HOW DO YOU USE THIS?

[Sindre Alsos]

Anyone who can explain to me how they use the following features in FM: the team scouting report, the pre match analysis report and the post match analysis report? Don't really know how to make use of it when planning matches, and so on. Are there any of you who uses these reports actively in your tactical set-up, match planning, etc? Please explain and give some tips and advice.

[edhdurham]

I would like to know this as well, often I change my tactic as i know 4-2-3-1 seems to be successful against me, because my scout says thats how they play, then match day they play a different way, so is there a guide?

[sporadicsmiles]

Scouting reports will typically give you an idea of what to expect. Formation, and idea of the roles, an idea of their mentality. That way you are not going in blind, but you know what to expect and what to look for in a game. 

The previous match report I use less, but I usually will look at the heat map and average positions in their previous game. It gives me a good idea of what they actually did in a match. I can spot which players are going where, so guess their role and duty. 

From this information, I can formulate how I may need to adapt my playing style to counter specific threats of exploit weaknesses. For example, I may want to man mark FBs who get very advanced, so that my FBs get support. Or I may want to change the point of attack if the reports suggest they will pack players in front of the goal. Or I may decide I need change nothing and will see how the match goes. 

I will also look at the screen in game which shows me their lineup when we get to the match. That gives me information about whether the scouting was accurate, and if I need to change my plan. You can at least tell the duty of a player from this, or make an educated guess. 

[Rashidi]

I did a video on Analysing tactics, its in the quick video guide above:
 

-Scouting report - tells me what style formation the team is using. It allows me to consider what tactical options I might employ in the game ahead.

- Analyst Report - Very strong report as it tells me how my team has performed using the current tactic or previous tactics. Tells me how i perform against specific formations. Gives me information on how many shots i need before scoring a goal. Also gives me a detailed breakdown of what kind of assists I am generating.

For me both are indispensable. I will try and incorporate more of these into my shows and will probably do a special Analyse That show when the match engine has been patched.

[Sindre Alsos]

Thank you for sharing your thoughts and experience on these parts of the game. Looking forward to watching your videos Rashidi.

[yellowforever]

@Rashidi is right and his channel is a treasure trove for this kind of information.

You might also want to check out SecondYellowCard's YouTube series from last year's game with Huesca, where he decided to go more indepth into these features when he previously did not pay as much attention to them.