Official FM2011 Match Engine Feedback Thread

[l k]

im very impressed by the ME this time, the only complaints i would have is for one, i don't think ive seen a single direct free kick scored yet? IDK maybe its just me, and also a couple of times ive had goals keepers run to the edge of the area to clear an over the top ball, but they head the ball down right at the feet of the opisition striker, who then can tap the ball into an empty net. apart from this though very good.

[Matt123456]

I'd say this is probably the best ME I've played with yet. I really like the long shots, they seem a lot more realistic and not the hugely curved "banana" shots of previous games. But I seem to be scoring more long shots than one-on-ones, and quite a few times when one-on-one my striker will shoot straight at the keeper, which is fine when I'm playing as a lower league team, but it happened just the same with my Chelsea save, and I don't really expect to see Drogba and Aguero miss two or three one and ones per match.

I think wide play is also much improved, but for some reason a lot of my players like to take the ball to the touchline when on the counter-attack and two-on-two or three-on-three, even when they're not under pressure from a defender, slowing the game down and reduce the chance of a goal on the break. I've tried focus passing through the middle and a narrow width, and that has reduced it silghtly, but even without that you wouldn't really expect a player to dribble to the touchline when there's only one defender between him and the goal.

Lastly, I've found that it is quite difficult to play a quick, incisive passing game in the Barcelona style, even when playing with Barcelona and their world class midfield. Even with a quick tempo and short passing whenever one of my midfielders or strikers get they ball they just meander around, sometimes not even forwards, but sideways or backwards, as if they're trying to find a way through, which I find quite strange.

But I think apart from a few small niggles, it is a great match engine, and I think the new 3D view is the best yet by far.

[dankrzyz]

...but for some reason a lot of my players like to take the ball to the touchline when on the counter-attack and two-on-two or three-on-three, even when they're not under pressure from a defender, slowing the game down and reduce the chance of a goal on the break. ...but even without that you wouldn't really expect a player to dribble to the touchline when there's only one defender between him and the goal.

This has been happening to me, too, and it's strange behavior.

[BossAsianMafia]

Awesome ME this time and I'm really liking the wideplay, with a variety of crosses reaching their man sometimes.

I'm still not 100% convinced by the defending though, especially the central defenders.

They do get turned quite easily and have the tendency to leave the strikers unmarked at crucial moments (I'm playing Man Utd, so the defenders are top notch).

They are also not aggressive enough in closing down AMs and onrushing midfielders, resulting in a LOT of long shot opportunities.

Hope you can take a look at this issue for 11.2.

[st.cronin]

Its really hard to find things to complain about with this ME. I still sometimes see "wingers" dribble straight for the corner flag, when it seems like there might be better options. This only seems to happen with players given the winger role - wingbacks and wide midfielders seem to make better decisions.

[ada5tra]

I posted about the ME stuff in another thread but it should go here really.

some of the goals i have conceded in the new game in such a brief amount of time is rather worrying...its reminiscent of the cm10 game.

I twice in one match had the opposition shoot,it hit the bar and go in off my diving keepers back

a corner the opposition had didnt even hit the ground before going out the opposite side for a throw in.suddenly a foul is given and a penalty-i look again and my player fouled their forward about 10 seconds after the ball went out for no apparent reason

I was leading 2-0 with boro against a bottom of the table winless Q.P.R. They then proceeded to score 3 goals within 15 minutes,all from past 25 yards,all ones le tissier in his prime would've been proud of

the opposition played a through ball which my keeper easily got to,but then proceeded to turn his back on the ball,and backheel it straight to Bellamy who slotted it in.

Playing as tottenham against Kiev in champ league qualifier,again a through ball,my keeper comes 15 yards out of his area,and then dives head first at the ball he could've easily kicked away.stays laid on the floor and shevchenko hits it first time rifle shot into the top corner from 35 yards first time

this is rather annoying at best,And i know perhaps I should use 2d or something,but why should i deny myself a feature that should work.

and thats not to mention the problems I've had with crash dumps.I play a network game with a couple of friends and three times its crashed whilst saving and been unplayable afterwards.

its been 3 days and we are all considering going back to 2010 already.

[pelicanstuff]

Already mentioned this but I'm noticing it more and more as I play: crosses from deep seem to be consistently directed at the near post in a way that means

1) They're not likely to ever get near a striker and 2) Too many of them end up going in or requiring a save.

Initially I thought they were all being sliced but the more I look at it, the more it seems they are simply aiming at near post.

[FM1000]

The ME was ok in the demo some things better than 10.3 some things worse. But the ME after the patch is simply horrible, I have never seen the ME in worse shape.

Inside forwards regularly shoot strait at the keeper defenders not jumping to clear a cross, goalkeepers with average attributes making wonder saves but still ending the match with 6.9 ratting which means that the ME is bad.

Almost all goals come from a cross not because the crosses are too effective is because the defenders are looking at the stands instead of clearing the ball and because the strikers can slide 2-3 meters, beat the defender to the ball and score a goal even though they cant really go through the defender with out making a foul.

Also players choose to run with the ball or shoot long instead of passing to a teammate too often.

I will revert back to the 11.0 until the ME is fixed and balanced like 10.3 or will sell my game if this continues.

[akkm]

The ME problems associated with effectiveness of the passing game and use of playmakers was not addressed from the demo leaving the ME on patch 11.1.0 fundamentally flawed...as i've said before this happens every year...final patch makes this as good as it can be for a simulation then it deteriorates with new games as no of passes etc suffers to the detriment of the ME...why at this stage of SI's career does this continue to happen...it is immensely frustrating...

it is blatantly obvious that no of passes playing with top teams is not what it should be...how does it get missed at release date for a new game...it seems the work to improve wing play is to the detriment of the passing game...they should not be mutually exclusive. This thing with the full backs having so many passes is equally nonsensical...the game in recent ME is like football for simpletons...gone are the silky passing movements from ME 10.3, gone is effectiveness of trequartistas and through balls and gone is any potential for a team to play possession football...all when recent seasons IRL football suggest this is way forward...the worlds most preminent teams exhibit these characteristics and worlds most preminent players are exhibiting these skills...the teams and great players are not focusing on wide play and full backs do not dominate possession in top teams...an easy out ball for midfielders is what full backs over possession/passing stats has been cited/attributed to but again this is a highly simplistic view of the game...the game, at least outside england (and top teams even in england dont play that way), is a lot more sophisticated than that and ME from 10.3 enabled this more sophisticated game to be played so what has it reverted to more crude version of the game to the detriment of the experience weaned from playing FM. Why oh why does this ALWAYS happen...

SI, can you address this asap please...its not worth playing until ME is able to reflect possession football...the new 3d looks greats and gimmicks such as player goal celebration and players sliding in to finish are all terrific but these are cosmetic/short term hits they do not enhance the experience of playing the game long term...they are quick hits...the ME lacks the fluidity of 10.3 and a team play even with top teams like barca totally lacks fluidity and does not reflect abilities these players/teams have...it is no coincidence the top teams from the history of the game did not worry about the effectiveness of wide play at the expense of passing/probing/fluid play so why should ME do it in FM...wide play is so easily nullified IRL at top level particularly where, with obvious exceptions, it is generally teams who dominate possession playing with flair who are most triumphant

[Kazza]

This happens on the ME screen.

I set my assman's widget to appear in the bottom left hand corner of the screen for each game. However, I end up with an opposition's widget there in place of mine, not all the time but about 30% of the time?

If this has been reported then apologies.

Now that I have played a few games I can concentrate on ME issues though the game for me is currently playing very smoothly..

K

[SSGTroyer]

This happens on the ME screen.

I set my assman's widget to appear in the bottom left hand corner of the screen for each game. However, I end up with an opposition's widget there in place of mine, not all the time but about 30% of the time?

If this has been reported then apologies.

Now that I have played a few games I can concentrate on ME issues though the game for me is currently playing very smoothly..

K

Unlike '09 and '10, in '11 the game remembers widgets as "Home" and "Away", not "Us" and "Them". In the past, "Our" widgets would be defaulted up if left open at the end of a match. In '11, the "Home" or "Away" widgets are called up. If you played "Home" last match and had your widgets up, when you play the next match and are "Away", the opposition's (i.e. the "Home") widgets will be up.

The old way was better, IMO...

[Kazza]

Unlike '09 and '10, in '11 the game remembers widgets as "Home" and "Away", not "Us" and "Them". In the past, "Our" widgets would be defaulted up if left open at the end of a match. In '11, the "Home" or "Away" widgets are called up. If you played "Home" last match and had your widgets up, when you play the next match and are "Away", the opposition's (i.e. the "Home") widgets will be up.

The old way was better, IMO...

Ahh thanks for that - explains it perfectly - I agree with you, old way best on this particular aspect, must be the new coding!

K

[Wakers]

Full backs having the most passes is not necessarily a bad thing - a team that plays short passing nearly always has a full back as an outlet.

The play maker issue absolutely was not fixed in the patch however. They have less passes than they should do - sometimes the least passes on the team, even if the team dominates.

I agree with the sentiment that the ME always seems to deteriorate from final patch -> new release. Shouldn't happen, especially now that they have FMLive going at the same time.

[edgar555]

Full backs having the most passes is not necessarily a bad thing - a team that plays short passing nearly always has a full back as an outlet.

The play maker issue absolutely was not fixed in the patch however. They have less passes than they should do - sometimes the least passes on the team, even if the team dominates.

I agree with the sentiment that the ME always seems to deteriorate from final patch -> new release. Shouldn't happen, especially now that they have FMLive going at the same time.

Not seeing this now, would be interested to know what tactics people are using? IIRC the demo ME fault was that slow tempo reduced passes to playmakers.

I've not had any problems in this area since the patch.

[Wakers]

I've noticed it with a 4-3-3 where the AML is the playmaker. Tempo is normal - even if we dominate and play down the flanks, the AML doesn't have significantly more passes than any other player, sometimes the least on the team.

I haven't tried it with a central playmaker since the update though.

[edgar555]

I've noticed it with a 4-3-3 where the AML is the playmaker. Tempo is normal - even if we dominate and play down the flanks, the AML doesn't have significantly more passes than any other player, sometimes the least on the team.

I haven't tried it with a central playmaker since the update though.

Ok I'm using a central playmaker. I'll happily trial an AML/R playmaker when I get the chance, see if there's any difference.

[Kazza]

I use Ben Arfa has my central playmaker. 5 games into the season, his passing stats are 86/121 (71%), avg distance per match 11.4km. What else should we be looking at re a good pm stats?

K

[Wakers]

Ok I'm using a central playmaker. I'll happily trial an AML/R playmaker when I get the chance, see if there's any difference.

Had a thought: when does the ME update if you continue a save game after patching?

[Wakers]

so after 5 games he's attempted 121 passes - which means an average of 24.2 passes per game. That strikes me as being not so many to be honest, however it depends on how much possession you have in the matches and the type of passing employed, as well has how tightly he was marked by the opposition and so on.

[edgar555]

Had a thought: when does the ME update if you continue a save game after patching?

I always believed it was straight away. Don't know for sure though.

[Kazza]

so after 5 games he's attempted 121 passes - which means an average of 24.2 passes per game. That strikes me as being not so many to be honest, however it depends on how much possession you have in the matches and the type of passing employed, as well has how tightly he was marked by the opposition and so on.

My possession is roughly 50/51% except when Arsenal took 69% in a match. Team passing is set to shorter, playmaker direct. Maybe I should change his passing to short/mixed?

Not sure re oppo's marking though?

K

[akkm]

That is not enough ie 24.2 passes per game for a central playmaker...it is much lower than stats for 10.3 and other central midfielders no of passing stats much lower as well and this even playing with barca..Xavi and iniesta playing in central mid av no more than 30 passes at best which is horrendously at odds with reality...passing game is completely underutilized...to watch a full 90 mins of new ME must show up a lot of incredibly scrappy play going on...it would be great if new updates of ME were available to download without having to wait for a full patch

[grep]

IMO the ME is really good, I only would like to see players less skating on the field.

[Wakers]

I'm starting to feel that the ME has gone backwards with patch 1. Defenders have somehow become even less likely to mark strikers when the ball is crossed into the box.

[edgar555]

That is not enough ie 24.2 passes per game for a central playmaker...it is much lower than stats for 10.3 and other central midfielders no of passing stats much lower as well and this even playing with barca..Xavi and iniesta playing in central mid av no more than 30 passes at best which is horrendously at odds with reality...passing game is completely underutilized...to watch a full 90 mins of new ME must show up a lot of incredibly scrappy play going on...it would be great if new updates of ME were available to download without having to wait for a full patch

You can't just sweepingly say its not enough. If thats double what his other players have its fine, you don't know his tactics, context is everything.

[Machetero]

My few words regarding 11.1 match engine.

Played 14 rounds in Ukrainian 1st league as Lviv.

So far:

1. I've set a personal record with penalties awarded for my team. 7(!) penalties in 14(!!) games so far. 4 of them scored. Another two teams have 5 penalties in 14 games. The rest has 1;

2. I'm the only team without red cards in 14 matches played, even though I have hard tackling and tough pressing applied. Leader is Arsenal Bila Tserkva - 6 red cards. 4 teams with 3 red cards and the rest has 1 or 2;

3. 18 teams that play in 1st league have roughly 31 yellow cards each. 2.2 per match. Leader in this area has 46 cards - 3.2 and I have 39 - 2.7 per match;

4. Only 3 goals were scored from DFKs, one of them by my team;

5. Most of the teams scored 2 goals from corners during these 14 rounds. Leader is Chernomorets (main promotion contender) with 7 goals. I scored two, both by my tallest forward from the far post;

6. 6 team didn't manage to score a single IFK. Leaders - Niva and Stal scored four times each. I scored twice and the rest of the teams on average.

P.S. I've also scored 2 penalties in 3 rounds of Ukrainian Cup. So 9 penalties in 17 games)))) Two more corners scored. Only 1 DFK scored by all teams combined in Ukrainian Cup up till Quarterfinal.

[akkm]

You can't just sweepingly say its not enough. If thats double what his other players have its fine, you don't know his tactics, context is everything.

Thats a little churlish...if u read what I have said in context of my posts re ME and it's inability to capture passing/possession football you will understand a little better and realise what was meant and no sweeping statement whatsoever ...as u say context is everything...

I cited my experience of barca using short passing and slow tempo and passes for xavi average at best 30 per game with messi playing as trequatista and primary playmaker behind front players averaging a lot less.

I have played FM for many years and have indentied this problem just keeps re occuring...Effectivness of passing and using playmakers varies remarkably between iterations of ME...the current ME needs fixing quickly as it currently is overly simplistic and doesn't enable the more sophisticated continental game which ME from 10.3 gloriously did...essentially tactics don't enable high number of passes even using barca against even non league sides using what should enable it ie short passing and slow tempo or having tried numerous other combos to make it effective...it simply does not happen in current ME...

[edgar555]

Thats a little churlish...if u read what I have said in context of my posts re ME and it's inability to capture passing/possession football you will understand a little better and realise what was meant and no sweeping statement whatsoever ...as u say context is everything...

I cited my experience of barca using short passing and slow tempo and passes for xavi average at best 30 per game with messi playing as trequatista and primary playmaker behind front players averaging a lot less.

I have played FM for many years and have indentied this problem just keeps re occuring...Effectivness of passing and using playmakers varies remarkably between iterations of ME...the current ME needs fixing quickly as it currently is overly simplistic and doesn't enable the more sophisticated continental game which ME from 10.3 gloriously did...essentially tactics don't enable high number of passes even using barca against even non league sides using what should enable it ie short passing and slow tempo or having tried numerous other combos to make it effective...it simply does not happen in current ME...

I get the context, its just the way you posted in response to the other guy. Knowing what I do about your Barca experiment I can clearly see that there may be a problem, however for you to write it off based on that guys 24.2 passes is wrong.

Like I mentioned earlier I've actually seen an improvement in playmakers from the demo so things from my perspective are getting better. Of course, me being 3 months into one save is not conclusive of anything but so far its much better.

[akkm]

Yeah I'd agree there was a very slight improvement but it's definitely a problem and one from my experiences not just the 24.2 passes thing...even the fluidity of player movement and slickness of play has decreased, unfortunately. I've tried with different teams and no discernible difference...current ME does not lend itself to possession football and needs to be addressed as ME from 10.3 had done

[akagi]

I must say that I like new 3d view - now game is playable as FML . Two minor things I don't like (one may be made for purpose):

- when my team is about to pass or cross from a corner and ball is not in a corner (where a player about to take it IS PRESENT) someone almost always is bringing a ball to him while he's waiting. That can take some seconds and sometimes when you have a lot of corners in the match can be very annoying.

- Situation when I enter tactic screen without pausing a match and leaving it without confirmation. Match sets speed to normal (I play always faster than normal) and I have to set speed again. Sometimes this doesn't happen but usually it happens. Is it a bug?

Now more serious stuff:

I play Jagiellonia Bialystok in Polish Ekstraklasa. While my team's squad is not the best there (I know, I know it's my tactics, my approach and generally my fault. Always.) my defence usually plays tragically bad in situation where there's a loose ball in the box and some congestion. My two central defenders hardly ever bother to stick their legs and stop the ball even while it's slowly passing them and they could kick it quite easily. Ball gets to the opponent's forward, my GK goes out of the goal to get in and there's a goal against. Also I think that GK too frequently has the ball kicked out of his hands without being fouled. I'm losing goals too often this way. GK is not the best but when even lower league teams during the pre-season seem to absolutely rule my penalty box despite having really crappy players. Defensive situation looks unbalanced.

[johnhughthom]

I had been thinking it was just bad refereeing but I think the code for professional fouls situations needs tweaked, I've had quite a few situations that were blatant red card and it's always a yellow. Also I have conceded a few goals where a bad pass has meant one of my players has had to attempt to tackle an opponent, lost the tackle and the opponent has gone on to score. This has come up on motivation as "mistake led to goal". Surely in this situation the player making the poor pass should be to blame?

[kingpin]

My inside forwards are terrible at shooting, its ridiculous the amount of times they get through on goal at an angle that suits their better foot only to actually miss the target completely, i mean its not even the old shoot straight at the goalie anymore they are actually missing the target all together way too many times for players of their calibier...

[Crewe_Alex]

Ive realised that MANY times, strikers simply walk through the defence. Seriously, wasnt this a problem in FM10. SI still have major bugs which resort me to watching only commentary. Every year I hope for the first patch to be playable, but never is

SI, pull of your socks. That is all.

[CityAndColour]

Well, defending is still absolutely horrid.

Fullbacks are STILL useless and can't position themselves goal side of a winger. They still seem to position themselves as central defenders when balls are played long down the wings, or they just stand still until the attacker is past them.

Long balls still catch defenders out most times because they don't react, or react after the striker has gone past them.

Defenders still don't cover each other, or don't go to the ball when they are the nearest player. On the odd occasion the closest defender does decide to run towards the ball, he often stops and waits for the attacker to catch up and take the ball.

But hey, it's okay because the 3D now shows the cool animation of a striker sliding in to put in a low cross. Every. Single. Time.

[Wakers]

Yea, I agree about defending. It's tragically bad. It's still the same as the last couple of games - most goals come as a result of a defender doing something absolutely mind numbingly stupid. Good play doesn't tend to work often enough, so its like the game has to force goal scoring situations.

The amount of time a ball gets played over the top or through the middle, and the defender just stands and watches the striker get a head start on him is just silly.

[FM1000]

Will there be a ME update in the hotfix??

[PaulC]

No the next ME update will be in 11.2. The better the feedback here the easier it will be for us to continue to improve it

[Defensive]

Didn´t find time to play with the patch yet, but shouldn´t defending have improved with the patch? I read this in v9.03 and v9.04 and v9.05 and v.906. How comes that so many people still see a bad defense. Anyone actually happy with the defense in the patch? Anyone realized some improvement?

[Wakers]

The only change I've noticed so far in defending is that instead of defenders stopping and standing still when the ball is played over the top, they just don't mark anyone when a cross comes in.

[blala]

Will there be a ME update in the hotfix??

Can i know when will release this hotfix

[Fabio MVP]

Can i know when will release this hotfix

Of course you can.

When it's ready.

[SSGTroyer]

The feedback for this issue in this thread is tripe. "I have this problem" "So do I" "When's the fix?"

None of this is helpful to SI.

I, for example, have noticed that my custom views on some screens do stick...The Player Search screen still has the "All Attributes" and "My Scouting" views I designed, and the Training View I designed is still there. But for the Squad Screen and Tactics Screen, they go away after playing a match. Just gone. Now, Opposition Instructions screen is weird. These scroll. 5 custom views allowed, and if you make a new one, the bottom one leaves the list, and the one I just made fills in the top. Maybe this is designed...but at the start of each match, the top one left from the old match is there, then the second is repeated 4 times...weird.

[johnhughthom]

I had been thinking it was just bad refereeing but I think the code for professional fouls situations needs tweaked, I've had quite a few situations that were blatant red card and it's always a yellow

Just an update on this point, I've just had an opponent sent off for a professional foul when there was clearly a team mate covering behind him. Perhaps the previous bad decisions I have seen were down to bad refereeing. There may be discussions ongoing about aspects of realism in the game but SI certainly have the standard of refereeing in Scotland nailed...

[Tez01979]

This is for the people who think defdnding isn't good this year I have some very good proof to show that it ain't that bad at all. After my first season my league goals against me was only 27 out of 38 games as shown here - http://img152.imageshack.us/i/clydesdalebankpremierle.png/ That's less than a goal a game

My Keepers total clean sheets was 19 out of 35 games as shown here - http://img232.imageshack.us/f/fraserforsterhistorycar.png/

The tactics i used were as follows

http://img197.imageshack.us/i/celticceltictactics.png/ - Offensive tactic

http://img214.imageshack.us/i/celticceltictactics2.png/ - Defensive tactic

Now I know some of you are going to say yeah but it's scotland. Well getting that as your goals against is no easy feat no matter what leauge you play in. This is with Kenny Miller scoring 32 goals in 35 games for Rangers and 27 goals for Jon Daly in Dundee Utd so it ws a very high goal season.

My two centre backs basically handeled most crosses that came in and my wing backs actually tackeld more than i've ever seen on any FM previously so for me it's a win

[Marcussy]

Not seeing this now, would be interested to know what tactics people are using? IIRC the demo ME fault was that slow tempo reduced passes to playmakers.

I've not had any problems in this area since the patch.

I agree - I can't see any problems here.

Paul Scholes just had a match where he made 91 passes, 89 complete with 4 key.

[Alex89]

This is for the people who think defdnding isn't good this year I have some very good proof to show that it ain't that bad at all. After my first season my league goals against me was only 27 out of 38 games as shown here - http://img152.imageshack.us/i/clydesdalebankpremierle.png/ That's less than a goal a game

Yeah but could this to be a result of players not being able to properly convert chances. I would like to see the amount of CCC per game and their conversion rate. It might be the striker's fault and not defender's flawlessness.

Still having trouble with strikers opting to pass instead of shooting with the new patch:/

[Alekos]

I agree - I can't see any problems here.

Paul Scholes just had a match where he made 91 passes, 89 complete with 4 key.

You did that with Scholes or the AI?If yes how?I still can't make it work with Xavi in Barca....

[Tez01979]

Yeah but could this to be a result of players not being able to properly convert chances. I would like to see the amount of CCC per game and their conversion rate. It might be the striker's fault and not defender's flawlessness.

Still having trouble with strikers opting to pass instead of shooting with the new patch:/

tbh I no longer have those stats at hand - however i play with my match stats at bottom corner and 90% of the time i'd say there were about 1 to 3 ccc for the opposistion teams on average - slightly higher with Rangers and Dundee Utd andin European games

[Wakers]

This is for the people who think defdnding isn't good this year I have some very good proof to show that it ain't that bad at all. After my first season my league goals against me was only 27 out of 38 games as shown here - http://img152.imageshack.us/i/clydesdalebankpremierle.png/ That's less than a goal a game

My Keepers total clean sheets was 19 out of 35 games as shown here - http://img232.imageshack.us/f/fraserforsterhistorycar.png/

The tactics i used were as follows

http://img197.imageshack.us/i/celticceltictactics.png/ - Offensive tactic

http://img214.imageshack.us/i/celticceltictactics2.png/ - Defensive tactic

Now I know some of you are going to say yeah but it's scotland. Well getting that as your goals against is no easy feat no matter what leauge you play in. This is with Kenny Miller scoring 32 goals in 35 games for Rangers and 27 goals for Jon Daly in Dundee Utd so it ws a very high goal season.

My two centre backs basically handeled most crosses that came in and my wing backs actually tackeld more than i've ever seen on any FM previously so for me it's a win

You're playing as Celtic, in Scotland. Point invalid.

[Tez01979]

You're playing as Celtic, in Scotland. Point invalid.

Typical - How is my point invalid exactly? I even said that getting that as you goals against in any league is no mean feat or are you one of these scottish football bashers who can't see past thier stuck up nose