This game is driving me insane

I have been trying to start games for a while now but keep failing. Its ever since the new update came out. I have been very successful with newcastle, liverpool and crewe but since the new update came out none of my tactics work. any suggestions or tips

I've had trouble with tactics that have stopped working after an update, maybe this is your problem. Try creating new ones, and see what happens

I have tried but none of the tactics i have used for previous versions or even my trusted 442 is working should i use shouts? i rarely use them

There are so many factors that affect the success of a team, i don't think there were enough radical changes in the update to make everything suddenly 'harder'.

Definitely start by learning how to use shouts, they can really help turn a game around or start it off on the right path.

Other than that, take time to get to know your team, its strengths, weaknesses and key areas of play etc... i generally spend the first hour of a save looking at my players and setting training/tactics to suit the main strengths... and yes, i even have a spreadsheet!

Proof that spending time arranging your team first can be found in my story... currently in my fifth season and only a handful of matches lost.

I think that the most important to note is that the match engine and how the AI plays has been changed. Previous exploits in the match engine have been fixed and new ones have appeared. The biggest challenge in Football Manager is to create a tactic which works as well in one match engine as it does in another.

One particular style of football which you could have a look at is the famous Dutch "Total Football", which Dortmund and Bayern Munich have taken a leaf from recently and have used some of those principles in their football, this year's Champions League semi-finals being a prime example of how this style can work against two different playing styles.

There are many different philosophies of playing football, but they all have the same principles and beliefs, which is to keep the ball moving and to stay organised in defence, whilst still having enough passing options and enough forward movement. If you can keep these principles, creating a tactic which works in different situations will become a lot easier.

I hope that this has helped

I am kinda getting the hang of it now 5th after 32 games with ipswich in the championship using a 442 formation. thanks for the help lads

One does not simply find a formation that just works with every team.