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It's just gotten silly now, i've spent over three seasons building up a squad that should enable us to challenge for the Prem, as well as in Europe, but based on in game decisions from the AI its not going to happen. Maybe it has decided my squad is'nt yet good enough, or that my overall rating as a Club is too low?, whatever the answer is, the game comes nowhere near portraying it in terms that i can understand?, giving me no chance whatsoever to do anything about it?.
I'm using a 4-4-2 tactic that is not like the usual 1 forward set ups that see your team have 30 shots a game without scoring, whilst the opposition nick a win with their only effort. Well actually it WAS'nt that kind of tactic, until suddenly after a fantastic and deserved start, that is what it has become.
I finished 4th in my first season playing as West Ham and was happy enough, dissapointed that i dropped so may points during the AI induced lack of form(which really relates to lack of goals as you come up against Superkeepers 5 or 6 games in a row), but i could easily imagine this being because of my lack of quality in certain areas of the squad.
In season 2, i managed 3rd place after improving the squad somewhat(despite a lack of funds) and yet again thanks to the ever annoying AI induced lack of form(goals), we lost our slim hopes of a definite title challenge, but hey i thought?, the squad is still improving, maybe next year?.
Season 3 and were there or there abouts again after an iffy start and with a dozen games left of the season though, i lose my star striker for 3 months, which suddenly equates to my two remaining quality strikers(+ 2 back-up) goals drying up and managing just 2 between them in my final 12 games, which cost us a shot at the title with what was now a very good team(or so i thought), yet we still managed 4th place, simply because we along with the other top two teams had might a mighty gap points wise, from the 4th place side.
I was just about ready to jack it in at this point, but having secured a couple of very good freebies and a lot of jostling with my transfer budget, i secured the signatures of all the players i needed to fill what i thought were the weakest areas of our squad?.
So, season 4 got underway and i was a tad worried that we were at home to Chelsea in our very first game. A win would surely boost our confidence(already had superb morale throughout), whilst a defeat could see us having another dodgy start and fighting to stay with the leading pack?.
Well, the season got underway and below is our first page of results. A fantastic start that saw us top the Prem by a clear 7 points!. I'm finally thinking, "great squad, great tactic, well worth the 3 seasons i spent putting it together".
Right?.
WRONG!.
Suddenly we're back to square one(or near enough), despite having the best of almost every single game, its once again time for my AI induced lack of form, which of course as i've said is actually a lack of goals from strikers, plus now we have the added bonus of our defence suddenly falling apart too?.
Using this tactic for over 3 seasons, it has always and still does, create a great deal of GREAT chances, not your typical 1 on 1's a lone striker gets, but chances created from having two good strikers pulling defences out of shape and creating twp-ins for one or the other forward.
Suddenly though, the forwards are missing a multitude of easy tap-ins that is allowing the opposition keeper almost a guaranteed MOM status, whilst my strikers are now lucky to manage a rating of 6.
At the other end my usual stable defence are making schoolboy errors to the point where almost EVERY chance the opposition manage, is down to a stupid pass, throw, free kick, or simply standing with the ball until the opposition nick it from their feet?. The only chances the opposition are creating themselves are from free kicks corners and banana shots from 40 yards out, which are now flying past my once stalwart goalkeeper.
You may look and think that it does'nt seem so bad, still 2nd in the Prem, etc, etc, but there is absolutely NO reasoning behind the results whatsoever, no change in tactic or a massive drop in morale, just things going on during games that were not happening previously and like before will probably just as soon dry up again?.
Its just not tactic related, its a guaranteed AI induced on purpose BUG, that is simply there to put a spanner in the works, because without it the game would be too easy.
I dont want an easy game, what i do want is a strong enough match engine that does'nt have to fill in for its major inadequacies by doing what i have suggested above and is quite clear in the game itself, if thats the basis for the overall strength of the game and AI, what the hell is the whole point of playing?.
It's just gotten silly now, i've spent over three seasons building up a squad that should enable us to challenge for the Prem, as well as in Europe, but...
"I'm using a 4-4-2 tactic that is not like the usual 1 forward set ups that see your team have 30 shots a game without scoring, whilst the opposition nick a win with their only effort. Well actually it WAS'nt that kind of tactic, until suddenly after a fantastic and deserved start, that is what it has become.
I finished 4th in my first season playing as West Ham and was happy enough, dissapointed that i dropped so may points during the AI induced lack of form(which really relates to lack of goals as you come up against Superkeepers 5 or 6 games in a row), but i could easily imagine this being because of my lack of quality in certain areas of the squad."
Originally posted by Gibbo84:
If you use the same tactic for 3 seasons, surely some defences will figure it out.
I think previous quotes from SI for previous release is around 18 months. This also seemed to be the experience of a fair few users. The AI will adapt and you'll need to change if you are playing 1 single tactic consistently
I know that this isn't what you want to hear, but it's just bad luck.
There used to be a conspiracy theory that the AI would adjust the form of other title challengers to make sure that there was always another team with you in the title race, no matter how good your team. However, this was refuted by SI. Now you are saying that your team is suffering because the AI is deliberately making you underperform to keep a close title race, and I can imagine that again this will not be the case. The game is designed, as far as possible, to treat all teams the same, whether AI or human. While there are some issues to be resolved where this is not the case (such as the transfer market), as far as possible SI make this to be the case. What would they have to gain from forcing you to not win the title?
I think the main problem for SI is they may have just got some of their target audience wrong.
"What we're expecting is that people will set up a lot more predefined tactics that they can swap around easily, and all tactics are importable from FM 2007 anyway."
The above quote was from Miles on the gamespot website, talking about during the game. Sadly I think quite a few on here don't like watching games and changing tactics accordingly.
Success in FM is down to changing your tactics during the game because the AI does.
The more you put into the game the more you get out of it. If people don't want this then I'm sorry to say that FM on the PC is no longer the game for you.
Originally posted by BigBadBri:
Suddenly though, the forwards are missing a multitude of easy tap-ins that is allowing the opposition keeper almost a guaranteed MOM status, whilst my strikers are now lucky to manage a rating of 6.
At the other end my usual stable defence are making schoolboy errors to the point where almost EVERY chance the opposition manage, is down to a stupid pass, throw, free kick, or simply standing with the ball until the opposition nick it from their feet?. The only chances the opposition are creating themselves are from free kicks corners and banana shots from 40 yards out, which are now flying past my once stalwart goalkeeper.
You may look and think that it does'nt seem so bad, still 2nd in the Prem, etc, etc, but there is absolutely NO reasoning behind the results whatsoever, no change in tactic or a massive drop in morale, just things going on during games that were not happening previously and like before will probably just as soon dry up again?.
Its just not tactic related, its a guaranteed AI induced on purpose BUG, that is simply there to put a spanner in the works, because without it the game would be too easy.
Aside to SI - this is the sort of perception I think we need increased Assistant Manager communication to correct. Since he can't see where he's going wrong, it feels like a bug to him.
Bri, you keep describing - in all four of your seasons - an extended run of poor form.
Each time, you blame it on some external event. Since that puts it "outside of your control", of course you feel frustrated with it.
Have you considered that there may be a logical in-game reason for it? And that there may be things you can do to control it?
The commonality in all four runs of poor form is you, your tactic, and your squad.
It sounds to me like your team hits an extended run of either complacency or poor confidence.
1. This could be a result of your team's mental make-up. I've noticed that young teams tend to be very vulnerable to "streakiness"; win a bunch, then lose a bunch, just as you describe. You might consider, if you don't already, having some veteran "grinders", 30+-year-olds with high Determination, high Work Rate, high Teamwork and a Professional or Determined personality. You'll find that they tend to outperform players with higher visible attributes during a run of poor form .. and their work may inspire others around them.
2. SI have indicated that there is an "increased pressure" when a team begins challenging for the Premiership title; again, younger teams are more vulnerable to that, and older teams tend to be more resilient. Beyond that, though, some players handle pressure well and others don't.
3. You might consider your captain. Do you simply select the guy with the highest Influence? If so, you might want to change your approach. See Selecting a Captain for more information.
4. You may have "Team Talks" correctly solved for matches in which your team won, and be handling them incorrectly when your team does not win. Alternately, you may have them solved for matches when your team is on high Morale, win or lose, but not for matches when your team is on poor Morale.
5. Complacency may be setting in. You might consider using the media to criticise some of your players - your most professional types will respond positively to criticism .. if you appear to accept defeat without emotion, they may be getting complacent.
6. Despite your assurance that it isn't, it could be your tactics: tactics which create too many "missed chances" lead to poor striker confidence and increased GK confidence, which leads directly to "opposition super-keepers", which you have described coming up against. Shot ratio specifically addresses how confidence interacts with a striker's finishing. wwfan's advice at Shots to goals ratio is excellent, also.
Why I Have Good Reason To Complain!. 
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