Tips and Tactical Know-how thread

[suikoden]

I find that this forum doesn't have these little tips that can help round off your tactic. There are some great threads looking at a particular system or style but not little tips. Of course tips are always being offered but only if someone asks for them. I thought it would be good if people would just post things that they think can benefit all players. One particular tip I see Cleon post is that Cleon believes that one of the most powerful strikeforce combo you can do is a Inside forward-DLP-Winger combination. I feel this is also true as the DLP can drop back and open space for the IF to run onto. Also having the winger on the other flank helps stretch the play and not make the middle too congested.

For my contribution it isn't really a tip but why players say that the left flank is favored by the match engine.

I truly believe this to be correct but if anyone has a constructive counter I would be glad to hear it. Firstly why the left flank is favored is because when you set your GK to defender collect even if you set it to right back or CB, if your GK is right footed he prefers to pass across his body onto the left flank to the LB. This problem is further exacerbated by the fact that I only play with 1 CB who is left footed. This means that when the GK passes to the CB, the CB is facing towards his own goal and also prefers to pass across his body with his left foot onto the left flank. This is in contrast to the GK who is facing outwards and so with his right foot passing across his body, it would go to the left flank.

Some games it isn't too bad and the passing statistic discrepancy between my LB and RB isn't too bad, but even so my LB passing stat is a fair 30% on average higher. This also is the case, on another save with another team, even when my RB is a better attacking player and is set to be more attacking. He sees the ball more than normal but less than the LB much of the time. I reached this conclusion after watching many many full matches tweaking my 3defense tactic and I really do see my GK and CB preferring to pass across their body rather than opening up their body and passing "off foot" (referencing off forehands in tennis).

If anyone has a difference of opinion or observation I would love to hear it. Also if anyone has any tips they find gives them success that is not too player/tactic centric [like the Cleon suggestion is kind of general as even though it specifies a 3 man attack, it can be utilised by any formation with a front 3 (like 433, 4231 etc..) or any wider tactical setting]

Another thought that came to mind is tempo. I see a lot of people wanting to play possession football with slow tempo and hold up ball and all that and I traditionally play with a slow tempo as well. My current tactic had 11 tempo on default for Control and after retain possession it went down to 8. It was good at keeping possession but players seem to dawdle too much and possession stagnates in midfield especially if the opposition is pressing and marking hard. It seems obvious but as I was so use to playing a lower tempo it took me a bit to realise I should up the tempo. I changed it to 14-15 and the football played is magnificent and crisp. Fast tempo worked for me because I have a lot of centrally based midfielders in my formation and even if they rush their pass it is still a simple pass to make and they move around the defense so well and the opposition marking becomes muddled and the team is so much more dangerous. It is a simple fix but perhaps it can remind those who are so enamoured with the really slow and narrow based possession tactics that lack teeth.

[nerf]

I really do see my GK and CB preferring to pass across their body rather than opening up their body and passing "off foot" (referencing off forehands in tennis).

This is something I've been prioritising in my current save. It's not something I've really considered before, but now I view it as important to getting my passing play to be as slick as I want it to.

Primarily, in my 4-4-1-1 I want my ML to be right footed. This is because I think it encourages him to look infield where the passing options are. Below is a very typical example:

My GK's (right footed) distribution is set to Defender Collect for my LB (also right footed). The ball is frequently moved out to my ML, who usually receives the ball, like this, with his back to his marker.

Because he's right footed, he can turn infield and release the ball - across his body, like you say - to one of my central players. I believe that when I play a left footer here, he sometimes wants to turn outwards to the sideline, or takes too long shifting the ball onto his left, and in both cases that makes him vulnerable to being pressed by the opponent. A right footer here will move the ball more easily by naturally turning infield and finding early passing options.

This is especially useful for my tactic because I play a Trequartista AMC, and he is frequently in that gap between the opposition's lines (especially when transitioning from the defensive phase). In the screenshot above, he receives the ball from my ML and plays in my SC for a goal. The more often I can get the ball to my AMC, the better for my team... and I think that my ML's right footedness helps facilitate this and 'greases the wheels' of the team's build-up play.

So in short, I would encourage thinking about the preferred foot of your players in combination with the situations in which they most commonly receive/distribute the ball.

[dribbler]

in a 4-4-2 if you want to get roughly 50% of the game to the right flank set your right back to collect from your keeper AND make your MR your playmaker...you should also set your keeper's mentality to defensive, creative freedom to little and passing style to short...then a right-footed keeper will distribute roughly 50% to your right-back and your MR and ML will see roughly similar amounts of the ball...(if you set "exploit the flanks" then there will be a modest bias towards the ML)

I'm also careful to do something else if my RB isn't too good at passing or if either the RB or MR are nervous or playing badly...my opponents tactics are an important factor too...in other words I use this system a lot but not slavishly and I'll change things during the game if necessary

[jimbobBRFC]

This is something I've been prioritising in my current save. It's not something I've really considered before, but now I view it as important to getting my passing play to be as slick as I want it to.

Primarily, in my 4-4-1-1 I want my ML to be right footed. This is because I think it encourages him to look infield where the passing options are. Below is a very typical example:

My GK's (right footed) distribution is set to Defender Collect for my LB (also right footed). The ball is frequently moved out to my ML, who usually receives the ball, like this, with his back to his marker.

Because he's right footed, he can turn infield and release the ball - across his body, like you say - to one of my central players. I believe that when I play a left footer here, he sometimes wants to turn outwards to the sideline, or takes too long shifting the ball onto his left, and in both cases that makes him vulnerable to being pressed by the opponent. A right footer here will move the ball more easily by naturally turning infield and finding early passing options.

This is especially useful for my tactic because I play a Trequartista AMC, and he is frequently in that gap between the opposition's lines (especially when transitioning from the defensive phase). In the screenshot above, he receives the ball from my ML and plays in my SC for a goal. The more often I can get the ball to my AMC, the better for my team... and I think that my ML's right footedness helps facilitate this and 'greases the wheels' of the team's build-up play.

So in short, I would encourage thinking about the preferred foot of your players in combination with the situations in which they most commonly receive/distribute the ball.

Ive never actually thought of anything like that before but thats a great theory does it work in practice though? If it does I may have to steal your setup im too a sucker for a slick passing game and always play a Treq if players allow

[RonnySanchez]

This is something I've been prioritising in my current save. It's not something I've really considered before, but now I view it as important to getting my passing play to be as slick as I want it to.

Primarily, in my 4-4-1-1 I want my ML to be right footed. This is because I think it encourages him to look infield where the passing options are. Below is a very typical example:

My GK's (right footed) distribution is set to Defender Collect for my LB (also right footed). The ball is frequently moved out to my ML, who usually receives the ball, like this, with his back to his marker.

Because he's right footed, he can turn infield and release the ball - across his body, like you say - to one of my central players. I believe that when I play a left footer here, he sometimes wants to turn outwards to the sideline, or takes too long shifting the ball onto his left, and in both cases that makes him vulnerable to being pressed by the opponent. A right footer here will move the ball more easily by naturally turning infield and finding early passing options.

This is especially useful for my tactic because I play a Trequartista AMC, and he is frequently in that gap between the opposition's lines (especially when transitioning from the defensive phase). In the screenshot above, he receives the ball from my ML and plays in my SC for a goal. The more often I can get the ball to my AMC, the better for my team... and I think that my ML's right footedness helps facilitate this and 'greases the wheels' of the team's build-up play.

So in short, I would encourage thinking about the preferred foot of your players in combination with the situations in which they most commonly receive/distribute the ball.

Preffered foot is indeed important for the style of play you want to have. From your example it would be natural to think that the left Central Defender should be left footed because it would speed up bulid up if your LB should play a short pass to the LCD and also when the LCD intercepts a pass if he is left footed then he can play the ball faster to your LB or even your LM. Do you agree?

[jimbobBRFC]

Preffered foot is indeed important for the style of play you want to have. From your example it would be natural to think that the left Central Defender should be left footed because it would speed up bulid up if your LB should play a short pass to the LCD and also when the LCD intercepts a pass if he is left footed then he can play the ball faster to your LB or even your LM. Do you agree?

I had to read that about four times to get my head around it. Yeah I think your on the right lines. If your LCD was intercepting a through ball chances are he'd be facing torwards his own net so a left footed pass across his body to the LB who is usually in more space/under less pressure than the RCD would be his preffered option.

Ive never ever thought about footedness, I may start doing now though/

[nerf]

Preffered foot is indeed important for the style of play you want to have. From your example it would be natural to think that the left Central Defender should be left footed because it would speed up bulid up if your LB should play a short pass to the LCD and also when the LCD intercepts a pass if he is left footed then he can play the ball faster to your LB or even your LM. Do you agree?

I see what you're saying, but I think I'd be tempted to go the opposite way.

I currently have a right footed DCL. When he has the ball at his feet, facing up the pitch, I would quite like him to favour feeding the ball out to my LB or ML (particularly as my LB is usually the one in most space). It's an intention for my team to direct most of our build-up down that side. This suits a right footer, I think.

If my DCL collects the ball facing his own goal, well, I don't have much problem with him passing the ball back to my goalkeeper in that situation. It's safe and then we can start again.

As always, I suppose it depends on your specific priorities.

[jimbobBRFC]

I see what you're saying, but I think I'd be tempted to go the opposite way.

I currently have a right footed DCL. When he has the ball at his feet, facing up the pitch, I would quite like him to favour feeding the ball out to my LB or ML (particularly as my LB is usually the one in most space). It's an intention for my team to direct most of our build-up down that side. This suits a right footer, I think.

If my DCL collects the ball facing his own goal, well, I don't have much problem with him passing the ball back to my goalkeeper in that situation. It's safe and then we can start again.

As always, I suppose it depends on your specific priorities.

That probably is a better way to tackle things than what Ronny and I suggested. I always value width and strecthing the opposition as the main way of breaking the opposition down, so spreading the play as best as possible is quite improtant, yet something I have only just managed to perfect with my Blackburn side. 4-1-2-1-2 with Wing backs providing the width. Creates a lot of gaps but I suppose if player footedness is taken into account it could improve the game and cut out the wasted passes