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I am starting a thread on opposition instructions as I have not seen a comprehensive thread on that. IMO, this can be one of the decisive things in determining the outcome of the match besides your own tactic.
Usually after I give the pre-game teamtalk, I would check on the opposition instruction screen to see if I position my central defenders correctly. If my opponent is using the big-small combination, I shall adjust which of my two DCs to be on which side.
In my situation, both my DCs (I'm using a four man defence) are not the fastest players on the pitch (pace: 9 and 11) but they have decent (ie. is or more than 14) marking & tackling stats. Here is a few scenarios that I have run into in my games:
• DC marking a big targetman in a 2 man attack: always close down in hope that he would win most of the battles and contain the targetman from attacking my goal. If his preferred foot is right or left ONLY, then I'd show him onto the left or right respectively. Else, I will just leave it to my defenders on how to mark him.
• DC marking a pacey forward in a 2 man attack: never close down and always tight marking. This is what I'm not quite sure of. I'm afraid if I try to close down on him all the time, any mistackle would mean that my DC is going to be left behind by the sheer pace of the FC. With tight marking, I want the DC to nullify the effect of that fast forward without commiting himself too much. The higher the pace of the FC, the lower my closing down on my DC's individual setting is. Any other suggestions?
• DC marking a big targetman in a 1 striker formation: One DC (with the lower pace) will be set to always close down, the other has no specific instructions to pick up what's left.
• DC marking a pacey forward in a 1 striker formation: same as above as I have the numerical advantage and the extra man to cover should the closing down DC fail to clear or contain the man
• On AMC: Always close him down to prevent him from linking to his strikers.
• Opposition ML/R and AM L/R: Since I want to deprive opposition team of the supply from the wings, these players are given the instruction to always be closed down and shown onto the weaker foot (plus hard tackling depending on the match-up against my players). If the wingers are exceptional, I would tick tight marking on my DL's and/or DR's individual settings.
• Any injured field players and players below 85% (excluding strikers): Have always put the hard tackling on these players to either make their condition worse or take them to the hospital early
Using the instructions above, I am quite pleased with how my defence is performing. 32 games, 19 goals conceded and 19 clean sheets. The after match observation (brought forward by Cleon) has also been quite encouraging. My DCs are winning 80% and above of their headers and the low number of tackles they make (usually ranges from 2 to 5 each) was probably down to the dominance of the defence (as suggested by Cleon). The goals I'm conceding are mostly based on set plays (or the lack of marking on that) and not on counterattack or open field play. BTW I seldom use both tight marking & closing down on always unless my DCs have way better stats than the opposing strikers.
Most, if not all, of the teams that I have met are using either the 2 man or lone man attack. Have not met against a team with a 3 striker formation so I'm not sure how it would turn out. In the closing stages of any game which the opponents have gone 4-2-4 on me, I usually set 'always close down' on all 4 forwards. This is done only after I put 2 DMs in front of my 4-man defence. So far the result has been alright as I have not conceded an 89 or 90th min goal since one game in the beginning of the season. Have not tried anything on the opponent defence or goalies either, thus not sure how anything works on that side of the field.
Any opinion and suggestion is welcomed. Share what has worked wonders for your team and may be we can strive towards the perfect formula.
Nice post man, quite interesting as this is a part of the tactics/match section I've not even really tried yet. I'll start to try some stuff out and post any findings...no promises though
no problems. i hope you would try it with an average side like i do, and not with the chelseas and barcelonas of the football world. i was actually quite impressed that my aging, slow defence can cope pretty well with the league and not conceding much from open play/counter attack. set plays, well..., there's only so much i can instruct them to do.
thanks cleon. the likes of tactical profs eg. you, rash, wwf, asmodeus and many others have been a good guidance for my fm career in more ways that you can imagine.
Interesting information in this thread. So far I've only messed around with hard tackling cowardly attackers as MV always mentions this tactic in his hints and tips guides over the years.
• Any injured field players and players below 85% (excluding strikers): Have always put the hard tackling on these players to either make their condition worse or take them to the hospital early
Your sooo evil, good post, I was clueless on these instructions. I'll give them a whirl in the new season.
exactly what i was looking for, i will try your settings in next match, i especially like the idea of hard tackling on injured/low condition players mwhahahahaha
Originally posted by Cleon:
Excellent thread, I'll add it to the link at top of the page
Cleon, I was wondering, if it would be possible for on of the 'tactical experts' to make a thread to explain various stuff about the scout reports?
I think it would be quite useful for us to set up our tactics accordingly!
Opposition Instructions discussion 
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