Recommended Team Instructions
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 mentality:
- Leave as default or …
- … set to Positive or Attacking to implement pass and move football – use the Pass and Move Football guide instead
- … set to Cautious or Defensive to implement possession football – use the Possession Football guide instead
Team Pressing Intensity slider:
- Leave as default or …
- … Increase the slider to implement aggressive short plays football
- … Decrease the slider to implement cautious short plays 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 short plays that cannot be implemented by the player instructions given by your chosen player roles and duties.
Higher risk out of possession instructions:
- Higher Defensive Line or Much Higher Defensive Line
Higher risk in possession instructions:
- Play Out Of Defence
Lower risk in possession instructions:
- Lower Tempo or Much Lower Tempo
Note that decreased tempo is 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 short plays 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.
Higher risk in possession instructions:
- Pass Into Space
- Similar player instructions (higher risk) – Take More Risks
- Contrasting player instructions (lower risk) – Take Fewer Risks
- Can be particularly useful to offset the use of players instructed to Take Fewer Risks if they outnumber those instructed to Take More Risks.
- Be More Expressive
- Similar player instructions (higher risk) – Roam From Position, Move Into Channels and “use more creative freedom”
- Contrasting player instructions (lower risk) – Hold Position, “make more disciplined movement” and “use more tactical discipline”
- Can be particularly useful to offset the use of players instructed to Hold Position or “make more disciplined movement” if they outnumber those instructed to Roam From Position or Move Into Channels (after ignoring the typical three players who Hold Position).
- Can be particularly useful to offset the use of players instructed to “use more tactical discipline” if they outnumber those instructed to “use more creative freedom”.
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).
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 short plays that cannot be implemented by team instructions.
Higher risk in possession instructions:
- Cut Inside With Ball
- Contrasting player instruction (lower risk) – Run Wide With Ball (for flank players only)
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 Shorter Passing team passing directness instructions involve your team playing with slightly lower risk when in 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.
However, you can balance the use of lower risk in possession instructions by also using higher risk in possession instructions. Transition tactics can be used to balance risk similarly, as detailed below.
Suggested Instructions for Balancing Risk
Higher risk instructions are included in the suggested instructions above.
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.
- However, you should add to the important player attributes listed above …
- … Good mobility – for M/AM/ST(C/R/L)s in particular.
- 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.
