Football Manager 2021

[shen]

9 hours ago, Pegglesworth said:

Does anyone know if you’re supposed to get prize money in Ligue 1? I’ve gone none so far and don’t know if it’s a glitch or just how France works. 

Yes, there is. If you click on the league and select 'Overview' -> 'Rules' you will be able to see the breakdown of prize money.
There might be a slight delay in receiving the money as I experienced it took a couple of weeks or something in Italy as well.

[LVFox]

For the first time since probably FM18 I won a major competition last night (The dutch cup is major yes?).

 

10 minutes to go against AZ and my striker skins the centre back and dinks it over the keeper to make it 2-1. Absolute scenes in my home office .

[shen]

7 hours ago, pmcla26 said:

Thanks! 
 

My saves a bit weird to be fair, Tonali, who I signed on a free transfer, hasn’t really kicked on (averages about 6.8 a game) and Ajax let me have Kudus for £8.5m  

 

Almada, Salisu, Pickering and Hlozek are the main men for me. Kaminski in goal and Carter-Vickers are reliable too (in his fourth season now - also a free) are both pretty dependable too, but those four aforementioned are top quality. 
 

Also, that was the plan for Jones. Unfortunately he’s not developed as hoped, I subbed him on off the left hand side and gave him a few starts in the same position and he scored a few wonder goals from distance, but never had any consistency. His stats are league one level and have since loaned him out for this season. 
 

Skipp is also another player in the dependable bracket. Nothing special but a cheap option / on loan initially made a free transfer now. I agree that those roles are decent but don’t think it suits him plus I feel the BWM just gives me that extra solidarity becuase Tonali can be a bit fair weather at times and pick up rash yellows. 
 

Just done the summer and onto next season, have won the first three games of the campaign against Middlesbrough (also newly promoted) 4-0, followed by a 1-0 narrow victory over Fulham and topping it off with a 3-0 victory over Man City at home whilst getting Kudus sent off at 0-0, and without having Salisu or Almada available either  

Sounds like you've cracked the code!

 

And yeah, Salisu, Almada and Hlozek are obviously top half PL players too. Surprised Pickering is that good though. But I get great stats and ratings from my full backs too even though they're easily my weakest areas.

 

I loaned Jones in 22/23 and he was really good for me. A speed merchant but with decent strength and finish is always useful in any league. If it wasn't for Brexit and Italy's non-EU rules, I'd have loaned him again.

[shen]

30 minutes ago, pmcla26 said:

Not a bad start. 

Riding on a massive wave there! I'm puzzled at how you got relegated in the first place if you're bossing it so hard

[The People's Hero]

Hlozek is an unreal signing for pretty much any team right at the start

 

There are a couple of young Swedish and Danish players I tend to pick up religiously too. Need to get out of the habti!

[shen]

I'm having similar success in season 4 with Legnago. Note the insane first 8 fixtures in Serie A. Only Lazio is missing to make it a clean sweep.

 

 

So far it's Michael Olise (loan from Man Utd) and my new Peruvian regen tearing it up

 

[shen]

32 minutes ago, pmcla26 said:

Just didn’t have the depth that season, a lot of undeveloped potential and was playing over cautiously as counter attacking got me out of the Championship first time around. 
 

Just going a bit gung ho now but it seems to be doing the trick  

As you can see from my screenshot above, I concede loads of goals, but that doesn't matter if I score one more There definitely is something about the gung ho mentality in this game that works wonders.

[Pegglesworth]

8 hours ago, shen said:

Yes, there is. If you click on the league and select 'Overview' -> 'Rules' you will be able to see the breakdown of prize money.
There might be a slight delay in receiving the money as I experienced it took a couple of weeks or something in Italy as well.

Thanks Shen. I’m into the new season now and I’ve still not got it. Must be a glitch on my save. Guess my only option is the in game editor 

[Scotch]

Does anyone play the mobile version?

[Finnegan]

 Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola sacked at the same time at the end of season 3. My immediate thought was "... they're just going to swap, right..."

 

They have. 

[shen]

Fourth season with the club and second season in Serie A with Legnago and things are absolutely unreal. I had a strong end to the last season where I ended up qualifying for the EL by finishing sixth and string together an unbeaten run of 17 games together.

 

I'm 24 games in and still unbeaten having been top since game week 2 Lazio are clinging on and might just pip me, but being 7 points clear of Milan in 3rd with two games in hand and yet to lose, I would be very disappointed to not finish at least 2nd.

This is easily the worst squad I've managed to put in a title race. I cannot explain it other than insane pressing and tempo is king. In a notoriously defensive league where teams set up in ultra defensive counterattacking 5-3-2 they still have no answer.

[Finnegan]

1 hour ago, shen said:

This is easily the worst squad I've managed to put in a title race. I cannot explain it other than insane pressing and tempo is king. In a notoriously defensive league where teams set up in ultra defensive counterattacking 5-3-2 they still have no answer.

 

Gegenpressing and smashing it to a fast striker is so powerful in this iteration of the ME it's unbelievable tbh.

[AjcW]

My god this game is so monumentally ****ing stupid when it comes to Leicester sometimes

 

(A year after moving in )

 

[AjcW]

Oooh second bit of fun this evening. I've just promised Max Aarons he can play in goal....

 

[shen]

9 minutes ago, AjcW said:

Oooh second bit of fun this evening. I've just promised Max Aarons he can play in goal....

 

I think that's taking the sweeper keeper role a bit too far

[The People's Hero]

24 minutes ago, AjcW said:

My god this game is so monumentally ****ing stupid when it comes to Leicester sometimes

 

(A year after moving in )

 

Have had the same. Its a bit game breaking. I had it same as you with LCFC. 

I also had a constant battle against this with Cesena. Every year we got it to top level, every second year it was downgraded. 

[AjcW]

23 minutes ago, The People's Hero said:

Have had the same. Its a bit game breaking. I had it same as you with LCFC. 

I also had a constant battle against this with Cesena. Every year we got it to top level, every second year it was downgraded. 

I like to think it's not just because i'm biased, but I often question whether the leicester researcher actually watches any of our games or is a fan  seems even crazier when @Riceyis there, should be giving him volleys over email  

[shen]

13 minutes ago, AjcW said:

I like to think it's not just because i'm biased, but I often question whether the leicester researcher actually watches any of our games or is a fan  seems even crazier when @Riceyis there, should be giving him volleys over email  

I think Leicester are quite reasonably represented this year, with Barnes the obvious exception. Ndidi, Soyuncu, Fofana, Vardy, Maddison, Tielemans and Schmeichel are all top 6 players. I've seen complaints about Ricardo, but I still maintain he's a very balanced player and fullbacks tend to look the least spectacular stat-wise because they are arguably the position most reliant on high physical stats which are weighted higher.

[Dan LCFC]

FC Annecy. 12 seasons it's taken to get them from predicted to do well to stay in the 3rd tier of France to winning Ligue 1. What a ride. We were top of the table for 4 minutes all season  

[Ricey]

13 hours ago, AjcW said:

I like to think it's not just because i'm biased, but I often question whether the leicester researcher actually watches any of our games or is a fan  seems even crazier when @Riceyis there, should be giving him volleys over email  

Don’t even know who it is to be honest. I sometimes correct the kit stuff but other than that I don’t get involved.

 

That training ground inbox item is a bit strange, but I suspect it actually hasn’t downgraded that much under the hood.

[Finnegan]

14 hours ago, AjcW said:

My god this game is so monumentally ****ing stupid when it comes to Leicester sometimes

 

(A year after moving in )

 

 

14 hours ago, The People's Hero said:

Have had the same. Its a bit game breaking. I had it same as you with LCFC. 

I also had a constant battle against this with Cesena. Every year we got it to top level, every second year it was downgraded. 

 

39 minutes ago, Ricey said:

Don’t even know who it is to be honest. I sometimes correct the kit stuff but other than that I don’t get involved.

 

That training ground inbox item is a bit strange, but I suspect it actually hasn’t downgraded that much under the hood.

 

 

It's just unfortunate timing. Every X years facilities get downgraded, as Ricey says, more than likely just by 1 (it's on a scale from 1 to 20.) As the event email states in game, it's just to represent the evolution of technology.

 

If you were playing any club with state of the art training facilities when that happened, you'd have gotten the email. It's not unique to Leicester. It's a bit unfortunate that the event has popped after you've just moved in to a new training facility but eyo.

 

It just happened to me in my Leicester save as well, tbf I asked Top to upgrade them and he immediately agreed without an argument.

[tomfmlcfc]

Hi all - I'm the City researcher, have been for the last 3 years or so and an STH for 13. I've been a long-time lurker here - between all the crap it's a great source of news and I like to have a look at what people are saying about the data, with a view to improving it into the future.

 

The insults don't bother me and it is all good natured, but it is not at all helpful to read 'is he on smack?' or 'does he even watch us?'. I can't use any of that to help improve what is already in the game, which I personally believe is a fair and balanced representation of the subjective elements such as player abilities, and a pretty accurate portrayal of the factual side such as contract information, wages, staff and the academy sides. I may be the only one in direct control of us, but it's not as though I haven't got targets with regards to current ability, and all of my data is scrutinised by a head researcher above me before it's accepted. There is a hell of a lot of thought that goes into everything.

 

I'm not an expert nor a professional scout - I'm a university student sat in my bedroom playing the game for hours on end like everyone else. If you think Harvey Barnes is 'underrated' for example, then please point me to specific areas of his attribute spread and we can have that discussion here or elsewhere. I'm also on the SI forums as tomlcfc where you can PM me or write on the database and research forums, and I'll happily get back to you. Every single comment I read about us I have and will continue to consider, because I am not even close to being any sort of authority on a footballer's ability. 

 

Re: the training ground, I think Finnegan makes a good summary, but I would consider 2022 to be a bit early to be getting that message. I would think any 'technological advances' are more something you would see within a 5-10 year period rather than only 18-24 months, so it might be worth raising as a bug and seeing what SI themselves have to say: https://community.sigames.com/

 

Cheers.

[shen]

Hi Tom,

Thank you for the work you've done. I honestly think your assessments are very decent in the main and the squad is able to finish to top 4 without much sweat first season. Also, kudos for sticking your neck out here

 

Re: Barnes, I think he's a bit of a miss though - no offense. Firstly, why is he natural AM and RW, or even accomplished in CM? I cannot recall him even playing the latter position or being particularly effective as AM or RW. My biggest gripe is his overall pace which is easily his strongest asset IRL, while also having good balance. His finishing and composure belies the fact he's only scored one goal less than Vardy this season. I mean 11/11 is like League Two/One level for a forward and he's pretty much been our star forward this season. In my Leicester save, he's not really improving either and just checking on my Legnago save 4 seasons in, he still looks pretty much the same.
Pretty odd for the arguably most improved player this season.

[Finnegan]

The problem with Barnes is you over state his weak foot (besides a few long shots for West Brom, how often does he really do sensational stuff with his left?) and you've also given him too many strong positions (when was the last time he played AMC, RM, CM or LM) so you're already chewing in to his current ability. 

 

It means you can't give him the pace and acceleration (both easily 16s) he should have along with the finishing and composure scores he warrants from recent form (easily 14/15) without bloating his CA up to elite levels. It just makes the whole thing a really uneconomical use of his CA. Especially when you compare him to some nomark like Marcus Edwards who, in real life, is quite clearly not anywhere near Barnes class. 

 

I think what makes it more frustrating for me personally though isn't so much how you've rated Barnes, it's actually how guys like Mason Greenwood and Curtis Jones are rated comparatively. That's not really your fault and you end up taking the blame for something that's actually just unrealistic pandering to the "big 6."

 

I do have to question why he has Tries First Time Shots and Shoots From Range though. Neither are currently accurate for how he plays and both make him really frustrating to have in the team, especially given he struggled to actually lose those PPMs. 

 

Barnes actually majorly refrains from long shots these days, a source of frustration for fans who had seen some of the goals he scored at West Brom and then saw him basically refuse to shoot here. 

 

He rarely ever shoots unless he's in a good position in front of goal and tends to get his head up well to pick a pass if someone has a better chance on. 

 

For what it's worth, though, I think the rest of the Leicester side are currently as well rated as they've been in ages. JJ, Thomas, Vards, Madders, Tielemans are all pretty much bang on. For years we've been drastically under rated but finally the senior editors seem to recognise we're worthy of some tidy CAs. 

 

You could probably argue that Madders, YT, Barnes and Co might have higher PAs but that's perhaps being greedy. Again, particularly when compared to Greenwood and Co. 

Edited 20 March 2021 by Finnegan

[tomfmlcfc]

Lots of good stuff on Barnes from both of you, much of it is noted for the future.

 

I like to keep as much versatility as I can, even if a player hasn't played a position for a long time - Harvey obviously came through playing centrally, and has been used sparingly without much joy on the right. It is a difficult balancing act when deciding whether to prioritise whether a player is actually any good in a position, or whether he has played there at all - Perez on the right wing would be an obvious example of a player mostly played in a position where he probably isn't at his best. I will take a look for the summer though, and as you say quite rightly it would give more flexibility in allocating CA points. What I don't like is when I start a save with us and I know a player has been used in a position but can't play it whatsoever, it kills the realism, players are more versatile in real life than the game really lets us have them. Even looking at Vardy, he still has reasonable ratings to play on the wing where he hasn't played really since 14-15. But then you watch us against Sheffield United and there's an argument to say he almost played as a winger at times and he could certainly do that role again if you wanted to give it a go in the game.

 

He will obviously be in line for a significant CA hike for FM22 - I am more restricted with what I can do in any January update, and there was not enough to go on by September/October for me to suggest the levels we are talking about.

 

PPMs are an interesting one - he has scored a couple from 'range' this season if you count outside of the box as such (Palace, Man United spring to mind), and last season his point of main frustration was his lack of ability to take a touch so he would blaze shots over. He's improved on the latter a bit but in general we prefer to give a full season to see these things play out. What is slightly more important for me is that the AI is selecting him, on the left wing, and he's getting reasonable enough numbers in test saves. The gameplay behind the hood should be enough that, if you are a good enough manager and take control of Leicester, you can get plenty out of him. All of that combined often means the data can seem a bit out of date at times, but I and others have been stung before by runs of decent form that turn out to just be that (see Demarai Gray's fluctuating CA for the last couple of editions).

 

The big six argument is a fair one - for instance we have only just overtaken Arsenal in terms of 'average' CAs among the first team squad, so the 'bias' does exist. What I can say is that the way we calculate those average targets has changed from an arbitrary method to based on betting odds across the season, which makes things a lot less open to pure human judgement I suppose. It is unfortunately going to take consistency in finishing at the top end, and European performances to match, until we really see us at the elite levels. And I go back to the stuff about how the AI deals with squads in-game: Greenwood and Jones can't have low CAs and PAs that mean they wouldn't get near the first team, because both of them are playing regular games over people like Lingard, James, Milner, Wijnaldum - more established players with naturally high CAs. So it's difficult, and it will never be perfect.