The Backpage | FIFA 13 Create Custom Corners

In this week’s Backpage, football journalist and FIFA fan Darren Cross tells you how to make and use your own custom corners.

Back in November, Stoke's Jon Walters scored against West Ham with a controlled half volley from a corner.

Apart from the strike itself, which was technically excellent, the goal didn't seem that special at first. But Sky pundit Gary Neville was so impressed that he labelled it one of the goals of the season, then explained why. Thanks to his analysis it soon became clear that there was much more to this goal than a cross and a shot. A whole bunch of players carried out specific actions that created the space for Walters so he could receive the ball and take an instant shot at goal.

Stoke had clearly worked on their corners in training, and it paid off.

So what's this got to do with FIFA 13? Well, many players don't realise that it’s possible to craft your own clever set pieces and unleash them online or offline. In just a few minutes you can design a corner routine that will make your outfield players move to exactly where you want them and when, so the success of your corners has less to do with luck and more to do with preparation, just like Stoke’s routine against West Ham.

Create a good one and the goals will fly in. I’m using one right now that took me five minutes to come up with, and so far I’ve scored three out of my first four corners with it while playing as my Ultimate Team.

Interested? Good, because in this week’s Backpage we’re going to look at how to create your own set pieces and use them online or off.

Creating You First Corner
Okay, first off you need to head into the Arena. Once you’re there, press the Back or Select buttons to call up the Practice Arena menu, then select Create Set Piece.

Your next job is to pick a region and, since we’re making corners, you’ll want to pick the top right or bottom right squares. The other regions are for making your own free-kick routines, so try those out once you’ve mastered corners.

With your region picked go to Create New Set Piece and you’ll notice you now have a player selected by a red cursor. The next part is up to you. If you want to create an all-out attack corner for those last-throw-of-the-dice situations then you may want to get your defenders into the box. You do this by moving the player you have selected into position with the left stick, then changing to a different player using the right stick. The important thing to note here is that the movements of your players won’t be recorded until you hit the Record/Stop button, so you can place them anywhere you like to start off with, then hit record to track their movement from that point.

For example, let’s say I want my centre-back to start on the edge of the box then surge toward goal as my corner taker swings the ball in. To do that I’d select the defender with the right stick, move him to the edge of the box with the left stick, hit record, use the left stick to create a run path for him and then press record again to stop.

This would create a visible run path, and if I was happy with it then I’d move on to another player and map out a movement for him. If I wasn’t happy with it then I’d simply select the same player and record a new path using the method above. I repeat those steps for every player that I want involved with the move, then hit test to try it out.

When testing, don’t whip the ball in straight away. Just watch the runs of your players to make sure they’re heading where you want them. Keep on testing until you’re used to the timings of everything, and confident that what you’ve created is going to be effective. Now just hit save and pick one of the four D-pad directions, then name your corner.

You can design four routines for each region, and you’ll need to create something in both of the corner regions if you want to use a custom corner from both sides. All that’s left to do next is use one of your creations in a game.

Using A Created Corner
This bit’s easy. When your player is standing ready to take a corner, press up on the D-Pad once, then again in the direction of the corner you want to use. Just be sure to use the correct one at the correct time – you don’t want to go all-out attack 30 seconds into the game, which is why naming your creations properly is a good idea. I say that because I called my first corners 1, 2, 3 and 4, then promptly forgot which was which. Genius eh?

Remember, you can select a created corner in offline modes as well as online FUT and Seasons matches, and the great thing about using them online is that you immediately give your opponent something to think about. Once they realise you know what you’re doing when it comes to corners, they’ll be more concerned than usual about conceding them and that can lead to mistakes that, in turn, may mean goals for you. A single created corner can do this, and if you’ve taken the time to make four or eight of them then even better, as you’ll be much more unpredictable.

He’s not wrong.

Darren
@Darren_Cross