Can cut through my defence like a hot knife through butter

[DillonhoodHMFC]

Struggling to get my defence to not collapse when they get a tiny bit of pressure on them and my wing backs are more than useless when it comes to marking conceded a hat trick to menez purely because of 3 early crosses and not marking the player, I am fiorentina and I know they don't have the best of defences as it is,
I play a 4-2-1-3 DM wide.
GK on defend
2 FB on wing back on support
2 CB 1 on cover and 1 on stopper
2 DM 1 on DLP on defend and 1 on anchor man on defend
1 CM on BBM on support
2 wingers pushed up on inside forward attack
1 striker on AF on attack

My instructions are short passing, play wider, much higher defensive line, close down more , stay on feet, use tighter marking, use offside trap, prevent short Gk distribution, much lower tempo, be more disciplined.
My mentality is control and fluid this has been good for me at home finishing third in the league behind ac Milan and juve, played 38 won 23 drawn 4 lost 11 only lost once at home which was against ac Milan last game of the season, was 11 point of ac Milan and a few years behind juve anyone fancy giving me a hand to try and sign some players to help my formation of modifying my formation slightly? Need 2 new wing backs as I was playing mica Richards there which does not work going forward lol and my other wing back was pasqual or as my auto correct was trying to call him past quality lol he's 35 so need someone new.

Thanks

 

[rothordegilian]

You have a high defensive line, so 1st question is - are your defenders quick enough? To play a high line, you'll need defenders with good acceleration and anticipation.

Secondly, if using a high line (especially a much higher line) I wouldn't use a stopper. He will tend to push into midfield to kill the ball and leave gaps behind him that your one cover defender has to fill. My team plays a high line with 2 BPD (C).

Using a DLP (D) and an Anchor seems like overkill. Try switching the Anchor to Halfback and play Higher Line (rather than much higher). The CBs will push up top join the HB, basically giving you a back 3 when defending. You'll have the same high line, but with more defence and a HB that can do part of the job of the DLP. Move the DLP to Regista instead and let him boss the midfield.

Forget Offside trap with a high line. Just doesn't work as it will cause your defence to push EVEN higher.

Your team instructions are telling the WHOLE team to mark tighter, close down more, etc...Are you sure this is what you want? Your defenders are already being asked to play, basically, in the opposition half. Asking them to then close down more AND defend your goal is too much.

Instead, ask the front players (especially the IFs) to mark tighter, close down more, and so on and let the defenders play their own game. They will already be marking tighter etc via their basic jobs as defenders. Always try to give the minimum number of instructions needed.

You will want your defenders to Stay on Feet but the rest can yolo into tackles all they want. Stay on Feet doesn't affect the aggression of tackles, rather the 'risk' of the tackle. A bit like a risky pass. You don't want defenders making 'risky' tackles; better to hold the guy up and wait for support. Likewise, if a striker can knock the ball out of a CB's feet and set up a chance, then let them try. Also, (as an aside) a player's Aggression rating doesn't necessarily dictate how 'violent' he is but more how determined he is to carry out his job on the field (if that makes sense).

Lastly, try the FBs on FB (S). As you have IFs (A), there will naturally be space on the flanks. Setting them to wing-back will force them forward but WB is probably better for when you play without wingers or you want the FBs to overlap the midfield. FB (S) will naturally drift into the space left by the IFs and yet be slightly more sensible in defence (particularly as you appear to be suffering out wide). Again, keep their instructions to a minimum but if your IFs are smart and quick maybe ask them to cross early and hit teams on the counter.

Oh and try reigning back on Fluid. Try Flexible and see how that goes.

Hope this helps

 

[rothordegilian]

I forgot to add - be very very careful with player instructions. Remember that each player position will automatically do certain things because of his job. So a defender will naturally close down more and tackle harder, a playmaker will naturally make riskier passes and so on.

If you set the team instructions to close down more, the player instructions of a defender to close down more, then essentially you are asking him to close down more, more, more I Play a high pressing 4-1-4-1 with Close Down More and the front 5 are all asked to Close Down Much More but the back 5 aren't. Hence they hold position whilst the rest of the team try to win the ball back.

 

[DillonhoodHMFC]

Thanks I'll try it out with some mods and ill let you know how I get on a few games into my second season

 

[DillonhoodHMFC]

Thanks I'll try it out with some mods and ill let you know how I get on a few games into my second season