poor Ai, so random

Seems that FM 2012 has the same problems as the former versions. Even if it may be the best in its genre, the match AI is really very, very poor as it nota able to judge manager reactions.

It happens over and over again:

1. Your team plays well and gets a 2-0 lead

2. As you are playing away from home and slight underdog, you say calmly that you're pleased and to keep up (If that is not a correct team talk, team talks would better be taken out of the game)

3. Players don't react or react positively

4. Your players come out motivated, confident. Other team without confidence, nervous.

5. Opposition team doesn' change formation

Logic reaction: do nothing, no indication that you would have any reason to change something

Suddenly opposition scores a goal from nowhere, even if you still dominate the game

And now: a real Football manager wouldn't panic. But FM is just a bunch of pre-programmed scenario's. If you don't do some changes here, you will get more goals, even if you continue to dominate the game. Suddenly, each opposition chance is a goal. And this happens time after time after time.

Not so important what you do, as long as you do it. Because: FM want to compensate the "active" manager. It cannot make correct interpretations.

The opposition make changes, but you don't.

Then they score.

That's why they did it.

Maybe if you make changes, even small ones, they won't score.

Try doing something rather than just complaining about it.

every time i am winning i get green when i do exactly that.

except wigan.. but then nothing ever happens except pink with wigan :/

2-0 up at half time you have to make some tactical change. I usually play more cautiously second half. Usually still win. Lose or draw maybe 1/20.

You say pleased, keep it up, calmly. This is a team talk that reduces pressure on the players and make them relax. They won't work as hard now. The opponent, being the favourite, is probably aggressive, assertive or passionate plus quite displeased. Their players will come back on the pitch willing to sacrifice themselves to claw back a win.

If they don't score the first 20 minutes or so you will be fine because by then they will lose confidence and focus. If they score they will be fired up and your team will become nervous.

You do everything wrong. And you do it every time your team has a good first half. Time to re-think your idea of what a manager's job is, I think. Contrary to popular opinion, a manager's job is -not- to tell his players the truth. The truth is that they played well and should just continue doing what they did in the first half. Sadly, if you tell them that, the opposite is what will happen in the second half. Do a "SAF"... tell them that they were rubbish when they play well, and that they are good players capable of anything when they play badly. See what happens.

And for God's sake ignore those red and green arrows. They mean nothing. What means anything at all in FM is the absence of the terms "nervous" or "complacent" in the motivation gadget. And for the record, the "playing with confidence" feedback is pretty much the same as "complacent" especially if there is one or more other players who are complacent.

And now: a real Football manager wouldn't panic. But FM is just a bunch of pre-programmed scenario's.

Yes, several trillion pre-programmed scenarios.

The fact that you no longer need a goal and the opposition now need two goals indicates that you should change something. In real life, teams don't attack intensely all match.

There is no "he hasn't made any changes lately, better penalise him" effect in the ME.

marcus--

I think you've woven a couple of conflicting or false premises into an errant criticism. First off, your thread title ("poor ai, so random") directly contradicts the heart of your criticism: that the same unfavorable result occurs "time after time after time". More importantly, the experience of many veteran FM players (including my ownself) shows that praising the team and leaving your tactic unchanged when ahead at the half often results in a victory. Next, FM is not "just a bunch of pre-programmed scenarios". The code is largely probability-driven and contains relatively few hard-wired outcomes. Finally, SI has stated in the past that there is no "compensation" against the human manager in the sense that you mean it: to even things up. AI teams do adjust over time to your tactics and success but that's something entirely different (and quite reasonable).