In this guide i will tell you some tips on how to play CM in pro soccer online.

The passing is a key aspect and will contain a lot of information. To help you a bit with searching what you are looking for, I made a chapter for "build up", "attacking" and "defending"

IMPORTANT: THIS GUIDE IS GOOD FOR PLAYING COMPETITIVE - You do not need to know everything if playing casual... it is just not necessary...

But before we start I'd like to tell you basic information:

So if you decide to play CM there are a lot of things you have to know.

CM is not an easy position.

There are many things you should be able to do... Here are some skills that I recommend to learn:

Ball control:

You do not have to be the Lionel Messi or Andrés Iniesta but being able to receive a ball correctly is key.
Yes... you should be able to dribble a bit at least, but please do not try to be Ronaldinho and fail at dribbling through the entire opposing team.

Passing:

Ok I'm not sure if I have to mention it haha... Anyways... Yeah you should be relatively good at it.

Again: NO! You do not have to be the next Xavi or Beckenbauer, but being decent at it should not be too hard to learn.

Stay calm:

This is something that is not directly a "skill" but very helpful. You should try to keep cool when having the ball.
I know not everybody is afraid but some ( like I was ) are and that's why here are some tips:

Don't take too much time when scanning the pitch. I know that you want to have a good view but it is not possible for the entire match.
If you scan the pitch for too long many players are pushing you. So just play some passes quicker and maybe shorter.

DO NOT PLAY 8v8 INSTANTLY

So I know it sounds weird but this is the reason many people are afraid or not good at all.
What I did is playing 3v3 then 6v6 and then 8v8.
Ok... surely this is something many people are not too happy to hear but it CAN help. It helped me and maybe, just maybe it can help you. If you are not good at 8v8 just go in a 3v3 match and maybe you see... Wow I'm much better than in 8v8.
You decide.

So after talking about some skills for such a long time, here are the real tips:

A Key aspect is your positioning. As an CM this is the one thing you need to know.

Forget about your shooting, vision and passing skills, if you are not able to have a good position: Fix it first.
Nothing works without it. So be good at it first before learning to scan the pitch etc.( we'll talk about that too ;-)...).
But I made this guide to also show you some tips to learn these skills:

So let me help you:


In this picture you can see your starting position.
This is most often seen after kickoff. Nothing too special.

Now to the attacking position:


As you can see this is usually the border where you should stop as a CM. It is not necessary to enter the box because your striker or wingers will do that.
You also work as a support player because you give one of your mates the offer to play the ball to you.

Now to the defence work:

This one is a bit more compplicated but not really hard to learn:


You should usually fall deeper at defence than when you are attacking. It is not always that case but very often:

Enter your own box and try to fill in the gaps. ( very helpful when playing 6v6 due to the 2 defenders which is not much).

That was the basic positioning and it looks easier than it really is. You often just forget about your position and then: Counter attack... Goal...

Congrats you just caused an counter-attack goal because you are out of position again.

Yeah I know this is a bit too much haha but you should get the point of what I mean.

And before somebody is going to say something: NO! You do not have to play only on this "line". You can also play a bit with your own style of play:
Let me show you what I mean.


As you can see, you have the opportunity to play a bit like you want it. I prefer to play more on the left side and play passes with my better, right, foot (Yes hahah I don't know why but i can player better with my right foot, do not judge me...pls...)
Anyway.
This gives is not only good for playing with your right foot or something but it also gives you more options.
And I will explain that in the passing chapter.

The #6 also known as the defensive Midfielder is a important position.

IMPORTANT: When playing 8v8 you usually have one midfielder. But you still have the opportunity to play as a #6, #8 or #10. It depens on your playstyle.

When playing as a #6 you will work infront of your defence.
To really play as a good defensive midfielder you will have to do a lot of things:

- Cover the opposition's passing options: ---> you are like a alternative player in the defence line but the important difference is, that you need to stop the ball in the center. Try to block a change to the wings and stop dribblings started by your opponents.
When playing 11v11 ( sometimes 8v8 ) you may see a formation like 4-4-2 which means that you will have two defensive midfielders in your team. Also known as a double six. If so you can coordinate that one takes on the wingers and the other the center.

- Build up: ---> Playing as a #6 forces you to play an important role in the build up. You can decide where the team goes next and can controll the game in your pace. Some may say that this is the role of the #10 in football ( offensive midfielder ) but I will explain that soon enough.
The football changed much in the last years and the #10 has lost his spot as the "playmaker".
When looking at our modern football you will see that many #6 have now the playmaker spot.

As an example: Toni Kroos is normally a #8 ( central midfielder ) but he often falls back to the defensive line making him a #6 often. But he is still in full control of the game and the team coordinates to his rythm of play.

So as you can see the #6 is important to the defence but also for the attackers because the defensive midfielder often starts a counter attack.

The #10 is a attacking midfielder. He is mostly known as the "playmaker". Although this might be true in some cases of modern football, his role changed more to an alternative striker. Some teams still use him as a playmaker but only a few.
But there are still some things that should not be forgotten when playing as a #10. It is still an important role but some things changed:

- Don't request a pass to play it to the winger: Relax, I know what you are thinking but let me explain.
Yes you can do that but not that much anymore. Many formations and players changed to defend the highest standing midfielder blocking his passing options. So what to do now?

Easy: Request a pass to start a dribbling. This is often not the move the defenders expect.
Just try it out and maybe this is a better option :-).

- Support your attackers: What I mean by that is that you join a winger as an example and you both stand together. The defenders now have to be extremly careful because they do not know which winger will receive the pass.
To boost this effect you could split when running. Talk with your mate who will pass and run closely to your winger. Now in the last seconds you will split to receive the pass.
The opposing defence has to guess who of you will get the ball.
You ( the #10 ) or the real winger.

When playing CM correctly you have the power of the game:

Yeah this sounds dramatic but it is a bit like that.

In the following picture you can see why the CM is also the "router" of the game. He connects the defence with the strikers and decides who is going to run etc.


You are the "brain" of the team and you can control a whole game.

Just look at Casemiro talking about his teammate Toni Kroos. (I know Casemiro is at ManU now but that is not necessary).

"Real Madrid games always follow Toni Kroos' rythm. If he wants the team to slow down, we slow down. If he wants us to speed up, we speed up. He decides everything."

To really fulfill this opportunity of controling the game, you have to be good. It does not come with just joing CM and thinking everybody will follow your rythm. You have to play the right passes to show your mates:
Ok ok I understand. He does this so I have to do this.

(I know I know. It is really hard when playing with randoms but if you have decent mates or you are even in a voicechat with one or two players, you can dominate the whole game with your vision and passes.

Now... The passing...

Everybody has a own passing style. Some players like playing a ground pass and some play them high.
You decide what you like most, but I want to show you my own passing style and maybe it helps you to create one your own or you want to copy mine.

Let's start with my build up play. To give you an idea of what I do sometimes, here is ONE build up play example. This does not work every time but maybe gives you an idea of what it can look like.

( Important: This is something that really works if you can talk with each other )


In this picture you can see me after kickoff. I often pass to an defender and then start a run up to my prefered postion ( left CM ). If we can communicate I give him the offer to play back to me.
With randoms, try raising your hand ( hold E ).

Let's look further into this situation:


Now I am in an "area of dribbling". In this area I move a bit around to scan the pitch for passing options. As you may have seen the right winger changes is movement towards the center of the pitch to give me an passing option.

Let's continue this situation one last time:


Here we can see some important aspects:

The right winger went to the center of the pitch giving me an option to pass. The left wing is still in position to receive a pass. And one small thing: When you compare the last picture with this one you will realize that the right back moved towards the goal of our opponent. He is now at the position of our right wing ---> More passing options.

Now what to do?

To help you decide you have to be in the game. Is our right back free or is someone defending him? Can our right wing start a dribbling in the center or is our left wing free and ready to run up?

I can't answer these questions for you because the defenders postion themselves individually.
But one example:
Is the right back free and both of your wingers are under pressure... Do a side change. ( Play the ball to your mate on the other side).

This was one example of an build up. It will be very hard to recreate that situation 1:1 but maybe it helped you to make a build up looking simular.

Attacking.

Being the router of your team also forces you to play some attacking passes.
Againg everybody is different and some players like to pass a lot into the opponent's half while other play more defence and give the ball more often to one of the defenders.

But sometimes everybody has to play an attacking pass.
Here are some examples:


The one two pass
(also mentioned in my passing tutorial) is an attacking pass used to keep an high momentum.
You usually play it while running towards the opposing goal and while doing the pass you often outsmart one of your opponents.
Very simple idea but does not work always because the passes have to be quite perfect especially in small space.

Next one ( my absolute favourite :D )


The long through ball

A challenging pass but very efficient. If you've read my build up chapter you saw a simular situation. I was standing in the same position but the right wing ran to the center.
This time he is running towards the opponent's goal.
I often play with one of my friends who is usually a right wing. So we talk in a voice chat and I tell him to run so I can play a through ball to him.
Again this one is very challenging and does not work every time.

Remember: Don't forget the power. sometimes you think you can pass the ball very long when using full power but this is not always the case. especially when playing such a long through ball it sometimes is not strong enough to reach the mate.
So test a bit ingame to get a feeling about the power.

The surprising pass

Yep funny name but you'll understand it in a second.


First of all:

Red: You
Blue: Your mates
Yellow: Your opponents

Now: In the picture you can see that your teammates are behind defenders. That means that playing a pass to them is almost impossible. Even a cross in the free space of the top right corner is quite difficult. So you play a "surprising" pass.
As you can see one teammate is free and ready to run up into the box.
The one defender "below" us, is standing in the way, yes. BUT he has to look at you to react to your next move. so he does not look behind him. While he is looking you can try to tell your teammate (through voice chat would be the best option). He then runs in the box and receives the ball.
At the moment you pass the one defender has to turn around --> losing speed.
If done and timed correctly your mate will have the ball in a dangerous position.

The ball stop

Not really a pass but can be often used by a CM because of the position. If you have read my positioning chapter you will realize that you stand at the spot where a CM should stand when attacking.
To do the ball stop you need to receive a pass. Here a situation:


Now the "pass".
There are two ways:

- just stop the ball
- play an extremly weak pass ( 1 or 2 meters )

Now another mate can use this ball to start a dribbling or to use it for a long shot.
( the long shot is more surprising and can sometimes lead to a goal due to the effect of surprise).

Here a picture of how it can look:

Let's talk about passing with a more defensive playing style.

First of all:

Your defensive work determines your options to start a counter attack.
Yes I could have included that in the "attack" chapter, but I think it is more fitting in this one.

But before that let's talk about the passing in general, when defending.

You often use these passing techniques when playing a defensive playing style. As an example:

Your team: 2

Opponent: 1

In this situation you try to hold your score to win ( usually when the game is about to end ).

Here is one situation that appears quite often:


Now... What can you do?
Let me explain most of your possible passes:

(The pressing of your opponent is marked red)

Nope. One defender can block the pass and even if he doesn't, he will have one player nearby causing trouble.

No.2:


The safe way... Always possible. Sure you wont make progress to the opposing goal but you will not lose the ball.
Play this pass in a situation where you are unsure that an attacking pass will be received by your mate.

No. 3:


Not recommended. You will outsmart one opponent but your teammates wont be able to get the ball first because the defenders should be there faster.

No.4:


Good because the pass shoud arrive safely. But he will suffer under pressure so what should he do now?


Play it back to one defender. The right wing in the opposing team should not be able to get the ball.

Ok but what now?


Now in this situation the left back could try to play a long pass as an through ball ---> starting a counter attack.

The one defender that was nearby our left wing should now have moved a bit closer to the right back due to the fact that he will try to press him a bit.
Not much but a bit ---> a few meters should be enough and our wing can run and receive the ball before the defender.

Now this is one way to start a counter attack.

Ok that was the big passing chapter. Now to something important: Scanning

This will not be a long chapter but I still want to tell you some things about it so let's start:


One example: Right after kickoff you can try to look for chances. In the picture you can see our left wing running to the opponent's box. I assumed that he can dribble past some defenders...

The triangle is your vision area.

This is just one example but i wanted to highligh an passing option I haven't mentioned before.

So how can you train it. When playing casual try to play more challenging passes ( passes that are not that obvious, like the "surprising pass" ).

This is not something you can train in Free training. Only by playing games.

It can be difficult in the beginning but you will learn with every match, trust me :D.

Yes that was it... My Midfielder tutorial for Pro Soccer Online. Hope I helped you a bit :-)