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Post by Robson on Sept 1, 2019 23:48:55 GMT
December 2039/January 2040I can say that the nearest challengers lie some fifteen points back. Inter have a couple of games in hand but that would still leave us with a 13 point advantage - surely a figure that, given the expected demise of Genoa and Virtus Entella, is too much to see us fall down into second. It's looking like an imperious position to me too.
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Post by Ben on Sept 4, 2019 20:04:27 GMT
Panic ReportNot sure what is going on here in the league... Gap is now gone with the Genoa loss and Inter, if they win their game in hand, move to three behind. Time to have buck our ideas up!
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ianf
New Member
Posts: 92
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Post by ianf on Sept 5, 2019 2:07:34 GMT
What do I win for closest guess 😀
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Post by fmamerican on Sept 5, 2019 2:25:06 GMT
What do I win for closest guess 😀
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Post by Ben on Sept 7, 2019 8:09:06 GMT
2040 Youth Intake
A bit of a shame that, so late on the timeline of FM19, that I have such a great youth intake as I'll never be able to see these players through their full careers. What I do have is three youngsters who are in positions that are needed. Two footed centre backs are my dream and, even more so, if they are reasonably technical. Amici is good at passing, has a good first touch and technique as well as being good at all of the other key defensive attributes. He's a little weak on some mental attributes and I'd like him to be a little taller, but the lad is 16 and should certainly grow in stature. A solid personality, too. If Amici needed a partner - then Veronesi is his man. Possibly the best player that has come through my academy, in terms of current ability. Aside from composure - there is nothing that he isn't at least 'good' at in terms of being a ball playing defender. Hopefully he has tonnes of space to grow into as he has a great personality to help him reach that. Davide Zafferani is nearing thirty so a player like this is a perfect replacement. Lacking a little in the mental side oft he game, but he's quite technical and works hard for the team.
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Post by Ben on Sept 7, 2019 8:16:52 GMT
February/March 2040I posted about our league slump, where four defeats in a row saw our mammoth lead at the top cut to absolutely nothing - however, I hope that, with seven points from nine, I have come through that and I can press on again. We are away at Inter during April and, with such fine margins now separating all the top three, I really need to win or I feel a repeat of last year coming on. We have made relatively easy work of our knockout tie against Southampton and face Schalke in the QF - which is going to provide some more fixture congestion for us.
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Post by Ben on Sept 9, 2019 20:23:17 GMT
April 2040I've gone back to a single month as a) I have barely played over the past week or so can't even recall our CL Quarter final exit b) I'm happy that we are back to winning ways and c) things are hotting up - with a lot of that down to our rather lucky win away at Inter. Here is what is between us and our first ever Scudetto:
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Post by fmamerican on Sept 10, 2019 0:22:41 GMT
Best possible outcome is Inter and Genoa draw on the final day.
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Post by Ben on Sept 10, 2019 19:54:06 GMT
2039/40 End of SeasonTo say that things didn't go to plan would be an understatement. I am unsure of how much more work we can do at the start of the season, and, yet again, throw it away at the end. We decided to draw, at home, to lowly Frosinone and then lose away at now mid-table Roma - handing Inter their third consecutive Scudetto and saving Poch a job. At the end of January, we were nineteen points ahead of Inter, although they had two games in hand, and, whilst our last 17 games saw us lose six times and draw four times (1.7 PPG), Inter managed to win 16, draw two and lose one of their last round of fixtures (2.6 PPG) - a feat which must be applauded. Next season - we must win the league and, because it hasn't worked so far, we will attempt to go as deep as we can in the CL and, unlike this year, not throw the Coppa Italia final. On the pitch, we performed quite well - clearly showing that there are some tactical issues that are inhibiting our performances. To have a DM leading the scoring charts either shows that he has done well or my strikers haven't. I think that these statements are both true - neither Zavoli or record signing Gonzalez have really set the world on fire - as you can probably tell from the amount of appearances off the bench - largely due to a poor showing from the other player. I am beginning to regret signing the big Argentine now I have two up and coming strikers in Waye-Hive and Tomarchi coming through.
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Post by Ben on Sept 12, 2019 20:42:05 GMT
Transfers: Marquee signingI've gone completely like for like here - replacing a right back with a marquee signing in the same position. Outgoing is Jacopo Valentini - a hugely physical full back, who really doesn't offer much going forward, yet has always chipped in where possible: He moves on to Spurs for £12m after nearly three hundred games for us. Incoming is Argentine Alexis Orellana for a fee of £22m from Real Sociedad: Similarly physical and decisive, yet utterly brilliant in a couple of necessary areas - crossing, technique and work rate and, skewing his attributes further, he is two footed. We are really trying to build a team of superb footballers and having this kind of offensive quality playing so deep means that we have yet more options. I won't even go into too much detail about the personality and media handling too, as they are a dream! Hopefully he can add the final piece to our jigsaw!
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Post by shrewnaldo on Sept 15, 2019 9:47:58 GMT
Finally made it through the thread, what a journey!
Gutted that you've folded in the last two title races. Have you had a look through the mental attributes, average age, etc to see if there's any reason for it? Or burn out requiring more early season rotation?
I'm definitely onboard with the bars v numbers thing for next year. I've got a few ideas for what I'd like to do in order to have a similar challenging, more realistic game style. I think it's something that could be popular enough that we could get a skinning expert to build something. I'm bloody useless with graphics stuff
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Post by Ben on Sept 15, 2019 13:46:48 GMT
Finally made it through the thread, what a journey! Gutted that you've folded in the last two title races. Have you had a look through the mental attributes, average age, etc to see if there's any reason for it? Or burn out requiring more early season rotation? I'm definitely onboard with the bars v numbers thing for next year. I've got a few ideas for what I'd like to do in order to have a similar challenging, more realistic game style. I think it's something that could be popular enough that we could get a skinning expert to build something. I'm bloody useless with graphics stuff We are a young squad, definitely but we have a lot of experience compared to other teams, in terms of games played. I haven't found anything that would suggest that we are weak under pressure but I know that, with such a full fixture list, I really need to rotate more - giving faith in some of the younger players in the league and saving those marquee signings for tough European fixtures. I would be much happier if we had a poor-er start to the season but came strong at the end. Hopefully, I can find the mix this season, as, given the time of year, this could well be my last one before I inevitably lose interest with a FM20 beta available. As for the bars - I am delighted to hear this! I will see what FM20 but I would really like to go all out and remove 'star ratings' from everything. I'm actually at the point now where I am even ignoring the 'good enough for Serie A' etc as I am able to see that within a game situation. I have no idea how to do the graphics either and I had to ask someone for the panel on the main page and tend to just ignore all of the other ones! Keep in touch as things start to unfold with the new game and, together, we'll see what we can create!
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Post by Ben on Sept 15, 2019 13:47:30 GMT
In demandI can only imagine how good this lad will be in his peak. Sadly, I don't think the game (well, with the club managed by me anyway) will last that time.
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Post by Ben on Sept 15, 2019 14:03:16 GMT
Striker depthI am delighted to have the depth I do in some areas of the pitch, and the striker role is one of those. As a team that is around the top of the league, I have the pleasure of being able to, hopefully anyway, play one or two players who aren't quite of the same quality of the rest of the side and get away with it. Below are the six strikers at the club who I feel have something to offer: --- The first point to note is that Patrick Waye-Hive, after 3 goals in 10(3) games at an AR of 6.84 at Serie B side Catanzaro, has gone on loan to Perugia. They are newly promoted to Serie A and expected to finish 17th, but Marco Nichetti likes to use a Target man through a 4-2-3-1 formation and is excellent at working with youth - pretty much the perfect match for our youngster. They are light on other attacking options with only Christian Boschi, scorer of 11 Serie B goals, really any competition so I expect him to play 30+ matches in Serie A, a perfect introduction for what is hopefully to come. Fourth choice striker and serial youth scorer Manuel Tomarchio has joined Bundesliga side Ingolstadt for his first taste of first team football. They have finished 15th in the Bundesliga for the past two years after some yo-yo-ing between divisions but Professional manager, Joel Veltman, is another good match. A quite direct 4-2-3-1, which will suit Tomarchio's physicality and a tendency to not sit back and protect leads mean that he should get plenty of chances. He's also great at working with youngsters and goes straight in as first choice striker for them. I normally wouldn't send strikers to weaker teams but the 'score one more than you' mantra was the seller here. Andrea Rossi has been at the club a while and after a short spell at Serie C side Spezia, 3 goals in 15 games at an AR of 6.79 moves to a Serie B side. Citadella are another team not predicted to do too well but it is once again the manager, this time Kevin Strootman, who has sealed the decision. A professional who is excellent at working with youngsters and an exceptional attacking coach combined with having great determination and motivating skills - Kevin sees Andrea as a key member of the first team - meaning he'll get 30+ games in the 32nd best league in Europe. There were some options from Portuguese clubs, but, at this point, I'm putting game time over backup options in better leagues. Hopefully, my decision will be vindicated. ---- Gustavo Gonzalez didn't really impress me last year, 8 goals 9(11) games at an AR of 7.08, so I am looking to move him to a wider role so that both he and Zavoli can feature in the same side. With Valentini having nailed down the AML role, he will rotate a bit with L.Zafferani, the younger brother, on the right hand side. Going forward - I see Waye-Hive rotating with Zavoli and offering the small/big option for whenever I need something slightly different. If Tomarchio does well out on loan - a move to an inside forward on the left could be a real possibility for him - he's fast, can dribble, finish and is good off the ball. That will allow a spot up top for Rossi, who's physicality could be a threat. I see Fabris, my last striker who I feel could play a part, as someone moving much deeper - back to the AM role. He's probably a better passer than finisher and the game recommends him as a DLF(s) but I would either use him as a F9 or actually an AP(s). Certainly one of those who could be use to change the course of a match, tactically. --- I'm going to have a look at some other areas of my team as this season progresses.
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Post by Ben on Sept 15, 2019 19:59:35 GMT
Champions League DrawAfter a good run last year before being knocked out by Schalke, I want to go a little bit further this year as I haven't won this competition of FM19. I did win the Europa League in my first FM save with Beira-Mar - see below for a run down of achievements that made me the 7th best Argentine manager of all time: --- Here is the group I am facing this year: This is not nice! 69-year old Pep Guardiola is at the helm of Chelsea and they haven't finished lower than fourth in the Premier League for the past nine years - with ex-boss Diego Simeone winning the league before finishing second last year. They are looking to win their third Champions League in four years but did fall at the first knockout round last year, to Bayern. Pep has only been at the helm for 43 days but has splashed £56m on a central midfielder to join the £690m of talent that the London club has accrued over the last six seasons. Sporting, as you'd expect, haven't finished outside the top three in the Primeira Liga for 20 years but have been in the top two for the past five years now. Stephane Sessegnon is new to the job, too, and doesn't have the best record - a 38% win percentage and a negative goal difference across his near 400 game career at clubs such as Rennes, Guingamp and Real Betis. Sporting have made it through their group in each of the last six years but tend to go out early in the knockout stages. Still, they cannot be underestimated. Dijon were a nothing club until they were brought out by Swedish millionaire Christian Johansson in 2031. Since then, he has bankrolled a new 24k seater stadium a whopping £660m of players in the previous three years. They had three successive third place finishes but did come second last year and have only once made it out of their Champions League group. They are awash with talent and extortionate wages but, so far, haven't been able to put together a good string of results. --- Second is possible here, but at the same time, I could finish bottom.
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Post by Ben on Sept 15, 2019 20:51:50 GMT
August/September 2040Two defeats already - a feat that we hadn't achieved until the 13th of February in last season's fixture list but, like Inter, I am playing the long game here. Rarely have the save seven or eight players taken the field in consecutive games, with changes happening for some tactical purposes but largely to restrict my best players to just one outing per seven days. However - those two defeats were both highly unlucky as 'incisive Juventus' and 'incisive Virtus Entella' was used in the post-match headline. We have enough going forward and have also started our CL campaign well. Worryingly, however, Dijon hammered Chelsea meaning that it could be a tight top three. Elsewhere, I'm happy with my loanees: Waye-Hive has started magically and is second in the Serie A scoring charts, with his value rising by the day. Over in Germany, Tomarchio has had a tough start but both of his goals have led to Ingolstadt victories, which look like they could be few and far between. Rossi has scored well for a weaker side in Serie B and both attacking midfielders, Poggiali and Renzi are getting to grips with having to play slightly deeper roles than I would play them. I need to untick the 'can play against own club' as Corbelli was on the scoresheet in our defeat to Virtus but he looks like he has the makings of a solid backup full back, too. Fortunato, probably too old to develop any more, and, a such, missing out on my squad depth thinking, has struggled but has made the step up from being on loan in Serie C to a poor Serie A side.
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Post by shrewnaldo on Sept 17, 2019 22:43:42 GMT
As for the bars - I am delighted to hear this! I will see what FM20 but I would really like to go all out and remove 'star ratings' from everything. I'm actually at the point now where I am even ignoring the 'good enough for Serie A' etc as I am able to see that within a game situation. I have no idea how to do the graphics either and I had to ask someone for the panel on the main page and tend to just ignore all of the other ones! Keep in touch as things start to unfold with the new game and, together, we'll see what we can create! I quite like the stars and I still think they're relatively realistic. I can see scouts and coaches grading players in such a way. I'm thinking of putting a thread on a few forums with a "spec" of what I'm after from the skin and seeing if it gathers any interest. Personally, I'd be looking for attribute numbers to be removed from everywhere. On the profile, I'd want five 'bandings' of bar or coloured dot: 1-5, 6-9, 10-13, 14-17, 18-20. I can them customise these colours in the usual way you can with attribute colours. Not sure if it would be possible to also have the attribute numbers removed from the player search and training screens too. Ideally I'd like to see a lot more statistics in this year's game too, to make player analysis and scouting in particular much less reliant on the attributes. We'll see.
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Post by swiftsure84 on Sept 19, 2019 2:07:48 GMT
Hey Ben, I’ve really enjoyed reading through this the last week or so! My thanks to Shrew for sharing a link on twitter!
I had actually ceased playing FM19 3 or 4 months ago but this has reinvigorated the game for me; particularly the use of bars vice figures. Consider me converted too 😉
I’ve set up with Cavese in Serie C/C as a trial of the bars and some similar signing restrictions that you’ve worked with.
So thanks & looking forward to reading more!
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Post by shrewnaldo on Sept 19, 2019 22:16:17 GMT
Hey Ben, I’ve really enjoyed reading through this the last week or so! My thanks to Shrew for sharing a link on twitter! I had actually ceased playing FM19 3 or 4 months ago but this has reinvigorated the game for me; particularly the use of bars vice figures. Consider me converted too 😉 I’ve set up with Cavese in Serie C/C as a trial of the bars and some similar signing restrictions that you’ve worked with. So thanks & looking forward to reading more! Nice one. Any chance you're a skinning expert who can take the lead for FM20? ;-) We can chat about it over some PUBG this weekend...
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Post by swiftsure84 on Sept 19, 2019 23:55:37 GMT
Nice one. Any chance you're a skinning expert who can take the lead for FM20? ;-) We can chat about it over some PUBG this weekend... Not a skinning expert by any stretch I’m afraid! Im up for some PUBG! Probably your Saturday night though.
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Post by Ben on Sept 21, 2019 11:55:20 GMT
As for the bars - I am delighted to hear this! I will see what FM20 but I would really like to go all out and remove 'star ratings' from everything. I'm actually at the point now where I am even ignoring the 'good enough for Serie A' etc as I am able to see that within a game situation. I have no idea how to do the graphics either and I had to ask someone for the panel on the main page and tend to just ignore all of the other ones! Keep in touch as things start to unfold with the new game and, together, we'll see what we can create! I quite like the stars and I still think they're relatively realistic. I can see scouts and coaches grading players in such a way. I'm thinking of putting a thread on a few forums with a "spec" of what I'm after from the skin and seeing if it gathers any interest. Personally, I'd be looking for attribute numbers to be removed from everywhere. On the profile, I'd want five 'bandings' of bar or coloured dot: 1-5, 6-9, 10-13, 14-17, 18-20. I can them customise these colours in the usual way you can with attribute colours. Not sure if it would be possible to also have the attribute numbers removed from the player search and training screens too. Ideally I'd like to see a lot more statistics in this year's game too, to make player analysis and scouting in particular much less reliant on the attributes. We'll see. I think this is pretty much what I'd like attribute related, too. I don't know if they could ever completely go but maybe it could be something with the font that is used - every number is now represented as a rectangle, for example - so that they don't appear on any screen. Obviously - numbers are needed elsewhere (squad numbers, minutes etc) so couldn't entirely be changed but, as you said in another post, this is all way above me! My gripe with stars comes from my other thread on the game. I had a world class striker, 400 hundred odd games for the club since coming through the academy and in his peak - yet my coaches gave him 3 stars. I know that it's in relation to my team and those three stars did still mean 'great player in for the league' but it just feels a little off to me. Let's see what comes from the game!
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Post by Ben on Sept 21, 2019 11:56:44 GMT
Hey Ben, I’ve really enjoyed reading through this the last week or so! My thanks to Shrew for sharing a link on twitter! I had actually ceased playing FM19 3 or 4 months ago but this has reinvigorated the game for me; particularly the use of bars vice figures. Consider me converted too 😉 I’ve set up with Cavese in Serie C/C as a trial of the bars and some similar signing restrictions that you’ve worked with. So thanks & looking forward to reading more! Thank you very much for the kind words. This FM is drawing to a close now unfortunately but, if possible, I'll be running something very similar next year. Make sure you post somewhere about your game!
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Post by Ben on Sept 21, 2019 11:57:24 GMT
October/November 2040
I played 99% of these games sometime in the early part of last week and, as such, have forgotten most of the important points to discuss. Never the less, we are moving in the right direction and have moved clear a little at the top. Inter are way back but, historically, this is where they come good. For the first time in three years - we aren't miles clear at this point and, maybe, able to rest on our laurels.
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Post by Ben on Sept 28, 2019 8:53:35 GMT
December 2040 - mid-March 2041 UpdateReal life has got in the way, big time, so the majority of these games have been clicked through whilst I have been in a daze and, as such, I can't really recall too much about them. We are doing really well - eight points clear of surprise package Cagliari and a further three ahead of Inter. Juve, Roma nad Lazio have now completed faded into mid-table sides and last year's challengers Virtus have endured a slightly more difficult season. We are playing well - scoring goals reasonably freely and being relatively tight at the back - all whilst rotating pretty heavily and allowing as much youth into the team as possible. My loanees are continuing to impress, also: Ingolstadt sit bottom of the Bundesliga and Tomarchio has scored a high proportion of their goals - scoring in pretty much every game that they have won. This has done him the world of good, with his value rising from £220k to £5m and him becoming a wonderkid. His attribute growth, too, seems fantastic and I will look to see exactly how much once he returns. Likewise, Waye-Hive is playing in a struggling team and scoring quite well, although he's gone off the boil a bit at the moment. Attacking midfield duo of Poggiali and Renzi are both performing admirably too.
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Post by Ben on Sept 29, 2019 7:56:20 GMT
March and April 2041This feels like October and not April based on my previous collapses around this time of year. With our fantastic spring form you can see that we have secured our first Scudetto, and in some style, too. If we win our remaining games - we'll have more than ninety points and could finish twenty points ahead of the chasing pack and even further ahead of our old nemesis, Inter. The faith in my squad rotation earlier in the season has definitely worked - with key players such as Valentini and Zavoli coming into their own at this later part of the season, whereas they'd previously have been too tired to properly contribute. Sadly, we couldn't add the Champions League to our league and cup double - losing to a typically strong Bayern side in the second round of knockout ties. I can't help but think that the extra fixture that I would have faced here may have meant that our league form wasn't quite as imposing, but with such a lead, I don't know how much that would have mattered. With only a little FM19 time left - the Champions League feels like it's the one that got away. In lieu of my awful updating schedule - we also had our youth intake. Normally, this would get it's own post with comprehensive analysis and targets for these players. It was a poor intake, which is kind of good, as I won't be around long enough to see these players in their primes. Yet again, nobody from a feeder club and no other nationalities. I feel like I've been cursed over both of these FM19 saves. The only player that stands out to me is Filippo Zanotti - who joins an already long list of striking options.
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Post by Ben on Sept 29, 2019 8:39:27 GMT
Loan Progress
This is between August and May. Despite playing for a team who are bottom of their league - the development, as a player, is pretty great. I wish I'd screeshotted his octagon too.
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Post by Ben on Sept 29, 2019 21:02:31 GMT
2040-41 ReviewOne night in Serraville - well, not actually Serraville, instead Catanzaro, some 882km from the the largest city in San Marino, was home to a moment that the eleven players on the right of the screenshot would never forget. Seven academy graduates, all Sammarinese, combined with four South Americans and one (very small) nation, have witnessed a great achievement. Not twenty years have passed since their scrape with survival in Serie C and now they sit atop the Italian pyramid, replacing the likes of Juventus, Roma, Lazio, Milan and Napoli. Below is the squad that made it happen: Goals coming from the defensive midfield slot, the king of assists at right back, the left winger having a part in 36 goals - these are the kind of things that are needed for a team to compete at the top level. Zavoli had a really good season - twenty goals just over one every two games but the lack of support elsewhere has been what has held us back. We have also rode our luck with injuries - our rotational options, Colombini, Cervellini, Canti, Rech and Lazzari have barely featured due to us being able to put our strongest team out. I reckon this save has a year left in it - and we're going to do it all over again!
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ianf
New Member
Posts: 92
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Post by ianf on Oct 1, 2019 15:11:26 GMT
Amazing stuff as always. You never fail to inspire my FM experience. Good luck for the champions league in this last year.
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Post by shrewnaldo on Oct 5, 2019 23:54:55 GMT
I quite like the stars and I still think they're relatively realistic. I can see scouts and coaches grading players in such a way. I'm thinking of putting a thread on a few forums with a "spec" of what I'm after from the skin and seeing if it gathers any interest. Personally, I'd be looking for attribute numbers to be removed from everywhere. On the profile, I'd want five 'bandings' of bar or coloured dot: 1-5, 6-9, 10-13, 14-17, 18-20. I can them customise these colours in the usual way you can with attribute colours. Not sure if it would be possible to also have the attribute numbers removed from the player search and training screens too. Ideally I'd like to see a lot more statistics in this year's game too, to make player analysis and scouting in particular much less reliant on the attributes. We'll see. I think this is pretty much what I'd like attribute related, too. I don't know if they could ever completely go but maybe it could be something with the font that is used - every number is now represented as a rectangle, for example - so that they don't appear on any screen. Obviously - numbers are needed elsewhere (squad numbers, minutes etc) so couldn't entirely be changed but, as you said in another post, this is all way above me! My gripe with stars comes from my other thread on the game. I had a world class striker, 400 hundred odd games for the club since coming through the academy and in his peak - yet my coaches gave him 3 stars. I know that it's in relation to my team and those three stars did still mean 'great player in for the league' but it just feels a little off to me. Let's see what comes from the game! A guy on twitter saw my thread and has made a dummy FM19 skin using rectangle blocks for the attribute bandings and no numerical value. He's also removed the attribute options from squad and player search screens. Ping me a message on twitter and I can send you a link.
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Post by shrewnaldo on Oct 5, 2019 23:58:31 GMT
Brilliant to see you get that title win, and in some style!
23 assists in absolutely nuts too. How have the national team been getting on recently?
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