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Pairs & Combinations Part 6: Team Instructions

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llama3

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Introduction

Welcome to Part 6 of the P&C Guide, we look at your Team Instructions, we'll begin with a brief look at Philosophy, then go onto Possession, Penetration, Shape, Defending & General Team Instructions.

Part 7 will be a look at how to build a team, where I will use my Arsenal side as an example of how I build a cohesive unit.

Philosophy

The argument of Philosophy has raged since wwfan's 12-steps guide on FM13, and it has been fairly ground-breaking, if not common sense. It helps us see the Philosophy in a new light, it is not simply a creativity argument, it is the debate of specialism v universalism, something that readers of Jonathan Wilson's Inverting the Pyramid will be familiar with. It is an article I am covering elsewhere in the next few weeks too. In essence a very rigid team is full of specialists, with each player's job being rather specific, whereas a very fluid team is a universal approach with all players subscribing to the team game and instructions. Overall creative freedom is higher in a more fluid system, because there are less specialists to be singularly responsible for creativity. In short, if you want individual player's doing individual jobs (goalscoring, ball-winning, playmaking) then you need a more rigid approach, or if you want a team ethic to pressing, playmaking, etc, then go for a more fluid approach.

Possession

Your team possession instructions are very variable. If you want a possession orientated system, then shorter passing helps to create the overall style, whereas ball retention acts more like the old shout, looking to considerably reduce passing range to simply being an exercise in ball-control, this can leave you blunt in attack, but it can also allow some of your more creative players more time on the ball to work an opening. You can add to this by asking your team to play out of defence, ensuring that your team does not lose the ball lumping it upfield, trying to keep it amongst the defence until openings into midfield become available. If you use possession as a defensive tool, then this is quite important. However if your possession-based team is trying to counter-attack, or simply play in a defensive manner, trying to clear their lines, then this can be very counter-productive.

The direct passing option works in reverse to shorter passing, it aims to move the ball from defence to attack in a swift manner, with go route one a very direct option, to get the ball into the forward lines in an even more swift and urgent fashion for rapid transition. You can elect to ask your team to pump ball into box for Pulis-esque long-ball football to aim for the big blokes up front, in the centre, or if you wish to play a quick transition down the flanks, often in a counter-attacking style, then you can ask your team to clear ball to flanks, to try and pick out swift dribblers to carry the ball forward at pace. It is also a potentially useful way of getting your team to clear their lines late in the game to hold onto a result.

You can modify the use of possession further, by indicating if you want to play more through balls in behind a defence, with the pass into space option, which works well against a high line. If your opponents sit rather deep you can try and unsettled them by asking your team to run at defence, in the hope of drawing some space or wriggling through a compact line. You can also ask your team to either wait for a perfect opening to score, or to try their luck whenever possible; work ball into box asks your team to not waste possession with pot-shots, but shoot on sight asks your team to make the most of any opportunity, useful if you are struggling to create any chances, often through a compact defence, or wish to test a weakness in the opposition goalkeeper.

Your team's use of crosses is important in possession-terms too. Traditionally quick forwards can be aimed for if you drill crosses, this is simply to get something at the end of it, and aims for a nippy forward to get ahead of the defender at the near post to nudge the ball in. This delivery is often better from the byline, or at least no further from the byline than the edge of the penalty area, as the ball is meant to be low and quick. You can make the most of a tall forward if you float crosses, which gives the larger player time to set himself and attack the ball at its highest point, potentially beating a shorter defender, often this is delivered from deeper so it can hang in the air, and also because it does not require much pace on the ball. You can also hit early crosses, which means floating crosses from much deeper, this can support a direct style of play, and it can help get the ball to your forwards from wide if your wide-men are struggling to get past their opponent, allowing them space and time to find their teammate.

Penetration

Penetration refers to how you break through an opposing backline. Certain formations; with central playmakers, runners from deep and forwards on the shoulder of the defence suit playing through the middle. If you have a numerical advantage in the middle, it makes sense to exploit it, as it does if your chief playmaker is in a central position too. You may have a solid, but unspectacular central midfield, or a numerical disadvantage of a 2-man midfield pairing, so the majority of creativity will come from your wide-men and their passing, crossing and/or dribbling abilities, in which case exploit the flanks is a more pertinent point, especially if you are playing a wide playmaker as your only midfield playmaker to ensure he gets on the ball. You can exploit left flank, or exploit right flank if you wish to take advantage of a weak opponent, a formation weakness, such as lone wide-men, or to mask your own weakness down a certain flank. Exploiting a single, or both flanks can be very effective in a counter-attacking system for rapid transition. If you face a compact defence you can look for overlap to try and create numerical overloads in wide positions, which can help create space for teammates and get more balls into the centre from wide positions. It relies on good energy and delivery from wide, but can be very effective at breaking down a stubborn defence, although it can blunt the directness of your wide-men who tend to hold the ball up and wait for support and combination play instead, this can be a big problem if you like your wide-men coming into central attacking positions in the final phase of a build-up.

Shape

Your team's shape is partly inherent within your formation; i.e. central midfield dominance, high pitch coverage, a low block, a wide midfield strata - all caused by what formation you use. Your shape affects both the way you attack and the way you defend. If you play wider you can often look to stretch the pitch and use more of its width, but it can also cause your defence to sit wider too and create holes, although sometimes that can give good pitch coverage if you want to press heavily all over the pitch. If you play narrower you can compact play into central areas, this can make you easier to defend narrow against in return, but creates less holes between your defenders. A high or low narrow block can both be effective defensive tools, depending on your opponents and approach.

Your defensive line looks at how high your team sits up the pitch, ranging from a push higher up & much higher defensive line to compact play into the central third of the pitch, leaving little room for your opponents, and in the case of slow forwards, forcing them to rely on pace they do not have, to drop deeper & much deeper defensive line to sit closer to goal, leaving little room in behind for quick forwards, but taller forwards may profit from this. This leaves more room in the midfield area too, but can be used to draw opponents closer to you, opening up room to counter-attack into.

You can ask your players to roam from position, which can cause overloads or get your players drifting into areas of the pitch with space to cause problems and recieve the ball. The downside is that your players can get caught out of position defensively. Conversely, you can ask your players to stick to position, but that can make them easier to be marked out of the game, although it provides a more solid defensive structure. You can allow wide players to swap positions, which has the added link-up with setting individual player instructions and roles, allowing your to swap your left and right-footed wingers to get them to go round the outside of your opponents instead of trying to come inside them. This works well if you maybe want to exploit space round the outside of a packed defence before your opponents can react, and vice versa.

Defending

Defending links very closely with shape, if you have a high block, then using an offside trap can help negate the problems of being caught in behind by fast players, although it can be hard to make the trap work if you use a Stopper-Cover split, or a Sweeper in behind. The high block also works very closely when you hassle opponents, to reduce their time and space, in an already compacted area. If you wish to specifically prevent individual players from getting any space, then tight marking or specific man marking can enhance this. If you prefer a low block & remaining compact, then the offside trap is far less effective, as there is less chance being caught in behind, and can allow players space closer to your goal. A particularly shape-focused team can choose to stand off opponents, not closing down the opposition, and simply being hard to play through instead, although this can leave your team long periods without having the ball, it preserves more energy.

Your tackling strategies link closely with pressing and shape too - if you want to press high then get stuck in is more appropriate as it again, reduces time and space for your opponents, but it can concede a lot of free kicks, and quick, agile players can ride the challenge and find themselves in space. If you wish to stay on feet, then this is more appropriate in a low block where you try and keep shape. If you do not press in a high block, then the opponents have time to simply play a quick forward in behind.

General

Your tempo is linked heavily with passing style - a team that plays in a direct manner will look to transition the ball swiftly from back to front, and that requires a high tempo, to increase the urgency. A short-passing style is much more considered, and works best with a low tempo, waiting for the opportunity, rather than forcing it. Occasionally mixing tempo can help your short-passing into quick combinations to earn some space, and sometimes you can play a direct game, involving simply taking a few moments longer to spot the run from deep if a teammate. However, the general rule is short passing & low tempo, direct passing & high tempo. Your team's creative freedom, to adhere to instructions more, or make their own decisions as they see fit is allowed too. You can allow your team to be more expressive, if you trust their creativity and decision making more, or be more disciplined if you prefer them to play simply as instructed. This ties in with philosophy (above).

You can ask your team to take a breather, to rest with the ball, useful in physically demanding games (depending on conditions, intensity etc), and in a more defensive strategy to waste time, a typical tactic late in the game, when holding a result. You can also ask your team to take more risks when overloading in search of a goal, allowing highly enhanced decision making and attacking intent. Conversely you can ask your team to play even safer to take less risks and simply keep the ball out of your own net - i.e. not double-cruyff turns on the edge of your own penalty area with 3 attackers close by.

Conclusion

Your team instructions are all linked, and can be enhanced by picking pairs and combinations. Passing Style & Tempo, Creativity & Shape, Defensive Line & Pressing, Penetration & Shape. Make sure they are cohesive and logical, and adapt them to each game and your opponents.

Part 7 coming up...

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