Can anyone give me tips on beating the comp on level 3?

[Stinkfinger]

I originally played a season at a level two difficulty. I found it to be a bit easy, four goals a game was not uncommon, my side never lost, I pretty much dominated the league.

So after I finished up that league I decided to move it up to three stars worth of difficulty. I can't seem to do anything now. I have to struggle to get ties but more often than not I'm taking losses and all of my goals seem to come on put-backs off of goalie deflections, there's no poetry in my goal scoring. I can't get any penetration while the other side has no problem getting past my defenses. My players have a really hard time maintaining possession, every time I get remotely close to a defender the ball gets poked away from me, however it never seems to work that way for me. And this happens against teams like Uruguay, I dread playing France or England. So how do I go about scoring, maintaining possesion, and penetrating the D?

 

[Zygalski]

Try playing 3-5-2 with 2 DMFs.
Pick players on better form arrows.
Play players best suited to the positions.

Give players attack arrows in the formation settings and make some of them like CFs and SMFs go on forward runs.
Keep passing the ball around. Practice your free kicks and corners.
Don't try to dribble too much as you will lose it.

Basically, play a good game of football!

 

[stevieboy]

Or, if you do find you have a tendancy to dribble with the ball, practice changing pace & direction. Don't rely on the R1 sprint too much. Use just the R2 & D-pad or left stick for sudden changes of direction near or in the opponent's box.
For your final ball, try using L1 + triangle for a lofted thru-pass, instead of normal crosses.
What are your players passing & teamwork stats like?
If they're not that high, you will have problems keeping possession. If this is your main problem, select or buy players with better stats in these areas.
Good luck!

 

[Blackwater]

I recently just switched up from 2 to 3 and struggled for quite a while in getting goals.

I tend to find that 80% of the goals I concede either irritating (I press pass to someone in front of me and for some reason it gets passed to someone being man marked by a striker and then they go on to score) or from corners/free kicks.

I use the 3-5-2 formation mentioned above although I find it can leave you exposed against teams that attack down the wings a lot.

Striking I find using Beckham-esque raking crosses can work well if you have a good jumper in the box.

And finally, keeping the ball is more important than taking a half chance. Sometimes you have to pass the ball around the edge of the box or back to your midfield before you pull their defense out of position enough to get a striker through.

I'm winning most of my matches now although with the players I have I should really be winning just about everything

 

[Stinkfinger]

Hey Zyg, what do you mean by "Pick players on better form arrows"? And how do you make someone go on a forward run? By designating an arrow pointing towards the goal?

 

[Gadge]

What he meant by "Pick players on better form arrows" is when you go to select your players BEFORE the match starts, press R1. To the right of your players' names you will see different coloured arrows. This makes a considerable difference to the individual's performance. The differences in the arrows' effect is covered in detail elsewhere on the site but briefly; Red=Game of his life, Yellow=up for it, Green=no effect, Blue=will have a poor match, White=Might as well be dead on the pitch. It's been part of the WE/Pro series since the Super Famicom (SNES) days! Enjoy using your squad!

 

[-=[101st]=-]

i would use the wings.. set urself up with some good wingers and a target man in the box..

 

[perella]

man, if u cant beat the computer on level 3, not much we can tell ya, u pretty much suck and need to practice............the best advice i can give ya is to forget tryin dribblin and learn how to pass the ball a lot, makin 1-2s. Just keep playin, one day ull find it easy to win playin at level 5.

 

[L . F . C]

I found that 4* is easier than 3* because they mark you so well on 3*.

P.S - Don't get me wrong i play on 5*

 

[-=[101st]=-]

i reckon that there is no difference between 3* and 4* i find it the same difficulty... i play on 5* normally.. but i went from 3* to 5*

 

[hedache]

man, if u cant beat the computer on level 3, not much we can tell ya, u pretty much suck and need to practice............the best advice i can give ya is to forget tryin dribblin and learn how to pass the ball a lot, makin 1-2s. Just keep playin, one day ull find it easy to win playin at level 5.

yea perella, everyone is not born super talented like you that they can just start beating the computer in 5*, that's a great way to encourage new comers to this game, keep up the good work. There is a different learning curve for everyone, doesn't have to be quick, as soon as we have fun playing the game it doesn't matter what difficulty we play.

But it's pretty much practice, there was a time i felt 3* was big time difficult, now 4* is boring with restrictions that i put to make it challenging, soon only competitive human players will be satisfying, which will be hard to find unless they come up with online play.

 

[shakes the clown]

The best thing you can do is practice, practice and practice some more. Also, try to work on one thing you're not good at for an entire game. For instance, really concentrate on through balls, or crosses, or short passes.

You WILL get better. I started on 2*, moved up to 3* and couldn't even get a shot off. I went to the message boards, got tips and used them in my game and now I am winning consistently on 5*.

The formation I like for 3* is the 3-4-3 diamond. Make sure you keep an eye on the radar and keep that ball moving between players. Try to work it to the top of the box and then find one of your strikers open for a quick strike in the box. Also, don't be afraid to push it to the wings and cross it in.

Try and get a really good DMF to get the ball moving into the offensive end of the field.

But, basically, just keep playing and you'll get better. It worked for me.

 

[perella]

I really hope theyll have online play in pes4. that would be great, having tournaments to see whos number 1 in the whole world, can you immagine that!!!

 

[jthk2004]

u really netta use strategies and a better formation. i use arsenal and my formation is 4-3-3 with counter attack. and u really netta change the two kinds of arrows (one for defence and one for attack). counter attack is a must. and offside trap too. don't press and no man mark. contain them. well, if u don't have sol campbell, patrick vieira and thierry henry, u are not going to win games...

i played my 5th season on extreme level and never conceded a single goal... although i got a few red cards...

 

[wolvesfan15]

i found the best way for me too beat 3* was a 3-4-3 formation. itll improve the way u defend a game for up coming stars (i hardly let in a goal on 5*s with only 3 at the back. ALOT of people i know who have the game were confused and thought i was stupid for playin 3 at the back) but itll also give u players to pass to when on the attck. if u move the ball quik enough between ur 3 strikers and ur AMF then itl create a 1-1 alot of the time. best advice on any * level is to pass and move (1-2 passes or pass and R2) and go through the middle.

 

[djlemon]

i found the best way for me too beat 3* was a 3-4-3 formation. itll improve the way u defend a game for up coming stars (i hardly let in a goal on 5*s with only 3 at the back. ALOT of people i know who have the game were confused and thought i was stupid for playin 3 at the back) but itll also give u players to pass to when on the attck. if u move the ball quik enough between ur 3 strikers and ur AMF then itl create a 1-1 alot of the time. best advice on any * level is to pass and move (1-2 passes or pass and R2) and go through the middle.

hey.. wad formation of 3-4-3 do u play? there are like A, B and C. I'm now also stuck at 3*s. I can keep the com from scoring but i also find it very difficult to penetrate their defense which are like always so tight with so many defenders in the box.

 

[Zygalski]

3-4-3 with a diamond formation is the one that works well for me.

 

[-=[101st]=-]

3-4-3 with a diamond formation is the one that works well for me.

that is exactly what i use.. and the biggest tip i can give with that formation is use you flanks.. coz you spread the defense out more..

 

[jthk2004]

i believe 3-4-3 is the most balance formation... although i used 4-3-3 though and beat all the teams with 5*s...

 

[bish1]

only tip i can give is practice, and use different style of attack in all you're matches, like using quick passes up the middle, runs down the wings, hoofs upfield, crosses etc