FIFA 08

Shooting in FIFA 08 is a lot different from previous FIFA versions, but certainly for the better. Shooting is much more realistic, the actual trajectory and physics of the ball during shooting in particular. According to EA, there are nine factors which determine the success of a shot, and they apply to all kinds of shots, including volleys:

1. Ball Speed – the greater the speed of the ball in any direction when you hit it, the less accurate your shot will be.
2. Ball Height – this pertains to volleys, the height determines the angle at which a player kicks.
3. Ball Bounce – a bouncing ball is much more difficult to accurately shoot, especially if the ball takes a bounce just before you hit it.
4. Kick Power – the harder you attempt to hit the ball, the less accurate your shot will be.
5. Player Speed – the current speed of the player as he takes the shot affects his ability to get the shot on target (i.e. greater speed = harder to control) but keep in mind that this could positively affect the power of your shot, provided you do get it on target.
6. Pressure – if players are pressuring the player attempting to shoot, the less likely it is that he hits his shot on target.
7. Balance – a balanced player is more likely to get his shot on target.
8. Player Attributes – players have stats such as shot power and long range shooting which will affect how accurately he shoots the ball.
9. Shooting Foot – every player in FIFA 08 has a preferred foot, and if you are using the opposite one, it is much harder for your player to pull off an accurate shot.

Regular Shots

The traditional laces strike is the default shot in FIFA 08. By pressing the default shoot button for your particular gaming console, the player will execute this shot. These shots are more powerful than the chip or finesse shots, but much less predictable and sometimes less accurate due to how quickly the power bar can fill up. I recommend this shot if you are shooting from relative distance (18+ yards out) because while in the box, the finesse shot will be more useful in most cases. The regular laces shot is more useful in the box in some scenarios such as a right footed shooter aiming for the wide left post while approaching from the right side of the goal. This of course isn't the only scenario, but you will have to experiment to figure out what works when deciding between regular shots and finesse shots, which are explained below.

Finesse Shots

Chip shots are useful shots which are used to cheekily loop the ball over the goalkeeper and into the goal. A chip shot has a high arc and is not very powerful, but is useful for when the goalkeeper is not on his line and a bit farther away from the goal than he should be. This scenario occurs a lot when a player is on a breakaway and the opponent rushes his goalkeeper out too early, giving you enough time to chip it over him before he gets too close to cut off your angle. Sometimes in FIFA 08, goalkeepers are off their line for no good reason, so you should look for this and give it a try if he is. On Xbox 360, chip shots are executed by holding down LB as you are pressing the shoot button, and likewise for PS3 although you want to hold down the L1 button instead.

Volleys

Volleys are shots taken while the ball is airborne, making it much harder to get on target, but they look spectacular when you do so and it results in a goal. Volleys tend to be much harder than ground shots, both in real life and in FIFA 08. The control for a volley is the same as a regular shot on your console. Keep in mind that the volley category includes any airborne shot except for the header, so look out for opportunities to pull off an acrobatic shot such as a bicycle kick, which occur randomly and you cannot do much to increase the chances of them happening other than try to shoot when the ball is in a positionwhere your player will have to bicycle kick it or something to actually shoot it.

Headers

There isn't much to say about headers as shots. The control is the same as what it is for a regular shot for your console. Remember that a good header is usually accompanied by a good cross, so if you don't provide good crosses in from the wings, don't expect good headers. Crossing situations aren't the only ones that provide heading opportunities, but keep this in mind.

Setting Up for a Shot

When thinking about taking a shot, keep in mind the position of your player in relation to the goal. Also think about how the ball and your player are moving and how this will affect your shot. An example of an ideal time to shoot is when your player has enough room for a decent run-up, not pressured by opposing players, and the ball is on the ground and not moving fast.

Manual Shooting

By default, FIFA 08 is set to assisted shooting. This means that whenever you take a shot, the computer ultimately directs the shot and determines its power for you in relation to where you “sorta” directed the shot and how long you held the stick for. Once you set your shooting settings to manual, you will realize just how much the computer helps you get your shots on target. When you first set manual settings, don't be discouraged by how your shots go everywhere but into the net. You will improve over time and in the end it will be worth it as your shots will be determined 100% by your command. This means that once you get good, you can hit the far corners out of the keepers reach much more frequently than if you'd spent the same amount of time practicing shooting with assisted settings.

Due to the slow pace of the gameplay in FIFA 08, passing is arguably your most deadly weapon. You must learn to posses the ball through passing before looking for that killer through ball that puts a striker in on goal and other useful techniques such as playing a ball to the winger and learning when to cross.

Possessing the Ball

Holding a good percentage of possession is very important. If you do not possess the ball, your opponent does, and obviously, he can score if he has the ball. Good possession of the ball is hard to teach, you must look for those short passes around the midfield. Don't be afraid to play the ball back! Even though you're loosing ground towards the goal, playing the ball backwards to an open player gives him many more options forward than you would have had. He can then play a ball to the more central midfielder who was not an option when you had the ball, and he might have some really good passing options due to the space you opened up with this quick rotation of the ball.

Inside or Outside?

There are always pockets of space on the pitch where the defending team is nonexistent. You must look at the current team stance of your opponent, are they spread out wide and long leaving many viable passing lanes? Or are they cluttered more in the center of the field, leaving options for you to play the ball outside? You need to learn to analyze how your opponent's team is positioned, and take advantage of this. A good example would be that from a goal kick, the defending team tends to push into the center of the field, leaving your wingers or outside midfielders wide open. If you are to win the header, play the ball to any open player, who can then distribute it to your winger. Another example is playing against a team who is very spread out, which is usually due to his formation featuring many midfielders and defenders. By noticing this, you already have the advantage that there will be more passing lanes than normal, and the through ball will be extremely effective.

Regular Passes

By pressing the default passing button of your gaming console, you play a simple sidefooted pass to a teammate. These passes will go right to your target's feet, so if they have a lot of room in front of them to run on to, you might want to consider the through ball, which will be explained later. Although the default assisted controls will aid your passing direction and power, you do have a considerable amount of control over the power of your pass, so analyze the distance between you and your passing target and hold down the passing button accordingly so it gets to him without being intercepted. However, if you want full control over the direction and power of your shots, I highly recommend looking into changing your passing settings to manual. See more on the Manual vs. Assisted debate here.

Crossing

Crossing is an incredibly useful tool in FIFA 08. Done most by wingers and outside midfielders, the cross is when a player plays a lofted pass from the wide flanks of the pitch to open strikers in the box who are ready to put it into the net. There are three types of crosses in FIFA 08.

1. The Traditional Lofted Cross – by holding down the lofted pass button on your console, your player will play in a cross that tends to go high enough that heading the ball is the best option for your strikers.
2. The Low Cross – by tapping the lofted pass button twice in quick succession, your player will play in a lower cross to the ground that is usually put away by not only headers, but also volleys. The ideal time to use this is when your striker us approaching the near post and there is not a defender in front of him, or when the player who is going to cross the ball is very close to the end line.
3. The Ground Cross – a ground cross is executed by tapping the lofted pass down three times in quicksuccession. This will result in a ground level, hard cross across the face of the goal. This is useful for when the defensive line is rushing back to the goal to defend the cross but haven't quite made it there yet. If your striker is in line with the defence, but is faster and will beat them to the ball, then go for it. When done well, the cross will nestle right in front of your striker nicely for him to bang into the back of the net.

*Holding down LB on Xbox or L1 on Playstation while crossing with any of these three crossing variants produces an early cross intended for when you are not very close to the endline but still think your strikers are in a good enough position to cross to.

Through Ball

The through ball is an incredibly dangerous weapon to use against your opponent. The through ball is a pass which doesn't go directly to your passing target, but rather in front of him for him to run on to. Obviously, don't try this if your target doesn't have space in front of him, or if his marker or defenders around him are faster than him. The best uses for the through ball are for when playing wingers to give them a head start on their dribble down the line, or playing through holes in the defensive line so your striker can simply run past the defenders to be in on goal. The through ball can also be utilized to quickly speed up your attack in the midfield also because your center-midfielders will have space in front of them too

Chipped Through Ball

Chipped Through Balls have the same concept as the regular through ball, but that the pass is, well, chipped! This is useful when your passing target has a lot of space in front of him and is faster than the defenders around him, but they are blocking passing lanes through which you can play a grounded through ball.