Have to unload. This is my 7th version of FM. First bought in '01. I have never enjoyed it less than V23. I was promoted to Brazil league 1 after one season in 2. Finished 5th that next season with a pretty weak roster but consistent play. I'm 8 seasons later with an infinitely better roster, nice variety of tactics, and the AI just wants you to never leave your losing streak as each year I've fallen further down the table. I've broken the all time record for ties in my current season, ALWAYS lose to the teams in 17-20th place even at home. Teams with losing streaks end them with me about 80% of the time. The developers must be convinced that if you lose a game IRL, players are so decimated that they must lose or draw the next 10-15 in a row. That no one has ever bounced back from a loss, ever. Playing away and think you can win? Nope, IRL teams never win on the road. It hasn't happened, I bet you didn't know that. And you must play cautious all the time, even if your roster is 10X better than your opponent. Try to up the pace and you will pay as opponents with players several levels lower than you light it up even though they lost their previous 5 games.
No tactic, even ones that are designed for it, ever give you a possession advantage. I've had seasons where I had a possession advantage about 10% of all of the league games. Players want to play but always get injured from fatigue. Coaches and the AssMan constantly giving you terrible line-up advice, or advising you to give players extra training which you are immediately told to stop because it isn't working. I'm convinced that your coaches' only role is to try and trick you into doing stupid things. I can't remember the last advice I got that actually did anything positive.
Opponents with every guy almost in the red in fatigue will find a way to run by your freshly replaced D in the 80th minute to score that tying goal despite the defensive mentality, which, BTW, never, ever, actually works. I've never seen a defensive mentality do anything except yield 10X more shots against. Choosing that mentality is like telling the ME that you have completely give up and want to watch your team burn.
Going back to V19 if I restart at all. All of the fun of playing has been coded out in '23. What an epic waste of time.