I'm less worried today about IGN's fully Manual statement. Bottom line is I have no respect for IGN and their opinions on football games. These people are gamers, not football minded in the slightest. That article and previous articles are enough justification for me personally. See PES 2008 amongst 'others'. They simply dont not know what they are looking for, they are not football technique minded in the slightest.
As for the through balls with regards the Manual passing. That doesnt worry me, through-balls will be statistic based. The option of putting more power on a standard pass wont affect your through-ball option. These through-balls offer a more diverse angle with regards to the pass and the subsequent receiver. At present, people complain about the through-balls not being as effective the previous PES titles. This is certainly the case, but only because they mimic real life now. It takes split-second timing, and an available run to be able to successfully complete them. It requires a footballing brain. I much prefer this system as it's incredibly realistic and replicates the vision and timing of its real life equivalent. If you look at actual percentage of completed 'killer' through-balls in real life, it has to be between 15-20%, or one in five. This figure may slightly rise with the worlds best playmakers if they are on top of their game.
In saying that, there are still slight issues at times due to the passing nature of PES, mis-directed through-balls etc, but I'm sure this new freedom will address this. In PES 2010 if the through pass isnt clearly on, then dont try it, keep it simple and play your percentages with the standard pass until the opportunity arises for the next killer pass.