Football Manager 2021

[Finnegan]

On 01/05/2021 at 23:30, Dan LCFC said:

**** me. 8 wins from 8 in Serie B. Smallest wage bill in the league. I feel like this version is a little easy personally.

 

On 02/05/2021 at 22:44, moore_94 said:

FM is certainly very easy this year it seems, especially for experienced players

 

I did the Bundesliga / Champions League double in my second season with Werder Bremen and won La Liga and got to the CL final in my third season as Oviedo. I'd agree. 

 

For the last two or three years finishing has been dreadful its been so frustrating watching bad AI decision making and awful finishing when either one on one or attacking the box from an inside forward position. 

 

It was easy to create a tactic that abused gegenpress and counter attacking to create shit loads of those chances and if felt like they used poor finishing as a way of mitigating it and manufacturing a false sense of difficulty. 

 

It feels like they've responded to bad community feedback by improving finishing but not really doing any work to how the AI defends. Now, don't get me wrong, I don't mean that to sound hyper critical. I can't imagine just how insanely hard it must be to programme an AI and a physics engine to try and behave like a realistic game of football. But it has made the game insanely easy. 

 

My central strikers in most of my tactics at the minute are hitting like 45/50+ goal seasons in league alone. Its bonkers. You can try and make the game harder for yourself by deliberately setting goals to maybe replicate a real life strategy that's less successful in the game, like Pep's possession football (probably why he's STILL getting sacked in every save while Ole has a job for life.) But personally I don't really enjoy that approach tactically and never have. 

 

I don't mean this post to sound really boastful. There's nothing special in what I've been doing, my tactics aren't anything ingenius or elaborate. You can go and knick something off the sigames forums, plug it in and pretty much smash it up off the bat as long as its the right type of football and its defensively fairly sound. 

 

 

[The People's Hero]

Yeah its just too easy this season. I feel like they have an absolute cracker in them sometime soon though.

[moore_94]

9 minutes ago, Finnegan said:

 

 

I did the Bundesliga / Champions League double in my second season with Werder Bremen and won La Liga and got to the CL final in my third season as Oviedo. I'd agree. 

 

For the last two or three years finishing has been dreadful its been so frustrating watching bad AI decision making and awful finishing when either one on one or attacking the box from an inside forward position. 

 

It was easy to create a tactic that abused gegenpress and counter attacking to create shit loads of those chances and if felt like they used poor finishing as a way of mitigating it and manufacturing a false sense of difficulty. 

 

It feels like they've responded to bad community feedback by improving finishing but not really doing any work to how the AI defends. Now, don't get me wrong, I don't mean that to sound hyper critical. I can't imagine just how insanely hard it must be to programme an AI and a physics engine to try and behave like a realistic game of football. But it has made the game insanely easy. 

 

My central strikers in most of my tactics at the minute are hitting like 45/50+ goal seasons in league alone. Its bonkers. You can try and make the game harder for yourself by deliberately setting goals to maybe replicate a real life strategy that's less successful in the game, like Pep's possession football (probably why he's STILL getting sacked in every save while Ole has a job for life.) But personally I don't really enjoy that approach tactically and never have. 

 

I don't mean this post to sound really boastful. There's nothing special in what I've been doing, my tactics aren't anything ingenius or elaborate. You can go and knick something off the sigames forums, plug it in and pretty much smash it up off the bat as long as its the right type of football and its defensively fairly sound. 

 

 

I did a save with Elche who are a newly promoted side in La Liga

 

433 DM Wide, Gegenpress, Cautious - the only instruction I added to the default instructions was to distribute to full backs

 

Finished 3rd in my 1st season, some way behind the big 2 but still, completely ruined it doing that well in my 1st season and only made it to October in my 2nd season before I started a new save

 

[Finnegan]

1 minute ago, moore_94 said:

I did a save with Elche who are a newly promoted side in La Liga

 

433 DM Wide, Gegenpress, Cautious - the only instruction I added to the default instructions was to distribute to full backs

 

Finished 3rd in my 1st season, some way behind the big 2 but still, completely ruined it doing that well in my 1st season and only made it to October in my 2nd season before I started a new save

 

 

Yep. Incidentally I stopped both of the aforementioned saves after winning the league so easily and early. 

 

I took one look at my squad with the influx of champions league money, one look at the dreadful signings the big clubs were making and just new I'd do it again next year. 

 

I keep wanting to do my annual Venezia save next but I just don't see the point. Serie A is so crap, Inter will probably sell Lautaro to United in the second season and Lukaku in the third and then it'll be pointless. 

[shen]

1 hour ago, Finnegan said:

For the last two or three years finishing has been dreadful its been so frustrating watching bad AI decision making and awful finishing when either one on one or attacking the box from an inside forward position.

This bit is the most disappointing about this year's version. It's the last line of defence, most often the centerbacks, who are running backwards for fifty 50 yards and not turning around until the attacker has passed them making a banana run around them unchallenged, that is the most infuriating and incomprehensible thing this time around.

 

There is the long throw glitch (which they did a horrendous job of nerfing btw) as well as other set piece routines that the match engine just cannot handle.

 

It's a shame really as I really like the variety of goals and passages of play otherwise, not to mention that the out-of-match aspects have been enjoyable since my previous FM experience (skipped a couple of versions over the past few years).

[Dan LCFC]

2 hours ago, Finnegan said:

 

 

I did the Bundesliga / Champions League double in my second season with Werder Bremen and won La Liga and got to the CL final in my third season as Oviedo. I'd agree. 

 

For the last two or three years finishing has been dreadful its been so frustrating watching bad AI decision making and awful finishing when either one on one or attacking the box from an inside forward position. 

 

It was easy to create a tactic that abused gegenpress and counter attacking to create shit loads of those chances and if felt like they used poor finishing as a way of mitigating it and manufacturing a false sense of difficulty. 

 

It feels like they've responded to bad community feedback by improving finishing but not really doing any work to how the AI defends. Now, don't get me wrong, I don't mean that to sound hyper critical. I can't imagine just how insanely hard it must be to programme an AI and a physics engine to try and behave like a realistic game of football. But it has made the game insanely easy. 

 

My central strikers in most of my tactics at the minute are hitting like 45/50+ goal seasons in league alone. Its bonkers. You can try and make the game harder for yourself by deliberately setting goals to maybe replicate a real life strategy that's less successful in the game, like Pep's possession football (probably why he's STILL getting sacked in every save while Ole has a job for life.) But personally I don't really enjoy that approach tactically and never have. 

 

I don't mean this post to sound really boastful. There's nothing special in what I've been doing, my tactics aren't anything ingenius or elaborate. You can go and knick something off the sigames forums, plug it in and pretty much smash it up off the bat as long as its the right type of football and its defensively fairly sound. 

Yeah some of the AI defending (and your own at times) is absolutely ridiculous, with the way they take forever to turn around, by which time the forward has already left them for dead anyway. I'm not at your level of this but to be honest, I'm totally fine with that, and if I was I'd probably get a little bored of it. I think I'll likely do similar to what Moore has done with Palermo, but even so, consecutive promotions should be a bit of a miracle, I should be fighting around midtable in Serie B I think, yet I went up pretty confident I'd go up again, and I'm about 3 wins away with 6 left.

 

I have stumbled a bit in the second half of the season which has made things a bit more interesting, but there was a point where I thought yeah, I am experienced at this game, I know how to do well with virtually anybody, but I shouldn't be slicing through a new league up just like this, to the point wins almost felt a bit unrewarding and I was kind of hoping we lost a couple just to make it a bit more interesting. Luckily we have, with a couple of dire performances thrown in, so I guess there's still some rewarding feeling about it.

 

My tactics are very basic stuff as well. I hardly use any instructions in lower leagues. Sign physical, quick players with a couple of creative types in there and you'll fly I find.

[Dan LCFC]

I reckon this Palermo squad might be my most domestic based ever as well. I've normally got about 6/7 players of my clubs nationality in there as I buy from all over but I've largely just stuck with Italians in this, I find them very good value, it helps that so many clubs in Italy have enormous squads mind you hence selling decent players for peanuts.

[moore_94]

16 hours ago, Dan LCFC said:

I reckon this Palermo squad might be my most domestic based ever as well. I've normally got about 6/7 players of my clubs nationality in there as I buy from all over but I've largely just stuck with Italians in this, I find them very good value, it helps that so many clubs in Italy have enormous squads mind you hence selling decent players for peanuts.

I have pretty much gone the opposite direction and only have 7 Italians in my 22 man squad haha, all of those that are 23 and under though are going to be/already are club home grown though so no issues with registration rules

 

[Dan LCFC]

2 hours ago, moore_94 said:

I have pretty much gone the opposite direction and only have 7 Italians in my 22 man squad haha, all of those that are 23 and under though are going to be/already are club home grown though so no issues with registration rules

 

I usually do similar to that (though your squad is older than mine usually would be), I will probably end up with a squad more like that when I'm in Serie A (1 win from my final 4 needed, we're virtually there).

 

 

[moore_94]

10 minutes ago, Dan LCFC said:

I usually do similar to that (though your squad is older than mine usually would be), I will probably end up with a squad more like that when I'm in Serie A (1 win from my final 4 needed, we're virtually there).

 

 

Yeah a lot of my players joined when they were 25/26 so been with me a couple of seasons now but still aren't that top quality level of player

 

As I mentioned before I have basically spent most of money stocking up on youngsters, quite a few players getting to the point of joining my first team, all those with the * are who I am keeping an eye on, from the 1st photo you can see I went out and raided Denmark in the January

 

[shen]

Yeah, think it's time for me to shelve FM21.

Three consecutive Serie A titles, won with very convincing margins (15+ points), a maiden CL crown beating Man Utd, Atletico, Barcelona in the knockout stages and the star-studded PSG in the final. Moving into a new 26.000 seater stadium in the summer and having achieved worldwide reputation. It's just going to be a procession. 
Might just run a season or two on holiday just to see how badly the AI messes this up.

[AjcW]

On 21/04/2021 at 13:28, AjcW said:

Having Ricky Jade Jones on loan in league 2 feels like a cheat code  

Just outrageous   (i'm not getting a lot of game time in at the mo so not much happened since I last mentioned him!)

 

Edited 10 May 2021 by AjcW

[Finnegan]

On 09/05/2021 at 23:54, AjcW said:

Just outrageous   (i'm not getting a lot of game time in at the mo so not much happened since I last mentioned him!)

 

 

Never heard of him but I assume he's fast and has adequate finishing for your level? 

[shen]

16 minutes ago, Finnegan said:

 

Never heard of him but I assume he's fast and has adequate finishing for your level? 

Bingo, he's ridiculously fast.

[AjcW]

3 hours ago, Finnegan said:

 

Never heard of him but I assume he's fast and has adequate finishing for your level? 

Ahh yeah, sorry for lack of context, he's been mentioned on this thread a few times so just bunged the screenshot in.

As you can see from Shen's post, he has no right being in league 2, but he signed for Palace from Peterborough 1st season and they wanted to loan him out second season and I got there first.

It's an expensive loan for that level, but by paying i've ensured he can't be recalled and essentially we're walking all the way to promotion.

[Dan LCFC]

 

I am gobsmacked. Get the **** in!

[shen]

17 minutes ago, Dan LCFC said:

 

I am gobsmacked. Get the **** in!

I would be cry-laughing as I don't play with wingers in FM21

[Dan LCFC]

1 hour ago, shen said:

I would be cry-laughing as I don't play with wingers in FM21

He'd still make a pretty good striker I think, maybe a F9. The funniest part of him is having 18 for heading yet being only 5'4. How the hell did he get that good at it?

[shen]

7 hours ago, Dan LCFC said:

He'd still make a pretty good striker I think, maybe a F9. The funniest part of him is having 18 for heading yet being only 5'4. How the hell did he get that good at it?

 

https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/cristiano-ronaldo-enjoys-kickabout-young-21180711

Edited 14 May 2021 by shen

[Finnegan]

10 hours ago, Dan LCFC said:

 

I am gobsmacked. Get the **** in!

 

Injury prone 18, pressure 3, professionalism 9, sportsmanship 8, temperament 5...

 

 

9 hours ago, shen said:

I would be cry-laughing as I don't play with wingers in FM21

 

Probably the best version in quite a while for training new positions. He's got such a decent spread of abilities you could make all sorts out of him. 

 

By the time he's 18 he could be a tidy midfielder, striker, probably even half decent wing back. 

[moore_94]

8 hours ago, Dan LCFC said:

He'd still make a pretty good striker I think, maybe a F9. The funniest part of him is having 18 for heading yet being only 5'4. How the hell did he get that good at it?

Reminds of the my Brazilian regen striker who is the opposite

 

6ft6 with 16 jumping reach and only 11 heading ffs

[Dan LCFC]

 

Dunno how much you can read into it all, really.

 

He's mad good. I've got pressure on me for him to come good now  

 

He'll be first choice next season. I've got Danjuma on loan from Bournemouth for this year but he'll be good enough to replace him from next season, which is absurd really, an actual first choice 15 year old in Serie A - providing we stay up of course. It's been a pretty shit season and we're looking like only surviving in the end because of how bad the others have been. We've been pretty rotten. I'll take survival in a first year up but my god we've been shit. Quite glad in a way though as previously stated it had been a bit simple up until now.

[Dan LCFC]

He's just scored the winner in a crunch relegation game. Unreal.

[moore_94]

First time in the Champions League with Palermo, this should be fun...

 

[shen]

1 hour ago, moore_94 said:

First time in the Champions League with Palermo, this should be fun...

 

If Haaland is still at Dortmund, that is a nasty group.

Brugge are one of the best talent factories in the game as well, so not a walkover either.