What are your thoughts?

Wunderkinds?  Good Bosmans?  New Negotiations?

every year i say im not going to buy it until they fix career mode.  at least this year i bought it straight away. $79 at target.

i think the new transfers are good. at least it's quicker. although it seems really hard to offload dead wood in a new squad though. that's pretty annoying and I count on that to raise some cash for early purchases.  the transfer hub is a bit clunky.

the training is a bit shitty. it's really hard to get a A grade for training. and using the training sim is still a waste.  i think they need to bring back some of the old training routines and improve sim performance.

i started with melbourne city in league 1 in england. soft enough to build the team up  - which is pretty weak this year - and purchase a bunch of young talents and build them up on a budget.

Bosnians still to easy, still to easy to gain money and legendary is too easy but besides that I think its great this year. Was playing on legendary and killing everyone but have since adjusted sliders to make it a bit harder (found one on YouTube by the name of Chesnoid gaming that works well). I am a decent but not fantastic player yet was top of the league with Newcastle so that says a lot.

Sunderland (as usual) on Legendary.  Half a season in.  Finances seem a little more realistic (in terms of being very hard to get a bargain) - although the starting wages of my squad are stupidly low (in reality we are over-stretched and haemorrhaging cash).  Have absolutely nothing to spend which will make things very interesting if I get promoted at the end of the season.

For anyone playing outside the top leagues - can thoroughly recommend picking up Gyrano Kerk, a very quick and young Dutch striker/winger who can be signed for around 2.5m; and as a target man Ridge Munsy, a journeyman playing in Switzerland, who you can nick for a million.

I'm finding a 4-3-3 is working a lot better than my usual 4-3-1-2 formation.  Also using 'long ball' rather than 'counter attack', even though I tend to play a close-passing game, as it gives me the option to launch the occasion long pass over the top.  Using a lot of short through-balls as regular passes too.

Also, to make things even tougher - I edited the squads to return all of Sunderland's real life summer signings to their original clubs and leave me with the actual squad Simon Grayson inherited (but left our 'best' players - Lens, Djilobodji, Khazri and Borini - out on loan).  Left me with about 10-11 million to spend on half a dozen signings (3 for transfer fees, 1 trade, 2 free agents).

i havent ever been fired but it would really shit me off after putting so much time into the team.  so i dont overdo difficulties.

i bought in mooy, sainsbury and maclaren into the squad before loading a new career. it gets annoying try to chase down a few decent aus signings every time i start, so i did it like that.  i had about 6 millions euros to stock the team.  out of the original city squad only budz, fornaroli, fitzgerald and jameison made the 11. fitz is playing fullback.

it's tougher to defend this time.  although ive only just switched to legendary for the first time, so that is probably all the difference.

really interesting tactic with the long ball setting.  i set my team up for tiki taka and possession and try so move the ball quickly up the pitch with short passes and lots of little through balls.  i play a 4 2 2 2 with no wings just a defensive box and an attacking box with the fullbacks running their guts out up and down the sides.  i find the defensive mids sit back to much and dont move forward into attacking passing options when they are open.  that's pretty frustrating watching mooy hang back when you know he would overload the front and have a clear space for a shot if he pushed up a bit.

also. Angel Gomes from man united. 16 years old. starts with a 64 and a 89 potential.

signed him for 900k and sfa wages.  he's only up to 68 at 3 months in but is absolutely killing it from an attacking mid position.  best of my 4 wonderkids.

Mid February and have already fulfilled all the goals the club set me for season 1 - need a 'mid table' finish and I'm currently in the promotion chase.  VERY interested to see how the step up to Premier League will go (I beat Chelsea in the league cup - smash and grab 2-0 away win - drew 1-1 with West Ham then lost the replay 0-1) - particularly how much cash I'll be given to built a Prem team...  Just need to grind out the results between now and then.

Agree defending is tougher, players don't turn as fast and overshoot the player when you try to cover.  Tackling not as precise either.  Easier to score goals though - so more realistic scores.  Have won games 5-2 and 5-3 this season.  Comedy defending but wicked fast attacks with my wingers cutting inside.  Also the midfield claiming a lot more goals.

Spoke too soon...  January window was excellent and I thought I was set up for the second half of the season...  February/March has seen a draw and 5 (count them) defeats.  Once you lose 2 in a row the players confident drops through the floor and getting them up again is a nightmare... Either that or I was half asleep when I was playing!

Following on from this...  Not sure WTF happened (only sold one player in January), but went from 3rd top in the league, 2nd highest scorers, to only winning 3 games after January - strengthened considerably in the summer transfer window (getting 4 76-80 ranked players back off loan for a start), and started the new season with 1 win, 2 draws, and 4 defeats, plus getting knocked out of the cup...  Aaaaannd, rage quit my own game.

Wouldn't have minded losing games if it had been from the start of the season and I could have blamed it being new game-play, but I had a good first half of the year and was scoring for fun...  Either player confidence is ridiculously important, some kind of bug in the game, or I've had a stroke...

i always found it hard to win after squad changes.  i push to grind out draws after all transfer windows and then they pick up form.  

If it was squad changes I could understand it (to a degree) but this was literally one out, one in.  Re-started the game and immediately won three games 1-0, 5-0, 3-1... And then season has fallen apart again - they score with every attack, I can't buy a goal.  As I said before - if I wasn't getting those wins at the start I'd put it down to me being shit, or my squad not being up to it...  But I win, and easily, then it randomly changes from Legendary mode to Bastard mode.

did you sell a player?  that is what im getting at with squad changes. it definitely impacts my teams performance. i notice a slump at the end of every january/feb start and a slow start to every season.

Just one central defender, who I replaced with a slightly lesser but younger player.  I've noticed on previous versions if I offloaded 2-3 first team players things would go wobbly for a few games, so I limited it to just the one this time and still chaos.  If selling one player causes a meltdown then it's a stupid game engine.

Final thoughts on career mode so far? Picking up fifa 18 this arvo, might give it a whirl while I set up shop on FUT

Seems a lot more realistic on the financial side.  Gameplay a little different, especially on the defensive side (you'll notice that on FUT too obviously), goals are easier and more varied - I haven't noticed that I'm scoring the same goal over and over again.  First touches can be shocking (but that's possibly because I'm playing Championship rather than Premier League now).

why cant the commentator say the name of the club when you swap in a club? im playing melbourne city in england. it never changes over new releases of games.  the commentator just says nothing and reads out every other team in the table.

also there is a glitch in the team announcement in game.  it will say the other team eg "they are playing a 4231" etc and read out the names of players in the team. but my team the commentator says something like "the home team line up today".,.... then silence.

wow.  just brutalised walsall. 8-1.  maclaren puts 5 away.  i think our boys are ready for the championship.

So is prize money carried over realistically? I won millions in money but only received 6 millions as a budget the next season.

i dont understand the point of giving you prize money for the season when you cant keep it. it's just plain dumb. and there is not transparency about how the process works (which could be said about most things on fifa. eg requirements to sell tickets)

also i found in fifa 17 when i'd stack the wages on someone i wanted to sell - so i could get the money back next season - negotiations fell apart.

It appeared to be carried over for me - but it didn't actually go into my transfer fund until the next window opened.

Yep, that only works if you are prepared to give the player away as part of another signing.

I may be saying something you already know?
So start of every season i would sign a few of the cheapest possible players I could find and purchase them with the "banked wage player" as part of the trade.

You also have to offer the cheap player you are buying want reasonable terms or he will refuse. As in if you offer him a starting role in a great team he will refuse the contract saying he doesn't believe you can offer him the role.

Besides that "cheat" I play much more like Benjamin especially as far as buying/scouting players without looking online for those videos. I know you say in real life you have access to internet etc but only one club can sign that player too in real life too as opposed to every club having their own copy to sign.

It's all personal taste though. I used to turn off important games i was losing and justify to myself it's coz i was distracted or something so it was fair to do it but have stopped now.

Will buy Fifa18 in January once it halves in price as I always do, glad some attention has been given to career mode it seems at least

So...  Restarted...  Made it really tough for myself to 'enjoy' the full Simon Grayson experience at Sunderland*.  Used squad editor to return all of Grayson's signings to their original clubs, left my 'star' players out on loan as in real life, didn't take the budget boost at the start of the game, played on Legendary without touching the sliders**.

This meant that I started with a pretty thin squad and not much money to build with.  I then managed to spend the lot recruiting new players to the point that at the end of the transfer window I had less than 1k left in my budget.  The only way to top your budget up is through sales - gate money, cup runs, etc., don't seem to have an effect on 'this' year's budget - and as I didn't get any offers for any of my players I ended up crawling through the second half of the season with 8 players running down their contracts and no way for me to sign them up to new deals.  Furthermore, no money for a youth scout, and no money to sign a player even if I had a scout - or to sign any more free agents.  By the end of the season I was bare bones with a few injuries and actually had to forfeit a fixture as I couldn't put a team out.  Lost 3-0.  Guess what I missed out on promotion by?  Yep - goal difference, 2 goals!

Finished league in 3rd, then lost play-off.  Lost League Cup final, lost FA Cup semi-final.  A season of near misses.

* There are a few tricks and twists to improve your transfer budget
- obviously using the budget boost bonus thing at the start
- recalling loaned star players, then whacking them on the transfer market and cashing out
- a bug allows you to trade players you only have on loan as if they belonged to you
- if I'd started with SAFC's actual squad I would have had extra players to sell/trade/use
After this career I may go with the default squad and use all the tricks to see what I can do - but for now it's 'realism' as far as possible.

** Recently saw a suggestion online that if you alter the sliders for keepers only, both teams, from 50 down to 40-45 you get a much more realistic experience without all the wonder saves on both sides...  Might have to try that.

Just noticed a guy on youtube giving showing all kinds of 'cheats' for career mode and thought - "why bother?" - I want the game to be as realistic as possible - tough finances, very few wunderkinds, expensive transfers, etc.

My last game on 17 I was winning the league, banking a fortune and training up half a dozen home-grown 80plus kids...  And it felt fake as f*ck.  I'm actually loving how tough the finances are on this latest game (so far).

yeah i agree.  it's empty to cheat it.  i use to replay a lot of games - mostly because i'd spend so much time on a squad and get attached to it.

i fiddle with the sliders - some of them have nothing to do with skill they are things about team with and line height etc. things i would as a manager change.  ive also used them a bit to scaffold the difficulty settings as ive gotten better.  im now playing on legendary mode. absolutely no rematching allowed. high risk fifa! 

i also reload quite a bit in the transfer because the current transfer system i find very unrealistic. i think you dont get as much opportunity to sell as would happen in real life.

do you play out each training session or sim it? atm i play each one, but it gets tedious.

I don't do as much training as I should, and on 18 I almost always sim.  On 17 I went flat out on youth development and trained like a machine - actually doing most of the sessions too - but it didn't seem too realistic to be producing 2-3 first team 17 yr olds each season - plus following on from your comment about getting attached to certain squads - when you've had a lad from 15, turned him into a full international, first team regular with league titles and european football, money no object when it comes to wages - and he suddenly decides he's going to leave...  I'm too invested!

I've never replayed a game due to the result - once or twice because of crashes.  Never re-done the transfer window - and don't think I will.  I could have re-done January on the season I've just finished - only needed to sell one player to make things very different, but I treated it as a simple case of reality biting...  Shit happens in real life, why not in the game.

I usually sim a couple of games in January if my league position is reasonable - just want to get into the transfer market and see what I've got for the second half of the season.  Maybe sim toward the end of the season, again only when league position won't be too badly affected by a bad result.

Forgot to mention before - this one goes in the 'most frustrating FIFA 18 quirk' category...  That Birmingham game I had to forfeit due to lack of players...  The biggest problem was that it was a re-arranged fixture due to cup ties, and the computer slapped it into an International week, so I lost my three full internationals on top of a few injuries.  Extremely frustrating.  Actually went through the FA Cup Semi-Final, last 3 league games, and my play-offs with only 16 fit players - knowing that any injury or suspension would cost me the next game 3-0.  Stressful when it's tight at the top and you tend to tackle a lot!  Got through it but players were exhausted by the time I played the 2nd leg of the play-offs.

you need to look at the free agents.  there's a couple times when they have saved me in that situation.  you can bring someone in on the cheap just to fill the squad and all you pay is wage - maybe they might want a signing fee in 18.

i train them hard to get them up to a level. this season it's all players i have long term plans for (which is about 7 players) up to 75 by the end of the season. once they are there i will work on training the youth in camp.

had a glitch with a youth player.  their stats show speed and acceleration at over 90 while they were in the youth camp.  i signed them and his speed was in the 60's. i redid it 3 or 4 times with the same issue.  pretty frustrating tbh.

I always check the free agents but in that season I literally had nothing to spend.  My total budget at the end of the transfer window was something like GBP700 in the bank - or GBP6/week!  No-one ready to play for that!!  I thought someone would come in in January and pick off one of my better players, which would have allowed me to get a couple of freebies in, but no...  Nobody wanted any of them.

if you want a list of the best youth signings you can make in the first season this guy has them all.

I try to make it a rule that I only sign players my scouts have recommended to me - that way I can't take advantage of any of the numerous websites/videos out there giving hints and tips.  I'm a sucker for making it tough.  I actually made that first season really hard by spending most of my initial budget on better scouts - so great scouting but nothing to buy the players that are recommended.  Just going through summer transfer window before second season now and it's beginning to pay off...  Half a dozen signings already, young lads (but not too young) with potential to be solid EPL players - if I can get promoted this year.

the scouting system sucks. i dont think it reflects real life at all - where you actually do have access to the internet, websites and videos.

funnily enough there are a few stories about players being picked up after being noticed on football manager. even a managers kid who started banging on to his dad about this teenager lionel messi. dad had a look had a look into messi and then decided against it.

)my formation is boss.  basically a 2 4 2 2  - an attacking box and a defensive box.  playing left and right midfielders as fullbacks for pace, stamina and shooting.

-------------------------------CB(sainsbury)--------------CB

RB-----------------------RDM(budz)-------------------LDM (mooy)--------------------LB


---------------------------RAM------------------------------------LAM

---------------------------Maclaren--------------------------Fornaroli


when a full back or cdm brings the ball up i can slide it across the field and there are 4 or 5 passing options lined up across the front of the box. their fullback comes in and i slaughter them with the extra man, training everyone on shooting. they can all bang them in.

and i get 2 stoppers in midfield doing all the defensive work. the CB's do nothing but stay central. everything has to come down the sides which is covered by the pacey FB's  and sliding DM's.  i only ship goals when i get carried away in attack, which happens once you get 3 or 4.

first full season on legendary.  just belted tottenham in the FA cup semi 5-0. with melbourne city - although only budz and fornaroli are left in the first 11.  - im not that great a player, i put it down to the formation and the personnel.  ive spent every cent on young talent and they are coming good at the end of the season.  only league one but we picked up 109 points and about 120 goals.  off tap.

i sold up every spare man and paid a fortune for ross barkley on the bosman.  we are going to kill the championship and then all my young fellas will be huge by the time we hit the EPL. im expecting a euro slot in our first EPL season.

Suddenly I'm scoring so much and I've become more patient in defence. It's annoying that when I do a through ball,  my opponent defender never sprints to keep up. It's the same when my opponent breaks,  they sprint like crazy and I need to really keep up. 

or when you swap players and use the R2 or whatever to keep the close player applying pressure and then they back off the pace and let the attacker go

It happened again. 

First half of season - averaging over 2 points and 2 goals per game, conceding an average of 1 per game.  On fire.  6 points clear at the top of the Championship.
Second half of season - averaged just over 1 per game in each category.  Comedy shooting. Missed automatic promotion by 5 points.

Added four new players, all better than their replacements - started next season in worse form than second half of last.  Quit after 10 games with only 1 win on the board (again).  Tried different formations, different styles, different players.

The difference between the first half of the season and the second?  Lee Cattermole (who was averaging about 7.3/game and hadn't scored all season).  I can only assume FIFA thinks he is some kind of a God, which demonstrates that they haven't seen him play.

That's three career modes in a row now where everything has fallen apart and I've had to quit to save my sanity.

FIFA17 career modes on Legendary I've won multiple Premier League titles, Euro Leagues/Cups, etc., so it's not as if I can't play the bloody game!

does the game AI adjust to your playing style?

It's possible, but I do try to alter my style - switch to a different formation every few games and play a lot more direct and down the wings (I'm finding crossing and heading a lot easier on 18 to 17), then go back to my close-passing game through the middle (the old driven finish across the keeper isn't as easy as it was, which is good).

Had two of the strangest things happen in the last couple of days...  I started a 3rd season on the (now Cattermole-less) career mode, bad form - had 8 points from 10 games played, then won one, lost 3, and cracked the shits, turned off without saving.  Put it on again yesterday - and I was on 6 points from 5 games...  No idea what happens to the other 5 games from my previous save.  I only have one save file too.  Really baffled.  Anyway, form returned, record yesterday was something like 5 wins, 3 draws, 2 losses.  Which is acceptable with my squad.  Really confused as to how a saved game could suddenly lose about a month of in-game history.  Not complaining, but still confused.

In other news...  During that horror run that lead to the exit without saving...  I had a moment of PS4 madness - keeper rolled it out to central defender, who did a Stevie Gerrard and just fell over the ball.  No buttons pressed as I was just going to collect it then lay it off to one of the fullbacks.  Just fell over.  Naturally whilst he was on the ground the other team's striker just ran in collected the ball and scored beyond a stranded keeper.  Never had that happen before...  New feature on 18?  

Oh well, season 3 and on the way back to the top of the table...  Maybe THIS time I can make the EPL!

there are still some kind of glitchy ways i think the game deals with staging who should win.  i get tackled by better teams from distance.  the players will be a few yards apart the ball just changes possession.

sorry to say but your sunderland squad must start of pretty weak.  im no flogging teams in the championship. but sunderland i beat 4-0 and 5-0 within the first month of the season. the only serious wins i have so far. they are in the relegation zone.

The real Sunderland team is piss weak - my Sunderland team has very little to do with it, especially as I'm in my 4th season now - and this one has been a reverse of previous seasons, started in disastrous form (lost 4 in a row - all high scoring games 2-3, 3-4, 2-3, 1-2) - but have turned it around now and am up to the play-offs...  Again.  Have finished 3rd, 3rd, and 6th, in last 3 seasons.  Refusing to give up or mess with sliders/skill level.  Don't mind not pissing every game - I'm getting older and the reactions aren't as quick as they used to be.

I've noticed a few funny incidents in games in FIFA18...  The previously mentioned Lamine Kone slip was the first, just fell over as the ball came to him...  Had another last night, in my favour this time...  Lovely cross to the back post, my forward wins his header but it's weak and straight down...  Keeper dives and ball bounces over him..  Then bounces again, defender trying to clear off the line can't stop fast enough so ends up trying to back heel it away, misses...  Ball bounces again, hits post and crosses line with so little power that it just stopped about a ball's width over the line.  Pandemonium.  Won 1-0.  

Loving and hating the game in equal measures.

looks like sunderland are going to get relegated in my second season..  it seems every team i proper belt gets a losing streak afterwards.

topped the group table in the euros in the second season - even though im still in the championship. the only real threat in the group was lazio who picked up a red card in the first 30 mins of both games.  drew them away 0-0 and did them at home 3-2 - although they drew it level at 2-2 after going straight down to 2-0 immediately after the red and the penalty.

my whole first 11 is now 75 - 78 except for barkley who is now on 85.  he's a bit of a one man show. bangs them in, top scoring for the team, but passes poorly and has almost no assists.  and is a bit slow.  maclaren however - in front of barkley - is topping the assist count because he lays so many back to barkley.

im looking at martial and emre can as bosmans.  the 4.5 mill from euros and the 8 mill for fornaroli should cover that with change.

also mooy.  is better rated this year than the last 3 but is not as good. missed every free kick.  a couple years ago he came with the machine trait or whatever the stamina trait was.  this year his tackling, passing, stamina and shooting are all lacking.  he seems quicker on the ball though. it might just be that im playing legendary though now.

Free kicks seem much harder in this version - which is possibly why Mooy's not doing so well for you this time...

I've played 4 seasons now - 3rd, 3rd, 6th, and 4th in the Championship - my own fault that I've missed out on automatic promotion because I sim a few too many games in the second half of the season once I 'think' I'm in a good position.

The biggest complaint I would have about the game is the finances.  Completely unreal and way too easy.  I try not to sign Bosman players because it's too easy - but when I do it...  Picking them up when in the Championship is a joke, re-signing first team players on lower wages than they were previously on, etc, and still too easy to pick up a superstar 18 year old on a free transfer.

you cant sign 18 year olds on a free right?

Yep - if you go into the free agents after the first season there are always a few 17-18 players added to the list.  There's usually a couple of good ones hidden in there.  Takes a while to find them, but they are usually there.

if you have money left at the end of the season - say a few million - does it now carry over?  ive got cash this season, but no one i want to spend it on.  i want to get more money and buy someone better next season.

finish the first season with melbourne city in england div 3.  smashed it. over 100 points and about 120 goals. lost to chelsea in the FA cup final and have been given a euro slot. the team is probably on par with say huddersfield in the EPL, maybe a bit better.  2 x 77's 2x 76's 3x 75's and im expected to get to the last 16 of the euros..

anyway. i shifted the rest of the A league into the championship gave them each a couple of the top free agents.  

brisbane roar came in 2nd and got automatic promotion into the EPL!

the bottom 11 of the championship were

wsw
adelaide
bristol
perth
brentford
wellington
sydney
burton
central coast - relegated
jets - relegated
victory - wooden spoon and relegated!!!!!!!! loool.

That Download a fortnight ago has made the play more stable. Defenders chase my runners and passing 180 degrees is less accurate. 

Gameplay definitely improved - financial side is still shocking.  Another patch to fix that is unlikely though.  May have to switch to FUT soon.

3rd, 3rd, 6th, 4th (& won the League Cup)...  All in Championship.  Ready to kill someone.  Start 5th season - 3-0, 3-0 (with reserves in cup), 3-0, 6-0...  Think I may have finally cracked how to play the AI - which could mean a quick switch to FUT and playing humans online.

Fixturing is hilarious if you qualify for Europe whilst in the Championship by the way.  I've just started two weeks of Saturday (league), Tuesday (league), Thursday (euro), Saturday (league) Tuesday (cup), Thursday (euro), Saturday (league).  Squad juggling ahoy.

If anyone is looking for a midfield machine - Olivier Kemen.  Played 90 minutes each on Saturday and Tuesday, and is still almost at full power for the Thursday game.  Worth about 30 million too.  Picked him up in my second season for about 3-4 million.

Started a new career mode - wanted to try playing in the EPL on 18...  Liverpool.  Signed Messi for something stupid.  He's a joy to play as/with.  Makes dribbling so easy and so seems almost impossible to not score when he shoots.  I'm wondering if this is just a psychological thing about playing with him - I've had certain players in past versions who just seemed so much calmer than others (Cedric as a right back for example).

So i just started Career mode and i love it. So much more in depth then fifa 14 which was the last one i had.
Really enjoying the setout like optus sport and the breaking news on the side as well as all the negotiating for players.
One thing im finding hard is defending. It's completely changed its very hard. 

Wow that'd definitely be a big change. If I remember correctly 14 to 17 was quite similar. 17 18 had a few changes. 

Stand-off a little more - don't dive in and make them pass it through you.  They don't shoot particularly accurately.  Beyond that, focus on scoring more than them.  On previous FIFA games I've gone through a 38 game season scoring about 40-50 goals but only conceding about 20 (spells where 1-0, 0-1 or 0-0 seemed to be the only result I could get).  Now I'm on about 60-70 goals per season, conceding 40-50.  Got promoted from the Championship with 80plus goals scored and over 50 conceded.

Seem to have cracked it now...  Flying in the championship with all my squad limitations (no free transfers, no Bosmans, no improving youths with training, no cash boosts, only signing players found by scouts, only two scouts, etc., etc.)...  Beginning to think I should up the sliders to make it harder.

I'm not that good - so I'm thinking that AI isn't as good on 18 as on previous versions...  It seems if you are super-patient and focus on keeping the ball, the chance will come eventually, and if you hit it low you'll score more often than not.  Anyone else finding that?

im just stuggling in general. in fifa 14 i use to run past defenders and get crosses in the box you can't seem to run past any defenders anymore and once i get near the box defenders easily shut me down it's hard to keep the ball. Do you find defending very hard ??

I used to be a dive-in tackler, headed off a lot of trouble that way - timing seems much harder on 18.  I've had to teach myself to stand-off.  If you can hold a line near the edge of the box you can be okay - but sooner or later they will weave into the box and forced you to make a challenge.  I get my timing right MOST of the time...  But still concede more than I used to.  I had seasons on 17 where I'd concede 17-18 goals in a full season, nothing like that anymore.

As for attacking, bursting past players down the wings seems to be a thing of the past now, but one-twos can still put you into good crossing opportunities - particularly with an overlapping fullback/wingback.

What do level do you play on? I find professional is too easy and world class is too hard. 
Player controls feel like they are playing on ice if that makes sense reactions are slow for attacking and defending. 

Legendary.

go up to a harder level and adjust you sliders and bring them down as you improve.  ive gone from semi pro to legendary this way over the last couple years.  

also i find world class bullshit because the AI doesnt seem to play better - it just seems to stunt your team. where as in legendary the AI plays better and my team isnt as affected.

So im in late november of my first career as everton manager we are sitting pretty in 3rd position and i get a notification saying im not meeting my objectives.So confused me looks at my objectives didn't realise i need to be the owner, ceo and manager as well as football director.

All of the objectives are self explanatory apart from the profit how am i suppose to make 188 million worth of profit when im currently only at 3?? 

Help required Ben.

If your manager rating is high and so long as you meet league targets you should keep your job.  Don't worry too much about it.

I've never met all my targets but I've yet to be sacked in any version of the game.

the bugs are shitting me.  ive had to confirm the new update about 15 times.

and every game i play (now that i have won the season) they say that the trophy will be given out at the end - and its not.

they need to make it obviously clear when the season trophy is coming out.  the fact that you can press x or whatever at the end of a game and miss the trophy is bullshit. because you dont even know when it is coming out.  

also there is a serious issue with the AI squad selection/starting line up. you never play a full strength team. and it's obviously fucking up because at half time the AI is subbing on pogba or de bruyne or hazard straight away.  this is completely fucking the game. i also think the positioning stat of the players is limiting their use by AI unrealistically.

also i won my first EPL season with melbourne on 78 points. probably because the big teams have all their stars sitting on the bench.

There's definitely something wrong with the game.  Took me a while to crack how to play the AI - had a couple of seasons where everything would be going fine, then I'd run into a brick wall and couldn't win a game to save my life...  Restarted the game and won back to back titles - Championship, then Premier League (squad average skill level around 75-76).  On Legendary, with sliders are default settings. 

Haven't played for a week or two.  Considering starting a new career - either with the sliders in the AI's favour, or possibly not allowing myself to have any player over a certain rating in my team - see if I can win the league with every player rated below 70...

maybe you could go all australian or a-league?

i found brandan from melbourne city an absolute gun. 68 rated max. played him on the right side of a front 2 and he hit about 25 goals in the championship -in my reserves team and as a sub.  only 1 goal off the golden boot. unfortunately in the EPL the strength of all the defenders means he struggles. he just gets knocked off the ball every time.

also jamie maclaren with his pace and high high work rate is a beast. ive only trained him in shooting and he has picked up to 81 and is getting about 20 goals a year in the epl and last year in the championship.  also on the right side of a front 2.  here's the kicker - almost 30 assists in his last 3 seasons and topped each league in assists.

also ive found a back 3 actually works this in fifa18. it's been a fairly useless formation in fifa until now.

I have a custom squad set up with all of our (Sunderland) summer signings removed and returned to previous clubs - which means I always start with a pretty thin squad and not much cash.  Never take the bonus cash boost or world class scout options.  Try to make it really hard.  Legendary, default sliders.

Started a new career in which I can't put a player on the pitch if he is rated over 70, and I can't sign anyone rated over 69.  Have also decided that I need to achieve the financial goals the board have given me (not to raise salary by over 15%) - so have to be careful who I sign.  Sweden and Norway have been big for recruiting!

Sold 6 70+ players in pre-season, and have four more burning the bench (2 of them are negotiating deals at the moment outside the transfer window).  Have now got about 16-17 players rated 66-69 and a shed-load of cash in the bank, with more to come.

Currently just outside the play-off places and have knocked Liverpool out of the League cup (1-0, breakaway goal in the 82nd minute).

Little update...  Won 9 of the last 10 games to earn promotion from the championship in first season on u70 career.  (I only play late in the evening so it takes a while to get through a season - especially as I can't skip games in this career because my team is terrible on paper!).

Top scorer in the league, golden boot winner (Knudsen, 29 in the league), plenty of cash in the bank.  Board set the target of keeping salary increase below 15% and I had it at 5%.

Sold Lens, Khazri, Djilobodji and Borini in the summer - along with a few fringe players.  Signed a few cheap squad players to replace them.  Now have about 50 million in the bank and only 1 player ranked over 70 in the squad (Djilobodji, who I've agreed to sell about 5-6 times only to see the deals collapse).

2 games into Premier League season - won 1, drawn 1.  Enjoying it - can't switch off for a second.  Because there's so many players ranked 66-67 I'm now buying them based on their haircuts half the time!

Depending where I finish in the league this season I may drop my u70 rule to u65!

After their 8:0 murder by PSG I started from scratch with Dijon. Ligue 1 is actually reminiscent of the Bundesliga 10 years ago. A few shabby looking clubs and stadiums but soon I think it'll be quite a modern league with all 18 clubs.

France actually has a number of great well established clubs. Interesting is how many clubs were formed not all that long ago compared to other countries. The ligue 1 theme song is pretty epic.

I signed Cahill Sainsbury as free agents while I got Smith on loan and dealt well to get Federici and Jedinak after my 8 million keeper did his arm and Amalfitano failed to get things going. 

Ulloa from Leicester was a handy signed as was Moritz Hartmann from Ingolstadt. Their side has very few wide men with good passing. Ollie Banks from Oldham, now Swindon has served me well on the years. Great tall passing midfielder. Cheap Rogic version.

From the original Dijon side, midfielder Marie is a handy type while I'm starting to enjoy Yambere in defence for his heading and strength. Djilobodji is still on loan from Sunderland but I won't keep him.

It never happens by the first September wherever I've managed but this time after 3 reboots I got Australia as a national team job. I'll go to 2018 with Cahill. 

It's hard for me to enjoy the premier league. I absolutely hate the TV graphics in sky blue and all of that. I know it's genuine but it's a bit of an eyesore.

Lower leagues in England appear a bit more economical. I also feel the premier league gets easy once you get a gun side and City, Chelsea etc barely take it to me. Bundesliga always say Bayern as a massive challenge. 

Quick update...  The reality of playing with in the EPL with an awful set of players is setting in...  Fighting relegation (not in the relegation zone though).  Have had to drop a couple of my better players because their ratings got up to 70.  Certainly keeping the challenge real.  Every time I score there's a genuine sense of achievement, every time I concede it's a hammer blow.  Defensively I'm reasonably sound - it's just my finishing that's letting me down (poor strikers).

Another quick update...  Fought relegation right through to game 37, at which point I was safe.  Finished 16th.
Released a bunch of 66-68 rated players who wanted huge pay increases due to being in the EPL, despite still being very average players.

Only problem with my Season #3 targets from the board is their insistence that I make a 26 million profit by the end of the January transfer window - because I have no assets I can sell for much over a million, and anyone I sell has to be replaced.  Suspect I won't make half of that.  It won't get me sacked, but it will be a fail on my record.

I've sold a few lads who had 'developed' to '70' and couldn't be picked again, and pretty much anyone else I got a 7 figure offer for.

Meanwhile, have signed a fresh bunch of nobodies, and will sign another 4-5 before summer transfer window closes.  No one in the squad is earning over 10k/week.

Targeting bringing in a new 'u69' ranked team 1-11, on Bosman deals, during the January window.  No reason other than to see if I can.

could you loan out some high potential players, bring them back from loan and sell them?

that way you are not playing them.

Long term I have no cash problems - I'm spending a fraction of what I get from being in the EPL.  Profits are healthy - just no way to get that quick profit to keep the board happy.  20-25 million in 2 months when you've got no-one to sell is hard going!!  I failed that little challenge, but still battling through on the pitch.
It's funny, but as a Sunderland fan my interest in FIFA always dies off after a few seasons because once we're top of the league with a team full of 80+ players it doesn't feel at all like Sunderland...  But in this game, constantly selling anyone who gets 'too good', signing rubbish, and battling away for an occasional victory to keep me out of the bottom 3...  This really FEELS like watching Sunderland!

Half way through 3rd season now - 16th in league, 3 points above relegation zone.  Just signed 9 Bosmans for next season.  Board rating is down in the 60s, they are expecting 'mid table', I better string a few results together!  I'm curious to see how many seasons they give me before they expect European qualification.