Ideas & Suggested Improvements: Head To Head (H2H)

November 7th, 2007 by SM Dev (ste)

In most sports you will sometimes see the phrase ‘Head To Head’ used, and this is increasingly common within the football world. The abbreviation of this terminology is H2H.

The concept of H2H is used by a lot of statisticians, journalists, gamblers, commentator’s et al in the football industry to find out what the past meetings between any two clubs over a period of time have resulted in.

Sometimes the past meetings can throw up some interesting information about the two teams in question. Prior to 2007 Arsenal had only between Bolton three times in twelve encounters home or away in all competitions. That statistic has now changed since Sam Allardyce left the club, but nevertheless it still highlighted the fact that the Trotters were Arsenal’s bogey side:

25-NOV-06 Bolton 3-1 Arsenal England Premiership
11-FEB-06 Arsenal 1-1 Bolton England Premiership
03-DEC-05 Bolton 2-0 Arsenal England Premiership
15-JAN-05 Bolton 1-0 Arsenal England Premiership
18-SEP-04 Arsenal 2-2 Bolton England Premiership
20-MAR-04 Arsenal 2-1 Bolton England Premiership
20-DEC-03 Bolton 1-1 Arsenal England Premiership
26-APR-03 Bolton 2-2 Arsenal England Premiership
21-SEP-02 Arsenal 2-1 Bolton England Premiership
29-APR-02 Bolton 0-2 Arsenal England Premiership
22-SEP-01 Arsenal 1-1 Bolton England Premiership

One of the plus points of H2H is that you can see patterns between any two teams as follows:

Matches between Chelsea and Liverpool are usually low scoring:

19-AUG-07 Liverpool 1-1 Chelsea England Premiershi
01-MAY-07 Liverpool 5-1 Chelsea Champions League
25-APR-07 Chelsea 1-0 Liverpool Champions League
20-JAN-07 Liverpool 2-0 Chelsea England Premiership
17-SEP-06 Chelsea 1-0 Liverpool England Premiership
13-AUG-06 Chelsea 1-2 Liverpool England Charity Shield
05-FEB-06 Chelsea 2-0 Liverpool England Premiership
06-DEC-05 Chelsea 0-0 Liverpool Champ. L. Grp G

Matches between Ajax and Feyenoord are usually high scoring:

04-FEB-07 Ajax 4-1 Feyenoord Holland Eredivisie
22-OCT-06 Feyenoord 0-4 Ajax Holland Eredivisie
23-APR-06 Feyenoord 2-4 Ajax Holland - Playoff Ch. L
20-APR-06 Ajax 3-0 Feyenoord Holland - Playoff Ch. L
05-FEB-06 Feyenoord 3-2 Ajax Holland Eredivisie
28-AUG-05 Ajax 1-2 Feyenoord Holland Eredivisie
17-APR-05 Feyenoord 2-3 Ajax Holland Eredivisie

You can pick out numerous examples using H2H for all kind of stats, but I will stop here as the list could go on and on.

On the main site under SM Improvements we have listed H2H as a future improvement. We are intending to show past meetings between any two clubs so that managers can use this information as they see fit prior to clashing with their opposite number.

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35 Comments Add your own

1. Stuart | November 8th, 2007 at 1:32 pm

i think that if you make a 3d player mode where you get to watch the match like in fifa games and manager games.
i think you should make it so you get youth matches.
2. Stuart | November 8th, 2007 at 1:36 pm

i think there should be team training and induvidual training.
more tactic options such as you can make players take long shots and make your own formattions
3. ... | November 8th, 2007 at 6:43 pm

I think there should be a system in finances where you can take loans out from the bank to get more transfer money
4. Ashiru | November 12th, 2007 at 7:17 pm

i think more friendly matches shud be fixed and i wud be much better if it were in 3d mode…
5. Ashiru | November 12th, 2007 at 7:19 pm

plus…it wud be gud if u can speak 2 ur players bout their morale….like a list of option u want 2 make dem perform…
6. Tunde | December 23rd, 2007 at 8:02 pm

It would be good if u get money anyway not just by winning games or winning leagues etc.
7. Sam | December 29th, 2007 at 3:57 pm

It is a good idea but again, I would love to watch the match being played, but I understand it would be high tech and that, its just that then you can make subs when you want to.
8. tet | January 12th, 2008 at 11:13 am

the matches should definnatley b played in 3-d it would make it more exciting watching the game tense n all because if u were watching nd you were drawing and u saw your team get the winner you would b buzzin
9. Randy Balzan | January 23rd, 2008 at 7:18 pm

Hello People, Yes Is Nice To Have H2H In The SM Game It’s A Fantastic Opinion!!
Thanks!!
10. Chris Connolly | January 28th, 2008 at 5:39 pm

I think a 3d match engine would be okay, just something simple like footie manager 08 but I’m here to say that even if there is no match engine the match should be live so you can make substitutions whenever you want in a game which may influence it, it would make the game a whole lot more interactive. The game is already great so keep it up
11. Cameron Smith | February 1st, 2008 at 5:03 pm

right every1 dont u think taht cause sm aint like fifa and all that sort of games where u can watch its a lot betta and unique game and another thing to hueva said talk to players and hav training THEY R BASED ON THERE REAL LIFE PERFORMANCE so no1 needs to train cause they do it there selves
12. muzzy | February 14th, 2008 at 4:01 pm

I don’t think SoccerManager should have a 3D engine mode because it’s just a copy of all the other games…SoccerManager is a text game and should stay like that, if you want a 3D game join another online Soccer Management game!
13. muzzy | February 14th, 2008 at 4:05 pm

It would be better if there was a fantasy team mode where you get to make the kit colours and name and start of fresh… BUT only gold members cause otherwise there’d be no more original teams left in setups!
14. adam yaziji | February 23rd, 2008 at 11:51 pm

I agree with Stuart (1st comment), that SM should include youth matches as well, but not on same day because it could get confussing. Good Idea Stuart !! =)
15. Ryan Hooley | February 28th, 2008 at 6:25 pm

Some people need to try and remember that this is an ONLINE text based management game. SM will do all they can not just now but in the future - to improve as many features to make them as life like as possible. But a 3D engine is totally off the scale in terms of time to create, running costs etc etc..

Games like football manager etc that have 3D game engines run totally stand alone and use your graphics card capabilities to display and run the engine. SM is totally web based so this will never happen. Just imagine how long it would take to load for a start? Football Manager and Champ Manager don’t rely on internet speed to run and load, they use your computers processor and graphics card which can provide a speed and performance difference 100 fold. It is not feasible what so ever.

If you like 3d game engines etc just stick to champ and FM.

SM is fine as it is.
16. Scott | March 8th, 2008 at 3:03 pm

well said ryan, i totally agree, but i would like to see loans from the bank but set to a limit!!
17. lous | March 9th, 2008 at 5:45 pm

i think the game should be live 4 stuff like subs an youth teem games is def a gud idea
18. lous | March 9th, 2008 at 5:46 pm

i think the game should be live 4 stuff like subs an youth teem games is def a gud idea.
19. Robs | March 13th, 2008 at 4:59 pm

I think that sm should alow us to change the football strips because my club is benfica and it is pink
20. Dwayne | March 19th, 2008 at 7:27 pm

play 2 game home and away in cup matches only (2nd legs)
21. Dwayne | March 19th, 2008 at 7:31 pm

i think we should be allowed to arrange friendies without being a gold member but only went the repition points are over 100
22. Jacob weeks | April 7th, 2008 at 7:40 pm

I like the idea of youth matches….i know the 3d engine isnt possible but i would like to know wts goin on in the game live so dat we can make subs wen we want to
23. jared | May 13th, 2008 at 9:53 am

have a youth cup good idea
24. zane | May 13th, 2008 at 10:42 pm

i think there should be a way to increase stadium size for more revenue
25. karlos | May 24th, 2008 at 10:29 am

i think that clubs should be given more funds as player prices fro example Hennesey £6 . 5 million it is over the top
26. Matthew Morgan | May 24th, 2008 at 12:56 pm

What is the point of that
27. Charlie | June 19th, 2008 at 4:23 pm

I think that the idea of watching the match, like on football manager is by far the most ambicous! its a brilliant idea and i think that it should be the number 1 priority. please bring it into the game !!!!
28. Joe | June 21st, 2008 at 10:57 am

I agree with the idea of a player requesting a transfer, and i think that an icon next to the players name should show ‘unh’ for unhappy, similar to the icons for interested (’int’), and transfer bid (’TBd’)
29. stevey dinnen | July 4th, 2008 at 10:24 pm

A good idea would be regarding tactics.

I think instead of having standard templates for formations, you should be able to move players freely around the pitch and create new formations. This would the game more interesting and competitive. Please take this idea into consideration.
30. stevey dinnen | July 4th, 2008 at 10:32 pm

Instead of having just the home and away kit, also have the 3rd kit.

Before a player gets transferred they have to get a medical like in real life.

Relating to substitutions, the way you can set a sub e.g after 60 mins if losing. I was thinking of a complete tactic change at certain times in the match e.g a formation change and different mentality which could support your subs. Because if you are playing a 4-4-2 but want to bring on an extra striker, you could set the formation to 4-3-3 and change to an attacking mentallity.
31. Sheepy5 | July 11th, 2008 at 6:22 pm

I think that you should be given information to go with this like whos scored against the opposition the most etc
32. Scott Ashton | July 15th, 2008 at 9:20 pm

I would like to see the next match date shown on the “MY HOME” page as this would be handy for people with more than one team for quick reference. This would prevent having to click on each team individually.
33. chris | July 16th, 2008 at 4:49 pm

i bet it will jst be for ”GOLD MEMBERS”
34. scott | July 28th, 2008 at 7:23 pm

why would anyone want to sit for 1h30 in front of their pc watching spots running up and down a pitch

3D match engine is pointless unless you have nothing better to do with your evenings than stare at moving dots
35. james | August 19th, 2008 at 2:30 pm

h2hs are a great idea cuz u can change ur formation if some1 is ur bogey team