working for me 11 seasons into my save is a 4-1-2-1-2 compact diamond formation playing short passes and pressing the opposition but for it to work you require 4 excellent midfielders who can break down the defence and provide chances for the attackers. Againt better opposition or away from home in a tricky game I pack the midfield with a 4-5-1 and allow two of them to push forward and help the advanced forward.

It's a very detailed game, scout your opposition , exploit their weakness game by game if you get a goal up and want to hold it, change tactics in game. Bring on a holding midfielder, control , short passes , drop deeper, retain possession etc.

The Semiotec

Will FM 14 support Intel chipset?

I won't be overly upset if i have to play 2D.Never used to watch any of the matches anyway.

Oat23

Games like this is what keeps bringing us all back to this magnificent series!


At 3-0 down and 5-2 down on agg. I was getting ready to sub out some players with an important league game 3 days later...happy I didn't.

Irishcrx

The Semiotec wrote: »

Will FM 14 support Intel chipset?

I won't be overly upset if i have to play 2D.Never used to watch any of the matches anyway.

Yeah it should work, it did on my old laptop, just set the graphic settings to low on everything..

Tony EH

ha ha...

Actually managed a win last night. A scrappy 1-0 victory against Stoke. A draw against Norwich followed.

Then knocked out of the cup by Barnsley 3-0???

WTF.

Don't know what the hell I'm doing wrong. Everything seems to be in the positive with the team. Training is going well, the 3-5-2 formation looks to be fitting, nobody is complaining.

But getting constant wins is proving difficult, if not impossible.

sdowling04

Irishcrx wrote: »

As mentioned though it's a huge variety of thing's , How good are the passers in your squad to break down the oppisition defence effectively? How high on the bar are your tactics known by your squad? In your pre match are you focusing on attacking movement?

Finishing and composure are important for strikers but so is off the ball movement , acceleration , pace , decisions , anticipation. Some strikers will benefit from playing a more direct style , and it also depends on the roles they are asked to play.

Best to have 3 tactics , What's being working for me 11 seasons into my save is a 4-1-2-1-2 compact diamond formation playing short passes and pressing the opposition but for it to work you require 4 excellent midfielders who can break down the defence and provide chances for the attackers. Againt better opposition or away from home in a tricky game I pack the midfield with a 4-5-1 and allow two of them to push forward and help the advanced forward.

It's a very detailed game, scout your opposition , exploit their weakness game by game if you get a goal up and want to hold it, change tactics in game. Bring on a holding midfielder, control , short passes , drop deeper, retain possession etc.

Actually a great tip. I was lazy and making my assistant take all the training and for every match preparation he was focusing on defending set pieces. I had a great start to the season but my team seem to freeze up, more than likely as teams were countering my tactics.

Dolph Starbeam

Tony EH wrote: »

ha ha...

Actually managed a win last night. A scrappy 1-0 victory against Stoke. A draw against Norwich followed.

Then knocked out of the cup by Barnsley 3-0???

WTF.

Don't know what the hell I'm doing wrong. Everything seems to be in the positive with the team. Training is going well, the 3-5-2 formation looks to be fitting, nobody is complaining.

But getting constant wins is proving difficult, if not impossible.

Check fm-base.co.uk, some really good tactics and advice. I'm not really a fan of the tactics, tactics that really should be working I have found to be terrible, this is the first year that I have ever had trouble making my own tactics.

Tony EH

Cheers. I'm aware of that site, but haven''t really looked at it much. I may have to put a bit of time in on it as what I'm doing at the moment ain't working when it really should be.

Its All Wright

Fmbase is a great website, people on there have spent a lot of time working on tactics & training to suit certain players & team. Can be interesting to try them out but what id say is, you need to play with the same tactics for about 10 games so your players become familiar with it. So give your tactics time & dont keep chopping & changing if the results dont come straight away

Dolph Starbeam

Tony EH wrote: »

Cheers. I'm aware of that site, but haven''t really looked at it much. I may have to put a bit of time in on it as what I'm doing at the moment ain't working when it really should be.

Ye I know, a lot of the good tactics are clearly designed just to overcome the match engine.

Mars Bar

YayaBanana wrote: »

Check fm-base.co.uk, some really good tactics and advice. I'm not really a fan of the tactics, tactics that really should be working I have found to be terrible, this is the first year that I have ever had trouble making my own tactics.

I hate the way they have changed fm-base so you have to go to the discussions to really find out what does work and what doesn't.

Ain't nobody got time fo' dat!

I loved the old way where you went to the downloads section, picked the tactic with the most downloads and then used that.

Tony EH

The problem I have with the game, is that all the indicators that something should work are useless.

For instance, there's nothing to suggest that anything I'm doing is bad for Liverpool's progress, except for the fact that I keep losing against nearly every team I play, including statistically weaker teams. Columbus Crew (who are they?...exactly) beat my first team 2-0, FFS, despite the fact that Liverpool dominated the game and had the most chances and really did nothing wrong in the match.

So, there's no real gauge, or pre-match prep that the player can do, that'll really mean anything as a warning that you're barking up the wrong tree.

Irishcrx

Tony EH wrote: »

The problem I have with the game, is that all the indicators that something should work are useless.

For instance, there's nothing to suggest that anything I'm doing is bad for Liverpool's progress, except for the fact that I keep losing against nearly every team I play, including statistically weaker teams. Columbus Crew (who are they?...exactly) beat my first team 2-0, FFS, despite the fact that Liverpool dominated the game and had the most chances and really did nothing wrong in the match.

So, there's no real gauge, or pre-match prep that the player can do, that'll really mean anything as a warning that you're barking up the wrong tree.

But the warning is there, you are loosing the games. The is a reason why that is it's up to you, the manager to fiqure it out.

That's what the game is about at the end of the day, I wouldn't enjoy it if it held my hand through the difficult patch's. I enjoy the challenge of getting it back on track.

Sometimes being stubburn can get in the way, yes tactics take time but sometimes they just need a new approach if something isn't working and I'm loosing games I'll change it up and try something else, sometimes the team needs a good kick up the backside in the pre match sometimes they need to be encouraged.

Why don't you tell us what tactics you are using etc and we'll try lend some suggestions?

Tony EH

My main focus is a 3-5-2 "Attacking" "Fluid" formation, with everyone playing in their preferred positions and a DM positioned in front of the back three. These are set to "Defend". Midfield is set to "support" to the centre and "attack" for the wingers and "attack" is set for the two up top. This have got me a win (v Stoke) and some draws in the Prem and wins in pre-season.

I tend to use this formation against teams I'm favorite to win against.

I've a 4-3-2-1 "Attacking" as backup and 4-1-3-2 "Control".

On occasion I've used a deep defensive position against teams that I know should be a struggle.

I try to keep possession and short passes. But often have to shake things up during the game and I instruct the defenders to hassle the opponents.

There's many different combinations of instructions used during the match. Maybe that's where the problem lies.

I'm thinking of trying a basic 4-4-2 formation with wingers and working out from there any changes for the future.

Mars Bar

Does anyone else's scouts give high ratings for even the most average of players?

I try and scout for current ability as I don't have the facilities to be taking in young talent and developing them. I might get a 4 star rating and then I'll go to the report and it'll say, "good player for League 2 sides" or something. I don't want a good league 2 player. I want a good championship player!

Tony EH

Hmmmm...so I cheated a little and replayed the Barnsley game. A match in which previously I was beaten 3-0.

The tactics I employed were pretty much the same, except my instructions were different. Basically I issued:

More Direct Passing
Work Ball into Box
Run at defence
Exploit the middle
Hassle opponents
Get stuck in
Use tighter marking
Higher tempo

On top of that I had the team overload the box (something I never use as its way too risky) and play "fluid"

HT 5-1 to me. 1 of mine disallowed, offside.

Around 20mins into the second half I took off the follloing:

Higher tempo
get stuck in

Dropped mentality back to "Standard" around 30mins.

FT 5-1 to me. 1 of theirs disallowed, offside.



confused.com

:pac:

Dolph Starbeam

Half way through my 2nd season with Red Star Belgrade, some serious players in the squad and even though there is interest from some of Europes biggest club they are happy to saty, and my wage budget is only €50k /week. Won the league and cup double in my first season, got knocked out of the Europa League in the last 32 against PSG, reckon I could have went all the way if I avoided them.

10 points ahead half way through my second season and still going strong in the cup, qualified out of my CL group in 2nd place behind Chelsea, and have been drawn against Real Madrid in the next round.

Small squad of players is my biggest problem. Going to move on in the summer, a few nice jobs came up that I was tempted to apply for but I want to finish this season first. Looking for work in Germany, Italy or the Netherlands. Really enjoying this save though.

sdowling04

New update
FOOTBALL MANAGER 2014 ? UPDATE 14.2.0 CHANGE LIST
======================================

STABILITY

- Fixed rare crash when continuing game
- Fixed another rare crash when continuing edited save game
- Fixed crash testing rules in Advanced Editor
- Fixed crash when searching invalid latitude value in Editor

MATCH v1439

- Fixed rare occurrence of stats incorrectly showing 255
- Reduced instances of direct free kicks aimed too close to crossbar inflating woodwork stats
- Fixed instances of throw ins taken just on pitch
- Tweaked urgency of engagement of ball player in own half depending on defensive player's tactical settings
- Improved general logic of when to attempt a tackle
- Tweaked aim direction of sliding tackles
- Reduced wild challenges slightly
- Fixed keeper accelerating out of area after fielding ball
- Fixed player ratings not updated quickly enough in some circumstances
- Some tweaks to player ratings including weighting on headers, interceptions and tackles
- Fixed poor detection of save quality
- Reduced first time keeper clearances under little pressure when he has short distribution PI
- Fixed strange ball movement after some instances of players pushing opponents while going to ariel ball
- Fixed non marking of short corner option player
- Reduced poor attempts to win corner off opponent
- Reduced poor cross attempts that had little chance of completion
- Reduced pointless shot attempts slightly
- Fixed quick free kick direction facing
- Fixed blocked crosses being set as completed crosses in stats
- Fixed short corners being set as crosses in stats
- Fixed players going through bench
- Fixed subs running on pitch after friendly win
- Improved keeper kick out from hands contact point
- Fixed issues with depth and width values after human tactical changes
- Fixed player standing at wrong end of pitch when following "stand in front of keeper at free kick" instruction
- Fixed bad goal kicks when the keeper kicks the ball out for an injury
- Refined counter attack trigger point depending on team mentality setting
- Improved player decision making during counter attack phase of play
- Some general tweaks to on ball decision AI
- Increased chance of player misjudging ball path slightly
- Made it harder for player to kill pace on fast moving ball especially at speed
- Improved ball velocity on some crosses
- Fixed ball contact point issue when putting ball out of play for an injury
- Added cross less often PI
- Fixed some issues with kick off AI
- Fixed some issues defending corners
- Fixed some keeper positioning and facing issues, including coming out inviting easy lobs
- Some tweaks to pass AI
- Tweaked d-line position slightly
- Fixed some further engagement of ball player issues
- Tweaked default cross aim slightly
- Reduced further attempts to buy corner off opponent
- Increased long shots slightly
- Fixed keeper misjudging occasional headed back pass
- Reduced penalty scored % slightly
- Fine-tuned CCC detection very slightly
- Reduced overhit mid-range passes caused by physics interface flaw not player error
- Tweaked player movement at dead balls slightly
- Reduced defensive headers that are aimed too close to own goal
- Small tweaks to shot and pass accuracy

FMC

- Improved Match Plan substitution logic
- Increased individual player training to prevent players becoming unhappy with workload
- Fixed mid-season Budget news item sometimes not appearing
- Fixed user not being able to declare interest in jobs when AI Managers are 'insecure'

STEAM WORKSHOP & ACHIEVEMENTS

- User can now 'scan for graphics' to manually index Workshop graphics
- User can start challenges from Workshop
- Game will now index files without a config
- Kits can now be uploaded to Workshop
- Manually deleted files will no longer produce error for users
- Italian Hero Achievement fixed


UNLOCKABLES

- Fixed rare instance where No Sacking would not unlock
- Can now turn off IGE before creating a new game
- User can add second nationalities
- Can now move players between AI clubs
- Can now transfer free agents using 'move to other clubs' option
- Future transfers cleared when free agents are moved

COMPETITIONS & RULES

- Fixed rare example of clubs incorrectly failing FFP
- AI will now always register players when user is on holiday
- Stopped Swedish Second Divisions changing number of teams
- Spanish "B" Team Squad Numbers now remembered between matches
- Stopped players returning from their end of season break too early
- Stopped Scottish Premiership Playoff matches being scheduled for consecutive days
- Fixed rare example of Belgian season not being scheduled
- Fixed scheduling of Copa Libertadores & Sudamericana when removing South American leagues
- Fixed Italian transfer window dates
- Fixed overage rules in Russian U21 league
- Fixed Scottish Premiership Relegation Playoff scheduling
- Stopped assistant manager arranging reserve friendlies when already in a reserve league
- Fixed North American Gold Cup attendances
- Fixed Belgian Pro League European Playoff Final scheduling when cup winners qualify
- Set 2015 Asian Cup Qualifying groups as per real life
- Fixed English League Cup / EURO Cup fixture clashes
- Fixed English FA Cup replays being scheduled during international breaks
- Fixed 2015 U20 World Cup scheduling

TRANSFERS & CONTRACTS

- Reduced player bonus demands in contract negotiations
- Stopped former staff generating scout reports
- Stopped AI clubs bidding on players they cannot afford
- Improved AI shortlisting for Spanish B teams
- Stopped out of contract players from being agent owned
- Fixed expiry date being set in the past for transfer targets
- Improved logic of AI co-ownership offers
- Fixed user being unable to Approach To Sign player after deal falls though
- Fixed semi-pro sides being unable to offer non-contracts

USER INTERFACE

- Fixed Continue button disappearing before penalty shootouts
- Fixed text overrun on GK attribute octagons
- Fixed code displayed in board meeting
- Fixed match focus not state saving


TRAINING

- Fixed tactical familiarity not adjusting when some strategies changed
- Fixed formation familiarity being lost in certain circumstances

NETWORK

- Fixed Offer to Clubs screen changing when other users navigate
- Fixed warning message when clients attempt to join network game

Xenji

Tony EH wrote: »

Hmmmm...so I cheated a little and replayed the Barnsley game. A match in which previously I was beaten 3-0.

The tactics I employed were pretty much the same, except my instructions were different. Basically I issued:

More Direct Passing
Work Ball into Box
Run at defence
Exploit the middle
Hassle opponents
Get stuck in
Use tighter marking
Higher tempo

On top of that I had the team overload the box (something I never use as its way too risky) and play "fluid"

HT 5-1 to me. 1 of mine disallowed, offside.

Around 20mins into the second half I took off the follloing:

Higher tempo
get stuck in

Dropped mentality back to "Standard" around 30mins.

FT 5-1 to me. 1 of theirs disallowed, offside.



confused.com

:pac:

Every game is random, if you used the same tactic without changing anything and replayed the match 10 times you would probably get 10 different scorelines.

Tony EH

Yeh, but there's random and there's WTF random.

For instance, I restarted my career and focused on a 4-4-2 ultra defensive tactic only, sitting really deep, with only Sturridge or Aspas up front at the goal end (Suarez still banned) and I'm knocking the shite out of most so far. However, Norwich beat my first 11 5-1 (a penalty for me).

Now that's just mad. Norwich SHOULD NOT be doing that in any universe. Even if they'd got 1 or 2, It would be more in line with reality and marked down as a hiccup. But 5 goals?

The Match Engine seems SO random, that it sort of eliminates a lot of the preparation that the player puts in. The player can put in an incredible amount of time into their team, have everything correct, have the tactics down, have all the team match fit, settled and happy and then still lose to a team vastly inferior to them...by a silly goal margin too. That shouldn't really be happening and it seems to be happening quite a lot in FM14. At least for me, so far, anyway.

It's been a strange game for me. Frustrating, irritating, hilarious, bizarre and intriguing all at the same time.

Xenji

Love how the match engine will let you score 13 goals in the first half and then none in the second

threein99

Trying to start an unemployment challenge but been holidaying for two years and no offers :mad:

Nolars

threein99 wrote: »

Trying to start an unemployment challenge but been holidaying for two years and no offers :mad:

how many leagues you start up?

threein99

Nolars wrote: »

how many leagues you start up?

13 Europeans ones, Argentina and Brazil as well, have selected the lowest leagues possible. I presume if I will return from holiday if Im offered a job ? I have it set to apply for everything

Lord TSC

So after a fantastic first year with Spurs, my second year is a disaster. Nearly Xmas, 7th in the league, out of the CL and nearly fired.

I thought on previous runs it was changing the team which was messing me up. But I only added Benteke and Jovetic to my first team, so not as if I've changed huge amounts. Usually, I change my first 11 nearly completely but didn't here, and still can't buy a win now.

Game is annoying me...

Xenji

Teamshadowclan wrote: »

So after a fantastic first year with Spurs, my second year is a disaster. Nearly Xmas, 7th in the league, out of the CL and nearly fired.

I thought on previous runs it was changing the team which was messing me up. But I only added Benteke and Jovetic to my first team, so not as if I've changed huge amounts. Usually, I change my first 11 nearly completely but didn't here, and still can't buy a win now.

Game is annoying me...

The AI copes onto your tactic far too quick this time around, I have to modify mine every season or I will lose my first few league games regardless of how many players I sign in the summer.

kryogen

threein99 wrote: »

13 Europeans ones, Argentina and Brazil as well, have selected the lowest leagues possible. I presume if I will return from holiday if Im offered a job ? I have it set to apply for everything

May sound foolish, but you have also ticked the "return from holiday on job offer" button?