Football Manager Series Catch-All

Season 3 end of year report

La Liga - 1st by 6 points
Copa Del Rey - knocked out 3rd round
CL - Winners, beat Man City 2-1 in the final (they had F Mendy sent off after 20 mins and Theo Hernandez sent off after 84)

Only a couple of acquisitions in season - bought Declan Rice for £71m and Stefanovic from Man City finally turned up. I bought him ages ago, lent him back for 18 months and had quite forgotten about him. He did pitch in with some worthwhile appearances though.

Mbappe continues to disappoint - he missed about 60% of the season with a variety of niggling injuries. If someone were to come in with a decent bid, I'd consider getting rid.

Other than that, the heroes of the season were Trincao, Pedri and Gabriel Barbosa, who notched 36 in the league and another 15 in the CL and domestic cups. I think 14 were pens, but he is lethal at those.

Oh, and spare a thought for Man City. They lost the Premiership to Man U on the last day, drawing away at Brighton. They then lost the FA Cup Final to Liverpool 2-1 after taking the lead, and then lost the CL final to Barcelona.

Things I've noticed in season 3.

- Pep left City after season 2 and hasn't even been mentioned in connection with another job (looks out of the window at the car park, suspiciously..). Bielsa took over at City.

- Coventry didn't quite beat the record for the lowest number of points in a full season in the Premiership, but by golly they gave it a go - 9pts. (Their one win, Chelsea 2-1, in case you were wondering).

- Despite their funds, Newcastle still haven't finished in the top half. In three seasons, they've sacked Eric ten Haag, Lucien Favre and Roberto Mancini..and Antonio Conte has just presided over a 15th placed finish, so I hope he's not bought a house in the North-east.

Contract is now expiring and I don't think I'll sign a new one, time to go elsewhere.

Also, El Loco took over at Tottenham in my game (currently 10th).

Meanwhile, Leeds hired Ranieri. (Currently 3rd.)

Forgot that they'd given Newcastle the sugar daddy owners when FM released this year. I just checked and good God, it's November 2022 and they've spent $437M in one and a half seasons.

Did they do anything with it though ?

In my Barcelona game, after 3 seasons they'd gone through about every big name manager available. They never spent mega money though - 100m in 21/22, 196m in 22/23, 242m in 23/24 and 152m so far in 24/25.

Still, when your finishes are 13th, 12th and 15th, it's difficult to attract the very best - of their transfers, the only major one that stands out is buying Julian Weigl for 51m. Paying 56m for Dwight Mcneil, 52m for Iheanacho and 66m for Lucas Digne does explain the bottom-half finishes I guess, and where the money has gone.

My latest new career is called 'Beat the Barcodes', where I have taken over Sunderland and am aiming for a major trophy win before Newcastle. Early days yet, though.

davet010 wrote:

Did they do anything with it though ?

In my Barcelona game, after 3 seasons they'd gone through about every big name manager available. They never spent mega money though - 100m in 21/22, 196m in 22/23, 242m in 23/24 and 152m so far in 24/25.

Still, when your finishes are 13th, 12th and 15th, it's difficult to attract the very best - of their transfers, the only major one that stands out is buying Julian Weigl for 51m. Paying 56m for Dwight Mcneil, 52m for Iheanacho and 66m for Lucas Digne does explain the bottom-half finishes I guess, and where the money has gone.

My latest new career is called 'Beat the Barcodes', where I have taken over Sunderland and am aiming for a major trophy win before Newcastle. Early days yet, though.

Newcastle spending loads of cash to end up no better than midtable sounds realistic to me, given there's basically no infrastructure at the club for running things and the new owners don't know what they're doing, beyond briefing journalists about all the things they want to do.

Also, Ooh, that Sunderland save will be fun.

They are 6th, FWIW. 9-1-6 under Erik ten Haag.

IMAGE(https://i.ibb.co/DR0Wzc8/Oh-My-God.jpg)

Oh that's just mean.

My 2022 World Cup had a wild group stage before settling down, not least because Scotland actually qualified for the knock out rounds - something that has never happened in the real world.

They played out a dour opener with the USA that the Scots should have lost except for a missed Christian Pulisic penalty. That spot kick was the only shot on target for the whole game, but Robbie McCrory saved it.

From there, the standard Scottish M.O. would be a narrow loss against Italy in round two, leaving themselves with a lot to do in the final game so they could stock up on some heroic Scottish failure.

Instead they beat Italy 1-0 in a game where they were outshot 23-2.

Their goal came in the sixth minute and then they grimly hung on through an absolute battering and another missed penalty (Emerson) before the game was settled when Federico Chiesa got a straight red for one of the worst simulated two-footed fouls I've ever seen.

With the US facing Italy in their final games those results put Scotland in charge of their own destiny for once - a win against Colombia would be enough.

Any nerves about that game were probably extinguished early when Colombia scored an own goal and had two players sent off in the first nineteen minutes.

Ryan Christie scored a second-half hattrick and the Scots won 6-1 to actually win their group.

The USA and Italy drew the other game to knock Italy out.

IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/ly9CI1I.png)

I had an entire Be-A-Player FIFA career based on trying to get Scotland into the knockout rounds of a major tournament, so I always keep an eye out for them in FM.

So, the 2022/23 season just finished (I know, I play slow), and Harry Maguire, seen above, missing the penalty to keep England in the World Cup, scored a 93rd-minute header to give ManU a second heart-destroying CL Final win over Bayern.

Oh, and Erling Haaland scored 49 goals in 35 appearances for Dortmund, who still lost the title by a point.

Football regularly turns up results and outcomes that I'd have declared realistic, but in my game, when Man City signed an under-contract, just won the Premier League for the third time Klopp away from Liverpool in 2023, I had to step in and undo it.

It's not that I don't think Klopp wouldn't ever leave Liverpool, but I feel absolutely safe in saying that he positively would not leave for another club in England, much less City, much less coming off of back-to-back PL wins.

Y'know, I often complain that clubs aren't as cutthroat in FM as they are in real life, but I just saw Diego Simeone last 93 days after getting hired at Newcastle.

IMAGE(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FRss1XhXEAAIJpU?format=png&name=900x900)

I've been getting the FM itch lately, after watching too many Tifo Youtube vids. As someone who usually quits somewhere in pre-season because FM just has too many buttons to push... how does the Xbox version compare? When I last tried the Touch version many moons ago, I didn't like the lack of detail but this version seems more well-rounded at first sight.

I would be playing on Windows through Game Pass.

Other question: I still have the FM21 packs on my HDD somewhere, can I use those for FM22 as well to get like 80% of logo's and faces right off the bat without all the hassle?

Not sure how the Xbox version plays, I'm afraid.

I've copied packs from one year to another easily enough - you just need to copy the files into the appropriate sub directory in the FM22 folder.

You'd probably want to get the name fixes for this year though, there might be some differences in which clubs/competitions are not licenced in each year. Of course, if the editor exists in the Xbox version, that isn't an issue.

Thanks!

The editor is not included in the Xbox version, if I actually get sucked in again I will definitely look for complete updates. I'm just trying to avoid spending more time getting the game right than actually playing it this time

started a new 22 game, and in one of the cruelest things I've ever seen, Italy and England met in the 2022 World Cup final... only for Italy to fall short on penalties again. (This, after outshooting Italy 19-9.)

So I've been playing the Xbox FM 2022 edition for a few hours now, through Game Pass on PC.

TL;DR version: it's excellent for players like me, who cannot resist the temptation of optimizing every possible aspect of FM and end up quitting because seasons take far too long to complete.

Technically, MODs are not supported in the Xbox version, but facepacks work in the same way, and I got the real club names to work as well.

There's far less press interaction (comparing to FM 2020) and no direct player interaction. I miss this roleplaying aspect of the game a bit, though it quickly became another chore. Go over the monthly training report, compliment the performers and reprimand the lazy. Compliment the MotM and reprimand the slacker(s) post-game. Rinse, repeat. So all in all, I'm happy to be rid of it completely.

Team talks are also gone, no regrets there. The team's reactions often didn't make sense, and as long as I can shout from the sideline I'm good

But the biggest relief was the simplification (sorry: STREAMLINING) of Training. I never enjoyed this feature in all those years, but also couldn't resist optimizing it either. In the Xbox edition you simply choose a focus (Tactical/Physical/Technical/etc.). You can still pick individual training for your players, the only part I actually like doing.

All in all, the Xbox edition finds the perfect balance for me. I tried the Touch versions before, but the tactical engine was too barebones (STREAMLINED). I found my new zen game, still progressing slowly but only doing stuff I like. A+ would free download through Game Pass again

Fired up an old FM2019 three weeks ago, after 2 seasons with NEC Nijmegen I got the Holland job - took it along the NEC job. Won the dutch cup 2 times in a row and then the World Cup started. Won the Pool with unkown teams like Angola. Went on with wins against USA, Switzerland and Scotland, and one the WC final against Mexico.

Feels for me I kind of finished the game.

Coming from CM 2 and all... the FM wasn't that much of a improvement for me. Feature creep and all.

Dunno if I should try FM 2022... it is probably more feature creep / tamagotchi RPG.

I'm off to Football: Tactics and Glory (Xcom meets civ on that one). If anyone knows a better alternative: welcome!

I mean, you've posted a couple of times, over several iterations of FM that you've been bouncing off of it. It just doesn't seem like FM is your game anymore, and it hasn't been for a while.

Prederick wrote:

I mean, you've posted a couple of times, over several iterations of FM that you've been bouncing off of it. It just doesn't seem like FM is your game anymore, and it hasn't been for a while.

True! I am sorry I sound like a ol' sour sod... But it is how it is. I should move on and treasure the memory. Perhaps I have changed, and the game just got better.

It happens. Me and Madden went through a divorce years ago, and I used to love that game. Same with the Rainbow Six series. What I loved that game for, and what it's doing now are two totally different things. I'm sad to see them go, but I know neither is going to come back for me anytime soon.

You could try the Xbox version of FM, maybe someone recently posted here on how it's FM without the feature creep

dejanzie wrote:

You could try the Xbox version of FM, maybe someone recently posted here on how it's FM without the feature creep ;-)

Thanks. I read it. But my last run (in which I won the WC) I already had turned off all the news and turnned on all the help (assman giving opp. instructions and all). I created 3 tactics, bought and sold players, etc.

Prederick is right and I should move on. I apologize for complainin'in this thread.
It just hurts that a game that goes back so long and has given decennia(!) of such good memories evolved beyond my grasp.

Peoj Snamreh wrote:
dejanzie wrote:

You could try the Xbox version of FM, maybe someone recently posted here on how it's FM without the feature creep ;-)

Thanks. I read it. But my last run (in which I won the WC) I already had turned off all the news and turnned on all the help (assman giving opp. instructions and all). I created 3 tactics, bought and sold players, etc.

Prederick is right and I should move on. I apologize for complainin'in this thread.
It just hurts that a game that goes back so long and has given decennia(!) of such good memories evolved beyond my grasp.

Apologies for the snark, it was uncalled for.

I get it though: I like the Xbox version as a zen game, but I'll never get into a game of CM/FM like I used to 20-ish years ago. It's not just the lack of time or feature creep for me either.

Sidenote: I got the facepacks working immediately for the Xbox version on my PC... and now on my gaming laptop it will not work whatever I do. WHY?

I think I've mentioned this before, but I do wish they'd make the personal stuff in this game just a smidge more meaningful.

Like, quiz me if i'm studying for a new coaching badge. Even if it's something easy to google, just gimme something fun to do.

Moreover, when I negotiate a contract, give it some kind of meaning in-game. I want to consider leaving a club because I think I should be paid more than they can afford! I don't just want every game to be me, considering asking for a $1 contract for 10 years after winning the 2nd consecutive CL trophy. I don't care, make it something silly, put a little "Manager's Office" in the game that I can buy baubles for that cost increasingly large amounts, people would enjoy that!

Oohh... that would be sweet. I loved that in the 'Devil's attorney' on the iPad.

Finished that silly, beautiful polished game in every possible ending.

Ultimate Soccer Manager was that game in the late nineties. It had tons of little tidbits sprinkled on a decent sim game.

IMAGE(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/689277687063117891/1001730464085725215/bonus.JPG)

Wow, don't spent that all at once, Jacob. I wonder what the bonus for reaching the final is!

I loved USM back in the Day!

Since I play LLM fairly exclusively, why not let you run on with Sunday leaguer terrible stats as a Player / Manager?

I'd love that.