Bonjour à tous .
I'm sure I don't know enough about this style, but honestly, do you find it interesting to play against this style?
Frankly, I feel like I'm losing 1.5 hours every time I play this style, where it's really a toss-up as to who's going to win.
As much as you can counter the other styles, this style is a bore.....
If you have a solution, I'd love to hear it 😉

Good evening. As for the other styles, capturing the bonus at the player's ng would already solve 99% of the problems. It's not complicated to implement. But it doesn't seem to be on the agenda. We'll have to make do.

I still find this bonus different from the others.
With each bonus, you have a way of "countering" a minimum. This one is impossible if you don't have a placement player...
Honestly, this style is a total bore....you can play any way you want, it's all a matter of luck whether you score or not....

A quick naive question, why don't you adopt it if you think it's incotable.
How can you counter direct play without power players?
It's a style that has its strengths and weaknesses like any other mode of play, and that's the charm of Virtuafoot.
Good game

Because I can't see myself spending 1h30 in front of a match just waiting for the goal .... you have 0 tactics in this style I really don't see the pleasure at all... and for that matter reducing matches to 30min would be ultra good against this style

You just have to know how to use it. I was one of the first to adopt it for quite a few seasons now. I even played in an LDC final with this style 😉

hazard14: Parce que je me vois pas rester 1h30 devant un match à juste attendre le but .... tu as 0 tactique dans ce style je vois vraiment pas du tout le plaisir... et pour le coup réduire à 30min les matchs serai ultra bien contre ce style

I don't think you should take it as a purely defensive style (which on paper it is, given that it's the only style that apparently doesn't increase your xG by increasing neither possession nor attack): indeed, it would be pointless in the absence of an A/R match and systematic penalty shoot-outs in the play-offs. On the other hand, it's conceivable that playing with a boosted defence would allow you to play with just 3 or even 2 defenders and therefore field extra players in midfield or attack.

What do you actually need to master with this style?
Sorry, I can't work out what there is to master because there are 0 tactical changes with this style.

As much as I totally respect those who are able to change their style and instructions every minute of a match at breakneck speed, this style doesn't make me dig it at all, I really see 0 interest in it

After all, that's just my opinion - you're free to think what you like about it. My aim is to find out how to counter it, but in the end nobody really knows 😅

When I see midfielders or strikers who have 99 in placement like that
K. Augustsson
G. Lapierre
it's certainly weird, but no weirder than a CDM with 99 in power or a libero with 99 in speed.

Personally, the offside trap isn't the style that bothers me most

Like any style, it can be turned against its user like a boomerang, but of course it doesn't work every time :) :) otherwise everyone would adopt this style

I think what shocks some people is that the randomness of the opportunity/goal conversion comes to the fore with this style and gives the impression that you can't win on a fluke, but in reality there are other random parameters that come into play with all the other styles.

If there was a 'magic' style everyone would adopt it. Obviously that's not the case.

hazard14: Bonjour à tous .
Alors surement que je connais pas assez ce style mais sincèrement vous trouvez sa intéressant de jouer contre ce style?
Franchement j'ai l'impression de perdre 1h30 à chaque fois contre ce type de style ou c'est vraiment du pile ou face pour savoir qui va gagner.
Autant les autres style tu as moyen de contrer, autant ce style est d'un ennui.....
Si vous avez la solution je suis preneur 😉

Your in-house team has several managers who play this style lol... Their victories aren't in your favour? If you fight this style it's like fighting your own 😑

I'm going to play the devil's advocate hazard and try to add a few points, without being too rambling.

• Unlike the PC and CA styles, PHJ offers few repositioning options for the players in a team. In this sense, it is closer to the Creative style and, above all, the Direct Game style. So you need at least one player with a Placement bonus or you need to form a DL. From what I've understood, PHJ wasn't really around before and now that it's been democratised, managers find themselves 'at a loss'. It's up to them to invest in at least one player to counter this style, if they want to. It could be a repositioned DL, Marking/Placement or dual style, it doesn't matter.

• As far as matches are concerned, for me it's the big possessions that hurt. VF has a tropism for possession and generating action. You can dominate in attack and defence, but if you get smashed in the middle, you'll feel it...

• Many PHJ teams concentrate the Placement bonus on their defence. It's a choice they make. But it can quickly backfire if the other team has something to counter the bonus (hello Phoenix ^^).

• A lot of teams are unbalanced. When you're having a bad day, you can take a beating, of course, but 500 defence, 200 midfield and 100 attack doesn't work very well either if you're aiming for three points. And if you're aiming for a draw and the other side scores, well, good luck getting back on track.

Those are my few thoughts on this style (the rest I'll keep to myself :D).

There's just one point I don't agree with, but we've already discussed it: staying put doesn't mean being a tactical whiz. If a manager has put in place a game plan that works, there's no need to change everything. So, yes, you have PHJ managers who just wipe the floor, but that applies to all styles, in fact. At a certain level, if you don't reposition yourself to counter your opponent's style or changes, then you're left to your own devices. Which can work, I admit.

I'd like to take this opportunity to salute Phoenix for writing here. We had some great battles when we were both in PHJ style!

It seems to me that Blagoje explained the "offside trap" style very well (on another subject)... so, apart from having Brandao (who scores from the back and so on) dedicated to "I didn't touch him"..