The FIFA 20 Custom Tactics are responsible to make your team play the way you want. If you don’t know what they are or how to set up them, read this guide where we explain everything you should know.
FIFA 20 Custom Tactics Introduction
Find out how to make your team play the way you want
You have created a squad with good players and decent chemistry. You also have picked your favourite formation but, even knowing you have good FIFA skills, you still don’t understand why you don’t win more often, right? Well, maybe something is missing. Most of the people ignore that, when they have their team almost ready, they need to make the final adjustments to make that team play the way they want. They need to give it their identity. If you feel that this may be happening to you, you still have to set up (in descending order of importance):
✔️ Custom Tactics;
✔️ Player Instructions;
✔️ Quick Tactics;
✔️ Player Roles.
Today we will explain how the FIFA 20 Custom Tactics work and how they can be useful for your team.
The tactics allow you to adjust the way your team plays. They have a big impact on your play style. Unlike what happens with instructions, these orders will not affect only one player but the whole team. Do you know when you want your backline to go up the most possible and they insist to stay in the penalty area? Well, you can change the defence depth slider to do that thanks to the tactics.
You can access the FIFA 20 Custom Tactics screen following the path Ultimate Team > Squads > Active Squad > Squad Actions > Tactics. Before starting a match, you can also make changes, selecting Edit Lineup > Squad Actions > Tactics. Even after the game starts, you can pause it and make new adjustments. The game will always save your last configuration which means that you don’t have to set up every time you are going to play. Your team will assume the standard or the latest configuration unless you apply a different tactic.
Before we explain the FIFA 20 Custom Tactics, we need to warn you that you should set up your instructions according to your play style and experience, as well your squad needs. There is no such thing as perfect configuration, so avoid copy it from other players. Just because it works with them, it doesn’t mean that it will work with you. Besides that, you should also realize that, when you make a decision, you are adding good things to your team but at the expense of something bad. For example, when you pick ‘constant pressure’, your players will probably take the ball from your opponent more times but they will also to be tired more often. It’s up to you to decide whether or not it’s worth it.
The tactics were redesigned for FIFA 19, replacing the old complex custom tactics. Everything is now easier and more user-friendly.
A final note to alert you about Dynamic Tactics, which were also introduced last year in the game. It’s a re-imagined system that gives players the tools to set multiple tactical approaches, offering in-depth customization pre-match, as well as more options for dynamic in-match adjustments simply from the D-Pad. Each tactical approach combines formations, mentalities, and both attacking and defensive play styles, enabling you to easily customize your play to any situation. Before using it, you will need to understand very well how FIFA 20 Custom Tactics work.
FIFA 20 Custom Tactics Explained
How to set up each tactic
FIFA 20 Custom Tactics are divided into two groups:
Defensive Style
ℹ️ DESCRIPTION
It determines how hard the team will tackle and how much pressure is applied to the ball possessor.
This tactic will preserve your team shape and will offer your opponents more possession. Your strikers will stay passive and you may find yourself having less attacking options when you win the ball.
A balanced style where your team presses the ball to the middle of the pitch and your team’s shape is neutral.
Your team preserves their shape until the opportunity to pressure appears. Pressure when the opposition takes a heavy touch, it’s a loose ball, or controlling a difficult pass facing their own goal.
After your team loses possession of the ball, your teammates will press the ball for aproximately 7 seconds. This will affect player fatigue and your players could be out of position if you don’t win it back during this time.
This tactic will put high pressure over opposing players on the field. This tactic may leave your team vulnerable as your players become increasingly fatigued, leading to them being pushed out of position.
? SUGGESTIONS
This tactic determines how your team will react to regain possession, how strongly will they chase the opponent. In other words, these tactics define how often the AI will take control of your defenders. At Drop Back, the player approaches the ball but doesn’t provoke a challenge. He’ll surround the opponent, keep the team in place and respond to offensiveness with retreat or body contact, except when you decide to press tackle right away. If the slider is at Constant Pressure, the AI will call for other players to chase the one who is possessing the ball. This is a riskier option, but it does allow you to intercept passes and occupy the parts of the field where you’re exposed manually.
Our suggestion here is to only use more risky options if you are losing. In other hand, if you have good defensive skills, then Drop Back may be very useful when you are winning.
Defensive Width
ℹ️ DESCRIPTION
It affects how much the team will shift to the ball side when defending.
Adjust your defensive team shape to be narrow. Adjust to cover central position to make it harder for your opponent to play through the middle of your team, but you’ll leave more spaces out wide for the opposition wingers. The team will defend compactly. Players will pinch in on the far side to cover teammates and allow for ball side pressure.
Adjust your defensive team shape to be balanced. The team will not try to defend particularly narrow or wide. You may find that one-to-one situations are more common when you don’t have the ball.
Adjust your defensive team shape to be wide to cover the wings, but your team could leave holes in central positions. The team will not pinch as much. Players on the far side will mark opponents tightly, sacrificing cover in favor of making it difficult for the opposition to pull them out of shape.
? SUGGESTIONS
This tactic determines how far your players stay from each other whilst defending. At Narrow, the players will concentrate more in the middle, leaving the flanks more exposed. Fullbacks and wingers will also tend to stay central, preventing the opponent from advancing through there but giving them passage for long runs. Therefore it is recommended when playing against teams that rely on the midfielders, such as the popular 41212(2), for example. At Wide, the players will defend widely, leaving the middle exposed but stopping all that comes from the sides. This option is great against wide formations.
We have a very clear opinion on these tactics: except for a few very specific cases, the team’s width should be defined between 2 and 4. After all, everyone who’s played football at least once in their lives knows that defending should focus on the centre and attacking can be done widely. Defenders should always stay close to each other for a solid defence, supported by the midfielders, as most people will tend to advance through the middle. Besides, most defenders have good physicality and defending, which are essential for central players but less important for the wide ones. In these cases ,pace is what counts the most, which is exactly what defenders lack. The fullbacks are particularly more useful when your centre backs don’t go out much because they’ll always be the ones between the opponent’s wingers and your goal.
Depth
ℹ️ DESCRIPTION
It determines how high up the pitch the team will start to pressure the opposition.
Adjust your defensive team shape to be deep to give less space behind your back line for long balls and fast strikers to make runs in behind your team. Playing deep will open more spaces for long shots or more possession for the opposition team. The team will drop back and allow the opposition team in their own half in exchange for getting numbers behind the ball.
Adjust your defensive team shape to be balanced to keep tour team in the middle of the pitch to try to win the midfield battle. The team will start to defend in their opponent’s half but not the full length of the pitch.
Adjust your defensive team shape to be high to help put pressure on possession teams. Your back line will be high and vulnerable for long balls in behind. The team will apply full pressure in their opponent’s half. Wide midfielders and fullbacks will push high on the ball side to make it difficult for the opposition to play out.
? SUGGESTIONS
This tactic determines in which part of the pitch your players will pressure the opponent. Different to what is often said, pressure isn’t performed exclusively over the extremes (attacking and defending fields). This setting affects all players in a team. At Deep, the attackers will hardly get through the midfield, allowing the opponent to advance somewhat easily. It’s more like a restraint strategy, which is great for people who like playing defensively, resulting in a compact midfield. If the slider is set to High/Front, your first defensive line pressures whoever possesses the ball, whilst the second defensive line may perform pressure even beyond the midfield. With this option, the objective is to regain possession as soon as possible and as far from your own goal as possible, keeping the opponent from building his plays efficiently.
In our opinion, it’s best to set the slider between 5 and 6. Less in case you have bad defenders, more in case the opponent keeps passing the ball around your defending field, looking to waste time.
Offensive Style
ℹ️ DESCRIPTION
It determines the speed at which the attacking team advances play, the general passing distance and the style of support play from teammates in the first two thirds of the pitch.
Players will support more, rather than going on forward runs. The team is patient building play, often passing the ball around in defence with players regularly passing backwards. This tactic strengthens a short passing game, but will cause your team to take longer to build up.
This tactic is used for a balanced team that maintains its formation. Players will support and make runs when they think it’s the right time to do so. The team does not build play particularly fast or slow.
The team will make runs for long balls into space behind the opposing back line, or up to a target man. Strikers who are fast with a good attacking positioning attribute are the best at this tactic. Players farther from the ball possessor will attempt to find space. Close players will anticipate the long ball and push up to look for the knockdown or flick on.
This tactic pushes players forward for a faster build up, but if you lose possession of the ball you could find yourself open to a counter attack. Players choose to position themselves in more advanced positions on the pitch and make more forward runs.
? SUGGESTIONS
This tactic determines how your team will get the ball out of your defending field, the speed of your players whilst going forward and the way your teammates will run to receive the ball before they reach the last third of the pitch.
Different to what many people think, possession style doesn’t mean the players are running slower. They’ll use the same speed but sometimes hold their sprint for a little bit, which is what keeps them closer to each other at all times, and that prevents you from missing many passes as a consequence. Players will tend to get close to the one who possesses the ball, creating shorter and safer passing lanes. In these situations, you have more time to think your actions through and to control the ball until passing it on. It’s ideal for people who enjoy a play style based on the famous tiki-taka, having their team occupy a wider part of the pitch. It is, therefore, an ideal situation for beginners or even if you just want to adapt to a new formation, or don’t have many good players on your team. For the most experienced players who also happen to have a great team to which they’re adapted, it’s recommended to slide the bar to the right. If the slider is set to long passing, your teammates will try to lose their markers and call for passes more often, whilst far away from the player who possesses the ball, which is something that offers risk as well. As a consequence, accidental long passes will happen more often. It’s the ideal choice for people who play with wingers and are looking to explore the flanks. If you move the slider all to the right, the players will position themselves fast in order to receive the ball and will keep a higher pace in order to reach last third of the pitch as soon as possible. It does represent more risk, after all the passes tend to get longer and longer, and in case the receiver can’t keep up with his teammate, the pass will most likely be intercepted by the opposition.
We suggest starting slow, then gradually moving the slider to the right as you get used to making faster decisions using the current tactics. The faster you can go the better, but try not to get too ambitious. Pay attention to how you’re performing, are you ending your plays too soon or are you extending them too much? Focus on keeping up with your CPU teammates and having them keep up with you. Most people should set passing to balanced because that seems safe enough and will still allow you to use long passing effectively. Remember, you do have a particular instruction that can make your players attack more often, but only these tactics will make them seek the ball and facilitate the team’s attack transition.
Offensive Width
ℹ️ DESCRIPTION
It affects how much the team will shift to the ball side when attacking.
Adjust your offensive team shape to be narrow to have more players in the middle of the pitch for short passing options. The wings will be open when you lose possession.
Adjust your offensive team shape to be balanced for generic positioning to give you more varied attacking options.
Adjust your offensive team shape to push your wide players towards the sidelines. You’ll have more passing options wide, but less in the middle of the pitch.
? SUGGESTIONS
This tactic determines how wide your attack will be or, in other words, how far your players stay from each other whilst attacking. At Narrow, the players will concentrate more in the middle. Crosses almost never happen and the ball is played on a smaller area of the field. At Wide, players will be far from each other. It’s a decent decision for who like to play with wide wingers.
First of all, we suggest that you pay attention to the offensive style selected when setting up your offensive width. This tactic is strongly related to the way you like to play and the formation you like to use. It can be used, for example, to turn a more narrow formation into a wider one, keeping up the generic shape.
Players In Box
ℹ️ DESCRIPTION
It affects the timing of when players make runs into the box and how many players will look to get into the box to get on the end of a cross.
When in the crossing zone adjust your team to have less players in the box for a more patient attacking style. Your players will stay outside the box and rarely make forwards runs for crossing situations.
When in the crossing zone, you will have some players making runs into penalty area if it’s the right time to make the run.
When in the crossing zone ask your players to make lots of runs into the box. This could be effective to get numbers in the box, but it could leave you vulnerable for a counter attack.
? SUGGESTIONS
This tactic determines how many of your players will run up to the opponent’s area when you’re going for the long run, and how they’ll position themselves when they get there. At Low Amount, only the striker(s) gets ahead and eventually someone comes near for the rebound. The delayed grounded cross is usually a good type of cross but, in this scenario, it’ll be common for crosses to get aborted, you’ll end up having to redesign your plays more often. On the other hand, at High Amount, many of your players will run up to the opponent’s area and most of them will get as near the goal line as possible. They normally tend to position themselves near the less crowded post, where there is more free space. It’s a riskier option because, although you’ll get more chances to finish, in case that doesn’t happen you’ll be exposed to counter attacks.
In our opinion, you should set this tactic between 4 and 6. Only go higher or lower than that if you feel like your playstyle demands it.
Corners
ℹ️ DESCRIPTION
It affects how many players will position themselves in the box during a corner.
Have a low amount of players in the opposition’s penalty area during corners for a more defensive approach.
Have a normal amount of players in the opposition’s penalty area during corners.
Have a high amount of players in the opposition’s penalty area during corners for a more offensive approach.
? SUGGESTIONS
This tactic determines how many of your players will be in the opponent’s area when you’re going for a corner, and how they’ll position themselves there. At Low Amount, only the striker(s) gets ahead and eventually someone comes near for the rebound. The short corner is common in these situations and crosses to the penalty area more rare. On the other hand, at High Amount, many of your players will be in the opponent’s area. It’s a riskier option because, although you’ll get more chances to finish, in case that doesn’t happen you’ll be exposed to counter attacks.
In our opinion, you should set this tactic to Normal Amount leaving the other options to be used according to your needs during the match. For that, don’t forget to set up the dynamic tactics with them.
Free Kicks
ℹ️ DESCRIPTION
It affects how many players will position themselves in the box during a free kick.
Have a low amount of players in the opposition’s penalty area during free kicks for a more defensive approach.
Have a normal amount of players in the opposition’s penalty area during free kicks.
Have a high amount of players in the opposition’s penalty area during free kicks for a more offensive approach.
? SUGGESTIONS
This tactic determines how many of your players will be in the opponent’s area when you’re going for a free kick, and how they’ll position themselves there. At Low Amount, only the striker(s) gets ahead and eventually someone comes near for the rebound. In these cases, crosses should be avoid. On the other hand, at High Amount, many of your players will be in the opponent’s area. It’s a riskier option because, although you’ll get more chances to finish, in case that doesn’t happen you’ll be exposed to counter attacks.
In our opinion, you should set this tactic to Normal Amount leaving the other options to be used according to your needs during the match. For that, don’t forget to set up the dynamic tactics with them.