Your guide to PES 2008 – a popular soccer game, stopping headers in Pro Evolution soccer

2008-11-29

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Introduction

PES 2008 is a world-wide known computer soccer simulator with many fans around the world. The game gives you numerous scoring opportunities – for instance using long range shots as well as heading from crosses. Tactics are an important for defending, but they cannot solve all your problems with different formations and formation changes. You have to defend! And this article will help you in this task.

Stop Headers

These are the two times when stopping headers should be an important part of your PES08 game plan:

When the opposition team heads the ball in the penalty area.
When the opposition tries to head the ball to regain ball possession.

In both the cases, choosing the right player in your defense and the midfield would do the trick for you.

How to Stop Headers

Stopping headers is often a part of the process in ensuring the same. These are the basic things you should consider to stop headers.

Select players with the right attributes. Make sure you select the tallest player to be present as a center back.
Have players who can dive well, at least laterally at an angle of 45 degrees. In selecting such a player, you would avoid the possibility of headings on balls that are crossed from the flanks.
Have a strong defense line. Playing a 4-4-2 combination against such teams would do the trick.
Crowd the penalty area in dead-ball situations. To jump up and head the ball out, you could use the Alt – B combination. In other cases, you could use the gentle push to good effect to push your opposition player out of place.

A Bit of Tactics

Traditionally, teams have preferred playing the 4-4-2 combination to counter teams’ strategies of using the header as a good ploy. For example, you would note that Argentina has Carlos Puyol, who is considered to be one of the best defenders in the world. He is not tall by any stretch of imagination, but makes up for that with his fleet-footedness.

That’s why it is so important for you to choose your best players in defense. And for this, you do not need the tallest players around! Players good at defending would understand the importance of stopping headers, and would do anything to stop them.

Summary

Be sure to understand the best formation you could have employed to make sure you stop a lot of headers. And also – select appropriate players because, remember, stopping headers is a critical aspect of your game. And it can be achieved by good player positioning!

This post is part of the series: PES 2008 - Practical tips and hints

If you are a fan of Pro Evolution Soccer - or just a beginner in the PES 2008 version - in this series you will find interesting and useful tips to improve your scoring record in the PES08 game. Read and enjoy!