With each new ME update the tactic that I've adjusted to suit the flawed ME becomes obsolete, outdated.
I was just getting used to my 65-70% possession tactic in the previous ME 13.2.<something>, sometimes even going on to the mid 70%s.
What's worse is that even though FM12's ME was far from fantastic either, it was a lot more CONSISTENT, and that's what counts the most when calibrating your tactics. On FM12 I managed to peak an average of 70-75% possession, reaching a spectacular, Barca'esque 85-90% against significantly weaker teams.
And no I did not have to sacrifice wins for that, nor was it because my team was made up of exceptionally better players than the rest of the league. It was after hours and hours of countless trials and errors with different combination of PLAYER SPECIFIC instructions, just to give you an idea of how much in detail I went into finding the best possible tactic for various types of play.
On the note of varying play, no, I did not stick to a narrow-minded approach in FM12 only working to find more and more possession. I took a lot of time and effort as well to create more direct, fast-paced and offensive tactics, and learnt to balance offensiveness, possession and managing risky play to different ideals. It was effective in FM12 maybe because not only was the ME more stable imo, but possibly also due to them not patching the game up by the time I got my hands on it in August last year.
Back to FM13, I have a squad that's a LOT stronger than my squad in FM12. They're basically the best in their position in the league at least, if not, in the world. You know it, 18-20 on key attributes.
18-20 on:
Marking, tackling, position on defenders,
Decisions (most important attribute ever), Creativity, Passing, OTB on midfielders
OTB, Anticipation, passing, dribbling on attackers
Yet, no matter what I try with the latest ME I can't get a consistent 70%. 65% is my best average at home. Away, of course, idk what SI were smoking to make players completely **** away, 60% at best.
After all that adjustment and trials and errors with tactics, clearly tactical instruction isn't the issue any more as I've watched several home and away matches in FULL. I don't know what it is specifically that SI have done to the AI in an attempt to simulate whatever it is, but they've become a whole lot more irrational, erratic, and worst of all, stupid. Like schoolboy stupid. Like a fullback in away matches with "Run with Ball" set to rarely, thinks it's perfectly ok to dribble the ball like *** and lose it half the time he gets the ball. Or how my most intelligent CMs based on attribute decide on the most outrageous passes that's completely the opposite of both team and player specific tactical instruction. ps. Creativity has been tweaked from low-mid-high to no distinct difference.
Now if you've read to this point congratulations and thanks, but you've probably figured this is just a lament over how the state of the FM engine from FM12 to the few patches of FM13 has deteriorated in many more ways than it has, if at all, improved.
But hey, it's a lament about tactics and (hopefully) it's somewhat relevant to stay in this section, and I'm wondering if any of you possession-aficionados actually manage to get past the 70% mark consistently with the latest ME.
I've read pretty much every tactics thread on the forum with over 5000 views and one thing I notice is people rarely get over 65% possession anyway. Whatever the cause, the FM13 players' AIs don't seem to grasp the concept of retaining possession, and moving the ball around defensively and patiently and work out opportunities more slowly. Whatever tactics I set they just want to rush the ball forward. No simple sideways passes, back passes, or just finding a non-offensive space to exploit, whether its the player on or off-the-ball.
I still do win most of my matches, and averaging a 3 goal margin, since I do, after all have a generally "world-class" squad, but heck do I miss just poking the ball around and frustrating the **** out of the opponent, and then scoring an amazingly well-worked team goal when the opportunities finally do arise.
I was just getting used to my 65-70% possession tactic in the previous ME 13.2.<something>, sometimes even going on to the mid 70%s.
What's worse is that even though FM12's ME was far from fantastic either, it was a lot more CONSISTENT, and that's what counts the most when calibrating your tactics. On FM12 I managed to peak an average of 70-75% possession, reaching a spectacular, Barca'esque 85-90% against significantly weaker teams.
And no I did not have to sacrifice wins for that, nor was it because my team was made up of exceptionally better players than the rest of the league. It was after hours and hours of countless trials and errors with different combination of PLAYER SPECIFIC instructions, just to give you an idea of how much in detail I went into finding the best possible tactic for various types of play.
On the note of varying play, no, I did not stick to a narrow-minded approach in FM12 only working to find more and more possession. I took a lot of time and effort as well to create more direct, fast-paced and offensive tactics, and learnt to balance offensiveness, possession and managing risky play to different ideals. It was effective in FM12 maybe because not only was the ME more stable imo, but possibly also due to them not patching the game up by the time I got my hands on it in August last year.
Back to FM13, I have a squad that's a LOT stronger than my squad in FM12. They're basically the best in their position in the league at least, if not, in the world. You know it, 18-20 on key attributes.
18-20 on:
Marking, tackling, position on defenders,
Decisions (most important attribute ever), Creativity, Passing, OTB on midfielders
OTB, Anticipation, passing, dribbling on attackers
Yet, no matter what I try with the latest ME I can't get a consistent 70%. 65% is my best average at home. Away, of course, idk what SI were smoking to make players completely **** away, 60% at best.
After all that adjustment and trials and errors with tactics, clearly tactical instruction isn't the issue any more as I've watched several home and away matches in FULL. I don't know what it is specifically that SI have done to the AI in an attempt to simulate whatever it is, but they've become a whole lot more irrational, erratic, and worst of all, stupid. Like schoolboy stupid. Like a fullback in away matches with "Run with Ball" set to rarely, thinks it's perfectly ok to dribble the ball like *** and lose it half the time he gets the ball. Or how my most intelligent CMs based on attribute decide on the most outrageous passes that's completely the opposite of both team and player specific tactical instruction. ps. Creativity has been tweaked from low-mid-high to no distinct difference.
Now if you've read to this point congratulations and thanks, but you've probably figured this is just a lament over how the state of the FM engine from FM12 to the few patches of FM13 has deteriorated in many more ways than it has, if at all, improved.
But hey, it's a lament about tactics and (hopefully) it's somewhat relevant to stay in this section, and I'm wondering if any of you possession-aficionados actually manage to get past the 70% mark consistently with the latest ME.
I've read pretty much every tactics thread on the forum with over 5000 views and one thing I notice is people rarely get over 65% possession anyway. Whatever the cause, the FM13 players' AIs don't seem to grasp the concept of retaining possession, and moving the ball around defensively and patiently and work out opportunities more slowly. Whatever tactics I set they just want to rush the ball forward. No simple sideways passes, back passes, or just finding a non-offensive space to exploit, whether its the player on or off-the-ball.
I still do win most of my matches, and averaging a 3 goal margin, since I do, after all have a generally "world-class" squad, but heck do I miss just poking the ball around and frustrating the **** out of the opponent, and then scoring an amazingly well-worked team goal when the opportunities finally do arise.