FC 27 Update 1.1, Back-Post Crosses and Four Menu Verdicts

Transcript

Alex: Welcome to Half-Space, the show that makes you better at FC. I'm Macca, with Javi and Kev, and honestly, I've been looking forward to this one all week. It's a Champions weekend, and for the first time this year it's a Champions weekend with Halloween cards in it. Ultimate Scream is a week old, and people are already taking the new cards straight into the Finals.

Charlie: ZwebackHD did the Emre Mor SBC on his Road to Glory and took him straight into Champs. The video title ends "OMG" and two exclamation marks, mate.

Sam: Two exclamation marks is how you know it went well.

Alex: Or how you know it went badly. With Zweback you never know until the end. And the other side of it: Bateson's been opening his Champions rewards in the Scream week and posting his red picks. So the whole community is asking one thing before Friday. Do you spend on a Scream card, or do you play the team you already know? And I'll go first, because I know these two won't. Spend. If a card's an upgrade on your Finals team, it plays on the Friday. At every event I went to, somebody turned up with the new card and the rest of us spent the weekend chasing him. And yes, I'm the hypocrite this week: every token I've got is going on Jill Scott, fifteen hundred in the Scream token store. So I'm telling you to spend, and I'm not.

Sam: And I say no. A new card on a Finals weekend is a player you have never defended with. You don't know where he stands, you don't know how he turns. I would rather lose with Eric García than lose with a stranger.

Alex: You'd rather lose. He said it. He'd rather lose.

Sam: I would rather lose knowing why, Macca. My students ask me this every promo. They buy the new card on Friday, they lose on Saturday, and on Sunday they ask me why their defence is wrong. It is not the defence. It is a stranger in it.

Alex: A card that's better is better, Javi. You learn him in two games.

Sam: You have six hours a day to learn him in two games. That is the difference.

Charlie: I'm in the middle, for once. If I've already got the spare cards, fine, I'll do it. But I'm not buying a thing for it. I've got one club, and it cost less than Macca's striker.

Alex: And speaking of cards that turn up on a Sunday. Mbappé. My striker. Two goals in the Clásico, his hundredth for Madrid. I'm not saying I picked him for this. I'm saying I own him.

Sam: You own a card, Macca. Real Madrid own the player.

Alex: Details.

Sam: And I will be honest, I wanted a draw. Half my squad is Barcelona, half is Madrid. My father, a Betis man with no squad at all, sent me a message at seven in the morning, our time. One word. "Bien."

Charlie: That's the warmest thing anyone's dad has ever said on this show.

Alex: Right. So the question for your Finals is a real one, and it's not about Mbappé. I'd spend if Jill Scott let me, Javi still wouldn't, and Kev only does it if it's free. Decide which one of us you are before Friday. Let's get into it. Here's today. It's the squads episode, before the Champions weekend. This Week in FC: the 1.1 update that changed no gameplay at all, again, and whether that's patience or neglect. Then Black Friday on the horizon, and Bug Watch. Then Javi's Coach's Tip: a keep, your switching settings, and a try, the low driven finish in the box. There's no Ladder Report this week, because there's no fresh usage data worth trusting, so Javi takes the long slot with What's Working: Kev's question about crosses at the back post, the cut-back, and what our own shapes leave behind. Then The Picks, three cheap cards that each do one job. Worth Your Time has four verdict rounds. And Kev's Desk has his week and the bet.

Charlie: And last time I promised the back-post question, and I've brought it. My last three goals conceded. All three from crosses. All three at the back post.

Alex: We'll get to the crime scene.

Sam: I know those three goals already, Kev. When I started coaching, in lockdown, 2020, it was a free Discord with forty people. Half of them were losing to the same goal. Cross, back post, nobody there.

Alex: Forty people. Now look at you.

Sam: Now I have a podcast with Macca. Progress.

Charlie: Back post was why I came down from my best rank, actually. Division 4, last year. Two days. Then I lost five in a row on a Sunday night, three of them to crosses, and I've been chasing it ever since.

Alex: Two days. That's two days more than most people.

Charlie: That's what I tell Jess.

Alex: This Week in FC, and Kev's been sat on the patch notes since they dropped. Three things: the update, Black Friday and Bug Watch. I'll be honest, I was braced for a patch this week. I'd mentally prepared to relearn something. Kev, you'll have read the notes. You read every patch note like it's a council report.

Sam: I saw it download and I didn't read it. I had students until midnight. Kev, tell me.

Charlie: I read them front to back. Title Update 1.1. EA's words, so nobody can say I made it up: "There are no gameplay balance and tuning changes in this update." Then a long list of fixes. The one you'll notice: SBC filters stick between squads now. And then the bit that matters. A Gameplay Developer Notes post later this week, with what they've seen in the first month and what they might adjust. Tuning based on player data and feedback, tested with their Design Council players.

Sam: So, no changes now, and they will tell us what they are thinking in a few days.

Charlie: That's it. And on update day the threads split. Half of them swearing the left stick feels slower, half of them saying it's placebo. The top post said the D-pad tactics still put players in the wrong positions.

Sam: EA's notes say no balance or tuning changes. And I coached three hours on update night, and my students' jockey looked exactly like Monday's. So for me, it is not the stick.

Alex: Right. So no change. Good.

Charlie: Good? Mate. A month in. I said it last episode and I'm not moving: defending is broken. The AI next to my defender does nothing. And I've got twenty minutes a night. I can't wait a season for EA to decide whether that's a problem.

Alex: And I said last episode it's a learning curve, and nothing's changed my mind. Here's the thing. Every early patch makes the people who put the hours in relearn the game. If you're good, you hate that. The better player should win, and the better player is the one who learned this version.

Charlie: The better player's the one with six hours a day.

Alex: Sometimes. Not always. The worst weeks on the circuit were patch weeks. You'd turn up to an event and the thing you'd drilled for a month was gone. That's half of why I retired at twenty-six, honestly. The travel, the wrists, and relearning the game every November. I always say I got old at twenty-five.

Charlie: You got old at twenty-five. I got old at Ollie.

Sam: Can I say something from the coaching side? I said manual defending is a learning curve too, and I still believe it. But I don't judge EA by whether they patch. I judge them by whether people can learn the game. And the honest thing is, my students are learning it. Slowly. The jockey is starting to click. If EA changes it now, those weeks are wasted.

Charlie: And if the notes say "we're monitoring"?

Sam: Then I am a little disappointed, and I keep teaching the jockey. But I want to read them first. EA said at launch they would be very measured with core gameplay, and they said this week the tuning comes from the data. So I wait for the data, and then I judge them.

Charlie: That's the bit nobody says, though. You two get to wait because waiting costs you nothing. Waiting costs me my twenty minutes.

Alex: That's fair. That's actually fair, Kev. I'm still glad they didn't touch it.

Charlie: I know you are. I'm not even asking for a big patch. I'm asking for the second defender to step up when I've already committed the first one. That's one thing.

Sam: OK. That one thing, I could teach around. If the second defender steps up, the people I coach lose nothing. They just stop being punished for the first tackle. So I move a little, Kev. One fix, yes. A big patch, no.

Charlie: I'll take a little. Ollie's bath is at seven, I'll take anything.

Alex: So we're split, honestly. Kev wants a fix now, Javi's come round to one small fix, and I want them to leave it alone. For your game this weekend, it's simple: the game you'll play this weekend is the game you have today. Learn this one. Kev's favourite time of year, Black Friday. The guides expect Thunderstruck over the Black Friday weekend, late November. Their guess, not EA's date. If Jill Scott's done by then, I'll spend.

Charlie: I plan my coins around nothing. My coins plan around me.

Sam: There is already a Thunderstruck stage in the Heritage Circuit. Me, I don't save for promos. My side is built.

Alex: And Bug Watch, one fixed and one reported. Fixed: SBC filters now stay on across Streamlined SBCs. Reported, not fixed: players say D-pad tactics still put players in the wrong positions.

Charlie: The D-pad one got me on Saturday. Switched to attacking and Nico González ended up at left-back.

Alex: That's the week: no gameplay change and the notes are due in days, the November promo is a guess, the filters stick and, players say, the D-pad doesn't. Right, Javi's been folding his napkin into a little goal since the update row. Coach's Tip, it's yours.

Sam: Thank you. Two things today. The keep is your switching settings. The try is the low driven finish inside the box. The keep first, and it connects to the row we just had. 1.1 changed no gameplay, so the defending you learned last week is the defending you play this weekend. And in that defending, the most important thing is that you control the defender you want. Not the one the game decides. In episode two we set this, and I want you to check it again, because many people changed settings for the new season and forgot. Go to Settings, then Controller Settings. Auto Switching: Air Balls and Loose Balls. Auto Switching Move Assistance: None.

Charlie: What does the first one actually do? Because I've had it on whatever it came on since launch, I think.

Sam: With Air Balls and Loose Balls, the game only switches for you when the ball is in the air or loose. A lob, a cross, a ball bouncing around. The rest of the time, you choose. On Auto, the game picks the player for you, all the time. You don't choose.

Charlie: That's my whole defensive game. Someone I didn't pick, running the wrong way.

Sam: And Move Assistance, None. When the game switches you, on None you have the new player straight away. On Low or High he keeps running the way he was going for a moment. You want him now, not in a moment.

Alex: At every event I played, the first thing we did, before warming up, was check every setting on the pad. Somebody always found theirs had reset. Half a second running the wrong way and the through ball's gone.

Sam: So, the switch itself. LB on Xbox, L1 on PlayStation, switches to the next-best available player. Flick the right stick and you get the player you point it at.

Charlie: Which one should I use? Because I mash LB, I'll be honest.

Sam: Everybody mashes it. LB on Xbox, L1 on PlayStation, gives you the game's choice. The right stick gives you yours. So the rule I teach: the right stick for the man behind the ball, the button only when the ball is right next to you.

Charlie: Doing it now. Settings. Controller. Auto Switching, it says, oh. It says Auto. I don't remember choosing that.

Sam: Nobody remembers. Change it.

Charlie: Air Balls and Loose Balls. Move Assistance, None. Right, so. Done.

Sam: In my side it is Eric García. When the ball goes behind my full-back, I flick to him with the right stick before the pass, not after. He is not quick, so he has to be there early. Here is the drill for the keep. One game with these settings. Before every through ball and every cross against you, flick the right stick to the covering defender. Count the goals you concede from both. Zero is the target.

Charlie: Zero. One game. I can do that.

Sam: The mistake, so you know it: people change the setting and then keep defending the old way, waiting for the game to pick for them. The setting only helps if your thumb moves first. Now the try. The low driven finish inside the box. Mira, people come to me and say, Javi, I get into the box and I miss. And when I watch, they are hitting the ball as hard as they can, and it goes high, or straight at the keeper. In the box, it is not power. It is the floor and the corner.

Charlie: Buttons. Slowly. You know what I'm like.

Sam: You shoot, and then you shoot again before your player strikes it. B, then B again, on Xbox. Circle, then Circle again, on PlayStation. Set the power with the first press, then the second press makes it low and driven.

Charlie: B, then B. Circle, then Circle. And how much power?

Sam: Less than you think. Inside the box, accuracy and decision matter more than power. Aim for a bottom corner, or across the keeper. One-on-one, crowded box, close range: that is when you use it. Outside the box, it is a different shot.

Alex: And here's why it's this one, this year. EA changed it for FC 27. The speed boost low driven shots used to get is gone. Now the speed comes from your striker's shooting and how much power you put on it.

Sam: Exactly. So the power is the skill now. Your thumb does what the boost used to do. And the PlayStyle still adds accuracy, so a striker with Low Driven Shot is a bonus, not a must. Then the cut-back from later today puts the ball on the penalty spot, and from there you don't need power. Floor and corner.

Charlie: Let me try it. Practice Arena. Endrick, ten yards out, keeper in front of me. First tap. Second tap. In! Bottom left. It skidded in under him.

Sam: You see how low it went? Again. The other corner.

Charlie: Bottom right. Tap, tap. Oh, saved. He got a hand to it.

Sam: How much power?

Charlie: Too much. I panicked and held it.

Sam: Then that is the lesson. The power is the panic. Less. Again.

Charlie: Less. Tap, tap. In. In off the post. Two from three.

Alex: Endrick in the Practice Arena is lovely. Mbappé at one-all in the Finals is my problem this weekend.

Charlie: Your problem is Mbappé. Mine is Endrick at one-all.

Sam: The mistake, so you know it: using it from outside the box, or holding the first press too long. That is the panic again. Here is the challenge for the try. One session in the Practice Arena: twenty low driven finishes from ten to fifteen yards, alternating corners, and seventy percent on target. Then in one Rivals game, use it as your default finish in the box.

Charlie: Twenty finishes, seventy percent. Fourteen out of twenty. Right.

Sam: Keep your switching, try the low driven finish. Macca.

Alex: So, the tip in one breath: keep Auto Switching on air balls and loose balls with Move Assistance on None, and flick to your defender before the through ball and the cross, one game, zero conceded; try the low driven finish in the box, shoot then shoot again, bottom corner, seventy percent in practice. No Ladder Report this week, because the usage numbers we'd trust aren't there, so Javi gets the long slot and he's clearly thrilled. Kev's brought three goals he conceded and wants a coach. What's Working, Javi, all yours.

Sam: Three things working this week. First, the cross at the back post, from both sides, because that is Kev's question. Then the cut-back. And last, what our own shapes leave behind when we attack. Kev, the three goals.

Charlie: Right. Goal one. They're on the left, the winger crosses, and their striker heads it in at the back post. Goal two, same thing, different game. Goal three, the cross comes in, my centre-back goes for it, misses, and someone arrives at the back post and taps it in. Three games, three back posts. And every time I'm looking at the ball, not the man.

Sam: Good. You already said the answer at the end, but let's understand why. In FC 27 the cross does not go to a player any more. EA changed it. The cross goes into space, and your aim and your power decide where it lands. So the attacker who wins is the one who is running into the space. Not the one standing still.

Charlie: So their striker's running and my defender's standing.

Sam: Exactly. And the back post is the worst place for you. Who is there, usually?

Charlie: Balde. It's Balde. It's always Balde.

Sam: And Balde is a lovely full-back, but he is small. A tall striker on a small full-back at the far post. That is exactly the situation the cross is made for. The cross works best when the attacker has an advantage in the air, or in his position. So the opponent is not being clever, Kev. He is just finding the one matchup you can't win.

Alex: That's what I'd look for, playing you. I'd find the small full-back at the far post and I'd cross to him all game.

Charlie: Cheers, Macca.

Sam: Now, the fix. Two parts. First, your keep from five minutes ago. With Auto Switching on Air Balls and Loose Balls, the game will switch you when the cross is in the air. But before it is in the air, you choose. So while the winger is getting ready to cross, you don't control the defender nearest the ball. You control the one who can stop the danger. The danger is the back post. So you flick the right stick to the defender near the back post, and you move him goal-side of the striker, before the ball comes.

Charlie: Before. That's the bit I don't do. I wait for the cross and then panic.

Sam: Everybody waits. Defending crosses is done before the cross. Shall we try it? Squad Battles, Semi-Pro, you have it on the screen.

Charlie: Go on then. Kicking off. Right, they've got it, they're going down my right. Winger's on the ball by the corner of the box.

Sam: Don't touch the winger. Your full-back is there. Look at the back post. Who is there?

Charlie: Their striker. And Balde. Obviously Balde.

Sam: Flick. Right stick, towards Jeltsch.

Charlie: Flicking. I've got Jeltsch. Moving him across. He's goal-side. Cross comes in, it switches me, oh, it's switched me to Jeltsch anyway, because I'm already there.

Sam: And?

Charlie: Header away! He headed it away! Mate. That's the first back-post cross I've defended all month.

Sam: You see what happened? The cross switched you, and it switched you to the man you had already chosen. You did the work before, and the game agreed with you.

Alex: That's a proper moment, that. Write it down, Kev.

Charlie: I'm writing it down. And the second part?

Sam: The second part: who is at the back post? If it is always Balde against a big striker, sometimes it is not Balde's fault. It is your team. That is why I'm going to be annoying in The Picks with a centre-back.

Charlie: You're always annoying in The Picks.

Sam: Now the other side. You can use this too. In my main side, Klara Bühl is on the left. When she gets to the edge of the box, she does not cross to Russo's head. She crosses to where Russo is going. The cross button is X on Xbox, Square on PlayStation. If I want it faster and flatter across the box, the driven cross: LB plus RB plus X on Xbox, L1 plus R1 plus Square on PlayStation. And I pick the zone. Near post, or back post. Never "somewhere near Russo".

Charlie: And the header? Because when I do get on the end of one, I head it at the keeper.

Sam: Clean headers are rarer this year. But when you get a clean one, it is more accurate than last year. So make the separation from your defender before the ball arrives, then aim with the left stick away from the keeper.

Charlie: Away from him. So not straight at him, like I do now.

Sam: Not at him. Away from him.

Alex: Speaking of headers from crosses. Haaland at Villa on Saturday. Lovely cross from Ndiaye, header, goal. And City lost two-one. So I'm saying the header proves the cross works, and the defending was the problem.

Charlie: You're saying City lost but Haaland was right.

Alex: I'm saying City were unlucky. I'm always saying City were unlucky.

Sam: Back to Kev's game. And this is not a new drill, it is your keep. Same game, same settings: before every cross against you, flick the right stick to the defender nearest the back post and get him goal-side before the ball.

Charlie: One game, both jobs. Jeltsch is going to be busy.

Sam: Second thing: the cut-back. And this one is the simplest thing I teach. When you get to the byline, the goal is not at the back post. It is at the penalty spot.

Charlie: The penalty spot. From the byline.

Sam: When a defender tracks a runner to the byline, he turns towards his own goal. So behind him, at the penalty spot, there is space. Your midfielder arriving there is free. So you look back before you look up.

Alex: Look back before you look up. That's going on the napkin.

Sam: Everything goes on the napkin. The pass is a ground pass back across: A on Xbox, Cross on PlayStation. Or the ball along the floor into the six-yard box: double-tap X on Xbox, double-tap Square on PlayStation. And if you want it quicker, a driven pass: RB plus A on Xbox, R1 plus Cross on PlayStation. Run your fast winger down the side, pull into the box, and play it to the free man.

Charlie: Which one, though? Because I'll stand there choosing and the full-back will take it off me.

Sam: The driven pass when the man is close and free. The ground cross when he is further out and arriving. If you have to think, choose the driven pass. It is quicker, and quick beats perfect.

Charlie: And what if they start defending it? Because Dave in my Sunday league would learn it by the second game.

Sam: Good, Dave. If every attack ends in a cut-back, a good opponent defends it automatically. So you mix it. Sometimes the early cross, sometimes a pass back to midfield, sometimes you dribble. The cut-back is your first look, not your only one.

Alex: The cut-back is the most boring goal in the game, and nothing in my City side scores more. You don't need a trick. You need a midfielder who arrives.

Charlie: In my side that's Musiala, arriving from the ten. I've been crossing over his head for a month.

Sam: Then in the same keep game, every time you reach the byline, look for Musiala first. If he is not there, then cross.

Charlie: Musiala first. He's going to be so happy. He's been waving at me for weeks.

Sam: Let's see it, then. Same game, you're still on. Get it to your left winger and go down the line.

Charlie: Right. Ball out to the left. Running. Running. Full-back's with me. I'm at the byline. And, OK, I'm looking back, not up. Musiala's arriving. He's on the penalty spot and nobody's near him.

Sam: Now. The pass back across.

Charlie: A on Xbox, Cross on PlayStation. Gone. He's hit it first time, and. In! Bottom corner! Musiala, mate, I'm so sorry for the last month.

Alex: He's apologising to a card.

Charlie: He deserves an apology. He's been standing there since September.

Sam: And did you see the defender? He ran with your winger to the line, and he turned his back on the penalty spot. That is the whole lesson in one goal. You did not need a skill. You needed to look back.

Charlie: One-nil. Back post defended and a cut-back scored in the same game. I'm framing this.

Sam: And the last one, about our own teams. When we attack, who stays home? Because every one of the three goals you showed me, Kev, started with you attacking.

Charlie: They did. Every one. I lost it, they broke, and then the cross.

Sam: The rule is simple. When you attack, keep enough structure behind the ball that you can win it back, or at least delay the counter. In my Discord, sending everybody forward is the first mistake I see every week. Macca, your four-two-one-three. Who stays?

Alex: Rodri sits. He's on Holding, he never goes. Hasegawa's on Box-to-Box, so she goes, but Rodri plus the two centre-backs is my base. Upamecano and Mapi León. Three behind the ball, always.

Sam: And my four-four-two, Patri Guijarro on Holding and Pedri on Deep-Lying Playmaker. Pedri gets on the ball, but he does not run past it. Kev?

Charlie: Four-two-three-one. Anderson and Nico González, both on Holding. So in theory, four behind the ball.

Sam: In theory. And in practice?

Charlie: In practice I press LB on Xbox, L1 on PlayStation, to send someone running, and it's usually Nico, because he's closest.

Sam: That is the leak. And this year the run only goes a limited distance, then he stops. So if you send your holding midfielder, he runs, he stops, and he is nowhere. And you don't have to pass to the runner every time. Sometimes the run just makes space. So send a winger or Musiala, never Nico.

Charlie: Never Nico. Right, so.

Sam: And this connects to the crosses. When Nico runs and you lose it, who is left to stop the cross? Nobody. The winger has all the time in the world, and the striker is alone with Balde. So the back-post goal starts thirty seconds before, when Nico goes forward.

Charlie: So it's not even Balde's fault. It's my thumb.

Sam: It is a little bit Balde. But mostly your thumb. No new homework. In the same keep game, just glance back before you attack: three behind the ball.

Alex: And I'll stick up for the shape here, because Javi won't. I play the four-two-one-three for exactly this. Two holders means I can send Hasegawa and still have Rodri. The shape does the job for you. But even my shape loses if I press the run button on the wrong man.

Sam: The shape helps. Your thumb decides. Over to you, Macca.

Alex: So, it all comes back to the keep and the try: pick your back-post defender before the cross, cut it back to the penalty spot for the low driven finish, and keep three behind the ball. The Picks. One cheap card each, and the rules: a third of the price of the meta card or less, under twenty-five thousand, nothing in our own starting eleven. And the reality check, once. The cards in my main side, Yamal, Mbappé, cost a house. I know. You don't need them. Here are three cards that do one job each, at the prices on the last market snapshot we could check, which is late September, so check them before you buy. Javi, you first, because you've got a centre-back and you're about to be annoying.

Sam: Ousmane Diomande. A centre-back. About seventeen hundred coins. And the card he stands in for, Cubarsí, was about ninety-nine hundred on the same snapshot.

Charlie: Cubarsí's in your team.

Sam: He is my starter, so Diomande is not for me. He is for you. One-ninety centimetres, eighty-eight physical. The job is the back post. When a big striker attacks the far post, that height and that strength are what you want on him. You put him next to a quicker partner, and he does the one thing your small full-back can't.

Charlie: He's the answer to my three goals.

Sam: He is half the answer. The other half is you, picking him before the cross. You saw it ten minutes ago with Jeltsch. Now imagine that with a man who is one-ninety.

Charlie: And who comes out? Because I'm not dropping Jeltsch after that header.

Sam: Nobody comes out of the middle. He plays on the side the crosses come to. If they cross from your right, he is your left centre-back, so he is the one at the back post.

Alex: I'd never play him, mind. I push Upamecano and Mapi León right up, and I want my centre-backs chasing, not heading. That's me, though.

Sam: Then don't play a high line. Kev does not play a high line. Kev plays a panic line.

Charlie: That's fair. Me, then. Racheal Kundananji. Up front. About twelve hundred coins. Javi, you do the numbers, I just know she's fast.

Sam: Ninety-four pace and a five-star weak foot. The card she stands in for, the Barcelona Adeyemi, was about fifty thousand.

Charlie: That's most of my club. The job's simple: I play the ball over the top, she runs in behind, and she finishes with either foot. Endrick's my striker, and he's lovely, but he's not quick. I'd bring her on at sixty minutes when their centre-backs are tired.

Sam: For a one-striker shape at your level that plays over the top, she is perfect. And with the low driven finish, she has the feet for it. Five-star weak foot means you never have to take the extra touch onto the good foot.

Alex: I lost a semi-final once because my striker took the extra touch onto his right foot. I still think about it. Good pick, Kev. Honestly.

Charlie: Did you hear that, Javi? Macca said honestly.

Alex: Mine. Vicki Becho, on the right. About eight hundred and fifty coins. Ninety pace, eighty-six dribbling. She's standing in for Mbeumo, who was about twenty-six thousand.

Charlie: Eight hundred and fifty. Macca, did you lose a bet?

Alex: No rule bent this week, Kev. Write that down. The job's the cut-back we just did. Ninety pace gets her to the byline, and then she looks back. I'd put her in a four-three-three from Division 5 up, on the right.

Sam: And she is not in your team, Macca? You have Yamal.

Alex: Yamal's in my main side, Cherki's in my City side. Becho's for everyone who hasn't spent a house.

Sam: That is the card I would give a beginner first. Eight hundred and fifty coins, and she teaches them the cut-back.

Alex: And last time's picks, one line each, a second week in. Kanjinga's still on my bench behind Mbappé. Two more goals in Rivals. Still finishes, still doesn't turn.

Sam: Canales, behind Pedri, two more games in Squad Battles. The passes are beautiful, and he is still slow on the turn. A cheap brain, not a fast one.

Charlie: Jeltsch started all six of my games. Strong. Won every header at the near post. And then the back post killed me, which is not his fault, because he wasn't at the back post. Until today.

Sam: And that is why Diomande.

Alex: So, the picks: Diomande for the back post, Kundananji for the ball in behind, Becho for the byline, all under two thousand; Kanjinga finishes, Canales passes, Jeltsch heads it. Worth Your Time, where we waste our coins so you don't waste yours. Four rounds: two free Evos, a Scream SBC, and a freebie for playing last year's game. The rest are rows in the notes. Creep Inside. Free Evo, full-backs eighty or lower, four matches, no wins needed. Alone it adds four, up to eighty-two. Run it before Side Stopper and a seventy-five to seventy-seven full-back ends at eighty-three. Last start for Side Stopper is 5 am Sunday our time. Mine's a skip: Ona Batlle and Cucurella are way past the cap.

Sam: Do. Bellerín at seventy-six in my Betis side is exactly the card it is built for. Creep Inside, then Side Stopper, and he is eighty-three for eight games.

Charlie: Do. Stanišić is eighty, on my bench, so he only gets to eighty-two, but it's four games I'm playing anyway. Free is my favourite price.

Alex: And the order matters. Creep Inside first. If you do Side Stopper first, you cap at eighty-two. Rise From the Grave. Free Training Camp Evo, right wingers seventy-four or lower, twenty-four hours, no matches, and he comes out an eighty. Skip for me, Yamal and Cherki are miles over.

Sam: Only if, for me. My Betis right winger is Antony, and he is over the cap, so I have nobody to put in. If you do, the Evo flattens most of the stats, so choose by weak foot and skills, not by the name.

Charlie: Do. Akol Akon is fifty-seven in my Sydney FC side. Free, no games. He can't play for a day, but he never plays anyway.

Alex: Akol Akon at eighty. The A-League is coming.

Charlie: I've wanted this my whole life.

Alex: The Emre Mor SBC. Ultimate Scream striker, eighty-five, untradeable, about twenty-eight thousand coins at the cheapest, gone at 6 am Sunday our time. On Emre Mor, mine's only if: only if your storage is full of eighty-fours like mine.

Sam: Emre Mor, for me it is a skip. Twenty-eight thousand is more than I paid for Canales, and a beginner needs a full-back before another striker.

Charlie: Skip on Emre Mor. That's nearly half my club for a card I can never sell.

Alex: And the Woltemade SBC from last week is the first to go, 5 am Saturday our time, so it's a Friday-night job if you still want it. Last one. Hall of FUT David Luiz. If you play FC 27 and FC 26 before Sunday, you become a Club Member, and you get a David Luiz Evolution with three pathways to choose from. While it's on, the card's untradeable and out of SBCs, and you can change the pathway until you claim a level. On David Luiz, mine's a do. My City side's spare centre-back is Khusanov, and a free David Luiz beats him for one game of last year's game.

Sam: David Luiz is a do. I already play the Hall of FUT David Luiz in my Betis side, so I know what the man is worth.

Charlie: David Luiz, only if FC 26 is still on the console. Jess deleted it for the kids' games. I'm going to have to have a conversation.

Alex: Worth your time, in short: Creep Inside then Side Stopper by Sunday morning, Rise From the Grave if you've got a winger under seventy-four, Emre Mor only with spare eighty-fours, and play FC 26 once before Sunday for the free Evo. Witching Hour and the rest are in the notes. Kev, you've been tapping that printout since Becho cost eight hundred and fifty coins. Your Desk, mate.

Charlie: It's my results, actually. Right. My week. Six Rivals games. Two and four.

Sam: Two and four. Honest.

Charlie: Honest. Last time I said the reset was helping me win while the good players climbed past. They've climbed past now, and they're back down my end. Two of the four I lost were from crosses. Back post. You know the rest.

Alex: That's the most on-brand two and four I've ever heard.

Charlie: The tips from last time. The keep, the first touch away from the presser, three or fewer tackled within two seconds. I did it again on Monday. Two. So that one's staying.

Sam: Twice in a row. That is a habit now, Kev. You don't need to count it any more. It is yours.

Charlie: The try. Five one-twos in the final third, two of them ending in a shot. I did the five. Only one ended in a shot. The other four, I played the one-two and then didn't know what to do with it.

Sam: That is honest, and it is normal. The one-two needs the passer to keep running after the pass. We park it for now. This week your try is the low driven finish, one thing at a time.

Charlie: Parked. And the penalties. Wait for the small ring, four out of five in practice. Four out of five. Done. And then in a real shootout on Sunday I rushed the fifth one and missed it. Big ring.

Sam: That is the most normal thing in the game. In practice there is no pressure, so you wait. In a shootout your heart is going, so you press early. Practice passed, so the penalties can wait too.

Alex: The big ring gets everyone, Kev. Everyone.

Charlie: And the bet. Macca's four-two-one-three against Javi's four-four-two, ten games each. Macca went eight and two. Javi went seven and three. Macca again.

Alex: Eight and two. My shape.

Sam: Seven and three is still a good week, Macca. And the shape is not why you won. Rodri staying home is why you won.

Alex: You're never letting me have a shape, are you.

Sam: Never.

Charlie: And my question for next time. Playing out from the back against the high press. Everyone in Division 6 now pushes up on my keeper, and I just kick it long and lose it.

Sam: Good. Bring me the three kicks you lost.

Charlie: Done. That's the Desk.

Alex: Kev's week, then: two and four, the first touch is a habit, the one-two and the penalties are parked, and my shape wins again. Quick recap: the update that changed nothing and the notes coming in days, Kev's back-post question, three cheap picks and four verdict rounds. The one thing to do this week is the drill. Keep this: Auto Switching on air balls and loose balls, Move Assistance None, and flick to your defender before the through ball and the cross, one game, zero conceded. Try this: the low driven finish, twenty in the Practice Arena, seventy percent on target.

Charlie: On the record: Becho, Diomande and Kundananji get re-rated next squads episode, the four-two-one-three goes against the four-four-two again this weekend, and I bring the high press.

Alex: Before we go: Half-Space exists because of Dan. He's a time-poor dad who loves FC but never has the hours to get properly good, and he was tired of the hype. He wanted something more reliable: the fundamentals and the game's own logic, a little and often, so he could actually improve. So he built his own podcast studio with AI. Everything you've just heard is generated: the research, the script and our three voices. Macca, Javi and Kev are characters. Every source we used is in the show notes, so you can check our working. Good luck in the Finals. This has been Half-Space.