FM 2010 will be polished - What does it mean?

Epic long post following. Get out while you can.

I decided to start this thread just to keep track of some things I want from the game and what will SI offer me (us) with 2010.

Since SI has said that they have taken the time to polish the next installment, I have decided to make a small list of things I want polished, which in my opinion should be polished in order for the game to be realistic.

This is by no means a "bug thread". Most of them (if not all) have been discussed to death. The things I will mention are simple things I have encountered in my career as a manager and I think that if SI could/should fix them, it would make the game a much, much better experience.

I intend after the release of the game and after proper play time to come back here and check which of the things I'll mention below are fixed or more polished in FM 2010.

First, some boring info which unfortunately is needed for some of my complaints. I started my career as Pari and managed to win the league the first year and the CL the third. Since I have Man U as my favorite team I got offered a job by them after my CL win. Although I have managed to create a good, solid team in Pari, I couldn't resist managing my favorite team.

For the last 6 years I have been managing Man U and have won 6 consecutive league titles and 4 CLs. I am a manager who likes total discipline in formation but always picks creative players for the positions that are central to my tactic. I also hate a team that has too many old players (30 is the oldest I keep, except keepers who are allowed in first team until 34 and DCs (until 32)). I sold Ronaldo and Nani when they reached 28 and 30 (If I remember correctly) because I prefer players that are young and ambitious. I try to keep the nationality mosaic in check, which means that 6 or 7 of my first team players come from the country I manage in.

My long years of experience with the game have allowed me to be very successful in the transfer market and almost always recognizing a talent. To cut a long story short, my tremendous success with Man U has come by a team of mostly youngsters, very talented and ambitious players who play a heavy modified but flat 4-4-2. The team's bank account is thriving, the board couldn't happier and every section of confidence is in high greens, while the togetherness of the players is great and I have two or three youngsters ready to enter the first team.

In my last year I won the treble and it was a great satisfaction since it was done without any established stars (bar Rooney). So, let's start with the problems that need polishing for me and see in good time if they will be polished:

1) Why is the board only on "good" levels when it comes to competition confidence? This should be through the roof since the only cup I lost last year was the league cup which they say it doesn't bother them much. Also, last year I had won the double and for the past 4 years the title. This competition meter should change and actually reset every year according to success. When you win all the major titles it should be full happy. When you lose, it should reflect that accordingly. It's not that difficult. This would go a long ways making the board seem reactive to your success.

2) I play and draw Man City in my home. Logically, fans are disappointed (though its not very logical since I have already won the league 4 games before the end but anyway...). Next up is Everton which I destroy 5-0, last game of the season. Fans are "jubilant". Then comes the CL final which I win on penalties. Fans are not so "jubilant". Expecting polishing here.

2) After winning the CL two times in a row (and the league) the board came at the start of the next year and expressed its ambition: "The board expects the team to qualify for the CL". Excuse me, what? Doesn't the board expect me to win the league? I thought I was Man U. Well, maybe they mean that since I've won it twice it wouldn't be a major problem if I didn't win it again. I just need to qualify for the CL. Great. No pressure at all.

Of course, when I win the league at the end of the season the board appears and says "we always expected you to win. Now keep the celebrations to a minimum..." Then why the bloody hell didn't you recognize it at the start of the season? Why didn't you express yourself better? My point is, make the board seem less robotic. All it needs is some more phrases, to give the illusion of understanding some situations. It's not very difficult but oh, so important to make it all look more realistic.

3) I am no 1 in European Rankings and in my last year I win the tremble with ManU, the year is 2017, I think. Yet, in the after season standings I managed to fall in second place while Chelsea, which didn't even qualify for CL steps up to no 1. What? Expecting polish here.

4) I am making a transfer offer of 12m for a player that costs 7m. He is in squad rotation and I am hoping I can buy him of Chelsea without much fuss. They come proposing I should pay 20m. I negotiate and raise my bid to 15m. They come back asking 32m. Polish please.

5) In my year there are no World Class managers except myself and Brian Eastick (he is the manager of England's U19). I became World Class in my first year (!) after winning the French league with Pari. What? I am no world class manager just because I won the title in an not so important league. Hell, even the real Guardiola is not considered a world class manager yet, even after winning the tremble.

In the game though, there is another, strange logic. In the same first year I became world class, Jose Murinho drops from World Class reputation for no apparent reason (there is no logical reason since he was managing and was doing great) and has remained "continental" since. Even after winning the campionato twice in a row. Clearly an area that needs polishing so as to not break the illusion.

6) In my first year in Man U I was excited because I was going to manage some of the best players around, especially Ronaldo and Rooney. Imagine my surprise when I saw Ronaldo unable to dribble past a player. At first I thought he was not having a good season but then played Nani at his place and he did the same. He, too, was unable to dribble past players. Now, I know that dribbling past opponents is something we rarely see in the series but I had some hopes 09 would be different.

I had skipped 08 and I only started playing 09 with 9.3 and I kept reading about the improvements, especially in the wing play, improvements that were made to stop the continuous through balls of the first 2 patches which were resulting in numerous missed 1 on 1s (in order to keep the scores low, of course). Unfortunately, wing play was not improved. Skilled players were the same with unskilled players, just faster and with better stamina and finishing. Expecting polish in this area because the way it is now is completely unrealistic.

7) So, with better wing play I at least expected better crosses, since players were unable to dribble past opponents. To my suprise, crosses were now being hit by Ronaldo in the head, feet and bodies of defenders. Even when the defenders were three, four meters away, Ronaldo would wait for them to cover him and then strike the ball to win the corner. Not all the times but enough to make it frustrating and unrealistic - and despite all the tactical and instruction changes I had tried. The ratio of crosses being made to crosses actually reaching my opponent's area was obviously deliberately wrong, something I assumed happened to keep the goal scoring to realistic levels. Please, polish here because it is completely unrealistic.

8) Why when I win a throw in in the centre of the field my FW comes up to take the ball, especially when I have not issued any such instructions? This also happens for almost all the throw ins that take place in my attacking half. Please, polish here too.

9) Corners should be easier to score. Expecting polish here.

10) After six years, 6 league titles, 4 FA Cups and 4 CLs with Man U, I should be a legend for the club. Yet, I am not even an icon. Totally unrealistic. Please, polish.

Now, the above are only some of the problems (A.I always going 4-2-4 when it loses, press conferences that are completely out of context and complex with really bad feedback training are major problems too) that I will watch if they are polished or fixed in the next game. I consider the above very important areas for a game to be called football simulation and they simply must be -at least most of the times- correct.

I am sorry for the long post and any spelling/grammatical mistakes (English is not my native language).

Cheers to all.

In my last year I won the tremble...

What's that?

Nice post. I hope the Powers That Be are listening.

Very, very good post, i am sure there are many more of these small but significant areas for improvement

please take note SI as these little things can make all the difference

Your english was almost spot on, good effort

What's that?

I fixed it, I think, thanks.

Every FM will have annoyances. It is pretty much inevitable. As long as the game is stable long term (regen system working, finances working etc so the game is pretty much the same quality 2025 as it is 2010) I am happy.

Every FM will have annoyances. It is pretty much inevitable. As long as the game is stable long term (regen system working, finances working etc so the game is pretty much the same quality 2025 as it is 2010) I am happy.

Well, it's not very stable long term. Only being at year 2017 and all great teams haven't bother to replace most of their aging players. It is too easy to buy all the young wonderkids and dominate, global manager reputation has gone awry (I mentioned it in the first post), 38 year old players are complaining about not playing in the first eleven and the national team of England still plays with Ferdinand and Terry (and suffer an embarrassing European Championship group disqualification with no wins) while I have two DCs, age 25 who are much, much, much better.

The things in the first post and above are not little things as far as I am concerned.

Very good post. These are things I see but then just sort of get on with it. Nice to see it posted, and its a good place to post. The thing I like about this board is SI actually get involved sometimes so lets await the feedback.

Well done!

I'd like those background attributes AI managers have to have a little more meaning ...

ie Substitutions, Rotation , Coaching Style etc.

I'd like to see clubs with larger player-bases using thier fringe players more frequently.

I want the default AI training polishing, Introducing a defender, midfielder & forward default set would be a good start to accomplish this, also include wieghted default routines that have a bias on fitness or technical emphasis as per manager coaching style

I'll have to wait for the demo to see what has been done with the AM feedback

Boards with extreme ratings (1 to 5, 16+) should act on those ratings, especially if that rating is "Inteference"

Currently the only effect they have is to accept a bid on a player that u might not want to sell - reason 'offer too good to refuse'

change by adding :-

cancelling the sale/transfer of a club favourite - reason 'vital/important to future of club'

cancelling the transfer purchase of a player - reason 'sees no benefit to signing this player'

signing/buying a player that you have not shortlisted/scouted - reason 'thinks he will improve club standing'

Set Pieces dont just need polish, they need a total rewrite. why is it just a 'free kick' where are my indirect options, my direct settings ...

An easy fix for the confidence system is using the current reputation system.

Chairmen can have a tolerance attribute that dictates how much points you get for achievements and failures.

Losing a match will cost you a set amount then a multiplier based on the tolerance.

The lower the tolerance the higher the multiplier for losing and the lower for winning and vice versa.

Also if we happen to achieve the season objective the board should always be 100% pleased. That includes winning a cup we're expected to win.

@tsh - you can score very easy from corners if you know what to do, sergio ramos scored for me about 35 goals in one season, and benedikt howedes as well while playing with inter

Firstly, I have to say that the board AI is too stupid.

I take over Inter after Mourinho left them at the 7th place, I manage to finish 3rd, yet my board are unhappy?

-----

And, why the hell do my players head the ball to nowhere after a throw in?

Great post. I agree fully with you on near all the point's you have brought up and hope they are altered for the next edition.

4) - This one has been an issue forever, the AI clubs just don't negotiate, if you raise.. they do, this definately needs tweaking.

5) - Manager reputation has been awful for years, becoming national or higher for winning conference or league two etc... In my current game I'm world class with two other managers, but a few people have just moved up to continental who haven't managed a club in years, ahead of successful managers?.......

7) - Wing play is horrific... my wingers never get a cross to a striker, most hit the defender or they just run into the box along the line and try and score?

10) - Another MAJOR flaw, I'm the most successful manager in the world and won everything for year after year yet I'm not even a favourite at Man City despite one of 17 year old kids being one.. who's never played a game for me?

Another area that needs polishing is definately defensive play... why do my players panic and randomly boot it off for a throw in to "clear" it when we're the ones on the attack and out number our opposition!? Or turn and boot it off for a corner when he had loads of time and nobody near it to simply long ball it up pitch at least?

Also set pieces are appauling, I would like my players to go where I tell them too

I agree with some of the points. But not about crossing or dribbling.

The vast majority of crosses from my full backs or wingers get in the box.

And I've seen my striker marquinhos skin multiple players in his run into the area. Torres does it sometimes as well but I wouldn't expect alot of players to be able to do it.

There is one problem I've found which is linked. And that is the amount of times player can pick the ball up on the side of the area and dribbles it into the area , seemingly immune to any sort of tackle, and then they shoot.

In my opinion this happens too often and they should be looking to cross or cur the ball back at least abit more

Agree with most of the things.

And there are other subjects needing polishing like Schedule, training etc.

Hope that tere will be an effort here and not only on the 3D.

Very good post and a lot of valid points that when you think about it can spoil the game completely, I have been away from the boards for a few months because of moving house so no internet untill a week ago, so I had just been playing FM non stop and not really paying attention to these flaws but now I have read a few posts on here after getting my internet back on last week I have to be honest I haven`t played FM since reading these boards as I just can`t motivate myself to play it anymore because of every single thing the OP has just stated in his post and the static league reps issue which I had no idea about but kind of wondered why I couldn`t progress as fast in my celtic games, it wasn`t untill I read through a few threads on here it confirmed my fears about this issue and this makes long term games pretty pointless unless your a big club in my opinion, add this to the other problems and you have a pretty pointless game.

Heres hoping that the game takes a step forward this year by just polishing the title and not adding rakes of new features and these issues stated by the OP can be ironed out and hopefully we can get the static league reps sorted out as well within the next few FM titles.

I don't agree about corners. I think it's far too easy to exploit them in my opinion and it needs making harder. I just stick a player on each setting (Flick/At Near/Keeper/Deep etc.) and set to 6 yard box and my centre-back's get tons of goals. What really needs altering are free-kicks. I think i've managed to score one free-kick via a cross on FM09. There is so little you can do with free-kicks in my view.

What annoys me badly is when players kick the ball out when they're on the half way line not under pressure. "He's not taking any chances there"! It's very frustrating. I've even had my keeper kick the ball out for no apparent reason after he'd caught it. He just turned to the touchline and hoofed. There were no injuries or anything.

A very great post!!

I don't agree about corners. I think it's far too easy to exploit them in my opinion and it needs making harder. I just stick a player on each setting (Flick/At Near/Keeper/Deep etc.) and set to 6 yard box and my centre-back's get tons of goals.

Yeah, that's what they call the corner bug. If you don't use it, it's much harder to score on corners.

I dont agree about the wingers driblling as i see it all the time.But everything else is spot on.Good post.

Firstly, I have to say that the board AI is too stupid.

I take over Inter after Mourinho left them at the 7th place, I manage to finish 3rd, yet my board are unhappy?

-----

And, why the hell do my players head the ball to nowhere after a throw in?

But IRL Moratti has sacked a manager after winning the league, and he is the type of chairman who would want you to win everything in sight every year, same goes for Florentino Perez, and Abramovic. Personally I also believe that Man Utd's finances are based on winning the Premiership & Cl every year. The only reason why Ferguson won't get sacked is the uproar it would cause, but when he retires I'd bet the next amnager would need a very big first season to have a seciond. It is the nature of the game.

You haven't.

Indeed. Let's leave it then, for trademark.

About the corners. First and foremost, I know it's easy to exploit the mechanism, even if someone doesn't use the known bug. What I want is players actually listening to my tactics to score, not storm everyone in and confuse the engine. That's not fun. I have my settings logically set, with players taking smart positions, I have world class players with 18 crossing and 19 corners taking them, players with great heading and training set pieces high. My conversion rate should be a little better, especially with all the corners I'm winning since my crosses deflect on defenders. Not to mention the fact that sometimes players are completely out of place for no apparent reason.

About the dribbling and wing play. I too had signed Marquinhos and he did dribble past some players. But most of the times it wasn't directly. I have seen him dribble past an opponent face to face, true, but very few times. Also, the point is not having one player do it. There are many players in the real world who can dribble past opponents without being technical wizards like Messi or Ronaldo. The game doesn't simulate that correctly and it is one the most important areas as far as realism goes.

@AmuntValencia. Do you actually see wingers dribble past opponents all the time? Please, is there any way to show me a video? I think you may be exaggerating a bit.

@Brian Shanahan. Your real life example about Moratti is not a very good one. You don't know what was the real cause of sacking a manager who had just won the league. Maybe it was a personal one, maybe it was a wage difference, etc.

You need to bring on the table many examples of a real life chairman who changed managers mid-season, achieved a greater position in the table with the new manager than the old, and still was disappointed at the new manager. Then, your argument about the game following realistic patterns in that area would stand in my eyes.

Many of the points raised are indeed issues that SI must be aware of, yet they have not been addressed over ther course of many versions.

Personally I have become very disillusioned with the state of this game and the attitude towards the fans. For years, the fans have been all over SI concerning certain faults which have never been adequately addressed, and instead we get DRM, IGA and all manner of patronising insults, and yet the same faults are still present in every version.

I forgot to mention that I definitely agree with the crossing thing, it really is annoying.

Player do tend to wait for the defender to close them down before putting in a cross. Plus my 16 dribbling, 17 flair, 15 pace acc can't seem to get past Championship level defenders.

It's useless IRL dribblers can get past defender even if they're slow (Zidane, Benayoun, etc...), but in FM it seems like if you don't have the speed (16+ for each) then all that dribbling talent is going to waste.

I forgot to mention that I definitely agree with the crossing thing, it really is annoying.

Player do tend to wait for the defender to close them down before putting in a cross. Plus my 16 dribbling, 17 flair, 15 pace acc can't seem to get past Championship level defenders.

It's useless IRL dribblers can get past defender even if they're slow (Zidane, Benayoun, etc...), but in FM it seems like if you don't have the speed (16+ for each) then all that dribbling talent is going to waste.

You should post this kind of criticism in the match engine forum. We all have our ifs and buts about how bad it is but you are far more likely to get better feedback there.

You should post this kind of criticism in the match engine forum. We all have our ifs and buts about how bad it is but you are far more likely to get better feedback there.

Thank you for making me aware of the match engine forum, I had no idea to be honest.

Anyway it wasn't a criticism (reading my post again it seems like a mini rant) so much as it was agreeing with a couple of the OP's points.

I'm not trying to perpetuate the negativity that seems to saturate this forum at times. To be honest I don't want to shove every little thing down the developers throats because I'm sure they are aware of the ME's shortcomings, and that they are working hard to improve it.

Still the best Management Sim out there, and it's kept me hooked for 10+ years so they must be doing something right.

I've had a rant or two in the match engine forum to be honest although I doubt my splutterings carry much weight.

To be honest I think 9.3 is crap - hate it with a vengeance. I wasn't that keen on 9.2 either, but of the two, I think 9.2 was better - such a shame that the defending was broken. I've said since 9.3 was released that this game needs one more patch and I was bitterly disappointed that SI left the game in the state that they did. In my view, it shows contempt towards their fans that they once again abandon a game in a dreadfully unfinished state and just expect us to splash out on the new version.

Great post, agree with most of it except for corners and wingers.

One thing I want polished up is AI's team selection, especially those for non-vital competitions.

I was playing Chelsea in the Carling Cup and thought to myself, I'll let those youngsters and bench players get a run.

To my horror, I see Drogba, Terry, Lampard, Deco, Ballack, Cech lining up!

I don't think we'll ever see the Chelsea starting XI in the Carling cup irl, but maybe I'm just unlucky.

I tend to look at the new FM as the new patch. A patch they work on a lot longer which allows for proper fixes as opposed to short term stop gaps that come with their own problems.

I expected this years version to be a bit buggy because of the ME revamp. I don't think I've ever really been disappointed by FM, but I guess that's mainly because I'm a realist (some might say pessimist). My expectations of quality/playability never exceed that of the previous version.

I have to say personally I feel that the series has gotten better over the years, but I recognize the fact that a lot of people disagree. To each his own I suppose.

Firstly, I have to say that the board AI is too stupid.

I take over Inter after Mourinho left them at the 7th place, I manage to finish 3rd, yet my board are unhappy?

-----

And, why the hell do my players head the ball to nowhere after a throw in?

that is appalling for a simulation! (the inter thing)

Someone needs to take 2 seconds to fix the commentary line that says "<X> was clearly obstructed by <Y>" when it actually meant to say "<Y> was clearly obstructed by <X>".

Firstly, I have to say that the board AI is too stupid.

I take over Inter after Mourinho left them at the 7th place, I manage to finish 3rd, yet my board are unhappy?

-----

And, why the hell do my players head the ball to nowhere after a throw in?

That actually happens quite a lot in real matches.

Great post, agree with most of it except for corners and wingers.

One thing I want polished up is AI's team selection, especially those for non-vital competitions.

I was playing Chelsea in the Carling Cup and thought to myself, I'll let those youngsters and bench players get a run.

To my horror, I see Drogba, Terry, Lampard, Deco, Ballack, Cech lining up!

I don't think we'll ever see the Chelsea starting XI in the Carling cup irl, but maybe I'm just unlucky.

Chelsea actually line up with a relatively full strength team for the Carling Cup. They are unusual like that.

I agree to an extent about AI line-ups. In one season Liverpool started without Torres and Gerrard for the first month or two, despite both being available.

And on the Carling Cup, when i played Manchester United as Leeds they played with Ronaldo, Berbatov, Rooney etc.

Chelsea actually line up with a relatively full strength team for the Carling Cup. They are unusual like that.

I would think so. They've got depth up the waazooo.

I tend to look at the new FM as the new patch. A patch they work on a lot longer which allows for proper fixes as opposed to short term stop gaps that come with their own problems.

I expected this years version to be a bit buggy because of the ME revamp. I don't think I've ever really been disappointed by FM, but I guess that's mainly because I'm a realist (some might say pessimist). My expectations of quality/playability never exceed that of the previous version.

I have to say personally I feel that the series has gotten better over the years, but I recognize the fact that a lot of people disagree. To each his own I suppose.

What match engine revamp? They've worked on the ME as normal, unless you mean the new graphics and tactics system?

A very good post!!

Well thought out and well written, I could hardly tell English is not your first language.

One gripe, I need 'polished'; Jose Mourinho was sacked by Inter after 8 games of the season. Inter were sitting atop of the league with 6 wins 1 draw and 1 loss. This is hardly sackable form. IRL, it might be understandable as Mourinho is a fiery character and could well have a bust-up with the equally volatile Massimo Moratti but I didn't think that FM09, as good as it is, had the capacity to engineer such scenarios. No explanation was given for his sacking and it's not the only strange sacking i've seen. Sir Alex Ferguson was once, wait for it, SACKED!, by Man Utd mid-way through the season with Utd in 2nd place. Highly unlikely both those sackings are.

Anyone else seen anything similar?

Epic long post following. Get out while you can.

9) Corners should be easier to score. Expecting polish here.

Cheers to all.

Trust me corners are very easy to score, i think you need to 'polish' your routine

Also i totaly disagree with you on the lack of dribbling, there is plenty in the teams i manage.