Fifa08 Tactical tips. Part III – Kick takers and offensive mentality.

As it was said on several occasions, FIFA08 is a great game and a real joy for every computer-football fan. It was also mentioned that tactics has been given a special attention by the developers and can give you (or your opponent) a serious advantage – if used properly. If you have missed – please, do read the "PART I – offense" and "PART II – defense" articles. If you have read them (or want to jump to the advanced tricks right away) – here are some more tips that should help you in controlling your player's move patterns.

The first feature that should be utilized is the "kick takers". Either in pre-tournament team management screen, or during the match you should access this option. You team has 4 kick-takers: Left and Right Corners, Free kicks and Penalties. For free kick and penalties it is wise to choose the player with good "Power" and "Long Shot" skills. For corners – player's preferable foot should come into consideration. If you prefer your corners to be curved out of the goal – choose the right-footed player for right corner. If you prefer inside curl – choose a left-footed player to take the corner form right. Remember, accurately delivered corner is very tough for defense to cope with.

Another - and very powerful – feature is the "mentality". Myself, I call it actually, "positioning". If you press the Keypad 5 button you will see a circle in left bottom of your screen. Pressing it again will bring a triangle pointing up. Press again – triangle will point down.

When there is no triangle – your team is playing "normally", according to the formation, tactics etc.

When the triangle is pointing up – your team has an "attacking" mentality. Your players will position themselves closer to opponent's goal and make offensive runs more frequently. Your midfielders will usually play in front of the ball, - mostly on the opponent's half of the field -leaving the defensive task to the defenders. The defenders will keep the line with opponent's forwards. Playing offensively will lead to very high pressure in the opponent's half of the field, and midfield domination. However, you are likely to be exposed to counter attacks and your defenders will generally be one-on-one with the attacker they mark. Your tackling should be very skillful.

Generally, "triangle up" is a very good option if you are a goal down in the closing stages or if you want to "press" the opponent all over the field for some 15-20 minutes. Playing for the whole game with "attackinge mentality" will probably lead to your opponent learning to deal with it – launching long forward passes. And when you are in the lead – why take chances? Switch to defensive mentality! – covered in the next article.

FIFA08 Tactics - Part 1 - Offense

FIFA08 Tactics - Part 2 - Defense

FIFA08 Tactics - Part 3 - Kick-takers & Offensive Mentality

FIFA08 Tactics - Part 4 - Defensive Mentality & Man Marking