[spydre]

The key to game play on the field is to constantly change the positioning of players to get the "effects" of the desired position and to move the players to the desired locations. I will list a few examples:

Passing: To encourage a player to pass the ball on command, change the ball carrier to either a defensive position, or (my preference) a forward midfielder on "quick/long pass". Set the player that you desire to receive the pass as a striker (I would recommend on "keep ball" to avoid having him pass it away once he gets it). Change any other attacking players on the pitch to midfielders or defenders to avoid having them become the target of the pass.

Once the pass is received you can then change the receiver to whatever positioning will be of next advantage.


Getting the ball past a defender: To encourage a player to do his trickiest footwork and baffle an approaching defender, change the player to a full back on "quick/short passing". Quickly change another nearby player or players to strikers or center forwards. The ball carrier will go into some quirky dribbling, while the newly converted attackers will begin to rush forward. The defense will rush to cover the attackers while the full back dribbles on by. Once past the defense convert the man with the ball to an attacker with keep ball, or alternatively have him pass or cross onto one of your other players (see passing above).

Shoot on command: Whenever your player with the ball is at the location where you want him to shoot, or if he's about to receive a pass or a cross and you want him to volley the ball straight at the net, convert him to a centerback on "keep ball/short passing", and he will fire the shot instantly.

Other tips: Converting a player to a winger with "quick/short passing" will achieve an effect similar to the "fullback trick" (see above) but instead of fancy footwork, the player will dribble wide and out to the wing and sometimes around potential midfielder tacklers. From the wing, the passing maneuver given earlier can be used to force a cross to an uncovered player rushing up the center.

There are many more such tricks but it's more fun to find them on your own. To properly accomplish these feats, the game should be played on a very slow speed. An hour of actual game time for really fancy play on the field is not out of the question. Playing against another human opponent using this method you should allow for a full 90 minutes (and I'd recommend a half time to allow tempers to cool). Played in this manner the game takes on the aspect of a non-stop action chess match wherein the pieces constantly changing as the game is played.

Peace,

-S