High Pressure Works

I hate playing against high pressing teams as the game just gets chaotic and usually goes back and forth. Usually filled with lobbed thru balls and takes most of the beauty of the game right out of it. But it works. Giving your opponent no time to make runs or decisions usually results in turn overs and a counter attack.  Most people will call high pressure in the in game tactics and set the mindset on “Ultra Attacking”. I don’t like to do that but it does work.

Set Your Custom Tactics

I find I get better results when I set my custom tactics.  I like to bring up the speed to around 62 – 65 and make the passing somewhere in the “mixed” region. Usually around 48 – 58.  Then in the Chance Creation section I like to turn that passing rating up to almost risky, somewhere around 65 – 69.  What this does is make your players make more runs. I find it a great setting for fast counter attacks.  There’s some risk involved as there is with any high pressing game plan, but I find this passing setting to give me more passing options then playing it safe.  Also, you need as many passing options as fast possible when playing a high pressure game, because the worst thing that can happen is you give the ball away right away and now your opponent has a free run at your back line.

What Formation To Play?

This type of game plan usually works best with most formations featuring a minimum of 3 central midfielders.  Since you will be pressing you want to make sure the center of the field is protected.  A 2 man CM/CDM formation isn’t much protection as 1 good pass can take them both out of the play. Also you want to make sure at least 2 of your central players have high defensive work rates and some pace will help. Here are some examples (Gundogan/Lahm/Schweinsteiger), (Ramires, Fernandinho, Yaya Toure).

Dirty Mike put together this cool video to show you exactly why he believes that the 4321 is a formation built for this type of gameplay.