lol
I only got into PES at 08, and am loving 10
Some friends who loved 08/09 hate 10
People love and hate different things
Let me just address through balls in 10:
-yes they are "broken" (when compared to previous versions)
I can't remember exactly how they were in 08/09, except you could score loads of goals with it in 08
The way I'd describe through balls in 10 is
"balls 10-20 yards ahead of the player, where the player has to run and the ball has to go past him, and he collects the ball whilst running"
Passes (to feet) are more
"balls to a player or, 2-3 yards around him, and sometimes slightly away from opponents"
In either 08/09 (can't remember which) players with either the "passing" or "playmaker" stat (again can't remember which) had this weird (or perhaps useful) thing that caused them to play the ball more significantly away from opponents. So e.g. Benayoun and Xabi Alonso, playing a "ball to feet" would end up with the ball 3-5 yards on the side of your player that was away from the defender. Useful for keeping possession, but very unpredictable.
If I go back and play 08/09, you can score some amazing looking goals, but the whole thing feels unrealistic (and defending was atrocious. I'm a defender in real life). Piggyback had to make 2 50+ page manuals just to explain the quirks of the gameplay and some of the hacks you could use to beat the AI
In 10...where is the coaching guide? That's a testament to the more intuitive feel for people who actually play/played football competitively like myself.
Back to through balls
My own little observations are that they are
-suited by the AI to the run of the player they are going to.
-affected by the amount of time you press the button
-best played by players with high teamwork, and passing stats, and passing cards
-best played by players not being tightly marked, and on their stronger side (e.g. to the LHS of a right-footed player)
-best played to players with high teamwork, body balance, acceleration/speed, technique and reaction
-even better when you can use super cancel
High teamwork means that more often you will play the ball and it will arrive where you think it will, and the receiving player will run in the more intuitive direction.
Technique means your receiver will bring the ball into his possession more smoothly and quickly.
The other stats are self explanatory, except note that passes to the blind side, on the weaker foot, and through/past a sea of players, are enhanced by greater passing stats.
Turn on your TV and watch a top flight match...even my hero Xabi Alonso still puts a few passes wrong (2-3 out of maybe 15-20 in a game) so it's not unrealistic that such a great passer will mess up 2-3 out of 15-20 in a game of PES.
Let alone someone who is just "ok" like Carragher...his long balls in real life and PES are about 50/50
If you are playing a through ball to a player, you have to be aware of the position of the defenders and of the attacker. More often than not you are better off with a pass to feet as you will keep possession.
I have been playing football for 20 years and I still prefer to play the ball to feet as the defender has a really easy job just sticking out a leg or his head to disrupt a great "through" ball. This is equally true whether he is marking your target man-to-man or whether he is defending zonally. Whereas your target man has to be positioned correctly, on-side, on the half-turn, then he has to meet the ball, control it, and THEN he can begin think about a dribble, pass or shot.
In PES
-the longer you hold the through ball button (and the direction you hold) determine whether a close or far player will receive the ball
-If your target player is running diagonally, unless both passer and receiver have amazing stats, the ball will be played for him to run on diagonally
-If you don't press the button at the right time, your target man will have slowed down (messing up through ball opportunity) or your passer will be closed down and the angle for the pass will have gone. This is normally when trying to play to the front man
-If you a playing a ball to someone else (usually on the wings), you need him to be in front of you; the angle your passer is facing at will dictate to the receiver to run into space (unless he is rubbish)
-Passing to someone who is a "fox in the box" e.g Torres (which is basically the same as I think the "D-line" special skill in 08/09), they will hang off the shoulder of the defender and be quicker to pounce/accelerate and snap up a through ball.
-It is easier to pass through to goal when the passer is positioned fairly close to the line of the back 4 rather than when the route is blocked by midfielders and/or defenders
-It is even easier if you have done great passes up to that point which have dragged the defence all out of position. Just like in real life, a flat back 4 who hold the line, protected by 1 or 2 DMFs, are going to deal with balls in day in and day out.
Once the back 4 becomes ragged and out of shape, your receiver can move into a position where he is on side but behind 1 of the defenders, and you can play him through.
-As you approach to play a pass, cut inside or outside the defender who is blocking the path to the receiver, and once the angle appears, the passer will be much more successful in making the pass.
-Using super cancel as the ball arrives to about 5-10 yards away, you can position your player to receive the ball if the pass is not going to make it, or curve his run to meet the ball better (this is killer). However the defender, if decent, will hound you like a dog and tackle as soon as you get it, unless the receiver is strong, or plays a great first time pass or shot. (difficult against a good defender)
-Once there is a clear run to goal, there is no point in always hammering through ball as, playing the ball 10-20 yards in front of him, he is going to lose out to the keeper. The ball is travelling towards the keeper, and away from the attacker so the attacker's speed relative to the ball means he is going to close down on it slowly, whereas the keeper will close down on it quickly.
-if you cut inside and then press play to feet to a good receiver, you will create some awesome opportunities. If the receiver is not being marked too tightly, you can even hold R1/RB for him to turn as he lets the ball run through his legs, and if he is quick and a good dribbler, he will still collect the ball before it runs out of his possession, for a shot on goal.
But to be honest, in my opinion, this is just how football is played and it works for me in PES 2010. And these things work with through balls or balls to feet, although in real life, again you keep possession more with balls to feet than balls into space.
Oh dear, giving all of my tips away for free!
I play with Liverpool most of the time, although about 20-30% of the time I play random v random and hope to keep the scoreline reasonable (although I normallly fail the first cpl of tries until I get used to the attributes of the players
)
Other things to try which I have not yet
-manual pass on ground (seemed like a more precise, user-controlled through ball. Nice!)
-manual pass in the air. Apparently you can really affect the height (using R2 to add height, or "float") and strength (by holding down for varying lengths of time) of these, so you can play more exactly the ball you want
I only got into PES at 08, and am loving 10
Some friends who loved 08/09 hate 10
People love and hate different things
Let me just address through balls in 10:
-yes they are "broken" (when compared to previous versions)
I can't remember exactly how they were in 08/09, except you could score loads of goals with it in 08
The way I'd describe through balls in 10 is
"balls 10-20 yards ahead of the player, where the player has to run and the ball has to go past him, and he collects the ball whilst running"
Passes (to feet) are more
"balls to a player or, 2-3 yards around him, and sometimes slightly away from opponents"
In either 08/09 (can't remember which) players with either the "passing" or "playmaker" stat (again can't remember which) had this weird (or perhaps useful) thing that caused them to play the ball more significantly away from opponents. So e.g. Benayoun and Xabi Alonso, playing a "ball to feet" would end up with the ball 3-5 yards on the side of your player that was away from the defender. Useful for keeping possession, but very unpredictable.
If I go back and play 08/09, you can score some amazing looking goals, but the whole thing feels unrealistic (and defending was atrocious. I'm a defender in real life). Piggyback had to make 2 50+ page manuals just to explain the quirks of the gameplay and some of the hacks you could use to beat the AI
In 10...where is the coaching guide? That's a testament to the more intuitive feel for people who actually play/played football competitively like myself.
Back to through balls
My own little observations are that they are
-suited by the AI to the run of the player they are going to.
-affected by the amount of time you press the button
-best played by players with high teamwork, and passing stats, and passing cards
-best played by players not being tightly marked, and on their stronger side (e.g. to the LHS of a right-footed player)
-best played to players with high teamwork, body balance, acceleration/speed, technique and reaction
-even better when you can use super cancel
High teamwork means that more often you will play the ball and it will arrive where you think it will, and the receiving player will run in the more intuitive direction.
Technique means your receiver will bring the ball into his possession more smoothly and quickly.
The other stats are self explanatory, except note that passes to the blind side, on the weaker foot, and through/past a sea of players, are enhanced by greater passing stats.
Turn on your TV and watch a top flight match...even my hero Xabi Alonso still puts a few passes wrong (2-3 out of maybe 15-20 in a game) so it's not unrealistic that such a great passer will mess up 2-3 out of 15-20 in a game of PES.
Let alone someone who is just "ok" like Carragher...his long balls in real life and PES are about 50/50
If you are playing a through ball to a player, you have to be aware of the position of the defenders and of the attacker. More often than not you are better off with a pass to feet as you will keep possession.
I have been playing football for 20 years and I still prefer to play the ball to feet as the defender has a really easy job just sticking out a leg or his head to disrupt a great "through" ball. This is equally true whether he is marking your target man-to-man or whether he is defending zonally. Whereas your target man has to be positioned correctly, on-side, on the half-turn, then he has to meet the ball, control it, and THEN he can begin think about a dribble, pass or shot.
In PES
-the longer you hold the through ball button (and the direction you hold) determine whether a close or far player will receive the ball
-If your target player is running diagonally, unless both passer and receiver have amazing stats, the ball will be played for him to run on diagonally
-If you don't press the button at the right time, your target man will have slowed down (messing up through ball opportunity) or your passer will be closed down and the angle for the pass will have gone. This is normally when trying to play to the front man
-If you a playing a ball to someone else (usually on the wings), you need him to be in front of you; the angle your passer is facing at will dictate to the receiver to run into space (unless he is rubbish)
-Passing to someone who is a "fox in the box" e.g Torres (which is basically the same as I think the "D-line" special skill in 08/09), they will hang off the shoulder of the defender and be quicker to pounce/accelerate and snap up a through ball.
-It is easier to pass through to goal when the passer is positioned fairly close to the line of the back 4 rather than when the route is blocked by midfielders and/or defenders
-It is even easier if you have done great passes up to that point which have dragged the defence all out of position. Just like in real life, a flat back 4 who hold the line, protected by 1 or 2 DMFs, are going to deal with balls in day in and day out.
Once the back 4 becomes ragged and out of shape, your receiver can move into a position where he is on side but behind 1 of the defenders, and you can play him through.
-As you approach to play a pass, cut inside or outside the defender who is blocking the path to the receiver, and once the angle appears, the passer will be much more successful in making the pass.
-Using super cancel as the ball arrives to about 5-10 yards away, you can position your player to receive the ball if the pass is not going to make it, or curve his run to meet the ball better (this is killer). However the defender, if decent, will hound you like a dog and tackle as soon as you get it, unless the receiver is strong, or plays a great first time pass or shot. (difficult against a good defender)
-Once there is a clear run to goal, there is no point in always hammering through ball as, playing the ball 10-20 yards in front of him, he is going to lose out to the keeper. The ball is travelling towards the keeper, and away from the attacker so the attacker's speed relative to the ball means he is going to close down on it slowly, whereas the keeper will close down on it quickly.
-if you cut inside and then press play to feet to a good receiver, you will create some awesome opportunities. If the receiver is not being marked too tightly, you can even hold R1/RB for him to turn as he lets the ball run through his legs, and if he is quick and a good dribbler, he will still collect the ball before it runs out of his possession, for a shot on goal.
But to be honest, in my opinion, this is just how football is played and it works for me in PES 2010. And these things work with through balls or balls to feet, although in real life, again you keep possession more with balls to feet than balls into space.
Oh dear, giving all of my tips away for free!
I play with Liverpool most of the time, although about 20-30% of the time I play random v random and hope to keep the scoreline reasonable (although I normallly fail the first cpl of tries until I get used to the attributes of the players
)Other things to try which I have not yet
-manual pass on ground (seemed like a more precise, user-controlled through ball. Nice!)
-manual pass in the air. Apparently you can really affect the height (using R2 to add height, or "float") and strength (by holding down for varying lengths of time) of these, so you can play more exactly the ball you want
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