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Subject: Deja's Guide to Defending
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Deja [del] to
All
I thought that I would write up a couple of basic rules for making defensively sound tactics in Sokker. I think that the game is so much more enjoyable for everyone, and especially for new players, when they aren't getting blown out. No one likes that! There are a couple of rules that all of the good defensive teams follow. I am not going to give up ALL of my secrets, just the basics :)
1. Stay out of the Penalty Area as much as possible. Don't put your defenders inside of the area until the ball is on the bottom row. If your defenders are in the area, so are the opposition strikers, and that means that you are in danger of being scored on. This will force the opposition to either take low percentage shots from outside the area, or carry the ball deep into your territory giving you more time to disrupt the attack.
2. Keep the back line together. I have seen a lot of teams push a central defender up to act as a second defensive midfielder. This is a really bad idea. It looks fine in the tactics editor, but once the other team starts carrying the ball upfield then there is suddenly a big hole in your line as he scrambles to try and catch up with his mates. Good tacticians notice this and will exploit it, I won at least four games this season by placing strikers in this gap :)
3. Trap with caution! Unless you know that you have a pace advantage against the opposition strikers it is best to not attempt a trap. That is why Fichaud is so important to my team. He is double divine in pace and tackling, so I know that he can catch pretty much any striker and at least break up his attack. That is what allows me to use a high defense in pretty much any game. But even then I have to back up a bit when facing certain strikers because they will just undo me and I will lose badly, as happened to me several times this season.
4. Choose your point of defense. I wont tell you how I make this decision, but it is really important. The point of defense is where your defenders draw the line and begin fighting for the ball. In the tactics editor it is where your defenders are on the same line as the 'ball'. You may want to trap and set that line at the halfway mark, or you may choose a more passive defense further back, you could even set it at the line at the top of the penalty area, but whatever you do, don't set it all the way back inside the penalty area or your defenders will be useless for anything but clearing rebounds! One trick if you are playing a counter-attacking game, is to set it further back to draw the opposition forward so that there is space behind the oppositions defense for your through balls!
5. Check your throws. This can be tricky, but throw-ins determine a lot of games, because if your opponent has free throws, especially in the bottom two rows it is a huge advantage. This can be very hard to figure out, Valiant is masterful of using a mixed bag of throw in positions that can be like a rubic's cube to try and decode, and then he'll mix it up on a regular basis just to make you feel like not even bothering :)
6. Goal Kicks. Can be a huge factor in determining play in the half statistics. The players always line up like they are on the center dot. Keep track of how far your keeper plays the ball and make sure that you have players out in that range to fight for the ball. Same with checking your opponents keeper. If you can consistently win possession from their goal kicks you can control the game and get many chances to score in succession. I have won many, many games by outwitting my opponents in this area.
7. Keep it tight! If you've ever played defense, you have heard this yelled from the bench over and over by your coach, I know I did! In RL I believe that 15 feet is the spacing, Sokker terms that means that you should almost never have more than one 'square' of distance between your defenders unless the ball is deep in their territory, like the corner positions. As a general rule, make your line tighter as you get closer to your own goal, just don't forget about the wings.
There are so many other little things that can help your team to become a top defending team, and there are certainly some that I have probably never thought of, but that should be enough to keep your team in most games and significantly increase your 'upset' ratio. I figured out most of this by just thinking about the real game, remembering what my coaches taught me, and by watching a few coaching videos on the internet.
I hope you guys find it useful! GL in the new season!
1. Stay out of the Penalty Area as much as possible. Don't put your defenders inside of the area until the ball is on the bottom row. If your defenders are in the area, so are the opposition strikers, and that means that you are in danger of being scored on. This will force the opposition to either take low percentage shots from outside the area, or carry the ball deep into your territory giving you more time to disrupt the attack.
2. Keep the back line together. I have seen a lot of teams push a central defender up to act as a second defensive midfielder. This is a really bad idea. It looks fine in the tactics editor, but once the other team starts carrying the ball upfield then there is suddenly a big hole in your line as he scrambles to try and catch up with his mates. Good tacticians notice this and will exploit it, I won at least four games this season by placing strikers in this gap :)
3. Trap with caution! Unless you know that you have a pace advantage against the opposition strikers it is best to not attempt a trap. That is why Fichaud is so important to my team. He is double divine in pace and tackling, so I know that he can catch pretty much any striker and at least break up his attack. That is what allows me to use a high defense in pretty much any game. But even then I have to back up a bit when facing certain strikers because they will just undo me and I will lose badly, as happened to me several times this season.
4. Choose your point of defense. I wont tell you how I make this decision, but it is really important. The point of defense is where your defenders draw the line and begin fighting for the ball. In the tactics editor it is where your defenders are on the same line as the 'ball'. You may want to trap and set that line at the halfway mark, or you may choose a more passive defense further back, you could even set it at the line at the top of the penalty area, but whatever you do, don't set it all the way back inside the penalty area or your defenders will be useless for anything but clearing rebounds! One trick if you are playing a counter-attacking game, is to set it further back to draw the opposition forward so that there is space behind the oppositions defense for your through balls!
5. Check your throws. This can be tricky, but throw-ins determine a lot of games, because if your opponent has free throws, especially in the bottom two rows it is a huge advantage. This can be very hard to figure out, Valiant is masterful of using a mixed bag of throw in positions that can be like a rubic's cube to try and decode, and then he'll mix it up on a regular basis just to make you feel like not even bothering :)
6. Goal Kicks. Can be a huge factor in determining play in the half statistics. The players always line up like they are on the center dot. Keep track of how far your keeper plays the ball and make sure that you have players out in that range to fight for the ball. Same with checking your opponents keeper. If you can consistently win possession from their goal kicks you can control the game and get many chances to score in succession. I have won many, many games by outwitting my opponents in this area.
7. Keep it tight! If you've ever played defense, you have heard this yelled from the bench over and over by your coach, I know I did! In RL I believe that 15 feet is the spacing, Sokker terms that means that you should almost never have more than one 'square' of distance between your defenders unless the ball is deep in their territory, like the corner positions. As a general rule, make your line tighter as you get closer to your own goal, just don't forget about the wings.
There are so many other little things that can help your team to become a top defending team, and there are certainly some that I have probably never thought of, but that should be enough to keep your team in most games and significantly increase your 'upset' ratio. I figured out most of this by just thinking about the real game, remembering what my coaches taught me, and by watching a few coaching videos on the internet.
I hope you guys find it useful! GL in the new season!
great guide, thanks for the tips, big transition from hattrick to sokker was the tactics editor
i am still losing matches because of poor tactics but this will help (with some trial and error) to get a good tactic going...:D
i am still losing matches because of poor tactics but this will help (with some trial and error) to get a good tactic going...:D
can i assume the more movement from square to square, the quicker the stamina drains from a player?
actually no, players only use stamina when they are involved in the play, them little guys will run and run but if that means they see the ball more, they will get tired
Sorry, Deja, but the rules say:
The degree of fatigue is not directly dependent on length of play but on the activity of the given player. The more he runs and participates in the game the more he gets tired.
So simply running around does drain stamina. It's just not the only thing that does.
(edited)
The degree of fatigue is not directly dependent on length of play but on the activity of the given player. The more he runs and participates in the game the more he gets tired.
So simply running around does drain stamina. It's just not the only thing that does.
(edited)
I may be wrong, or that must be a change to the ME from when I began. I run the bejesus out of my team and have never noticed them being more drained than if I let them 'rest' more, but my team is pretty fast :)
Where do you put on the field your 2*solid defenders against 3*incredible (or better) forwards?
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