I think that short passing is better for Top teams and direct pass is better to Weak teams.
But you can implement a short pass type of play to a small team and Direct pass to a bigger team. Man Utd play direct pass IRL.
It´s all about the style of play that fits your players...
Look at the pass attributes of your players, if it´s good you can choose to play shorter if not you should go for direct.
I think that the key attributes to play short is:
- Passing (obvious)
- Decisions
- Concentration
- Teamwork
Weak teams playing short pass is difficult because they take too long to get the ball where it needs and the bad decisions and lack of concentration can result in losing possession in some key areas of the field.
Then if you go for Direct the ball will go forward fast and can result in an opportunity for your strikers to score and it´s a safer way to play...
I am trying to implement a short passing style to a small team but it´s really hard due the things I said above, less shots, less opportunities and obvious less goals which is all that matters in the end... But I am working really hard to get this done!
Tbh, what my logic says is, short passing for weaker teams, since its quite obvious that it takes higher passing attribute and desicion to make the proper direct pass, also the reciever of the ball must have good off the ball attribute to move in the right positions to make the passing possible.
To make a short and simple pass is not hard at all, but making a longer range pass or a pass to a player higher up the pitch is way more difficult than playing short passes to a nearby teammate.
If a team in the lower leagues in England, wanted to play more direct i believe they would lose possesion to often, due to the lack of high attributes. However, if they play against a better team i believe that direct passing could work, since they would be more counter attacking.
But if i should make a list like yours, i would say the key parts to play a short passing style would be:
-First touch, obviously because of bad touches might lose you possesion and start a counter for the opponent
-Concentration
-Composure, because of less mistakes and is needed to play the ball around patiently
-Teamwork
I would really include passing into this, as i think its not that much needed. However it will always be prefered to have higher passing attributes, but i dont see them as key.
To finish of with, a little thing that will support this post...
What is harder irl? To play a 8 feet pass to a nearby teammate or to play a 15 feet pass to a teammate in a more advanced position?
Thats just how i sees it.