Well, FM is a game. And because it's a a game, it has to be interesting and entertaining. To be interesting and entertaining the game must generate a lot of shots and chances. More shots and chances than an 'average' real life football game. This means that the game is focused on offensive. Defenders are (related to defensive speaking) a little dumb and AI is not able to create a quality defensive play. Defenders (especially wide defenders) there are often in wrong places and they are not able to react convincingly. This problem has two effects :
1. Crosses. A high rated team generate in FM from 30 to 35 crosses per game. If some wide players are set to attacking duty then the number of crosses is increasing to 35 - 40 crosses. Some roles (wingers, CWB) cam increase this number to over 40. This problem was even more serious in FM 2016, when some tactics could generate about 50 crosses / game.
What happens in real life ? 30 - 40 crosses are too many or too few ? There are some sites that provides this kind of information.
Number of crosses / game : Barcelona 18, Real Madrid 25, Manchester City 22, Arsenal 21, Juventus 20, Bayern 17, PSG 19.
It is clear that FM allow generation of a (very !) high number of crosses. In other words, we can say that big teams form real word are not using wide players with attacking mentality and avoid to use instruction 'cross more often'.
2. Tackles. FM players usually try to compensate this defensive problem using an increased number / intensity of tackles. Standard mentality and default settings (without 'Get stuck in' and 'Tackle harder' buttons activated) generates about 30 tackles / game. 'Get stuck in' increases this level to 40 per game. 'Tackle harder' allow increasing to 45 or even 50 tackles per game.
Real life, number of tackles per game : Barcelona 26, Real 27, Manchester City 31, Arsenal 29, Juventus 26, Bayern 25, PSG 29.
In other words, big teams from real word are not using 'Get stuck in', nor 'Tackle harder'. That's why sometimes the number of yellow / red cards seems to be too high in FM. Is not high. Is the same as in real life for the same number of tackles.
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Now, about offensive. Compared to defensive play, offensive play is much better handled by AI (and maybe by FM players). Generally speaking, is easier to shoot and harder to score in FM than in real life :
Number of shots / game. Using a high rated team, a good tactic can easily generate 18 - 20 shots per game. In some cases this number can be increased to 25 or even 30 shots / game.
Real life, number of shots per game : Barcelona 16, Real 19, Manchester City 17, Arsenal 15, Juventus 16, Bayern 18, PSG 15.
A mid-table team can achieve 10-12 shots / game and a bottom-team about 6-8 / game.
Number of shots on target per game in FM. Generally speaking, a reasonably good tactic (combined with some reasonably good players) is able to generate a 'shots on target ratio' between 41 and 50 %. This means that a good team can generate 6, 8, 10 or even 15 shots on target / game.
Real life, number of shots of target / game : Barcelona 7, Real 8, Manchester City 6, Arsenal 6, Juventus 6, Bayern 7, PSG 6.
'Shots on target ratio' : Barcelona 44, Real 42, Manchester City 36, Arsenal 40, Juventus 38, Bayern 39, PSG 40. Generally speaking, only big teams can approach a 38-42 % ratio. For the other teams this ratio is between 30 and 38 %.
There is a significantly difference between FM and real life. This difference is derived from very high frequency of long shots in real life. Shots from outside of the penalty box : Barcelona 5 shots / game, Real Madrid shots 7 / game, Manchester City 6 shots / game, Arsenal 5 shots / game, Juventus 7 shots / game, Bayern 6 shots / game, PSG 5 shots / game. Why are they using so much long shots ? Because in real life defenders are really defenders and for an offensive player is really difficult to enter into penalty box.
Anyway, these long shots are useful sometimes : any good team is able to score from long shots at least 2-3 goals at every 10 games.
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About passing. In real life all big teams are real 'passing machines'. All are able to achive a 'pass completion ratio' of 81-85 %. This does not seem much, but in FM is easy to win a league with 72-75 % ratio. Real teams do not try to attack all time, does not take unnecesary risks and know to keep the ball when necessary.
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And now, about Football Manager. Is it easy ? Can be easy for an advanced player. There are two completely different game 'modes' : FM fantasy and FM realism. Fantasy mode allows the use of any weaknesses of the game, without any restrictions. Realism is more restrictive. Example : win the league 'like in real life':
1. without generating a number of crosses higher than 25 / game
(or 950 / 38 games)
2. without generating a number of tackles attempted higher than 30 / game (or 1140 / 38 games)
3. without generating a number of shots higher than 18 / game (or 684 / 38 games)
4. without generating a number of shots on target higher than 7 / game (or 266 / 38 games) and a Shot on target ratio hisher than 39 %
5. without generating a number of goals from outside the penalty box lower than 11 / 38 games
6. without generating a pass completion ratio lower than 80 %
Seems to be easy. Is not at all.