Central midfielders

[JusticeMuigai]

Hi, Is to possible to instruct your central midfielders  to drift wide (off the ball) when your team has the ball if you are playing a narrow formation? How does one go around doing this?

[herne79]

To an extent they'll do this naturally, although that'll depend on the role/duty selected.  A BBM will drift around more than a CM(defend) for example.

Players with better Off the Ball movement may be better at taking up such positions, and selecting a role with the PI Roam from Position hard coded or as an option may help.

You could also get into adjusting Mentality (higher mentalities encourage your team to play wider) or Team Shape (for more fluid movement), but as they are team level instructions you'd need to watch how it affects your overall style of play as well as just your two CMs.

Having said all that, think about your own expectations as well.  You're not going to achieve an "Inside Winger" (for want of a better term) where you have a player starting centrally before usually taking up very wide positions.  Small movement to help with width is a more realistic target.

[AFCBeer]

The PI Move into Channels should instruct your midfielders to move into the vertical space space between the opposition CB and FB. This should make them drift wider from their standard position although I've never been sure if this actually makes them run forward too as this might not necessarily be what you want.