[Discussion] First time crosses

[Erratic Aspie]

 

Football Manager includes team instructions and player traits that encourage a player to hit early crosses. I also think that the game should include an option to hit crosses into the box first time, without taking a touch. Early crosses seem to be associated with getting the ball in at the earliest possible opportunity, even if they are from deep, relatively unpromising crossing positions (possibly why it is an incompatible team instruction with 'Work Ball Into Box'. First time crosses are not necessarily associated with such strategies,  and bring distinct advantages (crossing against a defence that is less likely to be set),  and disadvantages (seems likely to be a somewhat harder skill to hit a first time cross accurately).

I am ambiguous as to whether they should be a team instruction, a player instruction, a trait, or some combination of the three. I certainly think that there are some players who excel at first time crosses, and some who are poor at it, and prefer to take a touch to get the ball out of their feet, which means that having trait(s) might not be the worst idea. However, it is also the case that a manager could clearly instruct his team or particular players within it to prefer first time crosses.

 

Would welcome any thoughts on this proposal.

 

 

[Michael Sant]

Hey @Erratic Aspie are there any players you can think of, or any clips you can share of players pulling off first time crosses. Examples of how exactly you interpret this as well would help. It's something that is technically going to be very difficult, and it depends on all kinds of factors like the way in which the ball has been played. Seeing more about how you think this ought to work in game would help when looking into this request.

[Erratic Aspie]

Hi,  Thanks for the reply.  I agree it is a difficult task, and that first time crosses themselves come in different varieties,  some of which may already be present within the match engine (indeed,  even the variety I specifically go on to mention may happen more frequently in the match engine than I recollect).  To be specific,  I am predominantly thinking of crosses like those found in this video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7jp-qZuPfI) at 0.13,  0.27 (I incorporate first time cut backs) and 1.36 (even a situation like 2.06 may count,  though it is a bit different).  In most of these instances,  the person crossing has been played into open space against an unset defence.  It seems to me that this is a tactical choice being made by many teams at the moment, to attempt a cross first time,  on the run when in wide areas,  rather than take a touch and fling one in after the defence has recovered its shape.  The first time cross seems to be a different (perhaps harder) technical skill, and often comes with fewer bodies in the box,  so it is harder to be completed but using them comes with the advantage of a better chance when completed due to  poor defensive positioning.  About how to incorporate this I am unsure (the last thing I would want to do is unnecessarily mess up game balance for no reason).  I instead list a range of options that are all ways of incorporating this aspect of football.

a) One option (perhaps in my view the best) would be to not to introduce a discrete team or player instruction or player trait,  but simply to make an ME tweak that increases the frequency of first time crosses in suitable situations. So,  you would increase the number of crosses made first time in situations when the ball is played in behind opposition full backs at the relevant pace,  if it is felt that the default frequency is not correct (I should add that I have no knowledge as to what the actual frequency is).  I would assert that it would also be sensible if tactical instructions would influence the frequency of such events both indirectly (by controlling how frequently players get into such positions- for example,  by means of team instructions like overlapping and passing into space-both of which would,  all other things being equal generally increase the chances of reaching a position where a first time cross from in behind the full back would be a possibility)  and directly (by influencing how likely the player is to decide to take this choice rather than some other when in the position - for example if a player had the instruction cross rarely, is on a defensive duty with take fewer risks). This distinction between direct and indirect obviously admits of grey areas,  having higher tempo ought to both increase the number of opportunities to play such a cross,  but also ought to mean that players are more likely to attempt such crosses when they are in a position to do so.  Further,  higher tempo settings with play through the middle,  without overlapping,  would probably militate against creating particular many opportunities for first time crosses,  but such a system should probably still lead to players being more likely to choose to do so when the opportunity arises.  Obviously,  player attributes and player traits should also have a significant role in the determination of how likely they are to play such a cross, and how likely they are to be effective at doing so. In particular, a player with poor balance,  technique and crossing ought to be less able to cross a ball on the run, a player with a poor first touch with high crossing and technique may well prefer to cross first time.  Players with higher flair may take on a more difficult first time pass than those without,  etc and so on.   Obviously,  I appreciate this is a lot of effort,  and much more complex than I suggest (one would have to do al lot of work on forwards runs as well-to name but one thing.)

b)  A different option would be to introduce a discrete option in team or player instructions to instruct tyour team/player(s) to look for these kind of crosses.  Obviously,  the extent to which this could happen would be determined only in the context of the players at your disposal and tactical system.

c)  One could also introduce it as a trait,  though to be honest there probably aren't enough players known for it to make it a worthwhile thing to do. 

I hope all this is useful and constructive and makes sense.

 

[JRHaggs]

If the issue of wide players waiting to cross until they've been engaged by a defender ever gets sorted out, this kind of thing should happen more naturally.

It is deeply frustrating watching a wide player in space screw around with the ball until they're closed down, only to smash it off the defender for a corner or, worse, a counter-attack.

Your proposal sounds like it would ease the frustration to at least some extent.

[2feet]

Trent Alexander at Liverpool crosses first time quite often