Do you do much with regards to 'Opposition Instructions'?

I only ask as I'm noticing that I'm not really. When i first played FM08 for the first few games i did, such as ensuring their star man plays on his weaker foot etc, basically really small but potentially significant things.

Now though, i just tend to focus on my own tactics and that's it. occassionally i get one of my guys to man-mark someone outstanding they have (like a Cesc) but this doesn't happen too often. just wondered if anyone took much time on this?

I only ask as I'm noticing that I'm not really. When i first played FM08 for the first few games i did, such as ensuring their star man plays on his weaker foot etc, basically really small but potentially significant things.

Now though, i just tend to focus on my own tactics and that's it. occassionally i get one of my guys to man-mark someone outstanding they have (like a Cesc) but this doesn't happen too often. just wondered if anyone took much time on this?

Opposition wingers - close down, weaker foot

Anyone below 85% fitness - close down, hard tackling

Slow strikers - tight marking

I do nothing.

Tight marking on strikers, cloing down on wingers and hard tackling on their centre backs if the opposition is playing 442.

Hard tackling on any one whos fitness is low.

I used to, but then I noticed these instructions were causing more problems, defenders closing down and getting pulled out of position etc.

Now I just look to make the opposition contain me. If I see my player is being man marked I get him to swap positions to draw the player out of position etc.

I only bother with hard tackling against injured players, otherwise no.

Generally, I will ony ever use this for lone strikers or attacking wingers. On the lone striker I will set tight marking to always, and with attacking wingers, I will set it to show them onto their weaker foor, and sometimes, close them down.

I will also set tacking to hard against injured players, carded players who are getting wound up, or if the goalie looks uncomfortable on the ball, I will set his instructions to close down often.

If I play against a winger who likes to cut inside, let's say Messi, would showing him on the weaker foot force him to go more on the outside?

I don't know if anyone has noticed that but I think it would be interesting to know.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Opposition wingers - close down, weaker foot

Anyone below 85% fitness - close down, hard tackling

Slow strikers - tight marking </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I do something similar.

hard tackling tight marking on attacking players with bravery below 12

Closing Down - Always (Wingers & FC's)

Show Onto - Weaker Foot (Wingers & FC's)

I do the same to DMC or AMC of they have them & for teams 2 divisions or higher above I do FB's/WB's too.

However I wish it would remember a default setting, it's down right annoying having to input the same settings over & over again. Works for LLM which is good enough for me.

Only for vengeance against a player who injures one of mine. I'm petty. But generally no: my tactics are fairly successful, and I don't want to mess about with them.

i do absolutely nothing for oppos instructions

i only use when my scout highlights a player as a threat in his report before the game

if its a striker - tight marking

if its a midfielder - close down

I used to for every game when I first began playing FM07 but now I use it sparingly.

The one that made me wonder was the Show on to foot option. You can choose right, left or weakest, now for me I would also just choose weakest. Can anyone think of a reason of not wanting to show someone on to their weaker foot, thats if you wanted to use this tactic at all by the way.

Opposition instructions are terribly useful!

If my scout report says that I have to watch out for the pace of their left winger, then I set the mentality of my right-back to defensive and reduce his creative freedom so he tracks back and does not get caught out by their left winger.

If my scout report says that they look to utilise the aerial ability of their strikers, I set the instructions for their wingers to prompt them to cut in inside of crossing the ball in. Show on right foot for their left winger, and show on left foot for their right winger.

If their wingers have any foot on lower than 'reasonable' rating, he gets set on 'show on weaker foot'. This is rare in the premier league but is almost the norm in the lower leagues.

If my scout report tells me about a player who requires watching, he gets set on tight marking.

But if my scout report says that player looks to drop deep into space..I avoid tight marking him since my defender will likely be dragged out of position.

It's alot of common sense here. Opposition instructions only take me lesser than a minute every match to set. Attention to details sets a good manager apart from a successful one in my opinion.

If their playmaker or the player singled out by my scout has low bravery, I set the opposition instruction for him to be on hard tackling.

Having a good scout is crucial to good preparation! I definitely disagree that it is always a good idea to show onto weaker foot all the time for wingers and FCs. It makes no sense. In that case, why not show onto weaker foot for every one on the opposition team? When you show onto a particular foot, you actually open up space in the other direction for him to move into.

Wingers should also not be closed down all the time as your defenders will get tired out. Weigh the consequences. Besides, wingers tend to be the more skillful ones in any team. This means, they are more likely to be able to expose gaps created when you close them down.

To add on, get a scout with high tactical knowledge and judging player ability so you actually do set your opposition instructions with reliable information.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by nax:

Opposition instructions are terribly useful!

If my scout report says that I have to watch out for the pace of their left winger, then I set the mentality of my right-back to defensive and reduce his creative freedom so he tracks back and does not get caught out by their left winger.

If my scout report says that they look to utilise the aerial ability of their strikers, I set the instructions for their wingers to prompt them to cut in inside of crossing the ball in. Show on right foot for their left winger, and show on left foot for their right winger.

If their wingers have any foot on lower than 'reasonable' rating, he gets set on 'show on weaker foot'. This is rare in the premier league but is almost the norm in the lower leagues.

If my scout report tells me about a player who requires watching, he gets set on tight marking.

But if my scout report says that player looks to drop deep into space..I avoid tight marking him since my defender will likely be dragged out of position.

It's alot of common sense here. Opposition instructions only take me lesser than a minute every match to set. Attention to details sets a good manager apart from a successful one in my opinion.

If their playmaker or the player singled out by my scout has low bravery, I set the opposition instruction for him to be on hard tackling.

Having a good scout is crucial to good preparation! I definitely disagree that it is always a good idea to show onto weaker foot all the time for wingers and FCs. It makes no sense. In that case, why not show onto weaker foot for every one on the opposition team? When you show onto a particular foot, you actually open up space in the other direction for him to move into.

Wingers should also not be closed down all the time as your defenders will get tired out. Weigh the consequences. Besides, wingers tend to be the more skillful ones in any team. This means, they are more likely to be able to expose gaps created when you close them down. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

That's a good point about bringing the wingers inside, I usually only use the show onto foot option for strikers, this is something defintely worth considering.

Nada.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Reider84:

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by nax:

Opposition instructions are terribly useful!

If my scout report says that I have to watch out for the pace of their left winger, then I set the mentality of my right-back to defensive and reduce his creative freedom so he tracks back and does not get caught out by their left winger.

If my scout report says that they look to utilise the aerial ability of their strikers, I set the instructions for their wingers to prompt them to cut in inside of crossing the ball in. Show on right foot for their left winger, and show on left foot for their right winger.

If their wingers have any foot on lower than 'reasonable' rating, he gets set on 'show on weaker foot'. This is rare in the premier league but is almost the norm in the lower leagues.

If my scout report tells me about a player who requires watching, he gets set on tight marking.

But if my scout report says that player looks to drop deep into space..I avoid tight marking him since my defender will likely be dragged out of position.

It's alot of common sense here. Opposition instructions only take me lesser than a minute every match to set. Attention to details sets a good manager apart from a successful one in my opinion.

If their playmaker or the player singled out by my scout has low bravery, I set the opposition instruction for him to be on hard tackling.

Having a good scout is crucial to good preparation! I definitely disagree that it is always a good idea to show onto weaker foot all the time for wingers and FCs. It makes no sense. In that case, why not show onto weaker foot for every one on the opposition team? When you show onto a particular foot, you actually open up space in the other direction for him to move into.

Wingers should also not be closed down all the time as your defenders will get tired out. Weigh the consequences. Besides, wingers tend to be the more skillful ones in any team. This means, they are more likely to be able to expose gaps created when you close them down. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

That's a good point about bringing the wingers inside, I usually only use the show onto foot option for strikers, this is something defintely worth considering. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Well..if your defenders are good at jumping and heading, maybe you'll always want them to cross or it depends.

But if you are managing a team like redditch who expects to lose every match, playing to the other team's weakness makes more sense than playing to your team's strength.

I think it's dangerous to set the show unto foot option for strikers. If their strikers have the ball, they are already bearing down on goal! Get the ball away from them. I reckon your defender will choose the best option, whether it is to show the striker unto his left foot or his right foot depending on which direction the striker is bearing down on goal from. If you set the show unto foot option on their strikers, it can be counter productive.

I used close down always on Frank Lampard against Chelsea and then conceded 3 as a result as my DC's were always being pulled out of position leaving their strikers unmarked

GK - Close Down

All DC's - Close Down

Attacking Wide Players - Close Down, Weaker Foot

Fast Strikers - Tackle Hard

Slow Strikers - Weaker Foot, Close Down

Anyone under 90% Fitness - Close Down, Tackle Hard.

I dont know if its a good or bad thing for my team, but i swear by it every game.

GK - Show onto left or right foot, (whatever is weakest).

ML - Show onto right foot.

MR - Show onto left foot.

I always pay attention to preparing, and set up opp. instructions according to the scout's reports.

Lone ST = always tight marking

AMC with not much of a physical presence = hard tackling

Somebody is cleanly having a poor game = closing down, weaker foot, sometimes tackling hard too (try to rush him into mistakes)

At first, I thought this was a brilliant new feature. I'd always wanted to be able to set specific instructions for dealing with certain players.

However, I've now become a little disillusioned with it. I'm perfectly willing to accept that this may be because I'm not using it as intended. But what I've found is that, by setting specific instructions for dealing with particular opposition players, my general tactics seem to suffer. For example, players end up out of position because they are focused on dealing with one particular player.

So now, I don't set any opposition instructions. Perhaps I wasn't using the feature properly, but overall, I prefer the way my team looks when they don't have specific instructions set for opposition players.

Having said that, I do still occasionally set my team to close down players who are renounced for scoring long-range strikes.

Renowned! Not 'renounced'.

I curse about having to click through them but otherwise nothing.

i just ignore them...

too much trouble setting them every game

A lot.

Apply easy tackle if a player keep dribbling past my player.

Apply hard tackle against player with low bravery.

Apply closing all the time if a players keep making key passes.

Apply closing all the time if a players looks nervous or a youngster to force him making error.

Apply closing all the time + hard tackle on their holding ball player.

Apply tight marking on slow player with low agility, dribbling and technique.

I somehow dont understand why do some ppl never use this function tho?

I just want my players to do their best and win the game so I dont care what my opponents do but what my players do

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by warkill:

I just want my players to do their best and win the game so I dont care what my opponents do but what my players do </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

So you do nothing according with or countering the opponents tactic or the like?

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by warkill:

I just want my players to do their best and win the game so I dont care what my opponents do but what my players do </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

So you do nothing according with or countering the opponents tactic or the like?

no if they have good and fast ST I will use deep defence line etc to counter my opponents

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Jimbokav1971:

GK - Show onto left or right foot, (whatever is weakest).

ML - Show onto right foot.

MR - Show onto left foot. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

You better clear everything from this thread out of your memory bank before heading back to LLM.

After reading this thread i may start experimenting with it.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by clark-KJH:

hard tackling tight marking on attacking players with bravery below 12 </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Me too, providing the referee is lenient.

Close down strikers, AMC and wingers if they seem threatening.

Get one-footed players on the wrong foot.

In conjunction with the scout's report and the ref's stats I always put a lot of thought into oppo instucs. They appear to work well - I often find the oppo star player gets subbed early with a 6 rating, thanks to my homework.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">In conjunction with the scout's report and the ref's stats I always put a lot of thought into oppo instucs. They appear to work well - I often find the oppo star player gets subbed early with a 6 rating, thanks to my homework. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Ref stats is also a thing, which is good to check out. When you see that the ref has 5 yellows/game and 1 red/game avg., you probably don't set tackling to hard

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by nax:

Opposition instructions are terribly useful!

If my scout report says that I have to watch out for the pace of their left winger, then I set the mentality of my right-back to defensive and reduce his creative freedom so he tracks back and does not get caught out by their left winger.

If my scout report says that they look to utilise the aerial ability of their strikers, I set the instructions for their wingers to prompt them to cut in inside of crossing the ball in. Show on right foot for their left winger, and show on left foot for their right winger.

If their wingers have any foot on lower than 'reasonable' rating, he gets set on 'show on weaker foot'. This is rare in the premier league but is almost the norm in the lower leagues.

If my scout report tells me about a player who requires watching, he gets set on tight marking.

But if my scout report says that player looks to drop deep into space..I avoid tight marking him since my defender will likely be dragged out of position.

It's alot of common sense here. Opposition instructions only take me lesser than a minute every match to set. Attention to details sets a good manager apart from a successful one in my opinion.

If their playmaker or the player singled out by my scout has low bravery, I set the opposition instruction for him to be on hard tackling.

Having a good scout is crucial to good preparation! I definitely disagree that it is always a good idea to show onto weaker foot all the time for wingers and FCs. It makes no sense. In that case, why not show onto weaker foot for every one on the opposition team? When you show onto a particular foot, you actually open up space in the other direction for him to move into.

Wingers should also not be closed down all the time as your defenders will get tired out. Weigh the consequences. Besides, wingers tend to be the more skillful ones in any team. This means, they are more likely to be able to expose gaps created when you close them down. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

that's extremeley interesting.

i'll have to have a playh around with the opposition instructions now

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Jimbokav1971:

GK - Show onto left or right foot, (whatever is weakest).

ML - Show onto right foot.

MR - Show onto left foot. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

unless the oppo has a leftsided player that likes to cut in?

like joe cole or babel?

Good thread folks this was a feature that I have been using foolishy ignoring. *slaps back of hand*

I would normally either pre-match, as of the scout report, I would set the necassary opposition instructions for the team I would play againt. I.E. If they had a very talented striker I would set him to be tightly marked. Shall they have a talented midfielder, maybe I would choose to close him down, or hard tackle.

Plus I would gear the team formation against the team I were to play as well.

However, more oten than not, I would generally ignore this feature, I wish I didn't now.

As I would asumed that, my tactics and training will have come in time, the players would gel even more together, no nead to focus my attention on the opposition players if I had the killer tactic, then why bother.

Now I use this just as often as I do during the game that I watch. I check to see if there players are less that 75% preferbly much less then apply hard tackling, or what is neccassary in the given scenario. As the AI/Oppostion make changes to there tactics, and target your players so why shouldn't you do to.

This works wonders as it disrupts the oppositions style of play. It seems to be very effective and I definatly use this feature more often than simply forgetting about it all together.

I do what my scout tells me to, both in tactics and opposition instructions.

I close down a midfielder who has high creativity, show out a right footed player on the left striker slot onto his left foot and vice versa and man mark the obvious target man in their team.

nothing at all.

Turned off match day exp. but this screen still comes up before every game