Fifa Football / Soccer 2005 Online -Xbox Live Tactics

Fifa Online is very competitive and its not just a case on playing for a few hours then appearing in the top 1000. There are a few different ways to play Fifa, here are the most common:

Counter Attacking
Direct through the middle
Wing Play

Counter Attacking (Once going ahead (5-3-2)

As in the real football this can be used to great affect. The idea of this is to get an early goal or two and sit back on the lead. The problem is actually getting the goals in the first place. Some teams such as Real Madrid play just one striker as their default formation. With one striker as you can imagine there are very limited options when attacking the other team. However if you can get the Striker ( Ronaldo in Real's case) to hold the ball up and bring other players into the game then work from there it can be very effective. I have seen players in the top 100 going two goals up and then playing a 5-3-2 formation to hold their lead.

Direct through the middle ( Formation 4-1-2-1-2)

This is the way that i normally play Fifa 2005 online. This formation has all of the midfield and forwards through the middle of the pitch with very little width to the team. The idea is to play simple though balls into the two forwards paths and scoring. First you need to win the ball then play it to an attacking midfielder. I normally use AC Milan for this with Kaka the midfielder running at the defence. Once he is running behind the opponents midfield you have a lot of space in front of you with only (generally) 4 defenders and the keeper between you and the goal. Now its just a matter of timing. Hit the LEFT trigger to make one of your front players make a run and simple press through ball to play a ball into his path. This does not work every time but with practice and skill this formation and tactics can be used to defeat the very best players.

Wing Play ( 4-4-2)

This is the old fashioned way of scoring goals. It involves having one or two very good wingers that are both fast and can deliver a good ball into the box. My preferred team for this is Manchester United. They have Ryan Giggs ( Left Wing) and Christiano Ronaldo ( Right Wing). The speed of the player is required to get past the defender then once in space play a cross into the opponents penalty box. Then its simply a case of timing your header from either ( in Man U's ) case Ruud Van Nistlerooy or Wayne Rooney. To score from headers timing is everything. This is very important - When heading hit the B( Red Button) very gently for a split second and aim towards the goal. If you hold the button any longer than this the ball will be skyed over the bar.