I don't rely on the animation totally, but it would be foolish to dismiss the animation outright as useless I use the animation to gain some vital facts about the match. In the old version I could use the animation to accurately determine the arrows the opponent used, I also use the animation to determine if my opponent set his orders to defensive, normal or attacking. Concerning player positions the animation accurately shows the position your player is playing at the field, you can even see the outline of the whole formation from animation, afterall you won't find your gk playing in an st position, that would have been possible if the animation is totally false as you are implying.
So as a good manager, i follow both the live commentary and the animation so that I would get a clearer picture of what's going on in the match because certain elements in the animation are false as I've come to realize that offside scenarios from the animation don't actually exist if you follow the live commentary, it's merely cosmetic.
So while I appreciate you trying to correct my 'mistake' I feel it's you who's got this one wrong.