jr20101393

I think a lot of the default player instructions are unnecessary. Inverted Wing-Back on attack has 'dribble more' which is not needed and can put you in trouble. Advanced, Deep-Lying and Roaming playmaker allows the central midfielder to take up effective positions in the midfield but they'll play crazy passes every time they get the ball so it'd be nice to have to option to turn 'Take more Risks' on and off. The Wingers are great for hugging the touchline and coming short but they try to dribble way too much. I've previously recommended that a 'Wide Midfielder' with 'Support/Attack' option could be added for that high wing position. Inside forward as well. Sometimes you just want to play a forward or midfielder who will take up that half space and just play it simple to an overlapping full-back and not try any mazing dribbles or wild passes. Getting rid of off all default player instructions might be a bit drastic but there is a lot of them that could be removed.

I think scout recommendations are far too reliant on current ability and potential rather than form and playing time. Players that have little first team experience or have rarely played recently will often get an 'A' recommendation grade from scouts, whereas there will be players who have played a lot recently and have contributed effectively that will be graded much lower. Sometimes these players who have had good seasons will be much better value than the players with little playing time and its a bit unrealistic. There also ends up being a lot of free agents, who may have had good seasons previous. This could be because players aren't being valued and pursued based on form. Also the demands of free agents can be a bit too much. In reality, they would be desperate to find a club after a certain point in the transfer window. I think the scouting needs to take recent form a bit more into account. In reality, players who have hardly played in recent times would have their value decrease drastically.

Yeah you could add that in too. But its more than just the goal kick. I think the lowest tempo option needs to have more of an emphasis on keeping the ball and recycling it if need be. They could also just make certain positions better at retaining the ball. I played Bernardo Silva as a Winger on the right like he does for City in real life, and he gives the ball away almost every time. Same with Grealish on the left. This just doesn't happen in reality.

A lot of teams now are baiting the press when playing out from the back(e.g. Brighton) where they will hang onto the ball until the press comes, sometimes to the point where they won't attack until they're forced to. I wish this tempo was in the game, but currently the lowest tempo on 'Much Shorter' passing is still too progressive and the players are too quick to rush the ball into areas where they could lose it. I feel like the lower tempo was better in this sense in previous FM's. If this tempo was introduced, it was also allow for better ball retention when trying to see out a game or preserving players' stamina.

I love the positional play that was added this year I think its great but there's still a few things with the positions that i think could be added. I play full games a lot so I'm very familiar with the match engine. My biggest gripe is with the wingers/wide positions, full backs. They all dribble way too much, even if they've already lost the ball multiple times, and clicking 'dribble less' doesn't seem to affect anything. I'd at least prefer if there was a 'wide midfielder' role for further up the field where they won't dribble as much because if you force the wide player back in the tactics menu, they play too deep and they don't press high enough. The Raumdeuter does this but then they won't come back and defend. Secondly, I would like if the inverted full back maybe had a 'Support' role where they push up a bit further but not playing as much in midfield like the 'inverted wing-back' does. You could even add an attack role here (Where Destiny Udogie plays). The full back role in previous FM's was similar to this. Another one I would look at is the Attacking Mid in a 4231. I would like the option to push them further back in midfield where they're in line with the other centre mids in the build-up, but will still defend in their position within the 4231. Advanced Playmaker doesn't bring them back far enough and they're stuck on 'Take More Risks' as well so they start hitting balls all willy-nilly. I think the pressing could be a bit better as well. I'd like if there was the option to have the team press up even higher. As it is, the deep mids don't always press as high from goal kicks for instance, so it's really not that hard to get out of your own third. I've tried man marking but it doesn't work so i think this could be improved. Defenders could also be made to press even higher, while then reverting back into their line height that's selected in the tactics screen. I really like the way the half-back position was implemented this year with the way they drift wide or into the back line in possession, and i think that this could be applied to other midfield roles on 'Support', maybe with a 'drift wide' option when there's space in the build up .i.e. When a wing back is pushed further up the field. And lastly, I think the goal kicks and distribution is fairly bad. If you aim for a target man or another position, it's like the keeper goes out of their way not to kick it to them, so target man play is almost a no-go.