The new match engine is Brilliant!!

All I have to say is this...

I am having such a great time at the moment playing FM that I have played once again over 8 hours + straight, back to back days.

The only reason I have come back to FM was because my brother quit the game and he too is also playing again because of the drastic improvements to the match engine.

A lot of really annoying things now seem a thing of the past. I will list a few...

- Idiotic pass backs, completely removed from the game. I would see about 4 or 5 a game before, I used to cringe every time I saw world class players passing back 40-50 yards for countless corners (and goals)

- Closing down seems very decent now, they probably should be even more aggression and maybe coded in specific to league. (ie A lot more running/aggression in English Football, mainly due to the "style" of the league.

- Tackling is also a lot better, and I enjoy the clearer looking animations that seem to have gone with it. I see a lot more players sliding around.

- Keepers seem a lot more realistic. They no longer flap about when the ball is in the air, they charge down one on ones better, they no longer hold on to shots from point blank range - in an unrealistic manner. Theres a lot more keeper deflections/punches/leg/body saves resulting in ugly goal mouth scramble goals which is where a lot of real life goals come. It is now worth having a player with good anticipation to either put the chance away, or have the quick mind to avert the danger.

- Tactics are a lot more responsive, more proactive and thus less reactive. Players actually seem to have a brain now when you make a change. This seems to make it a lot easier to keep hold of a 2+ goal lead.

- As stated above, it seems as though idiotic come backs are a thing of the past. Games now end 2-4 goals at most (ir 2-0, 3-1, 4-0 etc), and I am no longer seeing stupidly high amounts of goals and silly score lines like 6-5 etc.

- Personally I am now finding the game a lot easier but in a good way, there is more tactical consistency and a lot less randomness about the game. I was always a defensive minded manager and I can actually defend my way, in the Italian way. () My brother was woeful at the game, and he too is having more success now. I might admit I am better than him tactically, but I always thought some of the results he endured were extreemly unrealistic (long shots, silly come backs etc.)

- Strikers are now scoring less goals, no longer am I seeing a striker score 50+ goals a season, especially poor players.

There still is room for improvement however. I have noticed basically only a couple of "major" issues.

I think the player fitness levels change was a right one, but maybe a little too extreeme (only a little.) I agree it was needed - and might need further tweaking but not that big of a deal. I use my 3 subs, i rotate and I rest players after match days. Makes the game a little more tedious, but also makes it a manager game and not a "click continue, play game, click continue" kind of affair, I actually have to think my way to league wins.

I also noticed that the spread of goals seem a little off. Seems most of the goals are scored by strikers, and not many from midfield, especially wide players.

I seriously think SI should be careful what changes they make next because in my eyes, this patch has made FM2010 the best manager game ever created.

I really hope people stop reading into forums too much and getting put off without actually giving the game a go and formulating their own opinion on the changes made.

So thanks SI for all the hard work, and Merry Christmas, thanks for delivering a good post that will allow me to enjoy a few matches with family members over the festive break.

Agreed.

Best match engine ever. Massive improvement on the one that came with the 10.1.0 patch.

Still needs one or two tweaks (longshots - there were too many before, but now I think it's gone too far the other way - midfielders with very high long-shot abilities now only ever scoring from close range, and the fitness tweak you mention - I much prefer this "get tired quicker" vibe to the old way, but as you say it's probably just a touch too much, mainly for the players with high stamina I think), but overall an incredible job! I love it!

Yes, now it's seems like a great ME and a great game, because for me, ME is one of the most important part of game. But I will have a conclusion after one season, or one week. I play it slowly

Well done si .

Disagree, too many injuries and super keepers.

Disagree, too many injuries and super keepers.

ill go with saying ******** keepers is what ruins it for me, while i agree its better..

there are still lots of issues.. that needs to be fixed

Agreed.

Best match engine ever. Massive improvement on the one that came with the 10.1.0 patch.

Still needs one or two tweaks (longshots - there were too many before, but now I think it's gone too far the other way - midfielders with very high long-shot abilities now only ever scoring from close range, and the fitness tweak you mention - I much prefer this "get tired quicker" vibe to the old way, but as you say it's probably just a touch too much, mainly for the players with high stamina I think), but overall an incredible job! I love it!

I find the long shots amount really realistic on my 10.2 patch. Not only the amount but also the manner in which they're scored. No more long shots when there's 4 defenders pressuring on 1 player and it still flies in, but when there's time and space.

It's also refreshing to see the Goal of the Month have goals other than screamers now. The nice team goals are back!

Agreed, ME is much much better now. But i do think they went over board with injuries.

There is a big jump in amount of injuries from 10.1.1 to 10.2 patch. I played almost 3/4 of season and i dont think i ever played with best 11 in full health.

must admit it's far better well worth the wait for the new patch,still i see people moneing on the forums thou.

Everything is good apart from the super keepers

I agree the ME is a lot better in many aspects than it was in 10.1 but really, the "superkeepers" are totally ruining it for me. The number of goals scored by strikers may be "realistic" but there is simply way, way too many easy chances being saved by keepers. It's just as bad as it was in FM 08, don't remember which patch it was, but they managed to fix it and now screw it up again.

Well , I think if match engine must rely on super keepers, that means this engine is totally a failure, and it's really disrespectful to all game players because it means SI did not spend time on that.

I really think it's good to release a new patch before 2010, focus on fix match engine.

It seems like all the strikers can only convert 1 out of 5 clear cut chances, screw this patch

I honestly do not see super keepers, seems fine to me and I prefer a keeper saving a little more than they should, rather than letting in 4 or 5 goals in a quick burst as with 10.1.

It seemed to me that before, keepers might as well not be in goals with every kind of shot going past them.

It seems like all the strikers can only convert 1 out of 5 clear cut chances, screw this patch

In real life, strikers only convert 15-20% of their one on ones. I remember seeing SI posting the statistic on it from the EPL I think.

I honestly do not see super keepers, seems fine to me and I prefer a keeper saving a little more than they should, rather than letting in 4 or 5 goals in a quick burst as with 10.1.

It seemed to me that before, keepers might as well not be in goals with every kind of shot going past them.

Not sure what's worse really. The number of long shots going in was bad in 10.1 for sure, but at least when you had a clear cut chance one on one with the keeper you knew you had a fairly good chance of scoring. As it is now, I see world class performances by keepers from both sides pretty much every single game. Even when they make a mistake that leads to a goal they make up for it by some amazing shot stopping.

In real life, strikers only convert 15-20% of their one on ones. I remember seeing SI posting the statistic on it from the EPL I think.

Did they show good striker's one on one rate? I was using David Villa, one of the best strikers in the world and his one one one rate is less than 20%. He missed at least 2 one on one per game. Did that happen in real time?!

What is tactic for? Create chance, let players score. When the game simply based on whos keeper is crazier, then it's meaningless to play.

I honestly do not see super keepers, seems fine to me and I prefer a keeper saving a little more than they should, rather than letting in 4 or 5 goals in a quick burst as with 10.1.

It seemed to me that before, keepers might as well not be in goals with every kind of shot going past them.

You must be kidding, all people I met who played 10.2 issued super keepers.

You must be kidding, all people I met who played 10.2 issued super keepers.

I don't find it an issue, but I play lower league football, maybe it is more evident at the top level.

Happens in lower leagues as well to me. Keepers pulling off wonder saves pretty much every single match. It was the same in FM 08. At first SI were saying it wasn't a problem, it's realistic according to their numbers etc etc but they did end up fixing in.

Does anyone find there is a lot of goals from corners btw? Didn't really notice anything excessive in my matches but looking at league stats, the first three teams have scored 14/13/12 goals from corners and there's still 10 games left to play. Seems a bit too much, no?

defenetly seems too much. Hull scored the most goals from corners last season-10.

Playing as At. Madrid, Asenjo still makes those ridiculous saves. I can remember one instance where C. Ronaldo fired in this laser from what couldn't have been more than 10 yards out. Not only was the shot incredibly well placed (top corner), but Asenjo just sort of...flew across the goalmouth to get it, and held onto it. I was honestly a bit appalled.

Nice psot mr Lavezzi. i agree with everythig you say aabout the ME.

Also if there were super keepers in the game why do I have a striker who has scored 15 goals in 19 games in my current season. Also last season on my game my top score scored 18 in 27 games. that doesn't look like super keepers to me.

I just played this game from 8pm to 6am.. I'm going crazy lol

It's not perfect but it's the best effort so far.

Blooming hard I tell you!

Aston Villa I am and currently 12th with a good squad, can't seem to get the tactics right though!

Haha, Yeh I am playing it for stupidly long hours as well.

My 15 year old regen is scoring quite a few goals in Switzerland, and I am coming first, still undefeated.

I find the long shots amount really realistic on my 10.2 patch. Not only the amount but also the manner in which they're scored. No more long shots when there's 4 defenders pressuring on 1 player and it still flies in, but when there's time and space.

It's also refreshing to see the Goal of the Month have goals other than screamers now. The nice team goals are back!

I'm finding that my full-backs and defensive midfielder (if I play one) are scoring with longshots even though they all have very low "long shots" attribute (below 10) and are on "rarely" for the long shots player instruction, but my attacking midfielders and wingers who all have high "long shots", "off the ball", "strength", "finishing" and "technique" aren't scoring from distance at all anymore despite having their long shots player instruction on "often". Those players now only ever seem to get goals from goalmouth scrambles or free kicks.

It's a bit annoying that my star attacking midfielder who was my highest scorer in my last season in 10.1.0 and was such a revelation that I made him captain, now isn't getting any long shots at all.