What makes a team absolutely dominate possesion?

I usually do well in possesion on average i'll get around 60%. What makes teams get in the 70's maybe even the 80's and still go on the attack? I know alot of people say passing and decisions are key.

yes, direct passing, slow tempo, controlled setting. These are some key things to use in the instructions. You also need the players that are able to hold onto the ball and not mis place passes too.

Direct passing really? I always thought short passing was better as the passing is easier

i find i get more posession with direct.

I'd imagine it's keeping the ball. Short passes. Keeper distributes short to defender rather than long ball. Slower tempo.

Time wasting - not tempo.

You want high tempo, high time wasting, if you're aiming for Barcelona-esque possession. Slow tempo and your moves tend to break down, because when you move the ball about that slowly, the opposition can close you down more comfortably. You also want crossing rarely - banging in crosses is a lottery, and an easy way to turn over possession: especially if your midfield go charging into the box, and the clearing header leaves your defence exposed.

GK should distribute short to defenders; your team should generally be fluid or above - you want your attackers and defenders close enough to your midfield to help you retain possession.

Also: people concentrate a lot on their method of attacking (tempo, passing length, time wasting, GK distribution etc.) and all these things count, but equally important is your defence: if you want to win the game, you'll have to risk turning over possession eventually - and with the wrong defensive settings, you'll not get it back all that quickly.

Quick defenders and a really high D-line help massively: it also helps when you have the ball, because with your defence pushed so high up the pitch, they are a useful outlet in team passing moves. With a deep line, passing it back to a CB can really take the momentum out of a move, and if they send their strikers to drop deep, they can take your deep lying playmakers out of the game. With a CB who's capable on the ball, and a high line, then you can spread the play from further back than your D-LPs

An attacking WB is also a massive help: pick your best attacking FB and put him in the WB slot (edit his settings so he doesn't dribble and cross too often, he mainly just joins in the passing), and play your fastest CB on his side of the pitch, so that he can cover the gap behind him.

You've also got to close down like crazy- "press more" - and if you don't mind picking up a few yellows, tackle "more aggressively" with your forwards: you won't give away free kicks in risky areas, and you can force quick turnovers high up the pitch as soon as you lose the ball.

You can't do it just from the presets, so you have to be willing to edit the advanced settings. (caveat: I'm still on FM10, have only played the FM11 demo)

I don't always get 70% possession, and I've never had 80%, but generally 40, 45% of the game is my possession in the opposition final third, 20-30% is my possession in the middle of the park, and both myself and the opposition have no more than 5% possession in my defence's third of the pitch, and the opposition get no more than 20% possession in the middle of the park.

It makes me pretty much impossible to beat, because it's just impossible to keep the ball near my goal.

Oh, and you may have noticed that everything I've said is just what Barcelona do.

The higher the tempo the more likely you are to make a mistake. Each player would have to be exceptional with ball control.

When I say "slower tempo" I don't mean to slow it down to slow motion style of play. But rather a calculated tempo that is neither high or low, but somewhere just over the half way line in regards to low and high tempo.

If you're taking lots of long shots you are also giving the ball away, how many long shots go over the bar or wide? Slower tempo, with less long shots.

Tû

I usually do well in possesion on average i'll get around 60%. What makes teams get in the 70's maybe even the 80's and still go on the attack? I know alot of people say passing and decisions are key.

what is your tactical setting? I think 60% possesion is much better.generelly i m playing with chelsea and my tactical info like that> balance,attacki,short.rare time wasting which is set by default.and tempo is normal(2 step higher than rare).with this setting sometime my team play possesional football sometime not.now i want to knw your setting as you said your setting often play possesional game

Another thing that really helps but is often overlooked is how well your team has gelled. The better the team understanding the more likely they are to retain possession, and the safer it is to play at a higher tempo and retain possession. I usually start off with a slow tempo and then when the team has gelled considerably well I increase the tempo. People admire barca's possession football but overlook the fact that the core of the team has played together for long

I am doing very well on possession and passes completed in the screen shot below I completed 720ish from a total of 780 passes and had 80% possession although you will find to gain such stats you have to sacrifice alot of attacking options

As you can see only 3 key passes is not great although it must be said with this tatcic I am aiming more for possession and passing accuracy etc than results.

ehm...fitness