retired_infinite_dreams

I read a thread about the oposition instructions. There it was stated that you should always close down a good header (Target man) to win most of the headers. Well its just perhaps that i have misunderstod the english term closing down, since im from sweden. But my interpetation of it would be "putting pressure on the ball holder". If i assume that this is the meaning of it then it would have no effect to close down the target man. If this is the case then he isnt holder of the ball when it is deliverd to him and traveling in the air, so my defender wont close him down until he recive the ball. And then it perhaps will be to late if he goes for a header and not takes the ball down to his feet (and become a holder of the ball) so my defenders will close him down and try to win the ball.

What would be more logical is for a defender to always be close to the target man so he can challange him in the air and win the ball. So in this case i would use tight marking on the TM to ensure that a defender always is there to challange him for the ball that is going into the area.

My question is how do you use opposition insteructions on a striker that is good/great at the head.

retired_infinite_dreams

I just tried this out for one game. I was up against a team that have a striker that is good in the air. His jumping is 18 and heading is 16. And the scout report said to watch out for the aerial power of him. So what i did was to take my defender that is best in the air (jumping 16, heading 16) and put him on the strikers side then i went into opposition instruction an used tight marking on him.

Well i know i only test his for one match but the results where the following. My defender that was on the strikers side had challanged for 14 balls and won 13 of them, and recived MoM . The striker went up for 24 headers and won 11 of them, and recived a rating of 6. After watching the match in full and extended i can tell that the headers he won was mostly against my right back that is bad in the air.

I will try and test this out for games where i play against teams that have great headers, and i will see the result from it. After all i only tested this for one match.

retired_rjw13838

Seems you've answered your own question really. Cant say I disagree.

retired_infinite_dreams

Well the reason why i was wondering about this was the thread i read about you should use closing down always on a player that is good at the head. I was then starting to think that i didnt had translate the english term correctly.

Well have tried it out once more, this time teh scout also warned me against the aerial threat of one of the strikers. I did exactly the same as the last time. And this time i went even better, during the first 30 min the striker won 3 headers out of 10. After that they moved him to midfield and moved a fast player to his position. I then removed the tight marking from the striker (that now played at midfield) and lowerd my defensive line to handle the fast striker. After 50 min they changed back to the way they started so i put tight marking on him again and restored the settings of my defensive line. After 75 min the striker left the pitch with a rating of 6 and onle 6 won headers out of 17. The defender that had him on his side, won 13 out of 14 headers.

My question is how do the rest of you put opposition instructions on the target man? Do you do as i do with tight marking or do you close down always on him?