how do you defend against Arsenal, Man u, Chelsea and Liverpool?!

i always seem to get hammerd against these even when i try to tactically stop them nothing happens, they just seem unbeatable!! I am managing tottenham, they are way too rubbish on this game aswell

unfortunately there is no perfect way to beat the big 4. some things you could try is playing more defensive formations with counter attacking switched on. you may benefit from going to the tactics and training tips forum and reading a few threads in there. and imo tottenham arent rubbish on the game, in fact in most saves they overperform due to the fact they have brilliant players, they just dont know how to play with each other.

Luck, managing Newcastle i generally get smashed by them all every season, apart from one game against them where i win, this sdeason it was Liverpool!

i'm playing as liverpool so i defend more or less the same as i do against any other team.

The only way I've gotten results against the 'big four' is to play defensive mentality, little creative freedom, slow tempo, narrow, deep defensive line, with counter attack ticked... doesn't work often but I usually either lose 1-0 or 2-0 or scrape a draw/lucky win.

yeah i use that tactical theorems and frameworks download, the tactics seem to work when ur attacking but useless when you are defending, against the big four i get like 1 shot the whole game, i hardly see my team with possession, really annoying!

I generally sit back and enjoy the rude, hoping to get lucky on the counter!

I play exactly the same way against the big four as I do against the smaller teams. And I usually beat them or draw. I'm playing as Sunderland. Now its not a problem as we are probably better than all of them but my tactics haven't changed for the last couple of seasons. I play short passing, slow tempo and look to keep the ball. Mixed forward runs on the full backs and the CM's. Have always done well against them ever since I started this save.

I struggle the most against Arsenal, nothing I do makes me either draw or win against them

I have a 4-3-2-1 formation that I only ever use when the opposition goes to a 4-2-4 or against these four (or another big club, if I'm playing outside of England). Medium mentality, lowest creative freedom and width, highest tempo and a fairly high defensive line, with counter attack ticked. Never lost to any of them by more than 2 goals, and managed to get away wins against two of them in my first season with Wolves.

I play long term games lololllol

I struggle the most against Arsenal, nothing I do makes me either draw or win against them

Arsenal are the worst for me as well, with United & Liverpool being beatable if you have good strikers that can take the few chances you'll get.

Play like as said earlier: slow, narrow, with counter... but against Arsenal I always get a whipping.

its easy.

dont have your wingers running forward

hard tackling

vquick strikers

and tell them there's no pressure first half and for the fans at half time

out of the 8 games per season you might get 2 wins 2 draws

first seasom up with burnley i got home wins against the gunners manu and chelsea

got battered away from home, but hey that 2 nill against manu went down in folklaw

Another tactic i like to use is to hold out for a draw until the AI manager decides to make substitutions, they'll usually take off a key player and put a sh*tty one in his place. That's when i attack and win the game.

At least it used to work for me when i was managing Chelsea on FM08.

In a word.... Deep lol.

the best defence is the attack

Tell your players "no presssure" as team talk since they are bound to under perform because of the pressure and NOT because of complacency against bigger teams.

Do not push your defence line too much as high d-line causes very ugly things for you if your opponent sets its close-down to whole pitch, which the bigger teams will do. Deep d-line means more breathing space for you when you're in possession. And this will cause a) more stretched out blocks for your opponents AND/OR b) more space behind their defence line when they're trying to close-down very early.

If you really want to win these games, watch the whole game cos I've found out that your team starts to do very stupid things when playing against biggish teams you would not even guess, for example if you see that your players trying to carry the ball to your forward line too quickly, lower tempo. If you're getting closed down when trying to get the ball off your half tell your players to go down both wings and increase width as this helps establishing passing triangles with MCs helping full-backs and wingers closer to the touch line. You may want to reduce players' "Often" instructions as far as to rarely against thougher opponents since you want them try things only when opportunities arise, not push their luck.

with arsenal i mark out both the centre midfielders which works sometimes liverpool i close down both defensive midfielders and take gerrard out of the game if he is playing as the attacking midfielder but i havent figured how to beat chelsea since 9.3 on 9.2 (when scolari was manager) i would playa 4-4-3 or with a 4-4-2 and with the 2 wide men stopping the full backs and that used to work a treat but now with hiddink i have no idea...

with man utd im not sure of though

The real problem I find with the Big 4 - especially Chelsea is that they change their formations so damn often in a game, so my markers get pulled all over the place. One up front; two up; one again etc. You really have to keep an eye on their formation and be quick to bark instructions to your players.

Arsenal - Walcott skins even the best defenders. Very difficult to pin him down.

I go all out attack for the first 10 minutes, see if I can sneak a goal or two, then I settle into defensive, counter-attacking play. Maybe try switching form your usual tactic as well; nothing spectacular, just change from, for example, a 4-2-3-1 to a 4-4-2 or something like that. I don't know if the AI has scouts like we do, scouting the opposition, but it normally seems to work.

Arsenal always score as soon as they kick off against me no point in planning in future haha

go with what sprooly said,, play 4-4-3 its bound to help with that extra player....

Arsenal - Walcott skins even the best defenders. Very difficult to pin him down.

Not with hard tackling and *cough*, an injury that requires his substitution.

I attack against any team tbh

i swap between getting hammered 4 or 5-0 or winning 1-0 etc

Depends really.

Lower teams. Shut up shop, try and get a lucky draw/win.

If a slightly bigger club (UEFA cup level) I'll attack a bit more and occasionally get a win.

Don't go too defensive, you'll invite the pressure onto you and they will hammer you. I have a great record against the big four, but have yet to beat Everton in 5 meetings.

Arsenal away is quite possibly the hardest fixture in the entire game. I'm managing Napoli at the moment, and the only way I've been able to scrape through the European ties I've played against them is to be stereotypically Italian and catenaccio them to death. I haven't had very many problems against Liverpool, though. I have yet to play the other two.

The English big 4 are a pain even if you happen to be playing as another top team, though (with the possible exception of Barcelona). My Valencia squad on another save went from absolutely crushing AC Milan in the round of 16 to barely managing a shot on goal against Arsenal in the QF's.

Thing is, Arsenal aren't even rated all that highly player for player. I guess Arsene Wenger's the best AI manager in FM despite only having a Tactical Knowledge of 13.

Attack is the best defence. To win you need to score atleast 1 goal. All out attack I would think, you wont die wondering ...

I can do well against Utd and Liverpool but get hammered by the other 2, dont know why I use the same tactics. Man City run rings round me though.

Attack is the best defence. To win you need to score atleast 1 goal.

Are you Mark Lawrenson in disguise??

play with barca

i dont wanna be in spanish league lol

Well against Arsenal as long as bendtner is playing mark evertone except him because once he gets the ball there is simply no way they will score, against liverpool just put like five players on Gerrard and five players on Torres, problem solved. Against man utd just go in hard on rooney and he'll probably get mad enough to cost them the game and as long as the master hiidink is at chelsea you're stuffed.

I always use a 4-5-1 (with 1 def. mid) and use a pacy striker up top. If your defending well enough there is a chance of getting a goal on the counter.

i always seem to get hammerd against these even when i try to tactically stop them nothing happens, they just seem unbeatable!! I am managing tottenham, they are way too rubbish on this game aswell

Im playing as Tottenham and have had great success against all 4 of these teams. They have a great squad