Dedinho

But this is where it gets interesting for me when I read the "it's your tactics" reply - the obvious question appears and no one seems to be willing to touch it. I agree that it is my tactics. But is it my tactics in the scope of the game of football, or is it my tactics in the scope of whatever match engine is running in that particular FM version? If it's the former, I have no issues with it. But if it's the latter, then it often signals an issue.

This is where I started noticing something is off with the ME. Off the ball I did play somewhat pressing style of defence (not ultra aggresive though - I had a higher offensive line and standard defensive line - to be wary of counter attacks of the opposite team), so that wasn't the dead giveaway. My logic was "I want you to get the ball back as soon as possible, and when you do get it back, keep possession, be smart and patient and look for openings" - meaning shorter passing, slower tempo, work ball into the box...So high intensity off the ball, lower intensity with the ball. It had no consistency whatsoever.

Not knowing how a player will actually turn out, despite the fact your coaching and scouting staff has 17+ in both "Judging potential" and "Judging ability" is a MAJOR plus for me in FM games. Also not knowing how quickly can the player actually reach their potential is also something that enhances the experience for me. Some players actually develop now somewhat when playing for your u21 team. Some develop slower even when given first-team exposure, some faster.. I brought in a 18 year old left winger from Kobenhaven: 2.5 star CA, 5 PA. By the end of the season, he had 4 star CA. In the middle of the next season, he became "World class player". I did not expect of him to develop that quickly. Then again, bought some kids with high potential, and they have not developed as I hoped. And I love that aspect of the game. Same when you have an "average" (3 star CA, 3 star PA) 26 year old guy in your rotation. The guy playing the majority of games in his position gets an injury that puts him out for 6 months. Oh well, I guess the back up will have to do. When you check the profile of the backup after 6-7 months of regular playing, he developed to a 3,5/4 star player. Huh??! The first team player is finally back, and now I don't know who to start!! I love those scenarios.

Meh, I'd be completely content with ME being more balanced out. It's really killing the experience when: - You're analyzing the squad you have (5 world class players, 9 good premier division players, 9 decent premier division players with high potential), creating a tactic that suits your squad's strength, thinking about if do x then y will suffer or vice versa, and trying to adjust everyting as perfectly as you can, just to end up losing 3 out of 5 league matches where your xG was 2.50-3,10 and your opponents was 0.40-0.70, just to then return to your tactics creator and in 50 seconds set "high press, high tempo, tackle harder..." and end up winning the next 6 games, even if the xG differences between you and the teams you were playing against weren't as high as they were when you were playing more cautiously with positive mentality, slightly shorter passing and shorter tempo, playing a mid-block/standard defensive line. - Your team having 20 shots, 11 on target, your opponents having 3 shots and 2 on target and the game finishing 1:1 - I know, it happens in football, and that's why we love the game, but not every 4-5 games. - Seeing your 2.5 stars striker (decent premier division player) in your 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1 formation scoring 13 league goals one season, 12 the next - and then splashing out 110 mil. on a 4.5 stars world class striker just to have him score 10 league goals the first season and then 12 the next. - Being in the title run (English premier league) and finishing 3rd with ultra aggressive gegenpress, not selling any of your key players, but actually adding one or two because you'll be playing in Champions League the next season, so you will need more quality in your rotation, and adjusting your tactics to a more real-life sensible approach because deep down you know that if a team played that style of football the whole season 1. they'd start dropping like flies within first 10 games, 2. Premier division teams would DEMOLISH them due to your goalkeeper being basically the only player in your own half for 87 minutes of the game - just to end up in a relegation battle, finishing the season in 16th, while being 3rd and in the title run until Matchday 36 the season prior. I could go on. It may feel harsh what I have written, but this is not frustration or intended as criticism towards SI, it's just disappointment because the idea of ME in FM24 being better is absolutely mouthwatering, given how much potential this game has. Even if the interactions and scouting are not perfect, I can still live with it, but I cannot with the current state of the ME. And the end of the day, football is all about results - if the dynamics of delivering the results is out of whack (whether in favor of me when I play aggresive gegenpress every game for 90 minutes or in favor of AI when I try to play more sensible version of football), then nothing else matters. I am a software developer myself, working on projects much less complex and smaller than Football Manager game, so I can only imagine how much stuff the dev team has to pay attention to. It cannot be easy. I am not bashing SI, I am rooting for them. If one could somehow put FM 17 ME into this FM 24 game - no one would see me for weeks probably. It has that much potential. Here's hoping the final patch addresses at least the most critical ME issues.

Hopefully because they are ironing out the ME issues. Balanced ME could easily put FM 24 as by far the best version out to date. Easily. I say that as someone who has played the vast majority of releases ever since FM 07.