Hello and welcome to a very special post. Today we will review how to climb the FM13 leaderboard, where you can accumulate the most points and we also have a very special interview with one of the best FM 13 players in the whole wide world.
So, we are all aware of SI’s latest new feature, the Leaderboard. But for those who aren’t, all your in game achievements are assigned points and those points are then added up and inserted in the FM13 Leaderboard which can be viewed in game from the top right ‘FM’ logo and then ‘leaderboards’.
After hours upon hours of game time I have racked up 15,182,646 points and currently lye in 5509th out of 736,580 gamers. That means I am in the top 1% which is fairly good. I offer you all tips, tactics and guides, but if there are thousands of people ahead of me in this leaderboard, then maybe we should focus more on them…well today we do!
After doing some research and trying to track down the top 10 of the FM13 Leaderboard, the number 4 rank replied to my message. So, lets profile this cheeky chappy and see his achievements!
Name: Ionica Christian-Eduard (likes to be called Chris)
Currently lives: Bucharest, Romania (all the best poeple are from here :) )
Age: 21
Favorite club: Newcastle (good lad, likes the Toon and from Romania!)
First FM experience: Football Manager 2005
FM13 hours played: 424 hours
Steam id: Icefrom70s
Leaderboard position overall: 4th with 93,659,620 points
FM13 trophy cabinet
First save: Leeds United (2012-2016)
1 — Premier League title (also runners up once)
1 — nPower Championship title
1 — Europa League win
2 — League Cup wins
2 — FA Cup wins (also runners up once)
Second save: Monaco (2013-2017)
4 — Ligue 1 title
1 — Ligue 2 title
1 — Champions League win
2 — French Cup wins
3 — French League Cup wins
1 — European Super Cup win
3 — French Super Cup wins
Second save: Athletic Club (2017-2019)
2 — La Liga titles
1 — Spannish Super Cup win
Third save: Manchester City (2012-2031)
18 — Premier League titles
16 — Champions League wins
18 — League Cup wins
17 — FA Cup wins
16 — Club World Cup wins
16 — European Super Cup wins
18 — Community Shield wins
Third save: Newcastle United (2031-2035)
3 — Premier League titles (1 runners up)
2 — Champions League wins
2 — League Cup wins
3 — FA Cup wins
1 — Club World Cup wins
3 — European Super Cup wins
3 — Community Shield wins
Wow, talk about winning! And that’s not all, Chris has done many more saves that are a little foggy and even completed numerous FMC challenges, but the achievements above are what contributed most to his points tally. Now lets move onto the interview, which I’m sure you’re all eager to read.
Interview with Chris, the 4th best FMer in the World!
Darren: First off, congratulations on reaching 4th within the FM13 Leaderboard, that is one hell of an achievement. To push towards 2020 in most saves and even reach 2035 in an other must take many hours. Roughly how many hours do you play a day?
Chris: Thank you :). I’ve never tried to count how much I play, it depends a lot of what I have to do on that specific day. Let’s say about 3-4 hours a day I guess. But I also have days when I play more than 8 hours and days when I don’t play at all.
Darren: Do you think it makes a big difference to win trophies with lower reputation clubs, or is climbing the leaderboard achieved through winning trophies full stop, regardless of who you manage?
Chris: Winning trophies with lower reputation clubs is a very good choice for making a lot of points instantly. But I would say that you have to concentrate on winning trophies, regardless of the team you are managing, that’s the most successful recipe.
Darren: For those gamers aspiring to climb the leaderboard, what is your best tip?
Chris: Win all your finals and semifinals. You get a lot of points for just winning the final of a knock-out competition, so you have to concentrate on that rather than on a league game (even it’s for the title.)
Darren: Moving onto how you manage, whats your transfer, buying and selling policy? All out to win or a little more about developing the club?
Chris: Buying. If I don’t have the appropriate squad when I take over a team, I’m trying in the first two years to bring the best players I can with the money I have, even if this means using monthly installments. Then, after four or five years I bring only young regens. The players I’m buying are most likely native speakers of the language of the country I’m coaching in.
Selling. Usually when I take over a team, I try to keep most of the players at the club, if I don’t need money on them, because I want some of them to demonstrate if they can help the club further. After a few years, when the squad is fully reshaped, I sell every unnecessary player (foreigners being first on the list).
Darren: How about tactics? Do you switch and change your tactic for each opponent, do you tweak one individual tactic or just stick to a set system no matter what?
Chris: I’m one of those players who uses a single tactic each and every game. I’ve tried a lot of tactics (all created by myself) in FM12 and mostly in FM13. I used to play with two tactics depending on the next opponent, but that was too risky sometimes and I quit doing it. I concluded that the most efficient tactic for me is the old fashioned 4-4-2 (of course, my own version of 4-4-2).
Darren: What is your view on touchline shouts, useless or very useful?
Chris: Shouts are very important for me, I always have the shouts ready. It’s a pity though that FM doesn’t have (not as far as I know) a system so I can save the shout as a file and load it anytime I want in another save like you do with the tactics.
Darren: Moving away from the game somewhat, are you a follower of Footballmanagerstory.com, or have you ever come across our site before?
Chris: Yes, I came to your site before when I was searching for various information and I have to say that your site looks much better than most of the FM community ones. But now I’m not a follower unfortunately, not until the next period of time when I might become one :).
Darren: Kind of related to the question above but would you ever consider writing a story in the sites forum? I’m sure the readers and members of the forum would welcome you with open arms, we’re a very friendly community. :)
Chris: Well, this I don’t know, haha. Never tried to write a story about a FM match or campaign or anything like this. I knew this is a phenomenon within a part of the community, I have considered it once though (on a Romanian FM stories site) but I never started doing it. I don’t know, maybe I might do it one day. Let’s see if I will have a campaign which will deserve a story :).
Darren: And let me finish by saying thanks, it has been a pleasure to pick your brains and share your knowledge with the FMS community, so thank you for taking the time to talk, its appreciated.
Chris: No problem, Darren. It’s been my pleasure to review some of the experiences I had through FM.
So there you have it, the opinion of FM’s official number 4 ranked gamer. I think we should summerize some of the info Chris shared, and compress it into an easy to read tip list.
But before we do that, I can exclusively share Chris’s FM 2013 4-4-2 tactic, this is what guided Chris to 4th in the FM 13 Leaderboards, just click the download image below, move the file to documents/sports interactive/Football Manager 2013/tactics, then load the game and it will be waiting in your archived tactics.
Chris’ tips to climb the FM13 Leaderboards
- Get a killer tactic and don’t rely on switching and changing for each opponent.
- Pay attention to touchline shouts, they can be important.
- Win trophies, it sounds simple, but that is what gets you points.
- Cup finals are gold, always prioritize them over the league.
- Try playing with a team that has endless resources, winning with lower league teams gets more points, but chances are you won’t win enough to make up the difference anyway.
- Try buying native players to the country you manage in as opposed to exotic foreigners, seems to work for Chris.
OK, that is all for today, sorry for the long post but I thought this was a special occasion and deserved more attention than usual. If you have any questions please feel free to comment below, if not thanks for reading and good luck climbing that FM13 Leaderboard.
P.S. Any comments suggesting our guest is a cheat will be instantly removed, I have examined his games and can comfortably say all achievements are legit, so please don’t bother. We take that sort of abuse but I will not let a guest be victim to it when he’s taken so much time to help us research for a post.
Gaurav Chaddah
6 марта, 2013 at 09:52
Brilliant idea Darren and a brilliant price, chris has done very well and has inspired me to try get as high in the board as possible, I have played nearly double he has yet he has had unbelieve sucess.
I think it would be class if you could get on with the guy who is number one, that would be very interesting.
Darren Smith
6 марта, 2013 at 12:25
Thanks Gaurav, I think the leaderboard can be a very good motivational tool to keep those easier saves going for longer, that is one of the reasons for this post. I spoke to the person who was number one but they wouldn’t even tell me what they’ve won let alone offer an interview…but the number one spot has recently changed hands so maybe we’ll try again.
Gaurav Chaddah
6 марта, 2013 at 16:40
Once I’ve shot up the leaderbaord to first place I will be available ;)
Darren Smith
6 марта, 2013 at 18:31
Haha, I look forward to it…guess I can’t interview myself ;)
Conor Donovan
6 марта, 2013 at 10:58
Fair play to Chris. That is an amazing achievement to get so high.
I definitely agree that you have to manage a top side. I manage a League of Ireland team in my current save and I probably do pick up bonus points for them being weak by European standards, but I lose out because I have no hope of winning the Champions League.
If you pick a team like Barcelona, you probably get much less points for winning the Champions League, but it is much, much easier to do so.
I presume you tried to contact the #1 guy on the Leaderboard, btw? Would be really good to see his thoughts too
Darren Smith
6 марта, 2013 at 12:27
As mentioned in the comment above, the number one rank wouldn’t even tell me what they’d won, let alone provide an interview, but someone else has gone top today so I may be able to catch a word with them.
Archie
6 марта, 2013 at 11:14
Awesome feature, I’d love to see his team in action. Even more amazing that the guy in first has over 500 million points now, almost 5 times more than Chris.
Darren Smith
6 марта, 2013 at 12:35
Yeah, we’ll see if Chris wants to share any further info, he is more than welcome to comment here and leave links to screenshots etc. As for the current no1…well I am in talks with him right now, so we may see a follow up post, who knows.
Miles Smith
6 марта, 2013 at 20:37
I use the real names fix so I don’t get to go on the leaderboard. It’s not something I go for, I just like playing.
Miles Smith
6 марта, 2013 at 20:40
But yes, my top tip for success for any higher league team is just spend spend spend, Tottenham start the game with £100million saved up, at the end of the first season I was hovering around the £0 mark but now I’m in the position where I don’t need to buy players except to keep topping up on regens.
Darren Smith
6 марта, 2013 at 20:48
Thats weird I use the real name fix and all my results are recorded on the leaderboard, its more if you have a custom database that it doesn’t show isn’t it? I don’t know the rules on that TBH so not sure.
Miles Smith
6 марта, 2013 at 21:38
Do you have all the editor data files that come with it? If you do I think that’s what does it. If not that I don’t know if it’s to do with the two times I’ve lost about half a season due to save game corruption.
Johnny Karp
7 марта, 2013 at 07:28
The real names fix, at least the one on our website, has nothing to do with the leaderboard not showing in your game. And I’m 100% sure about that.
Chipauchan
6 марта, 2013 at 22:16
Why are the leaderboards greyed out on my save? It is just a normal save with everton….
Darren Smith
7 марта, 2013 at 11:53
I don’t know, if you have an illegal copy that could explain it? Otherwise must be your not connected to steam or you haven’t set your account up properly maybe.
alex
6 марта, 2013 at 23:06
will you get points if you go back to a save just before a game and play games again until you win, cos then anyone could win everything?
Darren Smith
7 марта, 2013 at 11:54
I assume you do yes…but TBH the people who do well in these leaderboards have to play 40 plus seasons, I doubt they’d go through all those seasons restarting every game.
Kevin
7 марта, 2013 at 00:28
Fantatsic article Darren — I had no idea about a leaderboard and Chris seems a very nice chap. HoweverI’m top of the leaderboard at work with the most unread emails which currently stands at 197 :) I’m not kidding!
Darren Smith
7 марта, 2013 at 11:55
Haha, now thats a record to be broken, but certainly not to be envied. Good luck with those.
Jake
7 марта, 2013 at 11:28
I have to say I am actually disappointed with the interview. I was hoping for a little tactical insight. It’s like meeting Sir Alex Ferguson and asking him how he wins so much and being told to win. 1 formation and never change as well :-/
Darren Smith
7 марта, 2013 at 11:52
Sorry I think you worded that incorrectly, surely you meant you were disappointed with Chris’ answers in the interview…because we asked for details in that area twice and asked for information in every area of tactics, whether it be the structure, tweaking or using different tactics for different opponents…besides, if he uses one tactic, then he uses one tactic, and he even provided us with a download, what else did you want.
TBF if I were asked about how I approach tactics I would have said something similar, sometimes people just over complicate things and think there are magic answers to be found but there aren’t really, just common sense, which you can’t teach.
PeeDub
8 марта, 2013 at 22:09
I think the wording is fine. An interview can be interpreted as being either the question or the answers, depending. Really, it’s the combination of both. So in that sense, yeah, it was slightly unilluminating, no fault of the questions.
Darren Smith
9 марта, 2013 at 07:40
That’s a shame, but I still think the problem is unrealistic expectations. People are waiting for these golden nugget tips that don’t exist. This is an interview and there was no way Chris could give more information without explaining his tactics in a guide, which this isn’t. Its all down to little personal details and how he plays, not click ‘x’, ‘y’ and ‘z’ to win, so its not realistic to expect more information than he gave in an interview, a guide yes, but not an interview.
Chris
9 марта, 2013 at 16:09
I couldn’t even make a guide, I’m just playing FM the way I played it before :). You have to find your own way of playing and achieving, of managing, of keeping players’ morale up, because there are many facts, even the press conferences sometimes matter for player’s motivation.
The other week a friend asked me for my shouts to use them, I gave all the shouts I use and the situations I am using them, and it went horrible for him, no win in that period. That’s because he used a 4-2-3-1 tactic and other instructions in the tactic that I usually do.
Chris
7 марта, 2013 at 11:54
@Jake. The tactic is uploaded. I don’t like to change the tactic, I just said in the interview that I’ve tried this and it did not go too well for me. I tried to play the 4-4-2 away and a super offensive 4-1-3-2 at home and it was a terrible form both away and home. The 4-4-2 is based on crossing from the flanks (ML and MR) and also inside cuts from these midfielders. The central midfielders have more defensive duties of winning the ball at the middle of the pitch and playmaking ones. I don’t know, what else do you want to know ?
I didn’t give all these details in the interview because I was not asked about this. And it doesn’t seem very important for me because this is not exactly the tactic that I used in all the saves, most of the times when I take charge of a new team, at the start of the season I watch about 10-20 games to see what’s wrong with the tactic and then I tweak it where it has the holes. So this is a tactic that was last time tweaked when I took charge at Borussia Dortmund in a new save which I’m playing with a friend.
I don’t think there is another tactical secret than the things I’ve said in the interview. I am playing FM since I was a 12 years old and all the features of FM seem very simple for me and after I get used to a new game, I always win trophies. I can’t give you tactical advises because I have my own playing style which only fits me, I can’t say «use this and you will win». I can only say what I’m using.
PS: The training is based on attacking an attacking movement in the match preparation, also with a rest day after every match (no rest day before).
Bruno Jacinto
8 марта, 2013 at 11:10
I play in a very similar way.
In the first part of the first season is all about getting the team to do just what you want, and the way want. After it settles on a model, the tatic is just that, almost set in stone.
Sure the shout, and even one or two individual orders vary inside the game itself, but its all about the moment.
The next part, and I think i’m similar to what you just make, its the long term operation. After you settled on a model, you know what kind of players do you want, and what kind of evolution you need. Its the core of winning long term in CM/FM from day one. And i’m playing this for 19 years now…
But know, for i ask a little adive:p
I’ll be starting a new season from scratch, and this time in nPower Championship (after great runs in lower France with Nante, and in my home colors Sporting CP). I like a very controlling (3412) and physical central (midfield, defense and ofense), and fast lateral midfielders. Do you know if Cardiff, Hull or Blackburn have any of this, and what are the best on youth system in this ones?
Darren Smith
8 марта, 2013 at 18:33
I would seriously recommend Cardiff for enjoyment and to tick some of the boxes you had, but Blackburn sound more suited, they have a physical side with pace on the wings and a budget to bring in players to suit your needs. Plus they have a decent youth setup, better than the others anyway.
Chris
9 марта, 2013 at 15:48
Sorry for late response, I was not home :). Yes, Bruno, that is a key for success. I would also recommend Cardiff and Blackburn, but also take a look at Burnley (they have Charlie Austin and I’m a very big fan of this player haha).
I can’t give you that much advice about these teams’ squads because I don’t remember now too well players who play for these teams.
Bruno Jacinto
8 марта, 2013 at 11:00
What alterations to the Db are allowed to make, still beeing able to get into the Leatherboard?
Can we alter names, simbols and colors?
Darren Smith
8 марта, 2013 at 18:30
I don’t know the full rules on that, you’d probably need to ask in the SI forums for an official answer or just test it.
Chris
9 марта, 2013 at 15:57
There are no Db alterations that you can make with the editor so that you still be able to score in the Leaderboard.
PS: You can STILL score in the Leaderboard if you apply that «Susie Real Name Fix» (or whatever it’s called) only if you start a clean save BEFORE applying that fix. After you will apply this fix you will still score in the leaderboard, but only with that save started before you applied the real name fix.
Darren Smith
9 марта, 2013 at 16:05
While that would make perfect sense, I checked my points for using just one team (Newcastle) and we had 8 million plus, but then I checked points in total and its over 15 million…I started every single game after my Newcastle save with the real name fix already installed.
Chris
9 марта, 2013 at 16:15
Yes. It took me a while to make a lot of new saves only to determine the reasons why some of the saves don’t score in the Leaderboard and some do, and I can say 100% that starting saves after you applied the fix doesn’t let you score, but starting before does let you :).
Darren Smith
9 марта, 2013 at 16:17
Then how have I scored points since doing the real name fix, which I did on the day of downloading the game? And I started all my other saves months after my Newcastle save?
We actually have our own real name fix on this site which most of our readers will have downloaded, so all I can assume is that our real name fix doesn’t effect the leaderboards, because it hasn’t for me.
Chris
9 марта, 2013 at 16:33
Yes, I am using another real name fix, from sortitoutsi.net. I got it by e-mail a few days after FM13 made full debut so I got stuck with it.
Darren Smith
9 марта, 2013 at 16:34
Maybe thats it then, I might start another new save and record the points to see what happens…I’m intrigued now :)
Jordan Humber
8 марта, 2013 at 17:35
This is a great article! I am currently placed at 101,835 but have not played in a while. I did not even know this was on FM until I read this. I am aiming to get into the top 10,000 then anything is possible. Look out for S!cojnr on the leaderboard :P
Jordan Humber
8 марта, 2013 at 17:37
I am currently managing Dortmund left United a season ago now.
Darren Smith
8 марта, 2013 at 18:34
Good luck then mate, I recently got into the high 4000’s so will see you there soon I’m sure :)
Chris
9 марта, 2013 at 16:01
Good luck at Dortmund, the first season almost made me to quit, you will have to reshape the players’ playing stile from the bottom if you intend to use a 4-4-2 tactic like I’m doing.
Jordan Humber
12 марта, 2013 at 19:03
I was using a nice formation playing 4-3-1-2 But I was there for 2 seasons but I wanted to go back the the prem and I am saving Arsenal from a poor season who are currently not in the top 10, though I have got them qualified top of their champions league group, with Bayern and Seville in so quite a tough group.
Jack
9 марта, 2013 at 16:47
Was a great read to see just how a champion player plays this game. I am currently managing Stoke in 2015. Every season I have done better than media predictions of 7th in the EPL. Best I finished was 2nd, 3 points behind Man Utd. I will definitely give this tactic a go :) My slight problem is attracting good players to the club and being able to win big games, or at times minor games due to the lack in tactical skill. I managed to sign a 33 year old David Villa, that is about it. However, thank you for the time you put into the interview and goodluck in achieving more great things :)
Darren Smith
9 марта, 2013 at 17:41
Glad you liked the article Jack, and keep playing, there will come a time when you play enough for all the pieces to fall into place.
Jack
10 марта, 2013 at 00:39
I still enjoy it, despite my current lack of form by my team and many players complaining we are underachieving. I managed to buy Carlos Fierro and Douglas Costa, though they don’t seem to be as effective as I’d like. However I am still just hoping to stay in the top 10 in the EPL for a chance to have a better season next season.
Gaurav Chaddah
9 марта, 2013 at 22:30
Followig this lve became obsessed with the leaderboards… Where I sit doesnt make pretty reading eitheir.
Inspired me to start a big club save and accumlate a number of set points.
Darren Smith
9 марта, 2013 at 22:36
That was the aim, to give other gamers the passion to play more and not see so called easy saves as a quitable task…at the end of day we all love winning so why not find another reason to extend that feeling :)
Shaun
11 марта, 2013 at 03:01
Hi Chris — probably asking too much here pal but any chance you could provide us with the shouts you actually use? want to give the 4-4-2 a real go you have kindly uploaded, just want to combine it with the shouts now that would give me the real impetus!
I know you cant upload them as such, but if you could put them in here with the scenarios you use them it would be epic!
Chris
11 марта, 2013 at 09:58
Hey Shaun, no problem :).
Classic shout (which I start every match with):
Strategy: Control
— Clear ball to flanks
— Get stuck in
— Work ball into box
— Retain possession
— Hassle opponents
Defensive shout (I use it when I have an easy game and I don’t want my players to use all the energy or when I lead but don’t dominate the game):
Strategy: Contain
— Pump ball into box
— Drop deeper
— Get stuck in
— Pass to feet
— Work ball into box
— Retail posession
Attacking shout (I use this when I’m from 2 goals down in the first half or from 1 goal down in the second half. Though I’m not 100% sure that this is working every time when I use it)
Strategy: Overload
— Clear ball to flanks
— Push higher up
— Get stuck in
— Pass into space
— Work ball into box
— Get ball forward
— Hassle opponents
Shaun
11 марта, 2013 at 11:30
Chris — I really do appreciate that.
It’s been a mixture of envy and also complete respect reading and seeing your achievements. Hearing from you, having to get a go at your tactics/OI is something I am really looking forward to giving a try!
I have got all areas always well covered in FM. Always make a good point of creating a good a squad in terms of team spirit, endeavour and personality. Put in lots of times to team talks, player interaction etc but thanks to my failings tactically I only ever really do «ok»
When I saw your tactic I got very excited. A) because its clearly a succesful one and most importantly B) because it fits in to exactly how I like to set my teams up.
Big thumbs up again Chris, look forward to perhaps reading more of your thoughts/posts and I’m going to start up a cracking save tonight with your tactic!
Chris
12 марта, 2013 at 06:06
Thanks, Shaun. :) My tactic is not perfect, though. I also rely on keeping the morale up in the squad.
Btw, make sure that you have two towering strikers in the first team, you’ll need it, mostly the STRC.
Shaun
12 марта, 2013 at 19:11
I build my sides around two big centre forwards anyway Chris, but thanks for the heads up anyway! I saw from the player instructions once the shouts are imported the strikers need to be more than just poachers
Anything else to bare in mind by the way Chris? Had a good start by the way, conceded 10 goals in my first 3 games so was bit worried about the defence but has settled down now! 20 points from 10! Top of the league!
Chris
13 марта, 2013 at 10:52
So what’s your opinion about the striker’s role ? I had the STRC as a Target Man before, but when I’ve changed it to Poacher I think it went better for me.
Central midfielders must have good defensive attributes, also the deep lying playmaker :)
Shaun
13 марта, 2013 at 16:53
The target man for the role of STR would be interesting, was this with a support or attack duty?
I do however like the idea of having two poachers as they both run the channels and work VERY hard.
Chris
14 марта, 2013 at 21:04
Yes, I had the Target Man role for the STRC, but I saw a Poacher more efficient so I left it this way, I saw then o reasons to change it back to Target Man. I use my strikers only on attack duty :). You could try your own ideas and see how it works.
Jake
13 марта, 2013 at 15:16
Hi, firstly I have to say how impressive Chris’s files seem
I have an overall score of just over 4,000,000 but when I look at my single season scores it says in my Juventus file I made over 6,000,000 points do you know how this is possible?
cheers
Darren Smith
13 марта, 2013 at 18:03
I have no idea what the problem is there, unless you’re looking at the total score for just FMC or the full version as opposed to both combined.
Jake
13 марта, 2013 at 20:44
I only play the full version, don’t like FMC, and I just can’t work out why I’d have a higher score in one file then my overall? surely all file scores add up?
cheers
Darren Smith
13 марта, 2013 at 21:00
Yeah really not sure what the problem is TBH.
Chris
14 марта, 2013 at 21:02
I also don’t know what the problem could be. Where exactly are you seeing the 4 million score and where the 6 million one ?
Paine
24 марта, 2013 at 20:09
Interesting interview, anyway, to say the truth, we all know the leaderboard new feature is nothing more than a cheat-fest. I’m no way referring to Chris, of course, but for obvious reasons I can’t believe all the results showed there are genuine.
A useless new feature in my opinion.
Darren Smith
24 марта, 2013 at 20:23
‘We all know…’??? Thats your opinion. I didn’t really see the point in that comment. Other than been negative towards SI again, which seems to be your trademark of late. I can fully understand skepticism towards such a feature but the idea is right and I actually think its a nice addition.
Paine
25 марта, 2013 at 07:51
Not sure what you meant with «your trademark of late» bit, of course it’s my opinion but there are solid and logic reasons behind that, apart if you think that the average FM player never cheats.
Darren Smith
25 марта, 2013 at 11:52
I meant exactly what I said. To be clear, you have only commented of late to be negative. The last three comments have either dismissed a post, the direction of this site or the game itself…you haven’t once commented with the intention of saying you like or appreciate a posts content, hence been negative is becoming your trademark. I have no problem with construction criticism or arguments about the game based on facts of course, but grumpy grundles of displeasure based on assumptions aren’t my cup of tea.
Paine
25 марта, 2013 at 17:38
You’re talking nonsense and overreacting here Darren, my advice would be to take a rest, you seem tired and under pressure.
Regards.
Darren Smith
25 марта, 2013 at 18:26
Hmmm, OK there’s obviously a language barrier here somewhere then…I’m not overreacting, just pointing out that every comment you make is negative, I haven’t seen you make a positive one to date. Anyway, if you can’t see that then it says a lot more about you than your comments do and we should leave it there and call this a personality clash.
Chris
25 марта, 2013 at 16:05
It’s your opinion, of course. But it’s hard to cheat on the leaderboards because since you’ve finished a match, the score on the leaderboard will reflect the first result of the match (in points) and not the score you obtain after you repeat the match. Even if you play a network game or you add another manager in the save the leaderboard doesn’t receive any of the points from that save.
Of course, you can find various ways to cheat, but those are pretty hard to use to make a big overall score in a decent period of time. Think that I have a life (and I guess most of us do), I am a student, I have a girlfriend, I have responsibilities, I can’t stand in front of the PC all day to cheat just to make a big score :). Maybe some people do this regularly, but I’m not. And after 8 years of FM it ain’t such a big deal for me to cheat, the bigger deal is to win fairly, this makes you to feel better. In FM2007 I used to repeat matches, but then I had a lot of time and I was just a little kid.
Gaurav Chaddah
26 марта, 2013 at 18:22
Hi Chris,
I just have a question for you if you wouldn’t mind. I noticed one of your shouts when your playing easy teams on contain strategy, just wondering how that’s works? Do you still manage to score many goals?
Cheers
Chris
26 марта, 2013 at 20:14
Hi,
Yes, not all the games, but I manage to score more than 2-3 goals in the most matches with easier teams. You can use with these teams the attacking shout if you like, but don’t use it in evenly matched games or in important games because it might get too risky :)
Cheers
Gaurav Chaddah
26 марта, 2013 at 21:04
Okay, thanks I may try it out, who are you managing at the moment?
Chris
27 марта, 2013 at 12:36
You’re welcome. Borussia Dortmund in a network game with a friend.
Yves Sousa
28 марта, 2013 at 14:22
Hey there mate,
What you put in training? In «General Training» , «Plan» and «Training For Game» ?
That’s my only question, lol :D
Gratz,
Chris
28 марта, 2013 at 14:50
Hey,
In pre-season I use balanced as a default focus on a very high intesity and in match prep I’m using tactics only with a rest day after the match. When the pre-season and transfer window is coming to an end and there will be important division/league matches, I use team cohesion on a very high intensity and at the match prep still tactics only.
In the time of the season I use attacking on high intensity and in match prep attacking movement with a rest day after the match. But after a few matches when I concede more goals than normal I change it to defensive positioning or or defensive set pieces (it depends the way the conceded goals are scored).
Joe Dowley
2 апреля, 2013 at 20:03
Hi Lads,
Great interview and I am definitely looking forward to using the tactic and getting up high in the leaderboards. One quick question though: Where do I find the leaderboards?
Sounds silly but I can’t remember where I saw them. Thanks.
Darren Smith
4 апреля, 2013 at 11:08
If you read the post it’s mentioned in the second paragraph.
Joe Dowley
5 апреля, 2013 at 15:37
I found it thanks. Just a question for Chris: when did he start using the 4-42 with Man City?
Laws
12 апреля, 2013 at 23:59
He’s not the only Romanian supporting a great club. I support Leeds United, another great English club.
Chris
13 апреля, 2013 at 08:35
Nu-ti face griji, si eu simpatizez Leeds, de-aia i-am si luat in FM13 :D. Poate promoveaza si astia la anu’ ca astept de 9 ani deja.
Marc
24 апреля, 2013 at 09:49
Hi Chris,
I’m implementing what you’ve said into my game with regards to having just the one tactic and using shouts. Couple of questions really…
Do you use opposition instructions (how do you go about choosing which instruction to what player on a match by match basis)
You say you give it 15-20 games before tweaking your tactic to plug any holes…..what are your methods for finding out what these holes are when using the analysis tools available in game?
Many thanks!
Marc
Chris
24 апреля, 2013 at 11:13
Yes, sorry, I forgot to mention. I use only hard tackling on all the players (it’s good for the pressing game and getting the ball back) and sometimes I use tight marking and closing down on the central striker when the opposite team is playing a 1 striker tactic and that striker is a good one or a prolific one, if he is a no-name poor player who scores 4 goals in a season I don’t bother marking and closing him :).
Well, I see matches, I look at the statistics, how a particular player shoots, how a particular player passes, how does a player execute the set pieces and so on. I look at how I concede goals, from what part of the field do the actions come etc. This is why is very important to keep changing the training if necessary. I haven’t tweaked my tactic too much since the article was wrote though, I think it’s ok.
Btw, make players in their individual training to learn their roles you want to play them, I started to use this and I think it’s better.
Chelsea97
7 июня, 2013 at 22:52
Hi Chris,
This is a great tactic is was wondering what players you bought ?
Chris
8 июня, 2013 at 10:13
Hi. On what positions ? I can’t make now a list, but I can tell you that I did not buy too many players, I tried to reshape the good players at the club for the positions in the tactic.
94ionut
16 июня, 2013 at 20:11
Hey Chris, I’m from Romania as well. I was just wonderwing if this tactic works well for Liverpool FC due to their high number of midfielders.
Chris
6 июля, 2013 at 20:10
Sorry mate, now I saw you wrote here. Well, it works but… not that well. Liverpool is the first team that I play FM13 with so much inconsistency. I made a mistake selling Suarez after a first poor season and now I regret it. I play Gerrard the DLP and his backup is Henderson, and Henderson does it well. Sterling ML, Coutinho MR (also brought Walcott as a MR), Leiva and Allen as the BWM, they’re top players for me.
Sam
10 июля, 2013 at 17:39
Hey Chris,
Is there a reason you chose man marking system? Also do you stick with man marking system for every team?
Tom Metcalfe
19 июля, 2013 at 23:21
Chris, do you think this tactic would work for a league 2 team?
Carl
11 сентября, 2013 at 21:35
For some reason I seem to draw and lose against the lower teams when I expectto thrash them but thrash the top teams. Like I beat Liverpool who were 5th but play Cardiff who were 14th and play terrible and only scrape a 1-1 draw. Can you give me any tips or tactical improvements to make it a bit more consistant therefore winning more games.
Kane Cullen
29 октября, 2013 at 23:13
I Know it’s late but I really want this tactic but its not downloading and I’m a huge fan and envy how far you’ve got and was wondering if there was a different way to get this tactic ?
Darren Smith
30 октября, 2013 at 12:36
There is nothing wrong with the download, it works fine, please try again.