It's great to see so many changes, but I still haven't heard about a very important aspect of the single-player experience.
In WE9, in order to increase "difficulty," the CPU simply cheats the human player outrageously. This is especially apparent making the jump from 5 to 6 stars. The CPU has absolutely no increase in the intelligence and quality of its play.
The only way "difficulty" is simulated is through making the human player's men play far less competently, throwing all loose balls to the CPU, and generally making it quite obvious that the algorithms are NOT giving the human player a fair shake. This seems to me to come in very noticeable "waves" of CPU behavior.
How many times can you watch a top-notch winger flub a through pass over the touch line (no matter HOW he receives the ball), turning an open run down the wing into an throw-in for the opponent? How many times have you watched the cheating CPU go on a roll where you simply KNOW he's about to get a corner off of you, and you KNOW it's going to go in? How many times have you watched your goaltender suddenly have his hands fall asleep during one of these "CPU" runs, so that simple shots are fumbled back into play time and again? How many times have you tried in vain to super-cancel and make a player obey you, only to watch the CPU force him to run out of position? This is a CONSTANT factor defending corner kicks. The CPU, especially if it is one of its "CPU Dominance Phases," will literally have your men run out of the box, apparently intentionally clearing the way. How many times have you tried to develop a counter-attack, had the ball on a passer's foot, only to watch your striker(s) sprint insanely offside, running practically to the end line?
The examples are endless, and obviously hard-coded. When you play vs. an AI as much as I have vs. this one, you can FEEL how it's working - like dancing with a familiar partner - and you can tell when it's cheating you.
Anyone who has played this game on 5-6 stars is bound to be intimately familiar with the phenomenon I'm describing.
I love this game (I have played WE7 and WE9 - I skipped WE8 due to the idiotic practice-field training requirements), but I hate this aspect of the AI enough to where I will not purchase further titles until I know this has been sginificantly addressed.