How much do other people here take the opposition into account when setting up tactics?

I never know whether to take the opposition into account when I'm deciding my tactics, or to ignore them completely and concentrate on trying to build a decent unit of a team. Sometimes I wonder if I could look at the opposition's strikers best stats (e.g. strength) and then make sure my defenders are strong too. Or maybe do the same with my strikers and their defenders. Or have a DM in front of my defence if they have a star player. Or just ignore the opposition altogether. The problem I find is that when I do start thinking about the opposition, I find that I can tie myself up in knots trying to allow for everything.

Do other people take the opposition into account?

Ok. I tend to have two systems, one more attacking for the easier teams, and one more defensive for the harder ones. Not sure if it actually works for me or not though.

I don't usually think about the oppositions tactics. Sometimes I have a separate tactic for home and away games but that's as far as it goes.

If I'm playing a match and my team seem to be struggling on early doors, I will look at the formation of the opposition to see if I can change things about to cancel out their attacks (which might involve changing my formation in game). There have been times when playing as an inferior club, I have Manchester United, or a similar class of team to play, and so I will setup a completely new set of tactics for that one game.

It's a weird game this. I've been playing it for years, and I'm a bit football fan, and I've watched a lot of football, including the punditry bits, and I like to think I know a bit about it. And yet this game often makes me feel like I know nothing about football!

For every savegame in FMi2011 and FMi2012, I've used the same tactic regardless of team and opponent.

However, I've found myself using a counterattack more often when playing really big teams.

Until you get to the point where you have world class players, you need to be aware of the opposition formation. The actual player skills are almost irrelevant. There are set computer formations that - if you don't have a very good team - will kill you. You simply have to play the formation that counters those, using players in their proper positions. So, you need a fairly large squad to have that flexibility. After a while you'll know what the computer will play and what to play against it that is effective. When you have a very good team you can play your own style MOST of the time. There are occasions when you'll need to change to counter the opposition. Usually away from home. Also, if the other team is hanging on and you are at home, you may need to be more attacking to force the goal. The actual formations and their counters unfortunately do not follow reality around half the time, they are what have been programmed, so your years of footy expertise can come up short. In fact it's my main complaint about the game engine. The other one is that computer teams are simply not penalised for players out of position playing with a broken leg.

I dont change formation unless its to break a mid-season dip. I beleive teams/players do better with an established formation rather than having to adapt to new formations/player roles consistently.

That said, I will make substitutions based on the scoreline, possession, shots, opposition etc. (IE putting on a second defesnsive mid, third striker etc) But, I consider that fairly standard.