Exploiting Opposition Weaknesses

[thezogsageordie]

I was reading this, and Heath targets the oppositions defenders in a certain game and it works quite well. He won 7-0 (he didn't just target the defenders, follow the link if you want to know exactly what happened).

I searched and, as yet, there is no thread whereby people try and exploit the oppositions weakness(es). I was hoping people would post about what's worked best for them in the past or even what has backfired.

Without testing I would imagine that defenders with low acceleration and tackling would commit fouls when playing against a fast striker, although maybe positioning would come into it too, most of the time the attacker would be able to get past his marker and either create a clearcut chance or even force the trailing defender into a last ditch challenge resulting in a yellow/red card, making the rest of the game easier (in theory!).

So, yeah, any ideas anybody has would be greatly appreciated

[Surferosa]

Something that works really well at lower league when you are playing a high-dline, high closing down game is an OI move. If the opposition has a DC with really low composure coupled with poor decisions and passing- put him on closing down always. Tightmark the DC and Fullback next to him (and the DM- if there is one). You'd be surprised just how many times he boots it back to the keeper (usually for a corner), into his own net- or tries a pass to a player tightmarked by you, leading to a goal.

Probably works well at higher leagues too- except there are only so many Titus Brambles about

[thezogsageordie]

Something that works really well at lower league when you are playing a high-dline, high closing down game is an OI move. If the opposition has a DC with really low composure coupled with poor decisions and passing- put him on closing down always. Tightmark the DC and Fullback next to him (and the DM- if there is one). You'd be surprised just how many times he boots it back to the keeper (usually for a corner), into his own net- or tries a pass to a player tightmarked by you, leading to a goal.

Probably works well at higher leagues too- except there are only so many Titus Brambles about

I'll try that out, things like that obvioulsy make sense I just can't confidently judge which attributes to look out for. I'll let you know how it goes.

[Surferosa]

Im going to release on OI panel set in the next day or 2 which will help you with that. Keep an eye out

Also- I forgot the most obvious one! Check the Bravery scores on the OI. Any player with a low bravery score- hard tackle them! I'll tend to use this on away games- or home games against better opposition. I tend to not do this on SC's though because of the penalty risk (unless they are very good- in which case, let em have it). Same if an oppoistion player is playing through an injury- test them with some rough challenges.

Also, depending on how you set up pitch-size, the correct use of weaker foot can be very stifling. I play narrow formations- so my weakness comes from the flanks. If Im up against a team playing with width, check the 'footdness' ratings of the opposition. If its weak, then show them the weaker foot. So, for a ML that had a footness rating of 'Left Only' or 'Left'- show them inside (on the weaker foot, and vica versa for a right sided player). If their fullbacks are attacking and pushed on- do the same for them.

Of coursem if you have 2 fantastic aerial defenders (good heading, jumping, marking) you may want to show them outside come what may (on the basis you'll deal with it). Unforuntaely, I rarely have any good players intitially- so its all about nullifying your opponent.

[heathxxx]

I think a lot if it with opposition instructions, or anything more detailed particularly with the game, is it depends how deeply people want to delve into things, or how much time they want to spend playing.

The example you quoted from my thread thezogsageordie, I'll hold my hands up and say that it was probably the only match so far this season, that I've gone into such detail with opposition instructions, or spent as much effort examining the opposing player attributes for potential weakness.

I have been having a glance and I do believe in using OI's, but this match did have some build up to it and I went into much more detail than I have done previously this season. Alfreton were one of the favourites for the title, there was media interest and some mind-games going on beforehand, although there was only any impact from this on players who ultimately wouldn't actually feature in the match. So, being it was quite an important, top of the table clash, I decided to pay a bit more attention to detail.

In tandem with the opposition instructions looking to pinpoint weakness in the opposing team, the weather conditions were also a consideration. Poor and soggy pitch, with constant rain, combined with weak defensive attributes, meant that I could really make a difference with some of the instructions I used.

Overall though, if you feel you understand player attributes well enough, along with the impact certain OI's and tactical instructions can have on making a difference in a match, along with the time and patience to do them, then I can't recommend them highly enough.

All depends on how you play the game though

[thezogsageordie]

Im going to release on OI panel set in the next day or 2 which will help you with that. Keep an eye out

Also- I forgot the most obvious one! Check the Bravery scores on the OI. Any player with a low bravery score- hard tackle them! I'll tend to use this on away games- or home games against better opposition. I tend to not do this on SC's though because of the penalty risk (unless they are very good- in which case, let em have it). Same if an oppoistion player is playing through an injury- test them with some rough challenges.

Also, depending on how you set up pitch-size, the correct use of weaker foot can be very stifling. I play narrow formations- so my weakness comes from the flanks. If Im up against a team playing with width, check the 'footdness' ratings of the opposition. If its weak, then show them the weaker foot. So, for a ML that had a footness rating of 'Left Only' or 'Left'- show them inside (on the weaker foot, and vica versa for a right sided player). If their fullbacks are attacking and pushed on- do the same for them.

Of coursem if you have 2 fantastic aerial defenders (good heading, jumping, marking) you may want to show them outside come what may (on the basis you'll deal with it). Unforuntaely, I rarely have any good players intitially- so its all about nullifying your opponent.

I'll definitely look for that OI panel. Yeah, my current setup has bravery in it, anything of around 7 or lower on all players except strikers get hard tackling. I always close down players with low composure, too, in the hope that they will just hoof the ball or buckle under pressure. In regard to the injured players, generally if I see a player on ~85% or lower then I will tackle him hard, again not for strikers.

I haven't done a lot of experimenting with weaker foot, although it does seem really obvious I'm not 100% sure what it does. If it shows the player onto their weaker foot and says, "I know you can't cross with your left/right, therefore I'm going to give you the opportunity to cross with your weaker foot" then I wouldn't be entirely comfortable as I want to prevent as many crosses as I can, although my defenders and midfielders are generally good headers of the ball and do win most crosses coming in. Thanks for the time and effort though, it is much appreciated.

[thezogsageordie]

I think a lot if it with opposition instructions, or anything more detailed particularly with the game, is it depends how deeply people want to delve into things, or how much time they want to spend playing.

The example you quoted from my thread thezogsageordie, I'll hold my hands up and say that it was probably the only match so far this season, that I've gone into such detail with opposition instructions, or spent as much effort examining the opposing player attributes for potential weakness.

I have been having a glance and I do believe in using OI's, but this match did have some build up to it and I went into much more detail than I have done previously this season. Alfreton were one of the favourites for the title, there was media interest and some mind-games going on beforehand, although there was only any impact from this on players who ultimately wouldn't actually feature in the match. So, being it was quite an important, top of the table clash, I decided to pay a bit more attention to detail.

In tandem with the opposition instructions looking to pinpoint weakness in the opposing team, the weather conditions were also a consideration. Poor and soggy pitch, with constant rain, combined with weak defensive attributes, meant that I could really make a difference with some of the instructions I used.

Overall though, if you feel you understand player attributes well enough, along with the impact certain OI's and tactical instructions can have on making a difference in a match, along with the time and patience to do them, then I can't recommend them highly enough.

All depends on how you play the game though

Every other FM I've been your run of the mill plug and play type of player. I used to use genie scout to see which players had the highest CA/PA, buy them and then build a relatively ok tactic, safe in the knowledge that my players are much better than the rest of the leagues. This year I've decided not to touch genie scout or any program like that. The problem with not using it, as I always have done, means the game is a lot harder and building an ok tactic just doesn't do anymore. I need to be a lot smarter and react to what I see on the football pitch. I'm watching every match on full and trying to use every possible thing to my advantage. I'm predicted to get relegated and have 8 points from my first 5 games, which I'm delighted with and it's all down to me spending more time actually watching the games, rather than losing and blaming my players/tactics.

What effect do you think the weather conditions had? I know that short passing is a lot harder to pull off as the ball won't travel as far due to the condition of the pitch, so I think direct passing is the way forward. Do you think that the soggy, wet pitch would make players slower and in turn widen the gap between your attackers pace and the oppositions defender's pace?

Like I said, I intend to go into as much detail as I can to get the results. It's actually quite satisfying to see it all come together, even if it does mean I'll get through 2 games an hour rather than 5, the results will be a lot better and overall I think I'll enjoy the game more. Thanks for your input, and the guide to LLM really is a good read.

[Surferosa]

I haven't done a lot of experimenting with weaker foot, although it does seem really obvious I'm not 100% sure what it does. If it shows the player onto their weaker foot and says, "I know you can't cross with your left/right, therefore I'm going to give you the opportunity to cross with your weaker foot" then I wouldn't be entirely comfortable as I want to prevent as many crosses as I can, although my defenders and midfielders are generally good headers of the ball and do win most crosses coming in.

What it does is usually send the winger infield- making less crosses coming in. If crosses do- they are usually poor. Of course, I cant stress how important your other tactical settingd are here. If you are playing on a wide pitch, using a wide formation (though point accepted that this doesnt automatically correlate to defensive positioning), pr without a DM or defensively minded MC- then sending them inside can be dangerous because of the larger gaps you have between your defensive players.

However, playing narrow- or on a narrow pitch- you are inevitably sheparding the winger towards your defensive DM/MC's. Which is exactly where I want them- SI have certainly beefed up the winger from what Ie noticed so far on FM11- I want less crosses and them running towards my defensive brickwall (rather than behind it).

Only other point- be careful with closing down on central midfield players. In my experience, if you havent set up your tactic right it can just drag your defenders out of position (so an advanced MC that gets beyond your midfield ends gets closed down by a DC- leaving a huge gap for the oppo SC to run into). Far better to tight & man mark the danger man if he is a MC/AMC- you want to be on him before he gets the ball rather than after.

One point though- Im finding the tightmarking tactical instruction to be far less effective on FM11 than on other versions. Whether this is delibverate or not I dont know- but tightmarking used to be a great way of quick fixing some bad formation settings (ie mentality)- whereas now, players with a mentality setting that doesnt correlate with a tightmarking instruction tend to go missing (why so many people have had problems with oppo wingers and fullback instructions).

[thezogsageordie]

I agree. This is mainly why I don't want to fiddle with it too much. I've just lost only my 2nd game are 6 played (in one attempt I had lost my first 9 as Hastings manager!) so I'm just going to keep doing what I'm doing, watching the game and trying to exploit the opposition's weakness and see where I end up.

[Nicky Salapu]

Without testing I would imagine that defenders with low acceleration and tackling would commit fouls when playing against a fast striker, although maybe positioning would come into it too, most of the time the attacker would be able to get past his marker and either create a clearcut chance or even force the trailing defender into a last ditch challenge resulting in a yellow/red card, making the rest of the game easier (in theory!).

Well I did that in FM 06. I managed Radomiak Radom and won the Polish Second Division as a newcomer. What I did was counter opposition's profiles of players. So I would use a fast striker on FLC if they had a slow DRC and I would use strong and good-in-the-air DC if they had Peter Crouch out there I never tried it later though 'cause it was too much trouble before every match.

[thezogsageordie]

Well I did that in FM 06. I managed Radomiak Radom and won the Polish Second Division as a newcomer. What I did was counter opposition's profiles of players. So I would use a fast striker on FLC if they had a slow DRC and I would use strong and good-in-the-air DC if they had Peter Crouch out there I never tried it later though 'cause it was too much trouble before every match.

I might have to try that. Never thought of changing my players to counter the opposition. I'll try that.

[TheDentalist]

I'll definitely look for that OI panel. Yeah, my current setup has bravery in it, anything of around 7 or lower on all players except strikers get hard tackling. I always close down players with low composure, too, in the hope that they will just hoof the ball or buckle under pressure. In regard to the injured players, generally if I see a player on ~85% or lower then I will tackle him hard, again not for strikers.

I haven't done a lot of experimenting with weaker foot, although it does seem really obvious I'm not 100% sure what it does. If it shows the player onto their weaker foot and says, "I know you can't cross with your left/right, therefore I'm going to give you the opportunity to cross with your weaker foot" then I wouldn't be entirely comfortable as I want to prevent as many crosses as I can, although my defenders and midfielders are generally good headers of the ball and do win most crosses coming in. Thanks for the time and effort though, it is much appreciated.

Is there a link to this original article by surferosa?

[Surferosa]

Well, the original OI aticle I wrote was for FM09- though much of the advice is still valid (leaving apart the relative ineffectiveness of tightmarking always in comparison to previous FM versions).

Its here if its any use though- Ill be revisting it for FM11 any day now.