Hi all,

I used to play the FM games, since the days of CM 03-04. The last one I played was FM2012, about 2 years ago or so. I started playing FM2014 since last week, since I got it 75% off on Steam.

FM2014 feels very very different from FM2012. Simply put, things have changed so much that I feel I don't know where to begin. I decided to do the thing most people would do and just jump in and get stuck in straight away. For my first career game, I picked Birmingham City in the Championship, and somehow by sheer miracle, I got them to the Premier League, winning the playoffs.

Since then, things hasn't been as bright. Birmingham got relegated to the Championship, I got fired, I got a job with Q.P.R., then got fired again for not meeting a points quota (due to underachievement). And now, I'm with Anji. What a change of scenery. Different country, same problems.

Anyway, here are the list of questions I have:

1. My favoured formation is 4-4-1-1. Understandably, this is not often the best formation to use, so as a secondary strategy I prefer 4-1-4-1. I generally prefer to play either Attacking or Control football. What kind of team would both these formations suit best? How can I make any team adapt to these formations? When would it be best to switch to Defensive/Counter?

2. Regardless of formation, I face a number of recurring problems. First off, with every team I play, there's always a striker or a winger somehow slipping through my defense, and going on to score. Is there any way I can tell my team to watch out for such an attack?

3. As noted in my favoured formations, I do have 2 central midfielders, 2 wide midfielders, and usually 1 attacking or defensive midfielder. Most opponents I come across run a 4-4-2 formation, so why is it my midfield is always overrun by theirs?

4. How important is it to get a coach for each training category? For example, there's 9 categories (Attacking, Defending, Shooting, Ball Control, Tackling, GK - Shot Stopping, GK - Handling, etc.). Would it be best to get 9 coaches, so that each coach can focus on one category? What if you can't get at least 9 coaches?

5. With staff members, is Reputation more important, or is their actual stat? For example, would a Scout with Continental reputation but only have 11 in Judging Player Ability be better than a Scout which has Regional reputation, but has 18 in Judging Player Ability?

6. I've noticed in certain job interviews that there's a number of philosophies you can be asked to be judged upon. What is the difference between a direct passing style and a possession based style?

7. Relevance of language barrier? For example, if I were to play with Q.P.R., and I got a Croatian keeper who doesn't speak English, does it make him worse than a youth GK I could loan from one of the bigger English clubs?

I may have some more questions in the future, but these are it for now. Thanks for any help.