[official] FM2009 feature announcement -assistant manager feedback

One question that has been asked a few times is, does the assistants advice get more accurate depending on his (or her - lol) stats?

If so, would it then be even easier for the bigger teams?

Will it have an effect on the match engine? IE, if you chose not to follow his advice, can you still win, or do you need to do exactyl what he says in order to win the game?

Hate to be Mr Negative, but I'm just hoping the ass man advice is better than scouting advice in FM08. As much for my sanity on the forums as my new FM09 purchase. I don't think I can stand 100 threads a day calling their assistants "dumb", "blind", "********", or any other insults usually reserved for refs.

Pre-match and in-match feedback from your Assistant Manager on how the team is performing and your player’s motivation levels, as well as hints on how your tactics are working and how you could outwit the opposition’s tactics.

The best feature for me in 09.Would give greater insight as to how the AI is trying to work out ur perfectly good looking formation from a few weeks back[in game of course]....

just dont make them to overpowering its not called Assitant manager 2009

Great video, Miles. (First time I've watched it). The Ass Man feedback looks great, but will it not make the game too easy? If you've got a good ass man, then his every word with regards on how to exploit the Oppo and not allow them to Exploit you will just make the game a time bomb for Diablo tactics. I'm not entirely sure how the whole feature is integrated, as you've let little slip, but too much info isn't always the best thing when it comes to tactics.

I hope the accuracy of their info. is dependant on their stats.

Yea DF, I agree. However, if you're fortunate enough to have a world class ass man, will he not begin to drive the team and you'll not really be involved. It'll be an "Ass Man Say do this to win" - You do it, you win - kind of scenario, which I'd absolutely hate.

I honestly think it is crucial that this feature works well and is genuinely useful - especially after it was missed out last year. The 3D match engine can be pants for all I care, as long as the assistant finally helps shed some light on where my tactics have been going so horribly wrong over the last few years! Without that any cosmetic features are mostly academic imho.

So, this happens in real time during the match?

So, this happens in real time during the match?

Apparently so.

what about physio advice during the game?

so when we get that dreaded "little green square" will we also get something like "player x is feeling his hamstring" (in which case whip him off) or "player x has a small impact injury after a late tackle" (then we could safely keep him on in the knowledge it would be unlikely to cause further damage)?

just as important as ass man feedback IMO

Good one

This might be the little trigger for those who continously struggle to have success because tactics have become so amazingly complex Seems like a good compromise between refusing to dumb the game down to less realism and allowing players some success without having to take a coaching degree.

I like the way some of you guys are talking as if SI don't have a clue what they are doing!

I'm sure it is implemented brilliantly!

I am sure you can still win if you don't follow your assistants advice, people can be wrong. I am sure if you have a rubbish assistant there is no point following what they say atall

good one Riz

The best feature for me in 09. Would give greater insight as to how the AI is trying to work out ur perfectly good looking formation from a few weeks back[in game of course]....

This might help answer the "my tactic got broken by the AI" by telling a little about how the AI has countered it or what's different about today's situation (where it's not working) from last game's situation (where it worked). In many cases, it's not your tactic, it's your opponent's tactic. This feature might shine some light on just that thing.

what about physio advice during the game?

A very good point. Managers can get some on-the-spot estimate of a player's injury even during a match, especially after a half-time in the locker room.

what about physio advice during the game?

so when we get that dreaded "little green square" will we also get something like "player x is feeling his hamstring" (in which case whip him off) or "player x has a small impact injury after a late tackle" (then we could safely keep him on in the knowledge it would be unlikely to cause further damage)?

just as important as ass man feedback IMO

I like this idea:thup:. If its too late for implimentation into FM2009 then perhaps it can go into a patch or even FM2010.

This could be very interesting, especially as for once it might change what I'm looking for in my ass man.

So far I just go for scouting abilities as the ass man valuation of players on the contract negotiation screens is the only useful way of help to me. Of course they should also be able to cover one training area well and maybe they should have a high training youngsters stat as they manage the reserves and u19 matches but that's it.

Now it might actually become important how much tactical knowledge he has and other attributes might be of some general importance.

I have to say I love the sound of this feature, almost as much as I love the idea of a truly awesome 3D match engine.

As others have said, I am a bit worried about it becoming a "do as the assistant says to win" feature, but I don't expect SI to be stupid enough to make that mistake

Really looking forward to this feature.

This feature is the one for me!

This is what it's all about baby!

*Goes insane*

what about physio advice during the game?

so when we get that dreaded "little green square" will we also get something like "player x is feeling his hamstring" (in which case whip him off) or "player x has a small impact injury after a late tackle" (then we could safely keep him on in the knowledge it would be unlikely to cause further damage)?

just as important as ass man feedback IMO

This..................

In response to this and the other posts asking if this feature is basically a "Win Match" button in disguise, short answer is: No, it's not. I posted a bit more info in the sticky thread earlier: http://community.sigames.com/showpost.php?p=1599792&postcount=563

There will be more info about the assistant manager feature in the upcoming blogs I would imagine but naturally what the assistant picks out from the match is linked to his abilities.

Thanks Riz, thats great to hear.

its nice to see this feature in there, and is one I asked for a while ago. in particular, I was hoping the assistant could be used to alert you to stupid selection mistakes (e.g. putting a striker in defence, or forgetting that your club captain was now back from suspension etc)

I think this is definately a great addition to the series and am very much looking forward to testing it out as I can see huge potential for it. Up to the current release of FM, the match day has been very dull and repetitive. There was no way for you to experiment and receive feedback that was actually worth paying attention to.

With the assistant manager feedback feature, I think this will greatly improve the game's match day scenarios and will get the manager more involved in the tactical aspect of the game.

I have to say I love the sound of this feature, almost as much as I love the idea of a truly awesome 3D match engine.

As others have said, I am a bit worried about it becoming a "do as the assistant says to win" feature, but I don't expect SI to be stupid enough to make that mistake

It'll be the subject of much 'it's cosmetic' based malcontent come late November I'm sure.

I am really pleased by the potential of this feature. It's one that's been requested many times on this forum so good on yous for listening.

I have been quite frustrated trying to troubleshoot some performances in my game at the moment. I am hoping even if the assistant manager doesn't always get his advice right - the kind of things he suggest will at least point me in areas I might try to tweak.

As others have said, I am a bit worried about it becoming a "do as the assistant says to win" feature

C'mon, really? I worry about the opposite, in effect. That if you try to follow the advice you'll either notice little difference, or will hurt your performance.

I know that sounds pessimistic, but here's how I think the feature will be implemented:

The 'tactics' feedback will be the nearly identical equivalent of the pre-match scouting report, but based on the tactic currently being played by the opposing team. And that will be all. Maybe a few new 'observations' such as "The guy that just scored a hattrick against you? He's a threat and we should control him".

The 'motivation' feedback will be new information, but will basically be a combination of a report on morale, and game stats. IE, things we could learn by going to the player profile and looking at the match stats. It'll be handy in that we can now get this info on one screen, but it won't really be insightful or new information.

.........

I hope my predictions are blown out of the water though, because I have high long-term hopes that SI bring the players into the tactical side of the game a bit better, with more feedback and sense of understanding and ease of operations, etc..

I wish that a new user could hire 'The perfect Assistant Manager' who would basically give the best advice available and lead the player through the tactical apparatus to bring them to a point where they feel comfortable interpreting the match and making changes. But I do think that is some way down the road.

That said, I think this is a step in the right direction.

I agree with Smac's comments...

On top of that, I'm thinking about the feedback on my own players...that is..."player X is playing too deep and player Y is wasting too many goal-scoring opportunities"...and I can tweak player X's forward run, mentality and maybe position....and player Y's long shot, mentality...and maybe even tweak the whole teams tempo...

However, unless I have a way to interact with individual players, this feature may become more confusing than helpful...let's say the feedback is "player X is caught with the ball too often, and player Y is rushing his passes" do I then tweak tempo up or down?

I also hope my train of thought is incorrect, but I am thinking based on the present logic in terms of what the ME captures presently....like runs, pass completion, tackles, sot etc...

Without further information on what will be fedback, it's purely guess work on my part...

But like Smac said...this is surely a big step in the right direction..

In my current save game I was getting quite frustrated with my tactic, it was working (I won the league, just) but several times in the season I had the old 20 shots to the oppos 1 and drew 1-1. I finally figured out that my backline was too deep, and my DMC was attempting through balls to often (from far too deep) meaning my strikers were shooting from too far out. It took me the entire season to work out what was wrong.

I am imagining with assistant feedback along the lines of 'the team is too stretched' I would have figured this out far easier and not have had as much frustration as I did.

All in all SI deserve a big pat on the back for including this feature.

I agree with Smac's comments...

On top of that, I'm thinking about the feedback on my own players...that is..."player X is playing too deep and player Y is wasting too many goal-scoring opportunities"...and I can tweak player X's forward run, mentality and maybe position....and player Y's long shot, mentality...and maybe even tweak the whole teams tempo...

However, unless I have a way to interact with individual players, this feature may become more confusing than helpful...let's say the feedback is "player X is caught with the ball too often, and player Y is rushing his passes" do I then tweak tempo up or down?

I also hope my train of thought is incorrect, but I am thinking based on the present logic in terms of what the ME captures presently....like runs, pass completion, tackles, sot etc...

Without further information on what will be fedback, it's purely guess work on my part...

But like Smac said...this is surely a big step in the right direction..

I've always thought that there should be an individual tactical adjuster 'ball retention' where you can set a player to release as soon as possible i.e 'one touch' or keep hold of the ball longer 'wait for options' or drive forwards with the ball 'take on man'.

These are not quite the same as dribble, hold up, etc.

I've always thought that there should be an individual tactical adjuster 'ball retention' where you can set a player to release as soon as possible i.e 'one touch' or keep hold of the ball longer 'wait for options' or drive forwards with the ball 'take on man'.

These are not quite the same as dribble, hold up, etc.

Yes mate...quite true...but then again...if we have too many selections for individual players...we are bound to "confuse" the team...at the moment, we are already unsure what each slider does exactly...having more of them, we might tell one player to do something that might cancel out what we told another player to do...even the same player...we might give conflicting instructions...

For instance...if I told a player to hold up ball...and at the same time tell the whole team to play fast tempo...perhaps this player's individual instruction may over-ride the team instruction...but if there are more individual instructions...we are bound to send mix signals to him and he won't do what we thought we told him to do...

Does this make sense?

I'm just concerned that the Assman's feedback might already do this to us...and we go click around during the match thus confusing our palyers...sure, we can ignore him...but hey, if his tactical attribute is 20...do I really want to insist that I am better than he is?

Therein lies the problem I see...there's no point listening to an Assman with 2 for tactical attribute, and at the same time, we really can't dismiss the advise from someone with 20 tactical attribute...therefore, depending on whether you have an Assman at which end of the spectrum....there is always only one option play it...

Let's for argument sake say all our coaches can give feedback...and one guy with 11 tactical attribute says to attack more while a guy with 18 tactical attribute says defend deeper...which one will you follow??

Like I said, while I'm excited about this new feature...I have not seen it...so I'm only speculating...I hope I am wrong and the feature rocks...I know I've been asking for it since the 2-D started...let's help SI make it workable...

After struggling to come to terms with FM08 tactically i welcome the Ass Man advice.

But i have this nagging doubt as to how it will be implemented.

Will it be a matter of saying... "we need to go more denfensive" without actually giving you a clue as to how to implement that into the sliders. Because with my expeirence in FM knowing what you want your players to do and being able to get them to do it is something else.

Sadly this is probably the feature that'll make me rush out and buy this year; I'm tired of having no success and just not being able to work out why. Even just some simple 'you're better than them, play aggressively for a change!' would be helpful for me. I tend to make a home and an away tactic and stick with them all season without touching them due to a lack of knowledge of what I'm doing.

As long as the Ass Man doesn't suggest playing a striker in goal then it should b a good addition.

Are there any screenies of this??

I think this is yet another excellent addition to the game - I have to say this years list of additions has been the best yet(and there is still more to come).

The tactics in this game can be rather detailed to say the least imo so having ingame help pointing you in the right direction is a very welcome feature for people like me who dont necessarily like spending hours tweaking bars to find a decent tactic.

Thanks SI.

I'm just concerned that the Assman's feedback might already do this to us...and we go click around during the match thus confusing our palyers...sure, we can ignore him...but hey, if his tactical attribute is 20...do I really want to insist that I am better than he is?

Therein lies the problem I see...there's no point listening to an Assman with 2 for tactical attribute, and at the same time, we really can't dismiss the advise from someone with 20 tactical attribute...therefore, depending on whether you have an Assman at which end of the spectrum....there is always only one option play it...

Its a perfectly valid concern that we might wind up with an A.M. whose advice we always follow, or never follow. However, we-the-community have had many discussions of this topic, some from before the data purge and some after.

I think we had fully addressed all of those concerns.

Looking at your example, where you discuss "Contradictory Instructions", that seems like an obvious one that your A.M. could call out to you without "breaking the game". For example, he might say "Look, you have your right winger set to Run With Ball Often but Hold Up Ball. Those can be contradictory and seem to be confusing him - which do you really want him to do?"

Other approaches you could take with it include offering more than one suggestion:

"Our fullback Jim Smith is going forward at inopportune times, leaving a gap that the opposition are exploiting. You might consider replacing him with Tim Cower, who is slower but makes better Decisions, or you might want to instruct Jim to make fewer forward runs."

Add to that the idea that different A.M.'s will have different tactical preferences:

"We have a one-goal lead with fifteen minutes to go, but we're still attacking. That makes us vulnerable on the counter-attack. I suggest we take off a striker and bring on an extra defender for a 5-4-1."

"We have a one-goal lead with fifteen minutes to go, but we're still attacking. That makes us vulnerable on the counter-attack. I suggest you limit the forward runs of your fullbacks and central midfielders so that we give the opposition less room on the counter."

And finally, have the A.M. point you towards a local maximum, not a global maximum.

In other words, if I'm working on perfecting a 5-3-2, my A.M. will help me make slight adjustments that make my 5-3-2 better ... rather than telling me that the perfect formation for this version of the match engine is a diamond 4-4-2 with farrows to FR/FL by both my wingers.

Finally, make the tactical advice never wrong, but make a Tactical Knowlege 2 A.M. fail to spot some problems, give you less detailed advice, etc.

If you layer all of those items in together, it pretty much solves all of the problems listed: one, we never have the "disregard everything he says" problem because the A.M. isn't really "wrong". You also don't have the "follow everything he says" problem because the A.M.'s advice is aimed at correcting slight problems, which you may or may not want to do, or countering specific things that the opposition is doing, which you may or may not choose to do. And, of course, it doesn't give you the "how to win" for a given match, because it doesn't point you to the global optimum solution, just a local maximum, a slight improvement over what you're already doing.

If we've been able to come up with all of those types of solutions in-forum, surely the talented design team at SI have similar (or possibly even better) ideas in mind, and the only question I have is how far they're going to be able to take it on the first go-around.

Well said Amaroq.

I'd add that I don't think the AI even knows 'how to win', so this throws a bit of a wrench into the works to some degree, if you look at it as improving a tactic towards some optimal state. Hence the doubt as to whether the suggestions will be useful. But I find your optimism uplifting.

But lets say there is no way for the AI to have a sense of optimal tactical responses, and hence little sense of optimization of a particular tactic. Can the AssMan feedback still be useful?

I think it can, if only by pointing out certain things that don't appear to be working well. IE, if you're closing down a hugely talented AMC and he's burning your DMC all the time, perhaps this 10:1 'win' ratio would trigger a set of suggestions with 'high closing down' being weighted fairly heavily as a 'probably should change' given the conditions. But without some confidence in an overall optimization of a particular tactic, all such suggestions have to be taken with a huge grain of salt.

For instance, lets say you've overloaded the midfield with the hope that your fullbacks will be open to wide play. If your MCs are consequently getting closed down a lot, or are failing to provide link-up play with the forwards, this is actually what you wanted yet how will the AssMan know this? He'll suggest some way to get your MCs more involved, or to bring back the FCs to link up, and this will deflate your original intention if followed. I can't help but think that many suggestions outside a situation where the AI has some understanding of optimization will pull a tactic into an average state, rather than a superior state. And I really don't think the AI has any knowledge of optimization beyond a few basics. So....

Good points - and that's why I think we won't ever have a "follow everything he says to win" A.M.

We'll see how it goes. I'm expecting that, just like every other feature, I'm going to see plenty of places where it could be improved during the first year .. but by the third year I'm going to be getting great value from it.

That's the plan I'm encouraged that SI have taken the plunge. Hopefully we'll see this improve over the next few iterations no matter how great or not-so-great the feature is in the first release.

Are there any screenies of this??

Screenshot of Tactical Feedback

Here is one.

Finally, more assman interaction. Hopefully their stats will have more bearing on their judgment as well, because i really dont see much difference between a world class one and a local obscure one right now.

I dont think itll be that much of an advantage just to help the less experienced managers. If youve played the game long enough you can see where your tactic might be going wrong(though its not always just the tactic) I think the new assman will just sum up what went wrong for you in the match and what went right so u can put that to your advantage. Kind of like the TM assman if youve played that game.

i just hope it won't turn into something that is more an irritant than helpful.

and can finally tell me why the hell the opposition goalkeeper is always super man when he plays against my team

Great points Amarog and Smac...

Of course, you guys are right...there is no way the ME can come up with a 'win solution'...but my concerns arise from different levels....let's see if I can articulate what I mean...please understand that I am using your points to illustrate my points (which may be totally incorrect...) ...please do not take it as I'm tearing your points apart...in other words, I don't mean to cause offence and please do not take it as a personal attack...

Looking at your example, where you discuss "Contradictory Instructions", that seems like an obvious one that your A.M. could call out to you without "breaking the game". For example, he might say "Look, you have your right winger set to Run With Ball Often but Hold Up Ball. Those can be contradictory and seem to be confusing him - which do you really want him to do?"

This of course would be the best case and is exactly what all of us have been really asking for....one possible problem with this is, after a fair number of matches...we the users, will be able to come up with a list of instructions that aid or hinder another instruction...I'm not sure if this is what SI would allow....I'm making an assumption here, but if SI really wanted us to fully understand tactical sliders, they would not have ignored us all these years when we ask for a breakdown of their functions...

So in a way, this sort of feedback, while is great for the users, are in fact helping us 'break the code'...so to speak...

So I can see only two ways this feature will go...one, half or more of the instructions will not be covered....two, the feedback given are not always accurate, making them workable sometimes only...

"Our fullback Jim Smith is going forward at inopportune times, leaving a gap that the opposition are exploiting. You might consider replacing him with Tim Cower, who is slower but makes better Decisions, or you might want to instruct Jim to make fewer forward runs."

This would be wonderful, but I doubt the ME is that sophisticated...

The Assman would probably suggest a player he rates higher who is sitting on the bench...this is the player who is overall rated higher, not by individual attributes...you know...like when you click on suggest team function, the Assman comes up with his best XI?...now if you leave one of his suggestions on the bench, he is likely to tell you to take 'your' choice out and put in his choice during the match...

I cannot see how the ME can work out and then tell us which attributes of certain players are causing 'problems' for us (or even the AI for that matter....)...and....it can therefore not be able to suggest a remedy using only certain attributes of players sitting on the bench...

I would love it if I am proven wrong on this point...your suggested feature alone would take this game's AI to a whole new level...

"We have a one-goal lead with fifteen minutes to go, but we're still attacking. That makes us vulnerable on the counter-attack. I suggest we take off a striker and bring on an extra defender for a 5-4-1."

"We have a one-goal lead with fifteen minutes to go, but we're still attacking. That makes us vulnerable on the counter-attack. I suggest you limit the forward runs of your fullbacks and central midfielders so that we give the opposition less room on the counter."

Aye....this is highly workable...we are given a few suggestions and we can choose one or none at all...

Actually, I think this is the most likely feedback we will get...no win solution, no counter tactics...just plain logical suggestions where none are completely wrong and none are completely right...

It's a bit of a mind f#@k but that is what real life is like...I'd love this addition whether or not it actually helps with the result...

It'll get us to think about various aspects of tactical situations and that is always a good thing...

And finally, have the A.M. point you towards a local maximum, not a global maximum.

In other words, if I'm working on perfecting a 5-3-2, my A.M. will help me make slight adjustments that make my 5-3-2 better ... rather than telling me that the perfect formation for this version of the match engine is a diamond 4-4-2 with farrows to FR/FL by both my wingers.

Well mate....I fully agree with you here...the ME at the moment allows us to select a formation and then 'helps' us by suggesting the best players for each postion as we have dictated...it does not suggest the best formation based on the players that we have...

However, this 'local' maximum pointing method has a flaw...there is little harm done to the formation if we choose to accept what the Assman says...a 5-3-2 is still a 5-3-2 after 'tweaking'...who is to say which of the 'before' or the 'after' version is superior?

That said, it is never wrong to follow the Assman's suggestion...well...if nothing else, a 'let's see what happens' would prevent us from NOT trying it....on top of this...if our premise is correct here...the Assman is going to continue to suggest the same 'improvements' if we choose to ignore him while using the same formation, match after match...we'd follow his suggestion to firstly shut him up, and secondly to see what else he has to say...

In other words...his suggestion will (should) always be followed...

Finally, make the tactical advice never wrong, but make a Tactical Knowlege 2 A.M. fail to spot some problems, give you less detailed advice, etc.

Yes mate...I understand this...but as a user, I fail to spot most of the tactical problems...so an Assman who misses 'some' details is still streets ahead of me in terms of making tactical decisions...

In other words, I still should follow all of his suggestions...

If we've been able to come up with all of those types of solutions in-forum, surely the talented design team at SI have similar (or possibly even better) ideas in mind, and the only question I have is how far they're going to be able to take it on the first go-around.

Amen to this mate...

I think it can, if only by pointing out certain things that don't appear to be working well. IE, if you're closing down a hugely talented AMC and he's burning your DMC all the time, perhaps this 10:1 'win' ratio would trigger a set of suggestions with 'high closing down' being weighted fairly heavily as a 'probably should change' given the conditions. But without some confidence in an overall optimization of a particular tactic, all such suggestions have to be taken with a huge grain of salt.

This part, mate, is perfect...the Assman tells us things that are already listed in the stats screen...since not all of us can be bothered (or even fully understand the implications of the stats...)...he is simply highlighting/interpreting what's happening on the field...

I can live with this...

Except...I doubt he will give us one 'solution' to the problem...that way, like I said earlier, will give us the users, a code-breaker to tactics...he might just tell us the problem and leave it to us to solve it...

The more I think about this, the more I like it...

For instance, lets say you've overloaded the midfield with the hope that your fullbacks will be open to wide play. If your MCs are consequently getting closed down a lot, or are failing to provide link-up play with the forwards, this is actually what you wanted yet how will the AssMan know this? He'll suggest some way to get your MCs more involved, or to bring back the FCs to link up, and this will deflate your original intention if followed. I can't help but think that many suggestions outside a situation where the AI has some understanding of optimization will pull a tactic into an average state, rather than a superior state. And I really don't think the AI has any knowledge of optimization beyond a few basics. So....

I agree mate...if this can be done...then surely the AI teams will always win against human teams as it is now...

Good points - and that's why I think we won't ever have a "follow everything he says to win" A.M.

We'll see how it goes. I'm expecting that, just like every other feature, I'm going to see plenty of places where it could be improved during the first year .. but by the third year I'm going to be getting great value from it.

Yes mate...I think SI is on the right track...we do need to help improve it over time...but hey...it's a start and I'm excited!!

I agree mate...if this can be done...then surely the AI teams will always win against human teams as it is now...

I take it you mean: "If this were true, the AI would right now be very impressive, but since they are not, we can assume the AI doesn't optimize very well (if at all)".

Nice post, and I can't help getting excited in spite of my reservations. I love this kind of thing, programming-wise, so I'm very interested to see what SI come up with.

I take it you mean: "If this were true, the AI would right now be very impressive, but since they are not, we can assume the AI doesn't optimize very well (if at all)".

Nice post, and I can't help getting excited in spite of my reservations. I love this kind of thing, programming-wise, so I'm very interested to see what SI come up with.

Nice paraphrasing mate...but not exactly what I was trying to say...

Alrighty...the AI as it is now is plenty impressive....but what I meant was...my belief on how it works right now is the AI having a few options depending on how the match is going...say AI team is dominating, they can play as it has, or switch to be slightly more defensive to ensure a win...if they are losing by a narrow margin, they can go to the dreaded 4-2-4 attack...if they are losing badly, they may switch to being very defensive to not be embarassed further...and so on...depending on the situation, the AI has a few options to choose from. Then depending on the manager, players available to the team etc...a decision is made and a tactic is selected.

(of course it is a lot more complex than this...but I've maybe only listed a few of the hundreds of permutations available...)

In your suggestion, the Assman has to be able to analyse each player's instruction and how it affects his play through his ability...and then make suggestions on how to change it...either by instructions to the player or by changing a player...

If this can be done...then there is no way a human user can beat an AI team....even if the human player knows every possible permutation the AI has to work with...the human player still cannot change tactics fast enough to cope with the AI's changes...

And also...all results between AI teams will be based on club reputation or players' ability...because from a tactical point of view...they can both chop and change to 'perfect' all areas...and the result is only down to the team's players' ability...meaning the bigger teams with better players will always win.

This isn't the case though, which leads me to think that the ME and AI cannot (or at least, do not...) tweak tactics to such a fine point as to base it on every individual attribute of every player or even individual stat-given...

Therefore, because the ME and AI cannot do this, I have to assume that our Assman cannot even see this too, let alone giving us feedback to 'improve' the situation on such minute and focused information...

What he can 'see' would be more obvious..."their main striker is running our CBs ragged...do something boss"...as oppose to "our right-sided CB is left footed, dives in on tackles and is not good enough on the turn, change him out and put in our sub-CB who is right footed, has higher bravery and doesn't dive into tackles...set him to tackle easy and mark man and that should solve our problem..."...

Mate...I'm actually agreeing with your observation..."And I really don't think the AI has any knowledge of optimization beyond a few basics. So...."...

Yet...after saying all this...I am still hopeful that I am wrong...and like yourself, I pray that this feature will bring tha game to a new level...

Hope springs enternal, yes?