Football Manager 2018

[tamwolf]

I only did it when I played Costa and Cavaleiro, since Jota doesn't play on the right wing unless you retrain him. Now I play Jota through the middle, and I get Pulisic and Cavaleiro to switch wings regularly. It's still an option if you go under player preferences.

I’ve been playing 3-4-3 wide recently and got pretty decent results (top of the league). However, I can’t get all of Costa, Jota, Cav and Bonatini on the pitch in that formation. Sometimes I play lopsided too and stick Ronan as an AP in a central attacking midfielder role with a winger or inside forward out wide. Ronan has been fantastic there; building a really good partnership with Bonatini (Leo has scored 24 goals in 24 games).

I’m considering switching to a 4-2-3-1, so I can get more of them on the pitch at the same time. Just not sure about switching tactics in the middle of a season when I’m doing well; but think I’m only playing 3-4-3 with these players because it’s what Nuno plays.

 

[Erick1011]

I’m considering switching to a 4-2-3-1, so I can get more of them on the pitch at the same time.

The way the new tactics system works, tactic familiarity is now down to player’s positions and roles, so unless you’re playing Bonatini as a winger and Ronan as a CB, you should be fine switching!

 

[gullykular]

I’ve been playing 3-4-3 wide recently and got pretty decent results (top of the league). However, I can’t get all of Costa, Jota, Cav and Bonatini on the pitch in that formation. Sometimes I play lopsided too and stick Ronan as an AP in a central attacking midfielder role with a winger or inside forward out wide. Ronan has been fantastic there; building a really good partnership with Bonatini (Leo has scored 24 goals in 24 games).

I’m considering switching to a 4-2-3-1, so I can get more of them on the pitch at the same time. Just not sure about switching tactics in the middle of a season when I’m doing well; but think I’m only playing 3-4-3 with these players because it’s what Nuno plays.

I made the change, although I wasn't nearly as successful with Bonatini, and Jota came into his own as a Shadow Striker. Also had Bright playing really well as a rotation option. Cavaleiro was average and Costa was sublime but now I'm in the PL they've basically swapped form. It goes to show how varied the game can be and there's no absolute way of doing anything. As with any game there must be some logical formula for success but there seem to be a few ways to skin this year's cat.

 

[DarrenRobertsDebut]

@gullykular this is the system I use now, mate.

View attachment 3521

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If the pass into space and run at defense instructions aren't working, I take them off and go control sometimes. However, this tactic won me the quadruple (Premier League, League Cup, FA Cup, Champions League) with an attacking mindset, so it all depends on your players. I've used this in a counter mentality sometimes, and it works well too because of the pass into space instruction that gets those quick passes forward.

Played around with these tactics and safe to say, they were the bomb, cheers mate! Beat Burnley away 5-1, beat Stoke 4-1 at the Mol, beat Basel away 5-2 (was down 2-1 in the 80th minute!) then battered Arsenal in a 2-2 at the Emirates. Ironically, Dembele got his first start of the season for the Gunners against me and he was cabbage 5.8, got hooked at halftime. Not sure about the cheeky bid now! My Italian striker Pellegri is a phenom. Took a punt and bought him for 10m when he was 16. He's now 18 and valued at 32m, and is deadly. Have a 96m release clause on him, but PSG are sniffing around already, so may have to bump that up or try and remove it. Happy Days!

 

[BarryM]

Played around with these tactics and safe to say, they were the bomb, cheers mate! Beat Burnley away 5-1, beat Stoke 4-1 at the Mol, beat Basel away 5-2 (was down 2-1 in the 80th minute!) then battered Arsenal in a 2-2 at the Emirates. Ironically, Dembele got his first start of the season for the Gunners against me and he was cabbage 5.8, got hooked at halftime. Not sure about the cheeky bid now! My Italian striker Pellegri is a phenom. Took a punt and bought him for 10m when he was 16. He's now 18 and valued at 32m, and is deadly. Have a 96m release clause on him, but PSG are sniffing around already, so may have to bump that up or try and remove it. Happy Days!

Pellegri is class! Got him and D’Amico and they regularly tear defences apart as part of my front 3!

He had one season where he couldn’t hit a barn door ... Niall Ennis replaced him as first choice striker.

Start of a new season though and he is banging them in again!

Some great regens to be found on this years release ...USA and Belgium are a great hunting ground.

 

[Erick1011]

@DarrenRobertsDebut glad they worked out for ya!

@BarryM I’ve found some great regens in the US too. I typically scout MLS academies and you can often get great regens on a free. Even if they don’t turn out to be good, you can always make a profit on them

 

[DarrenRobertsDebut]

Pellegri is class! Got him and D’Amico and they regularly tear defences apart as part of my front 3!

He had one season where he couldn’t hit a barn door ... Niall Ennis replaced him as first choice striker.

Start of a new season though and he is banging them in again!

Some great regens to be found on this years release ...USA and Belgium are a great hunting ground.

I'm in my 3rd season and also have D'Amico, who's just broken into the Seniors, but behind Jota, Cav, Costa, Sallai & Sessegnon, however the future looks good! Ennis barely gets a game for the 23's, his stats are poor, so don't think he'll make it. But I've got Isak, Coman and Romero hovering in the 23's or on loan, so bags of young talent there that should be sweet for a few years to come if I can keep them all happy!

 

[NavyWolf]

Breaking away from FM18, but a similar subject, I've got back into CM97-98 part of the CM2 series!!! Great game and takes you back to simpler times!
On my current save, Mcgoo has just been sacked for a bad start to the season and replaced by Bobby Gould, I'm manager of Inter Milan and made Dean Richards my first signing, a brilliant player on that game, he's just picked up his first England cap.
Wolves spent some of that cash on Miguel De Souza a striker from Peterborough.
Bully is banging the goals in for Wolves but Robbie Keane hasn't played a game yet.

 

[NavyWolf]

For anyone interested and wants to reminisce on the late 90s splurge on and towards mediocrity here is our squad from 97/98 season:
Forget about Whitworth, Gallen and De Souza that's who the game has signed for us.

 

[tamwolf]

For anyone interested and wants to reminisce on the late 90s splurge on and towards mediocrity here is our squad from 97/98 season:View attachment 3545
Forget about Whitworth, Gallen and De Souza that's who the game has signed for us.

The next season they released Championship Manager 3, which was my first ever version of the game. Robbie Keane was unreal on it.

One of my favourites, alongside Championship Manager 01/02.

 

[NavyWolf]

The next season they released Championship Manager 3, which was my first ever version of the game. Robbie Keane was unreal on it.

One of my favourites, alongside Championship Manager 01/02.

Ah I missed that version, as I was still engrossed in this version and our family computer was terrible (even for the era...would only run the 8mb database size of this game ffs...8MBs haha!!!!!) also I was still pretty young so didn't go into gaming shops or know that it got updated each season.
My next one after this was 01-02 but never got into it...CM4 or CM03-04 whichever came out first was the next one I got into after 97-98! Then it was FM all the way.

 

[tamwolf]

Ah I missed that version, as I was still engrossed in this version and our family computer was terrible (even for the era...would only run the 8mb database size of this game ffs...8MBs haha!!!!!) also I was still pretty young so didn't go into gaming shops or know that it got updated each season.
My next one after this was 01-02 but never got into it...CM4 or CM03-04 whichever came out first was the next one I got into after 97-98! Then it was FM all the way.

I was 11 when I got Championship Manager 3 after asking for it for Christmas. One of my best friends lived across the road from me and had the 97-98 version. I used to go round his house all the time to play it before I got my own version. I regularly thank him for introducing me to this game.

Although I had it, I couldn’t get into Champ Manager 4 at all for some reason. I played 01-02 until Football Manager 2006 came out.

 

[DarrenRobertsDebut]

The next season they released Championship Manager 3, which was my first ever version of the game. Robbie Keane was unreal on it.

One of my favourites, alongside Championship Manager 01/02.

Yep, my first CM venture was 03.
If Robbie didn't score 60 a season, he was having a Betty Crocker!

 

[Erick1011]

Haven't updated in a while, but I'm romping the Premier League without much investment. I brought in a Croatian regen who's on par with Ronan and has tons of potential. I also loaned Nathaniel Mendez-Laing just for cover. He's absolute ****, but it means some of my players get rest, since I loan out most of our regens.

Just won the Carabao Cup for the second year running. It was a terrible game on our behalf, but Rob Holding scored twice from a corner. The second goal came in the 94th minute of stoppage time, and was completely unexpected

 

[1312]

Finally caught up. Level pegging with Nuno but through to Round 5 in the FA Cup, got Reading next who have Nuno as manager so I'll probably throw the game out of respect.

I signed Vinagre and Bonatini in Jan but Jota and Boly wouldn't sign because they didn't want to sign for a smaller club?

 

[Werewolf of Wombourne]

I started the game but had to restart with a different club. It sounds ridiculous but I couldn't stand the thought of the message that said 'Nuno leaves Wolves'

 

[WolfLing]

For anyone interested and wants to reminisce on the late 90s splurge on and towards mediocrity here is our squad from 97/98 season:View attachment 3545
Forget about Whitworth, Gallen and De Souza that's who the game has signed for us.

That game was easy. As long as you signed Bjørn Heidenstrøm from Leyton Orient.

 

[Erick1011]

I got knocked out of the Champions League by Real Madrid. Pretty ****ed. Cavaleiro got a red card and it went downhill from there.

I retained the Premier League, FA Cup, and League Cup, though. Jota was the best player in the league!



The team of the season looks a bit ridiculous
Dembélé didn't perform as well as he did last season, but still managed to score around 20 or so goals. Renato Sanches was a revelation alongside Neves, and surprisingly, Iorfa, had the second highest average rating in the Premier League, behind Jota.


A special mention to Martin Ødegaard who did really well, with 11 goals and 5 assists in 25 appearances, before getting badly injured:

 

[gullykular]

I got knocked out of the Champions League by Real Madrid. Pretty ****ed. Cavaleiro got a red card and it went downhill from there.

I retained the Premier League, FA Cup, and League Cup, though. Jota was the best player in the league!

Excited to see what Jota becomes - have you played him as a striker at any point? I had Cutrone on loan but I can't afford him now and Marega doesn't convince me as a striker, so I'm either bargain hunting or Jota is up top. Pulisic is in though so he could fill the void left by Jota.

 

[Erick1011]

Excited to see what Jota becomes

I mostly play him behind the striker, as an advanced playmaker. He sometimes fills in on the left though, whenever Sessegnon is injured, or when Ødagaard was playing behind the striker. Pulisic mostly plays on the right, unless Cavaleiro is playing there, then Pulisic will play on the left and Jota behind the striker.

 

[gullykular]

I mostly play him behind the striker, as an advanced playmaker. He sometimes fills in on the left though, whenever Sessegnon is injured, or when Ødagaard was playing behind the striker. Pulisic mostly plays on the right, unless Cavaleiro is playing there, then Pulisic will play on the left and Jota behind the striker.

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Ridiculous how he went from 0 goals in the first PL season to 19 the next. He has some really bad games on occasion like a 6.1 rating but he goes on a run of scoring goals too. I will certainly persist with him on that basis - although his stats don't look any different.

 

[CzechWolf]

CM 01/02 Website

It's possible to play CM01/02 (in my opinion one of the best versions) with an incredibly in depth, up to date database including history and stats. The community behind it is active. You can select all leagues and it still runs brilliantly even on a terrible laptop. Thoroughly recommend.

 

[Neves wolf]

I've been playing it now since Christmas and I have to say I'm enjoying this one more than any of the others. I got promoted in the first season finished 3rd in the second season finished 4th in the 3rd season but got more points than my 2nd lol also won the champions league in my 3rd season won the title in my 4th season but got knocked out of champions league in semi finals by Man Utd. Half way through 5th season and I'm sitting top of the table and into the knockout stages of champions league.

 

[1312]

Can't be doing with that today...

 

[that bloke there]

View attachment 3935

Can't be doing with that today...

And Coady scored. Is that his first goal for you?

 

[1312]

And Coady scored. Is that his first goal for you?

Yeah, chipped in with a couple of assists as well.

Not played him that much, only play with two centre halves hence the 6-4

 

[that bloke there]

Yeah, chipped in with a couple of assists as well.

Not played him that much, only play with two centre halves hence the 6-4

It wasn't as close as it looks once you check the times of the goals.

 

[1312]

It wasn't as close as it looks once you check the times of the goals.

Yeah I know, I left the laptop after going 4-0 up at half time thinking it was a done deal, came back saw it was 5-2, still thought it would be ok. I do worry when I concede four though. If I score six every week, I'll cope, just about

 

[Neves wolf]

Well I've finished my 5th season and I won everything. The community shield the league cup the fa cup the champions league and the premiership. Only problem is the board have announced that they are extending molineux and need to relocate while they do this. So next season my home games are at villa park also manager of England so about to do my first World Cup

 

[NewarkWolf]

I appreciate getting us up is nailed on but are you all playing the laptop version when you’re then winning the league after a season or two in the premier?? Is it really ‘that’ easy to turn a very good championship team into a premiership winning one?? Even winning the champions league?!! Seems a tad too easy? Hope I’m wrong but the older versions took a hell of a lot more building up of the whole club to achieve such success.

 

[Deleted member 5962]

I appreciate getting us up is nailed on but are you all playing the laptop version when you’re then winning the league after a season or two in the premier?? Is it really ‘that’ easy to turn a very good championship team into a premiership winning one?? Even winning the champions league?!! Seems a tad too easy? Hope I’m wrong but the older versions took a hell of a lot more building up of the whole club to achieve such success.

its tactics, if you use a formation and match plan right, you can nullify a lot of the stronger teams

 

[Neves wolf]

I appreciate getting us up is nailed on but are you all playing the laptop version when you’re then winning the league after a season or two in the premier?? Is it really ‘that’ easy to turn a very good championship team into a premiership winning one?? Even winning the champions league?!! Seems a tad too easy? Hope I’m wrong but the older versions took a hell of a lot more building up of the whole club to achieve such success.

I'm playing the pc version. It's just the tactics you set up. Not usually very good at it but doing well with it this time. And just signed players that's been recommended on this thread. Like alaxendar Isak. Think that's right. He scored goals for fun for me. Scored over 100 goals in about 2 and a half seasons

 

[Dan G WWFC]

I've won the African Cup of nations and Copa America and yet I can't get a job in the Football League...Only National jobs, I get that I've done nothing in club football on my save but come on. Even got a team promoted into the Football league and didn't renew my contract at the end of the season. Teams target was mid table aswell.

 

[Muscat2Footer]

I have to say it’s far too easy this year. I remember FM 2012 when I finished 19th 4 seasons in a row with Colchester and was absolutely chuffed just to keep them there.

Championship to Champions League final in 4 years this year.

 

[NewarkWolf]

If it’s easy to go from championship to champions league success in 4 seasons on so many different games it must be a lot easier than previous editions?? You’re all making it sound such a piece of cake. I’d understand the odd one getting it right and with luck along the way but not this many.

Does our wage structure even when in the prem have it’s limitations?? That used to stop many a player in the old days coming on board hence why it took longer for success as you had to build from younger players and nurture them into class ones. Once the big spenders came calling some would go but if you could just keep them long enough you would get a bit for success but it took a while

 

[Deleted member 5962]

If it’s easy to go from championship to champions league success in 4 seasons on so many different games it must be a lot easier than previous editions?? You’re all making it sound such a piece of cake. I’d understand the odd one getting it right and with luck along the way but not this many.

Does our wage structure even when in the prem have it’s limitations?? That used to stop many a player in the old days coming on board hence why it took longer for success as you had to build from younger players and nurture them into class ones. Once the big spenders came calling some would go but if you could just keep them long enough you would get a bit for success but it took a while

wage caps and budgets are still a thing. But, you can game them to a point, though it can massively backfire.

The thing with lots of people doing well, has to do with it basically being the same game, just with minor tweaks each year, so if you perfect your tactics in an earleir ( but stil recent) edition of FM it is likely to translate with minimal adjustments. ( that or just flat cheat and get a tactic template from the steam community)

 

[NewarkWolf]

wage caps and budgets are still a thing. But, you can game them to a point, though it can massively backfire.

The thing with lots of people doing well, has to do with it basically being the same game, just with minor tweaks each year, so if you perfect your tactics in an earleir ( but stil recent) edition of FM it is likely to translate with minimal adjustments. ( that or just flat cheat and get a tactic template from the steam community)

I need to copy and paste the suggestions on here into my game!

 

[Erick1011]

I think the game was made a lot easier by the dynamics thing that they added. Basically, if Jota or Coady, or some influential player came to me, complaining about either wanting a new contract, wanting to leave, or whatever, I could just ask Neves to talk to them, and the player would drop the issue. This way, I’m basically having to only extend contracts when I think it’s right, rather than whenever a player wants one, and I don’t have to sell my players to the biggest clubs.

Thankfully no one’s come in for Neves or I would be ****ed! Jota has been interesting a lot of clubs over the seasons though, but Neves or my vice captain usually make sure he stays. Jota is now a club legend

 

[gullykular]

I think the game was made a lot easier by the dynamics thing that they added. Basically, if Jota or Coady, or some influential player came to me, complaining about either wanting a new contract, wanting to leave, or whatever, I could just ask Neves to talk to them, and the player would drop the issue. This way, I’m basically having to only extend contracts when I think it’s right, rather than whenever a player wants one, and I don’t have to sell my players to the biggest clubs.

Thankfully no one’s come in for Neves or I would be ****ed! Jota has been interesting a lot of clubs over the seasons though, but Neves or my vice captain usually make sure he stays. Jota is now a club legend

As with any game the AI is limited. Apparently there's essentially a 'cheat' where the game cannot cope with 3-man strikeforces. If you find a tactic that can cause problems and get players that fit the roles properly you should do well.

 

[1312]

No idea how we only scored one in this. Nevertheless, three points is three points. Up to 77 now for the season...