Football Manager 2014 - Update 14.2.2 - Feedback Thread

[Mendeth]

One of the most annoying things for me, amongst a few, is how my players win tackles and then just stand there watching while the opposition player goes and gets the ball back again, this happens with almost every tackle.

I have to agree with this. Unfortunately I'm too lazy/forgetful to note down when exactly this happens but it's quite frustrating when I notice it. The unnatural temporary petrification of players after they've done something, usually after making an attempt at a tackle, is one of the most annoying things for me. That said it could just be the way the 3D match display is showing the calculations of the ME.

[scott MUFC]

real, I just got one from Antwerp showing 1/2 star players

and can someone explain why a ball gets cleared, a player sprints after it, clearly getting there first then slows to walking pace, and doesnt get to the ball as a result? I can not find any reason tactially or in real life a top player would do this when 40 yards from his own goal with an opposition player sprinting after it also.

just unrealistic and glaringly obvious it will happen when a player sprints from nowhere to beat him to it, wouldn't happen IRL.

and that tackle thing happens far too much, as well, could right a list of annoying stupidity from defenders to report, and will do later, because i want a realistic experiance.

[Rob4590]

Don't forget that he's set mentality to Overload as standard.

Ah - I missed that little gem! In which case - ignore most of my previous defence of the tactic!

[Dagenham_Dave]

Ah - I missed that little gem! In which case - ignore most of my previous defence of the tactic!

Ha yes, that was the main thing that got me about it. I could just about envisage it as a semi-coherent tactic like you said - although I can't think of any real life examples of it - but to keep it on Overload from the start should be asking for trouble. But it wasn't. In fact in the five wins I had with this, I conceded just two goals. Bizarre.

[buddiemirren]

My critique of the new ME update;

Cons

First Touch - Messi now has the touch of an elephant,

Overpowered set-pieces - It appears that the number of goals scored from set-pieces has become almost ridiculous especially long- throws re Chelsea

Movement - teammates running into each other, players just standing about when they are closest to the ball, defenders just stopping & the opposing forward going like a jet plane to the ball.(match fixing?)

OG's & crazy goalkeepers - I had a game where Joe Allen passed back from 60yrds, Mignolet held it dropped it & then it bounced in?

Woodwork - I hit the post 20 times in 3 games? Really, no doubt someone will mention this happened to Spurs in 1982. I reckon I average 5 of these per game, I am asked that question at ever post-match conference & no I will not post a pkm to the bugs section

Free-kicks - I have these on short yet the amount of time a defender or GK just launches the ball in the direction of no-one is aahhh

Instructions - changing a formation/player position or instruction can take up to 10 mins to happen even with the ball going out repeatedly.

Shots on target/ goal ratio - ok I had 15 shots on target including 8 ccc's but they have no shots on target- or off-target - & they win 1-0 it happens right, I've just got to deal with it.

Headers - those defensive headers where the ball ALWAYS goes back to guy taking the throw in/ corner/ free kick

Short Passing - those moments where even though you have short passing, retain possession, somebody just inexplicably hoofs the ball in the direction of no one

Players just generally ignoring instructions, I can have all the possession widgets and shoot less but my CF still shoots 90% of the time from outside the are!! Yeah but It's my tactics right? GK smacking the ball long under little pressure, free kicks taken long when I have it on short & stand next to taker, etc..etc..

Tactics - I have a win % of over 70%. 9 titles out of 10. I win a lot, I created my own tactics but I'm still not definitely sure how much of it was down to me. I still aren't 100% sure whether I should be control/balanced or attack/very fluid or whether I should play with a half-back, regista or an anchor man and although I've put this in the cons this is 1 of the main reasons I keep tinkering looking for perfection. 82% and 186 passes for Xavi was a challenge for a while.

Messi - is the tactics ruining the game? Does Martino tell Messi b4 every game to go out and play as a CF or does he just go out & play like Messi? Maybe he would be asked to play in a certain area but has the tactical constraints overtaken natural ability?

Pros

The removal of the sliders. I was critical to start with, I always questioned why they were there, but those sliders just made it even more confusing tactically.

Overall it still a huge improvement on last years.

I like most of the new positions(f9?) but maybe instead of adding more positions a greater emphasis on the individual than the team is needed.

It's Football Manager :-)

[scott MUFC]

rather have them hoofing the ball forwards when short passing then when they lose possesion through passes that are too short.

most of my woodworks are from crosses (?) and set pieces hitting the top of the bar. not really a problem except crosses really, once every 2 games or so it happens, or they turn into a shot on goal.

more fun when a player tackles someone and stands there, so they guy tackles, tackles back and stands there, then a short passage of tackling the ball so it bounces off the other guy.

[SkinningForumVisitor]

real, I just got one from Antwerp showing 1/2 star players

You have it too?

I mean is it bug or game makers like it?

[BharadwajNaidu]

You have it too?

I mean is it bug or game makers like it?

It's not a bug . It's showing affiliated clubs players who can be on brought on loan. It shows Antwerp and the others the United players than can be brought on loan . There is no feeder club terminology now . You are affiliated to say Dundee United , they get information about you and you get information about them.

[Korleone]

After a long break of FM this is what hapen in the first save in the last version. Nice work people!

[video=youtube;eDZE4o_VVjA]

[zeeriboy]

^^ Lol. Considering just how widespread serious GK problems are, I do think it's slightly shocking that SI didn't deign to patch this up with 14.2.1. Pity. I have been playing the game a lot less recently, waiting as patiently as possible for the next ME update, but sometimes I just can't help it and dream of signing youngsters and watching their attributes grow, meaning I return to the game only to be disappointed once more with the injustices I see.

Anyway, I've come on here to complain about crossing. Anyone with me? I've made my feelings clear on this issue elsewhere on the forums, but it didn't garner much attention. Along with players colliding with one another and indiscriminate first-touches, the arrant selfishness/lack of footballing intelligence/bugginess (which is what it seems to be) shown by wide players (IFs, wingers and F/WBs) is astounding. Far too often for my mental well-being I see players electing to shoot from extremely low-percentage angles rather than crossing the ball into the box for plenty of expectant team-mates. Obviously player instructions are set to shoot less often where necessary.

Why does it happen so often? Surely the few people and I who flagged this up in the tactics forum are not the only ones who have noticed this? There's only one word for this problem - bane. It's a bane.

[HTC]

Please SI dont listen to ones says everything is ok. Tones of problems in this ME version that completely ruins our experience. Corners, defending, Goals vs shots/ccc ratio (opponent lethal touch, you need to dominate to score) etc. Please fix it we cant wait until March.

Tactics from 12 steps guide dont work, counter attack tactics from ccc magazine dont work either its a shame for the help your stuff provides.

[RTHerringbone]

Why does it happen so often? Surely the few people and I who flagged this up in the tactics forum are not the only ones who have noticed this? There's only one word for this problem - bane. It's a bane.

There are definitely decision making issues in the final third, and these are known issues which are in the process of being reviewed and tuned.

These include (but are not limited to) the pot-shots from acute angles, and shots from range when the ball carrier has time and space to advance with the ball instead of hitting a shot from distance.

[jon157uk]

After a long break of FM this is what hapen in the first save in the last version. Nice work people!

[video=youtube;eDZE4o_VVjA]

LMAO... This is even more stupid than either of the one's I posted.... Try and post the match .pkm on bugs forum bro.

[RTHerringbone]

After a long break of FM this is what hapen in the first save in the last version. Nice work people!

This one is beyond terrible!

Please, please upload a .pkm as whilst I've never had this happen to me, I definitely don't want it to in future!

http://community.sigames.com/forumdisplay.php/365-Match-Engine-3D-and-Team-Talks

http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/368795

[David91]

Could you please fix long throw-ins? It's like most of the teams have Rory Delap, long flat bullet throw is definitely something that bothers me for several years now. Chiellini, Azpilicueta and simillar players tend to create great goalscoring chances from every throw-in, while in reality, most of the throw-ins are short/quick, not long.

[RTHerringbone]

Could you please fix long throw-ins? It's like most of the teams have Rory Delap, long flat bullet throw is definitely something that bothers me for several years now. Chiellini, Azpilicueta and simillar players tend to create great goalscoring chances from every throw-in, while in reality, most of the throw-ins are short/quick, not long.

The best way to highlight this to SI, is to support these observations with .pkm file(s) in the Bugs Forum

In my experience, long bullet throws are not inordinately effective, certainly not on "every" throw, but that's just from what I've seen.

[jam jameson]

Nobody has responded to my post yet so can I ask if anyone is having the same frustrations as me, or are my frustrations just a one off and it's my tactics etc that need to be looked at?

fully agree

[David91]

The best way to highlight this to SI, is to support these observations with .pkm file(s) in the Bugs Forum

In my experience, long bullet throws are not inordinately effective, certainly not on "every" throw, but that's just from what I've seen.

Unfortunately, I don't have any, since i deleted all of my save games. From what I've seen, there are too many attempts of long throws, even if we neglect their accuracy, eg. Juventus (Chiellini) almost always does a short throw-in, because they want to keep the ball, while in FM Chiellini throws it in the box from 30 metre distance. It's not the number of goals that bothers me (except on 14.1.4, when it was terrible, but looks better now), but the unrealistic number of long throw-ins by players who have that particular PPM.

[forameuss]

After a long break of FM this is what hapen in the first save in the last version. Nice work people!

[video=youtube;eDZE4o_VVjA]

Match-fixing for dummies IMO.

But seriously, get that one reported. Absolutely should not be happening, even if it just a one-in-a-million event.

[RTHerringbone]

Unfortunately, I don't have any, since i deleted all of my save games. From what I've seen, there are too many attempts of long throws, even if we neglect their accuracy, eg. Juventus (Chiellini) almost always does a short throw-in, because they want to keep the ball, while in FM Chiellini throws it in the box from 30 metre distance. It's not the number of goals that bothers me (except on 14.1.4, when it was terrible, but looks better now), but the unrealistic number of long throw-ins by players who have that particular PPM.

So possibly a PPM issue, rather than a ME issue as such?

If so, and if Chiellini doesn't in real life have a tendency to launch long throws, then it could equally be reported as a data issue if he has that PPM in FM.

In game, you could train him to remove that PPM.

[Jimmious7]

The more I read the complains of people here, the more I realize that the main issue of FM2014 is the explanations of all tactical options.

I think that if we could more easily understand what exactly each instruction does, less people would complain about things they actually instruct their players to do, without knowing.

Seriously, since sliders are removed and we're using text to describe what we're instructing our players to do, the description must be accurate and clear.

For example I doubt a lot of people understand that you can easily play possesion football with plenty of shots, while in Counter mentality.

Also that Higher tempo makes your players pass more directly, something that also happens with more attacking mentalities. There are so many things going on and they are not described and that makes people confused, since they see results they can't understand.

Descriptions of Instructions need a serious overhaul.

[SkinningForumVisitor]

There is no feeder club terminology now . You are affiliated to say Dundee United , they get information about you and you get information about them.

I want to believe this sensible option, but words "parent" and "feeder" are everywhere > board requests, club info affiliated clubs, so on so on

Description even says players move in one way only

[David91]

So possibly a PPM issue, rather than a ME issue as such?

If so, and if Chiellini doesn't in real life have a tendency to launch long throws, then it could equally be reported as a data issue if he has that PPM in FM.

In game, you could train him to remove that PPM.

Possibly a PPM issue, but, like Shoots from distance, this PPM also needs to be toned down. It has been this way for several years now, since PPMs were introduced. You cannot train him if you don't have him on your team. It's opponent's chances from throw-ins that I'm talking about. My team's throw-ins are always set to short and I have no problems with them.

[OPAgusta]

There are definitely decision making issues in the final third, and these are known issues which are in the process of being reviewed and tuned.

These include (but are not limited to) the pot-shots from acute angles, and shots from range when the ball carrier has time and space to advance with the ball instead of hitting a shot from distance.

Woohooo, hopefully this results in shots reduction. Very satisfying answer from a mod..

[RTHerringbone]

Woohooo, hopefully this results in shots reduction. Very satisfying answer from a mod..

It wouldn't necessarily result in a reduction in shots as there are tactical setups which directly create an excessive number of shots.

What these fixes will hopefully drive is an improvement in the quality of decision making in the final third.

[OPAgusta]

It wouldn't necessarily result in a reduction in shots as there are tactical setups which directly create an excessive number of shots.

What these fixes will hopefully drive is an improvement in the quality of decision making in the final third.

I am talking about the pot shots from acute angle. At least this improvement can reduce 2-5 shots in a match especially from Inside Forwards.

[Äktsjon Männ]

There are definitely decision making issues in the final third, and these are known issues which are in the process of being reviewed and tuned.

These include (but are not limited to) the pot-shots from acute angles, and shots from range when the ball carrier has time and space to advance with the ball instead of hitting a shot from distance.

I tend to think the angled shots issue is a bit more tricky. The byline play has been like that for as long as I can remember in that when the player isn't dithering (or seeking a corner kick) they are shooting, unless there's an unmarked player rushing towards the far post. I think it's the crossing mechanics. In FM a (low) cross requires a specific target either making a run or showing for the ball. But when a player gets to the byline with the ball all the runs have already been made and the opponents are back in the box making it impossible for someone to be in clear view showing for it. A simple 'hopeful ball across the box' option does not even exist in my opinion.

[RTHerringbone]

I tend to think the angled shots issue is a bit more tricky. The byline play has been like that for as long as I can remember in that when the player isn't dithering (or seeking a corner kick) they are shooting, unless there's an unmarked player rushing towards the far post. I think it's the crossing mechanics. In FM a (low) cross requires a specific target either making a run or showing for the ball. But when a player gets to the byline with the ball all the runs have already been made and the opponents are back in the box making it impossible for someone to be in clear view showing for it. A simple 'hopeful ball across the box' option does not even exist in my opinion.

Yep, those are some fair observations.

For what it's worth, I think the source of the issue isn't the crossing mechanics themselves, but more so the point at which the ball is originally passed through to the wide player.

If he is played in earlier in the first phase of an attacking transition, and is then incisive when he is on the ball, the defensive line would be higher up and his supporting team mates would have more space to attack. If that balance of space and supporting runs can be struck, then it would appear to increase the likelihood of simple drilled crosses being made.

[themadsheep2001]

Yep, those are some fair observations.

For what it's worth, I think the source of the issue isn't the crossing mechanics themselves, but more so the point at which the ball is originally passed through to the wide player.

If he is played in earlier in the first phase of an attacking transition, and is then incisive when he is on the ball, the defensive line would be higher up and his supporting team mates would have more space to attack. If that balance of space and supporting runs can be struck, then it would appear to increase the likelihood of simple drilled crosses being made.

Its also exacerbated by the needless slowdown (talking about the ones that dont seem to be caused by decision making), when really he needs to be executing it at pace.

[Lawlore]

Feedback, rather than a bug.

I do not care for having the search box hidden, and having to click twice before typing, where previously it was once. I'm sure I can find another skin, but really, it seems a lousy design choice for the default skins.

[BiggusD]

It wouldn't necessarily result in a reduction in shots as there are tactical setups which directly create an excessive number of shots.

What these fixes will hopefully drive is an improvement in the quality of decision making in the final third.

Equally interesting is ball carrier decisions in the player's own third. I see that clearance quality is being looked at, but do you think that the decision to boot the ball forwards in the first place (both clearances as such + long balls down the left/right) is also being looked at?

The high amount of corners and shots many users experience can be related to the decision to clear the ball away when it is not needed. At the very least, these player decisions are probably increasing the feeling of frustration which in turn inspires the user to look for errors rather than accepting these situations as "the ball is round"-events.

From my own experience, I'd say that it is also quite likely that many bad tactics (and thus complaints in here) are results of the user trying to deal with these symptoms using the tools available - for instance all the anti-shot/possession enhancing instructions - which in turn ends up as bs in bs out.

[Svenc]

Than please have a look on tackle / game. Look at who they are. Which position occupied the highest tackle /game.

If dribble / game consistent with real world situation, than why tackle per game is not.

But dribblings per game are vastly exaggerated too, that was the point. It was also the counterpoint to your argument that the prominent tackles in match play (is a constant with FM, and SI are aware of it) would cause dribblers to become ineffective. Even bearing in mind that when looking at the incidents rather than numbers, sometimes a "successful dribble" isn't all that, in FM 2014 still average dribbler average dribblings only the likes of Messi or Ronaldo do average in the real sports. The top dribblers far surpass that, which used to be different in older iterations.

As for the tackles, this is likely your first ever FM game, isn't it? They are more prominent than they used to be. Question is whether that is also partly because the number of actions (or minutes of play) has become larger in between 2012 and 2013/2014. Older engine iterations didn't go the 90 minutes fully, so to speak. Now they do, and it is reflected in some statistics, such as the passes and distances, which used to be far lower. I think it has been argued that the reason why FM's match play would overly rely on tacklings was that the defending wasn't sophisticated yet to model proper team defending leading to interceptions, combined efforts of pressing the ball carrier, etc. That is arguably the area in which the game resembles real football the least, so it is no surprise that the tackling statistics are this high. Still, they used to be high before already, when matches were "shorter", so to speak:

FM 2012: (columns from left to right: Tackles per game/Tackling success ratio):

FM 2014: (columns from left to right: Tackles per game/Tackling success ratio)

Yet another bug, I'm winning 2-0 away to Newcastle at half time who are down to 10 men. My half time team talk is "don't get complacent" and the majority of my team are confused and demotivated by this team talk instruction! The game ends up finishing 3-3, so I throw away a 2 goal lead against 10 men. I aggressively slate my team, furious they have thrown a 2 goal lead away. Again, they are confused and demotivated and after the game, 2 of my players have slammed my team talk in the press. Bizarrely, the press interview me stating it was a "spirited draw" and the supporters were happy with the draw because of how many times I tested the opposing keeper. I did have double the shots that Newcastle had (yet again, it's another game where I had double the shots of the opposition but failed to win, which is completely unrealistic), but now the morale of my squad is low and players have fallen out with me. What a joke!!

I fully sympathize as some team talk options are this ambiguous they sometimes arguably outright contradict their intent. But since it's been ten years you've been on these boards, that was hardly a first, was it? Because that is not how the talks at all work. Firstly, who is "you"? What is the personality of your team like? What was expected of your team, realistically?

10: Realise that team talks are contextual. They do not relate to the scoreline, rather how expected the scoreline is versus the quality / reputation of the opposition and the football you actually played. Sometimes you can be delighted at 0-0, at other times, if you've scraped a 2-0 lead with very few chances against a poor team, warning the team against complacency is required. React to what you think should have happened, not the scoreline. It's worth noting that although team talks and media interactions generally do not have a huge influence on how a match plays out, they can do. Sometimes a good motivational strategy will result in a player having the game of his life, and vice versa. Consequently, it can be worthwhile carefully considering your motivational strategy before key games, as it might make a subtle but vital difference during squeaky bum time.

(http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/366111-How-to-Play-FM14-A-Twelve-Step-Guide)

[themadsheep2001]

Equally interesting is ball carrier decisions in the player's own third. I see that clearance quality is being looked at, but do you think that the decision to boot the ball forwards in the first place (both clearances as such + long balls down the left/right) is also being looked at?

The high amount of corners and shots many users experience can be related to the decision to clear the ball away when it is not needed. At the very least, these player decisions are probably increasing the feeling of frustration which in turn inspires the user to look for errors rather than accepting these situations as "the ball is round"-events.

From my own experience, I'd say that it is also quite likely that many bad tactics (and thus complaints in here) are results of the user trying to deal with these symptoms using the tools available - for instance all the anti-shot/possession enhancing instructions - which in turn ends up as bs in bs out.

Decision making would be looked at too, after all there is not much point increasing the quality of the clearance, if the clearance didnt need to be made in the first place. It's improved a lot from FM13, but players still need to take a bit more care in avoiding corners.

[RTHerringbone]

Equally interesting is ball carrier decisions in the player's own third. I see that clearance quality is being looked at, but do you think that the decision to boot the ball forwards in the first place (both clearances as such + long balls down the left/right) is also being looked at?

The high amount of corners and shots many users experience can be related to the decision to clear the ball away when it is not needed. At the very least, these player decisions are probably increasing the feeling of frustration which in turn inspires the user to look for errors rather than accepting these situations as "the ball is round"-events.

From my own experience, I'd say that it is also quite likely that many bad tactics (and thus complaints in here) are results of the user trying to deal with these symptoms using the tools available - for instance all the anti-shot/possession enhancing instructions - which in turn ends up as bs in bs out.

Corner count has a number of contributory factors.

A simple observation is that attacking set ups which yield excessive numbers of shots, by default force a number of corners when those shots are deflected behind or tackles are made attempting to block the supply.

This count is exacerbated by some poor clearance logic at corners which tends to yield further shots (and so the cycle continues), and then there are the silly things like back passes from a long way out going out for corners, or keepers occasionally tipping "safe", wide shots out for a corner.

I have to be honest and say that I'm not experiencing a gratuitous amount of wasteful, hasty clearances, but that could easily be something I've missed.

[PhroX]

So possibly a PPM issue, rather than a ME issue as such?

If so, and if Chiellini doesn't in real life have a tendency to launch long throws, then it could equally be reported as a data issue if he has that PPM in FM.

In game, you could train him to remove that PPM.

I've also noticed a few things with the long throws PPM that strike me as a little...unreaslistic I suppose. Now, I don't actually know of any of the players I'm using in my current game IRL (I'm in the Skrill Premier atm...), so I don't know if they should haver the PPM or not so I can't really comment on that side of things.

Thing is, while I'm not a ridiculously dedicated football fan, I've watched a fair bit over the years, and I can't really remember seeing the "bullet" type long throw that the PPM results in being used before Delap popularised it with Stoke - the odd occasion perhaps, but long throws were never really a serious plan for scoring (hope for a bit of luck from them more than anything), and the style of throw, even from those players who used them often, was a much higher, more looping trajectory, and this seems to have continued in the main despite Stoke. The other thing is that teams rarely *always* use the long thows, even if they rarely have a good thrower - they'll try it sometimes, partiuclarly late on if they're chasing the game, but not every time the ball goes out.

In FM though, if a team has a player with the PPM, pretty much every throw near the opposition's box will be a long bullet throw, while you very rarely see the "old style" looping long throws. It's just a bit too....binary...for my tastes, compared to what I've seen of the real game: there's not enough variety, both in when long throws are used, and the style of long thows.

[Neil Brock]

Just a quick update to address a few issues which have been raised. Link includes the changelist - http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/380436-Football-Manager-2014-Update-14.2.2-*RELEASED*

Thanks.

[dan99]

Que people saying that the patch has ruined their tactics

[Ryhilldexter]

The duplicate players thing, was that a visible bug or was that the reason I couldn't get the right amount of players in on loan? If the former, that's 2 updates without fixing what seems like a simple bug that's having a major effect on my game, if the latter, then Gateshead are on the march again!

[Dagenham_Dave]

In FM though, if a team has a player with the PPM, pretty much every throw near the opposition's box will be a long bullet throw, while you very rarely see the "old style" looping long throws. It's just a bit too....binary...for my tastes, compared to what I've seen of the real game: there's not enough variety, both in when long throws are used, and the style of long thows.

Could it be the old chestnut of those other type of throws not leading to goalscoring chances, thereby not being included in the highlights package? A long throw into the box is nearly always going to cause some sort of commotion, whereas the result of a short throw could be a block and a clearance before it gets near the area.

Perhaps not.

[willz71172]

with the new update does this...Improved balance of interview offers following manual applications does this mean i can apply for jobs right away and not have to go on holiday too get a job?

[Ben Kenney]

with the new update does this...Improved balance of interview offers following manual applications does this mean i can apply for jobs right away and not have to go on holiday too get a job?

Yes this should have been improved.

[forameuss]

Yes this should have been improved.

Has anything other than that around jobs been improved Ben? It became a lot more difficult to get a job with Sunday League rep after 14.2, but unsure on whether this was intended or not.

[valehannes]

Feedback, rather than a bug.

I do not care for having the search box hidden, and having to click twice before typing, where previously it was once. I'm sure I can find another skin, but really, it seems a lousy design choice for the default skins.

There might be a setting to unhide the search box for mine isn't hidden.

[Ryhilldexter]

The duplicate players thing, was that a visible bug or was that the reason I couldn't get the right amount of players in on loan? If the former, that's 2 updates without fixing what seems like a simple bug that's having a major effect on my game, if the latter, then Gateshead are on the march again!

It was the former, as I can't sign a dutch player from a dutch team to Gateshead due to too many domestic loans... Great work

[EVH5150]

I've only played the game for a couple of hours but one annoying thing for me is that on the tactics screen, the players filter box sits on top, meaning that I can't select a player while the filter box is on the screen. This wasn't the case in any recent FM that I can recall.

Is there any chance of getting this changed?

[Bardi Golriz]

I've only played the game for a couple of hours but one annoying thing for me is that on the tactics screen, the players filter box sits on top, meaning that I can't select a player while the filter box is on the screen. This wasn't the case in any recent FM that I can recall.

Is there any chance of getting this changed?

This was changed in FM 14 because having it appear as a side panel caused layout issues in some languages. We will be reviewing ways to improve this in the future for managers who traditionally like to have the filters in a (semi) permanently open state.

[RTHerringbone]

In FM though, if a team has a player with the PPM, pretty much every throw near the opposition's box will be a long bullet throw, while you very rarely see the "old style" looping long throws. It's just a bit too....binary...for my tastes, compared to what I've seen of the real game: there's not enough variety, both in when long throws are used, and the style of long thows.

I've not really paid a huge amount of attention to long throws, but you could have a good point here.

With PPMs, they generally represent an increased propensity to exhibit a preferred move where the match scenario permits it.

So for a player with a more "standard" PPM like "Takes Long Shots", the match scenario doesn't always lend itself to a long shot, so the PPM isn't presented overly often (I'm sure people will disagree with that specific example ).

However, a PPM like the bullet throw has no real barriers to it being attempted.

It is effectively a set piece, and as you can't block his run to the throw, what's to stop him launching it all the time?

In the example of Stoke, I'm pretty sure that every throw in the final third was treated as a set piece when Delap was there.

If, in FM, players with that PPM are still chucking it miles when throwing in from their own half, there may be an issue.

If it is limited to being used only in reasonable attacking areas, I think it is not an issue.

[EVH5150]

This was changed in FM 14 because having it appear as a side panel caused layout issues in some languages. We will be reviewing ways to improve this in the future for managers who traditionally like to have the filters in a (semi) permanently open state.

Thanks for the explanation - much appreciated.

[andu1]

When can we expect a corner fix( too many corners and too many goals from corners). I doubt that having CD's scoring more than 10 goals per season is intended. I think some of the weird scorelines are also related to this issue.

[RTHerringbone]

When can we expect a corner fix( too many corners and too many goals from corners). I doubt that having CD's scoring more than 10 goals per season is intended. I think some of the weird scorelines are also related to this issue.

No known date for the update, below is the latest official word on ME development:

Quick update.

Firstly as ever thanks to all those who have provided constructive criticism, as this is invaluable to us and appreciated.

There will be another ME update, probably with 14.3 when the data is updated. So far we have worked on the following:

- Goalie errors. We have identified a few that lingered around and will hope to get any remaining ones zapped for this cycle.

- Headed clearances. We identified issues with trajectory and direction and the fixes are now in test. Affects no of goals just after corners and also own goal count.

- Corners. We are still working on this. Main issue now is there are slightly too many of them at top levels.

- Ball physics. No changes planned for this cycle. There are definitely further improvements to be made but we believe it's in a decent state overall for the time being.

- General. We want to improve the individual play of the very best players slightly and this is a work in progress right now.

There are other bits and pieces too of course.

Cheers,

Paul