Two major annoyances in the match engine (still!)

FM 2014 is the first one I've tried since FM 2009. I've been enjoying it quite a bit, but there are two major annoyances in the match engine that were there in FM 2009 and are still there today. I wonder how much these two have been discussed.

I'll use my Liverpool team mates in the examples, I'm sure everyone will recognize their realistic positions.

1) The "oh god, I'm a striker, gotta get back to my position!" syndrome.

This is what happens when one of your strikers drops back to battle for a ball, very often in your own half. So, the ball is there in your own half and two players are running for it. One of them is an opponent and one of them is your striker, say Daniel Sturridge. In trying to get the ball, Sturridge comes quite deep into his own half. But he doesn't get the ball: the opponent gets to it first. And at this instant, Sturridge forgets all about the ball, makes absolutely no effort to get it or hassle the opponent in any way, because he realizes that he's a striker and starts quickly making his way back up the pitch to his normal position.

Hand on heart, folks: nobody would ever do this. It's incredibly annoying, and it isn't even a rare sight.

2) The "I'll just wait for the long ball to arrive even though the opponents won't" syndrome.

So, Glen Johnson plays a long ball from right-back up to left wing, where Coutinho is. Coutinho remains nice and stationary, waits for the ball to get to him. He makes no effort to come closer, he just waits for it. BUT THE OPPONENTS DON'T. They are aware of the trajectory of the ball, they make an effort to stop it from reaching Coutinho. Coutinho, on the other hand, remains blissfully unaware of all this. He either does or does not get the ball in the end, but no matter what, he won't make an effort to get it.

Oh dear.

Has all this been discussed to death already?

My own favourite is:

Team is instructed to build from the back, short passing, defender collect from goalkeeper and/or quick throw, retain possession. The opposition however are really good in pressing. Fullback gets the ball but is being closed down well. Does he

(a) Pass the ball back to the keeper who will then distribute to the other side and try to beat the press from there?

(b) Realise that he has no good options and just punt the ball along the touchline so that if (as is likely) he turns the ball over he does so as safely as possible, and as far away as possible?

© Say "sod it" and punt the ball to Row Z?

(d) Attempt an idiotic cross-field ball that is intercepted by the opposition central midfielder who then gets a 3-on-3 break on?

Guess what happens in FM almost all the time?

Not noticed the first one you mention, but the other is annoying (stationary turd).

Some that annoy me are

* Player advances with the ball, then practically runs into another team mate, and somehow the ball stops moving and both players move away from the ball, opponent then usually takes it while my guys doesn't seem to understand where the hell it is

* Throw in or pass to a player, who then turns around and runs somewhere else, creating a dangerous chance against. What. The. F***

* Player is under half pressure but doesn't see a pass nearby, after daddling on the ball for a few seconds, he will then just whack in a random direction, instead of lob a pass over an opponent's head for instance. It's like he only "sees" a certain distance, which isn't very far.

* A pass is played to a player, but the ball bombs off him like it was hit at a wall. It looks totally idiotic. Perhaps a variance of the "turn around and don't give a feck" syndrome.

* Players in excellent shooting positions, like receiving the ball well inside the box, pass it way out again, like to a bloke near the corner flag. Does my head in. Funny when the AI does it, sort of, but not when my guys do.

Mine is where a player has a great chance shoot on goal and possibly score but passes it back to the midfield.

inability to pass, most hated feature ever, " not the right teamtalk, there you go, your team cant pass anymore "

constantly passing headers to enemy team , so annoying, loosing game because one of 4 defenders though he should knock ball right to enemy, midfields do this 24/7, so annoying

incredible strikes and goals that cant be physically possible

1) 0-1 down last minute of the game. Mentality set to overload. The back 4 decide it's time for a game of keep-ball on the edge of their own box.

2) Players letting the ball roll past them for a throw in when they would be in a great position to get a cross in.

No, it is not my tactics.

My own favourite is:

Team is instructed to build from the back, short passing, defender collect from goalkeeper and/or quick throw, retain possession. The opposition however are really good in pressing. Fullback gets the ball but is being closed down well. Does he

(a) Pass the ball back to the keeper who will then distribute to the other side and try to beat the press from there?

(b) Realise that he has no good options and just punt the ball along the touchline so that if (as is likely) he turns the ball over he does so as safely as possible, and as far away as possible?

© Say "sod it" and punt the ball to Row Z?

(d) Attempt an idiotic cross-field ball that is intercepted by the opposition central midfielder who then gets a 3-on-3 break on?

Guess what happens in FM almost all the time?

If your tactics are anything like mine then option (a) is the most appropriate. Or option (e) Pass to an outfield player because my tactics are set up in a way that means there is always a player making himself available for a pass.

1) 0-1 down last minute of the game. Mentality set to overload. The back 4 decide it's time for a game of keep-ball on the edge of their own box.

What team instructions do you have at this point?

1) The "oh god, I'm a striker, gotta get back to my position!" syndrome.

This is what happens when one of your strikers drops back to battle for a ball, very often in your own half. So, the ball is there in your own half and two players are running for it. One of them is an opponent and one of them is your striker, say Daniel Sturridge. In trying to get the ball, Sturridge comes quite deep into his own half. But he doesn't get the ball: the opponent gets to it first. And at this instant, Sturridge forgets all about the ball, makes absolutely no effort to get it or hassle the opponent in any way, because he realizes that he's a striker and starts quickly making his way back up the pitch to his normal position.

Hand on heart, folks: nobody would ever do this. It's incredibly annoying, and it isn't even a rare sight.

Do you mind if I ask what your team instructions are with regards to Hassle Opponents, or what your individual instructions are for Sturridge and also what opposition instructions you have set for the opponent?

The reason I ask this is that I have found this to be a particular area of the ME that works really well.

What annoys me particularly at the moment is a commentary line.

"There is only one outcome here!"

What annoys me particularly at the moment is a commentary line.

"There is only one outcome here!"

Which usually results in a corner or side-netting. So that's two outcomes at least.

Which usually results in a corner or side-netting. So that's two outcomes at least.

All I know is that the ball doesn't end up in the back of the net.

Maybe that's the one outcome - "There's only one outcome here...............he's going to miss an absolute sitter!"

For me, I particularly dislike the 'keeper catching a ball that is going wide and then taking it for a walk over the goal line for a corner. Although because I have more shots and crosses on average than my opponents I see this working for me more often than against me.

I also like the 'yay fast break, lets walk as slowly towards the ball as I can rather than rushing into the space'. Although it made me laugh when it was a 35 year old Iniesta with pace 5 doing this, poor bugger was probably going flat out ={.

Full backs ignoring short open options and instead lobbing the ball down the line to the opposition at throw ins.

I am fairly certain this is unfix-able as it seems to be in every release.

The keeper catching the ball then going over the line is a massive problem, then not to mention the amount of crosses that get smacked into shins and out for corners. There's always loads of corners because of this.

The keeper catching the ball then going over the line is a massive problem, then not to mention the amount of crosses that get smacked into shins and out for corners. There's always loads of corners because of this.

Have you got the last patch? The blocked cross thing got better after that.

Which usually results in a corner or side-netting. So that's two outcomes at least.

Commentators talking ***** makes the game more realistic

During my short 'stint' with FM14, the most common one was defenders standing there like lemons:

a. For an opponent striker to speed past as if he wasn't there, or

b. When the ball falls loose in the penalty box for an opponent player to score without any pressure.

During my short 'stint' with FM14, the most common one was defenders standing there like lemons:

a. For an opponent striker to speed past as if he wasn't there, or

b. When the ball falls loose in the penalty box for an opponent player to score without any pressure.

Did you see Brazil v Germany last night?

For me, I particularly dislike the 'keeper catching a ball that is going wide and then taking it for a walk over the goal line for a corner. Although because I have more shots and crosses on average than my opponents I see this working for me more often than against me.

I used to see this a lot but I removed "Drill Crosses" from my TIs and now it dpesn't happen very often. It seems this TI just means to aim for the near post.

Have you got the last patch? The blocked cross thing got better after that.

Agree it's better but I think there's still a worrying element of players getting in space to cross, but holding off until the defender is back in a position to block.

Thanks for the good replies, folks.

I have played the game some more now, and I have also noticed a worrying tendency for players to let a corner clearance go out for a throw when they have a perfectly fine opportunity to put in a good cross. It's very frustrating, and I don't see how any player would actually do that in real life. "Oh right, that clearance is coming right at me. Hmm... I could put in a very good cross from my current position. But why bother, actually? I'll just let it go out for a throw so that the opponent can regroup."

That's what my players always do. Funnily enough, I have never seen an opponent do it. I have also never seen the "oh god, I'm a striker, gotta get back up the pitch!" phenomenon in any opponents.

Bet you have seen this, though:

*ooooh, I'm clean through on goal... I better whack it from out here

*ooooh, I'm clean through on goal.... better stop and stand rooted to the spot for a few seconds... that might help us score, maybe the opposition will run away or something, Brazil-style

A downside to watching matches in full, trying to figure out what is wrong, is that you see an awful lot of weird crap, genuine WTF moments.

Pangaea: The strangest thing about this kind of stuff is that there are clearly different "rules" (or at least behavioral patterns) for your players and the opponents, whoever they may be. I have no idea why.

Pangaea: The strangest thing about this kind of stuff is that there are clearly different "rules" (or at least behavioral patterns) for your players and the opponents, whoever they may be. I have no idea why.

There are no different rules.

The ME simply crunches the numbers and doesn't know or care who controls the two teams. A lot of "This kind of stuff" that you are seeing is down to the inputs you make into the ME in terms of tactics/roles/instructions.

Cougar2010: So tell me how to stop your own players from letting those clearances go out for a throw every time. I don't think you can. The opponents rarely do it, however.

I'm seeing idiotic stuff from both my players and the AI's, so that's not an issue.

We need another shout though.

Cougar2010: So tell me how to stop your own players from letting those clearances go out for a throw every time. I don't think you can. The opponents rarely do it, however.

Given I don't know the incidents you are talking about you would need to give more information ideally by uploading your save and providing a couple of examples of games and times where it happens.

My players should be sent to a psychatric ward, strapped to the beds and never let out again.

For once we hit a nice throughball and the striker is just beaten, kind of Neuer-style, to the ball by their keeper, which is now outside the box. Another player gets to the loose ball and chips it towards the empty net...

What does he do? Oh yes. Instead of letting the fecking ball sail into the empty net, let's head it back..... If I could throttle the ****ing bellend I would do it till his eyes popped out.

Guys and gals there is already a feedback thread for this:

http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/386143-Football-Manager-2014-Update-14.3.1-Update-FEEDBACK-THREAD

Or even better, send in PKMs and save games via the bugs sections:

http://community.sigames.com/forumdisplay.php/359-Football-Manager-2014-Bugs-Forum

And stop with the swearing please Pan, you know better than this.