Football Manager 2011

[YI]

Took the Real Madrid job. First thing I did was sign Boakye for £17.5million. The motherfucker got 63 goals in 60 games last season, has a total of 140 competition goals for Newcastle in 3-seasons. And he's still only 25. Of course I was going to fucking sign him!

Brought Xabi Alonso in as a coach too, because he's a bit mint.

Real still have a really good squad, it's weird. As it's mostly a lot of the 'old guard' still floating about, Casillas, Ramos, Ronaldo etc. But with basically NOBODY in the mid-range (about 24-29) and a bunch of youngsters, who aren't quite as good as the oldies yet.

Edited March 24, 2011 by YI

[Benji]

I just downloaded FM Handheld 2011 for my iPhone. Second day on the job I got offered 12 million for Younes Kaboul. If I wasn't at work i'd have run a victory lap. Awesome

I like the game so far, it's quite slick.

How simplified are we talking? Minimal? Back down to CM2 (IE: The best) level? Further?

[Plubby]

Biggest changes:

• 4 leagues max (I'm using England to manage Spurs. My 3 extras are Spain, Germany, Italy.
  
• NO custom formations, and only 21 standard formations (that includes a bunch of variations on 4-4-2, three 5-3-2's, two types of 4-4-2 diamond seperate to the other 4-4-2's)
  
• No individual tactics, only 7 options for team tactics, and shredded player roles. No touchline shouts, no quick tactics options.
  

It sounds like i'm talking it down by talking about what it doesn't have...but the best part about it is that it's just..sleak. like it takes out all the micromanagement. You basically set a formation, pick a squad (this can be fiddly, but i usually set the assistant to pick and tweak it - it's rarely far off what I was aiming for) and make a few taps for team tactics, and away you go. Two minutes, tops once you get the hang of it. It is the *perfect* bus ride game for anyone who happened to be an FMPC/Football fan anyway - and in my case, i'm an incoming-call-centre phone operator - it's absolutely perfect for me to play between calls. I tap-tap away, and when a call drops in, I can put the game down without fear at almost *any* point. (I would pause it in the second half for sub purposes though)

It's expensive, but so far very much worth the cost and looking highly replayable.

EDIT: CRITICAL UPDATE! I also just found out it uses the maps functionality of the iPhone to be able to set which stadium you're going to, and where you parked your car...so you can find both at either end of the trip. Wonderful.

[Meacon Keaton]

Is Football Manager on the console exactly the same as the computer?

[Hobo]

The battle for the Norwegian League title is intense! Rosenborg came out of nowhere and went on a 10 game unbeaten run to climb up above us (including coming from behind to beat us 2-1 and which was followed by bottom club Moss holding us to a 1-1 draw ) and Stromsgodset. Valerenga got their act together too and have mounted a late challenge. So with 23 out of 30 games played. My Viking side are 4 points off of first place with Valerenga and Stromsogset still to come in the league (we've already beaten Valerenga this season, though they beat us in the Superfinalen on the opening day of the season and we have them to play again in the Cuppen final). Stromsogset beat us earlier in the season 2-1. And my first choice AMC Thorgan Hazard (younger brother of Eden Hazard, who is at Arsenal in my game) broke his leg and will miss the rest of the season.

While Juanmi has been setting goalscoring records for us after a slow start. A 6-1 against Start marked his instance of scoring second four goals in one game. He then scored again in our 1-0 against Brann, where Hazard broke his leg and Bjorn Helge Riise went off injured too.

IF we beat Valerenga and Stromsgodset, and Rosenborg slip up (they have to play Valerenga as well so a good result there for Valerenga would help) we could really close the gap. Essentially, I think any chance of us winning the league would come down to Valerenga losing to us, then hoping that Valerenga beat or at least cause Rosenborg and Stromsgodset to drop points and us winning the rest of our games.

The chance for a double cannot be ruled out! At least unless we repeat last season where we crashed and burned and finished fourth after being third for so long.

[MDK]

Okay people, I need some tips. I've just started playing this again and I'm in my second season as manager of Leyton Orient and I can't seem to get out of mid table mediocrity. I'll have a run of games where I am invincible and then go on a horrific losing streak. Plus I've only got one striker that seems to find the net and he is a temperamental little git.

Wat do?

[Jimmy]

Change your formation or a few of your tactics. I figure that some teams learn how to play against you, so change it up or something. Worth a shot, anyway.

[YI]

Yeah, I find, even modifying tempo/width often helps, and at Newcastle when playing Jonjo Shelvey as a deep lying playmaker in support, messing with his sliders tended to through people off him and allowed him to run the game.

[stokeriño]

Does anyone know the difference between the instructions of "Play wider/narrower" on the one hand, and "Exploit the flanks/middle" on the other?

[Guest mr. potato head]

"Exploit the flanks/middle" refers to "Play The Ball" or whatever the option under Advanced Team Instructions for passing lanes is with options like "Down Both Flanks" and "Through The Middle". I've noticed that when I set a Exploit The _____ in-game tactic, that box changes to whatever's appropriate if it wasn't there already.

I don't understand why anyone would Exploit The Flanks and not be playing a wide game though, it seems Exploit The Flanks and narrow would make no sense.

[Gazz]

Does anyone know the difference between the instructions of "Play wider/narrower" on the one hand, and "Exploit the flanks/middle" on the other?

Play wider/narrower is how far across the pitch your player are spread, ie. full width and your full backs/wingers will stand on the touchlines.

Flanks/middle is where you attempt to play the majority of the ball

[stokeriño]

Hmm. Okay...I think.

I tend to auto-set "Push higher up" and "Work ball into box" in the first minute of every game anyway. I presume there are Team Instruction equivalents of those that I could set to default from my Tactics screen...but eh.

[Guest mr. potato head]

Push higher up, anyhow, would just be the Defensive Line setting

[stokeriño]

Yeah yeah yeah...

[MDK]

Nevermind, I switched back to a 4-4-1-1 and my loanee has banged in 6 in two games for me.

[stokeriño]

If my Chelsea advisers were to be believed then every team on the planet is especially weak against 4-4-1-1. Never against 4-3-3 though, which is interesting considering I kicked such monumental ass using that all the time and not 4-4-1-1 even once.

[MDK]

I would love to try out my revolutionary 4-4-3 formation, but it won't let me.

[Hobo]

One thing that always bothers me is that I keep getting things like "we are complacent against teams of higher reputation/get over awed by teams of greater reputation". I've no idea if that's even fixable.

[stokeriño]

Get better results against them and that'll change.

I'm a bit sick of all the "they concede most of their goals between the 46th and 60th minutes and score most of them between the 61st and 75th minutes" messages though. Not once have I cared to do/change anything based on what those say.

[Plubby]

Team Talks and Media talks will contribute to the complacency against reputation teams. Overhyping against the weaker teams etc.

Also: The frequent goals thing I rarely pay attention to, unless they usually score in the first or last 15. If it's the first, I might start a bit more defensive. If it's the last, I make a point to make a couple of subs at about the 65-70 min mark (usually I will sub if players dip into 60% condition. If they score in the last 15, I always sub off my most tired or two defenders/DM's just to make sure that my players are fresh enough)