retired_trijinx

Now I am not a Football Manager 2008 basher that just wants to moan, but I am seriously on the verve of heading back to version 2007.

The new game is obviously better and more polished in every way, but just a few things make the game just unenjoyable.

1. Penalties - I have played 10 league games so far, penalties conceded by my team 12 (all converted by the way). The slightest touch by anyone of my players in the box results in a spot kick (including 3 in 1 game), and I have now got every single player on easy tackling but its made no difference. And by the way penalties awarded to me in this same period? 1, and you guessed it, it was saved!

2. Deflected shots - Its no exaggeration to say probably 85% of goals I have conceded have been shots or free kicks deflecting off 1 of my players or off the wall and with my keeper going the wrong way and stranded, it rolls into an empty net. Goals I have scored like this? Zero

3. Defenders = Headless Chickens. They just stand around doing nothing, whether you ask them to man mark or zonal, they just run around in circles while forwards peel off them at will, and in some cases they will actually run away from the ball allowing the opposition to play it around and go clear. And as for midfielders tracking back and marking the opposition..forget it, even if I have them playing defensive.

4. Corners/Free Kicks - Defending corners or free kicks is just a pointless exercise, I may as well have Wright-Phillips as my centre back, because no matter what I am doing they will get a free header in or be in acres of space to bring the ball down and either score or get a strike in. And taking corners is somewhat of a joke also, put a man on the near post for a flick on results every single time in the ball going to him and he heads it about 12 foot wide.

I have the patch on, and I am playing with Premiership players, and I find it all just too annoying.

retired_trijinx

Oh and 1 more thing.

Goalkeepers - You tell them to pass it short and for defender to collect, what happens? He kicks it long down the middle EVERY single time resulting in me losing the midfield header of course and off they go on another attack.

retired_sesmith0116

I have quite a number of gripes about this incarnation of the game, even post-patch, but I have to counter every single one of your points. All in the interest of balance, you understand. The fact you mentioned Wright-Phillips suggests you're playing as Chelsea (correct me if I'm wrong), as I am doing. So here we go...

1. Admittedly, in my six league games so far, I've conceded two penalties. But I've also scored three.

2. I have not yet conceded any deflected shots. To be fair, I've not conceded any goals from open play yet. I have, however, had Steve Sidwell score his first goal for the club thanks to a wicked deflection.

3. If you're Chelsea, I can only assume you insist on playing Paulo Ferreira, Tal Ben-Haim, somebody who isn't John Terry or Ricardo Carvalho, and someone who isn't Ashley Cole or Wayne Bridge at the back, because my defence has been pretty spot on. Only conceded two goals, both penalties, and one of which was conceded by Makálélé, a midfielder. No headless chickens in my back four.

4. Pretty much every corner or free-kick my team faces is dealt with by Terry or Carvalho or Cech or sometimes even Essien. I've had no problems there.

I say none of this to brag. I am simply adding some balance to your argument. Your experiences could be down to a number of things, rather than just the game not being right in some way.

retired_GodsMyWitness

I have to say I haven't experienced any of that, or to that extent anyway.

Just quickly with that last point, you say your opposition gets a free header in everytime. Now I'm only guessing here, but if you have Key Highlights turned on then they will only show an attack that is dangerous or a key moment by your opposition. So you're not seeing 90% of the time when your defenders win the aerial battle.

If you actually go to your defenders and check their Stats and see how many headers they win you get a better idea of their aerial ability. If it's still very poor, I think you simply needs better defenders.

retired_halfshell69

Probably the only thing i have experienced myself.
Yet another case of players BLATANTLY ignoring team orders, what's the point in having tactics if players ignore them?