4-2-4 Madness

Playing as L'pool Ive just nearly had a cardiac as for the third game in a row against Arsenal I have been in front late on (85 mins this time) only for them to go 4-2-4 and score immediately - this time the prolific Denilson from approx 40 yards.

Anyone else experience this or any advice on how to counter this as I dont seem to have this trouble defending leads against other teams. I have successfully closed out games agaisnt united, chelsea (twice) and AC Milan this season alone

I normally wouldnt let it bother me but after this my record againt Arsenal is now played 10 lost 10 (as in a fit of anger I then went 2-4-4 to try and get the winner)

Help appreciated!!

This tactic does not work against me. I play a 4-4-2 with advanced (i.e. proper) wingers. The tactic has been used against me as Fiorentina, Sao Paulo, Barca and Shakhtar (seperate saves) and I think I have conceded 1-2 goals in 8 seasons cumulative.

It often works against me, i share you're frustration, uit also hardly works for me!

I once had a team try the 2-4-4 like you lol.

I tend to change defensively and slow doewn short passing. This seems to work against most teams but never ever against Arsenal

play 4-1-4-1

just throw everyone in da defence

I have the same thing :-/ change the OIs so their wide men are closed down all the time and put your team mentality to playing very narrow with long passing and time wasting. seems to limit the damage :-/

don't allow them to make use of their extra attackers. when the opposition throw 4-2-4 my way i retaliate by pushing my midfield into attack. i actually score a fair few goals against teams fielding 4-2-4 in the last 10 minutes doing this.

fight fire with fire! if you sit back and let them come onto you it'll only give them chances.

just throw everyone in da defence

I think, at least against a team of Arsenal's talent, that's probably the worst thing that you can do. You're inviting the pressure then and if they have the talent, they'll tear you apart.

I often don't even do much of anything unless I'm playing with an attacking formation, then I revert more to a control formation. Rarely concede any goals and have often been able to hit them on the counter.

Ive tried the fire with fire approach -their fire is clearly better than mine. Rarely use Opp Instructions so will give that a try - cheers all

When the AI goes 4-2-4 i do the same.And i usually score.

I just throw a sub on to make a 5 man defence, the game normally just runs out really quickly or i get some chances.

If they go to 4 2 4, usually the worst thing you can do is to do nothing. Depending on their attacking style you can go very defensive with deep defense line and long balls, or one other option is(which is better if oppositon allows it) to make a 6 man midfield and play short passes low tempo with time wasting since they dont have many players in the middle of the pitch you can just keep possesion of the ball with short passes. They cant score if they dont have the ball.

I actually like it when they switch to 4 2 4 because it brings joy to match and mostly (not always) I end up scoring more when they attack more

Play 4-4-2, no forward runs, tight mark all their forwards, close down their cms and fbs. Always seems to work for me, I've not conceded that many against 4-2-4 doing this.

I give by full backs the same instructions as the centre backs. This gives me a true back line and they go man-for-man with the opposition's front line.

When the AI goes 4-2-4 i do the same.And i usually score.

This is insane and its exactly what I do. Quite often they will score but I will score 2 in the last few mins.

Ive always said the 424 needs to be thrown out.

If it was that effective, every team in the land would start every game with it.

Going 424 IRL might mean a 10% chance of scoring but a 40% chance of conceding on the counter.

4-1-4-1

Short passing

Slow pace

Defensive mentality (not ultra)

Counter attack ticked.

I concede maybe 1 in 20 games and score around half the time whilst the other team are 4-2-4.

I gradually switch to a more defensive tactic when defending a lead.

Full-back forward runs, time wasting, team tempo, width, defense line, wingers runs and sometimes the MCs to DMCs is what I change and only very rarely I concede in the last minutes and way more often I even score another goal.