Official Football Manager 2015 Pre Release Beta Feedback Thread - Update 15.0.3

[securitaz]

Hm..i also play with ManUtd and have exploit the middle,short passing instruction and play with 3 MC's and AMC and two ST's..but the majority of my goals comes from wide areas..Rafael has 9 assists, Valencia has 7..My AMC's have like 5 altogether..so I don't know..

After 37 games with Man Utd i have scored 103 goals and let through 40..GD is by that 63, Liverpool in 2nd place has 64-38 which gives a GD of 26. The goalscoring issue is already known, but should be allover the teams and not just for me maybe, i dont know. I play 4-1-2-3 DM Instructions are, retain possession, short passes, work ball into box, whipped crosses, exploit flanks, overlap, push higher up, close down more, tighter marking, high tempo and be more expressive.

Falcao(Complete forward)

Di Maria Valencia

(Ramdeuter) (Inside Forward Atck)

Rooney Fellaini

(Adv Playmaker Atck) (Cntral Mid Support)

Blind

(Half Back Defend)

Shaw Evans Jones Rafael

(WB auto) (WB auto)

Its not meant to be a tactic discussion, its meant to show how my team plays based on my instructions in 3D.

I based my expectations in 3D to the tactics set. As i said before, i like the ME alot! Just a few minor tweaks needed:)

Regards

[Schotsmannetje]

It's the best Christmas present ever, really. That week is so great.

Yeah there's another complete round of fixtures on the 1st of january

Although I just found out that the Liverpool game of the 28th is moved to the 29th due to broadcasting reasons.

[ting2004]

Sometimes I struggle to keep track of the ball in 3D view, not sure if it's my eyes or the different coloured background of the fans etc making it difficult.

[SpillBlood]

Sometimes I struggle to keep track of the ball in 3D view, not sure if it's my eyes or the different coloured background of the fans etc making it difficult.

I have the same, I posted it previously so hopefully they pick up on it. Glad to see someone else is.

[SN|P3R]

FM 2015 is definitely quicker and seems more polished than its predecessors.

I'll keep it short and to the point regarding the improvements which may be need. Also excuse me if these points may have been repeated. Here we go :-

- Customize View of team seems broken to an extent. Addition of 4-5 new details to the existing view will only ensure that 2-3 additional details are added. Let's i wanted to add 5 more and only 3 are added. The 3rd column would be huge and no adju stable from the right hand side to squeeze in more additional entries. This was not a problem in FM 14 where i have added even more columns back then.

- in tactics overview, it would be great to include the position is playing below the players name like the earlier version. This would enable us for quick change of the player's duty. Also a hover screen with his attributes highlighted and a reference from let's say the assistant or coach to let us the the player's best position according to them.

- Possibility of a light skin in the future.

[ron6632]

Match

- Poor goalkeeping, particularly at lower levels - sometimes leading to unusually high scores
- Too many poor back-passes leading to goals
- There are too many goals from direct free-kicks
- There are too many own goals, or incorrectly-awarded own goals

They key word there would be "sometimes", as in an occasional match has a high score. An average of 6.2 goals per game suggest that this happens "often"

Incidentally, my next match finished 4-5

[forameuss]

Match

- Poor goalkeeping, particularly at lower levels - sometimes leading to unusually high scores
- Too many poor back-passes leading to goals
- There are too many goals from direct free-kicks
- There are too many own goals, or incorrectly-awarded own goals

They key word there would be "sometimes", as in an occasional match has a high score. An average of 6.2 goals per game suggest that this happens "often"

Incidentally, my next match finished 4-5

And for others, it's not happening as much. Hence "sometimes".

[cwvink]

1) Data issues thread - http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/399902-ENGLAND-%28Official%29-Fleetwood-Town-Data-Issues

Thanks, I've reported the issue there.

2) Is he retiring or something of the sort? If you offer him a contract does he want a Coach one or is he happy to be a player-coach?

It doesn't say that he is retiring, at least. When I offer him a contract, he insists on becoming a player/GK coach (non-negotiable).

[SpillBlood]

Thanks, I've reported the issue there.

It doesn't say that he is retiring, at least. When I offer him a contract, he insists on becoming a player/GK coach (non-negotiable).

I think it's down to the part of his coaching you can't offer him a trial. It'd worth submitting a bug report and getting feedback for.

[Kyanite]

Liverpool. I have 20 assists from the left, which would make sense as I play an attacking Inside Forward and an attacking wing back from that side, 22 through the middle (both from within the box and outside) and 3 assists from the right. Seems okay to me, also judging by my own observations.

Fair enough, well played.

I'll probably try a short passing approach tonight. Last time I tried the players were just hoofing it and ignoring instructions like the issue a lot of others have had, but if you can make it work maybe it'll be second time lucky for me

[ron6632]

And for others, it's not happening as much. Hence "sometimes".

Also, the majority of the goals are not from poor goalkeeping, poor defensive passing (although "some" are, hence the original comment). Most are down to poor positioning and lack of positional awareness, many come from a long ball over the top. A significant number (more than "some", but slightly less than "often") come from set pieces - corners and indirect free kicks. There are possibly a few too many direct-free kick goals at this level, but they do seem proportionate.

Incidentally, my next match finished 6-5

[forameuss]

Also, the majority of the goals are not from poor goalkeeping, poor defensive passing (although "some" are, hence the original comment). Most are down to poor positioning and lack of positional awareness, many come from a long ball over the top. A significant number (more than "some", but slightly less than "often") come from set pieces - corners and indirect free kicks. There are possibly a few too many direct-free kick goals at this level, but they do seem proportionate.

Incidentally, my next match finished 6-5

And nothing to do with certain set-ups? Given that it doesn't happen to absolutely everyone.

[Paolo di Canio]

what do you think of pressing and tackles? My players are much less aggressive than what they used to be on Fm14 with "get stuck in" and "close down much more".

[cwvink]

I think it's down to the part of his coaching you can't offer him a trial. It'd worth submitting a bug report and getting feedback for.

Cheers, I did as you suggested.

[sammynick1234]

Also, the majority of the goals are not from poor goalkeeping, poor defensive passing (although "some" are, hence the original comment). Most are down to poor positioning and lack of positional awareness, many come from a long ball over the top. A significant number (more than "some", but slightly less than "often") come from set pieces - corners and indirect free kicks. There are possibly a few too many direct-free kick goals at this level, but they do seem proportionate.

Incidentally, my next match finished 6-5

Something like 45% of goals scored in the premier league are from set pieces - so that sounds about right to me? Long balls over the top are very effective IRL too, especially a cross-field ball looping order the fullback.

[ron6632]

And nothing to do with certain set-ups? Given that it doesn't happen to absolutely everyone.

Really concerned about the standard of defending. My competitive results so far have been - 1-2, 4-0, 1-2, 1-5, 3-4, 1-4, 2-7, 3-1, 2-5, 4-1, 6-4, 3-1, 3-3, 5-2, 2-4, 6-6, an average of 6.2 goals per game!

Although I'm playing in a low standard of league (2nd Div N in Sweden), and as a poor side, this does seem ridiculously high.

Not beyond the realms of possibility. If it was just my set up I would expect to be losing heavily every match while not scoring many. As you can see from my results above I am scoring a huge number of goals myself. Does this mean every other side in my division as defensively naive as I am, I wonder? Or could there be a flaw with the defensive side of things - not just poor keepers and poor passing but something a bit more fundamental?

Just taking a sample of the last full fixture card, there were 37 goals over 7 games, an average of 5.3 goals per game. Still fairly high. The previous one to that was 43 (6.1 per game)

So far this season, there have been 562 goals scored by all sides in 18 games. Thats an average of 40.1 per side and an average of 2.23 goals per game per team - giving an average of 4.5 goals per fixture

[ron6632]

Something like 45% of goals scored in the premier league are from set pieces - so that sounds about right to me? Long balls over the top are very effective IRL too' date=' especially a cross-field ball looping order the fullback.[/quote']

I would agree with you. My concern is not with the "type" of goal, but with the number of goals being scored per game.

[Chrisis]

Anybody else experienced that when you start the game in Febuary 2015 that no leagues have played any matches?

[TomDixon77]

I'm posting a link to this thread here: http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/400596-FM15-Sidebar

So that hopefully someone will at least respond to some of the issues raised. The increasing number of UI changes that don't seem to allow for any sort of customisation since the current xml structure was adopted back in FM06/07 (possibly earlier?) have pretty much eradicated what was once a fairly vibrant skinning scene. The new sidebar (which initially led the few of us left who still make skins to think there would finally be something to work with) is, as far as I can tell, completely and utterly locked down. I've tried all sorts of things and cannot convince it to look anything other than what the default skin has.

[Phil Elliott]

Been playing for a few days, and I have to say I'm loving this version of the game more than I have for years. Right now it's hard to put my finger on it, but I'm more immersed - and I feel like the decisions I'm making have a tangible impact on what's going on. I log around 800-1000 hours of FM games each year, and I'd gotten into the rut of just downloading tactics because I didn't know how to make a difference with my own... but this year it's different. I'm super-impressed, and I've only actually found a single proper bug inaround 25 hours of play (match day info screens resetting each time I load up).

Great job SI.

[Sunwell]

You can't get your keeper to distribute short passes while using TM.

[Paolo di Canio]

Guys, this is just a beta, it could never be more tuned than FM14 spring patch. ME is not broken just because you lose, or well made because you're winning. I keep winning on this beta, but just because my tactic exploits a few match engine issues, like defenders making great long passes, and strikers with good elevation always controlling those passes and being able to shoot; this shouldn't be possible and is one of the reasons for this beta's ME isn't even close to FM14's one.

[Sky]

One thing I have noticed re: Match Engine, and this has been the same over the years, is that when your tactic familiarity is not fluid enough, your team will make all sorts of bizarre mistakes and conceded the stupidest goals. It's almost enough to make you question the ME, but once you get your tacs to be fluid, most of these issues disappear and you start playing proper football.

[josev]

i'm really tired of these stupid post-match questions about me getting the result against the team i was expected to lose heavily to when the difference in level is really minimal and my team is doing better this season as well as finished higher than opponent last season, i mean okay, i may not have been the favorite for the game, but by no means expected to lose heavily

[Kriss]

i'm really tired of these stupid post-match questions about me getting the result against the team i was expected to lose heavily to when the difference in level is really minimal and my team is doing better this season as well as finished higher than opponent last season, i mean okay, i may not have been the favorite for the game, but by no means expected to lose heavily

The press are just as mind bogglingly stupid irl too you know, don't lose sight of that

[Glenn Wakeford]

i'm really tired of these stupid post-match questions about me getting the result against the team i was expected to lose heavily to when the difference in level is really minimal and my team is doing better this season as well as finished higher than opponent last season, i mean okay, i may not have been the favorite for the game, but by no means expected to lose heavily

Please post this in the bugs forums here. If you could upload a save game from before a match where you receive this question incorrectly post-match, we can take a look.

[rickedge84]

I went on holiday for a couple of days. In that time a player came to speak to me, because I wasnt there he got disgruntled and the whole squad got disgruntled at his treatment. Surely that's not right?

[Auqakuh]

Finally found something really weird.

Namely, we lost one game (league cup, so... pretty irrelevant usually). After losing the game, the players were told that they'd played badly. Everyone reacted WELL to this, IE motivated/inspired all across the board, except one player, Rooney, who had no reaction at all.

Fast forward to next game. Players all have "poor" morale all of a sudden; all of them are nervous no matter what; they play sluggishly, dwelling on the ball needlessly, putting in reckless challenges (though this last has been a developing feature over the past three games)...

I make a substitution on about 60 minutes to try to improve play, having decided Rooney was the problem. Brought on Di Maria, who was being rested for an upcoming fixture. Told him "you can make the difference!" which seemed a fair statement. Except suddenly he thinks I lack credibility...

This is a team which has been motivated/inspired by my teamtalks all season, including several occasions where we've gone in at half time at 0-0 or a goal down and turned it around to win convincingly. Makes no sense whatsoever that one poor performance would utterly destroy morale AND form to this extent - especially not while apparently simultaneously making the players think their manager is useless. We're on a 16 game unbeaten run in the league, for goodness' sakes!

[Fabio MVP]

You've praised them too much, they became complacent. Time for a hairdryer methinks.

[Sebbo]

Quick question - Should we expect another update before the full release?

I've not been 'playing' the beta as such, more fiddling around and testing different parts of the game, which seems to make sense to me as it's a Beta Test after all.

However at this point I'd be interested to know if I should be looking at going back over previous areas of the game in the near future to see if things I've reported as bugs before have had changes made, and in course feedback on those? Otherwise I may slow down a little and wait for the full release.

Cheers.

[Saddler]

An issue regarding the Beta game and was in FM14 is I believe the Pink? football for cup games (i realise it is another daft idea the FA wanted) but can we please get rid of it as for people like myself who are colour blind it is extremely hard and almost impossible to track where the football is.

[roykela]

I resigned from my club, Rødde, in the Norwegian 2nd division and i'm currently on holiday applying for any clubs.

Twice now i've been approached by 2 clubs outside the playable league system. Both in Sweden.

Is that a new thing now, being able to take charge of clubs outside the playable league system, or is that something that shouldn't happen?

With the first club that approached me i wouldn't be playing a single match, as they were knocked out from the Swedish cup.

I would just have to wait.....or play friendlies possibly.

I never checked the 2nd clubs' fixtures.

So, is it a feature or an error?

[Viking]

Quick question - Should we expect another update before the full release?

I really hope so. It would be nice to try to play the game without a unhappy squad for a change.

[Auqakuh]

You've praised them too much, they became complacent. Time for a hairdryer methinks.

I'm familiar with this issue - whereby you praise performances after each match and they slowly become more and more complacent until your form buggers up and you lose a match.

However, that's not this. I only ever praise "cautiously" in order to combat this (except at half time with very specific players who I know will get the "motivated/inspired" reaction and go on to play even better), and have had huge long unbeaten streaks in previous games because of careful management of the phenomenon. I'm fine with the losing a game, that happens, but the morale loss and the sudden drop in form is extremely confusing.

And after reloading my prior save to have a look at the teamtalk feedback...

So not even one player was irritated by the hairdryer I dealt out after we lost, although Phil Jones is stressed (albeit his form has been awful anyway, so not surprised). But you can also see that morale is good right after the match. It mysteriously dropped prior to the next fixture, but nothing visible happened.

[josev]

Please post this in the bugs forums here. If you could upload a save game from before a match where you receive this question incorrectly post-match, we can take a look.

thanks for the tip, i posted the bug

[Jed_Leeds_ United_ Fan]

Why in gods name would SI go backwards from this>>>>> (in 2010)

http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fm-base.co.uk%2Fforum%2Fattachments%2Ffootball-manager-2009%2F13391d1254931845-hibernian-hibernian-v-benfica-.png&imgrefurl=http%3A%2F%2Fsortitoutsi.net%2Fforums%2Ftopic%2F7706%2Fplease-help&h=834&w=1424&tbnid=j430gXvCxgDHzM%3A&zoom=1&docid=PpcTuaoqDDuKPM&ei=ydlPVKeQOYyu7AbA1oCwCg&tbm=isch&ved=0CKUBEDMoYzBj&iact=rc&uact=3&dur=183&page=4&start=75&ndsp=28

To this in 2015>>>>>>>>>>>>

http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http%3A%2F%2Fcloud-4.steampowered.com%2Fugc%2F721996341667666986%2F41BC4D88B04066FE86413A9507DCE198D826B61D%2F1024x575.resizedimage&imgrefurl=http%3A%2F%2Fsteamcommunity.com%2Fsharedfiles%2Ffiledetails%2F%3Fid%3D198617113&h=575&w=1024&tbnid=bkGEee44maWcpM%3A&zoom=1&docid=rMHXDnXUY6BsuM&ei=89lPVIr2FIew7Aawl4DABw&tbm=isch&ved=0CGsQMyhjMGM4yAE&iact=rc&uact=3&dur=1750&page=11&start=283&ndsp=27

A once great game ruined, me like everyone else I know wont be purchasing the game again until the interface is more clean professional looking like it used to be. Not like some management sim on the ps3/xbox its become..

[Manager Milney]

Started unemployed and in october got hired by cordoba b in the spanish second division. they were 18th of 20 and winless. Over the next 16 games I got them up to 12th and with the objective of a top half finish well in reach. then on the 1st of february im on a matchday and click continue to advance as the match was a late KO, only for the game to advance to the next day and then go to my inbox to find i'd been sacked. Doesnt seem right to me that it advanced a day before letting me know i was sacked, especially when it was on a matchday, besides that it was an extremely harsh sacking.

[Kriss]

Started unemployed and in october got hired by cordoba b in the spanish second division. they were 18th of 20 and winless. Over the next 16 games I got them up to 12th and with the objective of a top half finish well in reach. then on the 1st of february im on a matchday and click continue to advance as the match was a late KO, only for the game to advance to the next day and then go to my inbox to find i'd been sacked. Doesnt seem right to me that it advanced a day before letting me know i was sacked, especially when it was on a matchday, besides that it was an extremely harsh sacking.

Worth a bug report with a save game from just before it happens.

[BoundedCascade]

I have noticed a couple of things. One, if you go on holiday and one of your players comes to you and wants to discuss something they will automatically become unhappy and the rest of the team will become so as well, I feel like the assistant manager should deal with the situation when this happens or be pulled out of holiday mode in order to deal with it.

As well I have only ever ran into this problem once but I attempted to change tactics on both teams that I was controlling in the same match and the one team refused to change the tactics and slowed the game down to replay pace (I have it close to the highest speed so as to have my games go quickly) and stayed that way for the remainder of the match. This was one of the oddest experiences I had.

[LeeeedsLad]

I used to love FM back in 2010, when the interface was professional looking/clean and easy on the eye, From FM2013 though the game and interface has become all games consoley. lots of big cluttered Icons/boxes and a rather ugly interface. I have not purchased the game since 2013 as I just find these new elements of the game just too un-pleasant.

Here's what I mean the interface on 2010 is perfect, look at the match overview for instance :

http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fm-base.co.uk%2Fforum%2Fattachments%2Ffootball-manager-2009%2F13391d1254931845-hibernian-hibernian-v-benfica-.png&imgrefurl=http%3A%2F%2Fsortitoutsi.net%2Fforums%2Ftopic%2F7706%2Fplease-help&h=834&w=1424&tbnid=j430gXvCxgDHzM%3A&zoom=1&docid=PpcTuaoqDDuKPM&ei=eN5PVJnPMayt7ga34ICAAg&tbm=isch&ved=0CKUBEDMoYzBj&iact=rc&uact=3&dur=212&page=4&start=75&ndsp=28

Now look at it in 214 (cluttered/bulky and just aweful to look at) :

http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fm-base.co.uk%2Fforum%2Fattachments%2Ffootball-manager-2013-discussion%2F294692d1356615100-match-day-overview-overview.png&imgrefurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fm-base.co.uk%2Fforum%2Ffootball-manager-2013-discussion%2F110939-match-day-overview.html&h=838&w=1440&tbnid=aG_0-RraHBGbXM%3A&zoom=1&docid=OyfrSe0k93nLMM&ei=VN5PVImEF9Cu7AaDhYHoAQ&tbm=isch&ved=0CCcQMygGMAY&iact=rc&uact=3&dur=1716&page=1&start=0&ndsp=22

For me I used to always play the game with the nice clean match overview screens showing scorers etc, with the flashing bar at the bottom. Fm has lost it's sole since 2012 and I for one will not be purchasing the game again unless these things change.

[Fudger]

Played through 6 months in a couple of saves... one with Forest, goals were insane in the Championship, obviously it's been noted. Then West Ham... had similar issues. However, i'm playing as Roma at the moment and the Italian league seems a lot more moderate for goals so far coming up to Christmas. I tend to check all of the results and the goals seem to be a lot lower than the English league... although still high in terms of Italian football seeing as Italian football is known for low scoring games. It almost seems like for me the Italian model is how the Premier League should be reflected. Enjoying it though, big time. Roma are fun.

[SazoJohnno]

I am not sure if this should be reported as a bug but I dont think my Liverpool squad will be able to manage this

http://i.imgur.com/rJreK1f.jpg?1

Bayern fixture is only a day away from each other. This surely cant be right.

[Sebbo]

Suggestion regarding 'Vision':

'Vision' has obviously taken the place of 'Creativity' for definition reasons, which is fair enough. However, myself and many others (even something noted by SI, but I forget where) are finding it a little difficult to adjust to this attribute now being down the bottom of the Mental column (alphabetical reasons obviously).

As far as I can remember the attribute columns have remained constant in their order (names change but not in such a way that disrupts the order they are presented in). As I'm sure many others have, I have become accustomed, and indeed practiced, at simply glancing at a player's profile to ascertain his strengths and weaknesses. This is possible due to recognising patterns in the attribute columns, a skill honed due to a familiarity with the unchanging nature of these columns gained over the years.

For example, a defensive minded midfielder presents a very different pattern of attributes than that of an attacking minded midfielder; hard-workers and flair players look very different at a glance; it also breaks up the lovely 'Teamwork' and 'Work Rate' attribute pairing - something often looked out for when searching for a certain type of player. And so on.

On the flip side it also has the effect of meaning a creative/visionary player now looks quite different at a glance to previous iterations of FM, making recognising and identifying them quickly somewhat more difficult.

My suggestion would be to rename this attribute 'Creative Vision'. This achieves three things hopefully:

1. Avoids people thinking 'Vision' is a new attribute, which it is not, simply a renaming of 'Creativity'

2. Keeps it in the same place in the Mental column that it has occupied for countless years

3. Prevents the attributes at the bottom of this column now being disrupted.

With the ultimate goal being to keep to the very intuitive nature of many FM screens and steering away from confusion over a changed attribute name.

Cheers!

[Bittah Dreamer]

Are wages demands a bit on the high side?

On a barca save, I've had Pogba and Reus both looking for €240k plus per week.

I know I'm a big club and they are world class players but still seems high.

[HUNT3R]

Are wages demands a bit on the high side?

On a barca save, I've had Pogba and Reus both looking for €240k plus per week.

I know I'm a big club and they are world class players but still seems high.

You are?

[daylight]

You are?

In fairness his forum name is 'Bit tah Dreamer'.

[flpmrn]

Suggestion regarding 'Vision':

It has obviously taken the place of 'Creativity' for definition reasons, which is fair enough. However, myself and many others (even something noted by SI, but I forget where) are finding it a little difficult to adjust to this attribute now being down the bottom of the Mental column (alphabetical reasons obviously).

As far as I can remember the attribute columns have remained constant in their order (names change but not in such a way that disrupts the order they are presented in). As I'm sure many others have, I have become accustomed, and indeed practiced, at simply glancing at a player's profile to ascertain his strengths and weaknesses. This is possible due to recognising patterns in the attribute columns, a skill honed due to a familiarity with the unchanging nature of these columns over the years.

Additionally it also breaks up the lovely 'Teamwork' and 'Work Rate' attribute pairing! Along with pushing other attributes associated with these further up the list.

My suggestion would be to rename this attribute 'Creative Vision'. This achieves three things hopefully:

1. Avoids people thinking 'Vision' is a new attribute, which it is not, simply a renaming of 'Creativity'

2. Keeps it in the same place in the Mental column that it has occupied for countless years

3. Prevents the attributes at the bottom of this column now being disrupted.

Even though I think it's just a matter of adaptation, I agree with this one. I'm already okay with that change in particular, but for years I've been playing the game in English (instead of my native portuguese) just because of attributes display.

So my proposal for next years is to make the display of the attributes adaptable by the player. I'd love to have first touch and technique next to each other, for example.

[dan_lcfc]

Were penalties addressed between 14.3 and fm15?

Ive just seen the 11th penalty awarded of the season (AI and user) converted playing as San Marino. 10 with the club side and 1 international. This was a problem in the 14.3 ME and the trend seems to have continued.

Is anyone else noticing this?

[akkm]

I disagree with that COMPLETELY. I play with the instructions "Retain Possession, shorter passes and work ball into box" nearly every game and I get plenty of goals scored through short creative passing and short distance through balls from the edge of the box. Just the way I want them to play.

I think it's very dependent on the tactics, instructions and roles you use in the final third. And the player's attributes of course.

I know what you're saying and I can get goals scored through the middle as well but the way they happen is questionable. Incidentally, there are still too many goals from wide areas with a 'through the middle' and 'cross less often' ticked.

What I mean tho is that yes those goals do occur the thing is most of them are through assists and through balls which come from/at the end of a brief/short period of short passing...3-5 passes max 7 (if even) at end of move which results in goal...and they are almost an addendum/seperate piece to what preceded it...generally speaking...ie its not necessarily a controlled piece/contrived/patient/composed piece of play...it can sometimes be like there is a disconnect between the 3-5 passes and all that went before. What I'm getting at is a passage of play (extended passage of play if you will) where a team (say like guardaiola's Barca) will pass pass and probe using 10-20 passes...waiting patiently to drag players out of position and then bang...through ball and they're in and if no opening arises go back and continue until opening occurs. While you could say this is not commonplace IRL that would be true to a point but certainly if you were to match barca or bayern up against a non league team eg they would be well able to achieve this and regularly within a game but this is not to be seen in FM engine currently…the moves are not as cohesive as you’d expect lacking flow and fluidity.

When I look back at Fm12 engine when players in attacking third (centrally primarily) faced with difficulty of breaking down blocks of defenders they displayed more patience/composure and moved the ball side to side or backwards creating angles to pass to with other players moving out of position to give player in possession more options and drag players around to create openings. I seldom see this in last couple of years. Even if it was down to more explicit tactical instructions now of defenders being positioned more centrally and defensive midfielders staying central deeper screening back four there is still a stark contrast between FM12 and now in that players then could receive the ball in traffic more readily with their control being much tighter and also crispness of passing was more evident and accurate then too combined with more accurate depiction of technical skills …all of which enabled more cohesive/controlled/fluid passages of shorter passing with an entirely better flow to the game itself and better simulation of controlled attacking central play showing more guile and creativity and incision…it can’t be just a tactical issue that prevents this now…it seems to be some sort of combination of poor first touch/inefficient application or exploitation of technical and mental player attributes meaning player decision making and player movement is affected along with skills & technique not manifesting itself/collision detection or something else going on…if it were just tactics then barca facing a non league team would still be able to run rings around a team sitting deep or with defensive midfielders screening back four such the gulf in class is…with their technique/guile/creativity/dribbling of messi/Neymar it wouldn’t be an issue what tactics they face…this doesn’t seem possible currently in FM. I’ve tried it with Barca and yes they’ve destroyed teams but not through skills etc. (It also should be remembered that IRL barca under guardiola faced these tactical set ups with regularity and still destroyed them…it was only when barca’s level of play dropped that they actually really struggled to break these deep sitting teams down…they carved plenty of them apart when they played at a crazy high level from 2009-11…it was a rarity they didn’t find openings…even the mythical jose’s inter two legs…figo in Portuguese officials ears aided them in Italy with sneiders offside goal allowed and this with barca legs weary from a 24 bus ride due to ash clowed…also bojan had a late tie winning goal incorrectly disallowed…so whilst barca did struggle to break them down…ultimately officiating is what cost them).

Essentially same as last year this element of match engine needs big improvement.

One thing I have noticed tho from watching a few full matches on quick speed is the whole thing looks much better and first touch etc seems much better...that might be the way to go to make all well

[swansongs]

Even though I think it's just a matter of adaptation, I agree with this one. I'm already okay with that change in particular, but for years I've been playing the game in English (instead of my native portuguese) just because of attributes display.

So my proposal for next years is to make the display of the attributes adaptable by the player. I'd love to have first touch and technique next to each other, for example.

I'd love it if the set pieces attributes were grouped off separately somewhere. Too often I've been tricked into thinking a player is good by a few big numbers on first glance.