The great Dutch footballer and former Barcelona manager Johan Cruyff once said "Soccer is simple, but it is difficult to play simple." It's in this vein that we'll explore the intricacies of PES' latest rendition as it relates to attacking and defending. In this first installment we'll take a look at the attacking side of the game because, let's be honest, strikers get the glory.

In order to set your side up for a successful attack in PES 2015 you'll need to take a few minutes to understand how PES 2015 is set up. The first area we'll take a look at is:

Offensive Styles

Offensive Styles are the means to which your team will attack the opposing goal. While they're not set in stone and can vary from match-to-match or even mid-match, it's important to give your team some direction on how to organize themselves in an attempt to score goals. The first question you will need to ask yourself is:

What kind of attack do you prefer?


PES 2015 has three distinct styles (PES definitions in quotes):



Long Pass - "Direct playing style involving long balls being played to the front line." A direct attack featuring long-balls over the top of the defense or played into the channels (the space between your back line of defenders). Think West Ham United (traditional long ball/Route 1 football)/Liverpool - Fernando Torres days (playing balls into channels)



Possession Game - "Players try to retain possession when there is little space. Any available teammate will then provide the necessary support." A possession-based approach typically features a high number of passing resulting in dominating the lions share of possession.Think - Barcelona/Bayern Munich




Counter Attack - "Players with the ball will burst forward, trying to get themselves into threatening areas". Successful counter attacking sides will have properties common to a "Long Ball" and "Possession" approaches. The main difference is that they will often absorb pressure and after winning the ball back on defense they will look to break forward trying to gain the numerical advantage (ie. 4-on-3, 3-on-2, etc...). Think - Real Madrid


While your managerial philosophy might push you in one direction, it's important to take another variable into account:

What kind of players do you have?

Only the best players in the world are able to adapt seamlessly to different attacking philosophies. Good players might will adapt better than average players but a good player could become great given the right "system". Consequently, average players can look poor in the wrong system.

Let's take a look at some of the best fits for the "styles" listed above:

*Note: 'Performance Skills" are PES traits tied to an individual. "Player Skills" are abilities unique to a specific player*


Offensive Style - Long Pass - Performance Skills -

"Advanced Striker" - A Player who plays off the shoulders of the last defender. This is great for those who want to drop balls into space and let their strikers run onto it. Think Sergio Aguero-Manchester City

"Post Player" - A player who becomes the focal point of attack by holding the ball up in an advanced position. Typically strong and tall, these players excel at taking down long passes and controlling the ball while their teammates catch-up. Think Andy Carroll-West Ham United

"Creative Playmaker" - A player who likes to drop off into a deeper position in order to orchestrate the attack. These players will often occupy the midfield and dictate the tempo (speed at which the game is played). They will often finish the game with the most touches and passes. Think Xavi-FC Barcelona

"Build Up" - A player who likes to drop back in order to receive the ball and trigger attacks from deep. Players of this ilk can control the pace of a match and dictate the tempo . They will often find space in between the oppositions forward and midfield where they can be afforded enough time on the ball to play passes forward to the "Advanced Striker" and/or "Post Player". Think Andrea Pirlo-Juventus

Player Skills -

Creative Playmaker/Build Up - "Weighted Pass" - Enables players to apply back-spin when playing lofted passes and through balls improving accuracy. This skill allows players to run onto the ball easier as the back-spin will slow the ball down allowing for an easier touch/first-time shot.


Offensive Style - Possession Game - Performance Skills -

"Classic #10" - An old-school static playmaker who uses passes to control the match. The most common position on the field for these players are right behind the striker. While they can get you goals, they will often rack up the assists. Think Juan Mata-Manchester United

"Creative Playmaker" - mentioned above

"Box-to-Box" - A player who tirelessly covers every blade of grass for the full 90 minutes. These players are often referred to as "engines" due to their ability to run all match. Think Luka Modric-Real Madrid

Player Skills -

One-Touch Pass - improves technique and precision when playing one-touch passes.

"One-Time Shot" - Improves technique and precision when taking one-time shots.

*"One-Time" refers to the act of shooting and/or passing the ball in a continuous motion without taking another touch.*


Offensive Style - Counter Attack - Performance Skills -

"Offensive Fullbacks" - An attack-minded fullback who will run upfield and join the attack when presented with a chance. Offensive fullbacks often become and/or serve as wingers with the ability to get forward and send in crosses to your target-man up front. Think Marcelo-Real Madrid

"Box-to-Box" - mentioned above

"Hole Player" - Typically a player with a sharp eye for goals who surges forward at any given opportunity. Hole players are great at making secondary runs (your striker(s) being the primary) and often find themselves popping up in the right place at the right time. Think Frank Lampard-Chelsea/Manchester City

"Prolific Winger" - The winger-cum-striker who looks to cut in from wide into the central area looking to score. Often inverted (their dominant foot will be on the inside) these days, prolific wingers will wreak havoc on defenses and are often accompanied by offensive fullbacks making overlapping runs (player "B" below). Think Cristiano Ronaldo-Real Madrid

Player Skills -

"One-touch pass" - mentioned above

"Pinpoint Crosses" - enables players to curl in crosses with great accuracy

"Cut behind" - enable players to cut behind defenders


Let's drill down a little bit further shall we?


Build-Up - Short Pass or Long Pass

Build-Up simply refers to how you will attempt to generate your attack in terms of passes and movement. "Short Pass" refers to the "Possession" based approach listed above while "Long Pass" attempts to replicate a more direct style. Now it's possible to play "Possession" game with "Long Pass" but it's usually not very effective due to the low success rate of strikers being able to hold up the play and/or the accuracy of the pass delivered to them.

Offensive Area

The "Offensive Area" is quite simply, the area on the field in which you will concentrate your attack/effort. There are two options:

Center - Your attack will focus its efforts in the middle of the field. Risk - This space can become crowded making it difficult to penetrate the defense.
Reward - Depending upon your formation you could have a numerical advantage in this area giving you passing options,

Wide - Your attack will look to focus on the flanks.
Risk - A mistake wide can leave you vulnerable to counter-attacks as the "space" advantage can be flipped in the opposite direction.
Reward- This is often where the most space is. If you have creative and fast wide players (wingers or wide-midfielders) you will often find yourself in 1-on-1 situations with the opposition.

Positioning -

In PES, "Positioning" correlates to how/where you want your players to attack when it comes to shape (formation). There are two options:

Maintain Formation - With this option selected players maintain their positional discipline and stick to their assigned areas. If your striker is a poacher he won't stray far from the box. If your winger is supposed to be on the right flank, he will almost always be there (I say "almost always" because he will track back on defense and pop-up in other places on set-pieces, etc...)

Flexible - Players interchange position freely during the attack depending on the space and how the defense is set-up. For example, your striker could make a diagonal run outside because that is where the space is. Your wide player who would normally occupy that space will take up a different position as to not crowd your displaced striker. Seems like a no brainer right? Not always as you could find yourself sending in crosses from your striker to a much less capable player in the air like your displaced winger.

Support Range

This attribute dictates how close your players will get to each other when looking to receive a pass. For possession based teams you will want a lower value while counter attacking teams usually look to exploit space and will
want more distance between them thus requiring a higher value.

Numbers on offense

Quite simply, how many of your players will join the attack. There are three options in PES 2015:

Many - This can be used when your chasing a game (trying to get a win or an equalizing goal). This option leaves three players back defending and can open you up for a counter attack by the opposing team.

Few - Selecting this doesn't commit many players forward. This is ideal for trying to hold onto a lead or draw as you likely won't score since you don't have many players committed to attack.

Medium - This provides a balance of players going forward and staying back and is usually the default tactic. This tactic is ideal early on in matches.


The beauty of PES 2015 and soccer in general is that there isn't one singular winning formula. A combination of any of the above listed tactics/variables can lead you to glory or the opposite, get you the sack! Besides, tinkering with your formation, players, and tactics is one of the reasons we play soccer games. One great tool at your disposal in recreating or mimicking real-life tactics is Whoscored.com. Individual team strengths and weaknesses are listed on the bottom.

What offensive tactics are you deploying in PES 2015?