If you follow these basic steps you'll climb out of bronze where you'll hopefuly get teammates that at least know these very, very basic things.

Actually, there's people in platinum that don't know some of these things, so maybe it'll help you climb rank more than I originally thought.

Passing the ball is simple, and will help you win more games. If you take nothing else from this guide, at least pass more.

See that teammate alone in front of you? Pass the ball to him.

There's nothing wrong with passing back either, even to your keeper (so long as you don't pass it to him too fast from too close). You can even pass the ball backwards without looking! It's great for keeping the ball with your team when you're in trouble.

As the keeper, don't pass long unless a teammate is very widely open. Otherwise you'll just be giving the ball away for free, like 8/10 times.

And lastly, it's not illegal to pass the ball to whoever passed you. Sometimes the opponent will be so stupid, that they will stop defending him and pursue the ball, leaving him alone. Pass back then!

Most importantly: don't chase the ball mindlessly, nor rush forward mindlessly. Position yourself open to receive a pass, or near an opponent who could receive in a dangerous position, if someone is already defending whoever has the ball.

Secondly: don't either stay always ahead or always behind. It makes your team fight with one less person, which is a big disadvantage. If the opponent is doing the 'guy always forward' ''strat'', you can stay a bit behind to be able to intercept the pass if it's made, but ahead enough to help the attack. The middle of the field is usually good enough.

Mind your opponents and your teammates. In defense, defend whoever isn't being defended. Ideally each teammate should cover each opponent, includng you.

Obviously, unless you actually need to go to whoever has the ball because you're the only one who can or stuff like that.

In offense, try not to bunch up. Try to get away from opponents, and only request a pass when you're in a good position to receive. You can stay a bit behind if need be. Yes, you can help attack from behind. Crazy, I know, but having 3 people in the area within 5 meters of each other is only helping your opponents defend more easily.

In neutral, where no team has the ball, you can run ahead or position yourself if a teammate is surely going to get it. It's way better than to rush towards the ball, then be near your teammate who's got the ball while you're in a bad position where you can't help the attack.

Don't flame your teammates; everyone makes mistakes, including you. Saying 'Good job!' whenever someone screws up can only work against you, tilting your teammates.

Playing goalkeeper is actually really simple. You just need to follow these simple steps. The top three are the most important. This is all about making your positioning do the work for you, and forcing a perfect shot.

• Position yourself between the center of the goal and the attacker with the ball, or at the center if it's impossible for the attacker with the ball to shoot.
  
  
• If the attacker with the ball is coming from an angle close to the corner, then position yourself at the post closest to him, forcing him to make a very hard shot with effect to the other post, that you may even be able to catch if you expect it.
  
  
• You know, you can exit your box. On attack, if you're open but no one else is open, you can walk forward (not too much, i'd say midfield at most) to try and force a defender to come at you, leaving a teammate open for a pass. Without the ball, you can stay a bit outside your box to help your team with passes or to catch stray balls.
  
  
• About leaving your box, on defense if you can get to the ball before an attacker, you probably should. But be absolutely sure, else you'll give away a free goal.
  
  
• In a 1v1 close distance with the attacker once they enter your box. If you stay on defense mode, you'll catch anything short of a lob or rainbow flick. In those cases just jump up or backwards to catch the ball. PS: This may not work against a creative backboard player, but i've yet to see one.
  
  
• Always expect a shot. That way a long shot or a close, fast shot won't take you by surprise.
  
  
• I've said it before, but don't pass long unless it's to a wide open person. Else you'll give away the position.
  
  
• Lastly, you can help attack in some cases. Like in overtime when you're losing by one goal, or if there's less than a minute remaining and you're losing. Just try not to be too agressive - unless it's overtime -, be ready to run back if the ball seems lost.

Again, just follow this simple steps for a very big improvement to your gameplay and win rate, if you did not know any of this before.

Remember, this game is a team-based game first and foremost, you can't do much alone, no matter how good you are.

There is a lot more depth to strategy than this, this is just the basic stuff. If you want to improve further, search for other guides either here, youtube, etc.