There are two different ways in which a player can attempt to use marking in a match to give him a tactical advantage over his opponent; Man-to-Man marking and Zonal marking.
To perform any type of man-to-man marking it is necessary to get as much information as you can on the player you intend to mark through ESI. A successful scouting report is composed of a list of player names and numbers showing the full squad of the side scouted, and a “marking number” for each player. These numbers are uniquely encrypted for your side, and no other team will be able to use the same numbers with the same results. Players’ squad numbers are encoded in this way to prevent managers from passing the squad numbers of his rivals to other teams.
Once you have these numbers you can then assign a maximum of two players from your side to manmark your opponents players. To do this you must give the squad number of your own player and the encrypted “marking number” of the player you want him to man-mark.
Only players in your defence and/or midfield can be assigned as markers, and your sweeper - if you have one selected - has other duties to attend to. Defenders are restricted to marking opposing forwards while your midfielders mark their counterparts.
Every player in the game has a marking skill, which is normally hidden from sight unless it is described as being above and beyond the norm. All defenders in the game (sweepers included) begin life with a pretty good man-marking ability, with all midfielder being rated nearly as well too. Utility players who occupy either defensive or midfield roles in a match are perhaps the next best option for marking if normal players are unavailable.
When the above criteria are met man-marking can take place during the game. Any player assigned to man-mark another player will generally hit the mark about three times out of four, modified by the marking skill he possesses.
A marking player immediately loses one quarter of his current playing levels (rounded-up) and this increases to one half of his levels if he is assigned to mark an MF/A, MF/D or MF/G, and by threequarters if the marked player is an MF/A/D.
The percentage of levels lost by the marked player, as a base rate, is determined by the following formulae:-
%LOSS = 50 + ((Markers Level - Marked Players Level) X 5%)
This formula will give the “normal” loss of levels for the marked player. It is POSSIBLE for the marker to lose more levels than his opponent, thus swinging the advantage in favour of the marked player, but this normally occurs when a very low-skilled player is assigned to mark one of the better players of the opposing side; don’t do it! These losses are modified in a minor way by the marking skill of a player too.
A superb marker is likely to lose fewer levels and make the opposing player lose considerably more in return. This can make it very difficult to calculate the exact loss on either side.
So, to see an example of how marking works; let’s say that we have a level 12 DF mark a level 10 FW in a match.
The DF will lose quarter of his normal levels and drop to a level 9 DF while the FW would lose (50 %+( 12-10) x5%) = 60% of his performance levels. This figure is rounded upwards so this would leave the FW operating at a skill level of just 4; an effective marking indeed!
If the marked player is an MF/A, MF/D, MF/G or MF/A/D then the loss of levels are applied to every relevant area of the game he effects. It should be obvious why these players are normally a priority when selecting marking for most managers.
Also, any marked player operates at this reduced efficiency level for the whole game, as does any marking player, so it is similarly useful to try marking opposing WG’s to reduce their effect against unlocking the offside game, or opposing FWS’s to reduce their chances of scoring.
Don’t mark with midfield specialists; it is a horrible waste of their talent! UT’s are generally not a good choice for marking opponents with, and tend to be somewhat easier to mark (if you know where they are playing) as they are never quite as sharp as a definitive DF, MF or FW of the same skill level. If you try to “guess” the code number of a player you want to mark and get it wrong (very likely!) then the marking player will still lose 25% of his levels.
If you try to mark a player that is playing in the game but not in the correct position then the marking player will still lose 25% of his levels. However if you try to mark a player who is not selected to play but is in the opposition’s squad then you are not penalised. Therefore, make sure that you have the correct information regarding any players you want to mark.
For each successful marking a player performs, his marking skill will rise by a small amount, allowing him to become even more effective on his next attempt. For every miss of course, there is a subsequent reduction to go with it. However, these gains and losses will only apply to COMPETITIVE matches and will remain unaffected by any marking attempts in friendly games. The gain/loss factor is dependent to some part on the relevant skills of the two players involved. The gain that a level 14 DF makes for successfully marking a level 5 FW is going to be very small, while the opposite scenario (a 5 DF on a 14 FW) is going to yield a much bigger gain for success.
Whatever the marking chance, there is always a factor in the formula which allows for a one-off failure, no matter how spread the skills of either player; nothing is ever certain.
Often a manager knows that his side are going to need to mark their opponents if they are to come out of a game with a result, but they have been unable (or unwilling) to put the expenditure into scouting to come up with the code numbers of the relevant players. Or they may be facing an opponent who has come fresh out of a replay that they didn’t scout, or have a cross-league opponents that they can’t use normal scouting on.
For these cases we have a different marking system, which is primarily defensive in its style, and is once more aimed at hurting the sides with the specialist players; zonal marking.
By selecting this option you are giving your entire defence and midfield instructions to pick up whoever drifts into their area, rejecting man-to-man marking in favour of a more reactionary system. This will obviously work better if you have men to spare in that part of the field, so using four defenders to zonal mark against two attackers will be very affective, while two defenders will have a few problems doing the same to two attackers.
Two things should be immediately apparent from the way this is being described; the system is going to be more use to the defensive sides that field 4-4-2 or 4-3-3 formations than it is to those who favour more obscure attacking styles. The in-vogue at present is to use this ploy when fielding a 3-5-2 formation and, as this is a formation that is becoming more and more popular, it will work quite well when opposing an identical formation.
As zonal marking reduces the effectiveness of both the marked player and the marking player, it is not going to be too wise if a team with midfield specialists opts to use this system. If a midfield specialist is either zonally marked, or chooses to play in a zonal marking system, his effectiveness in all the relevant areas of the park will be reduced. This reduction is in no way as dramatic as if he is man-marked, but it will hurt all the same.
The reductions are calculated in a simple manner. Basically, the marking team’s defenders are compared with the opposition’s number of attackers. If there are an equal number of players in both areas, then the marker’s defenders will all lose one level per man, while the marked player’s forwards will lose two levels per man. If there are more defenders than attackers then the reduction to the levels of the attacker’s increases by another half a level per man, for every additional defender there is playing. Any half levels are randomly rounded up or down at the end of the calculation. This same calculation is also applied to the marking and marked midfields to, with the same conditions.
For example…
A team playing a 4-4-2 formation chooses to zonal mark a side that fields a 4-3-3 style. The marking players are compared with the marked players in each area, so the reductions are;
-1 per man for the marking defenders
-2 per man for the marked attackers (plus a chance of each -0.5 level being rounded to a -1 per man)
and
-1 per man for the marking midfielders
-2 per man for the marked midfielders (plus a chance of each -0.5 level being rounded to a -1 per man)
that gives a total reduction in levels of eight for the marking player and between twelve and eighteen levels lost for the marked player - a healthy gain!
The problems come when a player tries to zonal mark and finds that he does not have enough men in the area to provide affective cover. In such a case, let’s say when three defenders try to zonal mark four attackers, it is the marked player that loses just one level per man, while the marking player is subject to a reduction of two levels per player, and has the same random chance of each additional half-level being rounded to yet another deduction too.
In case it has not been made obvious why this is not a tactic to choose if you have specialists, just think what a loss of -2 per man will do to your side’s midfield if one of the players is a MF/A/D; your side would lose all the normal midfield levels plus another -2 to both the attack and the defence, due to this players reduced effectiveness.
Basically, don’t do it with specialists unless you are certain that it will hurt your opponents more than it hurts you! Don’t fall into the trap of bunging down zonal marking each and every time either, as there are a few drawbacks to choosing this option.
You cannot choose both Zonal and Man-to-Man marking together; either one or the other. Man-to- Man marking remains the most effective way of taking a particular player out of the game. A manager using the Zonal marking system will find that his side is more concerned with holding up the opposition than making chances for themselves. If this option is combined with a “playing defensively” selection too, there is little chance that the side will make any progress at all into the opposition penalty area! The man-to-man marking information gained through Extra Scouting Information remains current for as long as the side retains the players listed (you obviously can't mark someone who no longer plays for the team), and only for the duration of the season. Once the season ends, you'll need to regain these numbers if you wish to mark in future matches.
If you are unsure of which players are worth marking, then it is an idea to pay close attention to the Newsletter, and then try Player Scouting to learn more about their abilities.
See also…
See also…