FIFA for beginners?

**Zac** · 08-15-2014, 01:40 PM

Re: FIFA for beginners?

This should help.

http://worldsoccer.about.com/od/soccer101/u/Basics.htm

Also google understanding soccer, there is a lot of good info out there.

**jaateloauto** · 08-16-2014, 08:29 PM

Re: FIFA for beginners?

Never been a big fan of the sport myself but I bought FIFA 14 on a sale and have been playing it for a while now.

Best advice for me was to understand that it really is a game of possession. The longer you have the ball the less chance the opponent has to score. The game is lengthy enough that you shouldn't make risky plays unless necessary. You can always play it back to your defense and restart the offense if you don't have an opportunity to do anything.

Set pieces and corner tips you can easily find on youtube by searching for them.

On crosses and corners most of the time you want to head the ball the corner the cross came from to get goals. When you have a chance to shoot most of the time you should put it to the wide side of the goal.

Most useful buttons a beginner might not know is LB + A (Xbox controller) gives you a lob through ball which can get you open. LB + X gives you an early cross and X/O + A makes you fake a cross/shot which can get you a lot of space if you're inside the box.

**pujolsformvp21** · 08-16-2014, 11:00 PM

Re: FIFA for beginners?

Formations are what mostly tell where players should be and for what area of the pitch they are responsible for both offensively and defensively, although tactics and runs and movement changes during a course of the game for the most part things are broken down into left middle right and a right sided player pretty much plays on that side for the game and vice versa.

Typically you will see them as numbers without the goalie, the first number is # of defenders, 2nd is # of midfielders, 3rd is # of attackers. They are always read from GK to DEF to MID to ATT in that order and you can actually easily visualize how the formation will look in the game, meaning just buy reading 433 you know how many of each "type" of player there formation is using but also where each player will be playing. Some common ones are 433, 442, 4231,41212, 352, 532 ( I will show how each of these look at the end)

Players are broken down into these categories (usually)

GK- Goalkeeper
DEF- Defenders
MID - Midfielders
ATT- Attackers

Goalies I am sure you understand, but for each of those positions they are further broken down into these categories (usually). For the most part players are placed

DEF- Centerbacks (CB), Fullbacks (RB,LB) for left and right back and some times wingbacks are used which are typically defenders that are quick and can also come forward in the attack often. Teams for the most part play with 4 defenders in a configuration like this:

LB----LCB-----RCB-----RB
GK

Although 3 and 5 defender formations are also used like so:

LCB-------CB---------RCB
GK
LWB RWB
---CB--CB--CB---
GK

Typically central positioned defenders are taller and slower while sided players are smaller and can cross the ball into the box when they come forward.

MID- Central Midfielder (CM) Right Midfielder (RM) Left Midfielder (LM). Central midfielders can also be broken down further into Central Defending Midfielder (CDM) and Central Attacking Midfielder (CAM), midfielders that are more geared towards defense may be in a cdm position and those that are good at attacking may be in CAM position. This also usually means they will move up or down in the formation depending on the role and another number is added to the formation name, like 41212 where the middle 3 numbers 121 explain the midfield set up. Some teams may not use a LM or RM and instead use 3 CMs. Teams will often use 3,4 or 5 midfielders in common set ups like this:

CM---CM---CM (This would be how the midfield looks in 433)

or

LM--CM--CM--RM (442)

or
CAM
LM-----------RM (41212)
CDM

or

LM----CAM----RM (4231)
CDM CDM

Typically central midfielders are small, quick, great passer, great dribbler, and can control the ball and not lose it when pressured by the defense. Their is a common phrase in football, possession wins and having possession means you have great midfielders because on average over 60%-70% of the game will be spent only in the midfield as teams constantly fight over possession and get the ball and advance then lose the ball and retreat and repeat etc.

ATT- Strikers (ST) Left Wing (LW) Right Wing (RW) Strikers tpyically play in the center of the pitch while left and right wings of course will be on their respective sides but much much higher up and more attacking than a LM or RM would be, which is why they are classified in the ATT section. Typically players who play these positions can play both, ie LM-LW and RM-RW, just the formation will dictate whether they are part of the midfield or attack.
Typically if you have 2 strikers you wont have any LW or RW although you may have a LM or RM (ill show later).Most teams will use either 2 or 3 attackers like this and perhaps only one in cases like a 4231

ST----ST (442)

or

LW---ST---RW (443)

Strikers will be typically taller and can head the ball while LW and RW will be smaller quicker players that can pass the ball to the ST or can attack and shoot themselves.

COMMON FORMATIONS

433

LW ST RW
CM CM CM
LB CB CB RB

442
ST ST
LM CM CM RM
LB CB CB RB

4231

ST
LM CAM RM
CDM CDM
CB CB CB

41212

ST ST
CAM
LM RM
CDM
LB CB CB RB

352

ST ST
CAM
LM RM
CDM
CB CB CB

532

ST ST
CM CM CM
LWB CB CB CB RWB

Idk what else I missed but let me know what other questions you have! Also, of course each team can only have 10 players not counting the goalie so it is a strategy decision by the coach of which formation to use and they all have positives and negatives. If you play with 3 defenders youll have more attackers and can score easier but then you are more susceptible to getting scored on and such.