A Work In Progress

Sorry Mods. First post. Missed the first paragraph. Please delete the other thread. Thanks

This is my first post, so apologies if this should be attached in a different topic.

I've played all the Football manager games and blah, blah blah. Needless to to say, I Loved all the games.

I'll admit, I've been in two minds with Football Manager 2008. On the one hand, I Love the tactical intricacies, whilst on the other, I thought that too much tactical emphasis was put on winning, rather than having good players. I'll admit, I was struggling and growing impatient with the game. So much so, that I came on here and read various posts in the hope of getting some advice.

The thing that stuck out in my mind the most whilst reading, was that there is not ONE "killer tactic"...Each game is different, each set of players is different, and each set of circumstances during a game are different. This is vital.

When you actually think about the game, I mean really think, it doesn't seem so hard. Sure you might have to tweak things during a game, but what manager doesn't in real life ? You can stick to the same team instructions every game, like a Utd would for example. But after kick off, you have to be open to change certain things. Watching the game in full is VERY beneficial, even if it's only for one or two games.

I find that tweaking player instructions can be invaluable. Just putting your full backs on a notch less attacking focus, away from home, can make all the difference. Likewise with an attacking midfielder. If you feel you're getting dominated in the midfield, why not take him off free role ?

This part of the game I was completely ignoring to begin with. I would just leave it or change the team mentality completely if I was losing. I didn't even look at my scout reports and assign my players to look after the oppositions danger man. This has been a revelation for me. Now I mark Drogba, Michael Owen et al out of the game. So much so that they get subbed.

I had previously also paid little attention to media or match day talks, training...The whole thing really. None of these things take much time, yet I've found that they can make a HUGE difference.

I guess the purpose of this post, is to assure people that it's not a "Cheat" game. It's not "impossible"..Yes you need to think a bit about what you're doing, but is that not a good thing ?

I've read lot's of posts like this, and people looking for the perfect tactic. Truth is, there isn't one. Get over it, move on and start thinking things through. Don't ignore ANY aspect of the game and you will improve ten fold.

I'm not being self righteous here. I've had plenty of FM08 rages in my time ! ...I have however concluded that yes the game is difficult, yes you need to be pro-active, but in my opinion, it's absolutely spot on and I never thought I would say that !.....Two nights ago I hated the game. Now, after reading a lot of advice, some good, some not so, I absolutely Love the game again.

You really don't need to spend hour and hours studying tactics, but if you're set in your ways and you think you do, LMA Manager is properly just for you.

Thanks for reading and keep enjoying this truly great game.

Greg

Cleon

Hang on a minute, a happy fan?!!

I've always gone with the, 'the more you put in the more you get out' attitude towards FM.

I liked this what Miles said;

It's kinda spot on really, with the depth the game offers you've gotta expect to take time to sort things like media, tactics, training out etc

moggydave

A problem (no THE problem) I'm having is that I've spent hours thinking about this game trying tactical variation after variation in situation after situation and restarted save after save after save with FM 08 and yet I still feel totally lost and am getting hopeless results. It took me a while to get the hang of FM07 but it seems worse on 08. I try more complicated, less complicated; one tactic, two tactics. I try a tweaking approach, a single tactic approach; global mentality, individual mentality. Reading scout reports, ignoring scout reports. Default tactics, my own tactics.

I must love this game because I keep trying again and again but after another hopeless session where I feel no closer to the answer.

It's this kind of depression and inadequecy that I think fustrates a lot of people the most - I mean you don't buy a game to get fustrated to the extent which FM can fustrate, which is a testament to the game itself but also football in general. I think I react to the fustration fairly well - I turn off and come back a day later, I dont think the game cheats etc - but I can see why people get angry. Whether or not you have to be a genius to play this game is not that relevant, the fact is the game makes you FEEL like you have to be a genius with it's complexities and lack of guidance which makes it wholely ambiguous and open to interpretation, and a player can feel like they are constantly digging a deeper and deeper hole.

Could I ask the OP: do you use very customised tactics or stick close the defaults much?