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In the transistion screen there is a "Distribute over opposition defence" option - I am not sure how it works but it should help with the long ball game.

I think with Aston Villa you have been shown that team can achieve big things with an average budget. Two seasons ago you would not have thought that they would be a Champions League team finishing above teams with a bigger budget - Man Utd, Chelsea, Tottenham and Newcastle. The Champions League money now will help them compete more. There is also the fact that for other team's supporters winning the FA Cup was the same as winning the league. I know when my team did it in 1988 it felt wonderful. Getting that piece of silverware. There was always league teams and cup teams. If I took over someone like Brighton I would want to play good football - focus on the domestic cups and the the European ones. The league has been bought and paid for by City, unless United get their act together, so that will never be the focus.

Reading again what Miles said about the shouts was that they didn't work and made little effect on the match engine. I play on console now and we have four shouts, do you have more on the full PC version?, and I find it hard to see how they would affect the match engine: Praise - this may mean don't change anything and can only affect morale. Probably best used when you are knocking at the opponent's door or if you are away at an opponent like Man City and are defending well and are still 0-0. Whilst morale may be lifted, for a short while, will it change things? Fire-Up - whilst it might mean be more positive and get stuck in what does it affect in the match engine. Demand More - I cannot see what this would change - maybe morale? Focus - when you defending a lead/draw or just scored. Isn't this just the same as change to a Cautious mentality? Or move the mentality down one? A lot of things the shouts do can be changed in the tactics menu. You should also decide what part morale or player engagement plays in whether they listen to the shouts. Shouts should never be a magic win button and like, real life, their effectiveness should change depending on the situation. You get the impression that some players are not totally listening to what Southgate or his team are shouting to them. That should also be an aspect of the game.

I think that what Miles meant that real life managers do not spend their lives looking at emails on laptops. He did not mean us and the way we play the game.

Just out of curiousity, how does a manager like Ancelotti succeed then when he very rarely makes touchline shouts? Yes, he has had some good teams but he was also Everton's most successful manager, and Everton haven't been a top side since the 1980s, since Howard Kendall with this relaxed attitude. He is known for letting players decide on the pitch.

I think a lot of what you are doing will more the case of us editing stuff in the tactics screen. For example, playing a higher or lower defensive line, asking a player to play narrower or wider, asking them to play at a higher tempo or a lower one. The shouts were meant to be a quicker way to do this without pausing the game and doing it.

I think the point that some people are missing is that the "shouts" that managers use are dependant on the manager IRL. For example, Ancelotti very rarely uses shouts and he is seen to be mostly serenely sitting and watching play go on. He will only change things tactically if he sees something not working. He would never use the fire-up shout as that is not his way. Other managers Klopp, for example, is more demonstrative. But looking at the England performances would Gareth asking his players to Focus or Demand More really fix the clear tactical problems with the team? The shouts may make a manager feel good and that he is actually trying to do something but in reality it does diddly-squat in changing a match in real life - so it shouldn't be in a game. Now, changing a formation from a 4-3-2-1 to a 3-4-2-1 may have a change but you do not need shouts to do it. And if your dugout is to the left of the centre line and your right back is on the other side how is he going to hear it? The modern manager has match plans not shouts. Players know what they should do. Shouts are more for releasing tension then being effective.

I think touchline shouts are not what really happens in real football and in real football I wonder how useful they are. What I have been experimenting with in the console version is the Match Plans which seems to be more in line with what happens in real football. You can see with the England side we are relatively positive until we take the lead then we change to Cautious/Defensive. That matches would you might do in the real life. I wonder how much managers can actually change things with shouts - players either ignore them or they do nothing if you are the inferior team. I think the better teams work to match plans rather than touchline shouts. I would like a more limited ability to change things outside half-time - you can make subs, change formation etc. but things like asking them to sit deeper (that is not covered in match plans) should be less effective. Half-Time is the place to change the match plans. Let make half-time more important as it is in real football. I would like match plans integrated into the main game and not just the instant result. I would the belief in setting up differently for each match with these plans like top coaches do. Ancelotti had a plan for Champions League final but it didn't work in the first half and Madrid were lucky to go in level. Changes were obviously discussed at HT and Dortmund were less effective in the second half. It was the HT talk that was more effective than touchline shout as Ancelloti doesn't do that a lot.

Not my analysis, but someone else's. But it seems Spain have come up with ways to beat the aggressive high press. They keep their full backs deep either leaving free men or weakening the press in the centre. They are also prepared to play a long ball to the target man Morata. They also try and engineer one-on-ones with their wingers. And it seems wingers being wingers, instead of inverted ones has also been used. Are we seeing coaches start to neutralise the effectiveness of the high press. We have seen how Man City are prepared to beat the high press with long balls to Haaland. We have also seen how City can struggle with the low block - both Madrid and Man Utd used the low block counter to win against them in the Cup ties. Could we finally see an end to the dominance of the high press? With the resurgence of the supporting rather attacking full backs, more traditional wingers and target men?

I wonder if the move to Unity engine is because the current engine limits what can be shown graphically.

The thing is that whilst attributes like pace, acceleration, off-the-ball and anticipation do determine whether you get to the ball first a second set of metrics determine what you do when in possession. An example of a slow player using other metrics to succeed is Franco Baresi - a slow defender but one of the best. On the ball other metrics become more important. Passing, Finishing, Vision, Flair and others determine what you achieve and things like pace and acceleration are less important. I do not know how hard this is to programme but we need to have different calculations for on the ball and off the ball. It may already be in the game - I have zero knowledge of how the ME works, like most but I would hope that a fast, unskilful player does not over perform any more than a skilful player with bad mental abilities.

Mbappe and Vinicius would not be the elite superstars that they are if they did not have the technique and mental ability to go with their pace. That is the point you seems to be missing. I support a L2 side and I see plenty of players with either speed or strength who do not make it any further because they lack the technical ability on the ball and the consistency from their mental attributes. I won't name him but we got a player when, on first glance, we wondered how he was at our level and not higher. When he faded during the season we saw why. It seems that in the game the guys with pace do not fade or their lack of technique does not hamper them. That Nottingham Forest side would have been relegated in real life. We saw that with three promoted teams getting relegated because they do not have the ability to compete. No-one is saying that this is an easy fix but to pretend the game cannot be improved is wrong. I play other games and all can do with some fixing - that is the way of game. We are working as volunteer QAs for the game and maybe by pointing out things that can be broken (because of our love of the game) so it can help SI to develop the game into a better one. Sweeping it under the carpet doesn't not help SI in any way.

That is another fault then. The simulation should work in the same way as playing it in real time. If formations get adjusted to playing the slow path then it should be adjusted to in the simulation. You have the choice of an instant result in the console version - does that exist in the full game? When you see the end of season results you should see that the formation gets adjusted to and that could show you the how and whys

In real football we have seen plenty of players with pace who has started well but as teams adjust to them they become less effective. Their pace means they can have an advantage but without the technique they never become elite. That is what I believe needs fixing. Players can get by with their physical attributes but without the technical stuff they do not develop. The game does not have the balance between the player's abilities and their physicals right in the same way it doesn't have ability against tactics. We saw in the Champions League final that Adeyemi's speed got him into the one-on-one but he lacked the technique/mental ability to finish it. In the same situation Vinicius Jnr put it away as he has a higher technique/mentality than Adeyemi. People like Zealand and I are not looking for reasons to dig out SI. We come from a place where we love the game and want it to be as best as it can be. I will be buying FM25 and will love it but I will not pretend not to notice things that can be improved.

It has been released today on You Tube so you can watch it if you want. His premise if that you can over-achieve with players not good enough to play in that division as long as have high pace and/or acceleration stats. He ran a test with Nottingham Forest. These were real players with no editing in the their stats. The only criteria was that they were below Premier League standard. The CA of the players were below that of every other team but the pace had to be high. They finished 12th and 11th in two try outs. Another player got them to 4th with the same inferior players. How does this factor in with my belief that the match engine favours the wrong things. I believe it values tactics over player ability too much and it seems it values pace over player ability. This is something that I hope FM25 addresses.

In response to a couple of comments I do not think the game treats the human players any differently from an AI manager but I think it over-values tactics/formations over player ability regardless of whether it is a human v ai or ai v ai. BTW one thing tactically I have noticed is that as I play a 4-2-3-1 if I play against any formation against 1 DM if I set my CF to mark that DM my opponent will have less of the game than if I don't.

In answer to the question - and apologies as I play on console I cannot give screenshots - I play this way with Man Utd For All Games: TIs - Fairly Narrow/Balanced/Shorter/High Temp/Dist to FBs and CBs/Higher&Standard Def Lines/TriggerPress more often. Everything else is turned off/default At Home and Favourite: WB(s), CB(d), CB(d), WB(s)/CM(s),CM(s)/IF(a),AP(s),IF(a)/CF(a) At Home against Rivals - the same with my CMs moved to DM(s) Away: FB(s),CB(d),CB(d),FB(s)/DM(d),DM(d)/W(a),AP(s),W(a)/Cf(a) or DLP(s) if we are under pressure and not getting highlights. I have found changing roles can lead to better away outcomes. If an opposition has a DM then I ask my CF to mark him. My FB/WBs and CM/DMs have the PIs Take Fewer Shots and Take Fewer Risks. That cuts down on the terrible shots and poor passes to the opposition.

In my Man Utd save in the Summer transfer window I got offered £120 million for Varane and Casemiro from a Saudi which I said yes to. That let me my five players Torriera, Luis Florentino, Olmo, Neres and Marcus Leonardo to transform our side. We also got Geuhi and Zeno Debast - who is a great player who is under the radar. We were still under financial pressure for the Summer 2025 one but I did sell Sancho and Van Bissaka for £75 million. I cannot sell Antony though even for £10 million which is miles below his market value. I am grateful that the financial pressure is ending soon.

There are times when you just have laugh at the absurdity of it. Playing as Man Utd away to Brighton. In the first half my tactics were poor and we were deservedly 1-0 down at the break. I made adjustments at HT and we got back into it, finally equalising in the 70th minute. Then all hell broke loose! In the 74th minute - my left winger who scored the equaliser got sent off for a two-footed lunge (despite me not having Get Stuck In on) - I go Cautious In the 80th minute we get a penalty for a foul on my CF. We score to go 2-1 up, In the 86th minute my LB gets sent off for a two footed lunge. We are now down to nine. I go defensive. In the 96th minute a misplaced pass leaves their CF one-on-one - he beats the keeper but hits the post. In the 99th minute they have a corner which is cleared. After a clash between our player and theirs it goes for a throw to them. The throw is worked to their RB who fires it in from 40 yards.....

I think the problem is that the games over-values tactics and under-values the ability of players which can make it seem that the game is scripted. Hopefully this can be addressed in the next engine. An example of this is in my save with AFC Wimbledon. They are a League Two side and we comfortably beat a Newcastle side in the League Cup 2-0 at home because the game engine decided my tactics were correct. The fact is in reality even if the tactics were correct AFC Wimbledon would probably win that game one time in ten and it would not be comfortably. I am also sure that whether you are home or away does come into the calculations because the game would factor that in - as teams generally win more home games than away. Then a few days later I played Eastleigh away in the FA Cup - they were a National League South team in the save. They dominated at first because the engine determined that their tactic was superior to mine and they were at home. Once again the difference in player quality was not an consideration. A League Two side can play badly against a NLS side in reality but what happens is that the NLS will miss more chances than the L2 side and they do not pass the ball around. Even in L2 the pattern is they try to play it out the back, then they get pressured, they panic and whack up the ball up the pitch - you do not see 20 pass moves below the Championship. Adjustments in my tactics put a 2-0 deficit into a 2-2 draw and we easily won the replay. The balance between tactics and player quality is not right and we hopefully see it adjusted in FM25.

Apologies for putting this in this thread rather than its own but I am not sure if it needs its own thread. After watching the FA Cup Final I wonder whether Ten Hag's tactics can be used well in FM. He defended with a narrow 4-2-4 principally to frustrate Man City's desire to play in the half-space. The other was Rashford and Garnacho were closing down their full-backs but still leaving three centrally. It forced Man City to change their tactics throughout the match. They got most out of Doku but the 4-2-4 still shut down Man City's play only conceding to a goalkeeper error. The narrow 4-2-4 expanded to a wide 4-2-3-1 with McTominay being prepared to sit and allow Mainoo too make forward runs - which happened for their second goal. In defence the two pivots would be Aramabat and Mainoo but in attack two of McTominay, Mainoo or Aramabat. Rashford and Garnacho exploited the space down the flanks - especially in the quick counter. Fernandes played a False 9 and with no striker to mark the defenders struggled to know who to mark. The was also a numbers superiority for United in central midfield. It was a low block, counter which worked to perfection but I always struggle when I play defensive tactics in FM. Is Ten Hag's master tactic possible in FM?

I am currently playing as Manchester United and I am second in the League and in the quarters of the Europa League. I am rotating like crazy, easily four or five outfield players each match, to avoid injury and fatigue. I have noticed that doing like seriously cuts down injuries. In real life teams like Manchester City and Liverpool rotate a lot as well for the same reasons. Yes, they have their first eleven for the big matches but they will rotate to keep players fresh. There may be room for SI to code certain players who do not get rotated as often, the star players, but I do not think what you are seeing is that wrong compared to real football. Even my team, in real life, in meaningless EFL League Two matches rotates players and other teams do as well.

One thing I have found out from watching the experts YouTube videos is that you should only use team instructions where you cannot get that instruction across using Player Instructions. For example there is not really a team instruction to tell your team to shot less - Work the ball in to the box will help but will still not prevent it. In the Player Instructions you have the instruction Shoot Less Often which I believe asks them to refrain from shooting from distance or bad situations. I also wonder how Take Fewer Risks would cut down on the first time shooting - I have never tried it. I also tend to keep mentality at Balanced now and do not change it . Raising it to more attacking mentalities will probably increase the likelihood of them shooting first time. I wonder if anyone else can explain the mentalities better than me.

The only Man Utd Academy player to be a first team player in the last few years has been Manoo. Garnacho and Amed were brought in from other clubs - their proud academy tradition has been cast aside in recent years. The only player for Man City that has come through their academy was Foden. They had Palmer but they couldn't be bothered to develop him and sold him to Chelsea. The other two are not first team regulars (yet). My club tried to bring through academy players and it got us relegated. We now only bring through the cream and it is one a season at best. Development of youth is not good for business. Most of our academy players are not good enough for League Two and no development plans will change that. This is the harsh reality of football. Brazil may be different as the decent younger players are sold leaving gaps for the next generation and the older stars will now be sold to the Saudi league. The development we used to have has gone and football has changed. The game will reflect this. Now it is all about astute signings using data rather than a coach bringing through a prospect.

Do the Premier League teams really develop young players though? Maybe some of the smaller ones by necessity. But look at City. It is only really Foden who has come through their youth set up. The other U25s have been bought in from other clubs where they have been developed. If you look at most Premier League clubs the ones coming through are the ones who will always make it. They very rarely, if at all, take a player who is below Premier League level and develop them into Premier League. What needs to be improved is the AI recruitment and from there the AI team's strength. Even in League Two my team, AFC Wimbledon, will routinely lose our better better players. Ollie Palmer, Jack Rudoni, Ayoub Assal, Ali Al-Hamadi and this summer Jack Currie all did great things for us but have been taken by bigger clubs than us. In the game we are less likely to lose our best players in this way and if we find a wonderkid we can keep him beyond what happens in real life. Paqueta has done well for West Ham but is probably on his way to Man City. The real thing AI has to improve on is recruitment and the bigger clubs using their muscle to take wonderkids away from the clubs that found them.