Match: The basics

The basics of the match simulation

In each half a number of attacks are made, and the midfield decides which team gets each attack. The team with the strongest midfield (the team with the most ball possession) is most likely to get the largest number of attacks.  When a team gets an attack it is decided what kind of attack it is. There are three types of attacks (right wing, left wing, centre), and set pieces (free kicks and penalties) also. The attacking team's attack for that sector will then try to break through the defending team's defence for that sector.

The basic attacks

In each match a number of basic attacks (as explained above) are made. Some of these attacks are open, and can be taken by either team, and some are exclusive for one team only.

For open attacks, the midfield decides which team gets each attack. Exclusive attacks work in the same fashion, with one exception: If your midfield “win” one of your opponent's exclusive attacks; you stop the attack – but you don't get it yourself. You can't get your opponent's exclusive chances, and they can't get yours.

Most of the basic attacks are reported in the match report, but attacks a long way from leading to goals are not reported.  You may also gain additional attacks from "Special Events" and from counter-attacks. These additional attacks are described in the other two match chapters.

Home team advantage

The home team is helped by their fans. Ordinarily you have a larger percentage of possession at home than away.  When both teams playing in the match are from the same region, the game is treated as a derby. In this case, the home team still benefits from home advantage, but the away team also receives a boost of around half that received by the home team. Games on neutral grounds do not provide any home advantage bonuses, even when a team is from the same region as the neutral ground.

Psychology and the coach's mentality

Team spirit, confidence and team attitude affect how well your team performs. You can read all about how Hattrick simulates these in the "Psychology" chapter.
The coach's mentality (if he's offensive, defensive or neutral) also plays a part. Read more about this in the "The coach" chapter.

Team rating is the rating you should focus on

After a match has been played, you will get a team rating for each part of the team. These ratings tell you how well different parts of your team performed in the match and these ratings are also what matters in the actual match calculation.

The match rating denominations (scale goes from non-existent to divine) are also specified in four sub-levels: very low, low, high and very high. This way it's easier to know how good your rating is within a certain step. For example a "very high solid" rating is a just a little bit worse than "very low excellent", but a lot better than "very low passable".

Star rating

After a match your players receive a star rating for their performance in the match. The more stars, the better the performance.

Please note that the star rating only rates the individual player performance on his particular position and is useful for comparing different players playing in the same position. It's not an ideal way to measure team strength. To know how your whole team performed (and compare with other teams), look at the team ratings.

Please also be aware that team effects (such as the contribution loss for more than one player in a central position, see basic lineup chapter) is not reflected in the star rating.

A normal case

Shortly put, the state of the midfield decides how many opportunities your team will produce during a match. The other parts of the team will decide the probability of attacks leading to goals.

The following table may help you somewhat when you select your team. Note that it's only an approximation.  Some levels of skills following each other may mean only slight differences in performance, and for others the differences might be much larger. In addition, individual orders or contribution loss for two or more players in a central position (see previous chapter) have not been taken into consideration.

Part of team	Factors (most important first)
Midfield	Playmaking inner midfielders Playmaking wingers Playmaking central defenders Playmaking forwards Playmaking wingbacks
Attack left wing	Winger left winger Winger left wing back Scoring forwards Passing left inner midfielder Passing left winger Winger forwards Passing forwards Passing inner midfielders
Defence left wing	Defending left wing back Goalkeeping goalkeeper Defending left central defender Defending left winger Defending centre central defender Defending goalkeeper Defending left inner midfielder Defending centre inner midfielder
Attack centre	Scoring forwards Passing forwards Passing inner midfielders Scoring inner midfielders Passing wingers
Defence centre	Defending central defenders Goalkeeping goalkeeper Defending inner midfielders Defending wing backs Defending goalkeeper Defending wingers
Attack right wing	Winger right winger Winger right wing back Scoring forwards Passing right inner midfielder Passing right winger Winger forwards Passing forwards Passing inner midfielders
Defence right wing	Defending right wing back Goalkeeping goalkeeper Defending right central defender Defending right winger Defending centre central defender Defending goalkeeper Defending right inner midfielder Defending centre inner midfielder