real_pervert

Hello everyone.

I've played FM 2008 for some time now. One thing about this game that I really need to get a hold of is the scout reports on the next opposition. Could you guys share any tips/guide to get the best out of scout reports on the next opposition? I would appreciate any help... thanks!

real_pervert

What i meant by 'getting the best from scout reports' is that tips on how to interpret what your scout says about the next opposition correctly and make adjustments to your tactics accordingly.. thanks guys.

Brend

First of all, make sure the scout that you have scouting the opposition has a high tactical knowledge score, so that his observations will be both astute and accurate.

The important points that I pay most attention to are often the formation and mentality, and the passing style. If you see that a team likes to play a defensive 4-4-2 and draw you into them before launching a counter-attack, then that's probably a good indication that they're going to play a deeper defensive line and look to launch a quick attack down the flanks, so when I see that, I tend to only set my fullbacks to "mixed" forward runs and tone down their mentality from about a 15 to an 11, so that I don't get caught pinching too far up the pitch by through balls to the opposing team's wingers.

Though to be fair, if you're playing away and you're a good team, be prepared for mediocre teams to come at you with SI's pain-in-the-behind 4-4-2 where the wingers are farrowed to make it into a 4-2-4 in attack, even if the scouting report says they normally play a defensive 4-4-2 or something. It's a way to pip a quick goal before they retreat to their own half and a more defensive 4-4-2, so be on the lookout for that from the outset.

Frankly though, the more informative method of scouting is to do it yourself, and look at the various players they're likely to use against you, and plan to exploit those weaknesses. If they have tall and slow defenders, try to play a fast striker as a target man with the ball fed to his feet, and watch as he splits the defence. If they have weak-yet-creative midfielders, close down on them and tackle the daylights out of them. If they have Didier Drogba and Sergio Aguero up front, well... I'd say don't even bother to show up to the match that day

real_pervert

@ Brend

Thanks for your tips man. Btw, how do you usually counter a mixed style of play (opposition doesn't play a particular style and likes to mix it a bit)? This is the style of play that I've encountered most of the time and I'm not sure what approach I could use to counter such a style... :p

Brend

Hmmm... depends if it's home or away, and against a top team or one that I can trounce (speaking as a manager of a team I've raised to the top of the Premiership)

Home/Top - I'll probably try to play my own game, rather than spending too much time catering to the way they play. My formation is usually a 4-1-3-2 with the three in midfield being an MC (no arrows) and two wingers, both farrowed to the attacking midfield positions. I'll likely play about a 12 or 13 mentality overall, with about an 11 for creative freedom. 12 for passing, 10 for tempo, and width around 15. I play with counter-attack checked, even if I'm playing an attacking game. I tend to score a lot of goals on fast breakouts from my own half.

Home/Trounce - Contrary to normal logic, I actually have more trouble beating relegation-threatened teams that play mixed at home than I do top teams. I'm not too sure I can help you here-- I generally play about the same as I do against top teams, though with my mentality a notch or two higher. They tend to sit back and let you play your game, unless you're only ahead by one goal in the second half, in which case, they come out with the bloody 4-2-4 that I'd like to castrate the inventor of. In which case, I tend to drop the mentality of my wingers and take off their farrows so that they're a bit further back on the pitch most of the time.

Away/Top - I actually change formation for this, and likely to a formation that people of sense would deem rather silly. 4-2-2-2, with two DMCs and two MCs, one of whom is farrowed to AMC, and two SCs. I lower my mentality to about a 10, and lower creative freedom similarly. Passing style and tempo get dropped to the 7/8 range, and my d-line is pulled back to around an 8. Focus passing down the middle, and then hope to catch them pushing too far up with a quick counter-attack. The two DMCs ensure that you beat teams which have a lot of creative talent in the centre of the midfield, such as Arsenal and Liverpool, as guys like Fabregas get less time to dilly-dally and are forced to try and thread more marginal passes through my fairly tight defence.

Away/Trounce - I give up. I'm dreadful away to horrible teams. Teams that are relegation-threatened have my number, no matter what I do. I can beat a team like Seville 7-0 away in the Euro Cup, but then I come back to England and have *insert technically-bereft, physically and mentally inferior team here* beat me 2-1 or something ridiculous like that.