How to attack in FIFA 13

Attacking in FIFA is a combination of developing play, working openings and finishing chances when they appear. Against a good player you may only get one or two openings so it is important that you know the best ways to react in different situation in order to put away those all important goals.

Here are the sections for attacking:

• First touch
• Working space
• Holding the ball
• Straight passing

• Lobbed passing
• Through balls
• One Two pass
• Driven lobbed ball
• Lobbed through ball from kick off
• Dribbling and pulling away

1. First touch

This is slightly different in FIFA 13 as first touch now means the ball can bounce off the player sometimes quite far away. To stop it try to use just LB on Xbox or L1 on PS3. This seems to work better than actually trapping the ball with LT or L2.

• Trapping the ball. As above this only works well with very high rated players or high ball control. Press LT or L2 to trap the ball and higher skilled players will cushion the ball with different parts of the foot or even chest.
• Small nudge. As the ball arrives nudge the left stick in the direction you want to pass or run next. Your player will turn his body and nudge the ball in that direction as his first touch. This is extremely effective for making a small bit of space for your next pass or to create space for a shot.
• Knock on. Use right stick this time to knock the ball further ahead into space as you are about to receive the ball. If there is space flick the right stick towards it and your player will burst in that direction. Flick the stick twice or three times and he will knock the ball on further and further. Excellent for wingers looking for that space to get a cross in and strikers to beat the defender for a shot.

2. Working space

There are many ways in which you can work the ball towards goal and create space, a lot of your options and play style in each game will be sculpted by your opponents play. This is decided generally by how they play and the opportunities which they present to you. If you went into every game and tried the same skills and tactics over and over, after the first few times it would become predictable and easy to stop. This is why you must adapt to each game while using a fundamental set of skills to out think and outplay your opponent.

For example, if your opposition is playing very high pressure you will have to react differently to get the ball up field and create space with his players constantly pressing you and cutting down your time on the ball. This is opposed to a player who stands off and doesn’t track runs, who you could exploit easily by playing lots of lobbed through balls after a one two pass. Just because one method works doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t mix it up a bit. The key to winning against a variety of opponents is building up a larger set of skills, attacking methods and a greater understanding of the game. Also quickly learning how your opponent plays and of course a bit of luck is always helpful.

Some methods are more successful than others and you will generally find yourself adopting a certain style of play after a while that suits you and you are happy with.

3. Holding the ball

Just hold left trigger to trap the ball and then use right trigger to shield the ball.

If a player is running onto you the best method for keeping the ball is to either pass it away if a pass is available, or back away and try to turn the on rushing player. To do this, ensure your player is facing either diagonally away or has his back fully turned from your opponent and then start moving in the direction away to prevent a rushing tackle.

You can now use slow dribble (hold just the left bumper LB/L1) to turn in small angles. If they are directly behind you, you should be able to turn easily in either direction with no tackle made. If however they start to try move up and press on one side ensure you turn to the opposite side in order to prevent a tackle. Some opposition may hold off slightly and press form a slight distance. In this case try turning slightly in one direction then going the opposite way to confuse them. You can do this multiple times to try shake them off.

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