Opposition Instructions are a key element in Football Manager. When applied correctly, you can stop opposition attacks and defend cohesively as a unit. Opposition Instructions will damage your team’s shape and tactical setup when applied incorrectly. In the next 3 minutes, this post will give you a better understanding of Opposition Instructions in Football Manager, so you can apply them correctly.
In FM24 (or any other Football Manager game dating back to 2015), there are four (4) main Opposition Instructions you can apply. These are Tight Marking, Trigger Press (or Closing Down), Tackling, and Show Unto Foot. Each of these instructions play a role in your FM24 Tactic and how your team decides to engage the opposition.
We’ll look at each instruction separately and how these instructions apply in certain scenarios. There is also a video description to show more. So buckle up, let’s apply some Opposition instructions.
The 4 Types of Opposition Instructions in Football Manager
Tight Marking
The tight marking instructions stay close to their designated opponent to deny them space and time to attack or create chances. A designated opponent here could be a fullback marking the opponent’s winger, or a defensive midfielder marking an attacking midfielder. In Football Manager, you can have Tight Marking set to ALWAYS, NEVER, or No Instruction. Note! This is not the same as engaging the opponent and trying to win possession of the ball. That is where Trigger Press comes in.
Trigger Press (or Closing Down)
If you have been playing football manager for a while, you’ll notice the name change from Closing Down to Trigger Press. This is due to a slight change in the Football Manager match engine and marking system. What does Trigger Press mean? When your team is “Out of Possession” (i.e. the opponent has the ball), a Trigger Press tells your team when to start engaging the opponent and try to win the ball back.
In Football Manager, you can set Trigger Press to ALWAYS, NEVER, or No Instruction. When you set the Trigger Press to ALWAYS for an opponent player, your team will hold their shape until that player receives the ball. Once that opposition player receives the ball, the team will start pressing to win back possession. Until that time, your players (based on their attributes) will position themselves in a way that allow them get ready to start the press when it is Triggered.
Tackling
This is the very act of reaching for the ball, to take it away from the opposition and regain possession. Just like in real football (and in EAFC/FIFA), you have a standing tackle, and a harder sliding tackle. On Football Manager, you can set the tackling to HARD, NORMAL, EASY or No Instruction.
Players with better tackling attribute and concentration or decision making tend to make better tackles than players who don’t. So pay attention to how to assign this instruction. Asking a Forward to Tackle a defender can have a negative effect on the forward. However, if the forward is intelligent, asking him to do a standing tackle (EASY TACKLE), might give him a better chance of winning the ball.
Show Unto Foot
This instruction asks your defender to restrict the opponent to using only one foot (either left or right), when defending. It works in combination with marking. If your defender is marking a right-footed player playing on the right wing, the defender will stay closer to the attackers right foot, trying to block that side and force the right footed attacker to use his left to either pass to another player inside the field or cut inside using his weaker left foot.
This increases the chance of that attacker making a poor pass or taking a poor shot the left is not his favorite foot. It can also serve as a tactical instruction to force the opponent into certain areas where to can win the ball, like forcing good inside forwards go out wide and try a cross with their weaker foot.
Those are the four instructions you can set, and if you can set, and in the next paragraph you’ll find two in depth video descriptions covering how to apply these instructions and what too look for when applying opposition instructions.
WHEN TO USE OPPOSITION INSTRUCTIONS
WHEN TO USE TIGHT MARKING
This is where the scout report plays a vital role. You want to scout your opponent and identify who their key players are. This will help you better prepare to deal with the threat. Creative Players that don’t have a lot pace are candidates for Tight Marking.
You can play a defensive player on the same side as the opponent’s slow creative player and apply the Tight Marking Instruction. Pacey wingers, you should avoid Tight Marking them. You may get away with Tight Marking a fast winger if your fullback is also fast. If not, close him down.
WHEN TO USE TRIGGER PRESS (CLOSING DOWN)
As mentioned earlier, close down pacey wingers that are good at crossing. You don’t want them near your defensive third. But the Trigger Press also works in combination with The Line of Engagement. A higher Line of Engagement allows you to trigger press opposition defenders, while lower lines allow you to regain your shape and only worry about trigger pressing the attackers. (See video description)
WHEN TO TACKLE HARD
Players with low bravery are candidates for hard tackling. But as mentioned earlier, the EASY standing tackle has its benefits. Pay close attention to player attributes when assigning the tackle instruction. You need players who are good at tackling and also have good mental attributes to complete the tackle successfully.
WHEN TO USE SHOW UNTO FOOT
For wide players playing on the wrong side of their favorite foot (Inside forwards/Inverted Wingers), show them to their weaker foot. If the player’s weak foot is Good or Very Good, you should avoid using this instruction as it would no longer be effective.
The Team Instruction “Show Opposition Outside” or “Show Opposition Inside” forces the opposition to play through the center. Note! This is “Show Unto Foot” applied on a larger scale. This instruction will not take into account the footedness of the opposition player.
CONCLUSION
The Football Manager Opposition Instructions are vital to how your team defends against the opposition. And depending on how you choose to play the game, these instructions will differ in every match you play. I also recommend that you hire a good assistant manager to help you apply opposition instructions.
You can observe the instructions that the assistant repeatedly recommends and learn why this is the case. It will take some time to master, but you can learn a lot more about opposition instructions in one season if you pay attention to it.
I have attached two video descriptions detailing how I apply these opposition instructions in two Football Manager games. Both videos are comprehensive and shed more light on the ideas discussed here.
You can get a better understanding of how I use opposition instructions by watching my video tutorial here, where I go through how I set up opposition instructions on Football Manager using my cheat sheet, or download the cheat sheet below!
For a video tutorial on the Opposition Instructions Cheat Sheet 2023, please watch the video included in the link.
Download the Opposition Instructions Cheat Sheet
If you have any additional questions about opposition instructions, you can contact me on X (formerly Twitter), and if want to see more Football Manager Content (relating to Tactics, Football Manager Stories, Team Guides and Football Manager Hints and Tips), check out my YouTube channel using the links above.
Now go apply some opposition instructions on Football Manager and see your pressing improve!
Happy managing!
