Shooting in FIFA 09 is a lot different from previous FIFA versions, and it almost seems a bit easier. Shooting is entirely new in the '09 version of the game, the actual trajectory and physics of the ball during shooting in particular. One thing you may notice is that shots tend to rise the entire duration of a shot, and very rarely do they drop very much, and this makes it a bit tougher to get your shot on target. Overall though, shots are more powerful, easier to pull off, and generally more accurate when compared to the older versions of FIFA.
Regular Shots
The traditional laces strike is the default shot in FIFA 09. By pressing the default shoot button for your particular gaming console, the player will execute this shot. More powerful than the chip or finesse shots, but they are 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
Finesse shots are sidefooted strikes which are particularly useful when shooting from in and around the penalty box. Finesse shots are generally more accurate than regular shots, but will be much less powerful. Finesse shots also have a decent bit of curve, the amount depending on the strength of shot and time it has to curve. To execute a finesse shot on Xbox 360, hold down RB while shooting, and R1 while shooting on PS3.
Chip 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 09, 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. 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.
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 09 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.
Although the fast pace of the gameplay in FIFA 09 favors the dribbling game a bit more than the passing one, passing is still a vital skill to be able to do well. 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 09. 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 09.
- 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.
- The Low Cross – by tapping the lofted pass button down 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.
- 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 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, 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 for 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.
Manual Passing
Passing in FIFA 09 is set to assisted controls by default. By this, I mean that whenever you attempt to pass the ball, the computer greatly alters the amount of power your pass will have and the direction it will go, almost regardless of what you did with your controller. If you set your passing controls to Manual, you will have full control over the power and direction of your shots. It takes some getting used to, but it is very much worth it in the end, once you get good at it.
Free Kicks
Free Kicks provide an excellent opportunity to score, but many ignore this and don't learn the propertechniques. Before I got the techniques down, I was enraged when my opponent slide tackled me on a breakaway and I got the free kick, but now it makes no difference because it is just as easy to score free kicks as it is to finish off a breakaway. Read more here.
Corners
Corner Kicks are a mixed bag really, it's hard to call them a consistent scoring opportunity, at least in FIFA 09. Besdides whether you have big, strong players in the box, the only thing you really can control is how you play the ball in, and this tutorial goes over the best methods of doing so. There are, however, some significant changes from FIFA 08's corner kick system, so you should take a look. Read morehere.
Penalties
Penalties are easy, its a given. As it's just guessing, its really a matter of statistics, which favor the kick taker. Obviously though, there are ways to increase your chances of putting it away from the spot kick, and likewise for saving penalties. The penalty kick system in FIFA 09 hasn't changed much from FIFA 08, but what I found to be the best method of saving them last year is no longer possible to use. Read morehere.
Ultimate Team is a brand-new game mode to FIFA 09, released March 19, 2009. In FUT, you have the freedom to create a squad of players you accumulate through opening “packs” or trading with other players through the online trading system. Coins are the currency in the game which are given as a reward after games and can also be accumulated through trading. You can buy packs which contain random players, staff, training cards, consumable cards, or collectibles. This page elaborates on the types of cards below.
PLAYERS.
Players can be obtained through opening packs. There are three types of players: bronze, silver, and gold. As you might imagine, the gold players are the best players, and the bronze are the worst. Although you can hope for sheer luck and pull a Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi in a pack, it's highly unlikely. It's very easy to give in and pay a hefty fee to open a pack when your return will usually not reach the amount you paid, so know you will likely be disappointed before deciding to buy a pack. Players can be traded for coins or other cards via the FUT Trading Center. Also, players can be trained permanently with training cards all the way up to overall level 99, but players who had a higher overall than others before they were trained will naturally be better even when the two are trained to the same overall level.
Consumables
There are four types of consumable cards. Healing cards are used to heal your injured players. When a player is injured, he is issued a number which is higher if the injury is more serious. A healing card also has a number, which subtracts from the injury number which must be at zero or lower in order to heal the injury. Contracts are used to keep your players and staff with your team, who have a certain number of games they can play before they are dismissed from your team. You can use contract cards to increase this number and keep your player or staff member, but keep checking to make sure nobody is at 1 game remaining before playing a game. Gameplay cards are very useful, varied cards which can do things such as taunt the opposing keeper, make the ref lenient or strict, or give your players a boost in many different attributes for the game or half. These are incredibly useful when competing in a tournament. Finally, Team Talks are used to increase the morale of your squad. Your morale will go down after loosing games and you cannot expect to play well if your morale is low, so do not underestimate the usefulness of these cards.
Staff
There are 5 possible staff members which you can use to bolster your squad. The Manager determines how effective your contracts are and also your chemistry, more on chemistry can be found in the links below. The Head Coach makes your training cards more effective when used on field players. TheGoalkeeper Coach speeds up training of goalkeepers like your Head Coach affects your field players. TheFitness Coach increases the effectiveness of your fitness training cards, which alter the fitness stat of your players. Lastly, the Physio speeds up the recovery time of your players by making your injury healingcards more effective.
Training Cards
Training cards are used to change the stats of your players. There is an alternate type of training cards which change your formation, and you can use these to your advantage in chemistry. The stat trainingcards can be attained through trading or packs, like any of the other cards. As you increase the individual stats; pace, shooting, passing, dribbling, heading, morale, or fitness, the overall level will increase.Training cards either train individual players or the entire squad.
Another type of training cards is the formation changing card. You can apply a formation card to a player or manager to change his preferred formation to the one that the card is meant for. However, keep in mind that there are player versions of this card, and manager ones, you cannot use a player card on a manager or vice versa.
Collectibles
Your Collection is just that, a collection of players, kits, and team crests. By adding these "collectibles" to your collection, you will be rewarded with coins, and will receive a significant bonus reward of 1000 for 7 card pages and 5000 for 14 card pages. This makes collecting a valuable money making asset, as people might list players for 200 or so, when you could add that card to your collection for 400 and profit, and not to mention the big bonus for completing pages. Note that even though FUT09 is sort of unpopulated now, this remains a good money-making method as players are still listed low enough for you to profit on by collecting them. More on money-making, and collecting in particular in the links below.
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