How To Adapt To Your Opponent?

I have been trying recently to read the opposition scout reports, trying to get a good idea of what I can expect in my upcoming matches. Unfortunately I haven't been too successful thus far. I'm trying to further my game experience by adapting my tactic slightly, game to game, in order to give myself the best chance! Especially now that my team are in the UCL, and I'll be facing some top teams. I was hoping that perhaps this thread could be a learning curve for FMer's like me whom perhaps need a bit of guidance.

I have read Iam's thread on this particular, thought it could be seen in a different perspective from someone of less knowledge.

Now this is what I have been doing prior to games so far:

I have been reading the reports, finding out:

• What Formation they use.
  
• Which area's of the pitch they make assist from.
  
• Which type of assist they are most prolific with. (Pass, Cross)
  
• Which area's of the pitch they concede assists from.
  
• Which type of assist they are most receptacle too.
  

Now the type of measures they have taken have been on no solid basis, and all guess work. My general methods are as follows:

• If they assist from wide areas. Play Wider, Close Down Widemen.
  
• If they Assist from the centre. Play Narrower, Close Down and Tight Mark Central Midfielders.
  
• If the assist via Crosses. Push Higher Up, Show Widemen Inside
  
• If they have Fast Stikers. Drop Deeper.
  
• If they concede assits from Wide Areas. Exploit Flanks, Clear Ball to Flanks, Play Wider.
  
• If they concede from central areas. Explot the Middle.
  

Now obviously I'm probaley making mistakes here and there are many more factors that go into this, including my players and I would presume. I also have to take into account how it would effect my system aswell! So below I display my two systems that I have been using this season.

This is my approach when I'm a favourite.

This is my more cautious approach, counter attack orientated.

Granted their not perfect and I'm certain they have their flaws! I'm working on them, but this thread is hopefully more about adapting them.

Now here are a few of my key players, whom perhaps I can use to target opponent weaknesses?

• Centre Back, Tin Jedvaj, a versatile defender who's very confident on the ball

• Defensive Mid, Oriol Romeu, a great defensively and capable of acting as Playmaker.

• Defensive Mid, Franco Zuculini, a pitbull in defensive and capable of harrowing dangermen.

• Attacking Mid, Remy Cabella, a technical central midfielder and creative force up the pitch.

• Winger, Rodrigo Gomez, an electric player and fantastic dribbling ability. Great counter attacking option.

• Winger, Lucas Ocampos, a very physical player at 6'2. Has pace to burn and good on the ball.

• Striker, John Guidetti, a versatile and consistant striker.

Really looking to learn!

I'm going to post my next match against Inter

So this game is against Inter in the UCL Qualifying Game. Its the 1st Leg at Home.

Here is the Overview:

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Formation (Not Starting 11):

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Team Report:

......

Manger Profile, if it's useful?

......

Assist Locations:

......

Goal Types:

......

Goal Assists:

What I learnt

• There Manager is very aggrieve with his pressing and likes to adopt an Attacking style.

• Man for Man, they are better team, not by much though.

Strengths

• Almost all of their Goals come form the wings. (Not much comes through the centre).

• Nicolas Lodiero will probably play in the AML. He's a fantastic player. Has Pace, Skill, Vision and Passing. He's Left Footed. He's be a big creative outlook for them.

• Javier Hernandez will probably start up top. He's Fast (17 & 16) and has great Off the Ball (17).

• There a good heading team. Yet they are short? :confused:

• There central midfielders are very well rounded and very little weakness.

• Saivet is very Fast! (17 & 15)

• They look very solid through the middle defensively.

Weaknesses

• Their a Short team and a majority of their Goals come from the Flanks via crosses.

• Vermalen is a very slow DL, Gomez however is very fast.

• If Saivet plays at AMR, he's poor at crossing (9) and has poor workrate (10) and teamwork (9).

So what to do!

• Need to exploit the Flanks with crosses. Don't have a big target man type striker however! Perhaps Ocampos can play upfront?

• Need to make use of Gomez against Vermalen!

• Need a plan for Lodiero! Perhaps using Tight Marking and Closing Down?

• If Hernandez starts, perhaps sit deep and limit his space. I back my boys to beat him in the air. Jedvaj is 6'3

Apart from that I'm stumped! Any help or ideas would be great! Hopefully we can all learn

All the factors you mention are all very valid ways to interpret a team's approach. But you missed perhaps the most important one in my opinion, the manager (EDIT: Just saw you updated it). You have your own style of play and so does he. So check out his profile.

I'll use a personal example. In my Bilbao save my team are performing well above expectations and sit in 1st place in February. Celta, managed by former Barcelona man Luis Enrique always seemed to be a "bogey" team of sorts and I could never figure out why. I was always favourite to win but it didn't matter if it was home and away, the relegation battlers were dominating me as I had intended to do to them, my team is set up to play patient football (mainly because Adruiz is old and slow, with no suitable Basque replacement). Then I cracked it.

Enrique, paying tribute to his playing career likes to play Attacking football. His Celta team will show up to their Balaídos home and try to win the game by giving us no space to play and pumping it forward on the ground at a high tempo when they get it. I promptly switched to a more Counter attacking strategy, similar to one I'd use in the Camp Nou or Bernabeu. The thinking was to lure Enrique's team a bit too far up the pitch with their gung ho style that they'd leave space for Aduriz to bring Muniain and Susaeta into space by running off the veteran striker.

I know it's only AI, but it feels good to out smart the AI. Know your role and shut your mouth technology .

Just gonna throw in a quick question here, if youre gonna change tactics from game to game, dont you think the troubles youll have with the dreaded tactical familiarity will far outweigh any positive effect your tailor made tactics will have?

Just gonna throw in a quick question here, if youre gonna change tactics from game to game, dont you think the troubles youll have with the dreaded tactical familiarity will far outweigh any positive effect your tailor made tactics will have?

I'm only looking to make a few subtle changes, that shouldn't off put the familiarity too much

All the factors you mention are all very valid ways to interpret a team's approach. But you missed perhaps the most important one in my opinion, the manager (EDIT: Just saw you updated it). You have your own style of play and so does he. So check out his profile.

I'll use a personal example. In my Bilbao save my team are performing well above expectations and sit in 1st place in February. Celta, managed by former Barcelona man Luis Enrique always seemed to be a "bogey" team of sorts and I could never figure out why. I was always favourite to win but it didn't matter if it was home and away, the relegation battlers were dominating me as I had intended to do to them, my team is set up to play patient football (mainly because Adruiz is old and slow, with no suitable Basque replacement). Then I cracked it.

Enrique, paying tribute to his playing career likes to play Attacking football. His Celta team will show up to their Balaídos home and try to win the game by giving us no space to play and pumping it forward on the ground at a high tempo when they get it. I promptly switched to a more Counter attacking strategy, similar to one I'd use in the Camp Nou or Bernabeu. The thinking was to lure Enrique's team a bit too far up the pitch with their gung ho style that they'd leave space for Aduriz to bring Muniain and Susaeta into space by running off the veteran striker.

I know it's only AI, but it feels good to out smart the AI. Know your role and shut your mouth technology .

Thats really good stuff. Could you tell when watching the match that their defensive line was partiuclary high? Did their fullbacks leave space behind them?

Thats really good stuff. Could you tell when watching the match that their defensive line was partiuclary high? Did their fullbacks leave space behind them?

I could tell from the previous match that their wingers pushed very high up the pitch in Enrique's preferred 4-5-1. Their whole front line pressed me hard, the full backs naturally filled in the space behind them at times but weren't pushing on relentlessly, in fact that's what I took advantage of in the end. Just to show the pressing of their front line just look at my ball losses in the corresponding fixture the previous season and how most of them are in my own half/just past halfway as I tried to pass my way up the pitch to support my old, slow (but still great ) Striker.

Because of the high pressing in this game I knew there would be even more space inbetween/behind the AMR/L and their FBs. I made Munian cut inside with a support duty to link up with Aduriz and Monreal to push up the flank from LB. Susaeta was given Winger/A to place himself higher up the pitch and try to get one on one with Celta's LB and get the ball in the box for Aduriz.

Celta's heatmap in my 3-1 win. The 9/8 are the AMR/L swapping wings, but it should still be evident how far they're pushed up and the space between them and the FBs.

Mine, notice the LB.

My 3rd goal explains well what I'm talking about.

My team is sitting relatively deep and narrow. Notice the positions of my wide players #19 Muniain and #12 Susaeta. Right in that space.

The restricted options from our sitting have forced the Malaga #17 into a poor pass trying to find #21. San Jose is an accomplished passer of the ball (14) and can play it to either winger comfortably in this situation because of the space.

Susaeta has received the ball and jinked his way past the on rushing #5 attempting to close him down. He's now got that flank all to himself.

Susaeta has whipped one into Aduriz. My veteran striker is fantastic in the air and has a great Off The Ball attribute (17). This coupled with a great delivery....

In your example it looks like Inter have a very similar manager to Enrique, but he's managing Inter Milan, not Celta Vigo. In this case, Inter would perhaps be favourites and will look to push on even higher than Celta did in my example. Of course, PPMs can play a role too, but I'd watch the first 15 mins or so of your game on Full Match to see can you notice similar patterns to what I did. I'd imagine Inter's wingers will push very high and perhaps swap too, the full backs will also bomb forward. The AMR/L might be a good idea but switch one to a support duty and make him a winger so he'll stretch the defence on the counter. Your AMC won't have much use apart from being in the way of the DMC, which can have defensive benefits. I'd make your striker a support duty too, just so he's there to lay off to your wingers/amc rather than always looking to play off the last defender.

I could tell from the previous match that their wingers pushed very high up the pitch in Enrique's preferred 4-5-1. Their whole front line pressed me hard, the full backs naturally filled in the space behind them at times but weren't pushing on relentlessly, in fact that's what I took advantage of in the end. Just to show the pressing of their front line just look at my ball losses in the corresponding fixture the previous season and how most of them are in my own half/just past halfway as I tried to pass my way up the pitch to support my old, slow (but still great ) Striker.

Because of the high pressing in this game I knew there would be even more space inbetween/behind the AMR/L and their FBs. I made Munian cut inside with a support duty to link up with Aduriz and Monreal to push up the flank from LB. Susaeta was given Winger/A to place himself higher up the pitch and try to get one on one with Celta's LB and get the ball in the box for Aduriz.

Celta's heatmap in my 3-1 win. The 9/8 are the AMR/L swapping wings, but it should still be evident how far they're pushed up and the space between them and the FBs.

Mine, notice the LB.

My 3rd goal explains well what I'm talking about.

My team is sitting relatively deep and narrow. Notice the positions of my wide players #19 Muniain and #12 Susaeta. Right in that space.

The restricted options from our sitting have forced the Malaga #17 into a poor pass trying to find #21. San Jose is an accomplished passer of the ball (14) and can play it to either winger comfortably in this situation because of the space.

Susaeta has received the ball and jinked his way past the on rushing #5 attempting to close him down. He's now got that flank all to himself.

Susaeta has whipped one into Aduriz. My veteran striker is fantastic in the air and has a great Off The Ball attribute (17). This coupled with a great delivery....

In your example it looks like Inter have a very similar manager to Enrique, but he's managing Inter Milan, not Celta Vigo. In this case, Inter would perhaps be favourites and will look to push on even higher than Celta did in my example. Of course, PPMs can play a role too, but I'd watch the first 15 mins or so of your game on Full Match to see can you notice similar patterns to what I did. I'd imagine Inter's wingers will push very high and perhaps swap too, the full backs will also bomb forward. The AMR/L might be a good idea but switch one to a support duty and make him a winger so he'll stretch the defence on the counter. Your AMC won't have much use apart from being in the way of the DMC, which can have defensive benefits. I'd make your striker a support duty too, just so he's there to lay off to your wingers/amc rather than always looking to play off the last defender.

Great explanation on how to adapt to the opposition strenghts and weakness. I would just like to ask some advice on playing with Wide Midfielders instead of wingers in the AMR/L strata. You mentioned that when the opposition is pressing high up the pitch they will leave space behind on the wings. To deal with this you used your players in the AMR/L positions so that they could exploit the space left when the oppostion teams full backs and wingers push higher up and press. Would using a Wide Midfielder be able to exploit this space also. I am using a 4-1-4-1 formation. My Wide Midfielders are in the midfield zone. Could I use any PI to encourage them to exploit the space in behind. Also how do spot when the opposition is playing with a high line and pressing. Does the analysis tab show this information.

Anyone have any ideas in terms of how I can exploit Inter??

Great explanation on how to adapt to the opposition strenghts and weakness. I would just like to ask some advice on playing with Wide Midfielders instead of wingers in the AMR/L strata. You mentioned that when the opposition is pressing high up the pitch they will leave space behind on the wings. To deal with this you used your players in the AMR/L positions so that they could exploit the space left when the oppostion teams full backs and wingers push higher up and press. Would using a Wide Midfielder be able to exploit this space also. I am using a 4-1-4-1 formation. My Wide Midfielders are in the midfield zone. Could I use any PI to encourage them to exploit the space in behind. Also how do spot when the opposition is playing with a high line and pressing. Does the analysis tab show this information.

I didn't change my formation in either game. FM has become flexible enough in it's GUI and the 4-1-4-1 is so balanced it doesn't need much adapting. The AMR/L and MR/L have similar roles only that the latter tracks back more, which is what I wanted as I didn't want Muniain and Susaeta marking the full back, I wanted them in space to receive the ball from the defence to run at the opposition (Run at defence shout was used).

My ML Munian was instructed to cut inside and run with the ball. Firstly because he's good at running with the ball, secondly because he'll give the team an outlet in the middle of the pitch to support the immobile Aduriz. If he was to drag a few players around him to open even more space on the counter that would be ideal. This is why I gave Monreal the CWB role as I needed presence down the flank also.

MR Susaeta was just instructed to stay wider. Winger/Attack is enough forward instruction, I don't want him marking the full back as mentioned previously. He's just there to provide a way for Aduriz, a slow striker, to score in a counter attacking team. Bilbao don't have the luxury of being able to buy super amazing strikers unless they create them, I have to adapt my tactics to score goals until I can do that. It's why Bilbao is such a great challenge, it forces you to get your tactics right.

As for noticing the pressing. It's easy to spot whilst watching the full match. Notice the opposition when you have the ball, are they in your face Dortmund style? Are they leaving their positions to hassle the ball carrier? An easy way to notice is to look at your failed passes in the analysis tool, as I did above. If you're losing it more in the first two thirds of the pitch rather than around their box then your defenders are probably under a lot of pressure. I had "Play out of defence" instruction in my first game against Celta in an attempt to dominate the game, my defenders simply didn't have enough composure to keep the ball under such pressure.

I didn't change my formation in either game. FM has become flexible enough in it's GUI and the 4-1-4-1 is so balanced it doesn't need much adapting. The AMR/L and MR/L have similar roles only that the latter tracks back more, which is what I wanted as I didn't want Muniain and Susaeta marking the full back, I wanted them in space to receive the ball from the defence to run at the opposition (Run at defence shout was used).

My ML Munian was instructed to cut inside and run with the ball. Firstly because he's good at running with the ball, secondly because he'll give the team an outlet in the middle of the pitch to support the immobile Aduriz. If he was to drag a few players around him to open even more space on the counter that would be ideal. This is why I gave Monreal the CWB role as I needed presence down the flank also.

MR Susaeta was just instructed to stay wider. Winger/Attack is enough forward instruction, I don't want him marking the full back as mentioned previously. He's just there to provide a way for Aduriz, a slow striker, to score in a counter attacking team. Bilbao don't have the luxury of being able to buy super amazing strikers unless they create them, I have to adapt my tactics to score goals until I can do that. It's why Bilbao is such a great challenge, it forces you to get your tactics right.

As for noticing the pressing. It's easy to spot whilst watching the full match. Notice the opposition when you have the ball, are they in your face Dortmund style? Are they leaving their positions to hassle the ball carrier? An easy way to notice is to look at your failed passes in the analysis tool, as I did above. If you're losing it more in the first two thirds of the pitch rather than around their box then your defenders are probably under a lot of pressure. I had "Play out of defence" instruction in my first game against Celta in an attempt to dominate the game, my defenders simply didn't have enough composure to keep the ball under such pressure.

Thanks for the reply. Did you use Munian and Susaeta as wide midfielders or wingers. I read that wide midfielders help out more defensively than wingers especially in a 4-1-4-1 formation.

Thanks for the reply. Did you use Munian and Susaeta as wide midfielders or wingers. I read that wide midfielders help out more defensively than wingers especially in a 4-1-4-1 formation.

No problemo.

Muniain was a Wide Midfielder on support (essentially an inside forward/support in the ML position, as I gave him the PIs Cut inside more/cross less). Susaeta was a winger/attack.

I don't think it really matters if they're either a WM or a W in regards tracking back. Of course, your duty may see them push more forward if they're on attack compared to support/defend (Notice where Muniain (on support) is when we score the goal in my last screenshot, now that's defensive cover!). I know however, that a wide midfielder role is much more adaptable via the PI if you wanted to create a personalised role.

No problemo.

Muniain was a Wide Midfielder on support (essentially an inside forward/support in the ML position, as I gave him the PIs Cut inside more/cross less). Susaeta was a winger/attack.

I don't think it really matters if they're either a WM or a W in regards tracking back. Of course, your duty may see them push more forward if they're on attack compared to support/defend (Notice where Muniain (on support) is when we score the goal in my last screenshot, now that's defensive cover!). I know however, that a wide midfielder role is much more adaptable via the PI if you wanted to create a personalised role.

Thanks again for the advice. I am playing as Arsenal and mst of teams will try and sit deep when they play against me is there anyway I can get such teams to push up the field so that I can create the space in behind that is needed. The only teams that will try and push up against me would be the likes of Chelsea, Man City, Man Utd and Liverpool.

I like the idea of having a Wideman on Support to be able to pick up the ball in the space in front of the opposing fullback In my system show, I do use this, however I have an Inside Forward on Attack to try and get in behind and offer something different. I think this is a key part of making a consistent system, having a good balance and being multi-dimensional.

So does no-one have any ideas for me to approach the Inter game from the OP? Was hoping for some advice as I have no idea how to translate my thoughts onto the match!!

It is very suspicious, and may be just unlucky, however my team play much better, when i give no opposite instructions at all.

Usually i give oi on 2-3 most dangerous players, and yes - this instructions pretty effective, but we still loose the game. When give no instructions - yes, best opposite player plays better, however we take three points.

I reccomend a 4-2-4 if you come up against a 3-5-2 with wing backs.

Employ IFs on support a f9 and a CF and ask your FBs to sit narrow but run wide with the ball.

On defense, your IFs will press the wing backs effectively while your FBs will be in a good position to sweep up a CM should they break wide of your two man midfield (which they will do).

In attack it's so easy to create a 4v3 with their center backs and you will get so many scoring chances. Often your IFs will be able to sneak in behind the WBs with ease but when the WBs do manage to cover them you create an easy overlap for your full backs. Either way you've found to find it very easy to find space in those areas.

You're still a tad vulnerable to being overwhelmed in midfield so you need strong players here who can pass well as well as being very solid defensively. The play narrower instruction will help to restrict space in these central areas and you can add exploit the flanks to further take advantage of this.

I'd go with a fluid control philosophy.

Overall that's a really strong counter to a 3-5-2, should you come up against one.

I rarely make specific instructions to my opponent, besides team selection (for example selecting more creative players if I'm expecting to dominate). Usually I just take OI my assistant manager suggests. In very tight matches I do take the effort, as some of the OI the AI sets tend to be counter productive. For example:

The AI seems always to use the tackle harder, mark tighter and/or close down more against the best players. Marking a very fast player tight is counter productive though, he'll out run his marker if the ball is passed in space, so better to mark less tight. A very skilled player with good composure is likely able to avoid a challenge, so tackle easier instead of harder, if he does avoid the tackle, at least your player is likely still on his feet and can at least deny him some space by simply being around.

Another thing I've never seen the AI do, but is a very effective approach is this: find their worst player(s) on the ball, so low creativity, flair, passing and dribbling, and set their OI instructions to never close down, mark less tight. Set the all the other players to mark tighter and close down more. What happens is that if your opponent has possession, these players are most likely to be the best available passing option, essentially forcing your opponents to run their attacks through them, making them essentially their 'playmakers', and they're terrible at making plays.

Is there any experienced FMers out there that can digest the Opening posts? Have taken a break from FM for a bit, however wanting to get back into this save!

I know that If I play my natural game then Inter's team is going to out perform me due to their squad! So I really need some form of plan?

TBH, i still don't get what the scout report is trying to say when it states that the team in questions concede down, say, left wing.

Does that mean i should attack them down my right wing? Or my left wing? And, is it the same for their assists?

Too ambiguous for me

So what to do!

• Need to exploit the Flanks with crosses. Don't have a big target man type striker however! Perhaps Ocampos can play upfront?

• Need to make use of Gomez against Vermalen!

• Need a plan for Lodiero! Perhaps using Tight Marking and Closing Down?

• If Hernandez starts, perhaps sit deep and limit his space. I back my boys to beat him in the air. Jedvaj is 6'3

Apart from that I'm stumped! Any help or ideas would be great! Hopefully we can all learn

You have the right idea here. Sounds like a good plan to me.

When exploiting the flanks, you don't necessarily need a big man up top. Especially if you have midfielders who can get forward and support your striker. Instruct your wide players to drill their crosses.

For players who are exceptionally dangerous, in this case Lodiero, I think it's best to show them outside; onto his left. The only option I want to leave him is to cross it. And I'll accomplish that by forcing him into the corner. To start off the match, I wouldn't close him down or tight mark him to begin with. Just show him to the outside. If that fails, then I'd try tight marking. Same goes for Saivet; force him wide and he'll do nothing all day long.

Dropping deeper is a decent idea against fast strikers, but it will leave space for other players namely the CMs so try to stay compact and not close down too aggressively when doing this.

My only other suggestion is to pay attention to what is happening in the match and make adjustments accordingly. Sometimes when you've successfully neutralized one threat, another appears where you'd lease expect it.

TBH, i still don't get what the scout report is trying to say when it states that the team in questions concede down, say, left wing.

Does that mean i should attack them down my right wing? Or my left wing? And, is it the same for their assists?

Too ambiguous for me

It's not ambiguous.

If the AI has an insanely dangerous left winger, then obviously you would need to make sure your RIGHT flank is properly defended. It's the opposite.

IF your team has a brilliant right winger, then you would probably want to exploit that flank. Your right winger will take on their left back. It's simple.

My next game is against Arsenal (Away) in the Champions League Group Stage.

Playing Away against top opponents is something I find really hard to do in FM. No matter what I do, I find that they always overwhelm me in every department and my players seem defend like amateurs. So I'm hoping by doing my homework I help my team go in with a battle-plan and make a game of it.

Now Arsenal are now managed by Malky Mackay. They play a 4-4-2:

So a flat 4-4-2 has it's weaknesses and strengths. However I now that 99% of the time I play with 3 central midfielders, so I will have a numerical advantage in the middle.

I've taken a look at the following goals statistics:

and I've also checked out their players and seen that all 3 of their strikers are Big, Strong and Good in the Air. Also 3 of their top 2 assisters came from the ML position, which goes with the Assist Map's evidence.

So I come to following conclusion:

1) The Majority of the Goals come from their left flank. Most likely being crosses to their Big Strikers in the box. However the stats show that they aren't scoring many headers, instead they are scoring 'Place Shots'. This would suggest they are drilling the crosses perhaps?

2) They are most weak down the Flanks.

3) They don't produce much in the 'AMC' spot.

In correspondence with the above points, I'm thinking the below:

1) Using a Conservative Fullback role and having the Winger on a support duty, maybe even a defensive winger. I'm not sure how to stop the delivery as If I show them outside they will be happy to cross. However showing them inside and they will do some damage. Also consider using a Higher Line to nullify the Aerial threat that they pose.

2) Consider using Exploit the Flanks & Clear Ball to Flanks shout

3) Perhaps having more attacking roles at centre mid. I normally play with DMC away from home, so perhaps give him a support duty. This can also help me outnumber their 2 central midfielders in attack.

Anyone fancy helping me?

This is my normal disciplined approach:

However thinking about tinkering to this to combat them?

Hi,

This is how I'd read their game.

I'd start with their manager as I think this is becoming more important in each edition of the game.

You state "Manager Profile, if it's useful?"........ yup, it is ..... very.

Depending on how well the team are fairing is how likely they are to play to their managers style. Also take a look at the information panel and his tendencies. He may very well have things like "fits players into tactics" etc, all these will give you an indication on how he might line up.

We can see from his profile page that he is likely to play a 433 (funnily enough this is the part i find incorrect the most). He likes to pass the ball around (to feet and likely shorter passing), he is likely to be attacking and will be closing down on top of using a man marking system.

So you can expect very little time on the ball and you will need to do something about this. My favourite tactical adjustment to handle this is to tweak. I currently play a narrow 442 diamond as per Cleons recent thread, however I have moved away from playing defensively and will now tend to use counter or control. I tend to set up in the following fashion:

So if I see a high closing down team I will start the game as you see and then keep a keen eye on how it is playing out. If I am being closed down quickly, though bear in mind how narrow I am, then I will remove 'play narrow'. This creates more space between players and thus makes it harder to close down. What this also does is drag the opposition around the field. Thus I will often start using 'pass into space' to exploit the gaps that should start to appear.

If they are playing well, then they are almost certainly going to be attacking you. Factors such as your reputation, both league positions etc come into play. But against them, I'd play a counter mentality, with play narrow removed and using 'pass into space'. What I may also find is that by slowing tempo down a little I can almost force them to close me down, thus creating even more space.

Thus against Inter with my team (narrow 442 diamond) I'd look like this.

Whether I choose Counter or control will depend on how they start the game.

So that deals with the manager. Now to their team.

As you can see from their assist locations they are strong down the flanks. Add to this the number of goals they score from crosses tells you that you are going to have to be cautious down the flanks.

What is important here is to establish WHO is getting the assists and WHO is scoring. For that you look at their player screens and use a similar column setup to what i show in the thread you refer too.

If the assists are coming from their wingbacks then you will need your AML/R to help out and you might want to consider a role or a duty change. (for instance when playing against a 442, I will change my CWB to a WB(A or S)). This is also more validation of an attacking team (think of exploiting their flanks - will come to that in a second).

If the assists are coming from their wingers then you can bet that they are not really cutting inside. Further validation of this will be to look at the player skills. A winger that has good assists in a team that gets assists from the flanks that can also cross the ball very well is highliy likely to be doing just that. If they are poor at crossing and have lower assists or more goals, then you might expect them to cut inside.

I've been toying around with stay wide/play narrower on my wingbacks, but don't really have anything conclusive to write about.

If they are playing with wingers out wide then expect midfield runners.

Interestingly you stated that if they have wingers putting lots of crosses in, you tend to play wider. This isnt always good as it creates a lot more space between defenders which a good attacker and crosser will pick out.

Their stats demonstrate that they are susceptible to crosses themselves and assists from the flanks, thus I am guessing their assists can be attributed to their wingbacks (not all of them but a decent share).

Can you imagine the space by playing counter with passing into space???? (so long as you are able to close the crosses down).

Careful on closing crosses down though, it will drag your players all over the shop.

You refer, with puzzlement, to the fact that they are a good heading team yet they are short...... drilled crosses anyone? A short, high acceleration player with good anticipation is deadly in the box for drilled crosses. Scoring with your head is far from always having to beat someone in the air. Getting in behind a cumbersome DC with your anticipation and acceleration and getting your head on the ball is very dangerous.

With my tactic (I dont play with yours). I'd prefer to not have the team closing down and leave just one player to handle the crosser and keep the rest in the box.

Playing narrower will also suffocate some of their more creative and pacey midfielders, which should also result in less balls to their flanks. Neither narrow or wide might work well for your formation, you'll need to watch and see.

I've no idea how Saviet (henry I assume) would play given his skills. Look at his stats and see if he is scoring or assisting. If it's assists then check the number of crosses he makes per game (again available through the columns).

Luckydon - I very very rarely use OI's. The ONLY one I will use is to hard tackle someone with low composure/bravery. They mess up your tactics terribly if you don't use them well.

Think I've addressed most things in the OP.

Shout if not

Regards

LAM

Attack the middle of a 442. YOu will have superior numbers and will want to break through their duo, which is likely to only be one given Ramsey is likely to be attacking.

A narrow counter with pace into space might look like it would work.

You're correct about being more cautious down the right flank (their left). Don't be to defensive on the role and duty though as you may find your RB sits to deep and doesnt engage in time. Hard to say without watching the game but FB(S) or WB(S/D) might work well. FB if your chap cannot attack and WB if he can.

The game becomes far easier to read and watch when you know what you're actually looking for. The scout screen does this for you.

Well I lost 0-3. I guess my planning failed, however I suppose there is a claim to say I was a tad unlucky. They scored 2 of their goals from corners and another one from a cross out from that dangerous left wing. The only real positive for me was that Tadic (ML) had a quiet game (6.8), as statistically he's a key player for them.

They changed from a 4-4-2 to a 4-1-2-2-1 at about 60 Mins. Therefore I removed 'Exploit the Middle"

I started the game with this (+ Exploit the Middle):

None of my players played over a 6.7 which is shocking considering I was the group leaders. We really didn't have any good counter attacks and the plan to out play them in the midfield failed.

Here are the match stats:

Not shocking, but I really didn't really deserve anything from the game.

Here's a PKM if anyone's interested in helping me out: http://www.datafilehost.com/d/6e0cb75e

Edit: I showed the widemen on the left wing 'onto weaker foot' and also added tight marking for DL. I also found Ozil who was playing MR drifting inside a bit so I decided to 'Tight Mark' him.

In brief, you looked way to defensive for me.

I also probably would not have player narrow AND exploit the middle.

Looking at it, you would have had gaps down your left flank as the two midfielders are attacking with little cover. I might have read somewhere that your ML has cut-inside instruction, if so, I can see him getting in the way of the MCL.

If he does have (CI) then you might want to switch your MCR and MCL around so that there is cover and you start forming some passing triangles.

You looked to perhaps have over compensated down your right flank. It's all well and good killing off a threat but to use two men to kill off one is going to cost you - FB(D) and DW(S). The FB(D) might have been a little to deep to pick up the threat early enough.

What was your DM doing when they were a 442? I tend to try and use them better when there is no AM strata being used by the opposition. For instance, you might have made him a DLP as there would have been no0one on him (assuming he was capable) or have him as a Half Back so that he drops into the defence line to assist with those crosses.......

gotta go to work, so sorry for the short reply.