Overly Clinical AI/Opposition since update

[PAFC_Dugout]

Being honest I’m just posting this out of frustration so apologies for the rant. I’m not quite sure exactly changed since the winter update but I’m close to quitting. I cant enjoy the game any more because of constant games like this one for example:

 

Opposition: 4 shots against on target. 0 clear cut chances. 4 goals.

Me: 12 shots on target. 3 clear cut chances. 1 late goal. 

 

Now I understand games like this happen in football every now and again, but on this years game it is constant. I’ve hijacked the thread over on FMMVIBE about this constantly so am now posting here. Its also definitely not just me and there are plenty of examples of this issue on that thread. 

 

I’m sorry but I just see this as a lazy way of creating difficulty, instead of actually improving aspects such as AI squad building etc to create difficulty. Instead of being an actual challenge the game is just overly frustrating. I would blame my tactics but my attacking 4-4-2 got me from the national league south to the premier league in 5 straight consecutive seasons, winning all leagues on the way. I now have 16 trophies in 11 seasons but still can’t help but complain 😂 Seems to me the more I improve my squad, especially defence and goalkeeper, the more clinical the opposition get. I did blame my goalkeeper (3star rated Cragg) but have now signed one of the best Goalkeepers in the world (5 star Mamardashvili) and he still can’t save any shots on target. 

 

Here are more examples:

 

CONSTANT. Really hope difficulty can be increased in better ways next year instead of this. Again, not challenging, just FRUSTRATING

[Marc Vaughan]

can i ask how your team is setup? - if every team is scoring consistently from few chances against you then that often means you're giving away high quality chances ..

Brighton in real-life had the same problem last season, it was generally down to the team tiring a little towards the end of matches and being caught on a counter attack without enough mobility and nouse to stop the counter ... you may find you have the same issues (ie. not particularly fast players being kept back and long balls over the top for fast striker/wingers meaning you're leaving more 1-on-1's with keepers than is healthy)

[PAFC_Dugout]

On 26/06/2023 at 14:52, Marc Vaughan said:

can i ask how your team is setup? - if every team is scoring consistently from few chances against you then that often means you're giving away high quality chances ..

Brighton in real-life had the same problem last season, it was generally down to the team tiring a little towards the end of matches and being caught on a counter attack without enough mobility and nouse to stop the counter ... you may find you have the same issues (ie. not particularly fast players being kept back and long balls over the top for fast striker/wingers meaning you're leaving more 1-on-1's with keepers than is healthy)

I understand that I use an attacking tactic and formation, just find the issue is I don’t give away a lot of chances to the opposition but when I do they are overly clinical. Definitely seems to be worse to me since the latest update. I’m going to try changing the CM on the right to Anchor or Ball Winning a midfielder to see if that helps any

[Marc Vaughan]

Ok you've got an attacking setup and little support from those above the defense itself (ie. your midfield central pairing is a standard CM and an attacking role), this puts a lot of reliance on your defensive unit who from the screenshot aren't playing together particularly well (ie. you've one CD who appears to link well to midfield but NONE of your defense are playing well together at all).

This might be down to one or two of the players being weaker than the others in some manner or perhaps your keeper has lost the plot and simply isn't doing his job right?

I'd personally suggest considering changing your CM to a 'box to box midfielder' or 'ball winning midfielder' or your 'Play Maker' into a 'Deep Lying Playmaker' so that you have a little more depth/support for your defense and also look at the roles and setup of your defense generally ..

For instance your wide defenders are full-backs so they won't do much creatively - if you made them wingbacks then they're get up and link more to your Inside Forwards, that would offset giving a slightly more defensive central pairing, I'd also look at the DC's - are they good enough to be Ball Playing Defenders? ... why are you conceeding goals, where do the chances from from? - if its giving the ball away from goal kicks for instance then consider playing out from the back with short-distribution etc.

[PAFC_Dugout]

On 28/06/2023 at 13:24, Marc Vaughan said:

Ok you've got an attacking setup and little support from those above the defense itself (ie. your midfield central pairing is a standard CM and an attacking role), this puts a lot of reliance on your defensive unit who from the screenshot aren't playing together particularly well (ie. you've one CD who appears to link well to midfield but NONE of your defense are playing well together at all).

This might be down to one or two of the players being weaker than the others in some manner or perhaps your keeper has lost the plot and simply isn't doing his job right?

I'd personally suggest considering changing your CM to a 'box to box midfielder' or 'ball winning midfielder' or your 'Play Maker' into a 'Deep Lying Playmaker' so that you have a little more depth/support for your defense and also look at the roles and setup of your defense generally ..

For instance your wide defenders are full-backs so they won't do much creatively - if you made them wingbacks then they're get up and link more to your Inside Forwards, that would offset giving a slightly more defensive central pairing, I'd also look at the DC's - are they good enough to be Ball Playing Defenders? ... why are you conceeding goals, where do the chances from from? - if its giving the ball away from goal kicks for instance then consider playing out from the back with short-distribution etc.

Have made tweaks and nothing seems to help. I’m still winning games and doing well but opposition stupidly clinical, nearly every shot on target is a goal since the latest update. Latest game here as an example:

[PAFC_Dugout]

CONSTANT

[PAFC_Dugout]

And again. Done with it

[PAFC_Dugout]

of course 👍

[Zoot]

Lol change your attackers they dont know how to score, also keeper and defenders hahhaha actually rebuild the whole team and it will not happen again

[Marc Vaughan]

Can you email me your save game and I'll check out whether your team are as solid as you think etc. (ie. the behind the scenes stuff).

[PAFC_Dugout]

On 05/07/2023 at 09:27, Zoot said:

Lol change your attackers they dont know how to score, also keeper and defenders hahhaha actually rebuild the whole team and it will not happen again

Just won the champions league, UEFA Super Cup, and Club World Cup so don’t think it’s my team 😂

[Marc Vaughan]

6 hours ago, PAFC_Dugout said:

Just won the champions league, UEFA Super Cup, and Club World Cup so don’t think it’s my team 😂

Ok so your complaint is that you're caught on the break but you're definitely not really struggling to perform by the sounds of it ... if you're qualifying for the champions league and winning major titles then might i suggest that these occurances aren't common for you at all and instead are simply the '**** happens' of football that causes all teams to lose the occasional match now and then? ... you've been presenting this as if you're losing a host of matches, but the reality appears to be you're an amazingly dominant side but lose against the run of play now and again?

(even Man City lost a few matches last season )

[PAFC_Dugout]

On 07/07/2023 at 18:32, Marc Vaughan said:

Ok so your complaint is that you're caught on the break but you're definitely not really struggling to perform by the sounds of it ... if you're qualifying for the champions league and winning major titles then might i suggest that these occurances aren't common for you at all and instead are simply the '**** happens' of football that causes all teams to lose the occasional match now and then? ... you've been presenting this as if you're losing a host of matches, but the reality appears to be you're an amazingly dominant side but lose against the run of play now and again?

(even Man City lost a few matches last season )

No, my complaint is the opposition are too clinical. If you see the many examples I’ve uploaded above they are great examples of this. Again I fully understand that this happens in football, but not as often as this years game since the latest winter update it’s frankly ridiculous. It’s got to the point where I’m actually shocked if the opposition have a shot on target and it doesn’t go in. I’ve been using the same tactic since FMM19, with only a couple tweaks here and there. It obviously works as I got consecutively promoted from the conference South straight to the premier league and after 11 seasons have won every trophy possible. Again It’s not my complaint that the game is too difficult, but I feel there are improvements to be made in how difficult the game is instead of the opposition scoring 90% of shots on target. There must be other ways to increase difficulty.  As a rule of thumb In 99% of games I only win if I have 3/4x the shots on target than the AI does. An example is my latest game:

League cup game, I’m top of the league against bottom of the league. again, opposition have 3 shots on target all goals (one of those dissallowed). I have 6 and only 2 goals. Then on penalties they miss the first 3 but still win. Felt rigged from the start. 
 

I know not everyone has this issue but there is a thread over on FMMviba (that I hijacked😂) and there are others who have the same issues

 

edit to add (because of my constant moaning 😂):

feel I need to add that I absolutely love football manager mobile. Don’t think it gets the credit it deserves by the football manager Community in general and is often looked down on my players of the full game. Just finding this issue incredibly frustrating. I’d rather lose games because the opposition create plenty of chances etc instead of how my games often go

 

Edited July 10, 2023 by PAFC_Dugout

[PAFC_Dugout]

 

AGAIN, for example my last 3 games: 8 shots on target against, 8 goals. TOO.CLINICAL.

[PAFC_Dugout]

Top against bottom

[PAFC_Dugout]

[PAFC_Dugout]

[Marc Vaughan]

This is something I'm keeping an eye on - but it happening five times in a period spanning over a year in game doesn't seem overly excessive tbh, especially as its obvious your team is dominant (ie. the equivalent of Man City) and thus it IS far more likely to happen.

If you look at Man Cities stats last year they played 38 matches - drew 5 and lost 5, I very much doubt in any of those matches they were dominated by the opposition and I remember at least a few of those where they lost heavily against the run of play against teams bunkering down with similar stats to those you're showing. You're including Champions League matches so I expect that also has a similar vibe especially in the group stages where there are real mismatches.

(I'm not saying it isn't possible there is a flaw in there - just that at present its under investigation and not clear cut .. )

[PAFC_Dugout]

Really?! 😡

really hope this is improved next year. Other ways to increase difficulty other than this surely

[PAFC_Dugout]

me: 6 clear cut chances for me, 19 shots on target = 4 goals

opposition: 0 clear cut chances, 1 shot on target and a goal.

 

It’s definitely an issue in my opinion.

 

[Marc Vaughan]

How many of these results do you see a season in comparison to say Man City in real-life who have it happen 3-4 times at least, does this stop you from performing above most teams in the game (ie. are you winning tournaments?).

I will also state that this isn't 'rigged' - its theoretically possible to win any match obviously, if you have a very good team then its vital however that you rotate players and keep things competitive, watch out for players getting cocky and over-confident, bring in youngsters from the reserves now and again to warn older players that their places aren't 100% secure etc. ... life as a football manager isn't just about putting 11 players with ability on the pitch, its ensuring they're motivated and up for the fight.

(I've seen some impressive multi-season streaks without losing from some users, so its definitely doable - personally speaking I've never managed to go even a single season unbeaten - but I've never claimed to be the best at the game ..)

[PAFC_Dugout]

On 02/08/2023 at 19:15, Marc Vaughan said:

How many of these results do you see a season in comparison to say Man City in real-life who have it happen 3-4 times at least, does this stop you from performing above most teams in the game (ie. are you winning tournaments?).