How to read Tactical Analysis ?

[Dgirth]

Hiya

So from the guides i been reading recently I been making my way up the leagues and begining to understand the game alot better, one area that is still confusing me is the Tactical Analysis in the match report part, like the heat map and passing ect, i have no idea on how to read them. the heat map dont make any sence to me. im wondering if someone has posted a detailed guide on how to use the FM13 Tactical Analysis section. I had a look and searched on google but not been able to find a detailed guide on this part of the game.

[Cleon]

I talk about how I use it in this thread;

The SI Sports Centre - All You Need To Know About FM

[Dgirth]

Im struggling wih this section cant get my head around it, Think im suffering from information overload lol.

[Dgirth]

The formation i play

Heat map

So i cant tell if this is good or bad and i got no idea from a point on reference. ie, i dont know what is good.

[Rashidi]

Heatmaps are about control of space. You look to see how your players cover the pitch, individual heat maps give you and indication as to their influence, two players playing one position may generate totally different heat maps. So if you want to choose between two players for a DLF position naturally the DLF with the area is better

The stats on the left indicate how well the team/individual is doing. It helps you understand where your weak areas are..you can also analyse it to see how you create chances..

[Rashidi]

for your formation I would look at the heatmap for the fullbacks since, its a naturally defensive formation. The activity of your fullbacks and your MCs will govern how successful your tactic is. Furthermore I would look at their pass completion rates as well, since these are key creators

[Cleon]

The key to understanding it imo is don't over focus on one area but take it all into consideration and don't take isolated stats and make it out of context. The most important things would to be do what rashidi mentions above about focusing on the fullbacks.

After that look at passing and see what kind of passes you have been doing and you'll be able to see what kind of areas you've been having the ball in. The same with shots, you can see what kind of areas you've been having them from. If they are all from 25 yards + then that would suggest a problem with either your attacking players been static and not making movement, a team is hard to break down or it could be PPM related or it could be a player attribute issue.

The other most important thing for me is to click on the dots on the pitch and you can view the clips back. So do this for shots, passes, tackles, interceptions etc and you can see exactly why something did or didn't work. Pause the clip and look around at player positioning and stuff.

[Dgirth]

thanks guys, that clears a things up. not really looked at this side of the game before but it makes some more sence to me now.

[Sussex Hammer]

Funny old thing the heat map. I'm playing a 4-4-1-1 right now and decided to watch the heat map for the entire game with my AM in first half on roam from position and second half on normal wide play. Only one game granted but I didn't see any difference at all.

[Cyderman]

Funny old thing the heat map. I'm playing a 4-4-1-1 right now and decided to watch the heat map for the entire game with my AM in first half on roam from position and second half on normal wide play. Only one game granted but I didn't see any difference at all.

On the analysis tab I find the passing, movement and crosses options to be more informative than the heat map. Heat maps look at averages - and as such hide a lot of the detail that lies behind them. The passing view will show you where your player passed - but equally importantly which areas of the pitch they were in when they made the pass. If for example you see your players not making any passes into the final third, or the box in particular, you are limiting your chance creation. Often away from home you might find that your midfield is making too many of their passes in their own half. You can also see to what extent a player is successful at roaming from their notional position - this is hard to tell with such clarity via a heat map. The crossing view will show you if your players are crossing from the right areas of the pitch (say the byline) and which types of crosses are being completed. The movement option shows you who is making runs and what type of runs your players make. For example you might want your inside forwards to make runs from out to in towards the penalty box, your full backs to make vertical runs outside your IFs and your DMC to not make any runs whatsoever.

The things I look for on the analysis tab to ensure my team is working as planned are:

1. Movement from my IFs - they are set to run with the ball frequently - so I expect plenty of movement

2. MC AP(A) - how often does he get into the final third and become the fourth attacker

3. Wingbacks - number of runs and crosses from the byline (related to 1)

4. DMC (s) - how successful is he at recycling possession in the opposition half

5. DC - their distribution - who are they passing to and how successful are they

6. Trequartista - how big an area does he cover - I want him to come short and drag defenders wide so the bigger the footprint the better - but once the ball in around the area - I want him in the middle on the end of things or passing around the corner not running the channels

7. Where on the pitch I win possession - tackles / interceptions

[Rashidi]

Heat maps are really only good to see how you are covering space vs the other team. And whether or not your pivots are in the right place and like Cyderman states its the other details that are vital.

[gechal]

What i would love to see - the analasis screen to be split up for each half.

Average positions, passing etc in the first half, and then for the second half, to see if any half time changes you made worked. Or maybe the ability to split it anywhere along the whole 90 mins, if that makes sense.

I'd also love to have a passes received tab for each player, and a total touches for each player tab.

But that's a post for a different thread.

[Cleon]

What i would love to see - the analasis screen to be split up for each half.

Average positions, passing etc in the first half, and then for the second half, to see if any half time changes you made worked. Or maybe the ability to split it anywhere along the whole 90 mins, if that makes sense.

I'd also love to have a passes received tab for each player, and a total touches for each player tab.

But that's a post for a different thread.

Me too and this is something that as been requested many times. So hopefully one day in not to distant future

[iwantpie]

Me too and this is something that as been requested many times. So hopefully one day in not to distant future

Or to have it completely editable by time, so you can look at different time periods.

[Sussex Hammer]

On the heat map why are there on the "crosses" tab crosses that go backwards? It's as if players in midfield literally cross from the halfway line towards their corner flag. Most bizarre. My CM's are on mixed crossing but only if they get into a deep position so the backwards crossing is very odd...

[iwantpie]

On the heat map why are there on the "crosses" tab crosses that go backwards? It's as if players in midfield literally cross from the halfway line towards their corner flag. Most bizarre. My CM's are on mixed crossing but only if they get into a deep position so the backwards crossing is very odd...

I think there are a couple of quirks in the analysis screen. You see weird stuff in there that doesn't really make any sense from time to time. Try clicking on the dot to see the event in question but most the time when I do that on the weird stuff it doesn't make any more sense. I would just ignore it.