Taking crosses and how to defend them?

Alamode · 13-01-2009, 05:02 PM

lately i have come accross alot of people, and i mean ALOT of people doing one thing, Crossing. They cross the ball in almost throughout the 90 minutes thats the only thing they do, just run on the flanks and give a cross and then they have at all striker upfront like Adebayour and he wins all the headers easily and scores.

I was playing against Arsenal and the guy did this throughout the game he hardly had any possession in the middle of the park. I lost 5-1. How do you defend this? I know you could just try to stop the crosses coming in but the thing is i was using LA galaxy and their defenders arent as fast as evra and others in 5 star teams so if im out of position his players were able to get crosses in easily also as adebayour is so tall he hardly missed any header. Any advice on how to cope up with this?

Secondly, Now how do you do this? How do you give a good cross and when do you head it? I usually never, NEVER cross the ball in because i feel scoring from crosses is just too hard and i like to buildup and find space and score but as the guy who beat me did it so easily im thinking its a good tactic if you learn it right so can you guys tell me how to score from crosses too? Also what should my controller settings be for crossing? Manual? Semi? or Assisted ?

Smoooooochy · 13-01-2009, 05:56 PM

i find assisted crossing goes NOWHERE NEAR anyone i want. i swapped to manual and i can get them more where i want. i too rarely score from crosses. i dont understand how people like ashley young (92 crossing) cant get near anyone on assisted. of course on manual it negates player stats as people on 10 crossing do just as well on manual.

of course the real answer is why use a 2* team against a 4-5* team? i guess you do this to get many more points. so the answer to that is what score do you think LA galaxy V arsenal would be? i guess 5 - 0 sounds about right. maybe the guy was too good for you to use a a crappy team against?

you COULD check for best defenders for that situation. high jump, tall, agile? people like rio ferdinand in real life. of course with teams like galaxy i guess you dont have players like that? i use hull a lot and mendy and agardener are massive... so can help with high balls

Al_Smizzle · 13-01-2009, 06:00 PM

Galaxy is great on the attack but are very bad defensively. If you're going to use them 5 at the back is pretty much a must and counter attack with their speed up front.

seadrg · 13-01-2009, 06:10 PM

i've switched from assisted to semi for the same reasons that smoooooochy mentioned and it works a lot better. i think i'll take a leap of faith in my thumbs and try to switch out to manual soon.

Alamode · 13-01-2009, 06:27 PM

Yeah galaxy are bad defensively but actually im winning 60-70% of my games with them when im playing against United/Liverpool/Arsenal/Chelsea and those 5star teams. Occasionally i come up with someone good and i get a tough time against them this guy was just one of them. His crossing was just awesome, Every cross on the head of adebayor and all his goals were from headers i think all 5 of them.

He wasnt the only one i met who was doing this, I met a few others trying to do the same thing, Some failing horribly but still trying to do it, I had a guy who kept on crossing the whole game even though his crosses were going no where near an attacking player or i would i win the headers some how and then i played a guy who did the same thing but his crosses went straight to a striker's head.

Its on the increase, I think last 5 games 3 people were doing this.

BertthePickle · 13-01-2009, 06:31 PM

I use Boro and semi on the crosses. They play them a lot in real life and I use it a lot in game, from both wings. Downing, ofc, is useful for doing it.

Tend to find that running and crossing, either early (L1) or in the 'zone', is more accurate than standing still and facing the direction of the cross. Perhaps because the strikers have already arrived and are being marked.

Timing the cross is important. In that it's better to start pressing SQUARE just before you reach the imaginary line running out to the side from his 12 yard box. This gives you enough time to build up the power meter to do a cross to near or far post and STILL be in a good position, not too deep, when you release it.

Early crosses are great as opponent's don't anticipate them as much and don't block as well. It helps if you can see your striker running in with his arm up calling for the ball. I find in that situation, as with corners, if you can get the ball to him he'll almost always get a header. Doesn't mean it'll go in but he will get to it before a defender.

When you do get to shoot, then tap the shoot button rather than holding it down or the ball will go over or to the side.

Other than that, I've been using finesses (R1) in conjunction with jockey (L2) a lot more recently for headers/crosses/corners. Seem to help a lot.

Don't know if using those buttons is the reason but my players have been doing more bicycle volleys lately too. Not overhead flip ones but the type where he jumps up with one leg and, whilst that's in the air, jumps and shoots with the other one. His body is still vertical so it's not a scissor kick. Haven't seen that anim at all much till recently.

Despite all this, success rate on crosses is probably only 20% to 30%. Depends a lot on how tall and muscular his defenders are too.... obviously.

killerford89 · 13-01-2009, 06:34 PM

Wait until he kicks the ball then put a player in the way normally works.

biboergosum · 13-01-2009, 06:48 PM

I use the default settings (assisted crossing?). Here are a few tricks I've learned:

Offense: You have to coordinate the positions of your crosser and target man. Ideally you want to cross the ball before your target man gets there, so that he's running into it. Do this by varying the speed of your winger (not always easy if he's defended). Get him to the ideal position (not too deep) about 5-10 yards ahead of your striker. If you do it right your striker will run to meet it in the air, not standing waiting to head it in. While both types of crosses can score, it is harder to defend a rushing target man than a stationary one.

The other important thing is power. You need to choose the exact right amount of power for the position of your striker (near post - 1/3 power, far post - 2/3 power, etc.). This is surprisingly sensitive, even on assisted.

Defense: Switch defender control early or very very late. If you switch while the ball is in the air the defender will stop for a split second and that usually leaves the man open. If you anticipate a cross, switch to a central defender before the cross comes in and get in front of the target man. If the cross takes you by surprise, wait until your defender has stopped moving before you switch.

lungfull · 13-01-2009, 06:53 PM

manual all the way....

and please dont ***** about ALOT of people using a traditional football tactic...

Arsenal_FC_1992 · 13-01-2009, 06:59 PM

Since i got the game i havent changed any of the settings and the crossing works perfectly fine for me. With the normall settings i use L1 and R1 to cross with the enough power to get it into the box. I find that it really picks out the player inside the middle of the box.

Alamode · 13-01-2009, 07:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lungfull

manual all the way....

and please dont ***** about ALOT of people using a traditional football tactic...

I dont think any team in the world would just run down the wings for 90 minutes and cross it in again and again and again and again

lungfull · 13-01-2009, 07:31 PM

thats as maybe, but they could if they wanted to, and prob would if it was effective against the opposing team...

BertthePickle · 13-01-2009, 07:34 PM

Problem is that this game isn't entirely realistic anyway is it? The stamina of FIFA 09 players is incredible. No Prem player is so fit that he can spend the entire game sprinting.....

JC83 · 13-01-2009, 07:34 PM

Alamode are you on PS3? From what you're saying I have a similar approach to the game in that I rarely go wide and knock a cross in, much more satisfying for me to try and outplay my oponent. I'm going to dedicate a couple of games tonight to trying to score and defend crosses. If you want a practice partner let me know

lungfull · 13-01-2009, 07:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JC83

Alamode are you on PS3? From what you're saying I have a similar approach to the game in that I rarely go wide and knock a cross in, much more satisfying for me to try and outplay my oponent. I'm going to dedicate a couple of games tonight to trying to score and defend crosses. If you want a practice partner let me know

since when is getting wide and putting in a cross thats on target not outplaying your oponent.

dont get me wrong i mix up my tactics during a game but if i see some space down the flanks im gonna use it....would be stupid not to.

Alamode · 13-01-2009, 07:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lungfull

since when is getting wide and putting in a cross thats on target not outplaying your oponent.

dont get me wrong i mix up my tactics during a game but if i see some space down the flanks im gonna use it....would be stupid not to.

The thing is, If you have Adebayor in the center as a striker and you have defenders of a 2 star team who are not very tall, Almost ALWAYS if a cross is a good one adebayor will win the header. Always, no 2 ways about it. Thats the problem, It is not outplaying your opponent fairly. If someone did that when i had Ferdinand and Vidic as defenders then i'd say fine thats okey because i also have good defenders but when you're playing with a 2star team its almost always undefendable if its a good cross.

Im not complaining, Just that i dont think its fair that im playing with galaxy, They're using Arsenal and they dont have the guts to create an opening by passing? Rather the whole game just run down the wings and exploit the weak heading of my defenders even when they are leading by 2-3 goals up.

@JC83
Yeah man im on PS3 tell me your PSN ill add you up although i played 11 matches today already so wont be online on PSN today though, lost a few games using galaxy against United players lol

JC83 · 13-01-2009, 08:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lungfull

since when is getting wide and putting in a cross thats on target not outplaying your oponent.

dont get me wrong i mix up my tactics during a game but if i see some space down the flanks im gonna use it....would be stupid not to.

OK lol outpass my oponent

I just think it's quite cheap because the AI helps you out, pass straight to the RM/LM and there's usually a Striker who has moved to a wide position to help you out. At the end of the day IMO it's easy to just sprint down the side of the pitch and hit a lofted ball into the box hoping a player will get his head on it than it is to hold possession and string together a killer combo of passes.

It's not so much the wide play I have a problem with, as you say it's a part of football and I'll go wide if I'm looking for a quick counter or to hold possession. The problem really is the repetition, whether it's crosses or lobbed through balls I grow tired of people who just repeat the same tactic with the same team every game.

JC83 · 13-01-2009, 08:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alamode

@JC83
Yeah man im on PS3 tell me your PSN ill add you up although i played 11 matches today already so wont be online on PSN today though, lost a few games using galaxy against United players lol

No probs mate, I played way too much FIFA yesterday lol, concentration levels diminish pretty quickly with this game! (psn= jc-83)

FitzNugly · 13-01-2009, 08:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BertthePickle

Problem is that this game isn't entirely realistic anyway is it? The stamina of FIFA 09 players is incredible. No Prem player is so fit that he can spend the entire game sprinting.....

Good point.

In MM I never substitute players for stamina and I am only just into my second season with created players.

JC83 · 13-01-2009, 08:09 PM

^lol I play clubs and can sprint at least 5 lengths of the pitch before I even begin to slow down!

Alamode · 14-01-2009, 09:30 AM

I dont think stamina should have an effect on the game and im not saying this because i think its more realistic to not have stamina effect you, Im saying this because i can just imagine EA making Ronaldo with full stamina and he'll be the only player to run like crazy throughout the game and also evra while players like me who are using 2-3 star teams our players will get tired after 50 minutes and then they just wont be able to run. Its already bad enough as it is with Ronaldo's pace which is so hard to defend.

jogk9496 · 14-01-2009, 10:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alamode

I dont think any team in the world would just run down the wings for 90 minutes and cross it in again and again and again and again

i will use it if i find your defenders are slow
football won and lost in tactics

s.c_number7 · 14-01-2009, 10:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alamode

The thing is, If you have Adebayor in the center as a striker and you have defenders of a 2 star team who are not very tall, Almost ALWAYS if a cross is a good one adebayor will win the header. Always, no 2 ways about it. Thats the problem, It is not outplaying your opponent fairly. If someone did that when i had Ferdinand and Vidic as defenders then i'd say fine thats okey because i also have good defenders but when you're playing with a 2star team its almost always undefendable if its a good cross.

Im not complaining, Just that i dont think its fair that im playing with galaxy, They're using Arsenal and they dont have the guts to create an opening by passing? Rather the whole game just run down the wings and exploit the weak heading of my defenders even when they are leading by 2-3 goals up.

@JC83
Yeah man im on PS3 tell me your PSN ill add you up although i played 11 matches today already so wont be online on PSN today though, lost a few games using galaxy against United players lol

there is only one solution pick a higher rated team

BertthePickle · 14-01-2009, 12:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alamode

The thing is, If you have Adebayor in the center as a striker and you have defenders of a 2 star team who are not very tall, Almost ALWAYS if a cross is a good one adebayor will win the header. Always, no 2 ways about it. Thats the problem, It is not outplaying your opponent fairly.

Look I see what you're saying and I kind of empathise, especially as I play as Boro - a slow team in a game that's all about pace.

BUT..... I guarantee that if any real life club had a technique/tactic/play system that guaranteed them a shot on goal every (or close to it) time, they would use that tactic over and over again. It's up to us to learn how to manage that opponent and restrict their opportunities, right?

Alamode · 14-01-2009, 01:32 PM

I see where you guys are coming from. And i kinda agree too.

But if you guys are saying it is alright to just run down the wings and put crosses in the whole 90 minutes then no one should have a problem with people playing Ronaldo and just playing long through balls to him only through the whole 90 minutes either.

Im not complaining, Im just saying its really really hard to defend against crosses specially if your team is lower. it was something like this, Run down the wing, Cross, Head, Score.. Kick off, Run down the wing, Cross, head, Score.. Again kick off, Cross, Score.. and so on you get the idea. Wouldnt it bother you that the guy is only doing that all the game?

Anyway i kinda found the counter, Or i think ive found the counter i had a guy trying crosses and scored from 1 cross in the game then i paused it went into Custom Tactics and changed width from 60 to 95 so that my defenders are alot more wide now and i have a better chance of getting close to them because before it was like they were a little inside and if an attacker gets a little bit of space on the flanks they would just sprint and cross which was impossible to stop as my Wing backs werent fast enough.

13-01-2009, 05:02 PM	#1 (permalink)
Alamode Forum Junkie Join Date: Feb 2008 Age: 21 Posts: 4,267	Taking crosses and how to defend them? lately i have come accross alot of people, and i mean ALOT of people doing one thing, Crossing. They cross the ball in almost throughout the 90 minutes thats the only thing they do, just run on the flanks and give a cross and then they have at all striker upfront like Adebayour and he wins all the headers easily and scores. I was playing against Arsenal and the guy did this throughout the game he hardly had any possession in the middle of the park. I lost 5-1. How do you defend this? I know you could just try to stop the crosses coming in but the thing is i was using LA galaxy and their defenders arent as fast as evra and others in 5 star teams so if im out of position his players were able to get crosses in easily also as adebayour is so tall he hardly missed any header. Any advice on how to cope up with this? Secondly, Now how do you do this? How do you give a good cross and when do you head it? I usually never, NEVER cross the ball in because i feel scoring from crosses is just too hard and i like to buildup and find space and score but as the guy who beat me did it so easily im thinking its a good tactic if you learn it right so can you guys tell me how to score from crosses too? Also what should my controller settings be for crossing? Manual? Semi? or Assisted ? __________________ Improvements for Ultimate Team in Fifa 2010.

13-01-2009, 06:00 PM	#3 (permalink)
Al_Smizzle Forum Guru Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: 2,225	Galaxy is great on the attack but are very bad defensively. If you're going to use them 5 at the back is pretty much a must and counter attack with their speed up front. __________________ Follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/alzeidenfeld

13-01-2009, 06:27 PM	#5 (permalink)
Alamode Forum Junkie Join Date: Feb 2008 Age: 21 Posts: 4,267	Yeah galaxy are bad defensively but actually im winning 60-70% of my games with them when im playing against United/Liverpool/Arsenal/Chelsea and those 5star teams. Occasionally i come up with someone good and i get a tough time against them this guy was just one of them. His crossing was just awesome, Every cross on the head of adebayor and all his goals were from headers i think all 5 of them. He wasnt the only one i met who was doing this, I met a few others trying to do the same thing, Some failing horribly but still trying to do it, I had a guy who kept on crossing the whole game even though his crosses were going no where near an attacking player or i would i win the headers some how and then i played a guy who did the same thing but his crosses went straight to a striker's head. Its on the increase, I think last 5 games 3 people were doing this. __________________ Improvements for Ultimate Team in Fifa 2010.

13-01-2009, 06:34 PM	#7 (permalink)
killerford89 Forum Guru Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: \|TuAForums\| Age: 19 Gender: Male Posts: 1,276 Blog Entries: 1	Wait until he kicks the ball then put a player in the way normally works. __________________ Best Graphics forum ever!

13-01-2009, 06:53 PM	#9 (permalink)
lungfull Forum Regular Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: UK Age: 29 Gender: Male Posts: 672	manual all the way.... and please dont ***** about ALOT of people using a traditional football tactic... __________________ ----------------- PSN ID. Lungfull

13-01-2009, 05:56 PM	#2 (permalink)
Smoooooochy Forum Junkie Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Top of Premier League Age: 34 Gender: Male Posts: 3,382	i find assisted crossing goes NOWHERE NEAR anyone i want. i swapped to manual and i can get them more where i want. i too rarely score from crosses. i dont understand how people like ashley young (92 crossing) cant get near anyone on assisted. of course on manual it negates player stats as people on 10 crossing do just as well on manual. of course the real answer is why use a 2* team against a 4-5* team? i guess you do this to get many more points. so the answer to that is what score do you think LA galaxy V arsenal would be? i guess 5 - 0 sounds about right. maybe the guy was too good for you to use a a crappy team against? you COULD check for best defenders for that situation. high jump, tall, agile? people like rio ferdinand in real life. of course with teams like galaxy i guess you dont have players like that? i use hull a lot and mendy and agardener are massive... so can help with high balls

13-01-2009, 06:10 PM	#4 (permalink)
seadrg Rookie Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Washington DC, USA Posts: 160	i've switched from assisted to semi for the same reasons that smoooooochy mentioned and it works a lot better. i think i'll take a leap of faith in my thumbs and try to switch out to manual soon.

13-01-2009, 06:31 PM	#6 (permalink)
BertthePickle Forum Regular Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 508	I use Boro and semi on the crosses. They play them a lot in real life and I use it a lot in game, from both wings. Downing, ofc, is useful for doing it. Tend to find that running and crossing, either early (L1) or in the 'zone', is more accurate than standing still and facing the direction of the cross. Perhaps because the strikers have already arrived and are being marked. Timing the cross is important. In that it's better to start pressing SQUARE just before you reach the imaginary line running out to the side from his 12 yard box. This gives you enough time to build up the power meter to do a cross to near or far post and STILL be in a good position, not too deep, when you release it. Early crosses are great as opponent's don't anticipate them as much and don't block as well. It helps if you can see your striker running in with his arm up calling for the ball. I find in that situation, as with corners, if you can get the ball to him he'll almost always get a header. Doesn't mean it'll go in but he will get to it before a defender. When you do get to shoot, then tap the shoot button rather than holding it down or the ball will go over or to the side. Other than that, I've been using finesses (R1) in conjunction with jockey (L2) a lot more recently for headers/crosses/corners. Seem to help a lot. Don't know if using those buttons is the reason but my players have been doing more bicycle volleys lately too. Not overhead flip ones but the type where he jumps up with one leg and, whilst that's in the air, jumps and shoots with the other one. His body is still vertical so it's not a scissor kick. Haven't seen that anim at all much till recently. Despite all this, success rate on crosses is probably only 20% to 30%. Depends a lot on how tall and muscular his defenders are too.... obviously.

13-01-2009, 06:48 PM	#8 (permalink)
biboergosum Rookie Join Date: Oct 2008 Posts: 33	I use the default settings (assisted crossing?). Here are a few tricks I've learned: Offense: You have to coordinate the positions of your crosser and target man. Ideally you want to cross the ball before your target man gets there, so that he's running into it. Do this by varying the speed of your winger (not always easy if he's defended). Get him to the ideal position (not too deep) about 5-10 yards ahead of your striker. If you do it right your striker will run to meet it in the air, not standing waiting to head it in. While both types of crosses can score, it is harder to defend a rushing target man than a stationary one. The other important thing is power. You need to choose the exact right amount of power for the position of your striker (near post - 1/3 power, far post - 2/3 power, etc.). This is surprisingly sensitive, even on assisted. Defense: Switch defender control early or very very late. If you switch while the ball is in the air the defender will stop for a split second and that usually leaves the man open. If you anticipate a cross, switch to a central defender before the cross comes in and get in front of the target man. If the cross takes you by surprise, wait until your defender has stopped moving before you switch.

13-01-2009, 06:59 PM	#10 (permalink)
Arsenal_FC_1992 Rookie Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Essex Gender: Male Posts: 56	Since i got the game i havent changed any of the settings and the crossing works perfectly fine for me. With the normall settings i use L1 and R1 to cross with the enough power to get it into the box. I find that it really picks out the player inside the middle of the box. __________________ FIFA 08: Skill Level 25 FIFA 09: Skill Level 21

13-01-2009, 07:31 PM	#12 (permalink)
lungfull Forum Regular Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: UK Age: 29 Gender: Male Posts: 672	thats as maybe, but they could if they wanted to, and prob would if it was effective against the opposing team... __________________ ----------------- PSN ID. Lungfull

13-01-2009, 07:34 PM	#13 (permalink)
BertthePickle Forum Regular Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 508	Problem is that this game isn't entirely realistic anyway is it? The stamina of FIFA 09 players is incredible. No Prem player is so fit that he can spend the entire game sprinting.....

13-01-2009, 07:34 PM	#14 (permalink)
JC83 Forum Junkie Join Date: Jun 2008 Age: 26 Posts: 4,254	Alamode are you on PS3? From what you're saying I have a similar approach to the game in that I rarely go wide and knock a cross in, much more satisfying for me to try and outplay my oponent. I'm going to dedicate a couple of games tonight to trying to score and defend crosses. If you want a practice partner let me know

13-01-2009, 08:09 PM	#20 (permalink)
JC83 Forum Junkie Join Date: Jun 2008 Age: 26 Posts: 4,254	^lol I play clubs and can sprint at least 5 lengths of the pitch before I even begin to slow down!

14-01-2009, 09:30 AM	#21 (permalink)
Alamode Forum Junkie Join Date: Feb 2008 Age: 21 Posts: 4,267	I dont think stamina should have an effect on the game and im not saying this because i think its more realistic to not have stamina effect you, Im saying this because i can just imagine EA making Ronaldo with full stamina and he'll be the only player to run like crazy throughout the game and also evra while players like me who are using 2-3 star teams our players will get tired after 50 minutes and then they just wont be able to run. Its already bad enough as it is with Ronaldo's pace which is so hard to defend. __________________ Improvements for Ultimate Team in Fifa 2010.

14-01-2009, 01:32 PM	#25 (permalink)
Alamode Forum Junkie Join Date: Feb 2008 Age: 21 Posts: 4,267	I see where you guys are coming from. And i kinda agree too. But if you guys are saying it is alright to just run down the wings and put crosses in the whole 90 minutes then no one should have a problem with people playing Ronaldo and just playing long through balls to him only through the whole 90 minutes either. Im not complaining, Im just saying its really really hard to defend against crosses specially if your team is lower. it was something like this, Run down the wing, Cross, Head, Score.. Kick off, Run down the wing, Cross, head, Score.. Again kick off, Cross, Score.. and so on you get the idea. Wouldnt it bother you that the guy is only doing that all the game? Anyway i kinda found the counter, Or i think ive found the counter i had a guy trying crosses and scored from 1 cross in the game then i paused it went into Custom Tactics and changed width from 60 to 95 so that my defenders are alot more wide now and i have a better chance of getting close to them because before it was like they were a little inside and if an attacker gets a little bit of space on the flanks they would just sprint and cross which was impossible to stop as my Wing backs werent fast enough. __________________ Improvements for Ultimate Team in Fifa 2010.