Christmas has been and gone and the New Year brings new players to the FIFA scene so I thought I’d start the new year by going back to basics and listing 8 fundamental FIFA 13 tips that will instantly up your game if you’re not doing them already.

Applying these FIFA 13 tips is probably the easiest way to improve your play.

1. Be Unpredictable

If you play the same way the whole game your opponent will soon get wise to your tactics and will shut them down every time. You know the guys that one two with the strikers every time to try and get behind your defence? Ok, it’s effective once or twice but if you know they’re going to do it every time it’s very easy to cut out.

Mix up your short and long passing, run with the ball until space opens up, cross the ball and cut inside, change up your play constantly to keep your opponent guessing.

Try to anticipate what your opponent will think you’re going to do and misguide them. Send a wide player on a run and then pass inside when they track them for example.

It’s too easy to get into a rhythm and play at the same tempo and that’s when you become easy to read. Staying unpredictable will make your attacks much more dangerous.

2. Get Men Behind The Ball

If your opponent gets in behind you 9 times out of 10 you’ll concede. In FIFA 13 it’s really important to keep men goal side at all times.

This means you’ve got to defend with midfielders or full backs and try not to let your centre backs get drawn out of position.

When you’re opponent’s attacking use secondary press and to put pressure on the ball and control the defenders in behind making sure all runs are tracked and passing channels are covered.

If the ball gets away from the ball carrier a bit or he runs into a dead end, quickly change to your defender that’s putting pressure on and put in a challenge or tempt your opponent into thinking there’s a pass on when you know you’ve got it covered.

Another big mistake I see people make often is keeping hold of LB or L1 when passing out of defence using a centre back making him charge forward looking for a return pass. If I win the ball back quickly I’m guaranteed a quick counter attack by exploiting the gap left in my opponents defence.

3. Fake With Your Goalkeeper

If your opponent does manage to get in behind your defence you’re going to have to try to put your opponent off using your goalkeeper.

If there’s a 50/50 ball on then sometimes the best way is just to charge out with your keeper but when your opponent has more time on the ball you’re going to have to play a bit smarter.

Fake to charge out with your goalkeeper by holding Y or Triangle and when you’re opponent is just about to take a shot double tap Y or Triangle to send your keeper back to his line. A lot of times you’ll force your opponent to panic and try a chip shot (or at least a difficult shot when he doesn’t want to). Because your keeper’s on his way back to his line he should have an easy catch or save to make.

4. Pass The Ball Backwards

Unfortunately the hardest defence to break down is one where your opponent has numbers behind the ball and is using contain to defend.

The best way to combat contain defending is to take your time, pass the ball around and draw players out of position.

Get the ball up to your strikers or wingers and hold the ball up. If your opponent is holding contain then their defender is going to follow the ball. Run backwards or pass the ball backwards to your midfielders and the containing defenders should follow the ball and be drawn out of position.

Then you can quickly get the ball forward and exploit the gaps left in their defence.

5. Take Your Time

Unless you’re presented with a quick counter attack opportunity most of the time in FIFA 13 you’re going to have to attack using thoughtful and tactical build up play.

The attacking intelligence is much better in FIFA 13 and your team mates get into space and make clever runs much better than they did in previous games.

Try to pass to players with time in case the first touch control gets away from you. If you think your players going to take a bad first touch, play a first time pass to one of your team mates in more space. In FIFA 13 first time passing is a lot more manageable than first touch control.

Don’t rush your attacks. It’s really difficult to break down organised defences. It’s much easier to pass the ball around, keep possession, frustrate your opponents and make them impatient and draw defenders out of position.

7. Don’t Get Frustrated

With all the elements of FIFA 13 that are out of your control, passing and shooting inconsistencies, first touch errors, impact engine bundles, the ability for players to let the AI defend for them etc, it’s easy to get wound up whilst playing the game.

Don’t get me wrong, most of these things make for a more realistic game of virtual football but they can frustrate the hell out of you when things aren’t going in your favour!

It’s important to stay calm though. Once you get wound up you’ll start playing differently, you’ll start forcing attacks and diving in when defending. You’ll be playing into your opponents hands.

Worst of all you’ll stop enjoying playing. Take the rough with the smooth, realise that you’re not going to win every match and most of all enjoy the playing game! That’s what you bought it for, right?

7. Use Skilled Dribbling and Complete Dribbling

The developers at EA Sports introduced great ways to keep hold of the ball in tight situations but I’m always amazed at how little people actually use skilled dribbling and complete dribbling in FIFA 13.

To skill dribble hold both triggers when you’ve got the ball. You’ll then be able to move the ball around whilst facing goal at all times. This can let you sidestep tackles or move the ball out of a tight spot quickly whilst always facing the danger area allowing you to play killer passes or get shot off on goal.

The most effective way to use skilled dribbling is to move backwards and side to side when you’re opponent expects you to try to run in on goal.

Complete dribbling can be used whilst holding LB or L1 and dribbling. This effectively keeps the ball relatively stationary and moves your player around the ball. It lets you change direction sharply, keep hold of the ball in really tight spaces and can easily send defenders in the wrong direction and often round in circles.

If you don’t use these techniques I’d highly recommend you start practicing them!

8. Learn At Least 2 Skill Moves

Like skilled and complete dribbling I’m amazing at how many people don’t use any skill moves at all when I’m playing FIFA 13. Ok, on the other end of the scale you come across people that completely spam them and aren’t very effective…

I’ve always said there’s a time and a place for skill moves in FIFA 13 and whilst contain defending is extremely effective at coping against skill there will always be times when you’ve got your opponent on the back foot and they won’t be composed enough to contain.

When you’re on a fast counter attack for example and you’re in your opponents box, sometimes a skill move can get you just enough time and space to get a good angle for a shot.

You’ll also find you get a tonne of penalties from performing skill moves in your opponents penalty area.

Two basic, easy to learn but really effective skill moves to use are the fake shot and the roulette (and you only need a player with 3 star skills to perform a roulette…)

There are obviously loads more skill moves and each of them are effective in certain situations and the more you know the more effective you’ll be. The one thing I recommend though is don’t just learn a skill move and spam it. Make sure you learn when and how to use it in order for it to be effective.

What’s Your Best FIFA 13 Tips?

So there you have it. Some fundamental FIFA 13 Tips that you can apply today.

Do you have any good tips of your own? Let me know in the comments!