I HATE FM2005

[Eaglesfan27]

Is this your first version? Have you read Marc's Tips and Hint guide to aid in knowing what type of players to get? Have you ever thought about any downloadable training schedules? I use a variant of the Gary training schedules and it works fairly well (a variant because I modified a few things.)

[Flasch186]

no matter what team i take over they spiral to the bottom of the rankings. I grabbed those tactics someone posted ont he other thread. nothing. Its incredible, how we become anemic in scoring. I start training more for attacking and nothing. No goals ever. Within the first 10 minutes of every game im already down 6 to 0 shots...its blatantly ridiculous. I try everything to get some goals...attack more = nothing, more midfield play = no goals, better defense = no goals....it sucks, SOOOOOO the game comes out of the Drive and I go back to FOF because at least with that i feel like I have some control over shit via draft and FA.

[MizzouRah]

Talk to EaglesFan.


Todd

[ISiddiqui]

What tactics are you using? Are you looking at your player's attributes and basing the tactics around them?

FWIW, I don't touch the training (let the computer do it), and I can score a decent number of goals.

Try Chelsea... they are nice for scoring and preventing others from scoring .

[illinifan999]

My only problem is finishing. They get set up, but they can never put it in. That or they hit the post. I think I've set the record for most posts hit during a season.

[Desnudo]

Take things one step at a time. Be patient and learn how training works, how tactical instructions interact with one another, and what player traits are good for different positions. Those are the three most important things to learn and you can even bypass training by downloading any of several great schedules.

[ISiddiqui]

Originally Posted by illinifan999

My only problem is finishing. They get set up, but they can never put it in. That or they hit the post. I think I've set the record for most posts hit during a season.

Ah yes... freaking strikers who get wide open and can't hit the side of a barn. That's why in my Newcastle career, I'm going to try to sell Bellamy the first chance I get.... if anyone wants him. He's a waste of space as far as I'm concerned.

[Marc Vaughan]

If you're not familiar with soccer then the main suggestion I'd make initially if to stick to default tactics initially (a nice bland 442 is a good starting place imho) .... once you've played for a bit and feel more experienced with things then try tweaking it, but initially leave it alone largely ...

The reason for this is simply that new players of the game will often make extreme changes to their tactics which commonly leave them unbalanced and thus prone to being 'ripped' ...

[Blackadar]

If you hate it, I'll buy it from you

[Bee]

Originally Posted by Marc Vaughan

If you're not familiar with soccer then the main suggestion I'd make initially if to stick to default tactics initially (a nice bland 442 is a good starting place imho) .... once you've played for a bit and feel more experienced with things then try tweaking it, but initially leave it alone largely ...

The reason for this is simply that new players of the game will often make extreme changes to their tactics which commonly leave them unbalanced and thus prone to being 'ripped' ...

This is what I did in the new version (the old versions I downloaded a tactic). I know nothing about soccer, but just kept the basic 4-4-2 tactic and then read up on what skills each position needs and tried to bring in good talent. The most drastic change I'll make is to go to a basic 4-4-2 attacking or 4-4-2 defending tactic.

To be honest, I feel my decisions in this game effect the outcome of matches much more than any other game I've played.

[Passacaglia]

I've got to agree with that philosophy. From my couple weeks experience, seems like my team does okay if I use a 4-4-2, but if I do anything to try to mix it up a little, it becomes apparent that I don't know what I'm doing, and the team doesn't do as well.

[Runtheball]

I just got the demo and played it for an hour or so. I have NO IDEA what I'm supposed to do. I know NOTHING about soccer, but really want to give the game a try as I've heard so much good about it.

There has to be either good documentation within the retail version, or a great forum location with tips for beginners to FM2005 or the game of soccer in general...right? Can anyone provide a link?

[daedalus]

What Blackie said, if you really hate it, I'll buy it from you.

[daedalus]

Originally Posted by Runtheball

There has to be either good documentation within the retail version, or a great forum location with tips for beginners to FM2005 or the game of soccer in general...right? Can anyone provide a link?

The manual is, in my opinion, meh. Marc Vaughan's guide is very, very good. Best forum to go to for friendly advice for beginners is [ here ]. Just my opinion but SI's forum does nothing for me.

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by daedalus

The manual is, in my opinion, meh. Marc Vaughan's guide is very, very good. Best forum to go to for friendly advice for beginners is [ [url=http://dynamic2.gamespy.com/~fof/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=6]here[/url ]. Just my opinion but SI's forum does nothing for me.

I agree that there are many friendly people here who will try to help you with any questions about FM.

[Eaglesfan27]

Take a look at your team's fixture list. That should indicate when your next match is. What league are you playing in? Different leagues have different start dates.

[Runtheball]

I can't get that link to work.
Can you link to Marc's "guide"?
I really just need some extremely basic guidance on what to accomplish in the first weeks of the game. I've "continued" for about a month, and all I've done is hired staff. I have no idea what to do next. Why isn't my team playing any games?

[Runtheball]

OK, my first fixture (which I assume means "game") is Sept 8, and its now July 29th. I assume there is alot I need to do before the game? I'm playing as Scotland, not sure what league that is.

Maybe I should start another thread with a more friendly title, such as "FM2005: a guide for complete newbies" and solicit advice there.

[3ric]

You're the national manager of Scotland? That'll get a little boring considering the national teams only play 8-10 games a year... pick a league side instead, such as Celtic or Glasgow Rangers in Scotland's Premier League.

[Calis]

Originally Posted by 3ric

You're the national manager of Scotland? That'll get a little boring considering the national teams only play 8-10 games a year... pick a league side instead, such as Celtic or Glasgow Rangers in Scotland's Premier League.

I believe what 3ric meant to recommend here is pick a league side, such as Celtic. Then proceed to pummel the Huns any chance you get.

[moriarty]

There's an option when you're starting a new game (and selecting a league) to change the start date. I can't recall the specifics offhand, but someone here can surely help.

You should start w/ some immediate friendlies (pre-season games) 3-4 weeks before the season. If you're starting in July and your first game isn't until September ... you're going to be hitting the space bar (advancing the game) for a long time before you get any action and you'll get bored quick.

[Runtheball]

3ric's comment helped alot! Now I'm in charge of Aberdeen, and there is much more information available to me. I'm seeing a team report where the assistant mgr is offering suggestions on how to proceed, and we have a game coming up tomorrow. Its starting to make a bit more sense now.

[ISiddiqui]

Hehe... yeah, DON'T start with a national team. Not worth it. And club teams are far more fun anyway .

[3ric]

Originally Posted by Calis

I believe what 3ric meant to recommend here is pick a league side, such as Celtic. Then proceed to pummel the Huns any chance you get.

D-oh! You are absolutely right, I don't know what I was thinking...

[Desnudo]

Originally Posted by Runtheball

3ric's comment helped alot! Now I'm in charge of Aberdeen, and there is much more information available to me. I'm seeing a team report where the assistant mgr is offering suggestions on how to proceed, and we have a game coming up tomorrow. Its starting to make a bit more sense now.

Some tips:

There are two major windows for transfers (moving players from team to team), Summer and Winter. Summer lasts from July 1 through August 31.

Most transfers are for money, not for other players.

Don't forget to set-up a training schedule. Usually it makes sense to rest players on the day of the match and the day after the match (set in the Options screen). Check the [Aberdeen] Options screen for other settings before you get rolling. You can do things like let your asst. manager manage the U-19 and Reserve squads.

Transfer budget is how much money you can spend on players. Total money is simply an indicater of the club's financial stability, although it can give you a hint as to how much transfer money you'll get next season. The largest potential impacts to the bottom-line are TV money, prize money and attendance.

Before you even click "Continue" once, take a look at your team. If you've never played soccer before, divide your squad into three broad categories, Defenders, Midfielders, and Forwards, and evaluate them. Once you get a better understanding of positioning, split the Defenders into fullbacks (wide) and centerbacks (middle) and the midfiedeers into wingers (wide) and midfielders (middle) when you evaluate them.

Some key statistics for defenders are Jumping, Positioning, Bravery, Aggression, Marking, Tackling, and Heading.

Some key statistics for midfielders are Pace, Strength, Stamina, Work Rate, Determination, Passing, Dribbling, and Crossing.

Some key statistics for forwards are Pace, Acceleration, Jumping, Heading, Off the ball (how well the player gets open for a pass), Anticipation, Composure, and Finishing.

Specific key stats change based on a player's role, but the above are pretty applicable for the basics.

I hope this helps a little.

[Runtheball]

That's a huge help, Desnudo.
Thank you!

[ISiddiqui]

Oh, and in the further division, central defenders' key stats are heading, marking, and tackling. Heading is VERY important for the middle defenders. The wing defenders don't have to work too much about heading as they won't be defending crossing so much.

Pace is more important for the wing defenders (pace being speed... took me a bit to realize ). The middle defenders can get away without having too much pace.

Some strikers can also get away with not having that much space... but they should have good heading ability and good finishing. There is nothing worse or more frustrating (IMO), than a striker with GREAT pace and acceleration, but horrible finishing. I've almost thrown things at the screen, yelling how someone should have scored on that one .

[Ajaxab]

If you want to go into a bit more depth with tactics, here's a potentially helpful link to an article from SI's Bootroom: hxxp://www.sigames.com/the_bootroom.php?type=view&article_id=1108.

[scooter]

There are some other things you'll want to do before you hit the "continue" button the first time on a new game (these are things I always do):

1. Do as Desnudo said and evaluate your team. I have an excel spreadsheet where I write down all the attributes for all the players on my team. There are a couple reasons for this. First, you have an accurate record of where everyone's attributes start out - as the season progresses they will change with training and/or aging. Also, you will have a handy way to compare your players against each other and with any new players you are looking at buying. (The game has a "compare" function, but this will only allow you to compare two players at a time. Not necessarily efficient if you are trying to compare 5 or 6 central midfielders)

2. Get a scouting report from you assistant manager. This will give you some indication as to where you may want to start looking for new players and who some of your best players are. I also go through each player and get a coaches report and write down their responses. This is a good way to get to know a new team.

3. Evaluate you staff. These are your coaches, scouts and physios. Make sure you have decent coaches for the number of different training schemes you are going to run. Also make sure you have a couple decent scouts and physios.

4. Think about tactics. I like to get some idea of the tactics I'm going to play with (just basic formation stuff like 4-4-2 or 5-3-2). This way I can focus in on who my key players are going to be and if there are any holes in the lineup I am going to need to fill.

5. After you have gotten a good understanding of your team and a basic idea of you tactics, take a look at the transfer market, specifically the free transfers. These are the free agents in the game. Every new game starts with a bunch of them and Day 1 is your chance to get a jump on the other teams. Look for anyone that may look like they could help your team out (without costing you an arm and a leg in wages). I usually find a few players (and staff) that I "pretend" to offer a contract. This brings up the contract negotiation screen and you can get an idea of what they want for wages and also, what your assistant manager thinks of the player. If you want to offer them a contract, go ahead. If you don't, just hit cancel. Also, look for any good staff that may be floating around. If you don't offer them a job, they will be gone in a couple days. Get in those bids before you hit the "continue" button.

6. Decide on training. Are you going to run the training or are you going to leave it to your assistant manager? If you are going to do it yourself, now is the time to set up your training schemes. If you aren't, go to the manager options and make sure the box next to "let assistant manager handle training" is checked.

7. Take a look at your fixture list (game schedule). Look to see if you are going to be in any European competitions or other tournaments. These tournaments usually require you to name a roster of players that will be eligible for that tournament. Now that you've spent the time to get to know your team, you can start to think about who your key players are and who you will want on the team come tournament time.

Now that several hours have passed, you are now ready to "continue". Day 1 is the most important day of the game for a lot of players. Make sure you get off to a good start.

[ISiddiqui]

Ah, also... once you get the hang of the game a bit, you can try out different tactics, either from the main formation list, or one you make yourself.

Right now I'm using a modified 4-1-3-2, which started as a 4-4-2, but moving a MF back. It may be useful to tinker with your formations after you've gotten the hang of the game based on your team's strengths.

[CraigSca]

Bah. Like flere, I feel at a loss when I play this game. Reading this thread has got me jazzed to start playing again. Unofortunately, my CD is sitting on my desk at home while I'm in the midst of a business trip.

Curses!

[Critch]

I've been messing about with a 4-2-3-1 formation, boring flat back four, two defensive midfielders in holding roles just in front of the defense, central midfield ball winner, two wingers and an old fashioned big lump centerforward target man. Don't score many, but don't concede many either (if you don't include my three games v Rangers which ended 0-5, 0-5 and 1-6). Good for 6th in the Scottish Premier with a team that had no players at the start of the season (I went empty cupboard using the editor), tiny bidget, only signs free transfers, and I've limited to 3 non-Scottish players.

It's one of the advances with FM, I think. Formation is less important than it used to be, far more realistic. Used to be play three forwards and score at will, or have a central midfielder run between your forwards and nobody would ever mark him, now a good variety of systems seem to work, even the good old 4-4-2.

One thing to watch out for is player morale. Any player with very poor morale is going to underperform, but a keeper with very poor morale pretty much means that you'll concede two goals if your opponents have three shots on target. When a keeper loses morale he's suddenly develope teflon hands, and be a complete liability. Just like Jerzy Dudek's mad moments in real life. Or Bob The Builder at Glasgow Celtic.

[SirFozzie]

Originally Posted by fantastic flying froggies

It's soccer. You're not supposed to score goals. A 0-0 draw is a very good result...

Hmm.. where did I leave that, I know I last saw it around here.. way too dusty.. ah.. wait.. here it is..


I KEEL YOU NOW!

[fantastic flying froggies]

It's soccer. You're not supposed to score goals. A 0-0 draw is a very good result...

[Flasch186]

Originally Posted by Critch

I've been messing about with a 4-2-3-1 formation, boring flat back four, two defensive midfielders in holding roles just in front of the defense, central midfield ball winner, two wingers and an old fashioned big lump centerforward target man. Don't score many, but don't concede many either (if you don't include my three games v Rangers which ended 0-5, 0-5 and 1-6). Good for 6th in the Scottish Premier with a team that had no players at the start of the season (I went empty cupboard using the editor), tiny bidget, only signs free transfers, and I've limited to 3 non-Scottish players.

It's one of the advances with FM, I think. Formation is less important than it used to be, far more realistic. Used to be play three forwards and score at will, or have a central midfielder run between your forwards and nobody would ever mark him, now a good variety of systems seem to work, even the good old 4-4-2.

One thing to watch out for is player morale. Any player with very poor morale is going to underperform, but a keeper with very poor morale pretty much means that you'll concede two goals if your opponents have three shots on target. When a keeper loses morale he's suddenly develope teflon hands, and be a complete liability. Just like Jerzy Dudek's mad moments in real life. Or Bob The Builder at Glasgow Celtic.

how do you turn a player's morale around?

[QuikSand]

must... resist...

getting... lured... into... game... again...

Noooooo!

[Marc Vaughan]

Originally Posted by Flasch186

how do you turn a player's morale around?

New contracts, praising him at the right time, handling the media in the right manner all can help with a players morale ...

[Marc Vaughan]

Originally Posted by lynchjm24

I finally had to just give up as I couldn't get out of my own way.

Great game, just too hard for someone who doesn't have a lot of time to sit and learn it.

If you're impatient for success then I'd suggest using a team which has a relatively good setup for the level its playing at, eg. Man Utd in the Premiership for instance ...

Alternatively pick any club and place:

"Club Name" "SUGAR_DADDY"

(I think thats the format - you can check as Chelsea will be present in the file already)

into the init.cfg file and start a new game with the club you've specified, this will make their chairman into an Abramovic style chap who will pump lots of money into the club (which in turn will obviously make things somewhat easier).

This is of course 'cheating' .... so don't boast if you do it ...

[lynchjm24]

I finally had to just give up as I couldn't get out of my own way.

Great game, just too hard for someone who doesn't have a lot of time to sit and learn it.

[Lucky Jim]

Some things that have helped me a lot and although they may not be that valuable when you're first starting out they'll really help you when you try to move up from that "understanding the buttons" stage to that "understanding how to win" stage.

First: Tactics. FM is a lot better than it once was because the days of the "super tactics" seem to be behind us. In previous versions the tactic itself was a very powerful thing that could be swapped around and plugged into a number of teams with almost guaranteed success (ie Diablo or insert your own favorite). Now the game doesn't seem to work that way anymore. Now your tactic needs to have some relation to the team you're putting out on the field.

What does that mean? It means the default 442 is a very solid tactic that doesn't try to do anything exotic and so it's going to be moderately successful with good players. But it also means if that default tactic has your MR set to cross the ball often and your MR is terrible at crossing the ball, you need to make an adjustment. (I've had great success with a winger set to cross rarely.) It means that if the player you have at ML is terrible at dribbling then he should not be set to run with ball. The SI Forum culture of ten "link please" posts every time someone posts about a tactic misses this.

Don't ask your players to do things they aren't capable of and your tactics all of a sudden become much more efficient. I'll give some quick clarification on that because although it seems blatantly intuitive, it isn't as natural as it sounds. And it's not a realization I put into action until fairly recently.

What are things players can't do? Bad dribbling, shouldn't run with ball. Bad crossing, shouldn't cross ball. Bad passing and creativity, should not be set to mixed passing or playmaker. Bad strength, should not be set to hold up ball as they can't maintain possession under pressure. Bad tackling, do not set to hard tackling. For fullbacks or even DM's if they have bad off the ball, they're better off not making forward runs. For strikers if they have bad heading, jumping, and strength they should not be made target men.

Obviously it works the other way too. If a player does something well give him the opportunity to do that. If you have a DC with a high long shots rating (which is more common than you'd think) put him on long shots often. You'll be surprised at the number of times he'll be lurking outside of the area after a set piece or something and pops one in.

What's good and bad? Whether a player is good or bad at something is really going to depend a lot on the division you're in. In the english conference a guy with a rating of ten at something is pretty good in my eyes for that level and I'll instruct him to act accordingly. In the EPL that number probably goes to fifteen or sixteen for the exact same skill.

Second: This is the most frustrating game you'll ever play and at times you'll be absolutely baffled as to why you are losing. There is a disconnect from understanding why you're bad a lot of times, and a disconnect from receiving constructive feedback from the game itself on what you need to change (This is just an area where you might call the game lacking but at the same time every version gets better and someday the team report button do more to help things like this). But you have to be prepared for some amount of failure as well. I've started seasons with six straight losses (after losing all my friendlies) and come back to make the playoffs and win promotion. I've had seasons where I've lost twice as many games as I've won and struggled the whole season and still avoided relegation comfortably.

The point is it's freaking hard with some teams and no amount of tactical tweaking in this game is going to win you the premier league by 20 points with Crystal Palace in season 1. The teams with the best players usually win and if you are not one of those teams you need to adjust your expectations and look toward getting the most out of the team you have, and work toward strengthening your squad as much as you can for the future.

So third then: Players. Players make all the difference in the world. You need good players. That means you make a million loan offers if you're a smaller club to get those guys that would never sign with you but will tear up the lower leagues for you at a fraction their normal wages (or for nothing even). That means bringing in some old hasbeens to replace your squad of nevergonnabes. That means having your scouts out looking for players that might fill a role nicely.

At a bare minimum you need two DCs that can win balls in the air (good heading, jumping, some strength) and have adequate pace (even 7 will do at lower levels, but the higher you go the more pace you want as wordclass strikers with worldclass pace will absolutely destroy you). You need an MC that is better than most of the players in your division, someone that can do a lot of things for you and can make things happen in the midfield and move into the attack. I look for someone with well rounded skills in double digits and as much passing ability as possible. And you need a good striker, at least one striker with finishing near or above fifteen and off the ball ten or above at any level of play. You need that one striker with good finishing that also has some kind of instinct to get in a good position (and with as much pace as possible) or you're just in a lot of trouble. You can basically "get by" with four good players if your four good players are those four in my experience. If those four happen to be your four allowed longterm loans in the English divisions then congratulations you've got a passable team that you're not even paying any wages too in most cases.

There are some other little things but that's the big stuff in my view. Especially tweaking your tactics so you're not asking your playes to do things they can't do. Direct and mixed passing, and trying through balls, are for players that actually have some passing ability. If your players don't have that, keep it on short and don't try through balls. Quick tempo is for players with great anticipation and decisions (and even then I prefer slow). Otherwise you're just giving the ball away. You'll start to realize how poorly some of your tactics are set up when you really look at what you're asking some of these guys to do. That's it, sorry for rambling, hope this kind of helps somebody

[illinifan999]

Being an unsoccer person, what are the requirements to get into all the different Euro cups. Not the ECC and Euro Cup but things like the Euro/Asian Cup, etc.

[Anthony]

i wish there was a way to just download the game after paying for it.

[ausonny]

Originally Posted by illinifan999

Being an unsoccer person, what are the requirements to get into all the different Euro cups. Not the ECC and Euro Cup but things like the Euro/Asian Cup, etc.

Well, the Euro Asian Cup is a one game cup for the winner of the Euro Super Cup and an Asian team (Don't know how the Asian Team is selected.) The Super Cup is a meeting of the Euro Cup and Champion's Cup winners.

I know this because I was able to take Barnet to the Euro Asian Cup and win in 2011

[SunDancer]

Excellent posts explaining the tatics.
So, a good rule of thumb for good and "elite" attribute system using the English league would be (ratings):
Regional Conference/National Conference- Good: 10 Elite :12
League Two: Good: 11 Elite: 12
League One: Good: 13 Elite: 14
Championship: Good: 14 Elite: 16
EPL: Good: 16 Elite: 18

Also, would these ratings also apply to coaches, scouts, Am's, physicos?

Tatics become more important as you get up in the higher leagues, correct?

As for player morale, doesn't winning play a major role? Also, player personalities can play a role too with each other (can't you have players "like" or "dislike" other members?).

Any links to get Marc's guide?

[ISiddiqui]

Originally Posted by SunDancer

doesn't winning play a major role?

Oh yes! Especially if your trounce the competition. My Newcastle squad has not been playing very well in my 2nd season and morale suffered. However, a nice 5-0 victory brought everyone's morale up.

[finkenst]

How do you send an injured player to see a specialist?

"Send to Rehabilitation"?

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by finkenst

How do you send an injured player to see a specialist?

"Send to Rehabilitation"?

Yes.

[finkenst]

lovely... let's tell you you need to seek a specialist and then have that be "send to rehabilitation"... ..

SI is the root of all evil!


disclaimer: i'm playing this game at 12:30 am and should be sleeping...and I thought FOF was addictive..

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by SunDancer

Excellent posts explaining the tatics.
So, a good rule of thumb for good and "elite" attribute system using the English league would be (ratings):
Regional Conference/National Conference- Good: 10 Elite :12
League Two: Good: 11 Elite: 12
League One: Good: 13 Elite: 14
Championship: Good: 14 Elite: 16
EPL: Good: 16 Elite: 18

Also, would these ratings also apply to coaches, scouts, Am's, physicos?

Tatics become more important as you get up in the higher leagues, correct?

As for player morale, doesn't winning play a major role? Also, player personalities can play a role too with each other (can't you have players "like" or "dislike" other members?).

Any links to get Marc's guide?

Yes, those ratings also apply to staff.

I think individual player instructions become more important in the higher leagues.

Yes, I had players in the past that hated one teammate. I eventually got rid of the hated player and morale improved (and we started winning.)

[Marc Vaughan]

Originally Posted by ISiddiqui

Oh yes! Especially if your trounce the competition. My Newcastle squad has not been playing very well in my 2nd season and morale suffered. However, a nice 5-0 victory brought everyone's morale up.

Incidentally morale goes up most for players involved in a victory - so towards the end of a thrashing consider bringing your subs on to boost their confidence if they're feeling 'down' ...