Awful Defensive Line/Closing Down

[imrandoraney]

I've found that if you don't tick either "play offside trap" or "use tight marking" your defense is ***. Once i did either of those it actually helps a lot. Try it out you'll see a difference

 

[r4ygunn]

Feel a little better because i'm in the exact same position, just played Arsenal with my Liverpool side, had 28 shots, 68% possession and scored one goal, they had 6 shots, 32% and scored THREE!!!

Man marking may as well not exist, there is next to no defensive control, i usually have an Anchor Man set as my playmaker so he picks up the ball from the defence and plays a simple pass to any of the midfielders...can't do that anymore because of the ridiculous adherence to "player roles"

And i'm not even going to start on the madness that is "Match Preparation"....it's insane, i really hope people at SI read these forums or, you know....play the game and see for themselves!

After a bit of reading I think there are only a select few people that aren't experiencing this. Aka the people that play with Real Madrid or Barca haha.

but in all seriousness I don't mind the absence of sliders however I think they should be available for the more 'advanced' fm players.
just like on fm13 with the Classic tactics option.

 

[tjoohan]

I had the same problem and it was so frustrating. I didn't realize so many people are facing the same problem before I read this.

I had been researching and try different tactic, and I am start winning at home and away grinding out result. I realize the defend part is basically whole team need to do it, especially on away matches. Both my defender and fullbacks are set to defends in the game. A bwm sitting in front set to defend. A dlp or bbm as support. Amc, aml, amr, st all set to attack.

when playing away or strong opponent you must set those in attack to support with only one or two to attack. Then only you have a chance to grind out result.

it seems like super difficult to get clean sheets. And I find it ridiculous, the way I set the team they play like a good balance attacking force. In real life, this will be deem as boring football. And my board even praise and happy wih the attacking football I play. How this happen I don't know, but just tweak with the ME.

 

[arsenal3642]

get defenders with a good positioning stat really helps . i use a high line with fast full backs just incase

 

[dalao]

I had the same problem early on in the game, and I think I found a solution. Try telling all your mid-fielders to close down less, your defense should be more solid. If you play a high defense line, better tick 'play off side'.

The biggest problem I have with defense is down the flanks. I just don't know what to do. My wingers cannot make successful crosses 9 out of 10 times, most of them get blocked, the opposition full back never lose position. But when their wide players receive the ball, usually wide open, my full backs or mid-fielders will root to their feet for a couple of seconds, then try to get into defensive position. This results in their winger crossing easily. Individual opposition instructions, man marking, nothing works.

I give up on four back line, since my full backs are retards anyway. Been playing 352 for a while, still vulnerable on the flanks, but at least I take the comfort that I have extra man in the middle of the park and can play two strikers.

 

[sieni]

Well, I can say that I'm relieved that I'm not the only one with this problem. For some time I thought that the new way to set up your tactics has suddenly turned me into a crappy manager (that can still be possible though...). Main problems still at this point, with the newest patch (I don't think it adressed the defense issues though) are clearing the ball outside of the box when crossed in and letting the opposition tear up the defensive line with only one pass from deep.

Sometimes I wish there was an agressive shout that would say "Defend you crappy bastards! At least do something!". Hopefully this issue will be adressed soon, it is totally killing the game for me :'(