Basic steps for set piece domination.
Set pieces in Football Manager can be the users nightmare, with the key goal being from a corner or free kick. Well with this little guide I aim to help improve the chances you will have from set pieces and also cut down on the chances the AI get from set pieces. I will be using a basic 4-4-2 formation for an example so that you understand the jist of things.
Corners
Firstly I shall start out with Corners, now a lot of people understand the 'corner exploit' and it can be utilized in Football Manager to such an extent that 30% of your seasons goals will end up coming from this way. I'm going to give you the Instructions for both the 'corner exploit' set piece and of course one that I enjoy using in-game. ( This is of course based on how good your team is )
So what is this 'corner exploit' I keep going on about, well it's something in the match engine that allows for your player to obstruct the goalkeeper without the risk of giving away a free kick. The key to utilizing the effect of this is to have a player whom has the best Heading and Jumping with other attributes being the key if you are a club with a higher reputation and players who match that reputation.
Onto laying out the 'corner exploit' set piece.
What I shall do is put up the player Instructions and then I shall explain as to why I have decided to do them in that certain way.
Defending Corners
To start off with you want your two wingers on the posts. Why? Well because they won't have better defensive attributes than your wingbacks, meaning that you will have more 'defenders' to mark up with the opposition. I then tend to bring every player back except the player who has the best dribbling, acceleration and pace, because if the ball is cleared out he can make something from it and usually the AI tend to foul him because of his key attribute in dribbling. In regard to every player back you want your best two players with high attributes in heading and jumping to man mark the tallest players on the opposition. Every other player can then be put onto 'man marking'.
Simple version if you can't be bothered to read through the above;
Two wingers with 'near' and 'Mk far',
Two best players with Heading and Jumping to mark 'Tall' ( I tend to find it is the two DC's ),
Your best player in Dribbling, Acceleration and Pace to stay 'Fwd',
Every other player to 'Man'.
Attacking Corners ( Corner Exploit )
So the key to utilizing this set piece in football manager is to have your player who has the best heading and jumping attributes to 'challenge keeper', another key thing for this to work is the players height, over six foot should be fine. I then put my second best in the two categories onto 'attack near post' to allow a double threat if the corner is put in shorter and then I stick my best finisher on 'attack far post' allowing for them to get a simple tap in if need be. One key thing I also tend to do is allow for one of my players to come 'short' so that it drags a player away from the box. If you are using a back four then what I do is put the DL and DR to 'stay back' just in-case the AI get a lucky break then you have cover. I then have all the spare players to 'lurk outside area' so that if the ball was to be played out then I have more chance to recover and have another go at the AI's goal.
In team Instructions you want the distribution to be '6 yard box'. This is vital. Another key thing I have found is to have the best corner taker from each side be opposite footed to the side they are taking the corner from. So for example, Ryan Giggs is left footed and a pretty decent corner taker, so I would then have him take the 'right sided' corners because it allows for the ball to be in-swinging. So then it would be a right footed player taking the left corners.
Make sure that your corner take is not one of the three that will be left in the box! and also not the person who is coming short!!
Again a simple version if you can't be bothered to read through the above;
Player with the best Header and Jumping attributes to 'Keeper',
Second best player in the above attributes to 'Near',
Your best finisher whom is not the other two in the box to 'At Far',
One player to 'Short',
Two players ( preferably your DL and DR ) will be 'back',
The rest of the team on 'Lurk',
Also making sure that the corner taker is not one of the players in the box or the player who is coming short,
Team Distribution to '6 yard box',
Left corner to be taken by your best 'right footed' player,
Right corner to be taken by your best 'left footed' player.
Hope it helps so far. Now onto getting these free kicks sorted out.
Free Kicks
Defending free kicks can be vital to getting that all important victory or sneaking that one point to help you stay clear of relegation, well lets see how we can perfect this slightly.
Defending Free Kicks
Now implementing this into football manager should be pretty easy, seeing as the options are somewhat limited to the users exposure. I tend to use a four man wall because I have seen numerous times that using a smaller sized wall the AI seem to score more. Now onto these player Instructions, I usually have every defensive minded player on 'man marking'. Sticking four players into the wall and I usually leave my fastest player 'staying forward', Why? Well because if he manages to counter attack from the set piece then you have more of a chance to beat the remaining players whom are back.
That works out to be;
Five defensive minded players ( usually including the whole back four in a 4-4-2 ) onto 'Man',
Four players ( excluding the fastest attacking minded player ) in the 'Wall',
One player ( the fastest attacking player ) as 'Fwd'.
Attacking Free Kicks
Scoring from free kicks and getting the best out of them are what some users find hard to implement, fear not as I hope that I can shed some light onto these and share what has given me great success.
You can go two ways about it, I'll get onto that later as it is only regarding the team distribution of free kicks.
Attacking free kicks can follow the rule that the attacking corners follow, with your DL and DR 'staying back' and with your two CB's 'going forward', if that doesn't work then you can always put your best CB with heading and jumping to 'mark keeper' which if worked correctly the AI will also move a player back to mark him up allowing for more free space. With that in mind you should now have three or four players with Instructions used, next look at the players excluding the previous with the best strength for an attribute, take the two best and make then 'disrupt the wall'. This should allow for you to have more chance if the free kick is in range for a shot. Next up we have to utilize the player in your team with the highest long shot attribute, this player will be standing with the taker, that's if they are not the taker. This will be key if we are using the second option on team Instructions. Every other player should then be asigned to 'going forward'.
In regard to the team Instructions you can use either one of the following two, 'Short' and 'Best Header' ( I haven't narrowed it down to which one is better, I prefer the latter )
That works out to be;
Two players ( preferably your DR and DL ) will be 'Back',
Best Header and Jumper to 'Keeper',
Best two players with Strength to 'Disrupt',
Then we will use the best player with Long Shots as 'Taker',( Click the Stand with Taker option )
Every other player assigned 'Fwd',
Team Instruction assigned to 'Short' or 'Best Header',
Opposite foot takers can also apply to this for better chances.
If your free kick taker is one of the top three key settings above then change it around to the next best player in that attribute.
