Gaming
FIFA pro Hashtag Ryan shows you how to improve your FIFA 19 skills.
FIFA pro gamer Ryan 'Hashtag Ryan' Pessoa explained how to get better at FIFA 19 in the first ever Up Your Game stream from the Red Bull Gaming Sphere.
You can watch the show in full below to get his expert advice, and we have also picked out some of his most essential tips for you to bring to your game.
How to get better at FIFA 19 – Hashtag Ryan's top tips
1. Pick the right formation
Hashtag Ryan: For me right now, it's 4-2-3-1 or 4-2-2-2, because it's quite compact in the middle – I have the two central defensive midfielders and the three attacking midfielders ahead of them. They're not really left or right mids, they're left attacking mids and right-attacking mids so they contribute to the attack. I can spread them out wide to hug the touchlines, or I can choose for them to come in and support the attack in a narrow way.
There's also the 4-2-3-1 wide, which is more defensive, If someone is playing a 4-3-3, I'd switch to this. It's really important this year to have CDMs, and I like to have two, but if I'm playing narrow formation, I like to have one CDM, a box-to-box and an attacking mid, just because they add different elements to attacking and can contribute in defence as well. I really like the narrow formation – it's not as good as it was in FIFA 18, because you're susceptible to counter attacks, which is quite a problem in FIFA 19.
2. Team instructions
Defenders
Last year I had overlapping full-backs, because counter-attacking wasn't as effective, but this year but if you have overlap on your full-backs you're pretty screwed.
Midfielders
The way I set up my 4-2-3-1, I have my attacking midfielders to stay forward and free roam so they can drift around. Sometimes my CAM supports my striker, so he's kind of more like a centre-forward than an attacking midfielder.
Strikers
If you're playing with two strikers like Juventus' Ronaldo and Mandžukić, I would set Ronaldo to stay central, get in behind and stay forward, while I would set Mandžukić to keep central as a target man and stay forward, just because if you play a long ball, Mandžukić could potentially win the flick on, and Ronaldo could be in on goal.
3. How to keep possession
Drag backs open up space and make the centre of the field a bit bigger. If you're playing as Douglas Costa on the wing, I do a drag back and exit on the right, cut inside and I'd see my centre midfielders are open for a pass.
Switching the play is very important because if your full-backs stay back and your opponent is defending they're always open for the switch to keep possession.
Use Dynamic tactics to set your team up for possession on the offense and don't have your strikers to get in behind. If you have them balanced they'll support the runs. Tap RB / R1 and your players will come towards the ball.
4. How to get better at dribbling
The most important stat isn't actually dribbling itself but agility because players will be able to turn around quicker, which means it'll be harder for defenders to keep up.
5. How to master timed finishing
Timed finishingis essential. Set FIFA 19 up on amateur and practise until every shot is on the green, which means you've hit it perfectly. The accuracy and power of your shot will increase with timed finishing. Sometimes, when you're using the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo a normal shot will go in, but with a timed finish you're almost certain to bury the chance. Once you master timed finishing there's no hope for the opponent.
Power up the shot, but don't look at the bar, look at your player's foot. When his foot is about a millimetre away from the ball press it again. It's a muscle memory thing.
6. How to score from a corner
It's so easy to score from corners this year. Whip it, full power to the near post, hold L2 / LT and your player will do an acrobatic shot. If the near post is blocked by a defender, play it short, shield it, play it back to the corner taker, or turn and play it to the edge of the box for a long shot. Or I would pass it to the near post, chip it back post and someone's always free.
7. How to score from a free-kick
Say if my opponent has three people in the wall, I would mentally invision that there's someone on the furthest side, and I'll aim it at his shoulder, put three and a half bars of power on it, and hold LB / L1, and it usually curls around the wall into the top corner.
8. How to defend and keep clean sheets
You have to defend by not touching your defensive back-line. Instead, just control your midfielders and intercept manually. If you control your centre-backs you're screwed.
The second-man press, because it's from the CPU, they're more intelligent than humans, so they make less mistakes. The way they press is ridiculous – they will win the ball back.
Use your midfielders. The best way to do it is to use the CDMs, but you can also bring your attacking mid back, because if he's fast you don't even have to tackle.
9. How to control your goalkeeper
Not a lot of people know about this but it's the most important thing. If you hold the right stick down you can move the goalkeeper left or right depending on where you think your opponent is going to shoot. It's a risk, but if you move your keeper to the right side you have a better chance of saving the shot. You have to get into your opponent's head.
You have to bring keepers out, too, because they won't automatically.
Check out more FIFA 19 tips in this collection.
