RobertoNUFC Posted November 2, 2012 Share Posted November 2, 2012 I have started a save with PSG and one of the boardroom demands is to play possession based football. I was wondering what the general consensus is with regards to the most important things to consider when choosing a tactic with the aim of keeping possession? I am attempting to create my own tactic so any advice would be much appreciated! I am guessing short passing, high pressing and a few players holding up ball is key? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZdlR Posted November 2, 2012 Share Posted November 2, 2012 As with any tactical advice for FM, the key is to watch what happens in the match engine and correlate it with the analysis tab. It is all relative- one game you might dominate possession with those settings, the next you might not. Perhaps the mixture of short passing and holding up ball means your players take too long to make a pass and get caught in possession regularly. Perhaps closing down so much leaves gaps that are easy to exploit by the opposition. If you watch the match, you will see these things happening. If you do not, the analysis tab can give some insight- are the opposition players making lots of tackles and completing lots of passes without your players putting in a challenge? With respect to instructions, I like to lower running with the ball if I am not retaining possession enough, or using the 'retain possession, 'play wider', 'drop deeper' and 'pass to feet' shouts. Not all at once, however (unless the situation called for it) in various combinations depending on context. I also like to remove hold up ball so that the players keep the ball moving. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wiwyum Posted November 2, 2012 Share Posted November 2, 2012 My general understanding is that possession football means you want to be playing shorter passing. Direct passing refers to a passing style that aims to convert to an attacking phase as quickly as possible. Shorter passes are more about build up play, and that final through ball or cutting pass at the end. Due to the shorter passes you'll be making... you may want to turn your tempo down. Again, the tempo is about how quickly you move the ball about and get it up the pitch. If you turn this to slow, players will pass the ball about slowly chipping away at the other team until they see a chink in the armour. Because you are playing a shorter style of play, depending on the fluidity of your team... you're going to want to ensure that your team has short passing options. For example... asking your defenders to play short passes, and requesting that your team has a very rigid formation, with little positional roaming and no creative freedom means one of two things... they'll be prone to long passes or just plain clearing it off the pitch. Basically, you're opting to pass around players rather than running with the ball etc etc. I hope this helps. The biggest problem with maintaining possession of course is like what you see with Arsenal nowadays... that killer ball at the end doesn't really exist... do it allows for the opposition to get back in numbers due to the sloe build up, and make an impenetrable wall of defence. If you are lucky enough to have skilled players, you can combine both slow passing with a higher tempo... resulting in a quicker turn around. However, this required better first touch and anticipation amongst other things. As such, you'll want to possibly assign the role of play-maker to someone who is very creative and very good at passing etc... as he in turn becomes the player that your others cannot.... again, like Cazorla at Arsenal... carving the defence with a beautifully weighted pass.... which is the icing on the attacking cake. Hope it helps P.S. Regarding playing wide... with shorter passing you'll want to play narrower.... again to keep your players bunched up enough that you can pass to them. If you're looking to get the ball out wide... maybe allow the more qualified of your players to pass a little bit longer.... and focus passing on the wings. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cleon Posted November 2, 2012 Share Posted November 2, 2012 The most important thing when trying to create a possession based tactic is the actual shape. You need to use a shape that allows you to make the most of possession and create little tridents or quads of players who are able to keep the ball. Without this you won't achieve it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wiwyum Posted November 2, 2012 Share Posted November 2, 2012 Does that mean with the actual shape itself, or with the applied roles? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lam Posted November 2, 2012 Share Posted November 2, 2012 Well.... in order to play possession football you need to avoid, or at least use sparingly, the things that lose you the ball to easily. Through balls Long shots Crosses Pointless attempts at goal. All of those things will lose you possession, however they are also the thing that wins you the game, so there is a balance that needs to be found. In FM12 I played with a standard strategy with a balanced philosophy, I also played with a conservative setting on the above points with short passing. My possession was normally around 60% or so with pass completions at around 80% plus. If I dropped below 80% I would decrease tempo, if I was above 85% (which I was regularly) then I would increase tempo. A shorter passing options means that you are not always gunning for goal. You will get there but you will do it with build up play, rather than getting the ball forward to your attackers as quickly as possible. You'll need to ensure that your players always have passing options, thius you will need decent 'off the ball' movement, or a formation that lends itself well to 'triangle' passing. A decent amount of creative freedom will allow your team to break from this possession football when opportunities arise. A key thing to keep an eye on for possession football is your defensive players. What are they doing? When in a match, ensure you have game stats available that show the passing percentage of your defenders. This is highly likely to be the lowest of your team, and when you defence fail to make a decent pass, it normaly doesnt end well. If you fail to give them options, then expect a long ball forward. This is rarely a proper pass, though it looks like an attempt at it, it is normaly a panicky clearance to avoid being caught in possession near the goal. I'm not sure if they have fixed this in FM13 or not, but cleared headers also count at passes, if this is still the case then you'll never have fantastic passing ratios, but so long as the actual passes are okay, then you are good to go. Make sure they have passing options always. For you this will be the midfield as your AML/R's might be a little to far upfield to make for good passing options. Also, ask your keeper to distribute to a defender. I play with ML/R's and between them and my MC's ther are always nice passing options for my Fullbacks, therefore I set the keeper to 'defender collect' and 'distribute to LB or RB'. The relevant fullback will then come deeper for the pass. In your formation, you'll need to establish fairly quickly if it's the DC or the FB that you want to pass to. Essentially, the key thing with possession football is to NOT be wasteful. Regards LAM Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lam Posted November 2, 2012 Share Posted November 2, 2012 *double post* Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobertoNUFC Posted November 5, 2012 Author Share Posted November 5, 2012 Guys, thanks for some excellent replies and feedback! Have been working a lot so not much time to digest properly but on my days off on Tues and Weds I shall try and put what ive learned into practice and report back. Rob Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.