Analysing The Opposition - A Tactical Guide

Good day everybody and welcome to this new guide. Today, we will be looking at how to analyse the opposition before and after matches, and what effect doing it can have. Let's begin, shall we?

Analysing the opposition - Pre Match Analysis

Something I think many people ignore are the Pre-Macth reports, which can be vital in moulding your game plan to outplay your opponent.

This page can really unlock a team. Spending 2 minutes studying it can really boost your chances of gathering those valuable 3 points, or defending that lead in a Cup tie.

What can we gather from this report, and how can we use it to exploit the opponent?

1. The opposition lack 2 main CB's. This means if we put a strong Target Man up front and play it wide and direct, he can outpower the inexperienced Centre Backs and hopefully score.

2. Player Ineligible. Their main striker is ineligible for this game due to us being the parent club, meaning they have a weakened attack. This means we can play a more attacking approach without being too worried about defence.

3. Recent Form. As you can see, the club's recent form is awful, with just one win in six. This means we can play a more confident brand of football in the fixture.

4. Formation. Looking at the formation can be the key to picking out holes in the opposition. Unfortunately, the 4-4-2 is a solid formation with no obvious faults. If you dig deep enough however, you can pick out a few massive cons.

Analysing The Opposition - Squad Page

Using this page can show individual player stats and show weakness in specific spots on the pitch, making it easier to pick holes in solid formations.

What here can we pick out?

1. All of the clubs wide players, full backs and wingers, have dreadful average ratings. This means we can exploit the wings by playing down both flanks in game.

2. Fitness. Most of the clubs players are incredibly unfit and will likely struggle in game. This means when playing, we can play a more reserved approach until the last 30 minutes, and then go full steam, whereas the opposition will be tired and slow. 

There are many more things you could pick out here, but I'm just running over it.

Analysing The Opposition - Match Day Tactics

So, the match is upon us. For this example, I'm using a backup save of The Journey to show the results. 

This part can be important as it can really set your team up from the off for the fixture. Thanks to the previous step, we already have an idea of the teams playing style and weakness. What about this page?

From these features, what can you gather?

1. The team are playing a different formation to the one shown before. The attacking threat is weaker now, meaning we can play a bit more attacking.

2. No Offside Trap. The team are playing no OT, meaning that the defenders may stray out of position. This could be crucial for your wingers and strikers.

3. Playing down the flanks. The team are playing it down the sides, meaning that's where the majority of there players will be looking to move to. This means if we win it back, we can send it through the middle and counter the opposition advance.

So, using what we have learnt, what can we do?

Spoiler

We changed our tactics to take advantage of the oppositions weakness. Different roles and new instructions. This is important as it exploits every possible option to move forward and take advantage.

How did these changes and the in-depth analysis effect our performance?

Easy. We found out earlier that the opposition lack a regular CB partnership, so a Target Man in Mhadebi and Wingers were implemented to exploit that. We also found they have no striker, meaning no attacking threat. This meant we went full attack, which caused us to achieve comfortable victory. The benefits of excessive analysis is clear to see.

What have we learnt?

Despite being time consuming, this way of scouting can really pick apart the opposition and get you that good result. This example game was against a poor team, but we actually achieved a better result than in the real save (this is the test save) and we were in a poor run of form. I hope this guide encourages people to use the Opposition scouting and tactical pages more efficiently in order to enhance your teams chances of winning the game. Feel free to leave a comment and feedback. Thanks for reading!

 

[BatiGoal]

I could be wrong but my guess is that most people don't analyze enough. Perhaps a poll could provide answers, but I think most people just hit the go button once they have a decent formation. At least that's the impression I have, and to be honest, I do too when managing strong teams. I focus on my own strengths and play a certain way because of that, but especially when managing weaker/smaller teams your guide can create the advantage we often don't have before the game. It should help some of us getting better results.

Very useful guide!

 

[mcandrew003]

Agree mate, I would imagine that this feature is ignored quite a bit, when really it is actually the best chance of victory if used correctly. I sometimes do that in fairness, just hit go and hope for the best. Started to use this feature a bit more now, and has really good effect on results. Cheers pal, appreciate the comment. @BatiGoal

 

[AndersJ]

25 minutes ago, mcandrew003 said:

Agree mate, I would imagine that this feature is ignored quite a bit, when really it isn't actually the best chance of victory if used correctly. I sometimes do that in fairness, just hit go and hope for the best. Started to use this feature a bit more now, and has really good effect on results. Cheers pal, appreciate the comment. @BatiGoal

 

Respect!!

very very useful guide, i never use even 1 minute at the opposition but this is a great post and do keep up the good work!

[mcandrew003]

Cheers mate, in the quote it says Isn't on the top line, meant is and have changed it now. 

I used to not even look either, started to a while ago and have found the benefits massive. Cheers pal, appreciate the comment. @AndersJ

[AndersJ]

1 minute ago, mcandrew003 said:

Cheers mate, in the quote it says Isn't on the top line, meant is and have changed it now. 

I used to not even look either, started to a while ago and have found the benefits massive. Cheers pal, appreciate the comment. @AndersJ

Congrats you have the job as scout for my roman Empire campaign, resigning not an option ???

[mcandrew003]

10 minutes ago, AndersJ said:

Congrats you have the job as scout for my roman Empire campaign, resigning not an option ???

Don't know if I should be happy or sad  however will I defend my kingdom? 

[Mikee1984]

Wow what a great little guide there mate, gave me a good insight into things I have mostly dismissed and I'm sure it will come in handy in the future. Keep up the good work.

[mcandrew003]

Cheers mate, really appreciate that. 

Glad I could help, really is a helpful feature when utilised properly. Thanks for the comment! @Mikee1984

[veerus]

2 hours ago, mcandrew003 said:

Analysing the opposition - Pre Match Analysis

Something I think many people ignore are the Pre-Macth reports, which can be vital in moulding your game plan to outplay your opponent.

I think most people ignore pre-match reports because they're almost always wrong about the opponent's tactics.

However, there are some good insights in here.  I like the idea of evaluating the form of the wingers to decide whether to attack them or not.

One thing that seems wrong in your example though.

2 hours ago, mcandrew003 said:

3. Playing down the flanks. The team are playing it down the sides, meaning that's where the majority of there players will be looking to move to. This means if we win it back, we can send it through the middle and counter the opposition advance.

So, using what we have learnt, what can we do?

You say this but then in the screenshot, you're still attacking down both flanks instead of the middle. 

[AndersJ]

40 minutes ago, mcandrew003 said:

Don't know if I should be happy or sad  however will I defend my kingdom? 

"Jedi-mind trick in use".....

your what ? ???

[mcandrew003]

Thanks mate. I agree that they are wrong a few times, like for the formation and things, but they give you a brief insight into what the oppositions strengths and weaknesses are, and let's you pick them out.

Good spot mate, I think it's because earlier I said that I would attack the wings because of the form of the wide players, so that just stuck in my head. Thanks for pointing that out anyway mate. @veerus

[mcandrew003]

9 minutes ago, AndersJ said:

"Jedi-mind trick in use".....

your what ? ???

'I will become your scout'

What's a kingdom anyway? 

[AndersJ]

17 minutes ago, mcandrew003 said:

'I will become your scout'

What's a kingdom anyway? 

Sorry, but sometimes in great dictatorship you just have to play the jedi-mindtrick card, you know the rules ?

[mcandrew003]

1 hour ago, AndersJ said:

Sorry, but sometimes in great dictatorship you just have to play the jedi-mindtrick card, you know the rules ?

Oh yeah, you know. Just casual leadership. 

[Scratch]

Hey this is great! I do some of this, especially watching what the other team are doing through the game and trying to take advantage of it, but not in as much detail and I didn't even think to look at things like players' form etc. Great stuff and will try to pay more attention in future.

[mcandrew003]

Cheers mate! I remember reading you saying in your PinaColada save that you check Opposition tactics, I find it is crucial to the success of the team. Players form is just a little thing that can pick holes in a solid formation e.g if the opponent are playing a 4-2-3-1, but the 2 CM's have ratings of 6.5, then you could try exposing the centre. Thanks a lot pal, appreciate the comment. @scratch99

[Scratch]

Yeah, I didn't use to check the opposition tactics, but once I started to it led me to make changes that won games! Really a huge opportunity lost if people don't do that. And I'll definitely try out your other recommendations as they make total sense!

[mcandrew003]

Same here bud, never used to analyse or anything, but started too a few months ago and it really helps now. Do let me know how you get on mate, will be interesting to see. Cheers! @scratch99

[Ashez]

The thing I love about FMM is it can be as complicated as you make it, this stuff IMO is unneeded to succeed but if people want to play this way they can which is ace, I just wish such features were decent in game haha. 

I'm a match to match type guy, that's what I want to be doing so I do smash continue most the time. Say with the EME previews, i generally couldn't care as I just wanna be playing the match lol. In match I do pay attention to all the stats, who's playing well and all that jazz though. I guess I'd rather take everything in during the match instead of obsessing about a one off tie before KO and wasting playing time etc. 

[mcandrew003]

Agree with that mate, people can spend hours doing stuff like this or just hit go, although I find this can be a good way of preparing your team before a big match, maybe nit for smaller matches though. 

I'm a bit of both, like to analyse and play and will get through games as quick as possible. I find in match stats are quite important aswell, might have to plan a guide about them soon. It's nice to hear your opinion pal, appreciate the comment aswell. Cheers! @Ashez