Football Manager for Dummies - Guide

Watching Highlights - Identifying issues

Identifying Issues

Our staff is sorted, we created a sensible tactic, we know which players we can rely on and our first competitive match in charge is right around the corner. But what do we look for, once the action starts?

This point may be straight forward for some, but if you're struggling identifying issues while watching Highlights, hopefully some of the bullet points below can point you in the right direction.

On limited Highlights (Key, Extended), we shouldn't treat any as random. There's most likely a reason the game decided to show us exactly the Highlight we're watching and our job is to figure out what that reason is.

Here's some example questions we should be asking ourselves:

• Is the highlight showing my team attacking or defending?
  
• If attacking, did the transition go as planned or did it break down prematurely?
  
• If the transition broke down prematurely, why? Player dribbled himself into trouble? Made a bad pass? Was it the pass that was bad, or was the support not close enough? Did he shoot aimlessly from distance? Could it be that his risk-taking is too high? Did he have any other options?
  
• If defending, does our defence look stable? Do Highlights end with us winning the ball back successfully or is opposition creating scoring chances? Are their dangerous passes coming from flanks or middle areas? Are Roles and Duties in those areas too aggressive or do players simply not have the defensive attributes to cope? Are we getting caught out by balls over the top? Perhaps because our Defensive Line is too high? Are we committing fouls in quick succession? Is it our instructions that are too aggressive, or are we constantly on the back foot because we're losing possession too easily?
  

If you can't figure it out immediately, rewind the action. Pause the action a few times and observe your players' positions.

I suggest watching Highlights on at least Extended, so you can get a general feel for the match. You can switch to Key later on, but I recommend you don't limit yourself too much in the initial part of the season.

In terms of widgets to keep an eye on, I highly recommend Action Zones. It tells you which team has possession in which areas of the pitch—is the opposition keeping possession inside our half, or are we dominating them? Is this how you planned the match to go?



With Football Manager 2021 seeing a big improvement in data presentation, Analyst Report can help us identifying tactical issues as well. Are our Attacking and Defensive Efficiency graphs where expected? Which area of the pitch are assists for conceded goals coming from? Are our scorers spread across multiple positions, or are we dependent solely on one? How do our xG Match Stories look like? Are we creating multiple good chances per match?