OK... having played about 30 games now, these are my general impressions for 6 stars:
1) the L1 + /\ is well and truly useless/random... big shame... and the defence is a little deep....
But apart from that, I have to say that everythign else is great to me
2) lower scorelines, and fewer clean through chances on goal... i for one appreciate the realism, althouh others would prefer to have a more "fun" game at the expense of realism. It's a personal choice...
3) i've read many people complaining that fast strikers are easily caught up by slow defenders. This is totally UNTRUE. If you use a fast striker and use the R1 + double tapping the direction, the striker can always outrun the slow defender.
4) what i notice is a big difference between quality and weak strikers. Using Adriano... wow.. he is a powerhouse and skilful too... using Crouch, i found him slow but great in the air

...
5) the refs don't give excessive amounts of fouls if you defend PROPERLY, and this means using the X and SQUARE button less... in WE8LE i could tackle with my eyes closed, but now, I have to PREDICT where the AI will pass the ball and cut off any passes... this is a MAJOR improvement from WE8LE. In fact, when u watch real football, it's actualy quite hard for one guy to rob another player of the ball, if that player decides to turn away and pass the ball. It's mainly only during very fast play when you corner the guy or he is pressured into makiung a sloppy pass that you win the ball.
6) GKs do seem much better and act more intelligently. No complaints...
7) AI routines are actually impressive. Maybe you guys think it's so easy to programme 22 active player movements at the same time... if it were, football would not need coaches... the AI has improved... you can see players tracking back to cover opponents breaking thru the middle... you see people make more runs relative than before....
8) dribbling is harder, but much more rewarding... if you actually do not run AT ALL, you can dribble effectively, but maybe only go past 2 players max... in WE8LE, it was so easy that i am surprised more ppl did not complain then. Now ppl are saying it's impossible... which is just untrue. Also, you can notice that strong players can be clumsy but still barge through (Gerrard)...
9) the physical contact b/w players of different size and weight is tremendous...
10) this is the first WE game where the AI strikers know how to finish...
and on that point, so will I....