With the ISS Realm believing that the beauty of ISS lies in the fact that there is no sure way to win and it is up to the player to discover their own tricks and playing style, and also the fact that any secrets we do have are closely guarded and not even shared amongst ourselves, we have refrained from providing anything other than generic "play ISS like you'd play real football" advice.  The ISS Realm gets many emails asking for hints and tactics on how to play and win; we also get many emails offering advice too.  So to kill two Mentors with one swift Dutch goal, a page for those asking for advice and for those offering it is online.  There is also advice on offer in some of my ISS Links and possibly in individual Mentor pages.
ISS Hints Questions and Answers
ISS Hints and Tactics from the ISS World

As the webmaster and patriarch of the ISS Realm, I, the Dutch Mentor, will offer some simple advice that should be heeded regardless of which version of the game you play and is mainly regarding the setting up of the game and controlling options.   From there, you just learn. 

1) Use the radar! I can't stress how important this is. It takes getting used to, but eventually, it is indispensable.  There is just so much more flexibility for improvisation within the game: spotting free players to pass to (cross-field switches of play can be lethal); in defence, picking off interceptions, surprise tackles from off the screen and simply better positioning of defenders, especially on counter attacks with few men back.  Use the default horizontal view as this provides enough field vision whilst being close enough to accurately make tackles and dispossessions.  Vertical mode is a nice change and really makes interceptions easier and gives you a much more realistic impression of how football is played.  Highest and full-zoom-out is best.

2) Use full manual control as it allows you to control any player on the pitch. With the stick or d-pad, you can direct the cursor to any position relative to the currently controlled player.  So with through balls or long balls, forwards can be highlighted quickly and sent running immediately, giving you miles of clearance on the last defender.  In defence, you can select a player that ordinarily would be unavailable to you on the other control methods to either mark space, commit for a tackle or fall back.  Or, you can go bring a midfielder back to help defend.  With Holland's traditional pre-ISS 98 3-man back-line (4 men now), it was not uncommon to see me bring back a midfielder to defend and leave the back-line to retain their shape and function as a unit.  Even Kluivert/Koppers could be seen defending.  For the Argie Mentor, the only worst thing than seeing Kluivert score is to see him deny a certain Argie goal!  In fact, this tactic of bringing a midfielder back to defend is one of my favourites.  Ideally, you use him as a "windscreen wiper" who patrols just behind your back-line and marks the space between the goal and the attacking player with the ball.  If this player gets through your back-line, you confront him.  With the other two methods, you'd be either auto-selected to closest player or your semi-manual selection would be to one of your two closet players.  The only downside of full manual is that you can occasionally lose the cursor and end up selecting a totally inappropriate player.  But, all you do is to tap the cursor-change button WITHOUT using the stick and it will function exactly like the semi-manual control!

Unfortunately, PS ISS games don't have full manual control like Nintendo versions, that still does not prevent you implementing some of the the tactics as above like taking a midfielder to help in defence if needed.  However, given the less fluid passing and more defence-minded system, not to mention the semi-auto defending when you hold down the Press and Press2 (from Evolution onwards) buttons of PS ISS, you'll find bringing numbers back to help out in defence is rarely necessary.

Of course, the other two control types have their merits: auto simply makes it one less thing to worry about and is tremendously handy on counter attacks when few players are in the act of play. Whilst I would be busy selecting and position my desired defender, even though under these circumstances there would be only one option, the auto control would position, and then select him for you, which is incredibly handy for intercepting a pass. Conversely, in crowded situations it loses out as the constant cursor changing eventually confuses.  Semi-manual (and PS ISS manual control) restricts your cursor change to the closest two players between you and your goal line and should be certainly used in preference to auto, even for beginners.  Start young as its even harder to change once used to another system.   Its main benefit is that you never should lose control of who you are controlling which is great for defence.  Incidentally, our Argie Mentor uses this method whilst the German uses auto.

Finally, there is one more control option that was only present in ISS Deluxe on the SNES which I found the best of all. It was called Type "C" and is a variation of full manual (which was Type "D" in ISSD).  Instead of the the cursor changing relative to the position of the current cursor, it was relative to the ball.   This made it less precise as to who you wanted to select, but made it much quicker to select that last defender or first striker as you did not have to cycle through the 2-3 players on route to your destination player.  Make sense?  I know the instruction manual is not clear on these things, so the best thing is to play against yourself and just practice with the control configurations until you at least understand them.  This also goes for the strategies: select each one during play and just watch where your players run.

3) I use semi-auto goalies which, while not really necessary, gives you the opportunity to override the auto control when needed. Usually to run out to retrieve lose balls and to surprise your opponents in one on one situations by closing them down quickly. The goalies are surprisingly good tacklers (they go in two-footed-spread) so even out of the area you will be rewarded.  Shot stopping and smothering strikers, I have found to be far more easier in the 16-bit versions.  Bringing him out in the later versions it is wise to cowardly de-select him for the CPU to bail you out.  For PS ISS, however, activating the GK is the most lethal of all versions because while the GK-activate button is held, he'll charge out towards the ball carrier and tackle, all automatically.  So you get the flexibility of controlling when he leaves the box whilst retaining the CPU expertise for movement and tackling.

4) Strategies.  Depending in the version, you can assign 2 to 6 strategies and I sub-group them depending on playing phases: general, attack and defend.   Ideally you need a representative of each, but, some strategies can double for another phase.  For general play, the Zone Press is a must, especially with the post 16-bit versions of the game.  ISS 64 had notoriously week AI defenders and to have a ZP was the only way to stop scorelines of 8-6. Any dalliance on the ball results in 1 to 3 CPU defenders crowding the player, and along with your own player, means a turnover.   Naturally you are thinking that this leaves opposition players free? Well, yes.   But since the player you are hounding is under such pressure, he has very little opportunity to pick out these free players.  And if he does, the pass most likely bounces straight into one of the players zone pressing him. 

In the penalty box where penalties are a no-no, stringent marking using the ZP is the safest way to ward of goal raids.  This can double as your defensive strategy so if you don't have a version with 6 slots, I'd select a an attacking/general strategy like Full Power or Press Up.  With ISSD - which had 4 slots for strategies - I had Offside, Attack Centre and Attack Wide.  I also had Press UP too, as in that version, ZP was not needed due to tighter control alleviating strolling propensity of later versions.  Though, the Argie Mentor really only ever uses one strategy regardless of version, and that is the Zone Press. 

Now, if I was behind, Attack Centre would become my general strategy.  On the counter attack, I'd often set Attack Wide to send a striker out wide. This would either give me space to cross well, or drag defenders away from the centre leaving an unmarked midfielder to stream through the centre and pick up a pass to be clear on goal.   Offside is a great surprise strategy, and was particular effective in ISS64.   Once initially risky in that your players would not retreat after pushing up, the strategy has honed so that with the post 16-bit versions of the game, the defenders quickly fall back if the offside was unsuccessful. I have found that in ISS98, the Zone Press acts more like a Press Up as well and will constantly catch players offside for you.   Any dalliance on releasing a through ball is terminal if your opponent is playing the Zone Press.  The Offside is still used, though, especially for free kicks as it cuts down the options, but not for throw-ins.  I learnt the hard way that you can't be offside from a throw-in.  Later versions of the games are full of other strategies with Attack, Up Front and Overlapping Wingback as nice options.  All Attack is there, as usual, but sends all players suicidally forward and is a waste. In a circumstance like that, I'd rather change the formation.  Wingback could also be a waste as you can set your wingbacks to attack in the options.  Counter Attack is more a defensive, not general one, which I find somewhat limiting because once the attack breaks down, there is no support to keep the pressure on.  "No Tactics" is a new one that crept in the 98 versions. Previously, hitting the strategy button and no other button would mean no tactic employed. Have no idea why this was changed which now takes up one of your slots.

In summary, depending on version and strategy slots allowed, I'd have Zone Press, Attack Centre and/Wide, Offside, Full Power, and Defend or Counter Attack or No Tactic (after all, the standard playing AI of ISS is good enough to not really need any strategies).   For PS ISS games, there is the extra feature of changing the attacking levels of your players by toggling the select button or R2 (depending on version): defence, normal and attack.  If I've not bothered to set any of the strategies, I'd nearly always leave it on attack otherwise players just don't get forward quick enough.  And if you've mastered the defensive nuances of PS ISS games, especially holding down Press and Press2, you'll find yourself rarely caught out in defence.

5) Stick to the team's default formation - never change it.   Firstly, it hones your own skills as differing team styles forces you to learn new ways to attack and defend. You may hate Norway's one-man striker, but learn to use the system properly as Norway do in real life.  Instead of going for goal once he gets the ball, drop back into midfield and then unleash a through ball or a wide pass to your midfielders streaming through.  Sure, the defence may get wise and track you into midfield. Well, in that case, go for goal!

Secondly, I have found that the teams play their best under their default formations. Only when times are desperate would I change it. Having said that, alterations maybe made but only with small positional changes of individual players and setting.  For example, with Holland which plays with a 4-man back line with the two wingbacks overlapping, I pull back the holding-midfielder that plays just in front of the back line to play almost in line with the back line with no attacking impetus.  He becomes a pseudo sweeper as part of a 3-man back line when the team is caught on the counter with both wingbacks forward.  In the defence options of, say, N64 ISS 98, you could even set his role as a covering-sweeper to do just what I have described. But with full manual control, you don't need to.

When faced with a 3-man frontline, I would remove the attacking impetus of one of the wingbacks - and maybe leave that midfielder in his usual position - as to not get swamped on the counter.  Crap teams pose problems in that not many players have their attacking impetus set - do it manually.  Back to our infamous Norway, if you are having trouble with these lone-ranger-strike-force teams, push the midfielders up and/or set these, or more, players with an attacking impetus.  This will at least preserve the shape.

Finally, there is the marking options.  Personally, I rarely use them but don't mark a player with one of yours that would betray the team ethos.  Holland's 4-4-2 is a zonal defensive so using one of these players to mark would drag him out of position and wreck the entire shape of your defence.  With their previous 3-4-3, or with any team playing 3 or even 5 at the back, the two stoppers should be marking the opposition's two strikers.  Unless they are playing with one up front, in which you'd play zonal.  Or three up front where you'd use zonal and a deep midfielder.   Marking midfielders?  According to what has been done against me, yes, especially with the brilliant goal-scoring midfielders which I would mark with a defensive midfielder. There are no hard and fast rules, just guildlines.  It really is experimental according to the situation. The main one being that if it works in football, it works in ISS.

6) Shooting.  Unfortunately the training mode does not really help you here, so to get practice on shooting, especially one-on-one and lobbing the GK, in a match situation, the best thing to do is to set up a game against the CPU.   Configure it to be L5 goal-keepers, but no offsides and only 7 players per side (or maybe just the opposition) and good form for you and crap form for them.  (Unfortunately most of these options are only for Nintendo ISS.)  The overall difficulty level is up to you.  This setup will see you frequently in one-on-one situations to shoot until your heart is content.  Of course, using your new skills in crunch situations is another story. You can learn all the fancy one-twos, etc, in practice, but when it comes down to the actual game with pressure on, skilful passing and crossing, concerted defending, and rock-hard concentration are the keys to victory - just like the real thing.

7) Set the time to night. Don't tell me why, but I seem to perform better at night!

Back to the Realm