The 2018 Russia FIFA World Cup has just ended a couple of months back, but the fever of football has gone up with Konami releasing their finest football simulation to date. Yes, Pro Evolution Soccer 2019 is here and it has come up with an AI system that’s improved drastically compared to its previous iterations. Last year there were grievances among fans due to the game being too difficult to handle as its AI seemed to know everything you were going to do with the ball. This has been brought to a tolerable level and PES 2019 offers just the right type of competitiveness. Alongside the AI, Konami has also improved the feel of the game a lot. Unlike past years, Konami has only released PES 2019 for this generation of consoles and Microsoft Windows. It’s also likely to stay this way from now on.

One thing you’ll notice right away are the similarities PES 2019 has to the last release. Even though you find a fresh new feel to the interface, the gameplay treads familiar ground. After a few matches, however, you’ll quickly start to notice differences, especially in terms of gameplay. Planning to win matches with your old tactics will, however, lead to frustration. So both new players and veterans should follow these basic tips to keep their winning streak going.

One-touch Passing

It’s safe to say that AI at PES 2019 heavily focuses on this one particular tactic. You’ll notice the opposition players passing quickly and keeping the ball on the ground, instead of using high passes or lobs. No matter what formation the AI team employs, they’re going to rely on their fullbacks and focus on quick counter-attacks from the corners. To avoid falling prey to the AI’s quick one-touch passing, simply follow a triangle defensive strategy. For instance, say the opposition is playing using a 4-3-1-2 or 4-3-3 formation and yours is 4-3-3 (which seems to be most commonly used). The opposition will bring their LB and RB up to support the CMF/DMF players in quickly passing the ball towards AMF. What their AMF does this time is pass the ball back to their DMF or LB/RB and quickly through ball to the LWF/RWF. The moment their LWF/RWF has the ball, they’ll either get inside your box or cross (mostly low) towards their CF, resulting in a sure shot on goal. To avoid this, simply block their passes to their LWF/RWF. Assign your LB/RB to tightly mark them. It’s best if you can block the back pass their AMF does to the DMF or LB/RB. The moment you have the ball in the midfield, quickly do a counter-attack and try to convert it to a goal.

Don’t Change Tactics Often

Most people change tactics during the match several times since PES has made it easy to send instructions while it’s underway by just pressing a button. In my PES 2018 Guide, I also asked to use the tactics frequently depending on the situation of the match. That won’t work for PES 2019. Try to match the opposition’s pace with your default attacking and defensive instructions and make changes during half-time. This is when it’s most effective. First of all you know what your opposition is doing, and secondly, you can make changes to your squad as well. Unless you’ve conceded more than a couple of goals in the first half, try to be patient with changing your tactics. Remember, when you change your tactics during the match players will have to run more and what will affect their fatigue/stamina. The less instructions you give to your players, the more stamina they preserve for the second half. Usually, opposition wingers and fullbacks are tired after 70 minutes of play due to their heavy running, and that’s when you can counter-attack several times through corner areas.

Dash Dribble/Special Control

If you’re not familiar with the dash dribble and special control, then master them ASAP. PES is no longer a game where you simply run with the ball, get past the opposition and score goals. You have to sweat your players and use your brain in each and every pass you make. Here I’m talking about when you’re playing against human players or the AI above the Professional difficulty level. If you don’t use special controls, it’s unlikely that you’ll be able to get past any opposition player that easily. There are tons of skills that the tutorial helps you master and I highly recommend you to do it quickly. Also, since your fastest players are no longer like Bolt, who can get past defenders just by his pace, you need to know how to dash dribble with your AMF or CF/SS when trying to get past the opposition fullbacks or defenders. If you’ve mastered one-touch passing, then this might not be an essential requirement, but there are situations during counter-attacks where you’ll have to know how to dash dribble and get past the opposition defenders.

Find The Right Manager, Sign Players and Train Them

Most gamers don’t change their manager very often thinking that the new guy might take a long time to get used to. Don’t waste your time thinking that. Hire new managers and see their tactics. You never know which one fits you best. For instance, if you’re playing mostly through midfield and loves to keep possession of the ball, then Jürgen Klopp is a good choice, offering a 4-3-3 format. E. Valverde also offers a 4-3-3 format, but his advantage comes mostly from playing through wingers and counter-attacks. You may have a weakness for the manager of your favorite team, but in PES others might suit you better. And it really doesn’t matter who is your manager; only his tactics do. Ultimately you’re managing the whole thing, aren’t you?

 When it comes to signing new players, don’t hold onto your GP for nothing. Trust me, you can’t cash them from any ATM, so spend them. The best you can do is wait for the weekly offers and buy from there. This year there is no more spinning for a single ball, while you get 3 random players with 25000 GP instead of 30000 GP. The spinning is done in the backend, as well. Feel free to spend them on Special Agents to sign as many players as you can. If you don’t like the players you’re getting, use them as trainers. A player from your squad will perform much better, especially when he is trained by another high stat player. If you can use the player for 4-5 matches before converting him to trainer, it’s even better. I recommend using him for 10 matches since it saves you in many ways. Firstly you don’t have to pay for his contract renewal and secondly your high EX is higher when becoming a trainer.

Have Patience With Your Tactics

Last but not the least, here’s an advice I’ve been giving for all the PES games I’ve reviewed so far. Be patient. PES is not just a game, but a genuine football simulation. Keep on trying the things you know to score goals. Don’t get too frustrated if you’re always losing in the beginning. It takes time to grow your skills and when you do, you’re going to be deeply satisfied with this game. If you watch my PES2019 gameplay videos, you’ll notice that even when I’m losing I’m being patient and trying the tactics I believe can win me the match. I recommend you to do the same.

In case you haven’t read my thoughts on the game, give our Pro Evolution Soccer 2019 PlayStation 4 Review a read.  Stay tuned for our PES 2019 Xbox One X Review as well, since it’s also on the way.
 

Sarwar Ron, NoobFeed
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