I'm quite dissatisfied with the tactical aspects of PES 2013. It is impossible to play a more defensive game where you let your defenders lay really low and have some space up to their opposition. There are always opportunities for the through balls that so many players use on passing assistance set to 2 or more. Konami should have put some kind of counter action against this exploit in the game but instead they favor the automatic game to the more natural realistic one.
The through balls on ground or in the air should never be automatic, they should always be manual. I'm okay with normal passing being somewhat auto, but for gods sake, the creative side of the game should allow more than just an automated through ball!
It will be the same this year. The players with the best football skills will never win a PES Championship, it's the exploiters who win and this year it is the one who masters the timing of the automatic through ball. This only because of the inability to play your backline lower than a few meters behind mid center area. It's a shame really that a game that offers so much simulation of football is ruined because the basic and most important skill in football is reduced to a no brainer. Passing with one bar should be default. Through balls should be manual for everyone.
To explain a little further I would like it so that passing may be automatic so that the ball targets the one you try to pass to but the pace of the ball should be set by you and this determines how it reaches its target. Same with through balls. The people playing more auto does not have to consider the pace or the direction of the ball and thus probably, from what I've seen, gain half a second on a player which has to take these decisions. It's a really unfair system and it does not do the beautiful game any favors.
Konami should lead the way towards realistic football by changing their rules in the PES LEAGUE World Championships to settings which force the users to play their own reflective football with the use of their own football mind. This would make the PES League much more attractive to everyone who loves a decent game of footie.
/Caniggia