dannyfc

To be fair to SI, I don't think it's a case of 'fixing' it but rather trying to replicate a simulation of real life football is just an absurdly difficult task so there will always be limitations. If you watch any other football game try to simulate AI vs AI it doesn't even remotely look like football. Even beyond football genres, there isn't a single game that has AI sophisticated enough to convincingly emulate human behaviour. I think the challenge is to properly replicate final third play you need to simulate creative decision making and sensible risk taking. That's a hell of lot harder to code then wing-play, which is simply showing a faster player beating his man down the line then a forward with higher anticipation getting to the cross ahead of his marker. There was a big overhaul in FM 13 that introduced physical presence to the game to prevent players ghosting through one another. Fingers crossed FM 25 yields another leap forward with something similarly impactful.

Fully agree - I think the game struggles to properly simulate close control in tight spaces which is why play often gets funneled wide where there's more space. Players are too risk adverse to holding on to the ball when play gets congested. It's largely why technically brilliant players are less effective than physical ones in the match engine. I'm sure it's got a lot worse since FM 19 but may be remembering the older versions through rose tinted glasses.

Stupid question - but are FM 24 saves compatible with FM 23?

@Rashidi I notice you opt for Work Into the Box in most of your tactics, any particular reason why? Id be interested to know how it influences player behaviour differently from tempo and passing settings. Thanks

But even then still you'd expect a high line to encounter less passes per defensive action in your own half compared to a lower defensive line. Having very few teams clustered in the bottom right quadrant feels off.

Great, thanks. Maybe I'll drop pass into space in the meantime. I'm in the Championship, my team is probably below average hence the desire to play on the counter. However paradoxically I'm dominating the ball but just can't seem to unlock defences. I've always assumed that direct passing is a necessity for counters, but based on your mentality which determines short I'm assuming that's not true. Would you say high tempo is a requirement? With regards to wingers, I'm looking at few in pre-season but with my budget it's rare to find 16+ pace without extreme deficits in other areas. Bit of a tangent but how important are balance/agility? I've got my eye on this guy but unsure if he'd be that effective in the Championship. My targetman is dominant so as look as he can whip in some crosses it might work These are my current wingers. Technically decent but struggling to make much impact

How defensively sold is a DM(s) compared to an Anchor man or DM(d)? How would they differ positionally? Doesn't it risk exposing the CBs? I'm always be weary of not having any defensive roles in midfield, so be interested to know if that's too risk adverse. Also in regard to quickness, my front three all have 14 pace which feels just on the threshold of 'quick'. You think that's adequate or should I adopt a less direct style?

I'm also struggling on the possession won and can't seem to move the dial. Tried counter-press, high defensive line, high closing down, but we're always amongst the worst in the team league.

For me '14' is above average quickness, which Kane definitely doesn't have, so it's already generous. His abilities are in essentially ever other attribute. If that doesn't translate to the match engine the issue is there rather than grading him as a quick player to compensate

I don't buy that, I still think it's far too easy to maintain and ultra higher pressing style over the course of the season without being penalised by jadedness or injuries. I would like to see SI make the effectiveness of pressing much more dependent on player attributes and training sessions that specifically practice the traps in-week. It should be a style you can impress over time, rather than simply slap on to any team at any level and get results from. As a tangent to that I feel tactical familiarity itself is far too easy to build and maintain and should be largely governed by the focus of your training sessions. (i.e. set-pieces, defensive organisation, transitions, pressing, etc)

I'm glad you're getting good results out of a low block and low LoE. Near enough every successful tactic I see is some Gegenpress variant with ultra high lines and closing down. Always wanted to avoid that route as it feels a cheap to overachieve so it's a relief to know other playing styles are not only viable but effective.

If you're scoring goals but the issue is defensive stability, I think something as simple as changing the DM(s) to an Anchor role could help give the defence more protection. Only two defensive roles is very attacking. What type of goals are you conceding?

Anyone finding their scouts aren't returning results on recruitment focuses?

Context: I'm struggling to generate consistent xG and want to understand what in-game feedback I can use to address where its breaking down. I generally find watch Full Matches is the easiest way to understand, but I simply don't have the time to do that and want to rely more on the analytics which I rarely use.

Also - I've noticed the 'Match Preparation' screen is greyed out and states 'Unavailable'. I've converted a save from FM 23 so wanted to check if it's a compatibility issue or something I'm missing to enable it. Thanks! edit; sorry ignore this, realised it becomes available when prompted just before the fixture.

This is feedback about FM 24, no? I've only played a couple games and my initial observations was the exact same in regards to pass completion. FM 23 nailed it so it's a disappointing regression to go back to how it was in FM 22 where any player is able to find a pass without issue. Early days so my opinion may change but it's not looking good bruv. (everything else looks great tho tbf)

Has it been confirmed anywhere which new features aren't compatible with FM 23 saves? Anyone have any idea what they could be?

Why do you assume it's not improved in FM 24?

I genuinely believe the bulk of the engines issues derive from this. Any time the play become even slightly congested to immediate response is to find the space as opposed to try and play through. It's so tedious to watch and risk adverse. I want to see players attempt tight interplay, 1-2s, wiggle their way through. These are the actions in a game where the technically best players on the pitch thrive and define their worth, and atm FM properly fails to showcase that. It just lacks any type of flair or risk taking activities.

It's a common misconception for fans to confuse lack of effort with lack of confidence / form. Very few players are stupid enough to risk what can be very short windows of opportunity at the top. Also don't think people realise the levels of commitment you need to get there in the first place. Sorry - not having a go but get annoyed by the perception of these young men being mentally weak or childish while having to consistently perform in one of the highest pressure, competitive, workplace environments. Especially when its's men in their 40s or 50s slagging verbal abuse at kids as young as 18 or 19 ultimately trying their best. But back to the initial point, I do actually think morale has a huge bearing on performances. You often see how quickly a team seemingly devoid of talent can suddenly turn it around off the back of one or two good results. Self-belief is a huge component of sports, on a par with the tactical side of the game IMO. The tricky bit when it comes to FM is making that side of the game interesting. The player and media interactions are beyond tedious and don't actually provide anything to think about but pressing a response on autopilot. The Team Cohesion mechanic is good as it puts focus on squad balance and leadership, but is still far too easy to override with a few team building training modules. I wish it took look to build up, and would heavily penalise overhauls in personnel or lack of good personality types.

This same topic gets posted time and time again, and it's always the same reply. The calculations in the match engine are an output of player attributes, tactics, morale, condition, and to an certain random chance. That's it If you're consistently losing again and again to the same team, they must have an significant advantage in at least one of those areas. I don't get why people can't just accept that and have to assume there is an ulterior motive at play. If you believe that, then the obvious question is why? Why would the developer bother to give Real Madrid (or anyone) their own unique advantage?

How come? Licensing? Seems oddly specific.

Were there 3 patch last year, or just the 2? How many had ME updates? Hoping we get some more tweaks in January but nervous if they're just going to settle on the possession issue until next year. My save has ground to a halt since the patch.

How you getting Endrick to join AIK by 2025?

Same issue as FM 22, too easy to keep the ball in the your own third so defensive teams will just hog the ball to death. Was OK until the patch but tbh only because there was a preference to hoof it rather than any genuine difficulties playing short.