Drill Crosses v Float Crosses

[Slapper]

I understand that float crosses aim for the far post and drill crosses aim for the near post, but can someone give me an idea of the advantages and disadvantages of both? Thanks.

[dan99]

I presume drilled crosses would be for when you don't have a big man upfront, because drilled crosses would be lower and sutible for a a small striker nicking infront of his marker.

[Plaman]

I play drill cross when it is windy.

If the weather is good, I always play float. As I think float cross is dangerous, if it is well deliver and I think my winger have the quality to perform that.

[redmark]

I use drill crosses combined with cross from deep (and wide players set to often for through balls), for a striker set as target man and supply as 'run onto ball'. The idea is to treat crosses as early 'diagonal through balls'.

[phnompenhandy]

I'm like dan - floated if I have a big target man who can head, drill if my striker is small and a good finisher on the deck.

[Finknottle]

I made this very query some time ago and the answer was thus. Floated crosses were aimed at the far post and drilled crosses were aimed at the near post. The reason I asked is that I had the idea that "floated" was for fine dry weather and "drilled" were for wet weather, keeping them low. If memory serves it was wwfan who was one of the people answering my query. I hope this may assist.

[lam]

Also think about whether you have men in the box at the time of the cross. If you don't and they are all rushing in, then a lofted cross gives them more time. If they are already there then a drilled cross works well and often results in own goals and poor clearances.

LAM

[SCIAG]

I made this very query some time ago and the answer was thus. Floated crosses were aimed at the far post and drilled crosses were aimed at the near post.

That's it exactly. Floated and drilled crosses refer to where they are aimed, not necessarily the style (e.g. drilled crosses aren't necessarily hit with more power, as the term would mean IRL, nor are floated crosses supposed to "hang" per say). Having said that, of course crosses to the near post will probably be lower because they don't have as far to go.

I set crosses to default. This means that the player will aim for the player set as target man, who will be the best header of the ball. If no target man is set, they tend to pick out the man in the middle in the best position.

[redmark]

That's it exactly. Floated and drilled crosses refer to where they are aimed, not necessarily the style (e.g. drilled crosses aren't necessarily hit with more power, as the term would mean IRL, nor are floated crosses supposed to "hang" per say). Having said that, of course crosses to the near post will probably be lower because they don't have as far to go.

This does beg the question as to why they aren't called "near post" and "far post" crosses .

[SCIAG]

This does beg the question as to why they aren't called "near post" and "far post" crosses .

Because it sounds better.

[Finknottle]

Perhaps for FM'11 the crosses could be redefined thus. Near Post [aerial]. Far Post [aerial]. Near post [drilled, along the ground] and Far Post [drilled, along the ground]? As I recall, many years ago Alan Hinton would drill a lot of his corners, crosses and free kicks along the ground at a high velocity into the crowded penalty area. The ensuing panic of players trying to get out of the way of the ball often resulted in an OG in favour of Derby County.

[SCIAG]

How about "Near post", "Far post", "Drilled"?

[dreamsay]

Drill crosses will tend to be aimed for a player at the near post to direct into the net; floated crosses will tend tobe aimed at the far post for a tall player to head in.

"From Tactical Theorems 10"

[Tubey84]

That's it exactly. Floated and drilled crosses refer to where they are aimed, not necessarily the style (e.g. drilled crosses aren't necessarily hit with more power, as the term would mean IRL, nor are floated crosses supposed to "hang" per say). Having said that, of course crosses to the near post will probably be lower because they don't have as far to go.

I set crosses to default. This means that the player will aim for the player set as target man, who will be the best header of the ball. If no target man is set, they tend to pick out the man in the middle in the best position.

That's not exactly true actually.

If you play a drilled cross, even in FM, the ball will go from X to Y at a greater pace than it would do otherwise. Therefore, drilled crosses are especially useful for an incisive, counter-attacking game where you want to flood the oppositions defence quickly and not give a chance for the opposition to get underneath the ball.

Even if the drilled cross misses the intended target, it's a lot more likely to travel to the opposite wing making it the desired option for tactics with AMR/AML as there will usually be the other winger ready to pick it up.

The "Cross Aim" setting in the sliders dictates who they aim for. If you choose Drill Crosses to Target Man, if the Target Man is at the back post they'll drill it there.

Similarly, if you're drilling from deep (lol @ how that sounds ^^), you'll hit the Target Man earlier and with more pace, meaning the flick on is less controlled and he'll usually try and control instead. If the cross is floated from deep, the Target Man is much more likely to look for the flick on.

EDIT: Just to add, drilled crosses mean the target is intended to attack the ball, whilst a floated cross is usually intended for the target to support another player with an assisting header.

[Scoham]

The "Cross Aim" setting in the sliders dictates who they aim for. If you choose Drill Crosses to Target Man, if the Target Man is at the back post they'll drill it there.

All the drill or float cross option does is change the cross aim setting, it's not an extra setting which is why you can't set it for players individually (well you can, as it's cross aim). Therefore you can't set a player to drill crosses to the far post, or float them to the near post, all you can do is tell them where to aim and they'll pick the type of cross it is.

[Tubey84]

All the drill or float cross option does is change the cross aim setting, it's not an extra setting which is why you can't set it for players individually (well you can, as it's cross aim). Therefore you can't set a player to drill crosses to the far post, or float them to the near post, all you can do is tell them where to aim and they'll pick the type of cross it is.

Personally, I set crosses to drill and set the cross aim to Target Man for the wide players. The cross is drilled to the back post for me if the Target Man goes there. I've tested it extensively - if I put float crosses and the Target Man goes near post, the winger will chip it to the near post.

I do get your point, but I'm 99% sure that if you instruct the wingers to aim for the Target Man, they'll do so wherever he is with whatever type of crossing you're instructing. In that sense, drill/float doesn't dictate where the cross is delivered, only how.

EDIT: What I will say is that I'll acknowledge it could just be a massive coincidence ^^ But I have absolutely no problem using drill crosses/Target Man and I score a lot of goals due to whipped in crosses to the far stick, and I score fewer when I set float crosses!