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There have been many posts recently by people stating that they are giving up on the game as they just can't seem to fathom out what is causing what to happen on the pitch.
I have been pretty critical of the game, (both out of the box and post beta patch), however I have been, (and am still), reserving judgement on FM08 and the 8.01 patch, until such time as I have played the game for a significantly longer period.
My 9th game of the season has given me reason for hope.
Let me set the scene.....
Managing Hitchin in Conference South, I had a pretty poor pre-season as the tactics that had worked quite well with FM08 out of the box, just didn't seem to be doing the trick. We conceded 7 goals in 1 game, 4 in 2 others and 3 on a further occasion, (made even worse that it was our grey feeder club that smashed 3 past us). Our only victories were a good win against a Conference North team and a victory over our Reserves that was against the run of play as much as any game in FM that I have yet experienced.
Anyway, who cares about pre-season, it all a load of old Ballacks anyway and is really just to try and get my fitness impared players to a level of fitness where some of them might make the closing stages of the first leage game with a fitness level of more than 60%.
In our first 8 league games we collected only 1 point, scoring only 4 goals in the process, (but never more than 1 in a single game). During the same period we conceded 16 goals and never once managed to keep a clean sheet.
We shipped goals from corners at every opportunity, couldn't win against 10 men, (even when the opposition AI played a very strange formation with an absent centre-half spot at the back).
I seemed to have little or no control and no matter what I tried, nothing seemed to work. Over the last week or so I have loaded up the game on a number of occasions, but for whatever reason, it wasn't until today that I managed to actually proceed to the next match.
Before doing so I decided to have a complete overhaul of everything. I like using a Target Man but it wasn't working. Because of my players lack of ability I was still playing a short passing game, (despite using a Target Man), and didn't want to dispense with this. I looked for something else to change so rather than using my athletic Target Man down the flanks and playing with great width I narrowed our width completely and instructed the team to play through the middle, (yet still with the short passing high tempo style of before). I also had a look at my set-piece instructions and decided to dispense with my errant near post corner coutine and try a back post version. I moved all players from all squads into the senior squad and selected the line-up from there.
The game starts and we are suddenly looking a far more cohesive outfit. We're keeping posession and creating chances.
We scored with our first corner of the game.
My strike partnership managed to get their first 6 shots all on target.
My GK is making proper saves, (not just the ones that are more akin to back-passes.
At the end of the game we have beaten what is a significantly better team on paper, (I have 3 16 year old in my side and a very young team in general due to still waiting for my scout to pull his finger out).
We scored from a corner.
My Target Man won 100% of his attempted headers.
My GK made 8 saves and was only denied a clean-sheet by an excellent goal in th closing stages as we grew tired and the opposition really threw everything at us.
I was happy with the number of shots that my starting strikers got on target, although I must admit that it was nowhere near as good in the 2nd half as they grew tired. My target man missed an open goal in the dying moments but it was a "realistic" miss as he seemed to snatch at a parried shot from close range and sent it miles wide. I see the same player do the same thing in real life on a regular basis, (although thankfully less often this season).
I suppose the point of my post is that this 1 single game has reinvigourated (apologies for the speeling), my desire not only to play the game but also to attempt to achieve at it. So many of the posts seem to be so negative and defeatist.
I'm sure I will come crashing back down to Earth in my next game, but that's football isn't it.
If you do what you have always done,
You will get what you have always got.
I fully understand where your coming from Jimbo, I too had been struggling post patch(8.01) tactically. That was until I had managed to grasp what tactics was needed to play at least alittle better in the league I was competing in. I have still not figured it out 100%, but it's been alot of fun trying, although it's also been frustrating at times aswell.
I'm using Gateshead in the Blue Square North and i've just about finished my first season. Currently sitting 16th in the league, no risk of relegation but not much hope of moving up the league before the end of the season either. I'm leaking money and my scouts can't seem to find me anyone that's going to improve the situation.
But I'm not dispairing. After almost a season of struggling and tweaking bits here and there I think I'm finally getting a consistant tactic sorted. I definitely still need to sort my corner routine as it's currently rubbish but that's the next task.
I'm well aware that it may take me a few seasons to get my tactic right and even make it out of the BSN. But if I didn't want a challenge I wouldn't have started a game with Gateshead
Originally posted by Michael Foster:
thought this was about the x-factor group jimbo
I am proud to say that I wasn't even aware there was anyone in x factor called Hope.
I must admit that I did watch I'm a celebrity last night for the first time.
ps. Back on topic. My goal-shy Target Man has just ended his goal drought of more than 10 hours with 4 goals in our nect home game. I've only bloomin cracked it .
So a side that was hopeless has suddenly become great due to a few slider adjustments. Well played etc, but it's nonsense really isn't it?
We shouldn't need to take a nightclass in tactics to be able to get a group of decent players playing decent football. But we do, and it frustrates the hell out of me.
Another person was posting on a thread about how he got 2nd place in the premier league in the 1st or 2nd season with west ham. He may have made very good tactics or analysis of the game but really, would it ever happen in real life?
Hope. 
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