How to play possession football and the training tips, drills or schedules needed to achieve this

[umole2k]

Good day all. Pls I need help on how to play possession football. I need tips as to training drills or schedules to use. I have exhausted everything when it comes to playing this way and can't seem to find an answer to it 

[crusadertsar]

I'm having hard time believing that you exhausted everything. Most of the threads on this forum are advise on how to play some kind of possession system. You are telling me you searched on here and couldn't find anything at all? Like @Cleon and @Experienced Defender both had some great advise on how to play this way. All you do is type possession and sigames in Google and you should get plenty of great threads from here.

Edited August 5, 2020 by crusadertsar

[Experienced Defender]

29 minutes ago, crusadertsar said:

I'm having hard time believing that you exhausted everything. Most of the threads on this forum are advise on how to play some kind of possession system. You are telling me you searched on here and couldn't find anything at all? Like @Cleon and @Experienced Defender both had some great advise on how to play this way. All you do is type possession and sigames in Google and you should get plenty of great threads from here.

i would add @herne79 and his great 4123 tiki-taka thread. While it was created for FM19, tactical principles apply to FM20 as well. 

[permanentquandary]

Lower tempo, dribble less, shorter passing are a good start. Off the ball it's a good idea to press the opposition more urgently and playing with a higher defensive line and line of engagement will also help (but this could also hurt your chance creation and open you up to counter attacks if your players cannot sustain this press).

Edited August 5, 2020 by permanentquandary

[yonko]

3 hours ago, crusadertsar said:

I'm having hard time believing that you exhausted everything. Most of the threads on this forum are advise on how to play some kind of possession system. You are telling me you searched on here and couldn't find anything at all? Like @Cleon and @Experienced Defender both had some great advise on how to play this way. All you do is type possession and sigames in Google and you should get plenty of great threads from here.

I would say your thread is very informative too. We have all chipped in with good tactical variations and training schedules. I almost feel like there is too much info to read through.  

[crusadertsar]

25 minutes ago, yonko said:

I would say your thread is very informative too. We have all chipped in with good tactical variations and training schedules. I almost feel like there is too much info to read through.  

Thanks! I found myself learning and picking up a thing a two from the community and then putting it back into my own attempts. But maybe I think possession football has been overdone abit by us in FM20   I love playing with 4-3-3 and it's variants so naturally it's hard to move away from some kind of possession approach.

Yours too has been some great advice I used, especially for training routines. And @Djuicer possession thread as well.

Edited August 5, 2020 by crusadertsar

[CaptCanuck]

^Maybe OP meant his players are exhausted from a poor training regime? ;-)

Seriously OP... if you return - I'm a newb and the googles directed me to loads of informative threads here or just scan the thread titles on the first 3 or 4 pages for a potluck of formation/training info. For me reading random threads and then leaving things for a while, so I kind of get foggy on the specifics but retain the essence has been most fun for me. And having real teams/managers/playing styles in mind helps a lot too (whether you want to straight up replicate something or use it for inspiration), as you try and match FM's take on which role best suits your 11 piece jigsaw puzzle.

[yonko]

6 hours ago, crusadertsar said:

Thanks! I found myself learning and picking up a thing a two from the community and then putting it back into my own attempts. But maybe I think possession football has been overdone abit by us in FM20   I love playing with 4-3-3 and it's variants so naturally it's hard to move away from some kind of possession approach.

Yours too has been some great advice I used, especially for training routines. And @Djuicer possession thread as well.

There have been many inspirational threads. Don't forget also @Ö-zil to the Arsenal! - his thread on the Barca tactic is one of the best ever. 

Yeah, training is really important for developing attributes and developing team cohesion. Btw, I started an AC Milan save with a possession tactic. I will post some things in your Total Football thread when I have time. 

[crusadertsar]

35 minutes ago, yonko said:

There have been many inspirational threads. Don't forget also @Ö-zil to the Arsenal! - his thread on the Barca tactic is one of the best ever. 

Yeah, training is really important for developing attributes and developing team cohesion. Btw, I started an AC Milan save with a possession tactic. I will post some things in your Total Football thread when I have time. 

Oh can't believe I forgot about O-zil, as his long-going Benfica thread is one of my all-time favourites. So definitely alot of possession content on here. 

Awesome! Love the Rossoneri.  Can't wait to read it. 

[umole2k]

16 hours ago, crusadertsar said:

I'm having hard time believing that you exhausted everything. Most of the threads on this forum are advise on how to play some kind of possession system. You are telling me you searched on here and couldn't find anything at all? Like @Cleon and @Experienced Defender both had some great advise on how to play this way. All you do is type possession and sigames in Google and you should get plenty of great threads from here.

Thanks @crusaderstar for your comment. I also looked up the thread given by @Cleon but it relates to fm 15. Now to what I meant when I said i had exhausted everything. I love possession football no doubt. Who wouldn't like it. I use a 4-3-3 formation. Player roles are sweeper keeper,two full backs, two ball playing defenders, dm plays deeplying playmaker, central midfielder and advanced playmaker, two inside forwards and a pressing striker or deeplying forward. When it comes to training schedule I use outfield, ball distribution, play out from the back, goalkeeper distribution, chance conversion and yet when it comes to matchday, I hardly keep the ball. Possession stats are almost even. Against big teams I rarely keep the ball. I might do that against small teams but not against big team. I also forgot to add. My team instructions are short passing, slow tempo, more discipline, play out from the back, counter press, pass to centre backs, goalkeeper short kicks, higher defensive line, higher line of engagement, press harder. I hope I don't bore you with my long discourse. I have also tried using possession schedule in training. I have used all types of combinations and still can't keep the ball. Maybe fm needs to put the retain possession team instruction as it was in previous fm editions

[crusadertsar]

32 minutes ago, umole2k said:

Thanks @crusaderstar for your comment. I also looked up the thread given by @Cleon but it relates to fm 15. Now to what I meant when I said i had exhausted everything. I love possession football no doubt. Who wouldn't like it. I use a 4-3-3 formation. Player roles are sweeper keeper,two full backs, two ball playing defenders, dm plays deeplying playmaker, central midfielder and advanced playmaker, two inside forwards and a pressing striker or deeplying forward. When it comes to training schedule I use outfield, ball distribution, play out from the back, goalkeeper distribution, chance conversion and yet when it comes to matchday, I hardly keep the ball. Possession stats are almost even. Against big teams I rarely keep the ball. I might do that against small teams but not against big team. I also forgot to add. My team instructions are short passing, slow tempo, more discipline, play out from the back, counter press, pass to centre backs, goalkeeper short kicks, higher defensive line, higher line of engagement, press harder. I hope I don't bore you with my long discourse. I have also tried using possession schedule in training. I have used all types of combinations and still can't keep the ball. Maybe fm needs to put the retain possession team instruction as it was in previous fm editions

Those instructions and roles are all good for possession system but you have to remember that's it's not some kind of magical formula you put in and expect over 60% possession every time. There is still another team that's also playing football, and sometimes "gasp" also trying to win possession.

Edited August 6, 2020 by crusadertsar

[EnigMattic1]

10 minutes ago, crusadertsar said:

Those instructions and roles are all good for possession system but you have to remember that's it's not some kind of magical formula you put in and expect over 60% possession every time. There is still another team that's also tryt to play football, and sometimes "gasp" also trying to win possession.

It's not just about getting that 60% though, I made that mistake. I was able to get close to that figure, but couldn't actually do anything with it.

I have spent many hours on threads by the people mentioned here and I came to realise that I didn't know as much as I thought I did. 

Believe me though, you guys helped no end. 

[crusadertsar]

8 minutes ago, EnigMattic1 said:

It's not just about getting that 60% though, I made that mistake. I was able to get close to that figure, but couldn't actually do anything with it.

I have spent many hours on threads by the people mentioned here and I came to realise that I didn't know as much as I thought I did. 

Believe me though, you guys helped no end. 

Exactly, it's not just getting the ball, but also what you do with it. It's useless if you get most of the possession but cannot score a single goal. 

[EnigMattic1]

1 minute ago, crusadertsar said:

Exactly, it's not just getting the ball, but also what you do with it. It's useless if you get most of the possession but cannot score a single goal. 

I remember a thread on here, I can't remember who created it, but the title was something like "possession with intent" and it was basically about what he did with the ball once he had it. Very rarely did he have 60% possession, but he was winning games. 

[crusadertsar]

Same here. I always try to achieve possession with intent or progressive possession. My ball numbers usually gravitate around 50%-55% unless I'm playing a really weak team. But I'm happy with that because we are still winning with style.

Edited August 6, 2020 by crusadertsar

[umole2k]

36 minutes ago, crusadertsar said:

Those instructions and roles are all good for possession system but you have to remember that's it's not some kind of magical formula you put in and expect over 60% possession every time. There is still another team that's also playing football, and sometimes "gasp" also trying to win possession.

So in other words your saying that I can't always dominate possession against any and every team? But that is what am looking to do. Pep does it. Why can't I? Barca do it. Why can't I? I have technically gifted players. Nigel de jong, havertz, camavinga, fabian Ruiz etc

[EnigMattic1]

3 minutes ago, umole2k said:

So in other words your saying that I can't always dominate possession against any and every team? But that is what am looking to do. Pep does it. Why can't I? Barca do it. Why can't I? I have technically gifted players. Nigel de jong, havertz, camavinga, fabian Ruiz etc

This is just it. Just because you have technically gifted players, you can't expect to be Barcelona or Man City.

Look at how Silva and de Bruyne play at City, there isn't a preset role for that in FM.

As realistic as FM is, there will always be some new tactical role created that we don't have (free 8, Chris Wilder's defenders). 

At the end of the day, you wouldn't be able to dominate off the bat anyway. Players will need time to adapt and, let's be honest, there is no set time frame regarding how long it will take. 

[crusadertsar]

7 minutes ago, umole2k said:

So in other words your saying that I can't always dominate possession against any and every team? But that is what am looking to do. Pep does it. Why can't I? Barca do it. Why can't I? I have technically gifted players. Nigel de jong, havertz, camavinga, fabian Ruiz etc

It's a game for one thing. And also Possession is not even calculated the same way it is in real life. You need to adjust your expectations.

[umole2k]

48 minutes ago, crusadertsar said:

It's a game for one thing. And also Possession is not even calculated the same way it is in real life. You need to adjust your expectations.

Thanks for your feedback but just want to add this. I just hope that si adds the retain possession to team instruction. Maybe that would go a long way in helping out. Thanks all the same. I will tone down my expectations 

[crusadertsar]

6 minutes ago, umole2k said:

Thanks for your feedback but just want to add this. I just hope that si adds the retain possession to team instruction. Maybe that would go a long way in helping out. Thanks all the same. I will tone down my expectations 

Retain possession is already there. Just read the description for hold position instruction.

[umole2k]

1 minute ago, crusadertsar said:

Retain possession is already there. Just read the description for hold position instruction.

Hold position instruction is a player instruction and not a team instruction 

[crusadertsar]

3 minutes ago, umole2k said:

Hold position instruction is a player instruction and not a team instruction 

The one that's in transition section. I forget what's it's called. I thought it was hold position. I don't have access to the game so can't check it . But there's a instruction there that tells your team to take a more patient approach and to retain the ball more. 

[umole2k]

3 minutes ago, crusadertsar said:

The one that's in transition section. I forget what's it's called. I thought it was hold position. I don't have access to the game so can't check it . But there's a instruction there that tells your team to take a more patient approach and to retain the ball more. 

Ok. You mean hold shape?

[crusadertsar]

Yup, that's the one

[EnigMattic1]

Wouldn't playing narrower with shorter passing help? Did I read that somewhere? Maybe a Guardiola analysis somewhere? 

[umole2k]

23 minutes ago, EnigMattic1 said:

Wouldn't playing narrower with shorter passing help? Did I read that somewhere? Maybe a Guardiola analysis somewhere? 

I play narrow attacking width. I keep the ball against weaker sides but not against stronger sides but I get it, can't always happen 

[EnigMattic1]

25 minutes ago, umole2k said:

I play narrow attacking width. I keep the ball against weaker sides but not against stronger sides but I get it, can't always happen 

The thing is, a lot of people on here would probably say you can't play exactly the same tactic against every team. I guess that's why they are trying to work on the whole Data Analyst roles. 

[CaptCanuck]

6 hours ago, crusadertsar said:

Those instructions and roles are all good for possession system but you have to remember that's it's not some kind of magical formula you put in and expect over 60% possession every time. There is still another team that's also playing football, and sometimes "gasp" also trying to win possession.

Isn't there an easy formula for 60% possession... you might not score, finish bottom 1/2 or get in a relegation mind ;-)

I also don't get why - regardless of preferred style - folks immediately select a shedload of instructions as if to force, in this case, POSSESSION! onto the team. I don't have the FM experience of you gentlemen yet, but not having Counter on for In Transition and then maybe 3 instructions for In Possession, combined with roles and the players for them and my two 'possession' tactics absolutely possess the ball in a good way, especially vs my 'counter-attack' tactic.

Edit: actually the OP doesn't have a ton enabled, being listed one after the other made it look that way on first bluch :-)

Edited August 6, 2020 by CaptCanuck

[crusadertsar]

8 minutes ago, CaptCanuck said:

Isn't there an easy formula for 60% possession... you might not score, finish bottom 1/2 or get in a relegation mind ;-)

I also don't get why - regardless of preferred style - folks immediately select a shedload of instructions as if to force, in this case, POSSESSION! onto the team. I don't have the FM experience of you gentlemen yet, but not having Counter on for In Transition and then maybe 3 instructions for In Possession, combined with roles and the players for them and my two 'possession' tactics absolutely possess the ball in a good way, especially vs my 'counter-attack' tactic.

I think that's the main problem here. People get hung up so much on getting high levels of possession because they think that equates with being successful. Basically they say that Guardiola gets very high possession so if you play like him you will be very successful in the game. But then they forget that's it's still just a game. In fact if you play exactly like Guardiola you will probably end up getting a ton of draws in FM20 and end up finishing 3nd behind Liverpool and Arsenal.

Edited August 6, 2020 by crusadertsar

[EnigMattic1]

22 minutes ago, crusadertsar said:

I think that's the main problem here. People get hung up so much on getting high levels of possession because they think that equates with being successful. Basically they say that Guardiola gets very high possession so if you play like him you will be very successful in the game. But then they forget that's it's still just a game. In fact if you play exactly like Guardiola you will probably end up getting a ton of draws in FM20 and end up finishing 3nd behind Liverpool and Arsenal.

This is the one thing that fm will not be able to replicate in my opinion.

There will always be someone who will ignore the rule book and 'create' something that works. Guardiola with his 'free eights', Wilder with his defenders. Granted, you have had some success trying to replicate the free eights @crusadertsar, and @Rashidi had some success with a Wilder type defender, but we cannot replicate them exactly. 

Edited August 6, 2020 by EnigMattic1

[yonko]

It's been said so many times before and even here on this thread. Possession IRL and in FM is two different things. It's calculated differently. It has always been difficult to match the possession percentage of Pep's teams from real life into FM for many other reasons too. 

If you observe his teams often camp out in front of the opposition penalty area and pass the ball around until they find an opening or a shoot, which they take. His CBs are pushed up high into opposition half which helps with recycling the ball, high pass count and high possession numbers. This kind of domination doesn't happen in FM even with high reputation team. The CBs in FM definitely don't push up much beyond the halfway line to help recycle possession. You have to rely on DMs for that. 

I have managed some ridiculously high possession numbers with Barca but only after a few seasons of specific training, some transfer activities and a lot team cohesion. I have gotten as high as 70% possession when teams play very defensively and passively, similar to real life. But it's rare occasion and only in season 3 and 4 on my Barca save. I've averaged 63-64% for a season in the league but only 55% in the CL. 

Possession in FM is time spent on the ball. There are some subtle tricks to use to boost that, besides Team Instruction. For example, your ST can man mark the better passing CB. Your most advanced midfielder can man mark their deepest midfielder or playmaker. When your team is with high reputation and the opposition plays very defensively (also their coach playing style is Tiki-Taka or Vertical Tiki-Taka) then the CBs tend to get very high number of passes. Man marking one of them prevents that somewhat. 

In terms of instructions, Hold Shape is definitely key instruction. Out of Possession you want to be aggressive with the press and tackling. In Possession you want to be patient and calculated. Player roles and formation are also important. 

Training is also very important. Teamwork (Match Prep), Team Bonding and activities that target certain attributes (first touch, passing, technique, anticipation, composure, decisions, off the ball, teamwork, vision) must be included. Slowly adding players to the team helps with Team Cohesion. 

[crusadertsar]

22 minutes ago, EnigMattic1 said:

This is the one thing that fm will not be able to replicate in my opinion.

There will always be someone who will ignore the rule book and 'create' something that works. Guardiola with his 'free eights', Wilder with his defenders. Granted, you have had some success trying to replicate the free eights @crusadertsar, and @Rashidi had some success with a Wilder type defender, but we cannot replicate them exactly. 

I can tell you one thing it's an excersise in frustration. I keep trying because I love Total Football and Guardiola's brand of it. But FM20 is probably the hardest in the series to get any kind of consistent success and trophies with this style. Especially given how hard defences are to break down. I keep trying but I probably would win more trophies and score more goals if I just played anything but possession style. Direct or counter-attacking. In all honesty in all my hundreds of hours with FM20 I only managed to win one Europa League and a few domestic cups across all my saves 

Edited August 6, 2020 by crusadertsar

[Experienced Defender]

7 hours ago, umole2k said:

Player roles are sweeper keeper,two full backs, two ball playing defenders, dm plays deeplying playmaker, central midfielder and advanced playmaker, two inside forwards and a pressing striker or deeplying forward

 

7 hours ago, umole2k said:

My team instructions are short passing, slow tempo, more discipline, play out from the back, counter press, pass to centre backs, goalkeeper short kicks, higher defensive line, higher line of engagement, press harder

What are player duties and team mentality? You mentioned only roles and team instructions.

Although I can already see some potential issues based on the info you provided above. For example, the use of 2 BPDs as well as the overkill of having 2 PMs close to each other and so on...

[Experienced Defender]

7 hours ago, EnigMattic1 said:

I remember a thread on here, I can't remember who created it, but the title was something like "possession with intent" and it was basically about what he did with the ball once he had it. Very rarely did he have 60% possession, but he was winning games

@sporadicsmiles created that thread. And he is one of the people on this forum whose tactical advice is always very spot on and highly appreciated 

[CaptCanuck]

1 hour ago, crusadertsar said:

I think that's the main problem here. People get hung up so much on getting high levels of possession because they think that equates with being successful. Basically they say that Guardiola gets very high possession so if you play like him you will be very successful in the game. But then they forget that's it's still just a game. In fact if you play exactly like Guardiola you will probably end up getting a ton of draws in FM20 and end up finishing 3nd behind Liverpool and Arsenal.

That's it, as I've moved Brighton from gegen to counter to possession as we've improved from bottom 3rd to mid 3rd to top 3rd, I got my highest Pos% with the gegen when I just started playing and it was largely Mooy-Propper-Dunk pinging around between out 18yd box and the half-way line, as most of our good possession/goals came on counter-press/counter chances and we had lots of 1-0/0-0/0-1 matches and ugly football because it.

I think like you I am enjoying the 'process' of trying to create pleasant football with results, as opposed to results with a side of pleasantness if at all possible. Will my midfield 3 of RPM-CM-Mez give me a carbon copy of DeBruyne-Rodri-Silva? Of course not, but it's fun trying to play attractive (as attractive as highlights can be in FM) football and scoring cool goals. And for the first time this coming season I am trying to add a tactic with a Regista and IWB. The top of the Prem is so loaded, I'm OK being a Cup team, so this just ads to my own interest (along with player dev/transfers) and reasons to keep at FM2020.

Maybe your "@crusadertsar Total Football thread" should come with a proviso - League Cups and Europa Trophies only guaranteed. League and CLs not guaranteed* So those needing victories might have their expectations tempered ;-) I kid of course, all these threads are interesting and informative, but there is definitely a different mindset required if someone's default is - how do I best beat this video game.

[crusadertsar]

@CaptCanuck Haha that's it I will need to put a disclaimer message there . Much like 1970s Dutch national team. Much cool beautiful football but little results to show for it. The German Machine beat them to it lol. But yeah it's all about the journey and less about trophies for me. Although my biggest success was probably conceding only 14 goals in one winless season (in the league that is) with Benfica. I was more proud of that then winning any trophy.

Edited August 6, 2020 by crusadertsar

[EnigMattic1]

2 hours ago, Experienced Defender said:

@sporadicsmiles created that thread. And he is one of the people on this forum whose tactical advice is always very spot on and highly appreciated 

I actually found that thread really helpful. I agree, his adceand reasoning was bang on. 

[sporadicsmiles]

I did explore possession tactics quite extensively when I did the my thread on using the ball. However my aim was not to actually generate large possession numbers for myself, but to have the ball in the right areas of the field and use it well. And I did actually learn a lot about why the AI can rack up 60+% possession stats while doing nothing. Which pretty much translates to the user too. What I noticed and exploited (and to be honest I think this was exploiting a flaw in the AI programming, because a human could have probably deconstructed my tactical approach within the course of a game and forced me to change) was that the AI likes to try to play out of defence when doing possession football. But to an extreme degree where you can force them to just pass the ball around in their own half and either lose it or eventually punt it away from being pressed. Have a couple of players pressing and the rest clogging the midfield so the ball cannot get forward easily and you end up with the AI rarely having the ball in your half. Whilst I set up to have almost all my possession in their half. Like I said, I did this with a very high line, so all it would take is to keep punting the ball over the top and eventually I would concede from quick counters. 

Anyway, from this I think there is one key point you can get for setting up possession tactics. The first is that you really should not focus too much on the raw numbers, because FM20 loves sterile possession. Which means it is hard to dominate the ball when the AI is keeping it on the back four constantly. I guess it is all tied in to the way mentality affects the decision making process and the risk aversion of the passes. In that respect I think numbers around 55% are more healthy than 60+ for playing good football. That is a quirk of FM, and hopefully this is improved going forward. 

The second thing to learn is that you do not want to focus on the defenders playing slowly from the back as a base for an attacking possession tactic. This is something to do for killing the game or trying to draw a team out a little bit. Defensive possession, you can think of it as. I really think that a successful possession tactic would involve relatively fast transitions from defence to attack (or to midfield is a better thing to aim for). And then short quick passes in the midfield. Why? In principle you should never be allowing the defensive side to completely settle if you do this. They do not get the time to get into a solid shape while you slowly attack them. And that is key, because a set defensive side can be a pain in the ass to break down. You would then want to couple that to overloads all over the field. You need to get players moving. For example an AP on one flank, with a MEZ and a WB overlapping him. Or a winger and an IF with a playmaker on that side of midfield. Someone who wants to overlap the striker. As many of these things as possible that you can work in whilst keeping a solid core for passing. Your CBs should be the base of the attacking passing, and probably want to be as high up as you dare to free the other players to move. 

And then the final thing to remember. You want your players to go direct when they spot the chance. Even if they spot it early and you do not get long spells of possession. This is what makes Guardiola's Barcelona so damned good was their ability to go from boring slow sideways passes to lightning quick attacking at the flip of a switch. Do not try to stop that happening for the sake of more passes! I mean you do not want it to happen all the time, so it is a balancing act.

I have never really tried to put this into practise in the game. I do not really like possession football. I am a fast direct attacking kinda guy. Who loves a solid defence and fast counter attacks, or just getting at the goal as soon as possible. So I have never found the motivation. I'm sure someone can go take these ramblings and convert them into something reasonable. 

[umole2k]

That feeling 😁😁😄😄😃😃 I wish I could do this always and on a consistent basis to the likes of Barcelona, man city and liverpool 

[CaptCanuck]

11 hours ago, crusadertsar said:

@CaptCanuck Haha that's it I will need to put a disclaimer message there . Much like 1970s Dutch national team. Much cool beautiful football but little results to show for it. The German Machine beat them to it lol. But yeah it's all about the journey and less about trophies for me. Although my biggest success was probably conceding only 14 goals in one winless season (in the league that is) with Benfica. I was more proud of that then winning any trophy.

I just played the curtain opener match and immediately thought of this thread ;-)

See the possession game gets those trophies won! Sure sure it's the Community Shield and Liverpool beat me 7-0 on aggregate in the league last season, but the heatmap was on their side of the pitch, lol

[Pasonen]

32 minutes ago, CaptCanuck said:

heatmap was on their side of the pitch, lol

Nice result. you distributed short? It shows on heatmap. You defended well with ball.

[umole2k]

1 hour ago, Pasonen said:

Nice result. you distributed short? It shows on heatmap. You defended well with ball.

Pls I dont understand heatmap. Can somebody pls explain?

[Hovis Dexter]

I've just played one game in which we "only" had 43% possession but had a 91% pass completion rate ... I'm quite happy with that especially as we won 5-0

Edited August 7, 2020 by Hovis Dexter
addded result

[CaptCanuck]

8 hours ago, Pasonen said:

Nice result. you distributed short? It shows on heatmap. You defended well with ball.

Thanks! Yes - short kicks for GK and play out of defense. They rested Kane and Baro, but otherwise looked to field a regular side.

1st half I used a wide 4123 (with a Regista and RIWB - which is why there is a blob of red mid-centre) but we weren't getting good penetration because Liverpool is so quick they'd close down my Mez-IWB-W on the right side.

2nd half went to 433 (with a 'flat' midfield 3 RPM|CM|Mez and standard WB) that got the left side more involved and Salcedo super-subbed it the last 15mins.

[CaptCanuck]

6 hours ago, umole2k said:

Pls I dont understand heatmap. Can somebody pls explain?

Top menu option in game/post game/half time you'll see 'Analysis', select the first sub menu option and it will display the heatmap (I have combined two screens there so it's not a standard view), you can then click 'Player Analysis' to dig into even further metrics and see specific player stats and movements.

My post was a joking one (and passive brag) after myself and crusaderstar were joking about only winning minor trophies with possession football. To really get into the analysis options Google - 'FM 2020 analysis tab' and you can watch some Youtube videos that dive into it.

Edited August 7, 2020 by CaptCanuck

[umole2k]

4 hours ago, Hovis Dexter said:

I've just played one game in which we "only" had 43% possession but had a 91% pass completion rate ... I'm quite happy with that especially as we won 5-0

It doesn't add up because a high pass completion is relative to ball possession. That means the match engine has an issue. My opinion though

[umole2k]

40 minutes ago, CaptCanuck said:

Top menu option in game/post game/half time you'll see 'Analysis', select the first sub menu option and it will display the heatmap (I have combined two screens there so it's not a standard view), you can then click 'Player Analysis' to dig into even further metrics and see specific player stats and movements.

My post was a joking one (and passive brag) after myself and crusaderstar were joking about only winning minor trophies with possession football. To really get into the analysis options Google - 'FM 2020 analysis tab' and you can watch some Youtube videos that dive into it.

Ok thanks 👍

[crusadertsar]

5 minutes ago, umole2k said:

It doesn't add up because a high pass completion is relative to ball possession. That means the match engine has an issue. My opinion though

No it's just the way the game is made. I think someone already mentioned to you that the game calculates possession by counting time on the ball. Not the number of passes. So for example I know that my team is playing good possession style because I'm seeing as many as 600-700 passes per game and we are playing quick pass and move football. But our possession percentage might be be as low as 51%. It's mainly because AI just keeps the ball conservatively by passing it leisurely back and forth between the keeper and defenders.

Edited August 7, 2020 by crusadertsar

[Malin11]

Achieving high possession numbers on consistent basis is very difficult on FM20 unless you micro manage every game, due to how easy it is for the opposition teams to set up defensively from minute one and rack up hundreds of passes, and thus possession percentage, between their GK and defenders.

I wouldn't get too hanged up on the number, focus on quality of the play instead.

[umole2k]

16 hours ago, Malin11 said:

Achieving high possession numbers on consistent basis is very difficult on FM20 unless you micro manage every game, due to how easy it is for the opposition teams to set up defensively from minute one and rack up hundreds of passes, and thus possession percentage, between their GK and defenders.

I wouldn't get too hanged up on the number, focus on quality of the play instead.

👍👍 yeah you are right. I have used a whole lot of technical and possession based schedule combinations in training with no success. That's the way the game was made. Hopefully in latter years we see an improvement in this aspect. Thank you all for your contributions. They were really helpful. Cheers

Edited August 8, 2020 by umole2k