[Lack of central play, not just OP crossing.]

Since it was asked by a Mod on the beta feedback forum, here are the formations I have used.

The main tactic:

 

And the secondary one:

 

That being said, I will point out, that the final third entries through the center was the same/eerily similar to people who've played narrower formations making it clear that this is an issue/bug and not just people using wrong tactics. To those who may want to  point out the issues that exist with IW, I switched them regularly with IF to see if it would change anything and it didn't.

[Lack of Central Play]

1 hour ago, RocheBag said:

I have no idea if this is actually an issue or not but I would just like to say that the way you've set up isn't conducive to central play at all. If you want to make space to thread through balls through the middle of the defense then you need to spread that defense out first. Where are they supposed to play the ball if all 22 players are clogging up the middle of the pitch? You should be spreading your players wide then asking them to play through the middle.

Again not sayin the issue does or doesn't exist, but you may want to try playing wider. With this tactic the only space is going to be out wide.

I played with a 4-3-3 formation emulating Total football who's entire point is, just as you've said, to stretch play, creating space inside and I found the exact same issue. The difference between fm21 and fm22 was made apparent when looked at final third entries confirming that the suspicions raised by the highlights focusing so much on crosses wasn't just a tactics thing but a ME problem. I have also tried with some other tactics following the same principles of stretching the opposition (it wouldn't be the first time a system looses effectiveness in a new iteration) to try and find central play but it all came back with the same stats, only 1(or less) in 6/7 entries came from the middle. For some reason the players almost always resort to playing a ball to the wings and the wide players (IF and AP/Treq a bit less) constantly choose to run to the corner flag.

I will agree that he should have the team width set to wide. If it hadn't happen to me, I'd also consider it being a tactics decision but that unfortunately isn't the case and SI were apparently already aware of it, let's hope it's fixed by the release date.

[Lack of Central Play]

3 hours ago, Michael Sant said:

That'll be helpful and give our team something to investigate. 

It's done, hope it helps. Have a nice week.

[Lack of Central Play]

5 minutes ago, Michael Sant said:

Hey again @DB Wit the pkm's are saved matches and highlights. So yes if you create a new thread and upload any instances where you find it happening we can investigate. Multiple examples help because of all the factors involved with influencing how a team will play in a game. 

Understood, I'll get on that right away. Going back now would be hard so I'll play a few games and take the pkms. Would 3-4 be good?

[Lack of Central Play]

1 hour ago, Michael Sant said:

Hey guys, we're going to need PKM examples from games in particular where you feel this has happened. @DB Wit if you feel this is also happening for you, I would ask you create a separate thread so we can collect as many examples and investigate them separately. Here is a guide on how you can upload files: 

 

Understood, more than happy to help! What are PKMs? Are they saved matches, and if so how many would you like?
So I should create a new topic similar to this one explaining the issue and upload these PKM files in there?
Also, you probably won't know, but if you don't mind me asking, is there a chance of this being fixed by the time the game fully releases? I know ME stuff can be iffy so if it's not being worked already I doubt it'll be ready by the 9th but I'd just figure I'd ask. Thanks for your work.

[Lack of Central Play]

I've noticed the same issues. Yours is the best example I've seen, SI have truly taken 2 steps back with this and went back to fm20, i can't stomach another game purely comprised of a crossing highlight reel.

 

The stats in my save back this up too. Also, not only are crosses far and away the main source of assists, I now understand where the game found 8 through ball assists thanks to this post.

Let's hope they fix this until full release at least.