OMG, I ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT!
I'll go as far as to say, that the last 15 mins is the most realistic football game I've ever played.
Played with Liverpool-Barcelona, and I've got to say it felt like I was watching the real game. The sliders/cards, make a HUGE difference.
I started the game with Liverpool's lineup yesterday. Masch as a defensive midfielder, Lucas as a central midfielder, and Gerrard as an attacking midfielder. Gave all 3 'Balanced' settings to make sure they'd all do the box to box work like they did yesterday. Yossi and Kuyt played as supporting strikers to Torres. Gave Agger the 'Extra man' card (or something like that), and gave both Insua and Johnson 'attacking' settings. Got the pressing and compactness settings to around 70, also gave a high value for positional switching, but gave a mid value for player support. Also started with 'Pressure' tactic in the beginning.
Game started with Barcelona trying to pass it quickly, and Kuyt, Lucas, and Gerrard were pressurizing the ball players madly. Resulted in a couple of quick counter attacks. Scored the first goal, Kuyt had the ball around the penalty area, and Gerrard was making a run behind the defense, he passed it, and Gerrard slotted it away.
Immediately, got my attacking level down to 'balanced', turned on the counter attack tactic, and gave Lucas and Mascherano 'defensive' setting. Barcelona kept passing it around, with me winning the ball a few times thanks to Mascherano, but didn't result in anyways. Eventually, Barcelona countered, Henry made a fool of Johnson, and it was 1-1. Half time, and I decided it was time to take the initiative.
Kept the ball, passed it around, and Johnson had a few opportunities, especially when he cut back on his left foot, and just missed the post (just like he does in real life). Unfortunately, Barcelona had a bit of possession, Xavi floated a ball in the box, Ibra controlled it magnificently with on foot, a little sidestep on Carragher, and it was 2-1.
Decided I needed to take a more attacking route. Got Lucas attacking, and tried to keep the ball more. Yossi had the ball on the left, he cut inside with a dummy on Alves, passed it to Gerrard, and he thumped it from 25 yards. 2-2!
Time to win the game I decided, and the pressure was mounting continuously. Gerrard had a nice 1-2 with Johnson, burst past Abidal, and cut it back, for Benayoun to score a simple tap in. 3-2
15 minutes left, and I decided to protect the lead. Got Babel on for Yossi to give me pace on the counter, shifted back Lucas and Gerrard to defensive roles, and set on 'All Defense' tactic (which works like a charm). My players hardly step beyond the half way line, with only Torres pressurizing the defenders, but once you got near the box, you had 3 players on the ball carrier. Still, it didn't seem to work, as Barcelona had to too much space, and Henry almost scored, but hit the bar.
Realized the my defense were bombing to far forward. Set up Agger's 'extra player' card, gave Insua and Johnson defensive settings, and got Aurelio on for Torres. Set up both Aurelio and Kuyt as side midfielders, and Babel as the long forward, going 'All Defense'. Just like you can imagine, Barcelona had plenty of space on their own half, but very little when the approached the area. I had left Gerrard as 'free roamer', so whenever I had the ball, he'd bomb forward, and almost scored a goal. Managed to hold onto the lead, and those 15 mins felt like I was the manager.
INCREDIBLE. Never been so engrossed in a game in my lift.
Didn't care about animations, didn't care about graphics (though they are brilliant). But it all just felt right. And at every moment, I was thinking, what should be my next step? My next move. And this was on normal difficult setting. Look for a solution, trying to remember Liverpool playing in real life, and trying to emulate it.
Defending is an art, and this game showed it. And this was ONE game. I'm going to spend the whole day, playing with different teams, and exploring this game. But my guess is that anyone who really enjoys the tactical side of the game, will LOVE this.
