Although I play Football Manager since 2003 (when it was still CM) I have never seen such a broken release.
If each year there are a number of bugs that plague the game, they have never ruined realism in such a way as this year's match engine. It's not only that it has evident bugs, but the way that it puts the numbers into the game is so peculiar that it's not resembling football in any way.
It's not that you can't win, because you will. Sometimes. When the dice tossing decides you will.
Once you get a decent team or a good tactic and start dominating the opposition you'll notice that despite you have 20-30 good chances per game and your team will miss them all. It doesn't matter how much better your team is compared to the opposition or the strategy you apply. Then you'll concede 1-2 goals/game from nothing, no matter what you do. There are some clean sheets, but again, only luck will decide.
And all this happens again and again and again. With different players and different strategies.
Added to this, you have:
- full backs not defending
- you never score from Clear Cut Chances
- you (almost) never score free kicks
- long passes don't work
And much more, which I reccomend you to read about on SI's forums before you waste your money on a game that's not playable yet, and on Xanax to escape the frustration the game creates.
I must add that the review is made on 14.1.3 version of the game. So I could hope for some quick fixes to correct all of the above, no? WRONG! SI's policy is to ignore the issues brought by the community, and only release a patch around Christmas. Then another one in February-March. And only then are most issues addressed.
In conclusion, if you want a good football managing game, play FM 2012 fully patched. Or 2013. If you just want to play football on PC, play FIFA!