According to the ME

Ok, I've started watching the games fully as the ME is driving me mad! My point is this, I can't recognise whether it's my Tactics, Teamtalks or Individual Player errors/glitches that cost me goals and games. I have no clue how to upload highlights, although I wish I could to show more proof. The reason I come with this is my players make a lot of mistakes and don't play how I want them to even though they are fluid with the tactic, albeit a defender with time and an option hoofing the ball aimlessly when I have a short, slow tempo passing game to a player holding on to the ball needlessly for too long when there is an option on. These cost me goals. The number of stupid clearances are killing the game for me. It's like watching a team play who've never played football before. Now, all the individual errors are unnoticed by the stats and the end of the apart from on 2 or 3 occasions, so is it my tactics? I'm certain that to the most part the game is influenced by my tactics but I can't help but get annoyed by these players mistakes, the worst thing is I can't point out why I'm annoyed at them or what they did wrong so can not rectify the situation for future games.

Is this just me or do others have the same problem?

Same here, but I'm used to it being a complete dumbass. The ME is awful at actually showing what is going on in the game.

Is this just me or do others have the same problem?

Heh. Everybody has this problem. It's why most of us play the game. Without knowing more about your exact situation. it's hard to give specific advice but the answer to what's causing you problems (tactics, teamtalks or players) may be: any or all of the above. Here's a couple of candidates:

a. using The Tactic That Eats Itself (such as playing a rigid, tight defensive tactic with high closing down and aggressive tackling -- this constantly stretches your defense out of shape and defeats its purpose)

b. employing a tactic that doesn't match the skills of your squad. You may have good quality players but if their skills are attack-oriented and you're playing a defensive tactic, your results may suffer. Or: playing a high defensive line with slow defenders; this can kill you.

One thing I've learned over the years is that small, seemingly insignificant changes can have substantial effects. So my best advice is this: continue watching the full match; there's a world of difference in the game you'll see versus even the Extended highlights. Don't change things just to change but pick out a single type of mistake or failure that's costing you goals at either end. Fix that and move on to the next one. Here's an example of one big problem I just solved: I'm managing in the depths of NI2. On every goal kick, my good-quality keeper invariably blasts the ball upfield, right at the feet of the opposition. We're constantly turning the ball over and it's killing us. We finish fourteenth and barely survive the season. So...I reduce the team's creative freedom a notch, set the keeper's Creative to zero, put him on shortest passing and distribution to a very good DR. The next season, the keeper has the best passing stat in the entire league and we finish third. Obviously, other factors contributed to the team's improvement as well but I'm certain that this one fix made a huge difference.

If you're asking a serious question and not just indulging in a rant, there is a LOT you can learn by immersing yourself in the Tactics forum, where gurus show you how to read the match and make appropriate tactical adjustments.

Woo! I'm a total noob myself but I remember reading something SFraser wrote. It was something about how you cannot control the players' minds. They are built to play a certain style, it's their nature. So you can sort of restrict what you want them to do, the general philosophy...

If you play Man United for example. If you set the settings the same for your right winger, doesn't really matter how. Park Ji Sung and Nani are going to play different styles no matter how you want them to play. They'll SORTA listen to your instructions but their instincts and natural playing style will mainly dictat what they do on the field.

I hope that helped... So you need to have the right players, who will play your style effectively!

could it be as simple as using the 'shouts' and selecting 'play out of defence'? The opposite of this is 'pump ball into box' which will result in your centre halfs (halves?!) hoofing the ball. Try using 'play ball to feet' and seeing if that changes anything.

It was a bit of both phnompenhandy. I know the tactics and the shouts, I use them and change them and try to find what's best for my team. I'm not struggling, Promoted in my first season, top 4 in the last two, my point is the stupid player actions. If this is just their mentality then so be it, but I don't believe they would happen as often and as radically by professional footballers as in the ME. It is realism we want isn't it? I understand I will lose due to my tactics and win due to my tactics but some of the players decisions and actions are ridiculous!

I agree with you to some extent. But there's maybe not much we can do about it. Each years' ME are differently styled.

could be a coincidence, but i've found that if i give my defenders their specific roles, they defend better. for example, my Centre backs used to be set as CB (Defend). I noticed my coach telling me Agger should be CB (Cover) and Wilson was something like CB(Block). now i've set them as that, they seem to work better as a team.

In the same way Joeykim said, behind the ME, you have a specific schema defined by your player, the position, role and task you give to him, philosophy of your tactic, strategy and so more.

Our job, it is, by the way of the sliders (or shouts it's the same), to influence the way the player do his thing. We can constrain him to do some things, or we can push him to force over his capacities. Each player will see possible action, his technique or capacities will decide of the success or not of this action he choose to do, and he will decide or not the priority of the action according to the sliders like (run with ball, long shots etc.)

So if you are not happy with the behaviour of some players, can be lot of trouble possible :

- He plays a bad position, or a bad role. Partnership between players are not good. They don't play complementary.

- Your team philosophy are not good, or strategy....perhaps tempo, width.

- Your player has a bad decision attribute so he is a dummy.

- You ask things over the capacities of your player so he do bad.

- His condition or match exercise are not good enough to play good football.

- His morale or squad status are not accurate.

- His training tired him to play good football.

I take all your points on board and do appreciate your responses.