Zero and Six, 95 Depth Toned Down and When to Stop

Transcript

Alex: Welcome to Half-Space, the show that makes you better at FC. I'm Macca, with Javi and Kev.

Charlie: Before anything. I've got a number and I want it read out. Zero and six.

Alex: Zero and six in what?

Charlie: Rivals. This week. Two games a night, three nights. Zero and six.

Sam: Tell me the order, Kev.

Charlie: Lost the first, every night. Then I queued again inside a minute and lost the second. Every night. Same thing, three times.

Alex: Inside a minute? You didn't even stand up?

Charlie: Never put the controller down. I was gripping it so hard the triggers creaked.

Alex: Kev, that's my whole twenties. Thirty games a weekend, and the worst ones were always straight after a loss.

Charlie: You say that like it's comforting.

Sam: Kev, you asked me a question last time. When do you stop. You've just answered half of it yourself.

Charlie: I asked when to stop. Nobody said I'd be the example.

Alex: You're the example. You're the best example we've ever had.

Sam: And it's good news, Kev. Six games, three nights, the same mistake each time. That isn't bad luck. That's a pattern, and a pattern is the thing you can fix.

Charlie: Good news. Zero and six is good news. Write that on the mug.

Sam: It's third in What's Working tonight. And the answer isn't "stop after one loss". Bring the notebook.

Charlie: It's open. Zero and six, in pen.

Alex: Right. Tonight on Half-Space, the squads show before the Champions weekend. This Week in FC: ninety-five depth toned down, and Kev's got something of mine written down about that. Five million coins for one striker. And a City pro going through to the FC Pro Open. Then Javi's Coach's Tip, a keep and a try.

Sam: The keep is defending. The try is one setting, and it takes a minute to change.

Alex: Then What's Working, the long one this week, because we've got no fresh usage numbers for a Ladder Report. Javi's got three: the through ball against the new line, the minute after you concede, and Kev's zero and six.

Charlie: When do I stop. My question, my data.

Alex: Then The Picks, three cheap ones and last time's three after a week. Worth Your Time, three calls. And Kev's Desk.

Charlie: And Saturday I'm at Sydney FC with Mia. Two home games a season, that's our deal. She wears the scarf to bed the night before.

Alex: That's lovely. After I stopped playing, I did a year on a casting desk, every weekend, reading other people's words off a screen, and I swore I'd never read anything on a Sunday again. Kev's about to make me regret that.

Charlie: What did you do on your weekends, Javi?

Sam: Drew on napkins. My partner has a kitchen drawer full of them. Every match I've ever drawn for a student is in there. She won't let me throw them out, and she won't let me draw on one at dinner.

Alex: And last time Kev took homework home, a keep and a try, and he's brought the numbers. Let's earn them. This Week in FC. The game and only the game. Kev, you've been sitting on this one all week.

Charlie: Ninety-five depth. They've toned it down. And Macca, I've got your words. End of October, this show: "Ninety-five depth isn't going anywhere this month." That's the gist. On the record.

Alex: I saw a headline. I haven't read the thing. Sundays, Kev. Before you enjoy this too much: Javi, what does EA actually say, and why?

Sam: Title Update 1.2 went live on Tuesday. At the end of October, EA's notes said high lines were "under investigation" and not in the mid-November update. Then on the ninth they added a live-tuning change to ninety-five depth. EA's words: defenders will now drop off sooner while still keeping a higher line than other tactics. And their reason: they've seen a lot of discussion about how common those extreme defensive set-ups have become, and tactical variety stays under review.

Alex: So it isn't gone.

Sam: It isn't gone. It drops earlier. Two more on defending: full-backs no longer drop too deep, they hold a firmer line. And the line sits a little higher straight after kick-off. What's not in it: shot accuracy and keeper positioning are still only being looked at. No change there.

Charlie: So the near post is still the near post.

Alex: Then the call is wrong. They said "under investigation" and I heard "not this month". Write it down, Kev.

Charlie: Already did. In pen. And now I'll say mine. I said on this show it should go. I was losing to a slider, not a better player. Twenty minutes a night, and the bloke on the other end has set one number to ninety-five and gone to make a cup of tea.

Alex: And I still say it had counters, Kev. My call was wrong. My view isn't. Aim the ball over the top properly and ninety-five depth was a gift. I lost twice to it last month because I kept playing into feet. That was me, not EA.

Charlie: You've got all day to learn the counter. I've got a centre-back called Kim Min Jae who can't run backwards. When the other bloke's setting does the defending for him, that's not a better player beating me. That's a button.

Alex: And a man who sets ninety-five still has to win the ball when his trap fails. That's the risk he chose.

Charlie: It doesn't fail against me. That's the point. It fails against you.

Sam: Mira, I'm nearer Kev on this one. I said the auto offside trap should be a skill, not a button. If the setting does less of the work, the player has to do more of it, and that part I can teach. And last time I said the order was wrong: full-backs first, the high line left waiting. They fixed the order. I'll give them that.

Alex: And the early word from Elite is that it still works at the top. That's where I play.

Charlie: And the other early word is that you can't catch the counter like you could. That's where I play. Somewhere near the bottom, with a cup of tea.

Sam: Both of those are two days old. I'll believe whichever one my students show me on Saturday.

Alex: Then learn the counter anyway, Kev. Don't wait for EA to beat it for you.

Charlie: I am learning it. Slowly. Kim Min Jae isn't getting any faster. But you don't get to call it a skill issue when the skill was one slider.

Alex: A slider isn't a skill. Alright, you've got me on that one, and only that one.

Sam: And I'm not ready to call it fixed. You two can argue about whether it was fair. I want to see if my students can beat it on Saturday without a manual.

Charlie: First Champions weekend on the new line. Fifteen games each.

Alex: For your game: the ball over the top has less room behind a ninety-five line now, and more room in front of it. Javi's got that in What's Working. Next, the money. Kev, I can see your face from here.

Charlie: Five million, Macca.

Alex: You knew it was coming. The LaLiga Player of the Month for October went into SBCs on Monday, the monthly collector's card, no pack back. Madrid's French striker, a ninety-two. Ninety-seven pace, ninety-three dribbling, seven PlayStyles, Low Driven Shot and Rapid in there. About five point two million coins.

Charlie: I knew it was coming. Knowing doesn't make it smaller. My whole club's sixty-five thousand. That's eighty of me. Eighty Kevs.

Alex: And I'm the wrong man to ask, because he's my striker already. The ninety-one is up front in my main team, between my Brazilian on the left and Yamal. So for me this is plus one, for five million. I'm not doing it.

Charlie: Good.

Alex: But for the right person, it's worth it. Somebody out there has the coins and hasn't got him. Ninety-seven pace and Low Driven Shot in your box for the rest of the year. That's what coins are for.

Sam: And this week of all weeks, I'd spend it at the back. The line just changed. Five million is a whole team: Pedri, Pajor, Cubarsí, my keeper, all of it, and change. A whole team learns the new line together. One striker doesn't defend your box.

Alex: One striker scores the goal that wins the final, Javi.

Sam: And ten others stop the three that lose it.

Alex: You've never bought a card for how it makes you feel.

Sam: I bought Patri Guijarro because she passes before she's pressed. That's a feeling.

Charlie: And here's what gets me. What do I do with my ten thousand coins on Monday? Nothing, because none of this is for me. The biggest card of the month, and it's built for the people who need it least.

Alex: It's built for the people who saved for it, Kev. That's not the same thing.

Charlie: Saved five million? Then they've already won, Macca. They've got the club. The card's the trophy cabinet.

Alex: And what's wrong with a trophy cabinet?

Charlie: Nothing, if you've got a house. For me it's not a wall. It's the moon.

Alex: It's the moon, Kev. So: Kev says it's a wall for anyone on a normal club, Javi says this week the coins go at the back, and I say if you've got them and you haven't got him, do it. We're not agreeing on this one. One line on the other new cards. Star Performers went into packs on Monday, PSG's Spanish midfielder at eighty-seven leading. They're the first cards made for the PlayStyles Lab: some PlayStyles come already on, and you choose the rest.

Charlie: So it's a card that comes with homework.

Sam: My kind of card.

Alex: And the pro scene. The FC Pro Open Global Qualifier ran in London last weekend. Sixteen went through to the Open, and City's pro, Jafonso, is one of them.

Charlie: Your lot.

Alex: My lot. Sixteen from the whole room, and one of them's in sky blue. Bug Watch, one line each. Streamlined SBCs could submit a player you hadn't picked. Sorted, and EA says those players come back.

Charlie: And tactics and subs that wouldn't save on the lineup screen. Sorted. That one ate my Wednesday.

Alex: So, This Week in FC: ninety-five depth drops off sooner and my call was wrong, the five-million striker splits us, and Bug Watch is good news. Right, from the news to coaching. Javi's had a pen out since my confession. Coach's Tip, Javi, it's yours.

Sam: Two today, like always: one to keep, one to try. The keep is defending, and we taught it in episode five: your centre-backs stay in the line, and the pressure comes from a midfielder.

Charlie: The one I keep forgetting.

Sam: The one everybody forgets. The why first. Pull a centre-back out of the line to chase the striker and you've made one of the biggest mistakes in defending: there's a hole where he was, and one pass goes through it. So you drop a midfielder back and block the lane to the striker instead. A centre-back steps out only when he's sure he wins it.

Alex: When I was playing, a pulled centre-back was the first thing I looked for. You see the gap, you play it.

Sam: And here's why it's the keep this week, in FC 27. After 1.2, the full-backs hold a firmer line instead of dropping too deep. So if you leave your back four alone, they stay a line. The only thing that breaks it now is you.

Charlie: So I'm the problem.

Sam: You're the problem, and you're also the fix. Buttons. Flick the right stick to pick the midfielder. Hold LT on Xbox, L2 on PlayStation, to jockey while you run him back towards your own goal. If he's beaten, LB on Xbox, L1 on PlayStation, to switch. The pressure comes from in front of the striker, from a man running back, never from a centre-back running out.

Charlie: Right stick to the midfielder, LT on Xbox, L2 on PlayStation, run him back. LB on Xbox, L1 on PlayStation if he's beaten.

Sam: In my team it's Patri Guijarro. When the ball goes into their striker, she arrives from in front of him, and Cubarsí never moves. I don't touch Cubarsí. He doesn't need me.

Alex: In mine, Rodri does it. My left centre-back sits there like she's bolted to the grass.

Sam: That's the next level. First, the basic: midfielder presses, centre-backs stay.

Charlie: So when is a centre-back allowed to go?

Sam: Only when he's sure he wins it. The ball's coming to him, and he gets there first. Not sure means not going. At your level, Kev, that's almost never, and that's fine.

Charlie: Almost never. I can do almost never.

Sam: The mistake I see every week: you grab the centre-back because he's the nearest, and you charge. If you miss, there's a hole straight through the middle.

Charlie: That's Kim Min Jae, every week. Like a dog let off the lead.

Sam: So, the drill. One game. Never press with a centre-back above the edge of your own box. The first pressure always comes from a midfielder. Count the times a centre-back you controlled got caught out of the line. Target: zero or one.

Charlie: Let me do it. Squad Battles, World Class. Their striker drops off to get it. I want to go with Kim Min Jae.

Sam: Don't.

Charlie: I'm flicking to Elliot Anderson. Holding LT on Xbox, L2 on PlayStation, running him back. He's in front of the striker. The striker turns... and Anderson's there. He's tried to lay it off, Nico González picks it up.

Sam: And where's Kim Min Jae?

Charlie: Exactly where I left him. In the line. Like a grown-up.

Sam: Again. Now a long ball into the channel.

Charlie: Ball over to their winger. My right centre-back's nearest. I want to go. I'm not going. Balde's holding the line, that's the new full-backs. Flicking to Anderson again... too slow. Winger's crossed it. Kim Min Jae heads it out.

Sam: Too slow is fine. The line held. Slow pressure from the front is better than fast pressure from the back.

Alex: So, the keep: your centre-backs stay in the line, the midfielder runs back and presses, and zero or one centre-back caught out in a game.

Sam: And the try. One setting. It takes a minute.

Charlie: Settings. I've never opened settings. I'm scared of settings.

Sam: That's why it's the try. Xbox and PlayStation, same place: Settings, then Controller Settings, then Pass Receiver Lock. Set it to Late.

Charlie: Pass Receiver Lock. Late.

Sam: The why. On the default, the game decides who your pass is for as the kick starts. On Late, you can still change the receiver later in the passing animation. And why now, in FC 27: after 1.2 your attackers read the line better and make more runs that stay onside. More good runs means more chances to change your mind, and Late is what lets you.

Alex: That's the one I'd change first at your level, Kev. Half my old mistakes were a pass going to the man I'd already given up on.

Charlie: And the button? Is there a button?

Sam: The pass is the same, A on Xbox, Cross on PlayStation. The difference is the left stick: if the run changes, swing the stick to the new man after you've pressed pass, and the pass goes with you.

Charlie: Go on then. I'm doing it now. Settings, Controller Settings, Pass Receiver Lock... Late. Done. Squad Battles. Ball at the feet of the German kid in the middle, Endrick going left, Gordon going right. I look at Gordon. A on Xbox, Cross on PlayStation... and Endrick turns, so I swing the stick to him late. It goes to Endrick.

Sam: That's Late. You changed your mind, and the game let you.

Charlie: That's never happened to me. Usually the game picks whoever's worst.

Sam: In my team it's Pajor. Her runs change late. On the default, I kept finding the space she'd just left. The drill: two games on Late. Every time a pass goes to a man you didn't mean, put a mark on a bit of paper. Target: two marks or fewer a game.

Charlie: Two or fewer. Usually I'd fill the paper. I'll report it honestly.

Alex: So, the Coach's Tip: keep the centre-backs home and press with a midfielder, zero or one caught out; try Pass Receiver Lock on Late, two wrong-man passes or fewer a game. Right. The long one. No Ladder Report this week, because there's no fresh usage snapshot, so What's Working gets the room. Javi, three things, your floor.

Sam: Before I start: none of these is homework. Your homework is the keep and the try, and that's all. These three are for when those are done, or for the night something goes wrong. Three things working now, after the change, in the order you'll need them. One: the through ball against the new line, aimed and timed. Two: the minute after you concede. Three: Kev's question, when to stop. The first one wins you goals. The other two stop you losing the games you should have drawn.

Charlie: Go.

Sam: One. The line that drops off sooner. Now a ninety-five line drops earlier. Less room behind it, more room in front of it. So the ball over the top still works, but the window is smaller, and the timing matters more.

Charlie: Timing of what?

Sam: Of the run and the pass together. You play the through ball as your runner starts his run, so he stays onside. Too much power and the keeper takes it. Too little and the defender cuts it out. And you aim at the space he's running into, not at him.

Alex: That's the bit I got wrong for years. I aimed at the man. He had to stop, and by then he had company.

Sam: And 1.2 helps you here, a little. Your attackers read the line better now and make runs that stay onside. Offsides still happen. So your runner is doing his part. You have to do yours.

Charlie: Buttons.

Sam: Y on Xbox, Triangle on PlayStation, for the through ball. LB and Y on Xbox, L1 and Triangle on PlayStation, for the lobbed one over the top. Left stick to the space he's running into.

Charlie: Y on Xbox, Triangle on PlayStation. LB and Y on Xbox, L1 and Triangle on PlayStation for the lob. Stick at the space.

Sam: Three checks before every one. Is he already moving? Is the lane clear? Is my stick pointing at where he'll be?

Alex: In my team it's my Brazilian on the left wing. He doesn't need me to aim at him. He needs me to aim at the grass he's about to be on.

Sam: In mine, Pajor. The mistake I made with her the first month: I aimed at her, she had to stop, and the defender caught her. I aimed at the grass, and she was gone.

Charlie: Right, watch this. Squad Battles, the line's high. My number ten's on the ball. Endrick's standing still.

Sam: Then don't. Wait.

Charlie: He's going. Now. Y on Xbox, Triangle on PlayStation, stick at the space... too heavy. Keeper's out and takes it.

Sam: Good, that's the power. Again. Less.

Charlie: Gordon this time, cutting inside. He's moving. Lane's clear. LB and Y on Xbox, L1 and Triangle on PlayStation, stick past the defender... it drops. He's in. Low... saved. Corner.

Sam: That's a chance. Your through ball made it. The finish is another day.

Charlie: And the one in front of the line? You said there's more room in front now.

Sam: Good question. Against a line that drops early, the room is between their midfield and their defence. So the pass into your number ten's feet in that pocket is on more often, and then the through ball comes from there, shorter, later. Two passes, not one hopeful one.

Charlie: Let me try that. Anderson on the ball in my half. Their line's dropping. The ten's in the pocket, nobody on him. A on Xbox, Cross on PlayStation, into his feet. He turns. Endrick's starting his run now. Y on Xbox, Triangle on PlayStation, stick at the space, softer this time... he's through. One on one... in. Near post.

Alex: Of course it's the near post.

Sam: Two passes. Into the pocket, then through, as he starts. That's the whole lesson in one goal.

Charlie: And I didn't hope. I waited. That's new.

Alex: I'm still timing mine for the old line, by the way. My wide men arrived early all week. I'll come back to that.

Sam: The drill: one game. Before every through ball, the three checks: runner moving, lane clear, stick at his path. Count completed and attempted. Target: half of them complete, and write both numbers down.

Alex: So, one: through balls against the new line, played as he starts the run, aimed at the space, and half of them landing.

Sam: Two. The minute after you concede. You know the feeling, Kev.

Charlie: Six times this week.

Sam: Then this one's yours. What I teach is simple: after a goal against, pause and reset. The anger after a goal gives you rushed passes, a needless tackle, a bad decision. One goal becomes three.

Alex: And here's the new part. Straight after kick-off, the defending line now sits a little higher, so the dribble from kick-off into the box is harder. When you've just conceded, that's not your answer either.

Charlie: So what is?

Sam: Four passes. After you concede, your first possession is at least four passes long before anything forward. A on Xbox, Cross on PlayStation, four times, calm. You're not trying to score. You're trying to get your hands to stop shaking.

Alex: The match I still think about: a quarter-final, three-one up with five minutes left, and I conceded and went straight for it. Then again. I lost it on penalties.

Charlie: Four passes would have saved you.

Alex: Four passes would have saved me. I didn't know it at twenty-three.

Sam: In my team, after we concede, Pedri and Patri Guijarro pass it between them until I breathe. It looks like nothing. It's the most important thing I do.

Charlie: Go on, I'll do it now. They've scored. I'm angry. Kick-off. Short to Anderson. A on Xbox, Cross on PlayStation. Anderson to Kim Min Jae. Back to Anderson. Nico González. Four. Now I can go.

Sam: How do you feel?

Charlie: Annoyed. But not stupid.

Sam: That's the reset. Annoyed but not stupid. The drill: every time you concede this session, make your first possession at least four passes before anything forward. Count the goals you concede within three minutes of conceding. Target: zero.

Alex: So, two: after a goal against, four calm passes before anything forward, and nothing conceded inside three minutes. And three. Kev, your question, and your zero and six.

Charlie: Two a night. Lost the first, queued inside a minute, lost the second. Three nights.

Sam: So the second game each night was the game after a loss, and you started it inside a minute. That's the one to fix.

Charlie: I've only got twenty minutes. If I stop after one loss, I've played one game.

Sam: Then you've played one game. That's the hard part of the rule and I won't pretend it isn't. What I tell my students: short blocks, two to four games, never five or more in a row. After a loss that stings, you stand up before you press search. If several go badly, you stop for the night.

Alex: And I'll back him up from the other end. Thirty games a weekend, and the worst were always the ones straight after a loss. You think you're angry and focused. You're angry and stupid.

Charlie: Annoyed but not stupid.

Alex: Exactly. You've got the line already.

Sam: Here's the rule for someone with twenty minutes, Kev. Two games a night. If you lose the first, you don't play the second straight away: you get up, you get water, you check on the kids. If you come back and you still want to break something, that's the night done. And you never press search within two minutes of a loss.

Charlie: And if I lose the first and I'm fine?

Sam: Then you play the second. The rule isn't "stop after a loss". The rule is "never play the next one angry".

Charlie: I can do that. I put the controller down when the dog's in the way anyway. I've got a rule about that.

Sam: And the signs you're angry, so you don't have to guess: you blame the game out loud, and you press buttons harder than you need to. When either shows up, that's your two minutes.

Charlie: Blaming the game out loud. That's my whole Tuesday.

Sam: Mira, the best student I ever had, the one who reached the top two hundred, had one rule on a sticky note on his screen: "Not angry. Not tired. Not after midnight." Three things. He still has it.

Charlie: Not after midnight. I'm never up after midnight. I'm asleep by ten past nine.

Sam: The drill: this week, count the games you start within two minutes of a loss. Target: zero.

Alex: So, three: two games a night, and never press search inside two minutes of a loss. And one round from our own teams, because there's no Ladder Report and this is what we actually changed. Javi, the four-four-two.

Sam: Nothing in the shape. Depth fifty-five, two holders, wide men staying wide. What I changed is my right-back. With the full-backs holding a firmer line now, I stopped telling him to come inside. He stays, and Cubarsí has a partner on his right.

Alex: Mine's the four-two-one-three at depth sixty, and I didn't touch it. I changed the runs: my two wide men were arriving early against the new line all week. I'm three and five in Rivals because I'm still timing them for the old one.

Charlie: And mine's the four-two-three-one, depth fifty, both full-backs told to stay back. All month they drifted in anyway. This week they stayed. First time I've been ahead of anything.

Sam: You were ahead because you built it for a tired dad. Simple is hard, and you did simple.

Alex: So, What's Working: through balls against the new line, aimed and timed; four calm passes after you concede; and never start the next game angry. The Picks. The bit where we find the cards nobody's talking about. The rules: a third of the price of the meta card or less, twenty-five thousand at most, nobody picks his own starter. Prices are console prices from early last Thursday morning, our time, so a week old. Check before you buy. Last time's three first. Javi, Nmecha.

Sam: Nmecha did exactly the job. I tried him in front of the back four in my four-four-two for three games, and he stands in the lane before the winger cuts in. Nobody runs through him. The weakness: when he has to turn and play forward, he slows the move down. Good for teams that defend. Not for teams that build.

Alex: Would you keep him?

Sam: On the bench, for the last twenty minutes when I'm protecting a lead. Not as a starter. Patri doesn't lose her place.

Alex: Kev, Taylor Flint.

Charlie: She sat. She read the pass. She won the ball more than anyone in my team. And I still went zero and six, which is not her fault. She was the one person in my team not losing.

Sam: That's a real re-rating.

Charlie: The one thing: she's not quick going forward. If you want your holder to carry it, she's not that. She stops things. That's what I needed.

Alex: And mine, Osimhen. He held it up. That was the job, and he did it twice in a game where Quiñones would have lost it. And after the change, his runs stay onside more. The weakness: he's not a finisher from distance. Inside the box, yes. From twenty-five yards, he hits the advertising boards.

Charlie: So he's a box striker with legs.

Alex: That's exactly what he is. A good pick. Now three new. Javi first.

Sam: Bremer. Eighty-six, centre-back, about five thousand seven hundred coins. He stands in for Pacho, who's about a hundred and thirty-six thousand.

Alex: The meta reality check, once, and I'll own it: the meta centre-back costs a hundred and thirty-six thousand, and at my level I'd still want him, because I'm chasing the last five percent. Kev isn't, and neither are most of you. For the keep's job, Bremer does it for five thousand seven hundred. That's about a hundred and thirty thousand coins you keep.

Sam: The job is the keep. He stays in the line, and when it comes to him he wins it. Eighty-seven defending, eighty-five pace, and Bruiser Plus. A centre-back who doesn't need to be the presser. For any back four that holds its line, Division Eight to Three.

Charlie: Bruiser Plus. Is that the bit that matters?

Sam: Less than you'd think. This year the PlayStyles give smaller bonuses, so the numbers underneath matter more again. Eighty-seven defending is the reason I picked him. The PlayStyle is the extra.

Alex: Same with mine, wait for it. I'm picking a winger on pace and dribbling, not on her PlayStyle.

Charlie: So he's the anti Kim Min Jae.

Sam: He's the one who stays where you leave him.

Charlie: And could I afford him?

Sam: Five thousand seven hundred is under a tenth of your club, Kev. For the one position you keep telling me you lose games in, I'd say yes. But I'd play him next to Kim Min Jae, not instead. One who stays, one who chases, and you choose which one you hold.

Charlie: One who stays, one who chases. That's me and Ollie at the park.

Alex: Kev, your pick. Rules, please.

Charlie: Rules. Tonali. Eighty-five, holding midfield, about three thousand coins. He stands in for Declan Rice, about twelve thousand. Three thousand is a quarter.

Alex: Inside the rule. Not one of your starters: that's Anderson and Nico González.

Charlie: The job is the keep as well. Somebody has to press so my centre-backs don't. Press Proven and Relentless, it says on the card, and eighty-four physical. I don't know what all of that means. I know he's the man who runs back and gets in front of the striker. For any two-holder shape, Division Ten to Four.

Sam: My keep and your pick match, Kev. That's how I know you were listening.

Charlie: I always listen. I just don't always do it. And three thousand is about five percent of a Kev. That's a coffee and a parking permit.

Alex: The parking permit's back. And mine. Linda Caicedo. Eighty-five, left wing, about three thousand coins. She stands in for Tabitha Chawinga at about eleven and a half thousand. Under a third.

Sam: And the job?

Alex: Ninety-three pace, eighty-nine dribbling, Explosive. She's the runner for your through ball, Javi. With the line dropping off sooner, the space behind is shorter, so you want someone who gets there in the first three yards. For front threes from Division Seven up.

Sam: And when the space isn't there?

Alex: Then she's still eighty-nine dribbling with the ball at her feet in that pocket you talked about. She's two jobs for three thousand.

Charlie: And nobody bent a rule.

Alex: Clean sheet again. So: one to stay in the line, one to press in front of it, one to run behind it, all three for under twelve thousand. Worth Your Time, the menus. Three calls this week, everyone gives a verdict from his own club. First, the seventy-nine plus triple upgrade. About three thousand three hundred coins a go, three golds rated seventy-nine or higher, until the sixteenth. Kev.

Charlie: The seventy-nine plus triple upgrade, do. Three golds for about three thousand. That's my kind of pack. And I need a spare full-back for the next thing.

Sam: The seventy-nine plus triple upgrade, only if. Only if you've got an upgrade SBC to feed. My second side doesn't need seventy-nines.

Alex: The seventy-nine plus triple upgrade, skip, for me. My club's full of untradeable eighty-fours from Finals rewards. A seventy-nine is a step down.

Charlie: Must be nice.

Alex: It's very nice. Second, Clean Sheet Nights. A free Evolution for a full-back, left or right, eighty or lower with eighty-six pace or lower and no PlayStyle Plus. Four games, and he comes out an eighty-two with Jockey, Intercept and Quick Step. The week the full-backs got sorted, that's good timing. Kev.

Charlie: Clean Sheet Nights, do. And I've started it. Stanišić, my eighty bench right-back. Played level one last night, Squad Battles. He stayed in the line and won the ball twice. That's two more times than he managed last month.

Alex: And you're playing the four games where?

Charlie: Squad Battles on Semi-Pro. It counts, and I can win on Semi-Pro. Mostly.

Sam: Clean Sheet Nights, do. The left-back in my second side is a seventy-seven with nothing. He comes out an eighty with Jockey and Intercept. A left-back who defends.

Alex: Clean Sheet Nights, skip, for me. No full-back of eighty or lower in either of my teams. My City side's left-back is an eighty-three.

Charlie: You could buy one for it.

Alex: I could. I won't. Free is only free if you already own the card. Third, the Hall of FUT token players. The base cards cost three hundred to seven hundred and fifty Gallery Tokens. The Unleashed versions have leaked for this Friday or the Friday after. Nothing says Unleashed upgrades the base card you already own. The token store runs to the third of December. Javi, you've got a receipt.

Sam: The Hall of FUT token players, wait. I took the Brazilian centre-back with the hair from the token store in week three. He plays in my second side. He holds the line and he never chases, which you know I love. But I wouldn't spend more tokens on a leak. Wait and see the team.

Alex: The Hall of FUT token players, only if. Only if a base card fills a gap in your eleven today. Mine hasn't got one.

Charlie: The Hall of FUT token players, wait. I'm saving my tokens, and a leak isn't a reason to spend them.

Sam: And Kev, that's the most grown-up thing you've said all week.

Charlie: I've been burned. I spent too much on something once and I've never told Jess what it was. I'm not doing it again on a rumour.

Alex: We'll find out what it was one day.

Charlie: You won't.

Alex: And one reminder while we're in the menus: the Road to the Knockouts group-stage objectives from last time close just before five on Saturday morning, our time. If you've got one left, it's this week, not next.

Charlie: I've got two left. I'll do them before the Sydney FC game.

Alex: So: the seventy-nine plus triple upgrade if you need the golds, Clean Sheet Nights for any full-back it fits, and the Hall of FUT tokens can wait. And now the part where Kev keeps the books. Kev, you've been holding that notebook like it owes you money. Your Desk.

Charlie: Right, so. Kev's Desk: the homework, the week, the bet, and my question for next time. The homework first, honest, like always. The keep: the fake shot only when the defender's square in front of me, one game, two good ones for every bad one. Six fakes. Four beat the man, two lost it. Two to one. Passed.

Sam: Which one surprised you?

Charlie: One where I didn't fake. The defender came from the side and I passed instead. That felt like cheating, but it's the rule.

Sam: Not faking is the skill.

Charlie: The try: one free kick, twenty-two yards, slightly right of centre, ten minutes of Free Kick Practice, six on target from ten. Best night, five from ten. The sixth hit the bar.

Alex: The bar's not on target, Kev.

Charlie: I know. I checked the rules. Not yet. It goes in the book as not yet.

Sam: Five from ten in the first week is good. The power's there. Keep the spot.

Charlie: And Mia's going to watch me do it on Sunday. After the Sydney FC game. She says I have to score one or she gets the controller.

Alex: That's the pressure you need.

Charlie: The week. You heard it at the top. Zero and six in Rivals.

Alex: And mine wasn't great either. Three and five in Rivals, and I'm blaming the new line. My runners were arriving early.

Charlie: Blaming the game. I thought you blamed players before EA.

Alex: I'm a player. I'm blaming me, for not reading the thing.

Sam: Five and three for me, in the four-four-two.

Charlie: Which brings me to the bet. Macca's four-two-one-three against Javi's four-four-two, the rematch after eleven and four each. It's this weekend, Finals, fifteen games each. The Rivals don't count. They're in the book as warm-ups.

Alex: Noted, and fair.

Sam: The warm-ups are in the book, Kev. I'm just saying.

Charlie: In pencil. And my question for next time. I've started Clean Sheet Nights. Now my full-backs hold the line. So when do I let one go forward? Because Balde wants to run, and every time he does, I concede down his side.

Sam: Good question. That's the overlap, and it's about who covers when he goes.

Alex: Passed, not yet, zero and six, a bet that's still to play, and a question for next time. That's a Desk.

Charlie: That's the Desk. Macca, take us home.

Alex: Thanks, Kev. The one thing to do this week comes in two halves, a keep and a try, and they go in the same night. Keep this: your centre-backs stay in the line and a midfielder presses, one game, zero or one centre-back caught out. Try this: Pass Receiver Lock on Late, then two games, two wrong-man passes or fewer a game. On the record: Bremer, Tonali and Linda Caicedo get re-rated next time. The rematch is this weekend, my four-two-one-three against Javi's four-four-two. And Kev brings the overlap: when to let a full-back go. 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. I'm Macca, I was wrong and I said it on the record. That was Half-Space. Read the thing before Sunday.