odigweg

I started trying to respond but I realized I can't really help effectively without knowing what players you have.

Good strategy! And the Varane and Estupinian deals sound wild haha. Wishing you luck on the giveaway!

There's some good feedback here already so just wanted to add on. I am playing an Arsenal save as well and have surprisingly won 17 of 18 games in the league so far. I try my best to play the way Arsenal do in real life. Definitely need to have Odegaard on the ball more, so a support role should work. For most games, I play pretty much the same line up you have except for Zinchenko on the left. Tomiyasu is good in a pinch but his passing and lower composure mean he can be a liability giving the ball away in early build up. Anyway, re: your question, I have Odegaard as a Mez-S sometimes with Saka as W-A with cut inside PI. The rotations this way are great. However there are games where we struggle to get the ball forward so I switch him to an AP-S and that usually helps (plus he's so good that I want him on the ball more). For Ben White, he's usually a IFB-D but I find that, while bringing additional risk, making him a FB-S can work really well and matches some of the stuff we see in real life with him supporting Saka, under/overlapping and playing one touch passes. For trickier games I have Havertz as a BBM but easier games, he's a Mez or CM on attack. Side question: how is Havertz performing for you? I have not been able to get any form of consistency with him. Noted, he has been nerfed pretty heavily since FM23.

Feedback Time baby!!! Match Engine: Where else would I start other than with what is, to me, by far the most important part of the game? This Match Engine scratches a few itches for me: Itch 1: The desire to have the ME actually respect and reproduce a positional play and possession-focused style of play. Teams that play this way are able to do well, at least from what I see about half way through my season. For years I would play lopsidedly with either FB-D or NFB-D to have the effect that the IFB now has. The IWB has always been in the game, but this year, partly due to their narrower positioning and better movement, they seem to actually have more to do than just sit inverted. Zinchenko for me is in the top 20 for progressive passes per 90 and even key passes per 90, which he never achieved in FM 23 with the same role. I love that the IW's and IF's (not just the wingers) can hold width while allowing the inside midfielder to play in the half space. I have caught myself audibly gasping at how the movement I get with Ben White (as FB-S), Odegaard, and Saka looks very identical to their relationship in real life. I also just feel like I have much more control than I ever did. Telling wide players (IF, IW) to stay wide actually seems to make a much more perceptible difference. Also, because of the ability to fill five channels without whipping up an unwieldly concoction of team and player instructions, I am able to introduce other elements like Manchester city's 3-1-6 or 3-1-1-5 system they sometimes utilize when opponents sit deep with five back. I actually scored two brilliant goals from this yesterday and I just had to stop for the day because playing another match would have felt anticlimactic. Woke up thinking about the goal and how I might actually be able to cut it in management..(plot twist: I can't). Itch 2... and this is an itch I didn't even realize I had: In many ways, matches don't feel as safe as they once did. I started my save the same way I do with other editions and I would play with a high press, high line, counter press for almost the entire game. In previous versions, other than the downside of physical toll, I could leave the tactics this way all game - especially home games against minnows in the league - safe in the knowledge that they would be too scared to attack me, even down one goal with 10 minutes to go. I quickly realized that, although I was winning games because I would tweak other things, I was conceding most of my goals in the last 20-30 minutes of games. This would usually be the opposition's first real chance or first attacking highlight on comprehensive. I love this because it forces me to think about when to press, when to sit off a bit, when to regroup, etc. I find myself tinkering a lot more as a match goes on, which I find more realistic. In reality, Arsenal and other positional play teams don't always press high for 90 minutes of games. It usually comes in waves - sometimes the counter press remains and the line is dropped, or they regroup while keeping the line high to press in a pack once the opponent gets to LOE. All this makes games feel more in the balance, meaning more nervousness as I watch which I never felt before. Match engine odds and ends I initially thought there were too many goals in my save but then I counted the number of goals up until the matchweek we currently are in the premier league and it was: real life (273) and FM(279). Now this isn't the largest sample size so I'm not saying there's no issue but it was interesting to have my opinions debunked. I'll pay close attention to this as I progress. I know I have waxed lyrical about the ME, but I don't think it's perfect. One thing that irks me is the throw-in in the attacking third offside glitch. This one has been a bug bear for a while. Although I think it's a little better than before, it still irks me when I see it. Not enough to bother with a bug report but if there is one out there, I am happy to do my duty and attach pkms. Another thing, which I recently commented on, is defenders' inclination to head the ball out or right to the opposition even with seemingly large space around them. Like I said in the other post, I am still observing this but itis a little annoying. Tbf, Ben white has done it a few times this season and I shouted at the TV screen the same way I do at my computer in FM. I really wish we could get improved control over pressing and how it works. More often and so on just feels a little limiting. Trigger press on certain players also does not seem to consistently produce the desired effect. I'm sure this will be added next year (am I right, @Nic Madden?? ). Most things other than the match engine: I usually use my imagination to help with other parts of the game - no for real...I literally have press conferences in my head. And also made up some pretty believable head canon that Arteta had a serious heart condition that required surgery, meaning I, his most trusted ally on the coaching team, was thrown in to hold the ship together. I exceled and got the job on a permanent basis, what with Mikel not having a return timeframe and all. In my press conferences (again, in my head), the press often asks about him and I say he's recovering really well, watches all our games, and I even quip that he attempts to share his ideas with me which I never listen to (I don't need to as we have won 17 of 18 matches in the league). I do not mean to belittle the gripes others have with things outside the match engine or to say that everything is perfect outside the match engine, but nothing has bothered me enough to significantly reduce my enjoyment of FM24. Somethings I DON'T like: Inability to mass praise players for training performance. Someone else mentioned this...the fact that we can't see a player's form from his profile but can go into his team's past matches and painstakingly produce this information. I think It would be nice if, once we loaded past matches, players' form pages should be updated. It's a minor thing but could help. I have a problem with a lot of UI in general, especially with the unusable screen area (press conferences and pre-match tactical page, I'm looking at you), inability to get more panes while watching a game because of the forced dugout page in the middle, amongst others. I also wish after delegating to my set piece coach, I could override him during games. I am actually impressed at how well he does since I am of the opinion that most of the things are delegated are usually done horrifically by my staff. But sometimes, I just want to change a player's position because of a weakness I notice. Maybe I can and I am too thick to figure it out... Anyway, this is the end of my long-winded feedback. All in all, I think I will surpass my record of 2000 or so hours on a single edition of Football Manager due to the ME seemingly allowing infinite possibilities. Thank you, SI for this ME. While I still have more to review as I play on, I think this is the most complete bet- oops...I mean early access that we have had in a while. I haven't encountered game breaking bugs and for that I am glad. Rating: PENDING (because I'm holding out to ensure the ME doesn't change much after full release). P.S. I will try to include pkms of some of the positive stuff when I get home. Some of it is truly a delight.

I'm with you on this one. I generally don't like anecdotal complaints so I haven't made any bug reports yet but so far I've had the same thing happen. In general I've noticed the threshold for heading the ball away in fear (for corner, throw in or just to the opposition) doesn't appear very high. Again, this is still anecdotal so I am trying to test out different mentalities to see if the patterns are as egregious at higher mentality. For your comment about League 1, I'm playing with Arsenal and seeing similar. More to come...

Hey, so while I think all opinions are valid, I would advise to try it yourself when the full game comes out if that's still a thing - that is, before making a decision on whether or not to purchase. While some parts, like what the original poster referred to, are legit concerns, there are also positives IMO. I think, all in all, you just need to decide what you care most about and if you care more for the positive vs the negative aspects. For me, I think there are still some ridiculous goings on in other parts of the game but the ME is the thing I care for the most and I haven't been as amazed by any other ME as I have been this year. But don't listen to me alone...take the whole picture, if there's a trial on full release do that, and then decide what matters to you! Also, it's been a while...hope you've been doing alright

Just read your post in the bug report section and it's like you read my mind. I would also like to see an option for earlier inverting from the IWB.

So I just got home and loaded up my Chelsea save from FM23. Haven't gotten far but the fluidity looks good. So do most of the set piece stuff EXCEPT... Why is my left back taking throw-ins from the middle third on the right side of the pitch? And is there a way to change my takers for each side? It's a little odd to have Gvardiol trot all the way to the right to take a basic retain possession throw in... P.S. I have been known to be blind so forgive me if I missed the button for changing this

That's it! I'm not sitting at this office desk any longer. Y'all could have just reined in all the praise till I got home from work...but noooo you just had to rub it in. I won't sit idly by any longer. Calling an Uber home. "Boss, I'm feeling a little under the weather...".

Woahhhh that fake shot at the end to take out what I think is the RCB!

And luckily for you, midnight is Thursday...

T-minus 10 minutes...

This is the spirit!

Interesting thoughts here, honestly. I think the practice of unveiling new games every year is one that needs to, and probably will, go away. It bugs me more for FIFA than it does with FM - maybe because sometimes it seems EA Sports are being intentionally obtuse. I also agree with some here in saying that the term "new features" probably doesn't cut it. In any case, I am excited about the new role interactions this year because it's something I have been crying out for for ages. I thought for a while the tactics engine was too static. Now SI just need to introduce pressing structures next year :))

Just came back here to say that in on my save Mikel Merino just got transfer listed for only £4.3m. For that price, I'm definitely snapping him up haha