retired_B_RAN

English clubs and particularly the English national side have always overachieved in all of my saved games, and rarely have I played with the English leagues running since CM3.

It's just the natural bias of the game developers and fans in general. England is massively overrated in real life, not only among fans but even among the worldwide media. There is simply no comparison between the actual results on the pitch and the constant hype and suggestions that England is a favourite for every World Cup and European Championships.

So I guess it's no surprise that England is overrated in the game as well. If England performed according to the delusional beliefs of people around the world, then it would dominate international and club competitions. But it doesn't, and unfortunately this isn't reflected in the game.

One great example: England failed to qualify for the 1994 World Cup. I have never seen England fail to qualify for a World Cup in all the CM/FM games I've ever played.

retired_jdh2191

hmm :

2006 - Arsenal Runners up : Milan
2007 - Bayern Rup : Inter
2008 - Arsenal Rup : Liverpool
2009 - Juventus Rup : La Coruna
2010 - Bayern Rup : Bielefeld (was my team)
2011 - Bayern Rup : Chelsea
2012 - Liverpool Rup : Arsenal

UEFA Cup
2006 - AEK Athen Rup : ZSKA Moskau
2007 - FC Liverpool Rup : Real Madrid
2008 - La Coruna Rup : St. Etienne
2009 - Ajax Rup : Bordeaux
2010 - Ajax Rup : Milan
2011 - Inter Rup : Juve
2012 - Milan Rup : ManU

In the World Cup

2006 - Spain, 2nd : Portugal, 3rd - Italy
2010 - Sweden, 2nd : France, 3rd - Italy

Euro Championship

2008 - France, 2nd Spain
2012 - Spain, 2nd France

Looks in club competitions bit like english-german dominance, maybe because germany is my main league

retired_rymar

I've managed England to not qualifying. Does that count...

retired_npage

Out of seven CL's in my game an English side has won it once, and that was Arsenal in the first season. The same team are the only side to be runner up, and the did that one year later.

For the UEFA Cup, Chelsea are the only English team to of won it, with an English side coming runner up 3 times.

All looks perfectly fine to me, for my save at least.

retired_B_RAN

Incidentally, in my brand new saved game, England ended up in a group with Brazil, USA, and Togo. Brazil crashed out in the group stage, with USA winning the group and eventually making it to the final against England. The USA made it through the quarterfinals and the semifinals based on penalties, while England did its usual business of dominating the entire tournament.

But, of course, England easily won the final 3-1, despite the U.S. going up 1-0 early in the game.

But there were two very funny instances as I followed the U.S. through the tournament. In the semifinal, Spain's goalkeeper made one of those infamous errors after the 80 minute mark, playing a ball straight to an American player for a scandalously easy goal.

For fans of the "superkeeper," the U.S. failed to put a shot on target during the quarterfinal, while the opposition had 9 shots on target. But the Americans won on penalties, as their keeper saved three shots.

retired_stephf143

Surely this is all down to marketing??

Its in SI's best interest to make England look good (and easy to manage) being as the core of their market are residents of the UK

Not saying this makes it ok you understand - but thats certainly why I think its done this way

retired_clement

You mean there's a hidden ENGLAND_WINS_ALL variable hidden somewhere in the game files?

I'd say that England's domination is caused by the game's inability to reflect the unpredictability of football; I mean, England on paper is always one of the favourites, they just for some reason fail to perform in major tournaments.

retired_davek

All major tournaments are held on grass. Perhaps that's why.

retired_B_RAN

Actually, the game HAS the ability to reflect this. England's players should have lower ratings for attributes like composure and big matches. There are visible and hidden ratings that dramatically affect performance in big competitions, so why have English national team players always been given such high marks in these areas?

retired_zakb2020

What is this grass stuff you speak of? Surely everyone knows that the ball isn't allowed to touch the floor for more then 5 seconds at a time so what does it matter what surface you play on?