Scout next opponent: what information would you like to receive ?

Hello !

I think that scout next opponent reports should be changed and maybe look a bit like players report where we can learn their strenghts and weaknesses. We should ask our scout or maybe assistant manager which matches we want him to analyze.

I wish that he could give me information about how this team plays tactically. I want to know if they put high pressure or not, how high/deep is its defence lign, what kind of passing do it use, do they pass through the middle or by the flanks, do they do man marking, who are its best/worst players and why !...

And you, what information would you like to receive ?

This is exactly what i would expect from a next opponent report.

The current one doesn't really give me anything useful from my own perspective.

Agreed. This is the information you want to know before you go into a game, rather than having to find this out half way through one!

Yeah, its a waste of a scouting assignment really. You can see who has the assists and goals and guess where they're coming from. What I'd like to know is how they play.

Agree that next opposition scouting could do with an update, I put forward the following idea as a possible addition for consideration.

As present the next opponent match report is very much an exercise in facts & figures, if I'm brutally honest it lacks any context & they are also the same if you're managing a Conference North side or Barcelona so there must be plenty of ideas out there as to how this can be improved.

One suggestion I would have is having better scouts give more detail on how an opponent approaches their matches, a useful addition would be information such as a vague indication of what mentality or shape a team starts a game with & how they react to certain match situations, something like;

[Opponent] look to sit back & soak up pressure against a stronger team while waiting for openings to counter-attack, they do open up if they go a goal down & this is something we should look to exploit.

[Opponent] are known for starting with a fast paced style regardless of their opponents strength, they also like to put defenders under immediate pressure to win back possession. Once they have a lead they then look to counter however if they go a goal down they often look to get back into the game as quickly as possible.

The level of detail & accuracy would change depending of the scout's Tactical Knowledge attribute & the financial resources of the club, a higher TK rating will see more detailed strings while the level of resources would define how many matches the scout uses to assess the common tactical behaviour of the opposition manager, the higher the club rep & financial resources the more games a scout will have access to.

For the user this means they would now have a chance to understand what the AI might do in certain match situations, currently there is a good deal of guess work or use of past experience in judging how the AI will approach any given match & is probably partially why there are always complaints about AI comebacks or unbeatable late tactical changes due the the user not being able to anticipate those changes based on their past experience & a lack of forewarning through the current in-game tools.

^^^^ I think that may be one of the best thoughout out ideas/suggestions I've seen for a while and I can't really pick a fault with it.

I think the OP has the right idea of following the same template of the player Scout Reports. It's simple and would encourage people to tweak their tactics from game to game. Rather than the current format, which I'm personally scared to use!

I think the OP has the right idea of following the same template of the player Scout Reports. It's simple and would encourage people to tweak their tactics from game to game. Rather than the current format, which I'm personally scared to use!

or maybe like the current assistant provides on your own team

if they have 3 training sessions a week, then the scout's got plenty of time to make a detailed report:

DR appears to be struggling to blend into the squad due to communication issues

looked like they were trialing a 4-1-4-1 formation in training, possibly to counteract playmaker X

obviously you'd get more detail if there was a lengthy break between fixtures - not a lot of detail for the Dec 28th fixture (1 day of training, which is possibly spent resting) after the boxing day efforts

If you had enough scouts, you could also have the option of scouting a future opponent beyond the next one. Let's say you know you're going to face a particularly tough opponent in two or three weeks' time--a scout could be assigned to watch that team, and the more matches he "watches", the better the reports you get. That would also have the effect that you would be better able to see how tactically flexible a given team was--for example, do they play significantly different home and away?

Agree that next opposition scouting could do with an update, I put forward the following idea as a possible addition for consideration.

They used to do something similar in earlier games. I'm not a fan of how they are right now.

Opposition formation, mentaility, Shouts and player roles. Stuff we get to know IRL.

Format to be similar to the player scout reports, with text statements in different categories.

Form and Morale

Likely line-up and any player injuries

Formation and style of play

Star players, in form players, weak links

Set Piece Threats

OK, the scout reports can be improved. But most of the information the OP suggested can still be got by looking at the manager profile. It says what type of marking, pressing, playing style etc. But yes, it should be reported in more detail by the scouts.

OK, the scout reports can be improved. But most of the information the OP suggested can still be got by looking at the manager profile. It says what type of marking, pressing, playing style etc. But yes, it should be reported in more detail by the scouts.

But does that mean that's what he's actually using? Say a manager "prefers" a 4-4-2, but with the players he's got, he's much better off with a 4-2-3-1. Or he's attacking by nature, but ATM he's got rather pedestrian attackers but a mean defense. That's assuming, of course, that AI managers are that flexible--are they? Maybe the scouting report idea could go hand-in-hand with "smarter" AI managers.

Next Opposition scouting is absolutely worthless right now. I agree this needs an overhaul. Nothing I get from that report I couldn't get from just scouting a club.