How do you analyze your tactics

[ViG1980]

What the title says - how do you go about analyzing your tactics? I have done well in my games in FM but I usually do 2 things to see how a tactic is working. One is watching the players on the pitch (but I don't want to be watching full games).

But my main way is honestly...just trial and error. I will put a formation and roles together that I think makes sense. Make the style match what I would like to play and then after that it's so much about clicking buttons and seeing if it makes a difference. I might see not enough through balls to I click pass into space and see if it is working. I really don't like this method!

How do you go about figuring out how to improve upon a base tactic and style that you put together if it is not working?

[Murtiniiii]

I tend to look at the best few players in the squad and try to build a tactic around those players. Then like you it's a case of watching and making small tweaks here and there until you're settled on something that works. 

That's why I think the Data Hub has made it easier for you to see where you're going wrong. You'd argue as well this has made the game easier but that's for another day. But yeah trial and error I've found works best. 

I also tend to keep the same formation for the time I'm at the club. Will only change it if I feel it's absolutely necessary.

[CARRERA]

Most likely i watch out for two things. However, its important to look for repeating patters, not those 1 in a million situations.

1. How does my Team create goalscoring chances and of which quality.
2. How does the other Team creates goalscoring Chances

Always try to cover your observations with Data from the Datahub and only then make adjustments to hopefully change things to my linking.

Its fundamentally important though, to understand what each instruction actually does and how it works in conjuction with your Formation, your setup of Roles and Duties and Team Mentality.

[Lesterfan_Cambiasso]

To be honest....i dont analyse them using any of the data.

I just watch the matches and see if im happy with the interactions of the players, the shape of the team etc. And i then try and pick up trends from that to improve on defensively or build on offensively.

[Sharkn20]

Signing up for this discussion.

[nully29]

When I'm playing tactics that I know should work, such as 4231 Gegenpress, I just watch highlights. If I see something wrong on the highlights, I may make a tweak, like dropping lines a notch.

If I try something entirely different, like playing on defensive mentality with lowest line and no pressure, I am watching full games. 

I never use data hub. I only look at the post match stats for a "discuss last game interaction" (i.e. if player has had a 90+% passing, I tell him that I was enjoying his passing).

The only stat I occasionally pay attention to is Team goals per 90 minutes and Team goals against per 90 minutes.

[Lewis Stewart]

My entire FM life I was using tactics downloaded from forums, but recently created a tactic based on 433 Gegenpress template. What helped me in the process was data hub. I wanted to play wide, high defensive line - data hub shows I am concending too much goals from center line and recently changed it. With FM22 rollercoaster it’s hard to judge how helpful it was (as I can win 7-0 with PSV, 2-0 with Arsenal, then get draw with Blackburn). Watching games really helps tho and I am first time happy with how my team is playing. TL;DR: data hub and watching games.

[Guest]

Watching visually when I first create a tactic. I freeze frame and rewind a lot looking at where every player is quite often especially when we score, when they score, when we turn the ball over and when they turn the ball over. 

Once I have the tactic sorted I will put games on comprehensive for 15 mins and if we are having troubles defensively or we aren't creating chances I'll make changes.

I have a thing with chance creation in that if I can see we are creating quality chances I won't make any changes, if I see we are creating chances but it's not quite so clear we are likely to score I will wait till half time or around the 55th minute to see what happens before making changes. If we aren't creating whatsoever and I can see it's because an opponent has set up narrow and deep against us I make changes early.

I use the data analysis in a  limited fashion during the season, mostly to see if specific players are wasteful in possession etc but I mostly use it at the end of the season to evaluate my squad but more importantly to find cheap replacements for players transferred out. I tend to use my own statistical scatter graphs as the Data Hub are missing some of the stats I put value in.

 

Edited December 20, 2021 by Crazy_Ivan

[Cam NBH]

Good idea for a thread

[DarJ]

For me when I create a tactic there are certain patterns of play I want to see it might be better 3 or 4 players on one side of the pitch so during friendlies I'm just watching those 3/4 players to see what they do and when I'm fine with that I then look at the team as a whole. 

After I've played about 5 games I'll then start looking at data for example which side of the pitch my key passes (not including those that come from set pieces) are coming from, how the are being generated and who's playing the most then I try to see if there are ways I can increase the number. In terms of defending I go to look at the type of assists we are conceding and from where we are conceding the most.

With FM 22 you can see the zone of the pitch where your defensive actions occur and where you win the ball. Putting everything together should help massively

[glengarry224]

After I first create a tactic, or bring in new players, I tend to watch on 'full match' at higher speeds, because the highlight modes don't show you the boring stretches when your attacking play is breaking down, over and over, or when you are leaving gaps but your opponent just makes bad plays.  I often start a tactic with only formation/roles/duties and zero or very few TIs and watch full match to see what is needed. 

Full match also better shows you the movement patterns:  what!? my IWB(s) keeps running into the same space as my BBM?!  Watching in 2D is useful for this.

Pretty soon, watch 'comprehensive'.  Keep track of where my highlights take place and where my opponents' highlights take place.  If his highlights keep coming from my left flank, I know where to keep an eye on and maybe shore up.

Also, I have ideas of where my tactic might suffer -- say, maybe I don't have enough players to defend transition in the CM -- and keep an eye on that. 

Use data to identify what and where my problems are. 

• Xg is high but not many goals?  Might just be poor finishing, not a tactic problem.  Xg is low but scoring a lot:  tactic is failing to create chances but our good striker is bailing us out. 
• My great playmaker has low ratings.  Does he have very low key passes per 90?  Is he receiving enough passes?  If not, focus on how other teams are marking him and we might need to change his role or positioning.
• Allowing too many goals in the last 15 minutes of matches?  Might need a 'resting tactic' to waste time in the last 10 minutes of the first half.
• Doing great against 75% of the league but allowing way too many against top teams?  Is it because top teams beat my high block over the top?  Might need a lower block, slightly lower mentality, counter attacking tactic to play top teams.  Do their wingers dribble right past myfullbacks and create havoc in your box?  Might need to play narrower, 'stay on feet' or 'less urgent' against those teams.
• my BPD has very low pass % and also very few key passes?  Maybe he should be changed to CD.

[glengarry224]

Sorry, one more.  Keep pausing and see what options your players or your opponents' players have. 

[ViG1980]

This is all very helpful, thanks.

I've been using the heat maps and watching some of the games. Going forward, it's all quite logical. Defensively is tough and the feedback is that X% of attacks are coming down the left...I just concede headers from that side. Working on figuring out why...FB/S there right now.

[Deego619]

On 20/12/2021 at 05:43, nully29 said:

When I'm playing tactics that I know should work, such as 4231 Gegenpress, I just watch highlights. If I see something wrong on the highlights, I may make a tweak, like dropping lines a notch.

If I try something entirely different, like playing on defensive mentality with lowest line and no pressure, I am watching full games. 

I never use data hub. I only look at the post match stats for a "discuss last game interaction" (i.e. if player has had a 90+% passing, I tell him that I was enjoying his passing).

The only stat I occasionally pay attention to is Team goals per 90 minutes and Team goals against per 90 minutes.

+1 This is pretty much my approach to the game.

Want a chill time and fly through seasons? Play attacking football, use roles and players that somewhat make sense together (I'd even wager that the default 4-2-3-1/4-3-3 gegenpress are applicable). If you're not as good as the other team quality and attributes wise, you'll likely not win. If you are, you will win. So it's a simple game of squad management through the seasons until you're an all conquering side.

Want an immersive experience? Try something different, recreate your favourite historical tactics, study your game in at least comprehensive highlights. Follow bustthenet on YouTube and get a pen and paper out. This is FM at it's most pure, where you'll need to study your players and understand why they're doing what they're doing on the pitch. Examining your opponents weak spots and adjusting accordingly to exploit it, whilst also trying to counteract what the AI are trying to do to you too.

I usually go for the former with the limited time I have to play nowadays, though the rare occasion I slip into the latter can see me easily fall into a 6 hour FM session  

[DarJ]

On 22/12/2021 at 21:54, ViG1980 said:

Defensively is tough

defending starts from when you lose the ball so if you paid attention to the movement of your players when they had the ball then when you lose it you can immediately tell where they can hurt you (if you don't consider individual errors) then you have to address why you lost the ball in the first place and the position your players were in when they lost the ball. 

Edited December 25, 2021 by DarJ

[Bitner]

Those days i was struggling to score, even tho i had best number of shots AND xG, which meant i was creating chances...

Then i looked into pass map and realized both of my strikers were playing far too wide, and changed their sides, so the creator could get along with the guys who dictate tempo, and the poacher playing on the side where the ball wasn't so often. There's no certain thing, but i guess you gotta identify what you need to change and use data hub to try and get that information. 

And i disagree about making the game easy, it's just a real life resource that we have here, isn't like the managers will rewatch the game dozens of times to find the errors.

Cheers,
Bitner 

[Lewis Stewart]

I do not want to create new topic, as this might be a bit connected. I did a snapshot save at the beginning of the season to test different tactics with my team (mine or downloaded), so I can run the same season few times with different tactics.

As I would like to polish my own tactic (using this as a template https://www.guidetofm.com/tactics/pass-and-move/4/) I also did a snapshot save before one game when I changed my system / tactic to one internet downloaded (as I was struggling with mine system to be completely honest). Now I want to understand how I can improve my tactic to get better result / game control (as I do not want to play tactic I don't like - but it works). So I am not changing tactic itself (so team has high familiarity), but more PIs and positions (for i.e from IF to IW). Save is done after media conference and I am always using the same pregame speech.

And I am bit confused as I am getting very different results. I do understand RNG (missed chances etc) however it's bit crazy to beat opposition 5-0 in one run and then loosing 4-0 changing just one instruction (cross more or something like this).  And it's not just because of missing chances but entire engagement of player seems to be completely different (one game they are aggressive, the other game they are so lifeless). 

However, this is not to complain about it  but more ask - how reliable can be analysis and how to properly make changes to your tactic? Any experienced player willing to share approach? Or maybe it shall be always long term approach?

This is my legit finished season:

What I am trying to do - is to play remaining games to understand if results would be better in terms of control of games, but the first game with Southampton is backing me off:

Edited January 23, 2022 by Lewis Stewart

[Bradz FM]

A few things I do:

• Check where key passes occur and who is making them.
• Check who is receiving the key passes
• Watch my team closely in attacking/defensive transitions
• Watch how we use and defend half-spaces
• Check for quality of chances (high xG)
• Look for near misses ie times the opponent had a chance to hurt me but played a poor ball etc

[kepz]

I’ve found that so long as I try to get the better xG per attempt than my opponent more often than not the match goes my way. I usually build a tactic that can reliably generate decent xG against opponents and ride every game out with that goal in mind.
 

The data hub has an xG table that helps keep you on track with how much luck you lack or how unsustainable your success is.