SimonHoddle

Fair and well written argument. I play on Touch so the various inputs (eg player interaction) don’t exist. So if SI are making luck and PI increasingly important then it makes Touch basically a computerised Match of the Day with average graphics. And how much does luck really play a part IRL? City and Liverpool dominate the EPL year after year. Luck is a tiny factor. It’s brilliance of tactics, players, motivation and strategy. it seems chaos has been embraced but it’s not realistic chaos. So it looks artificial and is ultimately very frustrating. I think it’s tough for the developers. The closer we get to real life simulation the more jarring the inaccuracies become. And frustrating sums up my feelings for 23. Silly but fun is slowly becoming just silly because high quality players are doing stupid things. and if SI want to change the dynamics then tell us! But instead they release videos about defending wider being rebranded as stop crosses rather than explain the version dynamics. And I think therein lies my biggest gripe. They have never shared a proper explanation in any version what the idiosyncrasies of each version are. So we have to muddle our way through each year as the game changes. It’s not real life, it’s nowhere near real life football so give us a manual and an explanation as to what each input does and why things happen. what does always MM really mean? Why is my RB ignoring the man I told him to always press? How big a factor is confidence? Do teams get distracted the following fixture after CL midweek matches ? Tell us! anyway. Off to roast a turkey!

Hi on iphone, the scroll bar completely disappears on NXGen 50.

I’m beginning to agree. It’s fun but silly. Things are happening that are either the result of poor graphical representation or odd ME programming. I feel, as a manager/ game player, that my decisions are more irrelevant than ever and the game happens despite, and not because of, ones tactics.

Hmmm. I’m not asking them to cross less. Our crossing accuracy is 1000% better than the next best. Not saying you’re not right but there’s outliers then there’s different universe. would love to hear from someone at SI on this. To confidently say the stats are robust. I’m having doubts and with so few outputs, stats are important. If they’re wrong it’s game breaking as that’s what FM players rely on to devise tactics, strategies and counter the opposition. anyone at SI care to comment? Would love to stand corrected and hear stats are accurate

Appreciate all the replies. Here are my standard tactics. I play fairly wide with supporting WBs and a Mezzala. The crossing stats in my first post don’t fit with these tactics IMO. The convergence from the mean is, frankly, way too much.

Bug tracker doesn’t seem to be working in forum so posting here. Touch matches often roll through from first to second half so can’t give team talks. This happens towards end of match as well. Often miss action as a result. Eg match hit 90th min and there was no action on pitch and clock ticking. Turns out during that time my team had a pen (taken by wrong man) that we missed. Frustrating. I guess you must know about this bug.

Oh and I have 3 franz beckenbauers at the back.not that you’d ever guess by their attributes…..

I don’t play with particularly unusual tactics with my Spurs team. So are these stats remotely trustworthy? And if not are any of the games stats worth bothering with?

Hope you enjoy. We await your feedback!

Really interesting that you say the update has made it less fun. I agree. It’s almost imperceptible but there’s something missing. What do you think has been lost and why would SI do that?? I wish I could agree on players followIng instructions. Far too many times I’ve seen my world class defenders totally ignore someone I have told to always MM. good to see a positive view articulated though :-)

Hi @Desmond Richardson hope all is well and FM selling like Flaming Sambucas at a work Christmas party. QQ - since the touch update are the ME details and match graphics still identical to the console edition? I only ask as it feels like there has been a drop off in touch match quality but the eye of the beholder can often be wrong. Would be great to know. for me the match itself is the reason I play and love FM. Seems obvious but a lot of players love the numbers and spreadsheets etc. I was amazed when it ported onto iPhone - I’m just a bit less sure now. cheers!

Haha on the free kicks. first point is concerning because I don’t think you’re alone in that opinion. Not sure why SI would reduce variety when it makes viewing so much more enjoyable. But the more players who say it the more I believe something has been changed for the worse. I loved 22 and I thought 23 was going to be a finessed upgrade. Beginning to think otherwise. Shame.

So, for example, would you instruct your winger to MM a high quality full back? and assuming the opposition is a short passing team you would then use an OI to always press the technically weakest CB ?

That does seem to happen a lot. First version fun and then the updates kick in which kill the variety. What did you like about the Beta which has been lost after the update?

I loved 22 Xbox which I played remotely on my iPad. Seeing effectively the same game released on iPhone (identical engine, smaller database) was great news. Even more portable and accessible for a grown up lifestyle. Unfortunately with Touch 23 it feels like I’m just watching events happen rather than influencing anything. My team rarely follows OIs and will often get played in behind even with a low block. High Quality players rarely do anything exceptional or of interest and it’s like watching basketball with two teams running up and down the pitch with minimal creativity. 21 always seemed like a programme which totted up the total attribute values of each team (added a tiny bit of randomness for variety) and then let a match happen no matter for the players on the pitch or managerial inputs. In that version I signed Trent Alexander from Liverpool and his crossing and passing was no better than serge aurier. 23 Touch feels like a reversion to that model. No individual flair. No impact of decision making by the manager. Just plug in a team and watch a random match. maybe i should go back to console but with identical MEs I don’t see the point. SI even decided to strip back rather than enhance the features for console. Fewer shouts, less analytical information etc. FM is head and shoulders above anything else but this year feels like one of their backward steps :-(

This is a very tactical and developed critique based around my more general complaint. In all the years of FM, SII have never truly explained the OIs and marking dynamics properly. (maybe intentionally to create doubt and difficulty) however close it gets to the beautiful game, FM is not football. It has its own rules. And the oblique way those game rules are explained I believe makes the game less enjoyable.

Haha. So subjective. I can see improvements (eg the chaos of football) have been implemented. But these changes seem to cause irrational behaviour in players such as kicking balls out for corners for no reason or losing control of the ball with v little pressure. Generally a new version of FM has always been about marginal gains and this year has been very marginal IMO. I would vote for 22 over 23. But I’m probably in the minority.

And nuance and ambiguity are good things I agree. It means you have to think to succeed. but too much ambiguity and not enough clarity leads to frustration. You can’t ask your players why they ran away from an opponent you told to always press. You can’t sit down with them on a Monday and replay the video of 5 of them ignoring a striker on the 6 yard line. If it was great skill on Maddison’s part or great movement by Isak I’d be fine. But its neither. Just world class defenders playing like crash test dummies. So there has to be a why. its a point I make every year. OIs are by definition ridiculous, please update them. And IMO there is not enough clarity of why ridiculous actions/ results happen. btw I’m not complaining about losing (lost 4-1 to Newcastle in Isak example above, having had 21 shots v their 6). That’s fine by me. IF……I could logically understand why.

A case in point. 2 examples of OI instructions completely ignored by a world class defence. Either the ME has completely failed to represent the events or OIs are randomly ineffectual. First example above playing Leicester. Maddison is AMR and as their danger man I have OI always press. He collects the ball on right touchline and serenely makes his way to centre of box as above. There are intentionally no OIs on other players to avoid distractions. Literally no one challenged him. So someone who should be always pressed is actually never pressed and runs to penalty spot and scores. (Btw pedri was never close to him so the commentary is talking balls) 2nd example. Playing Newcastle. I have always mark Isak as an OI. guess who the one Newcastle player is in my box, completely unmarked? Even without an OI of always mark someone should be close to him when he’s a few yards from goal. But with the instruction it’s a joke. my defenders are bastoni and Romero. My DM is Bentancur. No mugs there. So why, with clear basic OIs, are they not following instructions? Dodgy ME? Dodgy tactics? Dodgy defenders? happening too often and it’s why this game gets criticised for never get defending properly programmed……IMO

Oh fair enough. When I see average positions in the analysis screen and I have swapped players they always overlap. I never see this with the opposition positions.

So keep it simple. If they’re slow and creative always MM. if they’re quick never MM? What about TAA at Liverpool? Would you always MM a RB? I guess my point is more fixed on the instruction itself. Always or never are so binary and unrealistic tbh. If I’m always MM a creative opponent I don’t want him MMd in the opposition box. Conversely if I’m never MMing an opponent I do want my defenders to stick close to him in our box. The fallibility of the instruction is making OIs a bit redundant IMO. or….SI could explain the instructions and consequences in a lot more detail….

I get that but never MM? That’s absurd. IMO the instruction isn’t fit for purpose. Never MM outside the box would be better. Where he has space to run into. But never MM is just plain stupid.

Appreciate all the replies. Further to this topic. just played Napoli (parenthesis or whatever their unbranded name is..). assman said OI never MM victor Osimhen. Really!!!??? Never MM one of the most dangerous forwards in football? Even when he’s in my 6 yard box??? In same match AM a,so advised to never press their WB with a wand of a left foot! Just let him roam free I guess! Crossing perfect balls in for their unmarked £100m striker 🤪

If they did you would see it in the analysis screen? is it a waste of time or are they just tactically very limited?