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I'm just coasting
I'm honestly not sure if I want to keep playing Itsagoal. It's a great game, no doubt, but for the past five or so seasons, even when I've put in real effort, I haven't had any reserve matches to help build match fitness, which makes training harder to manage. I've pretty much stopped bothering with training schedules. I usually end up finishing somewhere between 6th and 8th in the league now. The last season I really tried, I managed to finish 2nd?but since then, I?ve just been coasting.

I feel like I?m in that phase where I?m only sticking around because I don?t want to lose my team. Even if I wanted to start pushing again, it?d require a full squad rebuild, and I'd still be a long way from properly competing.

The part of the game I used to love was the challenge. Back before youth academies started pumping out 70/80/90-rated players, I actually enjoyed the process of buying low, training smart, and selling high. I don?t think I ever lost money on transfers until the YA updates came in. Now, it feels like I'm just paying to keep my squad at the same level. I?m barely breaking even?or making a slight profit?mainly because I occasionally pull a high-potential academy player to offset the losses. If it weren?t for that, I?d probably be bankrupt by now. Training players just doesn?t seem profitable anymore.

Meanwhile, a lot of teams that were stagnant before the YA overhaul have made big strides forward. Ironically, I feel like I?ve become the stagnant one. The game basically removed the edge I had?the patience and discipline in the transfer market?and now, even though I probably would?ve built a strong 80s/90s squad over time, it feels like everyone else got handed one overnight.

Most of the top six teams now have similar-quality squads (70s/80s), but they?re also better tactically than me. I always leaned more into the business side of the game?relying on having a stronger squad to win matches. Now that everyone's on an even playing field squad-wise, and tactics matter more, my approach has kind of been nerfed, while theirs has been buffed.

It?s a bit disheartening, to be honest.

Have you achieved the 7501 yet?

If not, instead of hoarding money and inexperienced youngsters,, have you thought about spending your excess cash on +90 players which have already been trained up and have good experience??

I think once you have a full squad of 80-90 rated players with decent experience, a club valuation of +80-100mil and in the top 3 in your league you will reach the holy grail of 7501

If this is a aim for you, it could be done within a couple of seasons I reckon

The reason I say this is because I notice you are very rich and have a young squad of inexperienced players and also many players which are still in the process of being trained,, not only are you already very rich but your squad is also a gold mine

I'm not 100% certain as Iam pretty new but I can imagine, the high experience of a player and a 80-90 squad could be the difference between a 6th place finish and a 2nd or 1st place finish and a possible cup win,, if this is what you desire??

I was treading water in the top division for years. A couple of times I resigned and took over at the lowest ranked teams I could find and got them up into the top division. My current team were near the bottom of the bottom league with a bunch of poor players and a small capacity stadium. Getting promoted up the leagues was easy but building the club took more effort. I tried lots of things and found building a young team and leaving them for a few seasons to train up left me with a team that's full of highish rated players. I resisted the temptation to add any low rated kids. My ground, I'd already finished the construction. I looked at the tactics of a few of the teams lower rated than me that beat me in the cups and tried those out and managed to get a couple of league wins against good sides and had a small window where I was 2nd in the league. I just managed after many seasons to get to 7501. I've just got better staff. Now to try and compete for trophies. It's hard, it requires patience but it's possible.

I just want to encourage you that there's nothing wrong with "just coasting"- especially when you're coasting at a high level, as your team is.

I know a number of managers that would love to have the squad and infrastructure that you do. You've built up your club fantastically well.

If it comes down to boredom of not being able to advance your club any further, there are a few options. If you don't want to leave your club under any circumstances, then why not try challenging yourself to improve those areas of the game in which you're a bit weaker, and see if you can challenge to get back into the top 3? The matchday tactics aren't impossible to master with a little bit of attention to what the clubs above you are doing.

If you want a new challenge, see if you can take over a new club and take it to where your club currently is- or even higher. Maybe try out the YA a bit instead of relying on the TM so much. It's difficult to adapt when you're set in your ways, even when it would make sense to change the way you do things (take it from someone who knows!) but with a bit of effort, you can do it and may find it rewarding to find success with a different strategy.

Don't give up. The game needs successful managers like you. I lost my biggest rival this season when he resigned, and the game feels a bit boring and empty now that I have no real challenge for the rest of the season- no hope of reaching the top 5, and no real challenge from those below me. I wish he had stuck with it. I'm sure the managers around you in the table would miss you if you left, too.

I get where you're coming from, to be honest. I feel in a small rut too - I've got a battle for fourth going on every season (I've lost this time round) but there's no real prospect of getting into the top three for a while. I've never made a league cup final and the less said about the other two cups the better - though it doesn't help when my AM puts my brand new youth into a game against top quality opposition, like today


I definitely feel this. It seems like whenever I play against equivalent quality opposition I lose. Maybe that's just me remembering the negative outcomes more than the positive ones but I never have confidence against a team that's within a couple of preview points of me. Maybe my tactics are off, or maybe I need that sprinkling of a couple of real top players to give me the boost.

The thing that's keeping me going is that my rating is going up - slowly, but up. I'm a good 40 points better off than I was at this point last season, after accounting for fluctuations in APR and league position. If I can get a First XI of All-90s players then even at 6501 staff I should be a force to be reckoned with. It will happen but it can be a bit of a grind watching players steadily but slowly increasing, and going through the joy and disappointment of the youth academy.


This bit I'm not sure I get though. At the start you say the YA is pumping out high quality players, but then you say you only get them occasionally enough to balance your books. I get a couple of all-90s players a season, which would net me near enough 100M if I was to sell them. Maybe I've just been lucky, or maybe you need to revisit your approach to the YA, as Firesilver says?

Now most managers have a good idea of what makes a good player and how much those players are worth, it seems unlikely you'll be finding that many bargains on the transfer market.

On this - I remember when I (re)started I saw AKRAZY as someone to emulate and the level to aim for; I'd like to think I'm in that ballpark now. It would be a shame to see you go.

I should also add that over the last few seasons, I haven't been keeping up with my usual transfer business or consistently sending out scouts like I used to. When I say I've been coasting, I really mean it. I've even lost some staff without realizing, and came close to losing players on my second account. There have been a few times I've logged in thinking, "I'm seriously pushing my luck if I want to keep these teams alive."

I know I still offer a decent challenge to those around me, but I've let things slide to the point where my team has started to rot a bit. My rating progress has definitely taken a hit because of it, and I can't help but feel that if I'd just stayed as consistent as I was before, I'd probably be sitting on an 85+ rating by now.

Just checked the Panna All Stars squad now and i saw a team with full potentials to push for something.
Everything is a slow and steady process, maybe you've failed to live your dreams for "100" seasons now but that doesn't mean you aren't trying. You've got 70s/80s rated players, even some are chasing 90s so you have the team to cause upsets on even complete teams like Newcastle. Just keep going bro.
I won't forgive you if you resign!!

I am just behind you in the league Ballinamallard Res (87) with your squad was expecting you to be in the top 3 maybe your tactics are holding you back
Keep playing there is always ways in this game to improve i agree it does take time and patience