Tactics are to Vanilla now

With the new match screen at least half my FM08/07 tactics just aren't doable now. Main problem is attacking midfielder and wingers not coming inside, nor joining in attacks by running in the box when balls on the other wing. Can't play left and right Forwards now that will go to wings and cross. You can only put them stuck out on the wing, then they don't come inside very often. No sideways arrow movement at all sucks imo.

Also withdrawn striker role just doesn't work now, your far better off with an amc joining in with striker than a striker joining in with midfield.

Defensive MFs arrowed to drop back aren't covering back 4 well at all, they just go wandering about. I don't want my DMF closing down the wingers but seems little I can do to stop him even when MR/L and DL/R are there already. Leaves a big hole in the centre of the field which gets exploited by match engine all the time.

Basically you've taken all the fun out of spending time sorting out decent tactics. Variety was great, now its pretty vanilla tbh.

I'm having fun with it actually, experiment with narrow/wide and it makes a huge difference in how players respond.

I have, still wont do half the tactics you used to be able to do. Old system was much more controllable and the narrow/wide was there on FM08 anyway and has always been a great tool.

Before it was easier to just use diagonal arrows to get wide players to move inward or back/forward arrows to keep them centered. Now it's all about finding a balance of closing down, creativity and narrow/wide, and PPM's to get them to do what your wanting.

Sometimes different can be good once you get used to it...

All the arrows gave you were two formations - one defensive and one attacking. It was implemented to the detriment of every other tactical option. Position was king.

We have lost one option, but we have gained many others that just weren't effective enough before. Once people get used to the new system they will see how much more control they really have.

There was a huge debate over getting rid of the arrows when the change was made in FML... Once you get more familiar with the engine, it won't be so bad...They *are* planning on adding more functionality to do that winger "cut inside" movement, but meanwhile there are ways to compensate. 1) left-winger who is RIGHT-footed is much more likely to cut inside, right-winger who is LEFT-footed is the same, 2) adjusting formation width also helps here, 3) adjusting how often they try to cross will as well...etc...