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:
- Shorter Passing (one notch up) – to implement short plays to a moderate extent
- Much Shorter Passing (two notches up) – to implement short plays to a large extent
Team Pressing Intensity slider:
- Leave as default or …
- … Increase the slider to implement aggressive possession football
- … Decrease the slider to implement parking-the-bus possession football (cautious possession 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 possession football that cannot be implemented by the player instructions given by your chosen player roles and duties.
Higher risk in possession instructions:
- Play Out Of Defence
Lower risk in possession instructions:
- Lower Tempo or Much Lower Tempo
- 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
- Defend Narrower
Note that decreased tempo, increased time wasting and a decreased line of engagement are automatically set to some extent by the team mentality, while decreased tempo is also set automatically to some extent by the team passing directness.
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 possession 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:
- Narrow or Very Narrow attacking width
- Similar player instructions (lower risk) – Sit Narrower
- Contrasting player instructions (higher risk) – Stay Wider
- Can be particularly useful to offset the use of players instructed to Stay Wider if they outnumber players instructed to Sit Narrower (after ignoring one off-centre M/AM/ST(C) on each side instructed to Stay Wider to provide support to a lone D/WB(R/L) as this offsets the narrow formation).
- Work Ball Into Box
- Similar player instructions (lower risk) – Cross From Byline, Cross Less Often and Shoot Less Often
- Contrasting player instructions (higher risk) – Cross From Deep, Cross More Often and Shoot More Often
- Can be particularly useful to offset the use of players instructed to Cross From Deep or Cross More Often if they outnumber those instructed to Cross From Byline or Cross Less Often. However, using the Work Ball Into Box TI would restrict players from carrying out their Cross From Byline instructions if used.
- Can be particularly useful to offset the use of players instructed to Shoot More Often if they outnumber those instructed to Shoot Less Often (after ignoring D(C/R/L)s who Hold Position and Shoot Less Often as the instruction is essentially irrelevant for them).
- Dribble Less
- Similar player instructions (lower risk) – Dribble Less
- Contrasting player instructions (higher risk) – Dribble More
- Can be particularly useful to offset the use of players instructed to Dribble More if they outnumber those instructed to Dribble Less (after ignoring the typical two players who Dribble Less).
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 possession football that cannot be implemented by team instructions.
Neutral risk in possession instructions:
- “Collect the ball more”
- “Drop deep more”
- “Carry the ball more”
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 Shorter Passing team passing directness instructions involve your team playing with slightly lower risk when in possession.
This results in much 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 possession football if they implement aspects of short plays.
The following higher risk in possession team instructions implement aspects of short plays:
- Pass Into Space
- Be More Expressive
See the short plays guide for details of these instructions’ related similar and contrasting player instructions, as these should also be considered when balancing risk.
The following higher risk in possession player instruction implements an aspect of short plays:
- Cut Inside With Ball
Roles/duties that give this player instruction are highlighted in the Suggested Player Roles & Duties below.
The following higher risk out of possession team instruction implements an aspect of short plays:
- Higher Defensive Line or Much Higher Defensive Line
- Note that a decreased defensive line is set automatically to some extent by the team mentality.
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.
