Recommended Team Instructions
Team mentality:
- Cautious – to implement defensive football to a moderate extent
- Defensive – to implement defensive football to a large extent
Team Passing Directness slider:
- More Direct Passing (one notch up) – to implement direct plays to a moderate extent
- Much More Direct Passing (two notches up) – to implement direct plays to a large extent
Team Pressing Intensity slider:
- Leave as default or …
- … Increase the slider to implement aggressive long ball football
- … Decrease the slider to implement parking-the-bus long ball football (cautious long ball football)
Other Suggested Team Instructions
Unrelated to Player Instructions
These team instructions do not have any directly related player instructions.
They can therefore be used to implement aspects of long ball football that cannot be implemented by the player instructions given by your chosen player roles and duties.
Lower risk in possession instructions:
- Waste Time Sometimes or Frequently Waste Time
- Play For Set Pieces
Lower risk out of possession instructions:
- Lower Line Of Engagement or Much Lower Line Of Engagement
- Lower Defensive Line or Much Lower Defensive Line
- Defend Narrower
Note that increased time wasting, a decreased line of engagement and a decreased defensive line are set automatically to some extent by the team mentality.
Related to Player Instructions
These team instructions have related player instructions that have directly similar or contrasting effects.
They can therefore be used to implement aspects of long ball football that are not already being implemented by similar player instructions given by your chosen player roles and duties, or even to emphasise aspects that are already being implemented that way.
However, they are particularly useful for offsetting any contrasting player instructions that are given by your roles and duties.
You can check the player instructions given by your roles and duties in the Player Roles & Duties guide.
Lower risk in possession instructions:
- Be More Disciplined
- Similar player instructions (lower risk) – Hold Position, “make more disciplined movement” and “use more tactical discipline”
- Contrasting player instructions (higher risk) – Roam From Position, Move Into Channels and “use more creative freedom”
- However, the Move Into Channels PI also sets the “make more dribbles into channels” PI which is suited to direct plays.
- Can be particularly useful to offset the use of players instructed to Roam From Position or Move Into Channels if they outnumber those instructed to Hold Position or “make more disciplined movement” (after ignoring the typical three players who Hold Position).
- Can be particularly useful to offset the use of players instructed to “use more creative freedom” if they outnumber those instructed to “use more tactical discipline”.
Lower risk out of possession instructions:
- Stay On Feet
- Similar player instructions (lower risk) – Ease Off Tackles
- Contrasting player instructions (higher risk) – Tackle Harder
- Can be particularly useful to offset the use of players instructed to Tackle Harder if they outnumber those instructed to Ease Off Tackles.
Suggested Player Instructions
Unrelated to Team Instructions
These player instructions do not have any directly related team instructions.
Player roles and duties that give these player instructions can therefore be used to implement aspects of long ball football that cannot be implemented by team instructions.
Lower risk in possession instructions:
- Run Wide With Ball (for players on the flanks only)
- Contrasting player instruction (higher risk) – Cut Inside With Ball
- Take Fewer Risks
- Contrasting player instruction (higher risk) – Take More Risks
Neutral risk in possession instructions:
- Hold Up Ball
- “Make more dribbles into channels” (this is set by the Move Into Channels player instruction, which is a contrasting player instruction for the Be More Disciplined team instruction and so you may want to offset it as detailed above)
Roles/duties that give these player instructions are highlighted in the Suggested Player Roles & Duties below.
Roles/duties that give the contrasting player instructions are also highlighted. If you use any of these roles/duties then you may want to offset them by also using other roles/duties that give the relevant suggested player instruction.
Balancing Risk
The Cautious and Defensive team mentalities involve your team playing with lower risk both when in possession and when out of possession. The Direct Passing team passing directness instructions involve your team playing with slightly higher risk when in possession.
This results in slightly lower risk play in possession and lower risk play out of possession.
You should therefore be careful not to use too many lower risk in possession instructions as this can cause your team to fail to create space and penetrate space effectively, which makes it difficult to create goal-scoring chances.
Similarly, you should be careful not to use too many lower risk out of possession instructions as this can cause your team to fail to restrict space effectively, which makes it difficult to win possession.
However, you can balance the use of lower risk in possession instructions by also using higher risk in possession instructions, while you can balance the use of lower risk out of possession instructions by also using higher risk out of possession instructions. Transition tactics can be used to balance risk similarly, as detailed below.
Suggested Instructions for Balancing Risk
No higher risk instructions are included in the suggested instructions above as they do not implement aspects of defensive football. However, they can still be suitable for long ball football if they implement aspects of direct plays.
The following higher risk in possession team instructions implement aspects of direct plays:
- Higher Tempo and Much Higher Tempo
- Note that decreased tempo is set automatically to some extent by the team mentality but increased tempo is set automatically to some extent by the team passing directness.
- Wide and Very Wide attacking width
- Note that decreased attacking width is set to some extent by the team mentality.
- Hit Early Crosses
- Shoot On Sight
- Run At Defence
See the direct plays guide for details of these instructions’ related similar and contrasting player instructions, as these should also be considered when balancing risk.
Suggested Transition Tactics
Transition tactics can be used to either balance risk or complement risk, as you desire.
In transition instructions:
- Counter – higher risk in possession
- Counter can be used to balance lower risk in possession by enabling your team to temporarily focus more on penetrating space after winning possession.
- Hold Shape – lower risk in possession
- Hold Shape can be used to complement lower risk in possession by enabling your team to focus more on keeping possession and retaining solidity immediately after winning possession.
- Counter-Press – higher risk out of possession
- Counter-Press can be used to balance lower risk out of possession by enabling your team to temporarily focus more on restricting space after conceding possession.
- However, you should add to the important player attributes listed above …
- … Good mobility – for D/DM/M(C/R/L)s in particular.
- Regroup – lower risk out of possession
- Regroup can be used to complement lower risk out of possession by enabling your team to focus more on protecting space immediately after conceding possession.
