Football Manager 2008 – Set Piece Tactics

I generally manage lower ranks sides who to compete really have to punch above their weight so set pieces are very important for some of my sides because at times I’m not going to score any other way.
So in this little article we’ll have a look at set piece tactics.
First off we have to ask what is a good corner strategy?
Try to have three big targets in the box, one on Near Post Flick-On, the strongest on Challenge GK, and a third on Forward. Add to that a real shooter on “Attack Near Post”, and somebody with Headers and Finishing at “Stand on Far Post”, and you have four goalscoring threats plus a good Ian Rush like poacher.
Likewise, your throw-in instructions can make a huge difference; get somebody with 18+ Long Throws as your throw-in taker, put a big defender on Near Post, two Long Shot specialists on Lurk Outside Box, a striker on Default, and a fullback on Go Forward. Works a treat; all five are threats to score.
As for Long Shots, you need space to pull it off – so if you have tight-marking and high closing down all over the pitch, neither your players nor the opposition have enough space to really make it work. If you dropped that to loose marking, low closing down, I bet you’d see a lot more – both for and against.
What kind of a player makes a good freekick taker?
The first conclusion I came to was that although composure IS important, it is nowhere near as important as it is when taking penalty kicks. In my view, the composure attribute is, (believe this or not), more important than the penalty attribute when deciding the result of a spot kick.
With free-kicks, there are other options to consider and all of these affect the outcome.
Should the player shoot, tee up another player for a shot, cross, play wide left/right, or our old favourite, pass back to the GK from just outside the opposition area. Affecting this decision would be decisions, creativity, flair, and possibly anticipation.
If he shoots, which part of the goal does he aim for. I would say that decisions and free-kicks affect this.
If he decides he is going to shoot, and he knows where he wants to put it, does he blast it or try a delicate placed shot. I suppose what affects this is decisions, free-kicks, technique and maybe any PPM’s that are applicable.
Once he has decided that he will shoot, what part of the goal he will aim at and whether he will blast it or place it, we have the following attributes to consider that will effect the outcome. Finishing, free-kicks, long-shots, technique and composure.
As always your thoughts are welcome!