retired_ymwade2

A few disclaimers before I launch into a self-pitying rant...

First off, I think the game is brilliant. It's thoroughly engrossing, and it has absorbed most of my spare time since it was released. I also don't have a problem with any aspects of the game... I'm happy with the simulation of football it presents. You're never going to get a 100% perfect depiction of the football universe, but SI have given it a great shot.

I've been playing CM/FM for a long, long time now. Previous incarnations have seen me win everything in sight, up to last year where I really struggled for a good while, until I got some success with Sheffield Wednesday. FM08, however, is the first FM or CM game where I've failed to win a major trophy, and I think I'm finding the game too hard for me (not the fault of the game!).

I've had two main games in 08... Blyth Spartans up to 2020 and Spurs up to 2010. I've also had a fair few exploratory one season games. Blyth whizzed up through the leagues, and I got them as far as regular Champions League qualification. I never troubled the top spot in the EPL though, and I never reached a cup final. Spurs have hovered between 5th and 7th for three seasons, and again I've gone out of every cup before the final.

What I'm finding too difficult is consistency in the league at the top level. I could put together twenty game unbeaten runs in the lower leagues no problem, but I very rarely win more than three in a row in the top flight. My players, at both Blyth and Spurs, are of an equivalent standard to the other top teams (better, probably, with my Blyth regens), and I've been through a multitude of tactics since the game's been released, giving each a year or two to see how it does. Every year I seem to start well, dip around x-mas, and then settle into an inconsistent pattern for the rest of the year.

I like hard games, and I really enjoyed figuring out FM07. I've just about exhausted my brain on this version though, to the point where the enjoyment is starting to go. Keeping a run going, breaking a bad streak, and getting a consistent performance out of my players at the highest level is - it seems - just too much of a challenge for me. Everything that's worked for me in the past - or worked in 08 in the lower leagues - falls flat in the EPL. Tweaking sliders or tactics slightly, press interaction, total changes in style of play, subtle changes in style of play, generic tactics, opposition specific tactics etc etc... none of it can bring me top flight glory.

Anyone else having the same problem? Any other experienced CM/FM players finding the recent incarnation too hard at the very top level? Or am I alone in my recent inability to recreate previous FM achievements?