Raikan007's Possession tactic discussion & creation centre: Hints & Tips

[Raikan007]

Hi, I'm currently playing as Manchester United (you might remember i asked you some questions before). It's all going fine, except for the use of my playmaker. Hamsik is a quality football player, as is laybad, and yet when i play them in my three man midfield as advanced playmakers they get about 15-25 passes a game....hardly a playmaker,a nd usually the least amount of passes in my team. I haven't changed any of the player instructions at all really....any idea? Would be much appreicated if you could help me get them more passes

have you selected him as your playmaker? if so, undo that! it actually works counter productively sometimes depending on formation and instructions

it depends on the instructions of the players around him, ask the two wider Cm's to never run from deep or run with ball, just through balls sometimes, ask the central cm (playmaker, Hamsik) to run from deep always and move into channels

see if that works, it will force the playmaker to look for space to receive the pass from the other more defensive cm's, this is when you can make him the "playmaker"

 

[Bobby Sure]

Thanks a lot, this is helped me out greatly. Not enough of these threads around, that give you help on creating a tactic as opposed to giving you a ready made tactic to download. Much appreciated. I have a couple of questions if that's alright mate

1. Will setting players to swap positions help enable movement to create more pass options ?
2. Is it possible to play wide and quick and still maintain possession ? I know you have said it is but if you could go in to specifics that would be great
3. Is is possible to achieve possession football using the 3-4-3. That's my aim really but having a lot of trouble in getting possession + ccc. Shape always ends up looking like a 5-2-3.

Thanks again mate

 

[Gump]

Thanks a lot, this is helped me out greatly. Not enough of these threads around, that give you help on creating a tactic as opposed to giving you a ready made tactic to download. Much appreciated. I have a couple of questions if that's alright mate

1. Will setting players to swap positions help enable movement to create more pass options ?
2. Is it possible to play wide and quick and still maintain possession ? I know you have said it is but if you could go in to specifics that would be great
3. Is is possible to achieve possession football using the 3-4-3. That's my aim really but having a lot of trouble in getting possession + ccc. Shape always ends up looking like a 5-2-3.

Thanks again mate

Me wud say;

1. Yes, as they will roam from their own position and especially if opposition is man marking, it leaves em confused and out of their position, which creates space for others to take, tho there always needs to be someone to take the played space.
2. Yap its all possible, but yet it can backfire you; Playing wide can be tricky as then the opposition can cut ur passes since they will be kinda ''long'' since they arent scattered near each other. Me has witnessed this many times, but it requires of course skillful players and its all possible. With Quick Tempo ur players will look to make things happen faster and sharply, leaving room for mistakes and might make ur game ''rushed'' which might cause not getting much of possession. I wouldnt play Quick tempo, Normal or Slow is proper one.
3. Yap everything is possible, it just depends from Team instructions and Player instructions. As for ur tactics shape, the widest midfielders will almost everytime drop deep when not in possession and go higher or stay in midfield when in possession. Their role is very mobile so to say, make sure U have guys with good Stamina in those.

 

[Bobby Sure]

Me wud say;

1. Yes, as they will roam from their own position and especially if opposition is man marking, it leaves em confused and out of their position, which creates space for others to take, tho there always needs to be someone to take the played space.
2. Yap its all possible, but yet it can backfire you; Playing wide can be tricky as then the opposition can cut ur passes since they will be kinda ''long'' since they arent scattered near each other. Me has witnessed this many times, but it requires of course skillful players and its all possible. With Quick Tempo ur players will look to make things happen faster and sharply, leaving room for mistakes and might make ur game ''rushed'' which might cause not getting much of possession. I wouldnt play Quick tempo, Normal or Slow is proper one.
3. Yap everything is possible, it just depends from Team instructions and Player instructions. As for ur tactics shape, the widest midfielders will almost everytime drop deep when not in possession and go higher or stay in midfield when in possession. Their role is very mobile so to say, make sure U have guys with good Stamina in those.

Thanks for the reply mate. So does slow and quick work as a combination ? I have never tried it. Should I extend the pass lengths of my players if I am playing wide ? and how far ? Does it matter if I set swap positions and the players that swap position are ineffectual in that position ? sorry if that is a stupid question.

Also does it matter what I set the player roles too, even if I keep the players instructions exactly the same ?

 

[Gump]

Thanks for the reply mate. So does slow and quick work as a combination ? I have never tried it. Should I extend the pass lengths of my players if I am playing wide ? and how far ? Does it matter if I set swap positions and the players that swap position are ineffectual in that position ? sorry if that is a stupid question.

Also does it matter what I set the player roles too, even if I keep the players instructions exactly the same ?

Not sure what U meant by ''Slow and Quick combination'', but they cant be combined in terms of tempo as U can only adjust the tempo to other. Well it might help if U set the passing slightly longer, but of course it depends what kind of passing U want to use and if short, then with Wide it doesnt necessarily require to put the slider couple clicks to right, it only requires the players to MOve into channels and move into space so they can receive the pass instead of being too far away and man marked by opposition. As has been said, Wide creates more space. No, the players arent ineffectual, but it largely depends what roles they have. Dont make Poacher swap with CB as CB is then Poacher and Poacher is CB, it might be catastrophic. But e.g. 2 CM's with attack Swap position works good (And I currently use that, working for me), they switch time to time their position, creating space as they move from their position, but swappin positions doesnt mean they will do it only once and then theyll stay there; Sometimes they dont swap, but sometimes they do and they keep swapping through the whole game as U might have noticed if U use it. But no, they aint ineffectual, it all depends from roles/PI.

And the last one, well depends how much U have altered their PI from the TC basic. If U change every possible slider, then it doesnt matter, its like using Classic tactic then. If U dont change lot and let em be as TC set em, then it depends.

 

[Bobby Sure]

Not sure what U meant by ''Slow and Quick combination'', but they cant be combined in terms of tempo as U can only adjust the tempo to other. Well it might help if U set the passing slightly longer, but of course it depends what kind of passing U want to use and if short, then with Wide it doesnt necessarily require to put the slider couple clicks to right, it only requires the players to MOve into channels and move into space so they can receive the pass instead of being too far away and man marked by opposition. As has been said, Wide creates more space. No, the players arent ineffectual, but it largely depends what roles they have. Dont make Poacher swap with CB as CB is then Poacher and Poacher is CB, it might be catastrophic. But e.g. 2 CM's with attack Swap position works good (And I currently use that, working for me), they switch time to time their position, creating space as they move from their position, but swappin positions doesnt mean they will do it only once and then theyll stay there; Sometimes they dont swap, but sometimes they do and they keep swapping through the whole game as U might have noticed if U use it. But no, they aint ineffectual, it all depends from roles/PI.

And the last one, well depends how much U have altered their PI from the TC basic. If U change every possible slider, then it doesnt matter, its like using Classic tactic then. If U dont change lot and let em be as TC set em, then it depends.

Thanks mate. So if I change most of the sliders and options I the role doesn't matter ? I meant slow and quick lol sorry. What about the mentality slider. What exactly does that affect ? I am really struggling to create chances but am getting like 60 % position but most of it is in my own half. Any ideas ?

 

[Gump]

Thanks mate. So if I change most of the sliders and options I the role doesn't matter ? I meant slow and quick lol sorry. What about the mentality slider. What exactly does that affect ? I am really struggling to create chances but am getting like 60 % position but most of it is in my own half. Any ideas ?

yap for the first, mentality is kinda how they look to play, how many passes they contribute to attack way. More attacking, more attacking passes, more defensive, more passes backwards, its like that. Me is currently short on time, has to go now so I cant write more ''in-depth'' advice. Mebbey Raikan will give U a hand.

 

[Bobby Sure]

yap for the first, mentality is kinda how they look to play, how many passes they contribute to attack way. More attacking, more attacking passes, more defensive, more passes backwards, its like that. Me is currently short on time, has to go now so I cant write more ''in-depth'' advice. Mebbey Raikan will give U a hand.

Cheers mate, advice has improved my tactic a lot. Creating more ccc thanks to your clarifications. Just whenever, if you have any ideas on how to condense space between defence-midfield-attackers, that would be great

 

[Gump]

Cheers mate, advice has improved my tactic a lot. Creating more ccc thanks to your clarifications. Just whenever, if you have any ideas on how to condense space between defence-midfield-attackers, that would be great

What you mean by condense? Never heard of such word and too lazy to take a look at dictionary.

 

[Bobby Sure]

What you mean by condense? Never heard of such word and too lazy to take a look at dictionary.

like close the massive gap I have between my forward three and my fullbacks. The main problem I have is that my wide midfielder drop back when in defence to in line with my back three. So that when I win the ball back there is a massive gap between my fullbacks and my front. Any ideas how to push them closer together ?

 

[Gump]

like close the massive gap I have between my forward three and my fullbacks. The main problem I have is that my wide midfielder drop back when in defence to in line with my back three. So that when I win the ball back there is a massive gap between my fullbacks and my front. Any ideas how to push them closer together ?

Make em Run from deep often, then they will get up and support the attacks. Do U use classic or ''normal'' tactics?

 

[Mithatiger]

My problem with it (short and sweet) i still get scored. I tried every possible tactic there is from raikan to koflok to all bunch of others and couple of myself. Possession hits %70+ most of the time but i still get 3 to 5 shot on target at the other team. I dont have problems scoring but i even with great defenders and gk (i have sebastian basstong a great regen cata diaz and dirk marcelis at defence and steger at gk) so i dont know what else i could do. Maybe spanish league is not for 'not conceding' league .

 

[Bobby Sure]

Make em Run from deep often, then they will get up and support the attacks. Do U use classic or ''normal'' tactics?

Um normal I think ? whats the difference ? what do you recommend ? thanks for the help btw

 

[Gump]

Um normal I think ? whats the difference ? what do you recommend ? thanks for the help btw

Well U probably use normal, the difference is that if U revert to Classic style, U dont have any roles for the players, so it all matters from the PI's U set. With normal U get to choose the roles e.g. for midfield whether the guy is Box to box, Deeplying playmaker, avdanced playmaker etc. Well me doesnt have any recommendations, edoesnt really matter

 

[lipecamara]

hey mates,tomorrow i'm gonna try to create a 4-3-3 tactic with the CF dropping to help the creation of the play and the two other strikers giving depthness to the attack,pushing the defensive line back and receiving the through balls from the CF and mid.I want the tactic to pick the ball upfront and to work it around the box,,preferencially in a high tempo.I imagine a mid with BTB--DLP--BTB,and with that i want to get somewhere near 60-65% possession per game.What do you specialists suggests?What do you think of the idea?

ps: the dlp would have the "run from deep" to rarely,so he can always be available to receive the passes from the mids and strikers.BTB with sometimes,so they can work the play with the fullbacks and give widthness to the team.

 

[Raikan007]

hey mates,tomorrow i'm gonna try to create a 4-3-3 tactic with the CF dropping to help the creation of the play and the two other strikers giving depthness to the attack,pushing the defensive line back and receiving the through balls from the CF and mid.I want the tactic to pick the ball upfront and to work it around the box,,preferencially in a high tempo.I imagine a mid with BTB--DLP--BTB,and with that i want to get somewhere near 60-65% possession per game.What do you specialists suggests?What do you think of the idea?

ps: the dlp would have the "run from deep" to rarely,so he can always be available to receive the passes from the mids and strikers.BTB with sometimes,so they can work the play with the fullbacks and give widthness to the team.

that sounds about right mate instead of a dlp why not employ a bwm rather? this will add a lot of stability to the centre of the field

read the OP for tips on how to create possession you going to make the two wider strikers out and out poachers? if you play too deep you will pass the ball around your own half more than getting it upfield

 

[Raikan007]

My problem with it (short and sweet) i still get scored. I tried every possible tactic there is from raikan to koflok to all bunch of others and couple of myself. Possession hits p+ most of the time but i still get 3 to 5 shot on target at the other team. I dont have problems scoring but i even with great defenders and gk (i have sebastian basstong a great regen cata diaz and dirk marcelis at defence and steger at gk) so i dont know what else i could do. Maybe spanish league is not for 'not conceding' league .

hey mate! how many games are you giving it a shot with? some tactics just dont work for some teams and some players (managers even)

I would suggest trying to make your own one to fit your own players

 

[helloiamanewlow]

Hi again,

In the OP you say:
For closing down (the thing most people have issues with) I have a simple solution that works really well for me, have every player (save for your out and out goalscorer) to close down exactly the same, I have it set to own half but right on the border of whole pitch, this will ensure your team really keep their shape and close down together as a unit and dont get dragged out of position...


Is this not dangerous for your centrebacks? just wanted to check before I changed anything as all of your other tips have worked great (and my possession tactics, a 4-2-3-1 and 4-5-1, are working quite well).

I was also wondering if you could explain how to make your striker effective in possession tactics, what player instructions to use etc.

Is it ok to leave 'cross from' as 'byline'?
Should I let my lone striker roam?
How should I set his mentality?

I'm playing a very high line, low timewasting, not many of the players have much creative freedom and the midfield in my 4-2-3-1 (including IF's) works well, with the AMC always finding lots of space, whoever I'm playing.

All your tips have been really helpful in helping me understand the game, so keep up the good work.

 

[Raikan007]

Hi again,

In the OP you say:
For closing down (the thing most people have issues with) I have a simple solution that works really well for me, have every player (save for your out and out goalscorer) to close down exactly the same, I have it set to own half but right on the border of whole pitch, this will ensure your team really keep their shape and close down together as a unit and dont get dragged out of position...


Is this not dangerous for your centrebacks? just wanted to check before I changed anything as all of your other tips have worked great (and my possession tactics, a 4-2-3-1 and 4-5-1, are working quite well).

I was also wondering if you could explain how to make your striker effective in possession tactics, what player instructions to use etc.

Is it ok to leave 'cross from' as 'byline'?
Should I let my lone striker roam?
How should I set his mentality?

I'm playing a very high line, low timewasting, not many of the players have much creative freedom and the midfield in my 4-2-3-1 (including IF's) works well, with the AMC always finding lots of space, whoever I'm playing.

All your tips have been really helpful in helping me understand the game, so keep up the good work.

hey mate,

you can leave the cb's default for their roles if you like, however I would play defend/defend and have them close down the same, maybe one more than the other to ensure if he does push up then the other player will be "free" behind him to mop up any mistakes! also dont set them (or set closing down in opposition instructions to players who drop deep as this will pull out one or both of the defenders)

own half about 6 clicks should be hundreds

they must not get invloved in build up play (if playing lone striker) they need to be the focal point of attack, all build up play should result in the striker getting himself into position (as you said, roaming, moves into channels, run from deep, run with ball and force him to the byline for crosses sometimes for you IF's to come in from outwide)

its a pleasure mate

 

[fabiobra1975]

Hello Raikan007's,I created a possession tactic carefully following your advices. I employ a 4-3-3 (or 4-5-1 depending how you consider the two wingers) with a DM instead of an AMC. I play Juventus and I have to accomodate Andrea Pirlo in his best posistion. First 3 games with the tactics were good but I still have some doubts in the player instructions:- Fullbacks: in your OP you stated to set them on hold up ball (in order to retain possession and not to give ball away for free), but sometimes you suggest the contrary (no hold up ball) and through balls often to find wingers in space. Which factors should I look at for the best choice ? Are through balls really effective when playing short passes ?- Lone striker: the possession flow if very good but it normally end up with going down the flanks and put large amount of crosses into the box (20 or more) normally not on target. I don't have a tall striker (I play Alessandro Matri) even if he is not that bad in heading, and my CC's, even if set with runs from deep, do not get so deep into the box. What tweak do you suggest ? Should I work on wingers (maybe cut inside ?) or on the lone striler ?Many thanks !!