Fifa 12 Career Mode Discussions

Daikirai
Nice scoop on that goal…I always botch those because my brain turns to pudding the second I touch the L2 button.

Tuning up the injury sliders has really made the last two months of the season such an entertaining managerial challenge. I’m also impressed with how tuning down the accel and speed sliders has some really interesting long term consequences for less talented/small roster clubs who get over their heads in cup runs and the like. You can mash the sprint button all you like but you are going to pay for it later.

Placebo..how is Kouyate working out for you?
 
I'm preparing for my second season and have splashed the cash, taken a real gamble with youngsters. I've signed Tom Cleverley from Man Utd for £11m, a right back from Palace called Nathanial Clyne for £10m, a young CM called Adam Maher from AZ for £4m and winger Benjamin Moukandjo from Nancy for £12m. He is seriously, ridiculously fast.

To offset that I've sold Gosling for £3m, Ryan Taylor for £3m, reluctantly sold Cabaye for £10m (great player in real life but didn't make an impact in my first season. Cleverly seems to make better forward runs), and a load of fringe players for around £2m. I've signed up a ton of youth players too with good potential and immediately loaned them out on season long loans.

Newcastle are a great club to manage because there's plenty of room to change the squad around and improve the existing squad, the board offer a reasonable amount of money and have relatively low expectations. I finished 8th in season one and they still only expect me to repeat a mid table performance.
 
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Clyne is good, bought him for 12,5mil in jan of the 2nd season and have been impressed. He needs to become a bit stronger but he is great going forward and is also very quick to track back. You just have to make sure you forcefully win the ball back with him as I've found when getting infront of the attacker and trying to keep possesion the striker can easily knock it away again and continue his run. So once he has it, belt it! ;)

Anyway, have been scheduled in a cup marathon looking at the fixtures! Fa cup, League Cup final, CL 1st knockout round, FA cup QF, CL 2nd leg!
So far I managed to easily beat Blackburn away 4-0, had an epic League Cup final against Arsenal. They completely dominated for about 80 min. scoring a penalty in the 72nd min. Through my attacking subs on and went full attacking mentality. Was getting close but hadn't gotten the equaliser. Then in the 90th min. I got a freekick on the edge of the box, laid it off and Suarez hit a low drive into the corner to go to extra time! Halfway through the 1st ET half a quick combination between 3 players managed to get my fast subbed striker 1-on-1 against Mertesacker, who had no chance and got left for dust. The striker rounded the goalie and managed to sqeeze the ball in. Played the rest of the match out keeping possesion and wasting time. Next up was a home match against Inter in the CL, 3 days later with half my team knackered. Managed to patch up a decent side of 1st teamers and reserves and took the lead in the 70th min from a corner. Sadly they equalised in the 80th to keep the tie very tight. Still have to play the rest of the cup marathon...
 
So three days before the transfer deadline Bayal Sall, who has started pretty much every game for me in defense tells me he can't play for my team. So I transfer list him, and leave him out of our game that day. Commentators made a point to say something about it which was cool. Ended up being forced to sell to Blackburn for 2.3M, but somehow got Boateng on deadline day.
 
Clyne at RB is awesome. I made a point of looking at player stays, in particular their defensive and attacking tendencies. Most players I signed, including Clyne, have high attack mentality and low defensive mentality. You can see this in their stats page. This has brought a new dimension to buying players, and added an extra layer to the game mode.

So now that I've signed these players, despite them having lower overall stats than say Cabaye who I sold, they have more attacking tendencies (Cabayes' natural attack & defence mentality are both medium meaning he'd mostly sit in midfield even when you tell him to get forward). The result is that my new signings seem to be far more dynamic in their forward runs, which is brilliant because this is why I signed them and replaced more conservative players. You can change these instructions in team formation tactics per player, but their stat page shows their natural ability in attack/defence levels. Players of an attacking mentality seem superior at getting forwards than more defensive minded players even if they're both instructed to attack.

One good example is that despite being a right back, Clyne is all over the place down the right. Thanks to his pace, he's often supporting the attack ahead of my right midfielder. It's awesome. Likewise Cleverley has a naturally attacking mentality and he's taking better supporting positions than Cabaye did. He joins the attack in the box which is what didn't happen before.

That said, opening game of season two and took a 3-0 battering away at Chelsea. Their striker Lavezzi is like Aguero in this game, he's bordering in superhuman. He can run and turn at about double the speed than anyone else. His turns in the box at 100 mph tore me a new one, and when I double marked him Essien thought he'd join in by ripping one into my net from 30 yards. Oh well. At least I'm on my way to the Europa League, beat FC Sion 3-0 in the first leg. Maher looks like he'll be a top young signing from AZ too after that game.

One small point, well done EA on a great CM this year. The improvements are huge, haven't noticed any bugs at all yet, and the option to change time of day/weather via the last patch keeps everything realistic. My midweek Euro qualifying game was set in sunshine despite being in a Thursday night, probably due to still being in the summer, but now you can change it to a night match. Shows EA are listening.
 
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Can anyone explain the difference to me between LW and LF? I'm currently doing a CM with AS Roma, with Bojan as a Left Forward, but when I'm playing he seems to behave as a Left Winger. Perhaps because I don't have an LM behind him, but an LDM instead?
 
Hi, I'm new here. Now that some months have passed since the game was released, I wanted to ask you if your experience with FIFA 12 Manager Mode has been good enough to recommend it. I found FIFA 10 and 11's MM really boring and since I'm mainly an offline player, I wouldn't want to shell out my money for something I won't enjoy. I've been reading this thread (partially) and it seems the mode is entertaining and engaging, without too many game-killing bugs. Is that really the case? The bugs were another of my gripes with previous years' editions.

If you do recommend the game, then can I also ask you to give me hints regarding tactical defending? I know it's completely off-topic, but I'd be very grateful!

Thanks everyone!
 
I picked up the save that I had before ending the season (I have another one where I accepted to move to Milan, but it's not too interesting tbh) and chose to stay with Leeds, since the team I've built is awesome.

Bought that Clyne RB you were talking about, a LB called Daprela, a CB called de Vrij or something like that, Mulumbu as CDM (I gave up on the Xabi Alonso type of CDM, now someone who recovers a lot of balls will do), and Marco Reus.

I haven't quite learned how to get the best out of Reus, but everything else is working just fine, I'm still in the transfer window so I'll check if I can sell anyone without too many chances to play and get anyone better.
 
I'd really reccomend Maher of Dutch side AZ. Got him for £4m at the end of season one, he's rated at 69 so far by the age of 18 which is pretty good, but he did pop up in the game's info feed before I signed him as 'one to watch'. I snapped him up and gave him a bit if time as a sub etc and he doesn't feel like a 69 rated player. He's gonna be GOOD.
 
LTFC said:
One small point, well done EA on a great CM this year. The improvements are huge, haven't noticed any bugs at all yet, and the option to change time of day/weather via the last patch keeps everything realistic. My midweek Euro qualifying game was set in sunshine despite being in a Thursday night, probably due to still being in the summer, but now you can change it to a night match. Shows EA are listening.
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Placebo said:
The fact there's a 23x40 thread on the mode should be a testament to how much we like it
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All I needed to hear, going to get me a copy of FIFA today! :BRMM:
 
PaulP said:
All I needed to hear, going to get me a copy of FIFA today! :BRMM:
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Yeah love it. I like how you can integrate your VP into the game, how it seems bug free, stuff like different commentators who actually mention new signings, and even chatted about how Xisco refused to sign a new contract yet how they were surprised that I chose to start him. I like the press conference stuff, in-game cut scenes, the CM layout, setting up scouting networks then bringing youth players on through the ranks, the injuries (with sliders altered) and how they occur on the pitch, and I love how the transfer deadline day is imaginatively done. There are so many good things this year. It's no coincidence that Simon Humber was responsible for CM this year.

By the way, has anyone else noticed that since the last patch, navigating the menu screens and CM is less laggy and much faster? Or is that just me?
 
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You all should give these guys a shot.

Prib, a CM that can also play CAM, LM, DM and even LB. I have been using him as a sub for the CAM position, but he has also played well in the DM position several times for me. Great speed, distributing skills, vision, and can obviously defend.

I also picked up 2 RM, Schonbachler and Klause. Again, decent speed, good passing and can whip that ball in for crossing attempts. (3 years separates these two.) Schon is the older and better, Klause is a sub or a starter when Schon needs a break.

These players average 68-72 right now (3 years into my Manager Mode) and the oldest is 24. All good players for key support roles that I would say to give a look at.

Johnny Russell has been a gold mine for me. This guy is a goal scoring monster and the main reason why I have been doing amazing in my league. Also Chris Malonga Ntsangi has been doing well for me in the CAM starting role to feed Russell and the L&R Midfielders balls.

Funny thing, I found this gem online since I usually try to look up these players to see how well they do in real life. Check this out:

YouTube - Eintracht Frankfurt - Greuther Furth Edgar Prib FAIL 12.12.2011

Yikes, maybe in 3 years, he will be class?! Then again, even in FIFA, his finishing skills are not so hot!
 
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Funny observations:

I was playing a Champions League match where I won the 1st away game, 2-1, the 2nd home game I lost 0-1. So obviously I moved on due to my two away goals. During the post game commentary though, the announcers were going on about how I did not make it through, the heartache, how my team should be proud, yada yada, even though I obviously won overall?!

I also noticed that two cup finals I was at, I was the "away" team, even though it was a neutral game, but the whole stadium was filled with the home team fans?! Not so neutral after all. Granted, minor flaws in scheme of things. Just not feeling the love though...
 
Does anybody have strangely low match ratings? I feeling like my players rarely get above 6.0 with most being at about 5.5 even if I win the match.
 
Velocity5 said:
Johnny Russell has been a gold mine for me. This guy is a goal scoring monster and the main reason why I have been doing amazing in my league. Also Chris Malonga Ntsangi has been doing well for me in the CAM starting role to feed Russell and the L&R Midfielders balls.
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Johnny Russell has been amazing for me too, Hines performs as a monster and Schürrle is the best striker I've ever had in my Career Mode, but Russell is always there, you can always count on him and his left foot.
 
Yeah the ratings are a bit wierd, most players that have a good game are around 6.80 or something. If I notice a player having a really good game, then they get around a 7.50. Only people I have seen get an 8 or more are ones that score a couple of goals. But alot of players are getting around 5.50 aswell, which suggests that they aren't playing very well, but in fact they are not doing anything wrong really.
 
My ratings are fine. Regular performances are around the 6 with the performers for that match being above 7 and sometimes above 9. Goes for all players aswell, my defenders get 8's sometimes, so it's not only the strikers doing well.
 
TikTikTikTikTik said:
My ratings are fine. Regular performances are around the 6 with the performers for that match being above 7 and sometimes above 9. Goes for all players aswell, my defenders get 8's sometimes, so it's not only the strikers doing well.
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There are alot of 5s banded about though, when I don't think they are necessary. But you are right on the rest I suppose, Defenders who do give good displays are given healthy scores (Although I haven't had one above 8, but close enough).
 
My ratings are mostly fine too. The fact that a lot of players end up with something like 6.2-6.9 is pretty realistic. They put in a decent shift but nothing spectacular. Just a job done without being poor.

And then the one or two stand out performers get a rating above 7 depending on how well they did and on the one-offs where your WHOLE team performed, you do see average ratings of 7.1 or 7.2 all across board with a couple 8's even in there and maybe a 9 for MoM.

I'm more or less fine with the way ratings are.
 
If you look at the squad status page it shows that anything over 6 for form is good form, for example my keeper is 6.8 and bright green which shows him as being in good form, weird to have a scale of 1-10 where optimum is 6 and 8-10 is quite rare, I've had players score twice and only get something like 6.2
 
But that player honestly probably had a poor match otherwise. I've only had that when the guy scored 2 goals but had let's say 7 shots and the rest didn't even hit the target and also he misplaced many passes and failed with dribbles etc.

In regards to your first point, exactly! Since 6.0 is how the match starts and the 'average' performance (not good and not bad), I'm perfectly okay with a guy in 6.8 being in good form. It means he's doing well and above-average which is how it is.

@Bobby, the players who score in 5's usually have had mediocre at best if not slightly poor matches. And if you look at their individual contribution (stats), I'm usually not surprised to then see they misplaced a lot of passes or were really unsuccessful with their tackles and so that played a part in the below-average rating.
 
PLF said:
But that player honestly probably had a poor match otherwise. I've only had that when the guy scored 2 goals but had let's say 7 shots and the rest didn't even hit the target and also he misplaced many passes and failed with dribbles etc.
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True but IMO goals should count more, like previous Fifas it's still easier for defenders to get higher ratings than attackers. If a forward gets a hat trick he should get at least a 9, it shouldn't matter how crap he was scoring three goals in a match is a big thing and should be the most important criteria for forwards over pass completion, dribble completion etc.
 
Well I get it about shots that miss, I have scored a hat trick and gotten a 7 or 8, because every other shot was wildly off. I have noticed that wingers/midfielders/defenders get better ratings for shots on target than forwards.
I accept that 6s are normal/just above but it's weird. Sometimes I feel like my RB is shutting things down, and he comes out with a 5.5 or at most a 6.
I really like my defenders, especially my young right back, only rated 53 but he does very well for me. Boateng on the other hand has made some real fuck ups but gets pretty good ratings, so I don't know haha
 
I think the 6 Mark for player ratings is about right for a decent performance. 9 or 10 should be the sole preserve of someone doing a Diego Maradona or something like that. As long as there's consistency to the ratings then I don't mind it really, you quickly learn to judge the game's rating system and adjust your opinions on what's a good rating or not so it's all good. Plus I'd rather the game was a bit more sensible with ratings than brandishing 8, 9 or 10 all the time.
 
It's a shame they removed the balls won/lost breakdown, this was in (IIRC) Fifa 08 but then removed for every Fifa since, it's the one stat I felt that really showed why player x got a good or bad overall, I am 100% certain it's still used to calculate the overall they just don't show it anymore :(
 
Good point, I am willing to bet that factors in as well. Haven't played my CM for two days, did some virtual pro (ranked matches online). Still frustrating to try and play anything other than an attacking position. Trying to mark off the ball or make simple passes is frowned upon, and not rewarded in any way by the rating system.
Gonna get back into my s eason tonight, beginning of february and we're sitting in 5th. Last couple of results were very bad, couple of losses and a draw, lost Legear for three months, no other injuries yet, luckily. Ravet has taken Legear's place and although he's not as fast, he seems to be doing very well.
 
I can’t complain much about the ratings but I do get better player progression when I sim matches. This is probably because I play lousy football. I agree with PLF about passes and tackles. If you can manage to win a majority of tackles and complete most of your passes then the rating will usually stay in the 6’s at minimum....unless you seriously muck it up elsewhere. As for shooting..well…I don’t remember my last hat trick ;)
Starting my career mode over again as Sassuolo. Bought my one star scout and committed myself to developing Italian talent. Almost everybody over 25 is on the transfer list. EA has Boyake listed as a full time player and not on loan but I’m just going to pretend he fell in love with a chubby little village girl and demanded to stay. Almost everybody over 25 is now on the transfer list. If anybody knows of any young superstars on this squad feel free to let me know.
The wife and kids are off to grandmas and all I have to do tomorrow is wait for the roofer to show up…it’s going to be a very good night.
Put the sliders on Placebos last posted set, professional, all manual (except semi for corners). I figure I’ll have to tune down the user/cpu pass and shooting error a bit but these have really created a nicely paced game so far. I’m planning for a move to world class settings by the transfer window.
 
I like to do that with almost every team I play as, sell all the "older" players. I like playing with younger players, fringe players, reserves, whatever. I just like finding players who have shit ratings but seem to play excellently. For whatever reason sometimes a mid-50 to mid-60 team full of players makes me play better. Maybe because I don't feel like one guy can take on the world to score.
 
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