So I tried 18 games without 'exploiting' this simple ME.

And it was a joke, here's the results:

I used a 4-4-2 and 4-5-1 in my short experiment, these tactic gave me possessional dominance and gave me a lot of shots on goal, in most of the games I stood up as the winner, tactics wise, but goal wise I often found myself at the end of a disappointing draw or loss.

My test subject was a two timed PRM champion team Man City who had only lost 5 games the last two seasons with me in charge, that was of course with my tactic that does (well at least I think it does) use the weaknesses of the ME to score loads of goals.

Well they did dominate all right but the results were just pure random and in no match with the statistics. I guess you can always say "That's football" and "It's your tactic" but I've come across so many other people with these complaints of 30+ shots 60+% possesion and still find themselves ending up with 1 or even 0 points in the end (Draw or loss that is)!

After 18 games my team was with Poor morale, 4 of my players wanted to leave, and the board was loosing confidence. I was way down in 13th place and my last result was a 1 - 2 loss against Wolves.

Games: 18

Won: 8

Drew: 6

Lost: 4

Total shots: 336

On Goal: 130

CCC: 51

Goals: 25

After that loss I just gave up on trying the Mr.Legit way and went back to my old 4-4-2 tactic and my next match was up against Chelsea and my team was at its lowest confidence that I had ever seen it in.

Want to guess of that game went? 6 - 1. Cavani with a Hat-trick and a Corner goal from Sakho.

With my regular 4-4-2 tactic:

Games: 18

Won: 15

Drew: 1

Lost: 2

Total shots: 326

On Goal: 164

CCC: 49

Goals: 48

The games I picked for the statistics were just the last 18 fixtures with that specific tactic, I didn't pick out the best results from the 4-4-2 tactic and worst from the other one. Personal conclusion is that the ME needs a serious overhaul.

So lets compare my 4-4-2 (Easy win) tactic to my 4-5-1 and 4-4-2(Not so easy wins), statistically they are very similar, but the 4-4-2 brings me more goals. Trust me I did not 'try' to lose against Wolves, I almost punched the damn wall after that game, but instead I decided to switch back to the old tactic and you can see the next result after I switched in the image below. And please do compare the statistics in the game and ALSO keep in mind for all of the "Morale is key" fanboys out there that after the defeat against Wolves I went up against Chelsea with Very Low - Good morale, so Morally and statistically (and not even taking into account that Chelsea is twice as good as Wolves) that game should have been lost or a draw compared to recent results.

Game against Wolves: http://img830.imageshack.us/i/fm11mancityvswolves.png/

Game against Chelsea: http://img220.imageshack.us/f/fm11mancityvschelsea.png/

Results with the "normal" tactic: http://img24.imageshack.us/i/craptactic.png/

Results with "Corner & Poacher" tactic: http://img706.imageshack.us/i/goodtactic.png/

I did have all of the tactics set in match preparation and everything was "Accomplished" after the pre-season so there wasn't any "But they didn't have time to fully adapt" excuse.

So I dont really know what the point of this test was but these results do show that the ME is very faulty, but still FM is the most advanced Managing Simulator out there no doubt, but I found it interesting to put these results down on paper and share with you guys.

What do you guys make of this? Does the ME need a overhaul or is it something else?

I've read about the Corner settings exploit but never any exploit about a Poacher, what exactly do you mean?.

I've read about the Corner settings exploit but never any exploit about a Poacher, what exactly do you mean?.

Not really an exploit but its so easy to have your Striker score 40+ goals a season if he's set as a Poacher and has decent stats (Dzeko scored 42 goals for me in 36 PRM games)

Rest of the team doesnt really matter, just as long as the striker scores 50% of your team's goals. Its not as much of an exploit (or obvious) as the corner bug but I haven't seen strikers score more games than the play IRL and get 5+ hat-tricks a season.

I don't really know what your trying to show tbh.

You normally use a tactic that exploits the ME at corners and for some reason the poacher and replace it with a tactic where you score a goal from a corner in almost every game and where your striker scores more goals than games :confused:

How are those two tactics different? you still seem to be exploiting the ME in the same areas.

My 4-2-4 tactic led Las Palmas from mid-table anonymity in Liga Adelante to BBVA champions and Champions Cup champions in four seasons. How realistic is that? The holes are less obvious now than before, but they are there. I wouldn't want it any other way because maybe in 20 years Las Palmas may be a good team in BBVA, but I sure as hell wouldn't play 20 seasons to accomplish that.

I thrive off overperformance. The goal is to keep overperforming until I can leisurely stroll to league and cup championships with my backup players. That is fun - to have the best team in the world.

If this bothers you, become a manager who relies on good managing and skillful leadership rather than a perfect tactic. You were on a good way with your non-exploitation tactic there, why don't you just continue a dozen seasons and see if you can't beat the game in your more realistic way?

Edited: misread stuff

Although FM 11 is the best in its genre, it's still too far of a good real football simulation. The ME has preferences for some play style, Formation shapes and pace + acceleration attributes for forwards. That's also the case with all past versions of the game.

FM11: 433 "flat bands" > 442 > 451 with DM

FM 10 : 451 with DM > 442

Heh... I'm the first to talk about the failures of the ME, but to be honest this looks more like trolling.

From the very start its, 'oh I usually don't use legit tactics, but I will for this testing'. Absolutely zero credibility right off the bat. Your 'results' could faulty in any number of ways.

I don't really know what your trying to show tbh.

You normally use a tactic that exploits the ME at corners and for some reason the poacher and replace it with a tactic where you score a goal from a corner in almost every game and where your striker scores more goals than games :confused:

How are those two tactics different? you still seem to be exploiting the ME in the same areas.

Sorry my post is kind of confusing, clumsy choice of words I guess. So I'll make a short version:

1. I was dominating for 2 seasons with a tactic that gave me cheap goals that were mostly because of the bad ME.

2. I get bored of it and try to use a tactic that still dominates other teams, shots, possession and all that, but still brings me results that make me almost get sacked and players wanting to leave after 18 games with this tactic

3. I changed back to my old tactic and went back on track with using ME weaknesses to progress with my team and not get sacked.

Although FM 11 is the best in its genre, it's still too far of a good real football simulation. The ME has preferences for some play style, Formation shapes and pace + acceleration attributes for forwards. That's also the case with all past versions of the game.

FM11: 433 "flat bands" > 442 > 451 with DM

FM 10 : 451 with DM > 442

I agree, Pace + Acceleration is way too dominant when it comes to ST's, I noticed this in lower leagues specifically, a striker can have awful stats but 16+ Pace + Acceleration and net in loads of goals just because of that.

Heh... I'm the first to talk about the failures of the ME, but to be honest this looks more like trolling.

From the very start its, 'oh I usually don't use legit tactics, but I will for this testing'. Absolutely zero credibility right off the bat. Your 'results' could faulty in any number of ways.

Well congrazts on being the very first one... I guess.

Well thats one way to look at it but this was a tactic that I had been developing and tweaking for a while, I started with in the Icelandic league with Afturelding and then saved it, took over Man City and developed it from there. So if that earns me zero credibility, so be it. I never said my results were perfect, but I think they reflect the need for a proper ME that doesn't 'force' you to use its weaknesses to succeed.

... I haven't seen strikers score more games than the play IRL and get 5+ hat-tricks a season.

How many goals scored by messi this year? 50! He broke the record of Ronaldo (Brazilian striker) and Ronaldo scored 47 goals that season.

tbh i had that feeling too that it is somehow kind random or let us say random has bigger weight

can't score long shoots with same rate as opposite team

my better def in air can't handle a poor player in air and when mentioned that here they said attacker have an advantage !! didn't see that when vidic is playing for UTD !! what advantage ?

is small stuffs like that when accumulated make the game look like random which shouldn't be

yes it make game difficult but not fun. and give advantage for some formation and tactics like crossing above other systems. same Spain team who win Europe and World cup will struggle in FM, as they don't cross

same for counter attack, it suppose to be fast passing !! yet they often wait till def are back .. i stopped using that at the end

let us admit ME is forcing us to play certain tactics to win and exploring those small advantages here and their, which is not funny if you want to experiment with tactics

let us admit ME is forcing us to play certain tactics to win and exploring those small advantages here and their, which is not funny if you want to experiment with tactics

I have never knowingly exploited anything in the ME, i actually changed my corners to default to avoid that exploit early on. No one has to exploit ME weaknesses to win games in FM, but it does make it very easy.

You haven't explained anything about the difference between the two tactics, other than the formation.

Please give a bit more detail on what tactics you are using and perhaps we can understand what your point is.

Perhaps changes to play style etc could have affected the teams performance, i.e. check the match prep window? You've only mentioned formation and a corner bug but not whether you changed other play styles...obviously the game does penalize you for changing to a different tactic and different styles if your squad hasn't trained to accommodate it...

Perhaps changes to play style etc could have affected the teams performance, i.e. check the match prep window? You've only mentioned formation and a corner bug but not whether you changed other play styles...obviously the game does penalize you for changing to a different tactic and different styles if your squad hasn't trained to accommodate it...

People always seem to find some excuse, but like i said in my OP

I did have all of the tactics set in match preparation and everything was "Accomplished" after the pre-season so there wasn't any "But they didn't have time to fully adapt" excuse.

I've been using the default tactical wizard 4132 (with a few role changes to suit my players) for nearly 30 seasons and I'm the most successful manager of all time in my game by a massive margin. Have won the Premiership 21/22 of the last seasons.

my tactic is the bog standard 4-4-2 with minor adjustments to player roles and settings, team is on short passing, fluid system, and high pressing, everything else is standard.

People always seem to find some excuse, but like i said in my OP

No need to get ratty, my mistake as I missed that sentence.