bytor92

Just wondering here guys, how do you play FM08? Normally I just play English leagues but I find this gets boring rather quickly. So what leagues do you tend to load up at the start? Also, when I start, I tend to find myself signing about 30 odd youth players and no proper players, is this a good thing to do or am I wasting precious money? Do you sign youth mainly, or reinforce your squad?
Just like to know how you play so I can compare my own style
Cheers

wizz0

Depends, my Barca game was easy as I inherited a great squad I could afford to look for youth to nurture.

Just started a Solihull game and its the complete opposite! Shopping for experience & ability with no money is difficult. But, I am running 10 countries on this game with a view to changing clubs IF I can be successful .

bytor92

which countries are they mate? I'm considering loading England, Germany, France, Italy, Spain and USA but might try a few others

Amaroq

Yep - a small DB, England-only game will eventually feel "too small"; you can become far-and-away the best team in the world.

To counter that, I load the "Big 5" (England, Spain, Italy, Germany, France) and put them on "Extra Detail" to ensure that the top teams are all actively looking to improve; that keeps the Champions League challenging for years to come.

Then pick your next 5 favorite places you might want to manage, and put them on normal detail. For me, that's U.S.A., Holland, Portugal, Scotland, plus the whim of the moment as a fifth choice.

As for how to start - that depends a lot on the team's financial situation, squad, etc. In general, I like to take the shotgun-approach to youth, and bring kids up through the ranks .. but I've found it can be very profitable to go after 20-23-year-olds who can contribute immediately, but still have room to improve.

gunnerfan

Presently - England, Ireland, Scotland, USA, Germany, France, Italy, Spain. Started unemployed, signed with Farsley Celtic.

bytor92

Thanks for that Amaroq!

Amaroq

Cheers, bytor. :thup: The other thing I'd say - and I haven't done at the moment, but from a recent conversation I certainly will with my next save - is to use the "Include all players from" mechanic to pick up a couple of countries you might want to manage internationally, especially if they don't have a league.

So, for example, if I wanted to manage Argentina, I should just make the Argentine top division playable .. but if I want to manage Jamaica, I need to use "Include all players from".

I hadn't been doing this because, in FM'05, it just affected the initial DB .. and since I tend to start in lower-leagues, by the time I'm considered for international positions they'd all retired anyways. Reports are that for FM'07 and FM'08, regens continue to occur in that country so that it will *always* be a reasonable country to manage ..

.. so if you have a soft spot or two, you might as well include them.

markcator3006

I normally load up the English Scottish Italian and Spanish leagues to start off with, then first team I manage is Spurs mostly then once I feel ive achieved all I can I move to a different club from a different nation and try and achieve all I can there.

Im also like you a bit and signing a load of youth players building for the future but thats only if im a smallish kind of club.

Keyser

I tend to play the "big 3" but I only have 512mb at the moment, playing anything bigger than that just slows it right down after season 2 anyway.

bytor92

Thanks for such a good response, guys. One more question, normally when I start my games I have a process of signing youth, then sorting training and scouting, this usually takes about half an hour to an hour, so when I get to the end of July I’ve been playing for a few hours and I get bored and quit. Would you recommend this approach, or can you suggest a better one?