Football Manager, Part II

[DaeHaMinGuk]

I think one mistake in this game is how clubs so often let their biggest assets run out of contract, allowing for free transfers. I keep assembling squads of stars even with small transfer budgets. They reject a bid worth 20m for a 15m-rated player in the last 6 months of his contract, who's attracted interest from major European clubs. Then 6 months later they loose him on a free. Not too realistic.

I agree. I am constantly signing 2-3 guys who are valued at over 30+ mill every summer. I have a huge budget from signing free players and selling guys who have high value.

BTW, what part of Nairobi are you in? I was there near the YaYa shopping center for a mission trip from mid-May to late-May. Kenyans are the nicest people I've met...

[DutchFootballRulez]

I think one mistake in this game is how clubs so often let their biggest assets run out of contract, allowing for free transfers. I keep assembling squads of stars even with small transfer budgets. They reject a bid worth 20m for a 15m-rated player in the last 6 months of his contract, who's attracted interest from major European clubs. Then 6 months later they loose him on a free. Not too realistic.

The more leagues/divisions active the more player movement there is, I.E. less top-flight players available for ridiculously cheap.

[sitati_kituyi]

I agree. I am constantly signing 2-3 guys who are valued at over 30+ mill every summer. I have a huge budget from signing free players and selling guys who have high value.

BTW, what part of Nairobi are you in? I was there near the YaYa shopping center for a mission trip from mid-May to late-May. Kenyans are the nicest people I've met...
:) I was at Yaya centre today.

I live in Kyuna estate, in the Westlands division of Nairobi. And yes, we're pretty cool guys :cool:

Dede, Dida, Fernando Torres.. just a few of the players whose clubs keep forgetting to renew their contracts.

[DaeHaMinGuk]

:) I was at Yaya centre today.

I live in Kyuna estate, in the Westlands division of Nairobi. And yes, we're pretty cool guys :cool:

Dede, Dida, Fernando Torres.. just a few of the players whose clubs keep forgetting to renew their contracts.

What I loved most about Kenya was how EVERYONE there knows their soccer/football. Here in America, I don't have many people to talk about football with. Everyone I met in Kenya were fans of Arsenal, Chelsea, or Man U.

I stayed at the Gracia Guest House right next to Yaya...

My favorite restaurant in Nairobi is the Naroibi Java House.

The only thing I didn't like about Nairobi is the non-stop traffic.

[sitati_kituyi]

What I loved most about Kenya was how EVERYONE there knows their soccer/football. Here in America, I don't have many people to talk about football with. Everyone I met in Kenya were fans of Arsenal, Chelsea, or Man U.

Yeah, football is the biggest sport here, and considering how crappy our local league is, it's no wonder there's such great support for European, esp English, clubs. And people do know their football!

I stayed at the Gracia Guest House right next to Yaya...

Sorry, don't know it.

My favorite restaurant in Nairobi is the Naroibi Java House.

One of the best restaurants in the world, IMO!! Their coffee is unbelieavable. BTW, some of the stuff you get at Starbucks is Kenya coffee, and I tasted it in Seattle last year. I can confidently say that Java House serve better coffee than Starbucks.

I suppose you were at the Yaya centre Java house. There's a couple of other branches too. You should have gone to the Yaya java house on a EPL match day, it's one of Nairobi's MUFC HQs! Always packed with my fellow reds. It's tough to find a place like that any more, what with all the '02' fans sprawling our streets...

The only thing I didn't like about Nairobi is the non-stop traffic.

:( No defence to that. The city's grown so fast, and our roads are miniscule. You can only escape the jam if you know your roads well.

You'd probably also notice the crime rate if you took a stroll around while you were here. Mobile phones, iPods, Laptops... all go in a flash. Hell, I'm on my 3rd mobile AND I LIVE HERE!!!

[DaeHaMinGuk]

The group I went with wouldn't allow us to leave the area past 6:30 pm because of the high theft/crime in the streets at night.

I remember having fun shopping at Nakumatt. That place has everything.

[sitati_kituyi]

The group I went with wouldn't allow us to leave the area past 6:30 pm because of the high theft/crime in the streets at night.

I remember having fun shopping at Nakumatt. That place has everything.
:) our very own Wallmart.

[afgrijselijkheid]

i did something i'd never done before: have success coaching the USMNT - some of them are rated very poorly, and i'd never gotten past a group stage at any WC on any CM/FM game

since the new one will be out before too long, i grabbed the US for my final game on 05 - WCQ went well (qualified after 8 matches) and we finished runner up (to mexico) at the 05 gold cup

so we drew paraguay, morocco and poland in group A

2-0 over paraguay (early wolff winner, late LD capper)
0-2 to morocco (don't ask)
2-0 over poland (mcbride & JOB)

rd of 16 japan 1-1 (late LD equalizer, 4-3 PKs)
QF brazil 0-0 (4-2 on PKs and we were down to 10 men at the hour)
having not beaten them in 3 tries... semis mexico 2-1 (mcbride & lewis)
lost the final 2-1 to italy, cassano with two goals (the winner coming off a lucky bounce)

it was kinda wild, has anybody else gotten that far with the US?

[Bonji]

i did something i'd never done before: have success coaching the USMNT - some of them are rated very poorly, and i'd never gotten past a group stage at any WC on any CM/FM game

since the new one will be out before too long, i grabbed the US for my final game on 05 - WCQ went well (qualified after 8 matches) and we finished runner up (to mexico) at the 05 gold cup

so we drew paraguay, morocco and poland in group A

2-0 over paraguay (early wolff winner, late LD capper)
0-2 to morocco (don't ask)
2-0 over poland (mcbride & JOB)

rd of 16 japan 1-1 (late LD equalizer, 4-3 PKs)
QF brazil 0-0 (4-2 on PKs and we were down to 10 men at the hour)
having not beaten them in 3 tries... semis mexico 2-1 (mcbride & lewis)
lost the final 2-1 to italy, cassano with two goals (the winner coming off a lucky bounce)

it was kinda wild, has anybody else gotten that far with the US?
Nope, I've never made it a year with the US.

[afgrijselijkheid]

Nope, I've never made it a year with the US.
leading into the tourney, i was not hopeful because we couldnt ever get past mexico and friendlies against argentina and hungary went sour fast - the final friendly, we rallied from 2-0 down for a draw in holland... they just started playing out of their minds, i guess

[blackpool fc mark]

God Damn! The depth of this game is amazing and continues to surprise me.

I just found that the Soccer AM Badgers are in the game, Tim Lovejoy, Rocket, John Wark and Paul Dalglish are all in there squad.

Pretty cool, anybody else found them?

[sitati_kituyi]

Fernando Torres and Adriano are gods!

Prior to this I have never had either of them at any of my clubs (due to crazy inflated values), but when I managed to sign Torres on a free, I splashed out on Adriano (after selling Wayne Rooney to Bayern for 35m pounds).

Literally, with no exaggeration whatsoever, between them they score at least 4 goals a game! Generally you're guaranteed a hat-trick from one in each game.

I play them ahead of what must be the best midfield I've ever assembled:

Sneijder-----------Schweinsteiger----C. Ronaldo
----------Xabi Alonso-------------------------

My defence is maybe slightly below par (it's good, but can't match the rest of the team):

Silvestre----Ferdinand----Brown----De Jong
-------------Stekelenborg----------------

I'm thinking this is probably the best team I've ever assembled. Ferdinand and Silvestre are getting on in years (it's 2007) so I'm planning on banking in on them (for around 15 and 8m respectively) and going for the Chivus of this world.

But I post mainly to marvell at my strikers. They are outstanding. Top 2 scorers in all competitions I'm in! With 24 league games gone, Torres has 32 goals and Adriano, IIRC, 35!!!

[kcscsupporter]

it was kinda wild, has anybody else gotten that far with the US?

i took them to the semifinals and lost in the 3rd place game. i beat italy 1-0 in the quarters... i swear it was like watching mls cup 2000 all over again. i got a first half goal and then held on through the barrage for the rest of the match. i knew it couldn't get any better than that and that's when brazil thumped me.

[DutchFootballRulez]

I play them ahead of what must be the best midfield I've ever assembled:

Sneijder-----------Schweinsteiger----C. Ronaldo
----------Xabi Alonso-------------------------

That is the most Defensively astute midfield I've ever seen. We all know that Bastian Schweinsteiger is a real hardman. (if by hardman you mean petulant, kicking machine). :D

[Solid444]

Is it just me, or is there too much of a home field advantage in this game? I am a noob to this game and have had it for about a week. I have a good team (talent wise, I would say on of the best) and ive gotten the hang of the managerial aspects of the game. The thing is that when I play at home, I win by around a 3 goals margin and when I am away I lose by a 3 goal margin. And I am using the same exact strategy in those games too. It has gotten to the point that now when I play away, I play 90% defensively in order to keep the opposing team from killing me. Its insane! I know that you have to change your gameplan a bit when playing away but don't think you need such a drastic change. Any seasoned veterans want to give me a hand?

[Bonji]

Is it just me, or is there too much of a home field advantage in this game? I am a noob to this game and have had it for about a week. I have a good team (talent wise, I would say on of the best) and ive gotten the hang of the managerial aspects of the game. The thing is that when I play at home, I win by around a 3 goals margin and when I am away I lose by a 3 goal margin. And I am using the same exact strategy in those games too. It has gotten to the point that now when I play away, I play 90% defensively in order to keep the opposing team from killing me. Its insane! I know that you have to change your gameplan a bit when playing away but don't think you need such a drastic change. Any seasoned veterans want to give me a hand?
There is a home field advantage. I don't know if you'd say it is too much, I think it is realistic. You can't always use the same tactic in the away match, especially against a powerful league opponent. I usually make my tactic much more deffensive because it is geared heavily towards attacking. The defensive switch usually gets me more of a counter attacking style. You can't go into each game the same.

[NASL Fan]

Hi, everybody. My name is The Imposter.... and I'm a Football Manager 2005 addict.

It is now 11 hours and 47 minutes since I last played FM2005. My only goal is to make it through today without clicking that icon on my desktop.

Please... don't become like me. It ain't worth it.


(Whew! That's Step 1, right?)

I guess you're all beyond the "FM anonymous" stage--and back off the wagon. But I'm still on the wagon, after two years. It's been two years since I last played FM (when it was still CM!). I had a big deadline to meet (a book manuscript to finish) and I decided I wasn't going to get done if I bought the lastest CM, as I had every year for the four years previous. In those 2 years off FM/CM, I've finished the book and had time to conceive a child (my third, a baby girl who is almost a year old now: clearly I wouldn't have my baby girl if I'd been at my computer screen that night hunting for bargains on the transfer lists...!) Now I'm waiting for FM 2006 to come out to see if I get back on the addiction again--or if I should start to write another book instead. :) Still, I check the SIgames site from time to time, remembering all those fun hours I spent managing Aberdeen, Bayer Leverkusen and assorted teams in the Welsh League.

For those of you with time to read, the book is available here:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1573223050/qid=1112881444/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/102-4662583-7071349?v=glance&s=books

Yes, there is a life beyond Football Manager. But everytime I see the latest fixture list for the real-life Champions League, or for the Libertadores, I think: Wouldn't it be fun to try and win it all with Barcelona or Boca this year... :o

[Bonji]

I guess you're all beyond the "FM anonymous" stage--and back off the wagon. But I'm still on the wagon, after two years. It's been two years since I last played FM (when it was still CM!). I had a big deadline to meet (a book manuscript to finish) and I decided I wasn't going to get done if I bought the lastest CM, as I had every year for the four years previous. In those 2 years off FM/CM, I've finished the book and had time to conceive a child (my third, a baby girl who is almost a year old now: clearly I wouldn't have my baby girl if I'd been at my computer screen that night hunting for bargains on the transfer lists...!) Now I'm waiting for FM 2006 to come out to see if I get back on the addiction again--or if I should start to write another book instead. :) Still, I check the SIgames site from time to time, remembering all those fun hours I spent managing Aberdeen, Bayer Leverkusen and assorted teams in the Welsh League.

For those of you with time to read, the book is available here:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1573223050/qid=1112881444/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/102-4662583-7071349?v=glance&s=books

Yes, there is a life beyond Football Manager. But everytime I see the latest fixture list for the real-life Champions League, or for the Libertadores, I think: Wouldn't it be fun to try and win it all with Barcelona or Boca this year... :o

Wait, you've won the Pulitzer Prize and you're posting on Bigsoccer about your addiction to FM/CM? Now I have a story for my wife. Nice to meet you. :)

[sitati_kituyi]

That is the most Defensively astute midfield I've ever seen. We all know that Bastian Schweinsteiger is a real hardman. (if by hardman you mean petulant, kicking machine). :D
Xabi Alonso is ridiculously over-rated in the game IMO. Yeah, he's good, but in FM he's probably the best around, along with the Beast Baptista and Mascherano. I find that with him just infront of my backline and with my fullbacks playing in a flat back 4 (ie no arrows to midfield :rolleyes: ), I can afford to have 3 very attacking midfielders in the team.

On the home advantage note: I think I'll start playing with 2 defencive mids and only 1 striker in the away games. It's ridiculous! I also think it's slightly over-done. Surely, after whacking Liverpool 4-1 at home, loosing 3-0 to Portsmouth away in the very next game....

I'd find it totally realistic if it happened once in a while, but it's like every other away game is a huge dissapointment. Sure, (in the real game) you have to change your style for big away games, but how often do you see United or Arsenal play away to the West Broms of this world with a 5-man midfield, keeping Rooney/Reyes on the bench so they can keep out the much feared Baggies strike-force?

[Cannon]

On the home advantage note: I think I'll start playing with 2 defencive mids and only 1 striker in the away games. It's ridiculous! I also think it's slightly over-done. Surely, after whacking Liverpool 4-1 at home, loosing 3-0 to Portsmouth away in the very next game....

I'd find it totally realistic if it happened once in a while, but it's like every other away game is a huge dissapointment. Sure, (in the real game) you have to change your style for big away games, but how often do you see United or Arsenal play away to the West Broms of this world with a 5-man midfield, keeping Rooney/Reyes on the bench so they can keep out the much feared Baggies strike-force?

I generally don't make any formation changes while playing away and have a fine away record with any team I manage. The only time I ever change the actual formation is when I'm a lower level team playing agaist one of the top teams such as in cup games. Then I'll sometimes go from 2 strikers to 1 target man and move the other one back into an attacking mid role while dropping another mid into a DM role (for a total of 2DMs).

The key in non-mismatch away games is to just play a bit more defensive. I find that just reducing the attacking mentality a few points, increasing the pressure on the other sides ball carrier and reducing the space between your mids and defense is sufficient to get wins on the road. You might want to experiment a bit with counter attacking if you have the right kind of players. I use it when I expect the other side to really push my team back into our half.

I think part of the problem people have in away games is that the flaws of their defense become obvious. When you play at home you'll usually have the ball more and playing in the other side's half. This can make it seem like your defense is more sound than it really is. The flaws get exposed on away games and can look huge if you combine that situation with failing to suitably adjust your tactics to offer the defense some asistance.