On the pitch issues.

So, who has already taken Stoke to the top of the Premier League after beating Man United 5-0 along the way?

Who has struggled to get a single shot on target in the first 15 matches of the season and been sacked?

Who has already found an obscure tactic to win every game?

Who has managed to use a pre-set to get success on the pitch?

Good or bad, how are you actually getting on with the game.

Personally, I'm struggling like I always do when a new version comes out. Only managed to get through pre-season so far, but I've not scored a goal yet (standard 4-4-2 plus formation taking into account the asst manager's feedback)

I'm sure I'll get into it after restarting three or four times and learning the ropes/discovering which tactics are never ever going to work etc.

So, I take it no one is actually playing the game then?

Pretty much doing what I expected. I'm winning a few, losing a few more and oddly haven't drawn a match yet. Mid-table, but I haven't really toyed with the tactics much yet and my team struggle to assert themselves in games as a result.

ive bought about 6 players at man city, played all of pre-season and Uefa cup qualifiers and its just crashed, but wait, it gets better, like an idiot, i hadnt saved it. oh joy.

however, i know its not about the gameplay/tactics, and has been mentioned before but im finding it way too easy to buy players i.e. too cheaply:

lassana diarra - 5 mil

veloso - 12 mil

pogrebynak - 10 mil

arshavin - 16 mil

radoi - 8 mil

im sorry but the majority of those wud never happen that cheap

also, im finding it a bit tricky now that the direction arrows have been removed.. dont think they shud have been

Very hard to be honest.

I am in control of Leeds and have played 4 and won 3 drew 1.

Friendlies were hard and my tactics are a 4-3-3 with the middle MC tracking back and the two other MC's helping in attack.

Lack of the arrows is hard as I would like to have a 3-5-2 but not sure how to tell the outer DC's in that formation to drift wide?

I'm only five games into the season with Pompey. I lost the Community Shield 3-1 to Man Utd. I was 3 down in 25 mins, but quickly learned how to control the midfield a bit more and got back into it - a bit too late unfortunately

The league is going reasonably well with two away draws (Stoke and Everton) followed by two home wins (Spurs and Sunderland).

Tactically I started with 4-4-2, but an injury to Crouch and trying to get the best out of Kranjcar, Diarra and Hughes in the middle has forced me to go with a 4-3-3 or a 4-4-1-1. I'm not really having any problem without the arrows. Forward runs works a treat and I have been a bit less extreme with mentalities, just tweaking the obvious ones forward or back a little.

Other than that, I noticed they weren't hitting opponents on the counter, so I switched on counter attack. Also noticed that in some games my players were backing off so I turned on Tight Marking in the team settings and tweaked the closing down for the centre mids - can now do that without upsetting the shape and balance of midfield.

All in all I have found the tactics much more effective.

Lack of the arrows is hard as I would like to have a 3-5-2 but not sure how to tell the outer DC's in that formation to drift wide?

The reason DCs drift wide in a back three is to stop the threat of the wide players who would normally be dealt with by a full back. There are several ways to solve it, but the best, I think, is to mark the wide players in oppostion instructions. That means if the wing backs/wide mids have already picked up the man, the DC stays central.

An alternative is to increase the DCs' closing down. However, they may be drawn into central midfield if your midfielders don't pick up the runners, leaving the other team's wide players loads of space.

I would also suggest that Decisions, Positioning, Team Work and Anticipation are vital to making a back three work.

I don't think that managers tell the players to drift wide as such, but rather to ensure that they don't allow the wide players space.

My strikers do not score from good chances. All the goals are long shots, deflections or set piece goals. One-on-ones and high quality chances in the box are being blasted wide, over the bar or straight at the keeper. This ME really must be 8.0.1 in disguise. It's even more annoying because it was near perfect in 8.0.2.

Other than that I'm doing fine.

currently playing with my Liverpool side, coming 2nd in the premiership with 5,6 game played already. (only signing was Antonio Valencia from Wigan Athletic). have about 4,5 key injuries and i cant believe how i am doing to well at the moment .

Five games into the season now. Not won a single match yet, lost every one.

Once again it seems that 4-4-2 just won't work.

Additional annoyance that I was drawing the last one until I scored the most ridiculous own goal in history, five passes from my players, not one opposition player touched the ball beforemycentre back passed it straight past his own 'keeper!

Another silly thing I've noticed is the number of times I'm conceding from aimless punts from the goalkeeper which appear to be ALWAYS perfectly weighted for their striker to run through and score, and I've twice lost the ball on the centre spot after standing stock still for 10 seconds after taking a kick-off.