azymin

Yes media interactions and player interactions have MANY instances of immersion breaking bugs and just flat out lack variety and some baseline responses. Why can't I say "we can't afford to sign this guy, so squad stop bitching!" The whole interaction module has become less and less fun or meaningful, primarily because it hasn't changed in years. I don't even bother with most press conferences. Just the same rinse and repeat stuff time and time again. At the end of the day I'm not sure if anything will change until SI's bottom line starts taking a hit. If everyone here waited to buy FM 2024 till March 2025, or skipped it altogether, you bet there would be changes!

Staff in general is just not a fun or meaningful part of the game. Staff feedback is not nearly good enough and is frequently completely wrong or out of context, so the 'staff' part of the game is just finding whomever is affordable with best stats and personality. This is in no way fun or meaningful. You could simply replace the entire staff section of the game with something like training facilities, where quality is determined by budget, and you periodically nag the board for improvements. I mean that's basically what it already is.

I agree on your 1st point. It certainly takes away from the difference between a world class player and a Sunday leaguer. I saw somewhere that this has to do with space seeking algorithm for ball movement and that players see aerial passes as a best option due to field congestion. The long aerial passes and who can actually make them is one problem. Imo the poor reaction of the defense to contesting these balls, as well as apparent incredible 1st touch of everyone targeted by a long ball are other issues. There just generally needs to be a lot more recycling, shorter passes and balls being passed into contested challenges. That's just not reflected in the 3D representation of the match engine. I don't know if it is in the match engine itself or not. I would know, if SI told us, but hey that's too much to ask right? I completely agree with you on other points, especially company interaction with its customers. You're also touching on the subject of the UI giving you information that's simply not correct or needs to be seriously updated. The youtubers and game experts should not be our sources for information on difference between 'defensive' and 'attacking'. The game just needs a BIG pause in terms of development and a major cycle of bug fixing and flushing out features, tool tips, UI, etc.

It's not that it has no faults - it certainly has some. Long passes that only Modric can make being made by everyone, not enough dribbling and one-on-one take-ons, no longer being able to set defense to narrow (WHY?), etc. I do feel like it has improved a good amount over FM22 and part of my judgement is based on watching bust the net videos and taking an approach of me just not being great at the game. There are people that can do almost anything they want with the game.

Yeah the bugs that persist and seemingly aren't addressed despite the community feedback year after year is something that's just baffling. There are lots of bugs/odd things that you run into after a little bit of playing, which makes you wonder how much time SI really spends testing the game before 'beta' release.

Yeah it has been extremely frustrating. This is something that is constantly brought up on forums and SI just seems to ignore it. I just put it in because if it's not in the next version I probably won't buy the game. Just getting a bit fed up with SI ignoring player base.

Overall Game - 6.5/10.0 SI - please work on improving 2023 version. Fix the bugs. Don't introduce half-baked 'features' that need the rest of the cycle or more to become usable. Actually listen to feedback and read bug forums. Start communicating with your player base. Use your player base for an extended beta. I will happily buy next year's version with 1 new feature (international management) and nothing else but improvements. 2022 and 2023 editions have been major disappointments in terms of quality of product and features delivered. The good: Match engine - better than it has ever been imo. Still plenty of areas for improvement, but it's in a great place to continue building on. The bad: Everything else. I'm not trying to say that everything is 'bad' specifically. My issue is that there are many many bugs that have been neglected for years. Many areas of the game that need rework/refresh/complete rebuild. Biggest issues for me: 1. International management. There is simply no reason for a football game to have international management component in such terrible state for years. Just inexcusable. 2. Player interaction/media interaction - this either needs a complete rework or a massive update. The responses are severely lacking in both quantity and quality, and questions/responses/reactions often simply do not account for context. In a lot of ways this point has many immersion breaking flaws. 3. Scouting - decent step forward in 2023, but at the same time re-skinning existing items and making them somewhat functioning really shouldn't earn much praise. The interface is a jumbled up mess of menus and buttons. 4. Transfer market. 5. Player progression and reputation growth issues. There are too many other smaller issues to list out.

To be honest personally I'd rather have it this way, than 80% condition after 90 minutes of gegenpress. Balance is certainly most preferable though.

Thanks for your reply @XaW! Do you know if it's something they're still working on? I certainly would hope so, since it's kind of a big deal for long term saves.

Based on patch notes they have attempted to fix some of the symptoms of squads getting older - international selection and teams loaning out players, but they haven't fixed he underlying issue of young players' reputation, which is the primary cause of the mayhem. Would've been nice to get some communication from SI regarding why they did what they did (perhaps reputation fix would take too long?). Does anyone know if they attempted to fix reputation issue?

Based on patch notes they have attempted to fix some of the symptoms of squads getting older - international selection and teams loaning out players, but they haven't fixed he underlying issue of young players' reputation, which is the primary cause of the mayhem. Would've been nice to get some communication from SI regarding why they did what they did (perhaps reputation fix would take too long?). Does anyone know if they attempted to fix reputation issue?

Well it doesn't look like they've addressed young player reputations. Seems like they just tweaked international selection, which isn't the core problem. It's a symptom.

Then I'd guess it has to do with his role and/or set up around him.

It's the same as in a real game. If you press high up with a high line you can win the ball back high and put opposition under pressure, but there can be space behind your D-line. Press high with a lower line and you won't be able to congest the field enough to stop opponent from playing through you. Win the ball back high up field and you're close to the goal, but there may not be as much space. Win the ball back near your box and there's plenty of space to run into on a counter-attack. Just depends how you play and quality of your team. You also need to have enough players high up field to press high. Pressing high with 1 forward and no attacking midfielders will probably not do much for you.

No I mean what does his report say about his consistency?

2-what it says about mentality in the tool tip isn't what it really does. I highly recommend bust the net youtube channel. Their explanation is very good and very informative. To try to put it into words, mentality affects positioning and behavior of your players. A player with an attack duty in an attacking mentality will play higher up the field, will pass more aggressively and take more risks in all areas of play. So just because on cautious you're "taking less risks" doesn't mean you're not taking any at all. You can have an attacking tactic with a very defensive mentality or a defensive tactic with an attacking mentality. The roles and duties work in tandem with mentality. Watch this 6-I wouldn't change from high block. You're better than most sides and expect to be winning, so camping in opponents half will be good. I recommended AF more from perspective of a goal scoring threat and stretching the field vertically. I also didn't think Barbosa's attributes suited F9 very well. You can try other roles as well. In general I'd advise against tweaking too many things at once. 13-Yeah CD's preferred side does make a difference. Plus it's harder for a right-footed player to play on the left. He'd be naturally inclined to not pass left, thereby reducing your width and letting opposition pressure you easier through the middle. 14-Yeah individual performances by players can really differ based on role or even who's around them or formation. I have a CAM-AP(A) Shaparenko in my Dynamo Kyiv game and he was terrific in a 4-4-1-1. Now he has not been nearly as good in a 4-2-3-1. Same role and same position. Best i can guess is with more players up field around him he's having a harder time finding space or maybe being forced off the ball by more physical players. He (Barbosa) does have incredible off the ball and anticipation, so he'd be great at moving into channels and trying to get behind the opponent - hence AF. You can also try poacher. How's his consistency? And thank you kindly

Disclaimer - I'm no guru and could be 100% wrong on all of the below. I'd recommend: 1. Remove pass into space. 2. If your team is on Positive mentality it will play more urgently, more creatively and faster. Players will take more liberties. If you're looking to maintain possession switch to cautious and see how that works. You have 45% ball control above, and that's not enough if you're trying to control the ball against a team that's closed up shop. I usually only switch to positive or attacking if I have tons of possession but struggling to create chances. Meaning I'm just passing the ball around without any penetration. 3. Add hit early crosses to see if you can beat the defense to forming its shape in transition. 4. AP and MEZ in midfield will have a hard time working well. Too much creativity and not enough structure. 5. Try changing DM to (S). If he's on (D) there may be a gap between him and the other midfielders. 6. Try F9 as an AF. Right now it looks like only your IF is creating goal scoring threat, as F9 will drop deep into midfield. 7. Don't trap outside. That instruction doesn't really work well and won't suit your formation. Trap inside. Add trigger press on all op[posing defenders and tackle harder on central midfielders. 8. Bust the net has a video on Arsenal emulation as a 4-3-3DM. I highly recommend their channel in general. 9. In general, you need depth and width for creating space. A WB stay wider and a W stay wider will create width. AF should create depth by pushing defense back. Otherwise defense will step up and congest the area. 10. Also remove get stuck in. 11. Try WB(S) and IWB(A). WB(S) should help prevent crowding with IF and IWB(A) will add more penetrating runs inside. 12. I'd also examine PI vs preferred moves. Examine preferred foot for wide players. 13. Simakan is right-footed, does he prefer right side of back 2? 14. Imo your front 3 aren't playing in roles/positions they're most suited for. I think Barbosa is best suited for AF, Reus as a playmaker, whether central or wide, and Reyna as a left-side IF. Also, to me Carvajal is a defensive type full back/wing back, not an IWB. 15. Try playing without 'work the ball into box' and 'play out of defense'. If you use 2 BPD they'll naturally 'play out of defense'. The team instruction makes them do that even more. Same with work the ball into box. Less is more with TIs. With less TIs your players will play in a way shape and roles intend for them to play. Your BPDs will pass around, but may also try long balls over the top in a right situation. That will depend on their attributes. I'd generally recommend tweaking team mentality and attack vs support of individual players, before adding team instructions.

Great to find this thread! I really wish there was more written about this great coach. It has been almost 25 years but I still marvel at what he managed to achieve with a largely not so special squad (except for Shevchenko for sure). A couple of opinions on his tactics after rewatching late 90s Dynamo. 1. It wasn't so much high intensity pressing as counter-pressing that he employed. 2 or 3 players would immediately attempt to get the ball back while the rest of the team dropped off into low to mid block. That was their approach to matches against stronger sides like Real. The press didn't really trigger until their own half, but it was relentless. 2. There were times when FBs like Luzhnyi or Dmitrulyn would join counters, but the team was very disciplined in terms of how many players countered. 3. They played with 4 at the back, but one of the CDs was a sweeper. 4. Typically Kosovskyi LW was the one joining counters. He had great pace and stamina. I could 100% be wrong about all of these. I'm going to start a thread soon on FM 23 Dynamo trying to emulate Lobanovskyi tactics.

Pretty underwhelming version. May consider not buying next year's one. Can we please fix and update features already in game, instead of re-skinning and repackaging stuff that's not useful, fun or even meaningful? Press conferences - maybe I'm naïve or uninformed, but i think it wouldn't take much time to significantly improve and update the interactions with new responses and questions. As of right now, I mostly skip them altogether. I can only answer the same question so many times before getting bored. Scouting - can we fix the system, instead of re-skinning what's not working? Also, why can't I set general direction for scouting department (i.e. U23 1st teamers), instead of having to put limits on all scouting assignments, which in this version break the scouting focuses? Why is scouting in 5 different panels now? Usability has taken a step back imo. ME - good job on continuing improvement. Squad planner - I used it a little bit at 1st, but quickly stopped. It just doesn't really bring enough value for effort you have to put into it. As other's have mentioned, it's mostly a re-packaging of squad depth. Areas that imo need improvement that could significantly better the game experience: 1. International management - come on SI, this is probably the most glaring area of the game. 2. Interactions - more options, answers and depth. 3. Scouting and transfer market - bottom to top revamp - data comes 1st and then in-person scouting. That's how it works in real world. Major AI upgrades when it comes to this area. 4. ME - defensive formation, separate from offensive. Make hard-coded player instruction known on tool-tips. For example - IWBs won't cut inside if there are no wingers ahead of them. This is really not something that should require hours of forum search to figure out. 5. Tactics need an update - I don't know how feasible it is to include these items and for AI to use them properly, but position rotation, targeting of gaps, specific players, or pitch areas, pressing triggers and better defensive instructions should all be in the game. Pressing is much improved over the last 2 versions, but i feel like there's a general lack of information on how it works exactly. Though to be honest I'm not expecting much of anything outside of women's football in next year's version.

Overall pretty good. ME has clearly been tweaked since 22. Near post goals are a little too prevalent. Pressing def feels better. New scouting is a bit meh - too many different tabs and places to look at, needs some consolidation imo. Otherwise the look and feel is nice. Edit: after one season scouting seems like more of the same. Different names and menus but it's not really any different from FM22. Mass scouting players with coaches is still much more reliable than scouting focuses. LOVE CL games start presentations. Feels like a few too many through balls. ME at times feels inconsistent. Playing as Dynamo Kyiv beat Monaco in two very tightly contested games using 4231 gegenpress. In group stage lost 3-8 At Napoli and won 4-0 at home, both with same tactic as Monaco games. Just odd. Lost 1-2 both games to Chelsea and supporters are very disappointed...weird. Squad planner is nice. Though the planner will give a player 2.5 starts but player profile will say 3.5 stars. Pretty confusing. Player interactions are unchanged. 2-3 replies and they're very unhappy with being treated unfairly with no way to restart conversation. A missed opportunity by the devs. Manager timeline is cute, but most certainly not a headline feature. Could've 100% done without. Fan confidence is kind of whatever. Game is kind of halfway between a patch and real new version. 7/10 P.S. please for all that is holly fix the international management!!!

I think it's usually 2 weeks prior to release. I'm assuming coming Monday is beta date, unless you heard something else?

This is also a game, not real life. In real life I also wouldn't see any attributes, regardless of whether they're at a club or not.

I've never had less than 3. I think once, when I sold a team leader I had only 2 for a very short time and then someone else became a 3rd team leader. Perhaps it just needs some tuning.

I feel that currently it is impossible to find non-regen hidden gems - players with high ability who have been missed by scouts in lower division or lower reputation teams. Right now when you add a league, depending on your database, you'll end up with a number of newly created players who can have very high ability but not be real players. I think it would be fun and interesting if periodically the game added a certain number of these fully grown regens to random lower league or lower reputation teams. These 'regens' would potentially have high ability and this would help in simulating Kante or Mahrez situations, where an excellent player was in lower leagues unrecognized by scouts.

I feel that currently the dynamics part of the team is largely irrelevant. You hardly need to pay any attention to it at all. It's not a "fun" or useful part of the game. In my opinion it's just there, but carries no real significance. Some improvements that i feel will create immersion and "fun" gameplay: 1. No mandatory 3 team leaders. Based on player personalities, time at the club, age, attributes, etc. you could have 5,6,7 or 0 team leaders. This would put more emphasis on retaining team leaders, since a leaderless team should suffer serious performance penalties. 2. Conversely - if you have 5 team leaders, there may be fractures within the squad, competing leaders, player animosity or even competing social groups of players. 3. Managing of player personalities and egos should be a more important part of the game. It is simply too easy to keep the majority happy at this time. I'm sure there are other things that can be done to make this part of the game more interesting and engaging.