Football-o-saurus Blog: 2013

I've listed some tips to winning at Football o Saurus below:

Usually a balanced formation like 212 or 131 is a good formation to play in the style needed to win. Other formations are too limited in terms of width and balance between attack and defence.

Passing & defending is key
Passing keeps you in possession and keeps the ball moving which puts you in better positions to score. As soon as you lose possession you need to close opponents down quickly.
Switch off auto move to ball. This will allow you to control how you recieve a pass and this will give you more chance to go around opponents
Don't try too hard to score, this only puts you in a bad position (ie. not goal side) if you lose possession.
Keep the ball moving regularly. This makes it harder to be caught in possession and easier to get scoring opportunities by moving opponents around
Tackle opponents from side/behind and wait until they pick up the ball before tackling (otherwise you risk picking up the ball first and getting tackled)
Avoid horizontal passes (easy to get tackled)
Avoid long passes as defenders have more time to get into position
Try to keep yourself in a good position to recieve a pass especially if a teammate is under pressure

Tackling square ball passesThis is one of the most advanced tactics that I use and in a tight game can be the difference between winning and losing. From a defensive position without the ball you need to look for moments where your opponents will pass square, these passes often go short or long. You need to aim to hit the opponent head on just as they gather the ball. This is great when it works as you make space in the opponent formation by tackling the opponent. This creates space to run into, and most formations cannot cope once they have a teammate down after being tackled. The bad side to this technique is that it involves running up the pitch which can leave opponents in space behind, so there is pressure to get this right without conceding.

1-2This manoeuvre is difficult to explain but creates space to run into and attack. From a deep position pass square to the right or left to send opponents towards the player that now has the ball. Run into the space vacated by the opponent and your teammate should return the ball. You now should be past the marker with ball in hand and teammates ahead of you. This technique can be done from a position further up the pitch but means you probably won't have teammates to pass to once you get the ball.

Look for weaknessesWhen in possession, look for areas of the pitch where there is only one opponent blocking the path to the end zone. Once you see a weak area with only one defender, position two of your players in front of him. With a teammate behind in possession, you can now run into space behind the isolated defender and you can receive a pass and head towards the end zone.

Crowd out attacksWhen defending look to double up on the opponent in possession. You can chase down bad passes and any poor returned passes. Look for bad square passes that you can smash into.
Identifying areas on the pitch where you have more or less players is important especially in tight games. Care must be taken so you don't leave too many players in any one area of the pitch.

Football-o-saurus Blog