Last year’s version saw the tremendously overpowered long throw tactic help teams soar to new heights. Putting the exploitative nature of this routine aside though, you could argue that the long throw has gained acceptance as part of a robust approach to the game, pioneered by someone like Rory Delap upto the point where many Premier League clubs now use it as a legitimate weapon. For a throw-in anywhere in line with the penalty area, a player will be designated to hurl the ball into the box in the mode of a surrogate corner kick.

So if that works in real life, there should be a way to make it work in FM as well. The good news is, there is a way to make it work in FM and it’s pretty easy as well. You do need a few things to make throw-ins work like this, but when you get it all right, you end up with moments like these in FM.

So how do we achieve goals like the one above?

In order to end up with moments like these, you need a mere two things:

  • The right settings;
  • The right delivery system.

 The right settings

I can be quite brief about this section. The default throw-in settings, combined with the right delivery are proving to be quite lethal. You could probably improve further upon the system, but it’s a good system as is. Just for reference, let me show you the settings I am working with.

long002

long003

These are pretty much the default settings for throw-ins for the formation I am playing. As I said before, there is probably room for improvement, but these settings work. In-game, they result in situations like these.

long006

The red circle is pretty much the ideal delivery zone, where you want your throw-in to end up. This leaves the throw-in taker with three realistic passing options. Most of the times, the throw in goes towards the player lurking in the box. This player is one of the two players coming short to receive it, so make sure he can actually head the ball properly. With two other lurkers nearby, the chances of recycling possession and scoring even from a deflected or initially defended set piece increase exponentially. Naturally, you need to set the distribution for throw-ins to long in order to achieve this.

long001

When executed correctly, it should look like this.

In the above video, you can see a goal like I usually score them with this set piece routine. I hardly ever score a direct header, it’s usually recycling possession quickly and hitting the opposition before they get a chance to re-group and re-organise the defensive line or a header towards the second post for someone to run onto.

The right delivery system

The delivery system is the somewhat ignominious name for the player fulfilling the Delap role, our long range throw-in cannon. Let me introduce you to my very own throw-in cannon first.

long007

Besides being a decent defensive midfielder, Nordtveit also possesses a decent long throw, which was slowly honed and improved over the course of last season. When a player doesn’t possess a high attribute for long throws, you can ofcourse improve this by having a player specifically train for this attribute. You can raise the value of the attribute by 3 to 4 points in a seasons time, so it could be an attribute well worth developing. This is the training regime for one of my U19 players, whom I want to train to be a throw-in cannon as well.

long005

An aspect I don’t want to underrate is the PPM Possesses Long Flat Throw. As you can see in the training regime above, I have asked my coaches to develop this PPM as well, as I do feel it’s of added value and absolutely increases the chance of you scoring from a long throw. If the ball isn’t delivered quickly, defenders will have a chance to anticipate on the flight of the ball and re-position themselves accordingly.

long004

The download

Now I know what you all came here for, which is the download of this very routine. So here, there you go.

DOWNLOAD

When you download it, just place it in the same folder as the other FM16 tactics and you should be good to import it no problem.

Guido is the founding father of Strikerless and main nutjob running the show.


Guido

Guido is the founding father of Strikerless and main nutjob running the show.

21 Comments

debotellasvacias · November 12, 2015 at 9:38 pm

I did it last year and I do it again… whenever you talk about Rory Delap I remind Luis Hernández, this year in first layer doing things like this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugtoI3WRmXg

When trying to replicate Rory, Hernández is a must sign.

(first goal in that match came out of a corner just after a throw in… the match report itself is worth a look!)

    strikerlessGuido · November 13, 2015 at 6:20 am

    That’s a great little player if you can spare the cash indeed 🙂

Mihai · November 14, 2015 at 6:19 pm

Hey man!

Just wanted to say thanks for the great work you’re doing, I’ve definitely changed the way I look at FM since I’ve stumbled on your blog. Keep it up and if you ever decide to close this site, please let us know in advance, so I can copy everything and have it forever hahah.

Great job!

    strikerlessGuido · November 15, 2015 at 11:00 am

    Thanks mate 🙂 All feedback is welcome and even when it takes me some time, I always respond to every post on the site 🙂

Tentativa Badauê™ (@victhorsson) · November 16, 2015 at 1:29 am

Really enjoy reading your blog too, keep up the good work.

BigDogg · November 16, 2015 at 2:47 pm

What folder do I upload the set piece to? Cheers

    strikerlessGuido · November 16, 2015 at 3:05 pm

    My Documents/Sports Interactive/Football Manager 16/tactics

    Basically the default tactics folder.

      BigDogg · November 16, 2015 at 3:27 pm

      There is no default tactics folder in my FM files? Can’t find it anywhere

strikerlessGuido · November 16, 2015 at 6:09 pm

Not even in my documents? Save a blank tactic in your game and it should appear.

    BigDogg · November 17, 2015 at 2:42 pm

    Nope, nothing coming up mate, absolute nightmare

      strikerlessGuido · November 17, 2015 at 5:23 pm

      That’s odd… Not sure what to do now to be fair.

Mikka · November 19, 2015 at 10:59 am

The download link has expired. Could you please re-upload it?

    strikerlessGuido · November 19, 2015 at 11:00 am

    That’s odd… The idea behind a dropbox link is that it shouldn’t expire. I’ll sort that out.

      Mikka · November 19, 2015 at 11:17 am

      They’re working now. If you haven’t done anything, it’s very strange they didn’t work earlier.

      In any case, thanks.

      strikerlessGuido · November 19, 2015 at 11:20 am

      Meh, maybe dropbox was acting up 🙂 It’s sorted now 🙂

Bunny · November 27, 2015 at 10:33 pm

It’s got to be asked , how do you go about stopping them being used against you ? Online play friend destroys me with these . Help !

    strikerlessGuido · November 28, 2015 at 8:30 am

    Sort out a good corner defence. When defending these long throws, the game reverts back to your corner defence, where most people pack the 6 yard box.

flatLINE · December 20, 2015 at 1:14 am

Just wanted to give a shout for this one.

Andrija Zivkovic (Long Throw 16 + Long flat throw) and Anthony Martial on the end of it.

FM16: Throw In Routines | Keysi Rensie · December 3, 2015 at 10:01 am

[…] Let’s start with the very popular type of Throw In – Long. Everyone know the “know-how” of Rory Delap who is the master of the Long Throws. If you want to read very depth article about this, just check this ARTICLE by Merry Guido. […]

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