Jamezinho
Golden Boot Winner
It depends on what you want, i play FIFA on manual and then dropping back to semi is impossible as you cant put the ball into space..stats do need to play a part definitely but not so much as it closes the field up and open space is ignored.
But we're talking about PES here. I play on one bar pass assist which gives me freedom to play the ball into space without making passing slow and cumbersome. I can weight the ball and play it ahead of or behind a player if I want to. The manual modifier is there for 100% control but I find I hardly use it.
The argument about who good on a joypad is not really valid as the majority of time an average player on assisted playing with Torquay will always beat an average manual player playing as Barcelona
It is valid in the context of two manual players playing one another. That kind of experience is not for me as I feel as though my inputs override the ability of the player I'm controlling, the game then becoming all about my inputs and not the key abilities of the players under my control.
Your point about Barca vs Torquay actually makes the case for a single control system all the more compelling.