retired_kecoan

Intresting theory i will look forward to reading it and i hope its a succesful method.The g/fs away for a week forget FM get yourself out into town and get some totty

retired_maverick8

hehe, you monkey.

Nah, my girl rocks!

retired_maverick8

OK, so here's an example.

I have checked my next fixture and I have Swansea at home.

I look back at their fixtures and see they are doing really well and are in good form. A quick check at previous away games shows me that they are likely to play a 4-3-2-1 Formation.

I look at their last away game. A 1-0 win against Bristol Rovers.

I can see straight away from their stats that they have a dangerous striker called Jason Scotland. I check his profile and see he is a) very poor and b) very very fast. Logic tells me that they plan on hitting me on the fast counter. This could be tricky.

Judging my looking at the players who have the most shots in their last 3 away games, I see Nano is also going to be dangerous. He seems to get 3-4 shots in every game.

I see Darren Pratley has made 65 passes and completed 59 wit 4 key passes, this tells me he is the one supplying the balls to Nano and Scotland. He is the player I need to stop. I need to not give him a minute on the ball so I will be telling my players to close that guy down.

The last team to beat them was Salisbury 3-1 but it was so long ago the formation info does not show up - must only save that info for so many matches, shame but never mind.

Time to click on Swansea squad and have a look at their 3 key players

1, Jason Scotland - The main think he has is pace, he has 6 for bravery, 8 for strength and 9 for first touch. I will ask my players to mark him tight all the time and hard tackle as he has poor bravery.

2. Nani - Again , 16 for pace! These guys are a speedy. I am going to have to drop my defense line to make sure I don't get caught out. I will add tight man-marking throughout my team to shackle their supply, High tempo and closing down - if these guys are given time to play I am a dead man!
His weakness is his tackling so I will have my opposing mid run with ball near him.

3. Darren Pratley - (Key man) Physical aggressive type, he is their captain and linchpin. His physical stats are really good and his teamwork very high. I will close him down as he lacks a little technique.

My Summer - They are going to use Pratley as playmaker and try and hit me on the counter with pace. They are hoping I will play an attacking high line formation and are going to try and dominate the midfieid.

What shall I do!

Well, all the teams that have played against them at home have gone for a 4-4-2 attacking formation. So, I will not be doing this.

Instead I go for a 4-1-2-1-2 and make the following tweaks.

Normal Def line.
Closing down in own area
Quick tempo.
Tight man-marking.
Little creativity.

Mentality 5 clicks to left for defenders.
Tones down forward runs a little.

I release a comment to the media saying that I am relishing the game against Swansea, just to wind them up a bit.

One of my defenders has a PR of superb, I made the right choice it seems.

I am going to keep things tight and frustrate them - hopefully I can grab a goal. It's unusual I go defensive at home, but as they are on a good run and near the top of the league - and with the pace they have - I will make an exception.

Time to play the match!

1-0 to me!

Nice result seeing as though they have not been beat in ages!

werwin12

Do your team suffer from the formation changes every week?

I usually still play the same formation(4-4-2), but tweak the individual instruction. But I did the same way like you did before every match, I view all last 5 games of them, compiling my own report of who their main anchor/weak point/playmaker/targetman.

Sometimes, if you cant find a way to disable their forwards, its usually wise to kill off their supply instead. For example, they have fast strikers and you have your grandmas on your defence, look for their ball supplier instead..

retired_jmliggan

Brazil, good concept....something for others to ponder....

I've been doing something like that now for FM2008, except that I dont check the opponent's previous matches lost, only the previous one. But I would definitely try this.

No use of making the best tactic in the world if you cant think like a manager, and actually do research. I'd gather that you really take a lot of time going through the opponent's tactics and players. I'd take at least 20 to 30 minutes just checking the stats of matches of my next opponents. Scouts can only help in general terms.

I've been on a 15 winning streak (AI hasnt done reranking yet, me thinks....) due to a different approach to setting my team tactics (I'm using Nottingham Forest), whereby I dont depend on my scouts so much, I do my own scouting. I even beat Arsenal away in the FA Cup, weeeee....

Satisfaction comes when you are winning the way you wanted, by doing careful thinking and tweaking according to how real life managers would react....

I think most of those who really succeeded in the previous FM2007 did a systematic approach in tweaking instructions (as opposed to downloading some other person's tactics they claim to be the best in the world). I think Cleon, wwfan, rashidi1 and countless other tactic masters will be proud of you guys....

Cheers! KUTGW you guys....

werwin12

Due to my excessive scouting... watching extended hightlight of my opponent important previous matches.. tweaking the individual instruction etc etc .. I'm only in January 08. But yea, I'm loving my job so far ^^

Also, the only important bits my scout do when scouting my next opponent, is their pitch width

retired_mbodybuilding

Thanks for this guys, you've given me a whole new look out on the game. See if my results turn around as well.

retired_HbIL

Hi Brazil!!!!

This thread is great and i want to try it but i have a few questions!!!

What tweaks would you make for a team that has a fast and tall striker upfront???

and what if the team doesnt have a playmaker and doesnt play through the middle?

If the team is playing through the middle would i play wide and on the wings or not?

werwin12

Close the ball feeder, close the fast 1, DONT tight mark him, and ignore the tall one.. without feed he is nothing to fear off.

If they dont play tru middle, then close down the wings and hard tackle them. Always close down the most dangerous passer.. Look for high pass made and completion + key pass stat, that should give you the indication of who to close down. Hard tackle those runners always

retired_geoag01

This is actually a very good idea and something that the better RL Managers take into consideration when looking at their next opposition.

I dont think they would nescesarily change formation, but would definitely pinpoint the oppositions biggest threat and try to neutralise it.

There are two reasons that it may not work too well in 08 though?.

1st - From what i have seen so far, the individual instruction set up seems to be broke?.

2nd - With closing down still not working properly, its going to be difficult to get your players to adhere to these instructions?.

Still a good idea and something that should definitely work, IF all the problems are sorted with the Official Patch?.