FM can often give you a false sense of ability. Often if you go to a top team in a top league, even the IRL mess that United is, in FM you can often just tweak a few things and get players playing to their theoretical maximum ability. It's so much easier to win the league with Manchester United than it is to keep a team like Heidenheim in the Bundesliga. But that is the beauty of FM. Games like EAFC have given so many people (probably including Nick) the short term dopamine hit of 15 minute games where you win or lose. In FM it's a long slog, the fun of FM is staying up with Heidenheim and next season trying to finish a bit higher, in some jobs the fun part is fighting off the fans and the board and trying to survive game by game when you're on the brink of the sack. You just need to adjust how you approach the game and try to find excitement in the longer term processes. Buying a young player or taking a player from your youth academy and trying to integrate them and eventually seeing them scoring their first goal is what this game is about.
I got sacked in an 06/07 Liverpool save after two seasons of underperforming, I finished 3rd in the first season but did shite in all comps and then finished 7th in the second season, shit went real wrong I designed a funky play style that just got absolutely smacked week in Week out in the second season for the first few games I kinda salvaged it half way through but I didn't have the personnel to play the old system anymore so injuries and fitness caught up real quick so I got sacked
Not tryna sound like a d-sucker but he plays and majorly wins against opponents who abuse the f out of the mechanics in the game all year long and hardly gets any sense of accomplishment out of it. People need to understand you can't have deep commitment to every game.
It's so refreshing to see a guy who made his name on FIFA come to good ol' FM and put in big effort on it for the content. You're appreciated for the effort Nick. GGs man.
Gotta appreciate pickolas as a manager. He may not be Xabi but he's only new and the future looks bright for him. I would never forget what he did for United!
You should put the defensive line to at least the standard height or maybe even at 'higher' or 'very high'. You currently are suffering because the space between the players pressing and the players who are not is waaay to big. You see this irl too, so I would advise changing the lines.
One thing I recommend is to stop messing with the strats every game. make ONE good formation/tactic, and stick to it. that way tactical familiarity grows, and you can train players to fit into specific roles, as opposed to the other way around.
The thing with fm is anything can work with the right people, but for someone new, I agree with you. It's easier especially if you just copied the meta tactics.
1. Invest in free loans, search in big clubs across Europe for their youth team 2. Dedicate some time to organize your training week that is compatible with your playing style 3. Train a more attacking or positive formation at least, FM favors offensive tactics 4. Keep up the good work!
HOW TO FIX THIS SAVE: I don't even know who I'm typing this for tbh because he won't see this and this is too long for anyone to read in a youtube section or anywhere tbh but if you're struggling on FM this might help. In short Nick, you picked a hard save, and you're helping the game cook you through problems you created for yourself. Every time there's an opportunity to turn things around, you lack the game knowledge to see the solutions and as a result the problem keep snowballing. So let's get to it. 1. Addressing morale and unhappy players was 100% the thing to do here but you have to actually spend time spamming praise conduct and actually fixing the issues in the squad. Speak to the team leaders who want the player to play not sure if it's the edit but seems you skipped the email. If you know you can't promise the player something or fix the issue sell them in advance (teams can make an offer outside of january especially in the weeks before) but never skip an interaction with an unhappy player or answer without thinking about which outcome you need. If your morale is bad from dressing room issues and you start losing nothing you do matters the game will screw you over no matter who you manage. You had games at the start where your players would have chances and concede on the first one and that's the number one sign of cooked morale and bad form. Happy players happy life. Keep the meetings as a boost a couple days before the game or make sure to praise consistently in between and space them out by 4 games ish, but be careful because if you misread what needs to be said you can make things worse. This is one area where the game is really poorly designed imo. Also Praise your players in game when you're winning and stick to encourage/demand more otherwise. When you win, the players who played have higher morales so stick with them so they can create a baseline of performance anws they have the highest chance of winning. Everyone in your team is bad so until you fix morale, happiness is the most important attribute 9/10. TIP: players with unresolved dressing room issues will never go above content until things are fixed. This is also why sometimes promises are annoying. I'm going to ramble a lot but if you actually fix player interactions and keep morale high and start winning games, you could get away with not doing most of the things below for a while. The hard part for you is you started on two losses and had no basics to fall back on but with a bad team this was bound to happen. 2. The squad is horrendous, and you need to learn to navigate the transfer market smartly because you could have a better team at this stage than what you're playing with. It's important to recognize which players are worth keeping and which ones you can replace with better attributes. You addressed morale, got a win, started the winter break and then ????? No transfer targets identified, no efforts to sell or fix situation with unhappy players, no idea of what you need or who is going. Even your tactic is cooked so you don't know what profile to look for, and by waiting to be days into the transfer window and losing a winnable game you undid all your good work and now you're hoping the next game is easy enough to win and you get lucky so it doesn't snowball again. I get into this later but no one in this team is unsellable, sessa is ass and nothing about his attributes or the standard of the team justifies having a segundo volante in the team. 3. Understanding roles: segundo volante will play as an 8 who pushes up into your box and joins the attack agressively. in your setup you are commiting 5 players to attack while your bwm will also join the press. you fb is on support and so will not stay back so you have around 7 players forward 3 players back and those 7 players are not setup to create chances so 7 players up to do nothing and 3 shit defenders? No wonder you cant score and lose games. Think about which space you're occupying and why? why is your fb on defend you're vacating the midfield so why not have your rb on iwb and lb ifb so you have a 3241 in attack. wingers occupy width three players in build up 2 players present in midfield for counters and 3 attacking the box. alternatively if you're playing with wingers just do 442 or 3atb. 4. Your tactic needs a reset. When you're this low in form and morale go back to a default tactic with 2-3 tweaks max and don't change it for a few games. Also you're a relegation team with a segundo volante and a bwm please tell me who's holding down the midfield? One DM at least please, at this level id go with two with one on support. Imo beste is a cwb on attack in a 3back, or a winger in a 442. If you want goals and you definitely do why are you playing wingers with a tf alone in a 4231. The players who score the most in a setup like this are your wide players preferably on IF/IW and your st, depending on role and quality the AM will score too but consistently you can get at least 15 G/A from your st and 10 G/A from each winger if they are okay and well used. You can do the same thing you're trying to achieve by going default gegenpress, switching to a 3421 and letting wingbacks occupy width which would help your defense as well. (2 dms, shadow sts, AF or PF depending on who you have). I haven't seen the instructions but honestly who cares you should reset to a default at this point. When nothing works on fm let the game do it for you. I saw your lines super wide apart, you want to squeeze the pitch so just play high high or mid mid/high parking the bus is a rabbit hole you don't want to get into rn.
5. Identifying who your best players are is an issue that tactics will not fix. gimber or wtv his name is should have been playing, your players are right to be upset by his demands and usually that many players agreeing means you're fucking up. The game will let you know when you're being stupid. For example I had 20 players angry at me for lack of rb rotation, I felt we had cover in a player I wanted to convert so from my pov it was dumb but my players were saying dude we can't compete with one rb that's the game saying: bro fix this. If a player is complaining that someone else is not playing ahead of them it means you have an issue because in the end they want to to win. Either that or you actually treated them unfairly which you are by not addressing the issue at all so in this case it's both. Anws, by not recognizing your player is good enough to play or addressing his concern about playing you created an issue that your dressing room wouldn't have gotten involved with while also tanking the ability of your 11. Again, sessa is ass, why is he even at the club what does he do? segundo volante for what? you can't afford players like this as starters in the mess you're in keep him on the bench or sell idek what context i'd be comfortable subbing him on. In the future, look at attributes, if he sucks and they're wrong make a promise and sell later or offer reduced playing time, if you fuck up sell so it doesn't become an issue (NO ONE IS UNSELLABLE AT HEIDENHEIM). Training players for roles is a great idea btw but your tactic is cooked so that would be a waste of time rn. 6. A broad guide on player quality/signings (I'm sure everyone has a diferent approach so I'm not saying this is the right way just what works for me): In defense: 13 pace/acceleration is the minimum acceptable, height/heading and a minimum of 13 positioning/marking, if the mental attributes are in 11-14 range and the pace/height/positioning are good then sign. If they're slow/short defenders don't sign. if they have good mentals and are fast i can accept 12s in defending at this level. Forget things like passing it's a luxury you're not playing tiki taka with heidenheim on a 1 million budget you want athletes who can do basics. FBS are tricky, it depends on system but they can either be fast (13 at least) and solid defensively/ok mentals (12/13 at least) or, fast and good offensively (crossing/dribbling 13s). Think beste at cwb or rb/cb. If they're in the middle of this profile, all rounders are good for squad rotation. If the Fb's are good in the air even better. personally if it's a 4 back i want defenders who can defend first because i should never hesitate to bring you on. If it's a 5 back i prefer wbs who can score/create. But in the end depends on the context. Again, you're poor and bad so sign athletes who can do basics. defenders who can defend attackers who can score. Gk who can stop the ball and prevent basic goals. Attack: Sts: Pace/acc with at least one at 14 (preferably both). Finishing at least 13, first touch 13 at least if possible, if their mentals look medium ish, add to the list and sign who you can afford/looks best. I'm starting to lean towards sts who can receive in the air/are strong. In general though the ai leans towards physicality in attack so a slow attacker with great mentals/ technicals will have a much worse time than a fast/tall attacker with good finishing and lower mentals. Harry kane has great attributes but he's much harder to use than moukoko or whoever you get my point. For wingers, it's the same with more emphasis on dribbling/first touch and mentals (for me) with less on finishing/height. It's a tough position at the level you're at but not impossible but with beste in the team i'd have gone wingbacks. Midfield, just look at physicals positioning/marking for your DMS to start. if their mentals have 12s or they can pass even better. Make sure they can defend head run first then narrow it to those who are not braindead and can actually shield your defense. AMs r too long to get into here, if they can score dribble and have a good first touch plus athletics i just put them on shadow sts at this level. otherwise I prefer AM to ap because they tend to score more for me but everyone is different. GK: good shot stopper and decent all rounder will do at this level. At this level this will do you can then identify gks who don't make the mistakes your has. I've found you can find reliable keepers top teams for cheap and there's a good market. If you're signing players make a decision: 6 players who meet basics or 3 who are good. My answer is 3 good players 3 loans and 8 players out at least with a team this bad. If I can do more I will especially on the selling front. Squad depth does not matter if everyone is bad as I have one competition i care about: the league. Early on, goal scorers and good defenders will make the biggest difference, sign what you can afford loan the rest.
6. This one is less urgent and yet should have been done day 1: Staff and training. Staff/scouting is the first thing i do in every save, then it's looking at my squad, tactics and transfer listing anyone not at the level. (Again this is heindeheim, 8/10 players are sellable I'll keep saying this until it registers). You addressed staff but signed bad ones, it's like having a bad rw and signing anthony. Training might seem confusing but just pick one of the presets with match reviews after every game. Your team is bad it cannot afford to only have an attacking focus ahead of a match as you did in this video. Even if it was a good team this would be an issue. Pick a template training tweak a few things and save it as a schedule then set it up for the forseeable future. 7. Scouting, it shouldn't be this low but with everything else going on it is. But if you don't have a pre knowledge of players on the game and your scouting isnt set up and you have no money. You're setting yourself up for failure. It's one of those things that's super tedious but you just have to set up once along with your staff and be done with. I'd be surprised if your scouts are even looking at every top 5 league for a start if they're even competent to begin with. Look up a tutorial, zealand has one I think. 8. This is really obvious but I need to say it again. Almost no player in a team like this is worth keeping. The goal is europe at minimum and you're right to aim for the league which is why that should be the standard you look at every player with. Can I use this player to get europe? If not, where is the undervalued player or loan that will make me compete, or the guy I can sell to boost my budget next season. So identify targets and SELL YOUR PLAYERS at the beginning of the save or keep those that you can use and raise their value to SELL later. This is like being poor and keeping depreciating crypto while refusing to get a job. The last thing you want is a player like beste who can get you top 8 if you use him right to leave on a free so either maximize his use and value so you can sell high next season or remember that If they can't play cl they're not unsellable. Money is an issue with these saves but the reality is you can always find undervalued players, loans, free agents or otherwise. I'd rather have a small squad of players I trust than 30 relegation players so again: SELL!!! losing beste on a free is criminal, sell or give a contract early so you can sell in 1/2 seasons. Selling bad/mid players at a low is extra criminal cause they fucked your season and why were they even here to begin with? It's not like mbappe is complaining about playing time it's gimber. Even the player you sign in your first season who makes the difference is not unsellable so the okay player you choose to keep definitely isn't. Until you get to a point where you can compete, team cohesion or squad depth does not get valued over player quality. CONCLUSION: Bottom line is we can talk about what's going well or bad but until you learn how/when to manage players to keep morale high, and to navigate team building nothing will work here. The bigger issue in this save is that this all should have been done by game 5 but now you're in january with no transfer targets identified, a shit staff, no training routine, bad morale, a cooked tactic, players you should sell but can't sell cause the replacements are too expensive in the january window for no reason (can't offord to overpay when you're poor) and every loss you take compiles the problem. You can turn this around and the target should be to stay up and have a clear tactic and basics sorted by the end of the season which I think is possible. At this point it's loans/frees, players who's value isn't inflated (rare), or players who are so good that the inflation doesn't matter but all these take time to find and you're starting late. The players are bad, the management is bad and fm is a frustrating game but your save is not at a point where fm is the issue. It's difficult to figure these things out on a stream the way you play the game so it's up to you whether you want to figure out in this save or go to a save that might give you more time to figure these things out and focus on entertainment. I do think that while this is a lot of things to implement a lot of them look more overwhelming than they really are. Fact is you have to spend time setting up a save early which is why this is a difficult game to get into. You cannot beat bayern, dortmund leipzig leverkusen in player quality but the way this game is setup there are 14 teams who if you do the right things from the start, you can compete with most times and in a first season like this it's all you need. Your goal is to be top of those 14. Taking over this team: above 8th, identifying a solid tactic, 4 good additions, basics sorted, targets identified is what my standard would have been based on previous similar saves. I've managed to finish as high as second in the past but If I finish top 10 that's acceptable and it's usually player quality or my tactics affecting form which catches up to me. Or, and I believe this is real but I've never looked into it, football heritage feels like a thing in this game personally. Sometimes it feels like a team beats you just because and even if you get things right it might take a season or 2 for the results to kick in. A team like utd has a higer basefloor so it's less of an issue when you have bad players. In germany with bayern in the league this is really tough and the biggest part of the challenge in winning the league. Bayern will go on crazy runs of games so if you can't win against them most teams won't and because you're not as good you won't match their run of wins for a few seasons. TLDR; Find good players, sign good players, play them, keep them happy, don't do weird tactics, win most games. It's that complicated but that simple like ancelotti said: balon aqui, y marquar.
Been an avid FM and champ manager player since CM96/97. And I feel you Nick, the player interactions are a bit much. If you’re winning they want gametime or stupid bumper contracts. If you’re losing the want out or hate training. They need to tone it down a bit or at least give us more options to have realistic negotiations. I actually think the game has gotten far far too easy however I do feel and know your pain, when it’s not happening for you in FM there is almost nothing you can do.
I have not played FM in a while (since I think FM20), so a lot could have changed but from what I remember familiarity and formation are not as important, its all about understanding in which parts of the pitch your opponents formation is attacking, how high defense line THEY have and where they leave spaces for you to attack, so that you adjust width of formation, counter vs slow buildup preferences, role type and Attack/Support/Defend for each player to exploit that. Of course it's easier to exploit offensive playing fullbacks with 4-2-3-1 than 4-1-4-1, but two offensive minded side mids in 4-1-4-1 and strong counter mentality will have a bigger impact than two wingers on support with a slow buildup letting the fullback to get back into position in 4-2-3-1. It all comes down to understanding which resources should go where. Losing goals might not be a defense fault if you do all out attack/defense and no support, there is no middle play and all you do is giving the ball back to the opponent so at some point defense will concede. But I could usually win a CL within 3-5 years with a below Heidelheim level team and no savescumming.
Finding META tactics help to no end. A bad team can perform well with very thought through tactics. Overloading the attack quickly is important. Overloading one side is important. Full Back Attack, Segundo Volante, Pressing Forward. All incredibly important roles.
Next one you need to start unemployed with a load of leagues loaded up or start with Wrexham or Salford in league 2. Good budgets and fairly easy. Work your way up?
He went from a top tier team to a low tier team. Most important part of FM, honestly, rather than tactics and cohesion, is LOANS! And free agents, he needs a better team with a semi decent tactic and he can easily stay midtable.
A problem i have is setting unrealistic personal goals. Like expecting to be competing for the league regardless of which team i pick. Then resigning when it doesn't go my way.
You should watch a few matches in full, lets you see where the problems in your tactics are. Once you make your team solid you can switch back to extended highlights. Works a treat.
Zealand let me know that you were playing FM now. And now I’m resubbed. The unsub wasn’t your fault, I just grew to hate FIFA years ago. Ballsy move to switch to FM. Glad ya went for it!
I would also strongly advise some rotation. You're playing the same XI game after game and your bench has minimum match sharpness. Make 5 subs at half time. Make 5-10 changes every 3-4 games.
Sometimes you get sacked for nothing. Once I got sacked in my 3rd Athletic Bilbao season after losing to fckn Real Madrid in the Champions' 2nd round. Board expected me to reach quarterfinals and took no shit from me
LAst time i got alot a shit for saying this but it turns out to be true more and more: Being that successful with United is impressive, espeically for the first season. But United is literally "Pink fluffy unicorns"-difficulty, while Heidenheim is more "The doom guy is following me"-difficulty.
Nick, i think you are using the right tactic with the wrong players, you need to sign a player with high stamina and more pace and power, i know your budget is limited but there's alot of player with low price-tag with good attribute
Modern football manager games are literally an emoji simulator, you spend your time trying to get smiley emojis. So gen z. Old versions are way more fun, 12 is my favourite.
@@ariton2990 and while i would like a lower leages save ive seen about 17 million lets players do a Leeds United gameplay, so why exactly them? This mega, super outplayed club everybody and their momma already had in bed?
every player gets set a personality you are fully right about the poison analogy 😂 you should try to learn the personalities and understand you'll have literal special cases in your team
I’m trying to get Rochdale to the prem and in my first season I got out of VNL snd got stuck in league two for three years and after the second season I came 8th and I was thinking it would never end and I thought I was stuck. But the third season I was 16th halfway through and somehow pulled it back and won the playoffs
ìm playing a save with bath city and have gone from vanorama national league to chsmpionsship and just won the fa cup and brought too much talent, just try to make a save for 1 thing when you try to bring a club without glory to glory
Played that game for 2023 and I've never been humbled like I have then... but it is really enjoyable But ayy, just wanted to say you play a role in inspiring me to create my own channel where I post FIFA, I'm currently playing throwback retros like FIFA 10 & 11 up till the latest... They feature a player career multiverse where each career intertwines with the other, and I just finished the finale for FIFA 10 and just uploaded FIFA 11 Ep 1... Hope you could embark on this journey with me Most appreciated Nick
that tactic is very scared bro, you wont create anything with no one on attack. keep the instructions simple. sell all the toxic players in jan and buy new ones. sell anyone who isnt playing, the biggest reason players get upset is playing time, you only need like 23 players in a squad
Got sick to death of you saying 'bruh' at the end of every sentence like a fucking robot running a Keanu Reeves programme through it's unthinking brain
Why you playing Gegen Press with Heidenheim bruh. Thats your problem switch to a 4-3-3 and Tiki taka or counter attack. You don't got the guys for a gegen press
Pick when he doesn't manage a multi-millionaire club.
FM can often give you a false sense of ability. Often if you go to a top team in a top league, even the IRL mess that United is, in FM you can often just tweak a few things and get players playing to their theoretical maximum ability. It's so much easier to win the league with Manchester United than it is to keep a team like Heidenheim in the Bundesliga. But that is the beauty of FM.
Games like EAFC have given so many people (probably including Nick) the short term dopamine hit of 15 minute games where you win or lose.
In FM it's a long slog, the fun of FM is staying up with Heidenheim and next season trying to finish a bit higher, in some jobs the fun part is fighting off the fans and the board and trying to survive game by game when you're on the brink of the sack.
You just need to adjust how you approach the game and try to find excitement in the longer term processes. Buying a young player or taking a player from your youth academy and trying to integrate them and eventually seeing them scoring their first goal is what this game is about.
I got sacked in an 06/07 Liverpool save after two seasons of underperforming, I finished 3rd in the first season but did shite in all comps and then finished 7th in the second season, shit went real wrong I designed a funky play style that just got absolutely smacked week in Week out in the second season for the first few games I kinda salvaged it half way through but I didn't have the personnel to play the old system anymore so injuries and fitness caught up real quick so I got sacked
i just have to gaslight myself into thinking alfreton town will make it out the vanarama north in my 3rd season
@@eugenekrabs516you definitely can. Get some affiliates, loans and free agents, no scouting even needed at that stage.
Amen brother...
Not tryna sound like a d-sucker but he plays and majorly wins against opponents who abuse the f out of the mechanics in the game all year long and hardly gets any sense of accomplishment out of it. People need to understand you can't have deep commitment to every game.
Pick is in complete meltdown that his relegation level side is playing at a bottom half level.
He got United to a PL Title and CL Finals. He might have thought it was GG especially after Heidenheim ranked 8th irl
Relegation level side who got European football
pick really wants to play the actual match and just do cut backs 😂😂😂😂
It's so refreshing to see a guy who made his name on FIFA come to good ol' FM and put in big effort on it for the content. You're appreciated for the effort Nick. GGs man.
Gotta appreciate pickolas as a manager. He may not be Xabi but he's only new and the future looks bright for him. I would never forget what he did for United!
Bro no way a bot account copied your comment word for word and got 9x the amount of likes your comment got 😭
@@top100amonguspro3nah that shit sucks😭😭😭😭
You should put the defensive line to at least the standard height or maybe even at 'higher' or 'very high'. You currently are suffering because the space between the players pressing and the players who are not is waaay to big. You see this irl too, so I would advise changing the lines.
SACKED IN THE MORNING PICK!!!
One thing I recommend is to stop messing with the strats every game. make ONE good formation/tactic, and stick to it. that way tactical familiarity grows, and you can train players to fit into specific roles, as opposed to the other way around.
The thing with fm is anything can work with the right people, but for someone new, I agree with you. It's easier especially if you just copied the meta tactics.
Bro fell to the depths of the Mariana Trench after ggmu
1. Invest in free loans, search in big clubs across Europe for their youth team
2. Dedicate some time to organize your training week that is compatible with your playing style
3. Train a more attacking or positive formation at least, FM favors offensive tactics
4. Keep up the good work!
Pick, this is genuinely my favourite series on TH-cam right now, your energy is making this hella entertaining, keep it up!
HOW TO FIX THIS SAVE:
I don't even know who I'm typing this for tbh because he won't see this and this is too long for anyone to read in a youtube section or anywhere tbh but if you're struggling on FM this might help.
In short Nick, you picked a hard save, and you're helping the game cook you through problems you created for yourself. Every time there's an opportunity to turn things around, you lack the game knowledge to see the solutions and as a result the problem keep snowballing. So let's get to it.
1. Addressing morale and unhappy players was 100% the thing to do here but you have to actually spend time spamming praise conduct and actually fixing the issues in the squad. Speak to the team leaders who want the player to play not sure if it's the edit but seems you skipped the email. If you know you can't promise the player something or fix the issue sell them in advance (teams can make an offer outside of january especially in the weeks before) but never skip an interaction with an unhappy player or answer without thinking about which outcome you need. If your morale is bad from dressing room issues and you start losing nothing you do matters the game will screw you over no matter who you manage. You had games at the start where your players would have chances and concede on the first one and that's the number one sign of cooked morale and bad form. Happy players happy life.
Keep the meetings as a boost a couple days before the game or make sure to praise consistently in between and space them out by 4 games ish, but be careful because if you misread what needs to be said you can make things worse. This is one area where the game is really poorly designed imo.
Also Praise your players in game when you're winning and stick to encourage/demand more otherwise. When you win, the players who played have higher morales so stick with them so they can create a baseline of performance anws they have the highest chance of winning. Everyone in your team is bad so until you fix morale, happiness is the most important attribute 9/10. TIP: players with unresolved dressing room issues will never go above content until things are fixed. This is also why sometimes promises are annoying.
I'm going to ramble a lot but if you actually fix player interactions and keep morale high and start winning games, you could get away with not doing most of the things below for a while. The hard part for you is you started on two losses and had no basics to fall back on but with a bad team this was bound to happen.
2. The squad is horrendous, and you need to learn to navigate the transfer market smartly because you could have a better team at this stage than what you're playing with. It's important to recognize which players are worth keeping and which ones you can replace with better attributes. You addressed morale, got a win, started the winter break and then ????? No transfer targets identified, no efforts to sell or fix situation with unhappy players, no idea of what you need or who is going. Even your tactic is cooked so you don't know what profile to look for, and by waiting to be days into the transfer window and losing a winnable game you undid all your good work and now you're hoping the next game is easy enough to win and you get lucky so it doesn't snowball again. I get into this later but no one in this team is unsellable, sessa is ass and nothing about his attributes or the standard of the team justifies having a segundo volante in the team.
3. Understanding roles: segundo volante will play as an 8 who pushes up into your box and joins the attack agressively. in your setup you are commiting 5 players to attack while your bwm will also join the press. you fb is on support and so will not stay back so you have around 7 players forward 3 players back and those 7 players are not setup to create chances so 7 players up to do nothing and 3 shit defenders? No wonder you cant score and lose games. Think about which space you're occupying and why? why is your fb on defend you're vacating the midfield so why not have your rb on iwb and lb ifb so you have a 3241 in attack. wingers occupy width three players in build up 2 players present in midfield for counters and 3 attacking the box. alternatively if you're playing with wingers just do 442 or 3atb.
4. Your tactic needs a reset. When you're this low in form and morale go back to a default tactic with 2-3 tweaks max and don't change it for a few games. Also you're a relegation team with a segundo volante and a bwm please tell me who's holding down the midfield? One DM at least please, at this level id go with two with one on support. Imo beste is a cwb on attack in a 3back, or a winger in a 442. If you want goals and you definitely do why are you playing wingers with a tf alone in a 4231. The players who score the most in a setup like this are your wide players preferably on IF/IW and your st, depending on role and quality the AM will score too but consistently you can get at least 15 G/A from your st and 10 G/A from each winger if they are okay and well used.
You can do the same thing you're trying to achieve by going default gegenpress, switching to a 3421 and letting wingbacks occupy width which would help your defense as well. (2 dms, shadow sts, AF or PF depending on who you have). I haven't seen the instructions but honestly who cares you should reset to a default at this point. When nothing works on fm let the game do it for you. I saw your lines super wide apart, you want to squeeze the pitch so just play high high or mid mid/high parking the bus is a rabbit hole you don't want to get into rn.
5. Identifying who your best players are is an issue that tactics will not fix. gimber or wtv his name is should have been playing, your players are right to be upset by his demands and usually that many players agreeing means you're fucking up. The game will let you know when you're being stupid. For example I had 20 players angry at me for lack of rb rotation, I felt we had cover in a player I wanted to convert so from my pov it was dumb but my players were saying dude we can't compete with one rb that's the game saying: bro fix this. If a player is complaining that someone else is not playing ahead of them it means you have an issue because in the end they want to to win. Either that or you actually treated them unfairly which you are by not addressing the issue at all so in this case it's both. Anws, by not recognizing your player is good enough to play or addressing his concern about playing you created an issue that your dressing room wouldn't have gotten involved with while also tanking the ability of your 11. Again, sessa is ass, why is he even at the club what does he do? segundo volante for what? you can't afford players like this as starters in the mess you're in keep him on the bench or sell idek what context i'd be comfortable subbing him on.
In the future, look at attributes, if he sucks and they're wrong make a promise and sell later or offer reduced playing time, if you fuck up sell so it doesn't become an issue (NO ONE IS UNSELLABLE AT HEIDENHEIM).
Training players for roles is a great idea btw but your tactic is cooked so that would be a waste of time rn.
6. A broad guide on player quality/signings (I'm sure everyone has a diferent approach so I'm not saying this is the right way just what works for me):
In defense: 13 pace/acceleration is the minimum acceptable, height/heading and a minimum of 13 positioning/marking, if the mental attributes are in 11-14 range and the pace/height/positioning are good then sign. If they're slow/short defenders don't sign. if they have good mentals and are fast i can accept 12s in defending at this level. Forget things like passing it's a luxury you're not playing tiki taka with heidenheim on a 1 million budget you want athletes who can do basics.
FBS are tricky, it depends on system but they can either be fast (13 at least) and solid defensively/ok mentals (12/13 at least) or, fast and good offensively (crossing/dribbling 13s). Think beste at cwb or rb/cb. If they're in the middle of this profile, all rounders are good for squad rotation. If the Fb's are good in the air even better. personally if it's a 4 back i want defenders who can defend first because i should never hesitate to bring you on. If it's a 5 back i prefer wbs who can score/create. But in the end depends on the context.
Again, you're poor and bad so sign athletes who can do basics. defenders who can defend attackers who can score. Gk who can stop the ball and prevent basic goals.
Attack: Sts: Pace/acc with at least one at 14 (preferably both). Finishing at least 13, first touch 13 at least if possible, if their mentals look medium ish, add to the list and sign who you can afford/looks best. I'm starting to lean towards sts who can receive in the air/are strong. In general though the ai leans towards physicality in attack so a slow attacker with great mentals/ technicals will have a much worse time than a fast/tall attacker with good finishing and lower mentals. Harry kane has great attributes but he's much harder to use than moukoko or whoever you get my point.
For wingers, it's the same with more emphasis on dribbling/first touch and mentals (for me) with less on finishing/height. It's a tough position at the level you're at but not impossible but with beste in the team i'd have gone wingbacks.
Midfield, just look at physicals positioning/marking for your DMS to start. if their mentals have 12s or they can pass even better. Make sure they can defend head run first then narrow it to those who are not braindead and can actually shield your defense.
AMs r too long to get into here, if they can score dribble and have a good first touch plus athletics i just put them on shadow sts at this level. otherwise I prefer AM to ap because they tend to score more for me but everyone is different.
GK: good shot stopper and decent all rounder will do at this level. At this level this will do you can then identify gks who don't make the mistakes your has. I've found you can find reliable keepers top teams for cheap and there's a good market.
If you're signing players make a decision: 6 players who meet basics or 3 who are good. My answer is 3 good players 3 loans and 8 players out at least with a team this bad. If I can do more I will especially on the selling front. Squad depth does not matter if everyone is bad as I have one competition i care about: the league. Early on, goal scorers and good defenders will make the biggest difference, sign what you can afford loan the rest.
6. This one is less urgent and yet should have been done day 1: Staff and training. Staff/scouting is the first thing i do in every save, then it's looking at my squad, tactics and transfer listing anyone not at the level. (Again this is heindeheim, 8/10 players are sellable I'll keep saying this until it registers). You addressed staff but signed bad ones, it's like having a bad rw and signing anthony.
Training might seem confusing but just pick one of the presets with match reviews after every game. Your team is bad it cannot afford to only have an attacking focus ahead of a match as you did in this video. Even if it was a good team this would be an issue. Pick a template training tweak a few things and save it as a schedule then set it up for the forseeable future.
7. Scouting, it shouldn't be this low but with everything else going on it is. But if you don't have a pre knowledge of players on the game and your scouting isnt set up and you have no money. You're setting yourself up for failure. It's one of those things that's super tedious but you just have to set up once along with your staff and be done with. I'd be surprised if your scouts are even looking at every top 5 league for a start if they're even competent to begin with. Look up a tutorial, zealand has one I think.
8. This is really obvious but I need to say it again. Almost no player in a team like this is worth keeping. The goal is europe at minimum and you're right to aim for the league which is why that should be the standard you look at every player with. Can I use this player to get europe? If not, where is the undervalued player or loan that will make me compete, or the guy I can sell to boost my budget next season. So identify targets and SELL YOUR PLAYERS at the beginning of the save or keep those that you can use and raise their value to SELL later. This is like being poor and keeping depreciating crypto while refusing to get a job. The last thing you want is a player like beste who can get you top 8 if you use him right to leave on a free so either maximize his use and value so you can sell high next season or remember that If they can't play cl they're not unsellable. Money is an issue with these saves but the reality is you can always find undervalued players, loans, free agents or otherwise. I'd rather have a small squad of players I trust than 30 relegation players so again: SELL!!! losing beste on a free is criminal, sell or give a contract early so you can sell in 1/2 seasons. Selling bad/mid players at a low is extra criminal cause they fucked your season and why were they even here to begin with? It's not like mbappe is complaining about playing time it's gimber. Even the player you sign in your first season who makes the difference is not unsellable so the okay player you choose to keep definitely isn't. Until you get to a point where you can compete, team cohesion or squad depth does not get valued over player quality.
CONCLUSION:
Bottom line is we can talk about what's going well or bad but until you learn how/when to manage players to keep morale high, and to navigate team building nothing will work here. The bigger issue in this save is that this all should have been done by game 5 but now you're in january with no transfer targets identified, a shit staff, no training routine, bad morale, a cooked tactic, players you should sell but can't sell cause the replacements are too expensive in the january window for no reason (can't offord to overpay when you're poor) and every loss you take compiles the problem. You can turn this around and the target should be to stay up and have a clear tactic and basics sorted by the end of the season which I think is possible. At this point it's loans/frees, players who's value isn't inflated (rare), or players who are so good that the inflation doesn't matter but all these take time to find and you're starting late.
The players are bad, the management is bad and fm is a frustrating game but your save is not at a point where fm is the issue. It's difficult to figure these things out on a stream the way you play the game so it's up to you whether you want to figure out in this save or go to a save that might give you more time to figure these things out and focus on entertainment. I do think that while this is a lot of things to implement a lot of them look more overwhelming than they really are. Fact is you have to spend time setting up a save early which is why this is a difficult game to get into.
You cannot beat bayern, dortmund leipzig leverkusen in player quality but the way this game is setup there are 14 teams who if you do the right things from the start, you can compete with most times and in a first season like this it's all you need. Your goal is to be top of those 14.
Taking over this team: above 8th, identifying a solid tactic, 4 good additions, basics sorted, targets identified is what my standard would have been based on previous similar saves. I've managed to finish as high as second in the past but If I finish top 10 that's acceptable and it's usually player quality or my tactics affecting form which catches up to me.
Or, and I believe this is real but I've never looked into it, football heritage feels like a thing in this game personally. Sometimes it feels like a team beats you just because and even if you get things right it might take a season or 2 for the results to kick in. A team like utd has a higer basefloor so it's less of an issue when you have bad players. In germany with bayern in the league this is really tough and the biggest part of the challenge in winning the league. Bayern will go on crazy runs of games so if you can't win against them most teams won't and because you're not as good you won't match their run of wins for a few seasons.
TLDR;
Find good players, sign good players, play them, keep them happy, don't do weird tactics, win most games. It's that complicated but that simple like ancelotti said: balon aqui, y marquar.
How long did that take mate
@@tedmorris513 not that long surprisingly maybe 30 mins 😭 had an essay to submit and did this instead
@@Bougievibes fairs you have your priorities straight
Tried to go full ted lasso 😂😂
Team Cuddle session 🤣😭😭😭
Been an avid FM and champ manager player since CM96/97. And I feel you Nick, the player interactions are a bit much. If you’re winning they want gametime or stupid bumper contracts. If you’re losing the want out or hate training. They need to tone it down a bit or at least give us more options to have realistic negotiations. I actually think the game has gotten far far too easy however I do feel and know your pain, when it’s not happening for you in FM there is almost nothing you can do.
Nice to see more fm content!
I need Zealand to see Nick praise the GK Lmaooooo
Zealand is a clown
I have not played FM in a while (since I think FM20), so a lot could have changed but from what I remember familiarity and formation are not as important, its all about understanding in which parts of the pitch your opponents formation is attacking, how high defense line THEY have and where they leave spaces for you to attack, so that you adjust width of formation, counter vs slow buildup preferences, role type and Attack/Support/Defend for each player to exploit that.
Of course it's easier to exploit offensive playing fullbacks with 4-2-3-1 than 4-1-4-1, but two offensive minded side mids in 4-1-4-1 and strong counter mentality will have a bigger impact than two wingers on support with a slow buildup letting the fullback to get back into position in 4-2-3-1.
It all comes down to understanding which resources should go where. Losing goals might not be a defense fault if you do all out attack/defense and no support, there is no middle play and all you do is giving the ball back to the opponent so at some point defense will concede.
But I could usually win a CL within 3-5 years with a below Heidelheim level team and no savescumming.
His name is Pick, he came to have things Fixed, but this performance is Choring, Pick's gonna get sacked in the morning 🎶🎶
As Zealand always says
🎶 LOANS LOANS MOAR LOANS! 🎶
This is the best series you’re running rn. So good 😂
Finding META tactics help to no end. A bad team can perform well with very thought through tactics. Overloading the attack quickly is important. Overloading one side is important. Full Back Attack, Segundo Volante, Pressing Forward. All incredibly important roles.
11:27 why you put Target Forward in Support tho
Next one you need to start unemployed with a load of leagues loaded up or start with Wrexham or Salford in league 2. Good budgets and fairly easy. Work your way up?
Getting a team as bad as Heidenheim to stay in the Bundesliga is an incredibly difficult challenge. Need to be all over the dynamics and moral.
JJ Reddick going crazy learning how to play FM lol
Yeah morale is definitely the problem. Moraoe is insanely important in the game
He went from a top tier team to a low tier team. Most important part of FM, honestly, rather than tactics and cohesion, is LOANS! And free agents, he needs a better team with a semi decent tactic and he can easily stay midtable.
Don’t be a weak kid and quit
Keep going Pickolas
I crave FM my goat
we were missing it a lot my iddoool
Who needs the Euros when we have the Pickolas FM series
He should do a Chelsea one and bring them to the top again😂
A problem i have is setting unrealistic personal goals. Like expecting to be competing for the league regardless of which team i pick. Then resigning when it doesn't go my way.
You can do it Nick
finally pick uploads fm
Do more fm videos plz
You should watch a few matches in full, lets you see where the problems in your tactics are. Once you make your team solid you can switch back to extended highlights. Works a treat.
Mado pick got sacked
NGL he cooked a little but he needs more experience to become the FM goat
Zealand let me know that you were playing FM now.
And now I’m resubbed. The unsub wasn’t your fault, I just grew to hate FIFA years ago.
Ballsy move to switch to FM. Glad ya went for it!
Watching full matches help see where ur tatics has issues
beste is great at set peices, you could train set pieces lads each week and play for them in your tactics
never let bro cook again
When is the next episode, can't wait.
We need you to take Simione’s place and manage the weak kid at Athletico
I would also strongly advise some rotation. You're playing the same XI game after game and your bench has minimum match sharpness. Make 5 subs at half time. Make 5-10 changes every 3-4 games.
waiting for the next episode man
Sometimes you get sacked for nothing.
Once I got sacked in my 3rd Athletic Bilbao season after losing to fckn Real Madrid in the Champions' 2nd round. Board expected me to reach quarterfinals and took no shit from me
bro washed without man u 😂
LAst time i got alot a shit for saying this but it turns out to be true more and more:
Being that successful with United is impressive, espeically for the first season.
But United is literally "Pink fluffy unicorns"-difficulty, while Heidenheim is more "The doom guy is following me"-difficulty.
Nick, i think you are using the right tactic with the wrong players, you need to sign a player with high stamina and more pace and power, i know your budget is limited but there's alot of player with low price-tag with good attribute
Modern football manager games are literally an emoji simulator, you spend your time trying to get smiley emojis. So gen z. Old versions are way more fun, 12 is my favourite.
Can you do lower leagues? If so can you do Leeds United next and get them into the prem
he cant even do well with a bundesliga team and you think he can bring leeds united to the prem?
@@ariton2990 and while i would like a lower leages save
ive seen about 17 million lets players do a Leeds United gameplay, so why exactly them?
This mega, super outplayed club everybody and their momma already had in bed?
The only job I could get when I started unemployed on console was The Gambia national team
Jarju was important as hell for me
bro quit lol
More of this less fc 24 🔥
every player gets set a personality
you are fully right about the poison analogy 😂
you should try to learn the personalities and understand you'll have literal special cases in your team
Why is his character 0 Majima lmao.
yea fr
If you get them relegated u better get them back up nick!
I’m trying to get Rochdale to the prem and in my first season I got out of VNL snd got stuck in league two for three years and after the second season I came 8th and I was thinking it would never end and I thought I was stuck. But the third season I was 16th halfway through and somehow pulled it back and won the playoffs
nick next save sim into 2027/28 and experiment with newgens!
ìm playing a save with bath city and have gone from vanorama national league to chsmpionsship and just won the fa cup and brought too much talent, just try to make a save for 1 thing when you try to bring a club without glory to glory
he played gimber and won 2-0 where he played well and then doesn't touch him anymore
Played that game for 2023 and I've never been humbled like I have then... but it is really enjoyable
But ayy, just wanted to say you play a role in inspiring me to create my own channel where I post FIFA, I'm currently playing throwback retros like FIFA 10 & 11 up till the latest... They feature a player career multiverse where each career intertwines with the other, and I just finished the finale for FIFA 10 and just uploaded FIFA 11 Ep 1...
Hope you could embark on this journey with me
Most appreciated Nick
FINALLY PICK FINALLY
They just cross the ball. So basically you playing EAFC
HELP I CAN JUST CHOOSE A FEW LEAGUES TO PLAY AND THE PLAYERS IN THEM ARENT REAL AND I DONT WHY
These are the better games
that tactic is very scared bro, you wont create anything with no one on attack. keep the instructions simple. sell all the toxic players in jan and buy new ones. sell anyone who isnt playing, the biggest reason players get upset is playing time, you only need like 23 players in a squad
The team pressing is way too high. its why the other teams are carving through you.
Got sick to death of you saying 'bruh' at the end of every sentence like a fucking robot running a Keanu Reeves programme through it's unthinking brain
Jimber is my goat!
Pick ‘give me a good team’ RunTheFutMarket
54 seconds ago is crazy
Give pick dinho play or he'll retire
play more fm
PIIICK 🔥
Why you playing Gegen Press with Heidenheim bruh. Thats your problem switch to a 4-3-3 and Tiki taka or counter attack. You don't got the guys for a gegen press
Nah it's just the club itself is genuine ass.
Di mateo regen
Give my idol pick man u or he will retire
What the fuck is this tactic
i’ve never been this early
''and jack grealish is in the world XI as well'' wash your mouth out, pick. not cool
Ask zealand for help
more fm pick comeon
Listen to Zealand
1 view in 38 seconds 😭
Pick can't handle FM
Still prefer pickolas over Southgate
dude plays with extended highlights and fast speed... how doo you expect to make the necessary changes in game.... pure lost cause.
you need to stop being so defensive even if your not expected to win you're literally playing like Southgate
PICK
His tactics are 💩💩💩
SOMEBODY TELL PICK HIRE SOME BETTER STAFF
and your team is relegation fodder. so play like one 🤦♂
and why the hell is play a SS ???
Pick
First
change your dm's to be BWM oon De and DM on support and watch them win