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Robbrown172

How to prepare and set-up against big teams


Introduction

Managing a small team on Football Manager comes with great reward. The feeling of achievement and accomplishment when, after years and years of hard work, you finally reach where you wanted to be.

One of the hard aspects about managing a small team, however, is when you come up against some of the 'stronger' teams in your league/nation, which can give you a reality check at times. In this guide, I'm going to tell you how you can prepare before the big matches, how to set yourself up during the matches, and if needed, how to execute an action plan if things aren't going to plan.

Do Your Research

One of the first things you have to do is research. Research everything about the team you're coming up against, such as tactics used in their last game, in-form players and recent results.

Screenshot_20170112-201629.png

To view the players' form, click onto the 'view' bar at the bottom, and click onto 'form', then confirm. It should look like this:

Screenshot_20170112-201737.png

The numbers shown are a rating out of 10, so you can check what players have been performing the best in their last few matches. This is so you know what players are in-form for that team, thus knowing the players who will probably be the most dangerous when you come up against them. Another piece of research you could do is checking on the teams' recent results. Doing this gives you an idea of what form they are in, whether that is a losing run, or a winning run of games.

Screenshot_20170112-201833.png

From the screenshot above, it is easy to conclude that Chelsea are on a fairly bad run of games, with only 1 win in their first 4 matches of the season. This can work to your advantage, because if a team is in bad form, it could work in your favour, therefore giving you the chance to capitalise on that, and even potentially giving you the upper hand with the game. And finally, the other method of research on your opponent are the reports your assistant manager sends to you a day before the matches.

Screenshot_20170112-201852.png

It gives you a visual on what their predicted line-up is, who their star player is and a simplified version of their recent form. Probably the most important part of the report is the part that says 'style of play'. This gives you an indication on how your opponent likes to play their football, which gives you the opportunity to counter that style of play.

It's no surprise that a big team like Chelsea like the passing style of play, as most big teams prefer that these days. If you are managing a smaller team, like Burnley, you will need to think of way to break them down so that they don't get the chance to pass the ball around. Pressing could be an option for this, but at the same time, it is risky, as it can make you very exposed if you get caught on the counter-attack, and can also tire your players out and make them fatigued much quicker.

During The Match

So, you've picked your formation, picked your starting 11 and picked your team instructions, and now it's come to the big match. So I just sit and watch, right?

No. A big no. Doing this is a big mistake, as it could, and probably will go horribly wrong. You must keep an eye on your team stats AT ALL TIMES. You must keep checking which of your players are under-performing, and which of your players are doing well. However, it isn't just your team you should be keeping an eye. During the match, you should always click on 'opposition' at the bottom of the screen to check your opponent's tactics, to check how their players are performing as well.

Screenshot_20170112-202148.png

A good thing to do with this, is to check on what players are out of position (if the players' icon is yellow or red, it means they aren't playing in their natural position). For example, Loftus-Cheek is currently playing on the right wing for Chelsea, and has a yellow icon, which means he isn't in his natural position.

This gives you the chance to take advantage of this, as you can simply go onto your team instructions, and change the passing focus. Doing this will change the areas of the pitch your players will play the ball, so if you focus it on the same side of the pitch where the opposition is out of position, it will put pressure on that side, therefore taking advantage of the opposition's weaknesses on the pitch.

And Lastly, Have An Effective Action Plan

The worse case scenario after doing your research, and setting your team out, is to start losing. If and when this happens, you need a plan B, or atleast an action plan that can get you back into the game. If you are 2 goals or more down with 20 minutes of the game left, I recommend that you change your formation to 3 at the back, with 5 in midfield and 2 upfront. How you structure them is entirely up to you, but as long as you have those foundations, you stand a good chance.

I would also switch the mentality to 'balanced', and turn 'men behind the ball' off. I wouldn't have 'pressing' turned on, as like I said earlier, it can leave you very exposed. I have used these tactics and instructions during matches where the same circumstances have occured, and 9 times out of 10, I have atleast scraped a draw out of the match, and worked again with the Burnley and Chelsea match.

Screenshot_20170112-202553.png

There's more than one plan B, so keep trying and keep testing until you find a one that works.

I hope this guide has helped. Thanks a lot for reading!

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Interesting guide.

Another thing I like to do when looking at the other team during the game is seeing who has attempted/completed more passes and key passes because I can think of how to close him down and it also gives me an indication of where the opposition is focusing their attack from. For example if their right midfielder and right Winger have attempted many passes it doesn't matter if they completed them or not it means you are giving them too much space there and they are exploiting it so knowing this you can adjust your tactics. 

Also those reports are not always correct so I normally look at the managers screen to see his preferred formation so you're more prepared 

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Good advice about 'going on the attack' and 'pressing' not always being the best option. Especially considering the fact that there are more games to come and trying to "force" results against top teams could leave you with a very tired/ weakened side for the next game.

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5 hours ago, samhardy said:

It's a great guide, however surely this is the case in all matches, not just against big teams? Nice work nonetheless :)

Yeah I suppose. I think more research etc has to go into the opposition if you're a smaller team as you know that you're going to have a tough game on your hands, so doing that extra little things may give you the upper hand. Thanks Sam :)

4 hours ago, BatiGoal said:

Good advice about 'going on the attack' and 'pressing' not always being the best option. Especially considering the fact that there are more games to come and trying to "force" results against top teams could leave you with a very tired/ weakened side for the next game.

Thanks :) I rarely use 'pressing', because to me, it's a sign of desperation and like you said, forceful. Pressing is a last resort for me, If it doesn't go to plan, it can badly backfire as you're left with a team who have no energy left, which leaves you in a worse position than you were in before.

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On 14/01/2017 at 00:25, Robbrown172 said:

I rarely use 'pressing', because to me, it's a sign of desperation and like you said, forceful. Pressing is a last resort for me, If it doesn't go to plan, it can badly backfire as you're left with a team who have no energy left, which leaves you in a worse position than you were in before.

I used to think that pressing was mainly good for a last desperate push, but it seems more and more teams are using pressing as their standard style of play (both in real life and in the game). Now, I think I'd press for the whole game if I could, but as you point out the stamina issue is a problem.

Personally I tend to press at the start of games to get an early breakthrough and then turn it off at around 30 minutes, which lets most of the team get through without going below 75% - but that's in general rather than specific to playing big teams (I am the big team in most cases).

 

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I press from the beginning to the end and I don't have issues with players unless those with low stamina and my BWM and B2B that are the first to burn out their energy but I think it's normal

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