The ideal combination would obviously be a manually triggered automatic (ideally dual clutch - the torque converter also adds to the mushy feel). But not like in my parents' B-class (a real old people's vehicle) with dual clutch, which takes what feels like over a second to respond to manual inputs. Shifting back a few gears (out of seven) for engine braking is an exercise in frustration.

You can manually select gears on automatics you know.

In most, not so quickly - plus you can't slip the clutch across the transition across gears.