How do you analyze and evaluate your tactics - Roles, PI and TI (Lots of questions)

Hi,

Was hoping to get some feedback on how all of you go about evaluating your tactics outside of simple results. I am having mixed results from tinkering and a lot of the time it feels a little like I am just doing trial and error. More importantly, when I find something that eventually works, I am so scared of tinkering with it in case one false move breaks everything...I need to tinker though - eg for those times I am losing and need to go more on the attack. Or for tough away games.

So below is what I do and hopefully some of you can help me (and others too!).

Tactics

I typically don't try crazy looking formations but instead go for a 4-1-2-2-1 or 4-2-3-1. I have read a lot on the forums about building a tactic with roles that mesh well.

How often should I be tinkering with roles in my formation? How often should I touch PI (I don't love those so try to avoid them). I might be tinkering too much as if 1 game does not go well, I tinker - what do you guys do?

Watching The Game

I don't watch the full game but do watch extended highlights. I look for movement of players and also for players not sitting on the same line or right next to each other. To paint the picture so to speak, I look for zig-zag type of positioning so that we can move the ball upfield and into space

I also look at what the chances are like but this is the first part of my confusion. Sometimes a one-on-one is not considered a CCC for some reason which makes me think - the game I am watching is a visual representation but the quality of what I see in front of me has nothing to do with the actual quality. So a 1 yard miss could actually have been a miss from further out because it doesn't register as a CCC.

Pro-Zone

The meat and potatoes of my 'analysis.'

I look at the heatmap to see if the zones are well positioned. Anything else to do here? What do you look for to adjust?

I look at average positions and try to ensure that the gaps between DEF - MID - ATT are nicely balanced. Anything else to look at here? What takeaways should I be taking from positions?

CCC - i look at there they were but there are typically few but it does allow me to see what kind of chances we are creating - anything else?

Key passes - Again, trying to see where they are coming from - anything else?

Interceptions - people talk a lot about this but most of my interceptions come from inside my own half - not sure there is anything else I should be looking for.

Is there anything else I am missing in terms of being able to look at ProZone and seeing issues outside of the above?

Would love some feedback on how you analyze your tactical setup AND any tweaks you then make.

Thanks in advance!

I'm very simplistic with my approach.

You have to go into tactic creating with a plan; you have to know how you want to defend, to attack, and how you aim to transition between both states. Once you have that, you need to use whatever experience you have of combining Roles and Duties to realise that vision. Don't go mental with TIs and PIs to start as they are refinements to a system rather than a system in themselves; your starting formation and the Roles and Duties therein, plus the Mentality are the key bits.

Watch a few games in full and concentrate on your side, not the AI. How well are the players enacting what you wanted to achieve? Is the wide midfielder roaming about as planned? Are the overlaps working? Is the striker holding the ball up well or dragging defenders about? Identify each element of the overall style you wanted and note down what's wrong and right - but do not change a thing until you've watched the whole game. And remember not to worry about the AI or the score, it's all about you at this stage.

Then make one or two adjustments for the next game. Stay true to your style and just tweak things that you are certain were wrong. Rinse and repeat this until you feel that your players hang together properly. Then it's fine tuning. Is there anything obvious that the team as a whole fails to do that you want? Add a corresponding TI (not loads at a time) and check the result. Then it's micro-tuning. Is there anything obvious that individuals could do better? You've already nailed their Roles and Duties, so it should just be little tweaks here and there now.

That's all I do. People make massive changes before matches based on an assumption of what the AI might do. That's not the right way to go about it in my opinion. Get your own game right and worry about the AI if / when you need to.

Thanks RTH.

Is there anything in particular you look for when trying to improve/correct your tactics?

I must admit that I always thought that TI were massively important but sounds like that might not be the case too which is good.

I wrote this a while back that might be helpful to you;

I get asked an awful lot on how I identify issues while watching games and how I fix them. Firstly identifying the issues is of the most importance because if you haven’t or can’t identify issues then you’ll never have an idea of how it might be possible to fix them. People often say I don’t know how to identify issues because of their lack of understanding of the game but in all honesty you don’t need an understanding really. You just need to watch a game it really is that simple. Hopefully what follows below will show you how simple it can be and doesn’t need to be as daunting as people think it is.

When I am trying to spot issues I keep it very simple and split it into two categories;

• With the ball
  
• Without the ball
  

That’s it, nothing more. I don’t even pay attention to what the opposition is doing which is what people seem to get hung upon and confuses the situation. The reasons for not paying attention to the opposition is simple, it will always be different in every match so instead of focusing on an area that is always changing I’d rather focus on my own style and philosophy that I am creating at the club. This then allows me to focus on what my players are or aren’t doing during a game which is a lot more helpful that focusing on the opposition. By also doing it this way it allows me to focus on my team as a unit and see how all the roles, personal instructions, team instructions and the general shape all work together to provide the defensive cover and attacking threat that I need.

The reason for splitting what I am looking at during a match into with and without the ball is because it shows us what’s happening during different phases of the game. Just because you defend solid or cause the opposition a massive threat in the final third, doesn’t mean you have balance and can do both simultaneous. It also makes it very quickly to identify issues because you have a lot less going on.

Without The Ball

When viewing games and looking for what my players are doing without the ball this includes both defensive and attacking phases. So immediately you can see the positions the players take up when defending as well as seeing how they move off the ball when attacking. I’ve banged on about this for the past 10 years but the most important aspect of trying to identify these issue is using the pause button. Pause the game at random stages throughout, to see what positions the players have taken up and to enable you to see what is happening around them. Not only that but also use different camera angles to view things as it gives you a much better picture of what’s going on seeing incidents from a different view.

That’s a little example of what I am talking about, after randomly pausing the game to have a look around. You can see my back four just in front of the white line and the three circled players are my midfielders. As you can see my three midfielders are quite narrow leaving the flanks exposed. I could panic here and see this as an issue or I could remember that the formation I use is a 4-3-1-2 so the midfield being narrow isn’t a bad thing. This is just one angle though, what does it look like from a different one?!

That’s the exact same as the first screenshot just from a different angle. In the first one, it looks like I’m more stretched than I actually am and that the opposition could really exploit the flank if they wanted. But the second screenshot shows it in a different light and shows that while the flanks might be uncovered, I’m anything but stretched and players are in a position to be able to deal with any kind of threat down my left hand side. There really isn’t a point to this example, it was more showing you how pausing the game and viewing from different angles can be beneficial and show you things in a different light.

Let’s take a look at some examples now that show how we can try to identify issues.

This is again another random time in the game were I paused it when we didn’t have possession of the ball. You can see my midfield and how they are position as well as seeing the defence and how they line up. As I use a flat three in the centre of the park, the space between defence and midfield will be an issue as I don’t play with a particularly high line. So the opposition will at times be unmarked and free in these kinds of areas. It’s not ideal but it’s the downside of using a flat midfield. The most central midfielder who is on a defensive duty will drop back deep and track though. It’s just initially he won’t be as deep as someone who plays in the defensive midfield position.

My ball winning midfielder should be able to deal with the oppositions wide player in this screenshot as he’s facing the correct way and already running back. Plus my wingback is in a good position and is also retreating to a deeper position meaning my defensive players are all playing as a unit and staying tight rather than pushing higher up and causing gaps to appear. If my wingback did push up a bit higher you can see that the opposition player who is circled would have lots of space to run into in the little channel between wingback and central defender. I’d be surprised or very unlucky if the opposition could hurt me from here. I have the numbers advantage and have players able to deal with the threat. It would take something rather special to cost me here (or an individual error I suppose).

If you do this with your own systems then you should try to remember how you’ve set up, what roles you’ve used and even personal instructions and then check to see if you have players positioned where possible danger areas from the opposition could be. In fact, I’ll use the same screenshot as above but this time I’ll just focus on the areas the opposition could possibly use against me, as that might help a few people out who are struggling with identifying issues.

The screenshot looks a bit messy but hopefully I can explain the reasoning’s behind it correctly so it makes sense.

1 – This player can hurt me by running from deep especially as my own wingback is facing away from him and moving back. My ball winning midfielder is also facing towards my own goal, so he is blind-sided by the opposition here. This means that the oppositions wide man has free run unless something changes here. Deep runners are always hard to pick up for anyone. This isn’t a worry for me though because do you remember me saying I ignore the opposition at the beginning of the article? Well I do so because my side are set up to play a specific way and I want them to play as a cohesive unit rather than trying to deal with things themselves. This means at times that I will easily give up space like this because to deal with it would mean straying from what I am creating and how I’ve set up to play. I do have players positioned to deal with him as highlighted in the part above though. It’s just I don’t need to rush to deal with the issue.

2 – Although the opposition’s player who is marked number three in the above screenshot is facing away from this player and heading the opposite way, he is still a threat for the same reasons as the example above. He’s a late runner and he might not be an immediate threat but if he drives forward then he could be problematic later in the move. So when looking if something is a threat or an issue, be aware that players making late runs can be very problematic later in the move. So not only are you looking for immediate threats, you are looking for possible threats too.

3 – Everything that will or won’t happen in this move all starts here as he’s the player on the ball. This player can either dwell on the ball and pick a pass to either the number four and make a forward run or pass to the number one. Another option here is he could drive forward with the ball himself, he has the space initially to do this. He can run with the ball in two different directions though and both would cause different kind of issues. One is he drives towards the touch-line which could potentially cause an overlap if the opposition’s player who is marked number one, carries on his run. I think this option is unlikely but we still need to identify that it is possible. The other option is he runs between the wingback and central defender and if he did do that then space would open up elsewhere on the pitch because my wingback would become more narrow and come across to deal with it. While at the same time this would mean the player with the number one on the pitch, would be totally free for a simple sideways pass.

4 – This is the problematic player because he’s the runner and he could go whichever way he wanted, so you can’t really plan for that type of movement. Even if he makes a run and doesn’t receive the ball his movement will still have caused some kind of damage because movement creates space appearing.

So those are the types of things you should be looking for. It’s not complicated and when trying to identify issues just remember not to over think it and keep it to simple terms and be as basic as possible. Is someone a runner? If so they’ll cause movement and what happens if someone goes across to cover, does this then leave a gap that the opposition could use?! Those are the kind of basic questions you should be asking. You don’t need any knowledge of football to really understand the simple things, you should be able to identify stuff easy.

I know the above is just two short examples but it still should be more than enough to show you the basics and how you should be viewing games when looking to find possible issues or trying to discover why something might have happened.

With The Ball

This is just as easy as the above but remember you want to look at the positions of the players not on the ball too as everyone who is currently on the ball needs support.

This is just a typical move started by my left wingback. It’s important here that I can gauge the kind of areas my players are taking up. If my attackers and midfield are too advanced then how do I get the ball from the wingback to the attacking players? It would be a very hard task and would likely result in me giving possession away. So it’s important I have options and players who are capable of linking play up, it means the move can flow if everyone is staggered. As you can see my two strikers are positioned high which is their job and the attacking midfielder is hanging back in space the same as my advanced playmaker. The strikers are already being a nuisance due to their movement and looking to run in behind already. Gilberto is the player currently on the ball, so now he can either move forward if he wishes and tries to take his man on (this option would be a waste though seeing how I have control over the middle) or he could easily pass it inside to the advanced playmaker. He could technically drive forward a bit and still pass sideways.

That’s the exact same move but just from a different angle. The aerial view shows how much space the advanced playmaker and attacking midfielder have to play in. They have space and time so if they did receive the ball they should be able to dictate the play. You’ll also notice that there is three triangles too that the players create between each other which also allows for link up play.

Advanced Playmaker – He is a creator so it’s highly unlikely he’ll get into the box that often or be a direct goal threat. So if he picks the ball up he will be looking to make something happen in terms of a pass or some kind of through ball. He might dribble forward but if he does he is still likely to release the ball to someone else at some stage because he is a creator above all else. He has plenty of options though for a pass or through ball so this is good and shows he is taking up the positions he should be taking up.

Attacking Midfielder – This lad does a bit of everything but he is a runner and a direct goal threat because he will look to make those run in behind the defence and get into the oppositions box. he’s basically central to everything in attack and is an option for the advanced playmaker to so he isn’t crowded out.

Deep-Lying Forward – Not only is he a goal threat but he is a creative striker. But in this move he is both a direct goal threat and also a decoy. He’s a decoy because he is occupying one of the two centre backs which means if the attacking midfielder makes a run forward the opposition have a choice to make. Do they step up and deal with him or leave him be to carry on marking the deep-lying forward? Either decision they make is the wrong one as it means I have a free man. For me it’s win win.

Advanced Forward – The exact same as above, he is occupying the second opposition central defender. Again he is both a decoy and goal threat because he is making a run and can be available for a pass if needs be. So he has a dual role in this move.

All of the above are what working as a team and having roles and duties that compliment each other is all about. So pausing the game has allowed me to see that they are indeed functioning as a unit rather than individuals, which I wouldn’t know if I hadn’t watched games back and paused at random times.

I know I’ve only really used one example of each but if I keep showing more examples I would be here all day long just repeating what I’ve wrote above so rather than waffle on I thought I’d keep it rather short to just give you an idea of how you can simplify things for yourself and spot potential issues or to see if your side is working both in attacking and defensive phases of play.

I'm very simplistic with my approach.

You have to go into tactic creating with a plan; you have to know how you want to defend, to attack, and how you aim to transition between both states. Once you have that, you need to use whatever experience you have of combining Roles and Duties to realise that vision. Don't go mental with TIs and PIs to start as they are refinements to a system rather than a system in themselves; your starting formation and the Roles and Duties therein, plus the Mentality are the key bits.

Watch a few games in full and concentrate on your side, not the AI. How well are the players enacting what you wanted to achieve? Is the wide midfielder roaming about as planned? Are the overlaps working? Is the striker holding the ball up well or dragging defenders about? Identify each element of the overall style you wanted and note down what's wrong and right - but do not change a thing until you've watched the whole game. And remember not to worry about the AI or the score, it's all about you at this stage.

Then make one or two adjustments for the next game. Stay true to your style and just tweak things that you are certain were wrong. Rinse and repeat this until you feel that your players hang together properly. Then it's fine tuning. Is there anything obvious that the team as a whole fails to do that you want? Add a corresponding TI (not loads at a time) and check the result. Then it's micro-tuning. Is there anything obvious that individuals could do better? You've already nailed their Roles and Duties, so it should just be little tweaks here and there now.

That's all I do. People make massive changes before matches based on an assumption of what the AI might do. That's not the right way to go about it in my opinion. Get your own game right and worry about the AI if / when you need to.

Was going to do my own post, but this saved a lot of typing. I do pretty much exactly this.

Thank you very much. Haven't had the chance to play last da or so but will try this over the weekend.

I like that it keeps things somewhat simple!

I must admit, this is one thing I permanently struggle with, always have, always will. I just don't 'see' the lines, the threats, the problems or the positives in my tactic or the opposition. So, often my tactical decisions are simple, straightforward and obvious, changing a TI here or a PI there. I'm better at seeing where my attack is failing than where the opposition is succeeding, but generally I find less is often more...you don't have to change a lot to make a massive impact on your team. Works fine for me....until of course things start to go seriously wrong, and then I'm pretty much finished.

I must admit, this is one thing I permanently struggle with, always have, always will. I just don't 'see' the lines, the threats, the problems or the positives in my tactic or the opposition. So, often my tactical decisions are simple, straightforward and obvious, changing a TI here or a PI there. I'm better at seeing where my attack is failing than where the opposition is succeeding, but generally I find less is often more...you don't have to change a lot to make a massive impact on your team. Works fine for me....until of course things start to go seriously wrong, and then I'm pretty much finished.

I'm no good at lines and whatnot either.

My approach is a lot more rustic. Defensively, I simply look to see if everyone is in position, if everyone is pairing up with their man. If you can't be a clever sod, we can at least fall back on the old British mantra of matching players up against each other... >_>

I look for the opposition shots, if they're belting it from range, I'm a tactical genius as they're not likely to threaten my goal. If they're finding too much time in the middle, but can't find their attack directly, yet can pass it about for a through ball, I'll push the line up as they need to be pressured.

In attack, I look for runs, space, and flair. Sometimes I get frustrated, with my 50,000 clear chances, that can never seem to be put into the back of the net. Other times, I'm happy as larry as score 90% of our shots. Some of this I can fix, some of this I can't, either because y'know if a team is really determined to have an 11-0-0 formation there isn't really that much you can do when your striker fluffs a one on one with 11 men trying to two-foot tackle him from behind.

I'm very simplistic with my approach.

You have to go into tactic creating with a plan; you have to know how you want to defend, to attack, and how you aim to transition between both states. Once you have that, you need to use whatever experience you have of combining Roles and Duties to realise that vision. Don't go mental with TIs and PIs to start as they are refinements to a system rather than a system in themselves; your starting formation and the Roles and Duties therein, plus the Mentality are the key bits.

Watch a few games in full and concentrate on your side, not the AI. How well are the players enacting what you wanted to achieve? Is the wide midfielder roaming about as planned? Are the overlaps working? Is the striker holding the ball up well or dragging defenders about? Identify each element of the overall style you wanted and note down what's wrong and right - but do not change a thing until you've watched the whole game. And remember not to worry about the AI or the score, it's all about you at this stage.

Then make one or two adjustments for the next game. Stay true to your style and just tweak things that you are certain were wrong. Rinse and repeat this until you feel that your players hang together properly. Then it's fine tuning. Is there anything obvious that the team as a whole fails to do that you want? Add a corresponding TI (not loads at a time) and check the result. Then it's micro-tuning. Is there anything obvious that individuals could do better? You've already nailed their Roles and Duties, so it should just be little tweaks here and there now.

That's all I do. People make massive changes before matches based on an assumption of what the AI might do. That's not the right way to go about it in my opinion. Get your own game right and worry about the AI if / when you need to.

This is fantastic advice. Really worked for me. Thanks RTHerringbone

So I've taken pieces of advice on here and it's definitely helping.

Don't think I'd be one to take a complete outsider to champions league glory for the moment but it's a start.

Just finished first season so I'm going to arrange a lot of friendlies in pre-season and watch full games without changes and make limited changes between games.

I'm still not great at making in-game changes when we go a goal down and time is running out. Instinct tells me to up the tempo but the opposition seems to counter it. Literally.

does the full game take 90 mins though?

Pretty sure no. I might just do it for the first 20 or so.

Here is my plan to memorialize all of this and hopefully will help others too. Not sure whether to start a new thread or put in here but...

I am in pre-season so going to go through pre-season and post pictures here with my team and tactics and then describe what is happening in the game and result. After that, will tweak and see if that helps (maybe with some input from the board) and then watch game 2 and describe happiness. Rinse and repeat through pre-season, tweaking along the way and detailing what is happening.

Might help others who are struggling too. Going to use a bit of the prozone stuff too if it helps.

does the full game take 90 mins though?

Depends on the speed of highlights that you have set, could take longer. I believe the exact middle setting is "real-time" for game pace, so it would match life speed, but even then it wouldn't quite take 90 because the game cuts away the dead time between set pieces etc.