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With man marking, we introduce a new tactical option in Hattrick. Using an individual order, you instruct one of your players to follow and try to neutralize a key player on the opposing team. Man marking is never without risks, so use it with care - but with the right player and the right timing, it can be an efficient way to even out the odds in a match.

How Does It Work?

The principle is that you order one of your players to shadow and obstruct a specific player on the opposing team. If this order triggers, your player will contribute a lot less to your team than he would normally do. But hopefully so will the target player, depending on how efficient your player is as a man marker. The trick is, of course, to find the situations where man marking pays off and avoid the ones where it will not.

Who Can Man Mark, and When?

Only Defenders, Wingbacks and Inner Midfielders can be given the man marking order. And it will only be triggered if the targeted player plays as a Forward, Winger or Inner Midfielder on the other team.

You can only give one man marking order per match. If the player targeted does not show up, or if he plays in a non-markable position, the order becomes void. Your player then plays as normal in the match, without any penalties. (The order may become active later in the match, though, if your target is substituted into the game or changes into a markable position).

Effects of Man Marking

Man marking has two separate effects.

First, the man marking player loses half of his skill contribution to his team’s ratings. This loss is immediate and in place as long as the man marking is active. He also loses his contribution to your team’s tactical ratings, such as for example counter-attacks.

Secondly, there is an effect on the targeted player. This penalty, however, depends on how good the man marker is at what he tries to do.

The man marking player's key skill is defending. His defending skill is checked against the highest (non-Set Pieces) skill of the target player. What matters here is the relative strength of the two. If your marker’s defending is low compared to the targeted player’s skill, the effect is low. If it is the same or higher, efficiency increases a lot. As an example, if an outstanding (Level 10) defender marks a titanic (level 15) playmaker, the latter will lose around a quarter of his contribution. If instead the marker is a divine defender (level 20), the contribution of the titanic playmaker will be reduced by two thirds instead.

If the player that man marks is also Set Pieces taker, his efficiency as a marker will be a little lower.

There are also some bonuses and penalties related to specialties. Powerful players, or players with no specialty, lose less of their own contribution when man marking than players with other specialties. For powerful players, this benefit is stronger than for the non-specialty player, though.

When being the target of a man marking, Technical players are more vulnerable than others (they lose more of their contribution than other players) and Unpredictable players are less vulnerable (they lose less contribution then any other players).

All the skills of the players involved in man marking are affected, except Set Pieces. It is the total contribution of skills to the team ratings that are affected.

Distance Penalty

The effectiveness of man marking varies depending on how close your man marking player is to his target on the pitch.

A wing back is considered near to any winger, even one playing on the opposite side.
A central defender is considered close to any forward.
Inner midfielders is considered close to other IMs.

In any other situation, your player will receive a distance penalty, which is applied to his team contribution.