How much analysis do you do?

How much analysis of figures/stats do you do of your players/matches?

I'm a very analytical person, so the stats side of the game has always really appealed to me.

When starting a new game, I will spend at least an hour before I even click continue once whilst I analyse the stats of my players and staff. I will base my team selection and my team talks on players passing/tackling/shooting stats rather than their general rating.

I have in my head a core minimum of certain numbers that a player has to reach to be poor/good/excellent, and a core minimum of stats for me to even consider playing the person to begin with.

And of course, they have to be over 96% match fit!

Wondering how many other stataholics there are, compared to people that play by "gut" instinct.

Well most of the time i play with teams that i know, so i know what they are capable of. When im done with the paneltys/freekicks/corners/targetman etc. option, im pretty much done. If i scout another player wich i dont know well, then i will check his stats ofc. Same as for a new team that i dont know, looking at players i dont know, comparing them and see who is the best on a certain position.

About the staff, i dont check any stats on people that are already in the club, only if i hire a new staff member.

Sometimes i do feel like i need to spend more time on stats though

I do quite a bit, I like to know the basis of what stats are telling me, but they can be misinformative too. It might be telling you that your left back can't run etc, but if he makes up for that through reading of the game, I'd be a fool to sell him on the strength of a stat.

You can do too much of it, IRL the manager at Shrewsbury Town (my club) became so obsessed with his pro-zone and suchlike he over analysed everything causing dramatic shifts in position and the dropping of players. Even his own squad said he worked too hard. After he'd been sacked.

It sometimes takes me 3-4 hours fom start to first friendly because I spend so much time making sure all my players are doing the right training, the right stats & the right tactics to suit the team aswell as their own abilities. After each game I spend a bit of time combing through who did what, how thewy can improve, who needs to go etc. There are sometimes players who don't make the grade but due to injuries/suspensions come into the team and just perform straight away.

I was more of a just throw them on kind of manager when I first started playing football management games but became more studious about things as I got older & more aware of things.

Stats stats stats! I love stats! I can spend ages doing nothing but trawling the game, looking at stats.

I look at various stats sporadically and mostly just for interest rather than with the aim of using them especially in my decision making.

Always look at the stats of my squad, regarding the stats I make my tactic.

I also try to get the best scouts and trainers for the club.

When I first pick up a team, I speed-read their stats, just seeing whether there is a lot of blue, or a lot of grey, and in which column its in. I then throw together a team based upon my gut feelings, and hope it works. Generally though, if I notice a few players who stand out from the rest, or who are relatively good for their age, I try to make my tactics cater for them as best possible. I generally use the friendlies to work out any bumps, and figure out if any of my speed-reading made me throw in a lame player. Generally by the time the season starts I've got tactics that let my team express themselves fairly well, and I can be fairly sure that I'm fielding my best possible team.

When looking at possible transfers I'm more scrutinising with stats. I also spend a lot of time trying to anticipate a player's growth curve based upon previous results, in order to find a diamond in the rough or a quick profit. I'm a huge fan of the financial side of the game, as well as yearly improvements of players and my own team.