Team vs. Individual vs. Opposition instructions

[Thyra13]

I am wondering which instructions take precedence...

I will give an example as to what im trying to figure out...

I want to create a regular 4231 with central midfielders.

I want to play a relatively high line to make the game compact

Defensively I want the front 4 (striker + AM's) along with the two fullbacks to close down incessantly and not let the opposition breathe,

but would want to build a defensive square (2MC + 2CB) that are far more conservative in closing down, sort of standing off and keeping their shape..

My question :

1. Team Instruction : hassle opponents

2. Individual instructions on pressing six "close down more'' - individual inst. for the defensive box "stand off more"

3. Opposition instructions "close down always" for EVERY opposition player

1&3 would ensure that my front 4+fullbacks close down relentlessly and that every opposition player gets pressured... individually, i am hoping that it will

mean that the defensive box still holds position...

My belief is that individual would trump team and opposition...

would i be correct, or wouild my CM's and CB's press heavily as well?

[playmaker10]

if the opposition player plays in the AMC,CF area then he will be closed down by your CB,CM also because you said that to them. Opposition instruction is a team instruction for particular opposition player. I would suggest you to rader close down opp back line if you have to so your MCs and DCs wont drift out of position.

[alinp]

If you play Control or Attacking with Push Higher Up that should achieve the front 4 requirement without the need for Hassle TI. Most Attacking roles have Close Down More as default. You could add Closing Down to the Full Backs, but with the more aggressive staring point it may not be necessary - watch and decide. I find that greater Fluidity helps pressing + Roaming.

For your Defensive Box - again, I'd check what the default for the roles is. It may be that you don't need a PI for these - again, I'd go for defaults and adjust as you see necessary from observations. However, I'm not totally comfortable with your overall plan. If the front 4 press, but the 2 CM's don't support the press, there's little point in pressing in the first place and you may find yourself with 2 isolated CM's (a la Hodgson's England).

[Thyra13]

interesting point, i didn't think of it that way, my thinking was that with a high line, the central mids sitting would sort of disrupt the flow of the opposition and slow down the counter for the rest of the team to get back... if they had pressed and missed, then we would really have nothing left in defense...

maybe leaving their pressing on default but restrict their tackling?

I have another question that has recently come to me... i created a very fluid tactic and use team instruction "roam from positions"

would this therefore mean that there is no reason to add roaming instructions to any individual player (CF support for example)?

[alinp]

interesting point, i didn't think of it that way, my thinking was that with a high line, the central mids sitting would sort of disrupt the flow of the opposition and slow down the counter for the rest of the team to get back... if they had pressed and missed, then we would really have nothing left in defense...

maybe leaving their pressing on default but restrict their tackling?

I have another question that has recently come to me... i created a very fluid tactic and use team instruction "roam from positions"

would this therefore mean that there is no reason to add roaming instructions to any individual player (CF support for example)?

IMO you are correct - the only reason to add a PI in this case would be if you wanted that particular role to continue to roam even if you took the TI off (or even changed to Stick).