Finally champions, even though predicted 20th and with weakest players in the league! I feel like many results were due to opponents getting complacent since we were never favorites. For most part, I just needed to relieve pressure from players and they delivered good results. In the last matches, I thought I could lose it since my team couldn't win, but I ended up being champion without playing because opponents didn't win their matches either.
Funny enough, I also won FA Cup, even though I played with team B until semi-finals. For reference, team B was my team A from last season, with players around 100 CA (based on players sold). Maybe I got lucky to face weaker teams until semi-finals, then I managed to win with last matches with team A.
Now, time to take a short break and test some new tactics before going for UCL. I would also like to win the league with worst team in the first season, playing something like Elche or Fulham.
Egraam said: Paulo Sousa style I've been trying to make a more faithful recreation as well, with high possesion rate, but shorter passing and lower tempo just don't really work in this year's FM. Expand
I tried 343 before, but it was not good at all. Good job making it work.
My second season in Premier League ended up in 8th, one position short of Euro Cup. Can't be helped. For the third season, I managed to hire nine or ten new players, making a first team with enough quality to challenge for the title. My prediction is still last place, but with 28 matches played, my team is currently 1st. By the way, I checked the hidden stats of players from last season that got sold. Their CA was around 80-90, so it's kinda of a miracle that I finished 8th.
Results this season have been pretty good. Most of the matches I start with players very nervous, then I use team talk to tell them to play without pressure, then individual talk that I have faith on them for the ones that didn't get motivated. This seems to work like a charm when playing as underdog. During matches, I use shouts to encourage when not winning and no pressure or praise when winning (usually alternating). Half time pep talk is usually angry if winning by less than two goals, and praise or don't get complacent when winning by two or more, depending on how hard is the match.
Below are my first team players, in the same order as when you sort for position in team selection (GK, DR, DC, DC, DL, DM, MR, MC, ML, SS, SS). They seem to be slightly worse than players from Fulham or Newcastle, but at least they started to look like players from Premier League. As a reminder, most good players don't want to join my team because of low stature. Spoiler
Zippo said: If you're talking about the 'Ineffectual' rating then sure, we'll test it too. Expand
Is it possible to test another thing? I always wanted to know if it's better to have DCL with right or left foot, as well as DCR. Same for AMCL and AMCR. I mean, everyone only cares about feet from wingers, but what is better for those central positions with two players?
Zippo said: That's a good idea. We're working on it. Expand
It would be nice to have "untrained", since we already have accomplished. I believe that's what people would like to know the most, what is the impact of directly lining up a ST as AMC.
Mark said: I am loving all this discussion. I, like many, find all these discussions very helpful. My question relates to positions. I keep finding cheap Strikers with very good Pace, Acc, Agility and Dribling but no AMC ability. I am trying to retrain them as AMC SS, but do you think they are worthwhile playing straight away as AMC SS? Expand
I never wait for them to get trained before starting using them. I just set training to new position and throw them into matches if they are good enough.
P.S.: By the way, I almost threw my season in the toilet now. I'm currently leading Premier League with 16 matches played, but I had to play three easy matches in a single week. Before that, I went to my players for a team meeting, since we are overachieving and they could get complacent. However, I had the stupid idea of challenging them for the title. When you are predicted last, they don't take it very well and get insulted, so everyone's morale went to red. I never wasted so much time praising everything I could, like training, form, last match, conduct... but at least I managed to bring them to neutral morale before the matches. Got two victories and one tie.
By the way, look what happened to my run with Leamington. I was in 5th, dreaming about a spot in the Euro Cup. However, my team started crumbling and won only one in the last ten matches. Does that mean the tactic stopped working? Absolutely not. My team is really weak, since no good player wants to join due to low reputation. It was predicted to be relegated. We are already overachieving by a lot, meaning either they started getting complacent for achieving their objective, or they cracked under pressure because of fighting for a spot in Euro Cup. In the end, I was incompetent in holding their spirits high and they don't have the right mentality for fighting there. Yet, I'm 8th place, better than last year when I finished 14th. I have high hopes for next year since my team is only getting stronger as time passes.
Very nice post! I would just add a couple more of factors, like player mentalities (consistency, important matches and other stuff that affects matches directly), pressure for the title race, complacency for winning streaks, happiness in general (playing time, training like team bonding and match practice, pep talks, media meetings), bad individual form (which can last a lot for some players, no clue what affects it), among others. In short, managing the mental state of players is usually as important as managing their physical state or the team tactics.
infxamus said: Seems that the effectiveness of Long Throw Ins have been nerfed. Has anyone tried using mixed throw ins for their set piece? Expand
I did try briefly, it was better for weak team and worse for strong team. I also tested quick and short, but not much success. However, I didn't test these deeper, with different set ups. I might try again in the next week.
babemocni1988 said: Nice to see that!Maybe i will change my opinion after seeing this,just nobody show me proof like this playing with the same tactic all the time,with underdog,with the same team,maybe after this I will start my new long save and try not to get frustrated so much,thanks pal! Expand
Just remember that any tactic will get some bad spells every now and then, with 4 or 5 matches without winning. It's fine as long as the season ends well. Focus on keeping the players happy, with high morale and low fatigue and everything will be fine. Also, remember to challenge them from time to time when you are in a winning spree, to avoid complacency.
For anyone interested in my Leamington journey, I ended up last season in 14th at Premier League. I also managed to upgrade my youth setup to maximum in all areas, including youth training, coaching, recruitment and level. Training facilities will need a couple more seasons to get maxed. In the current season, I am 5th and my goal is to reach the Euro Cup. I hired a couple of new faces and gonna link my best player below. Unfortunately, I still need one or two more seasons to increase my reputation so better players accept to join my team.
I'll post the stats of all my players by the end of the season, because I'm hoping to bring in some new faces during the next transfer window. I finally got world coverage and some good scouts, so I'm optimistic to step up and become champion in my third season at Premier League.
Anyway, I reduced my squad to 28 players, 6 of these from my youth set up. The other 22 are two players for each position. I am also rotating less, based on fatigue and injury risk, and allowing team B to play Carabao Cup and FA Cup (as well as those weeks when you have only one day to rest between matches). I was eliminated from Carabao Cup on the first match, which definitely helped me focus on the Premier League.
I'm playing with Leamington for six or seven years (in game) with the same tactic. It started on the lowest division of england and climbed up to Premier League. Last season I ended in 14th, and this season I am currently in 5th. For reference, I was predicted last place, with extremely low odds. The best player of my team is presented below, and as you can see, his CA should not be much higher than 100 (I can check next season when I sell him, with in-game editor).
I have yet to play a season where my team didn't overachieve by a lot. If opponents can't learn my tactic after six or seven seasons, I don't think they ever will.
infxamus said: In my RTG Nottingham Forest save I was using Phoenix 4.0 the whole time, not one change to the tacitc, unless we had injuries to the team (this was before the new patch)
In the championship we finished 3rd, but we got promoted
1st season in the Premier league: 6th 2nd Season: 3rd 3rd Season: 3rd (Europa League Win) 4th season: 2nd (Won UCL and FA Cup) 5th season: Won the league (Won FA Cup, lost in UCL Final) 6th season: Won the league by over 15 points (UCL,and FA Cup secured too)
In all of those seasons, we always went through a rough patch during December and January as that is when the players start getting tired with the amount of games played in such little time and it is the peak of injuries, sickness as well, it even got me thinking the CPU knew how to go against my tactic but we were back in form by the beginning of February Expand
By the end of the season you have not only fatigue, but also more decisive matches and pressure from the title race. That makes the team perform worse if they don't have the right mentality.
babemocni1988 said: And i think so I was not the only one having this problems in second seasons,and people often find excuses in new singings,team moral,reputation increased and blalalala,nobody from you guys wants to admit that AI read tactics,that is the fact,happend to me even playing on other patches this year,and playing on the previous FM 2020 Factor of the lucky is big for sure but the problem was not there...problem is that your team just doesnt crush opponents like before and you start conceding stupid goals also,your match higlights are not showing like before and you dont create like before,you need insane fast players on CM,SS and Wing position to be able to fight against ME,this is why tactic doesnt stop working for big teams who have players flighting all over the pitch! That is my opinion as i sad and i would like that someone can do to change my mind... Expand
I don't understand why you are claiming your opinion is a fact, based solely in feelings and in your personal experience, ignoring the experience of everyone else. I mean, it's very easy to find a counter-example to what you are saying. Run a season in holiday mode or instant mode. Then save and continue it without any new hiring, with the same tactics, then reload and repeat 5 times. Now reload and go with another tactic. I doubt the results will be much different than what you would expect from each tactic. Just so you know, the same tactic can variate more than 15 points in the same save, with the same tactics.
babemocni1988 said: Trust me that nobody more than me want to play one tactic all the time, hate to change it,because in my philosophy every manager should have a DNA or system thats make you unique,like Pep,Klop,Conte...they dont change tactics every year But I realy saw in my second season that my team is not even close like in first season,tryed to change mentality,restarted games many times but i could find a reason why is not working,then i just reloaded again,put another strong different tactic and guess what,i am winning again,even if I am not happy because i changed the formation and i hate that! Expand
I play with the same tactic all year long and it works fine to me. Most people also play with the same tactic for several seasons without any problem. I think there must be another reason why your team crumbles in the second season.
The game works in a way that the more you win, the higher your chance to lose, since your players build complacency. The same way, the more you lose, the higher your chance to keep losing, since you lose morale. You need to manage those two things to make your team consistent.
Maybe you had a set of players in a bad streak, like the shadow strikers, then you changed to a tactic that don't depend as much on those players. Then it increased your morale and you started winning, while if you lost you would enter a dark spiral.
babemocni1988 said: and explane me why i am dominating again with the same players with different tactic after restarted season?? Expand
It's probably just RNG. Phoenix v5.0 is better than Phoenix v3.0, which was at the top of the table not so long ago. If people could win everything before, they should be able to win even easier now. Actually, most tactics from the top 10 or 20 are able to overachieve a lot. If the tactic "stopped working" for a while, you should check if your players morale is good, if their fatigue is high, if they are happy and if you are keeping them motivated. Any tactic will crumble if you don't manage the human side of the players, meaning their physical and mental sides.
Thank you! It really feels good to take the weakest team from a country and bring it to the top. It took a while, but it was totally worth it.
Funny enough, I also won FA Cup, even though I played with team B until semi-finals. For reference, team B was my team A from last season, with players around 100 CA (based on players sold). Maybe I got lucky to face weaker teams until semi-finals, then I managed to win with last matches with team A.
Now, time to take a short break and test some new tactics before going for UCL. I would also like to win the league with worst team in the first season, playing something like Elche or Fulham.
I tried 343 before, but it was not good at all. Good job making it work.
Results this season have been pretty good. Most of the matches I start with players very nervous, then I use team talk to tell them to play without pressure, then individual talk that I have faith on them for the ones that didn't get motivated. This seems to work like a charm when playing as underdog. During matches, I use shouts to encourage when not winning and no pressure or praise when winning (usually alternating). Half time pep talk is usually angry if winning by less than two goals, and praise or don't get complacent when winning by two or more, depending on how hard is the match.
Below are my first team players, in the same order as when you sort for position in team selection (GK, DR, DC, DC, DL, DM, MR, MC, ML, SS, SS). They seem to be slightly worse than players from Fulham or Newcastle, but at least they started to look like players from Premier League. As a reminder, most good players don't want to join my team because of low stature.
Spoiler
Is it possible to test another thing? I always wanted to know if it's better to have DCL with right or left foot, as well as DCR. Same for AMCL and AMCR. I mean, everyone only cares about feet from wingers, but what is better for those central positions with two players?
It would be nice to have "untrained", since we already have accomplished. I believe that's what people would like to know the most, what is the impact of directly lining up a ST as AMC.
I never wait for them to get trained before starting using them. I just set training to new position and throw them into matches if they are good enough.
P.S.: By the way, I almost threw my season in the toilet now. I'm currently leading Premier League with 16 matches played, but I had to play three easy matches in a single week. Before that, I went to my players for a team meeting, since we are overachieving and they could get complacent. However, I had the stupid idea of challenging them for the title. When you are predicted last, they don't take it very well and get insulted, so everyone's morale went to red. I never wasted so much time praising everything I could, like training, form, last match, conduct... but at least I managed to bring them to neutral morale before the matches. Got two victories and one tie.
I did try briefly, it was better for weak team and worse for strong team. I also tested quick and short, but not much success. However, I didn't test these deeper, with different set ups. I might try again in the next week.
Just remember that any tactic will get some bad spells every now and then, with 4 or 5 matches without winning. It's fine as long as the season ends well. Focus on keeping the players happy, with high morale and low fatigue and everything will be fine. Also, remember to challenge them from time to time when you are in a winning spree, to avoid complacency.
I'll post the stats of all my players by the end of the season, because I'm hoping to bring in some new faces during the next transfer window. I finally got world coverage and some good scouts, so I'm optimistic to step up and become champion in my third season at Premier League.
Anyway, I reduced my squad to 28 players, 6 of these from my youth set up. The other 22 are two players for each position. I am also rotating less, based on fatigue and injury risk, and allowing team B to play Carabao Cup and FA Cup (as well as those weeks when you have only one day to rest between matches). I was eliminated from Carabao Cup on the first match, which definitely helped me focus on the Premier League.
I have yet to play a season where my team didn't overachieve by a lot. If opponents can't learn my tactic after six or seven seasons, I don't think they ever will.
In the championship we finished 3rd, but we got promoted
1st season in the Premier league: 6th
2nd Season: 3rd
3rd Season: 3rd (Europa League Win)
4th season: 2nd (Won UCL and FA Cup)
5th season: Won the league (Won FA Cup, lost in UCL Final)
6th season: Won the league by over 15 points (UCL,and FA Cup secured too)
In all of those seasons, we always went through a rough patch during December and January as that is when the players start getting tired with the amount of games played in such little time and it is the peak of injuries, sickness as well, it even got me thinking the CPU knew how to go against my tactic but we were back in form by the beginning of February
By the end of the season you have not only fatigue, but also more decisive matches and pressure from the title race. That makes the team perform worse if they don't have the right mentality.
Factor of the lucky is big for sure but the problem was not there...problem is that your team just doesnt crush opponents like before and you start conceding stupid goals also,your match higlights are not showing like before and you dont create like before,you need insane fast players on CM,SS and Wing position to be able to fight against ME,this is why tactic doesnt stop working for big teams who have players flighting all over the pitch!
That is my opinion as i sad and i would like that someone can do to change my mind...
I don't understand why you are claiming your opinion is a fact, based solely in feelings and in your personal experience, ignoring the experience of everyone else. I mean, it's very easy to find a counter-example to what you are saying. Run a season in holiday mode or instant mode. Then save and continue it without any new hiring, with the same tactics, then reload and repeat 5 times. Now reload and go with another tactic. I doubt the results will be much different than what you would expect from each tactic. Just so you know, the same tactic can variate more than 15 points in the same save, with the same tactics.
But I realy saw in my second season that my team is not even close like in first season,tryed to change mentality,restarted games many times but i could find a reason why is not working,then i just reloaded again,put another strong different tactic and guess what,i am winning again,even if I am not happy because i changed the formation and i hate that!
I play with the same tactic all year long and it works fine to me. Most people also play with the same tactic for several seasons without any problem. I think there must be another reason why your team crumbles in the second season.
Maybe you had a set of players in a bad streak, like the shadow strikers, then you changed to a tactic that don't depend as much on those players. Then it increased your morale and you started winning, while if you lost you would enter a dark spiral.
It's probably just RNG. Phoenix v5.0 is better than Phoenix v3.0, which was at the top of the table not so long ago. If people could win everything before, they should be able to win even easier now. Actually, most tactics from the top 10 or 20 are able to overachieve a lot. If the tactic "stopped working" for a while, you should check if your players morale is good, if their fatigue is high, if they are happy and if you are keeping them motivated. Any tactic will crumble if you don't manage the human side of the players, meaning their physical and mental sides.