I think it would feel like a more real football game if passing was made more manual. Right now, it's too "automatic": point a vague direction and press x, hoping it will go to someone on your team. You don't even have to look at the map to see where your players are, because the ball will always go to someone in the vicinity. If passing is made more manual by 1) including a passing meter to measure distance and 2) forcing passes to head more accurately in the direction you press, passing accuracy stats will be far more influential in a player's passing abilities and will require game players to actually be aware of where they are passing to. In 2009, I can just point left or right, press x a few times, and expect all of my passes to go to a player. If passing is made more manual, holding one direction the whole time will simply push the ball in that direction, not necessarily at a player. High passing accuracy will allow players to pass the ball in the exact direction they press, while low passing accuracy will make the passing less precise.
I think players should be in far more control of where and how the ball moves, allowing players to place the ball where they want. The CPU will react accordingly by chasing after the ball or repositioning themselves. Manual passes will also eliminate the occurrences of random inaccurate through-passes. I know a manual passing function exists in 2009, but I'm talking about changing the way the passing mechanism fundamentally works.
Just my 2 cents.
I think players should be in far more control of where and how the ball moves, allowing players to place the ball where they want. The CPU will react accordingly by chasing after the ball or repositioning themselves. Manual passes will also eliminate the occurrences of random inaccurate through-passes. I know a manual passing function exists in 2009, but I'm talking about changing the way the passing mechanism fundamentally works.
Just my 2 cents.