Possession (OFF) = Direct Attacking with quick passing (on the ground)!
Possession (DEF) = possession play, slow attack dominating possession!
Long Ball = Counter attack, defenders sit deep and launch long passes up field tot he wingers and strikers
Quick Counter = High pressure, especially from strikers
Swap Wings = When you attack down one side, the winger on the other side attacks with you.
All out Attack = Long ball game, Stoke, Blackburn style!
Hmmm, now, after lots of playing I see it differently:
Possession (OFF) = Offense orientated possession game. For teams that keep possession in opponent's half and probe for openings. Such teams defend high up or keep it balanced. Barca, Arsenal, Spain NT sits there.
Possession (DEF) = Essentially defensive strategy (for this I am opposed of giving it to Barca or Arsenal). For teams that retreat to their own half ALL and are not particulary willing to counter. Used for preserving the lead, "parking the bus" and this way it is more or less similar to the old "All out defend" strategy.
Long Ball = Classic counter attack. Team sits deep with forwards staying high up. When the ball is gained, it's quickly passed to the forwards using long passes. Fits for counterattacking teams, weeker teams playing against stronger opponents, Italian NT how they played friendly against Germany, Inter, Napoli, Bilbao Athletic etc.
Quick Counter = Playing on the break. High pressure in the oppenet half. When the ball is gained, team tries to unlock opponent defences with quick passes and speed. German NT under Jogi Low, Benitez's Liverpool, Lippi's Juventus would be good examples of Quick Counter.
Swap Wings = As you say, when you attack down one side, the winger on the other side attacks with you. Using the whole width of the pitch. Stretching the opponent defences. I feel this would be good second strategy for Barcelona. Del Neri's Juventus use it for long diagonal balls to Krasic.
All out Attack = Exactly this fits for long ball game. Stoke, Blackburn, Classic England. Basicly all teams that thrive on sending long balls to their attacking players from defence overcoming midfield.
Now then. Player support (PS) slider value, according to me, shapes the strategy further. For Barcelona I set low PS values together with Poss(Off) to make them attacking, but patient. For Manchester United maybe I would give higher PS values for Poss(Off) to make them move to opposition half faster and make players making more forward runs. If I choose Long Ball strategy, PS will decide how many players will join counter attacks. Low values will leave counter attacking to forwards, while higher will "send" players from midfield too. I feel the effect of sliders is much more related to the strategy set then we previously thought. As for me, I tend to choose a strategy first and only then tweek the sliders.
