retired_health4all

This thread is my opinion on how to succeed (or struggle) with tactics and training on FM 2008. It is a little different to some of the other "projects" on this forum but it is an account of my experience.

I started the game with Blyth Spartans and decided to sell every player that my coaches reccomended as I know that no matter how good my players are I will struggle to achieve anything unless I have a quality tactic. This way I got some transfer fees in and got rid of some of the top earners at the club. The board were delighted but the fans werent that pleased so I will need to get off to a good start to prove to them that Im the right man for the job. I then sent out my scouts to look under every stone in the country for new up and coming talent that could improve my squad. When they came back with the results I immediately deleted them all from my shortlist as they will all be rubbish as the scouts in the game are clueless. I then went to my Under 18 team and released every single one of them that I could without paying compensation as the chances of having anybody even half decent in there is 10,000 to 1.

Step number 1 was then finding a good tactic.
I went on the good training and tactics guide and looked through the posts to find a tactic that everybody was raving about. I found one Fiora2 and downloaded it immediately. Instant success is an understatement, I was flying with this tactic.

Step number 2 was finding a good training schedule.
I went on to the good training and tactics guide and looked through the posts to find a tactic that everybody was raving about. I found one, Tugs training and downloaded it immediately. Players stats start improving dramatically even though my coaches are toilet. Things are looking good.

Step number 4 was downloading the latest patch.
After downloading the latest patch I found that after lots of success with my previous tactic it was no longer any good and I was regulary getting hammered and not scoring any goals. I didnt find this that much fun and normally I play games for fun as im not a real manager and if I were I would be out there manging a real team. I then spent the next few days cursing myself that I even downloaded the latest patch as I didn't even notice the differences that it was supposed to have helped.

Step number 5 was finding a good tactic that works with the latest patch
I went on the good training and tactics guide and looked through the posts to find a tactic that everybody was raving about. I found a few and downloaded them but things had changed. None of the tactics that worked previously to the patch now worked so people were puzzled. People kidded themselves that with a bit of “tweaking” they could make it work but it was then just a reasonable tactic instead of a quality one. Like I say I dont want reasonable, I want to do well so I can enjoy myself rather than punching the wall 3 times a game. I set up a thread asking for people to nominate tactics pre patch but this was closed as it offered nothing in the way of tactical discussion. I kept looking and found one that people said worked with the patch, (433 conversion) kindly the creator emailed it to me. It was superb and I was back to having fun again. The only problem was that it played with one lone striker, call me old fashioned but i like to set up tactics with two strikers so I decided to look for one with two up top, I downloaded a couple but they just didn't seem to work. I found this odd in that the most popular formation in the world cannot be a success on this game.

That is the stage where I am at now and i'm currently looking for a "quality" 442 tactic.

If anybody has any questions on how i "succeeded" in the game I am happy to answer and help you out.

Cheers

retired_bsurrena

LOL quality post this should be pinned, anyway what happened to step number 3.

I also share your frustrations, it seems painfully obvious with the lack of any really good tactics that play with 2 strikers.

The thing that annoys me is in previous versions i never had any problems creating excellent tactics and watching my team rise through the divisions, but since FM07 i constantly struggle to develop any thing remotly consistent, but i think its down to the fact i pick crap teams. I read this forum constantly for tips, but the thing is i always set my tactics up in a sensible way, nothing bizarre and always to play to my players strengths, and when i read the theories on here on how to setting up tactics i learn nothing because i do all those things anyway. i.e keep all players mentalities close together, short/slow direct/quick, low creative freedom for my defenders, look in depth at the strengths and weaknesses of my players etc. But still no joy.

Having said that when i download other peoples tactics to gain ideas and to give me some success mainly i find them just as poor as my own if not worse, which gives me a good feeling as i know it cant be me thats tactically inept. It took me 6 seasons to get my beloved Oldham in the prem using my own tactic aswell as other peoples along the way, eventually decided to go to Arsenal, i thought right i'll create a 4-4-2 i have quality players, and 1st season i won the League cup FA cup, Prem and Chams League pre-patch i thought right i'm on a winner, i was going to post the tactic on here, but then thought before i do i'll start a game with Man City and have put my self on holiday for a season having my assistant use my tactic, at the end of the season i finished 6th, i then did the same with other tactics on here in which i wont mention to see how my compared and mine got the best results out of all.

So the last test was to start a new game with Oldham who are one of the stronger teams in the league with my 4-4-2 i created to see how i would get on in a lower league, well it wasn't good infact i just avoided relegation on the last day of the season and just avoided the sack. So i decided not to post it after all.

I find it quite amusing the amount of tactics posted on here in where 95% of them was tested with one of the big 4 clubs, and the person is telling us what an awesome tactic it is, its not overly hard to create a winning tactic for the likes of Man Utd, Arsenal, Chelsea etc with all the talented players they have, they should try it in the lower leagues with a poor team with no money to really see how it fares.

My last gripe is that i decided on another experiment taking over Oldham i used the preset 4-4-2 and i set all my players to the preset player instructions, to see how it would fare, now for a team that should be pushing for the top of the league i actually got relegated. Which in my view is diabolical and SI have taken the game away from kids, as i'm 33 and feel i have a pretty decent knowledge when it comes to creating tactics, but alot of kids would just want to take over their favourite team and play a standard formation buy the best players and win stuff. But this game seems to require you to be able to be good enought to aquire all your coaching badges just to play it.

retired_health4all

Oops I had step number 3 put down as talking about how i went about buying players but I thought it might be closed as it isn't concerned with tactical discussion so I deleted it. Forgot to change the numbers on my other steps though. I also forgot to mention that when I downloaded the patch my training schedule (Tugs) went pear shaped and the attributes started decreasing.

This patch is great for fixing things in the game, seems to be better than Bruce Grobellar and a host of shady asian businessmen when it comes to match fixing.

retired_miked

I totaly agree. Most players look for the killer (diablo) tactic DL it and go on to win everything, but FM 08 has changed that, and for the better imo.

retired_hielscher

I'm about half way through a season with Dorchester (BCS), and I've been using the tactic found here: http://community.sigames.com/eve/for...7/m/2672085463.
So far I am top of the table by two points, I've won every home match and I've only lost one away match. The fact that I managed to loan a player from Portsmouth was also a big help, however overall this tactic has been great and it is on the new patch and so far it is the best that I have found.
Hope that helps

retired_WOWBootyCamp

I also use this tactic and have finished 4th, 3rd and 4th in my three seasons with West Ham and am currently top and unbeaten in season 4!.

Dont chop and change, just implement this tactic and let it do what it does best, you wont always dominate, but you will succeed.

I have'nt tweaked it since implementing it in my 1st game 1st season, i dont tweak it during a match, in fact i dont even watch the matches!.

Just set it up and enjoy!. :thup:

retired_miked

Sorry but I don't get it?
How can you enjoy a game on football management and not watch a game?

retired_WOWBootyCamp

Sorry but I don't get it?
How can you enjoy a game on football management and not watch a game? </BLOCKQUOTE>

Enjoy the results NOT the match, the whole experience of watching games is absolutely pitiful and i think most people who like myself watch a lot of real life football would agree.

retired_miked

I believe that most people who play FM do actually watch the games, I think you are in a minority.
I also watch a hell of alot of real football (Derby County) and believe me it can be far worse than an FM match lol

retired_health4all

I have downloaded the 442 tactic mentioned above and it has started well. cheers ajeffrey

Such pleasure to be able to field a team with two strikers, cheers.

Now I just need to find a training schedule that actually improves my players when I have good coaches and I will be set, probably never download another patch but will be happy.