You took the words right out of my mind bro.
I've been thinking about this for so long. We have so little hands on control on tactics and custom specific instructions.
I see the Tactics Module in FM as an assembly of presets that can be stacked together. And even so, we're still restricted on what we can stack together. It's just presets of mini tactics already in use by other managers being added to the game. Before Pep Guardiola popularized the Inverted Full Back role, it wasn't added to FM. But as a user, I could have conceived a role/tactic/passing sequence in my head that no other football manager in the world has played with before, and then want to try it out in-game. We're locked out of true creativity and experimentation, and that isn't cool at all.
This is exactly why I got tired of playing FM years ago (I started playing in 2010). It felt like I wasn't truly in control as a head coach, and that the players were just doing what they've been pre trained to do by someone else and there was nothing I could really and specifically do about it. I felt more like an advanced spectator watching things happen and being positively or negatively surprised.
I feel like I should be able to instruct players to run or move into space I define, while others do the same during certain game states or phases. I should be able to set custom instructions based on certain triggers (e.g. when Phil Foden receives the ball, Kiwior should press him while Martinelli man marks Nathan Ake as a distraction, as Saka runs into the right half space, then when we turn over possession, a through ball should be played to Havertz, who then plays it to Saka who is now free for an easy tap-in). I should be able to define in-possession formations (yes plural), and out-of-possession formations depending on the game state, phase, or custom defined triggers.
I could write on and on, but you get the idea. We should be able to draw custom tactics, runs and dummy runs, presses, passing sequences, crossing targets, etc. We should be able to do this pre-game and on the fly during the game to adjust for inadequacies or in response to the opponent's own in-game management.
Look at the way real life managers like Klopp and Arteta dish out custom instructions on the fly as games progress to fit the state of things.
Honestly, I hope they implement this in FM25 or sometime soon.
