Pass into space

[warlock]

Could we get some clarification from SI on this, because it comes up again and again on the forum. In the real world, the opposite of 'pass into space' is 'pass to feet'. It has nothing to do with length, directness or riskiness of passing. A pass into space could be short or long, safe or risky, a forward through-ball or a sideways pass. Yet the discussion on the forum usually revolves around 'pass into space' as if it were synonymous with 'more direct passing' or 'more risky passing'. Of course, it might be either of those but it ain't necessarily so. To me, pass into space just means not passing to feet, inviting the receiver to move towards the ball.

[Snorks]

I would also like to know exactly what it does, but unfortunately, due to the nature of the game, I don;t think it does anything particularly specific.

The way I see the instruction is that it depends on the player making the pass, his vision, flair, composure and passing attributes as well as perhaps anticipation will all go in to what he does in terms of moving the ball.

You are not incorrect, that it could be a forwards, sideways or backwards pass, and in essence it is the opposite of the old 'Pass to Feet' instruction - which is now covered in 'Retain Possession' 'Fewer Risky Passes' etc.

 

In actuality, it encourages diagonal balls through the defense for forwards to run onto. To achieve it's full effect, Support roles with good vision, flair, passing etc will see an opportunity to Pass Into Space and execute it, players with good Off the Ball, Anticipation etc will see it coming and head into that space to meet the ball, wherever this happens on the pitch. Acceleration and Pace attributes determine whether he gets there before the opposition.

By definition though, it is kind of 'anti-possession' and inherently more risky as the ball is in space and an opposition player can get there before the intended receiver.

So, it is neither 'More Direct Passing' nor 'Take more Risks' but it does come with an element of directness (most passes into space will be to space in front of a team mate) and an element of risk, so would work against "Less Risky Passes' and Retain Possession instructions. 

Direct Passing tends to be longer, and played with increased tempo - get the ball forward quickly but with more finesse than lumping it over the defence.

Pass Into Space is a more considered pass for a specific player to run onto.

 

Hope that helps - and happy to be challenged if anyone has other thoughts.

Edited April 12, 2018 by Snorks

[Cal585]

My understanding is that Pass Into Space is essentially just "play more through balls". Same as the more risky passes PI. Useful if you've got quick players with space to run into but will also give the ball away more because you're playing 50/50 balls rather than to your own players. Hence why it's more risky.

On a side note, I'm no longer as sure about playing with BPD as I prefer through balls coming from midfield rather than defence.

[lanewalk]

Just trying this TI in FM2019 and can see that the type of pass changes just like it says within the game, for a teammate to run onto it...

[Alvaro.pcr]

Yeah, this can be a bit annoying. I love to watch a game with through balls, but when I ask them to pass into space the percentage of successful passing drops greatly and in game we can see how many times we lose possession because of trying a risky pass and just returning it to the opposition.

I end up being a manager that loves slow possession football, when all I wanted was a beautiful one-two with a through ball to leave the striker alone with the keeper. 

[sporadicsmiles]

On 12/04/2018 at 03:15, warlock said:

Yet the discussion on the forum usually revolves around 'pass into space' as if it were synonymous with 'more direct passing' or 'more risky passing'.

It depends when you use it.  It is not something I would use all the time, because it is going to decrease your passing success rate by the fact that you are not actually passing to players. That inherently makes it more risky than passing to feet. Equally, you are more likely to have space on the flanks or behind the defence than in midfield. So pass into space will encourage balls over the top into that space. Which makes you play more direct. Not every pass will be like this, but you will see more of it.

The point about pass into space is to know when to use it. Use it when you keep seeing players with lots of space infront of them to run on to. It can work very nicely to get wingers or fullbacks behind their defender to get crosses in, for example, if you are being given space. Or if you want to give balls for your forwards to chase.