10.3 tackling

I was wondering if anyone was having any luck getting their defence to tackle? In my game it seems no matter what the settings we are content to just watch any one dribble around for fifteen minutes and then let them waltz into the box and smash it home.

If you haven't had this problem what settings have you used?

I have the same problem. My players run up to the player with the ball, then stops and do nothing

Same problem. They just stand about and let the opposition have crossing practice. I just got beaten by Liverpool 5-0 with a tactic that was ok on Patch 2. Getting a bit miffed spending 5 months playing a tactic I didn't really want to use but had to because it was narrow until the final patch came out and now the last patch has it seems I will have to start again. Frustrated is not the word!

Same problem this is unplayable

Haven't tried 10.3 yet (had to clean install my OS). Does it make any difference if you change the closing down settings?

Yeah same problem. Playing as Aston Villa and want to be able to play counter attacking football but I've tried several different defensive settings and not just one offs I mean testing minimum 10 games. Watched longer highlights and my defenders are in perfect positions, midfielders are getting back to help out but every time strikers even with poor dribbling just go straight past them and finish.

Been fired for the first time ever and I've been playing since CM01/02. Unless I'm getting something completely wrong with my tactics which from what I've seen in the ME I'm not then this is a massive flaw.

I use one of knaps 442 tactics with minor variations and have no problems. The tactic has everyone zonal tight marking with high closing down. Try this and see if it works

Ive found that with FM 2010, using the counterattacking box, just causes your defenders to back off more. Like they are trying to draw the opposition deeper, trouble is they dont win possession. Ive found with a higher team attack setting they will counterattack naturally, and wont back off so much.

I use one of knaps 442 tactics with minor variations and have no problems. The tactic has everyone zonal tight marking with high closing down. Try this and see if it works

Ive found that with FM 2010, using the counterattacking box, just causes your defenders to back off more. Like they are trying to draw the opposition deeper, trouble is they dont win possession. Ive found with a higher team attack setting they will counterattack naturally, and wont back off so much.

Thanks for that the zonal marking is making a pretty big difference. I must say this patch is pretty great. Now I just have to figure out how to beat a big club...

I would like to know are SI aware of this issue?

Don't know what version you guys are running, but my players are spot on with tackling. If they're up against a decent dribbler or pacy player they are more conservative and don't dive in, but that's usually because that's what I've set them to do.

I'm seeing slide-tackles, tight marking, interceptions, the works. Not perfect, admittedly, but soooo much better than 10.1 or 10.2.

Thanks for that the zonal marking is making a pretty big difference. I must say this patch is pretty great. Now I just have to figure out how to beat a big club...

This is a little off topic, however..

Teamtalks ever since FM2007 are extremely powerful, in fact IMHO they are more important than tactics. So long as you have a reasonably sound tactic, doesnt have to be a diablo type tactic, you can beat just about anyone if you motivate your players properly. I little luck never hurts either.

In my current game, Liverpool and I (Man Utd) had both won 7/7 and I headed to their place reasonably confident. I won 2-1 with a Rooney penalty in the 93rd min. They scored first in late in 1st half but thereafter I was all over them like a rash. Dominated possession had had 27 shots to their 7. What was interesting was that I had obviously used the wrong team talks initially. 3 were playing very poorly, one of them was 'complacent' the whole time he was playing - (thanks Carrick), and a few others were rated 6.5 at HT.

The score is actually irrelevant for this.After the game I saved to a new save. I now have the ultimate position to test teamtalks. Every patch they tweak them. With this save Im playing away against a fierce rival with both of us in brilliant form, and its not too early in the season (when you have to be more gentle as you are the new manager and your players are oh so delicate)

If you can get a game like this, save it and use it later to test. Play it over and over, see who reacts/plays well/poorly to various team and individual talks. Remember that theres a pretty big random element anyway, but you can see some trends.

One thing I noticed for the original game was that Wes Brown played very well when he subbed on at RB for Rafinha, who was playing very poorly. In the aftermatch press conference it said something like "Wes was born in Manchester and understood the intense rivalry between the teams". So from this I took that possibly any new player you may introduce into your squad may not play as well as someone who has been with the club a while against rival teams, even if you consider the new player a better player overall.

Or maybe I need to motivate Rafinha differently in these situations. Or maybe the guy he was marking was just superior. Or that after a run of hot form this was his time to come up short. Ive since replayed this game a couple of times and he plays poorly each time with no noticeable errors, even when I win comfortably. Maybe I should have been playing the likes of Giggs, Scholes, Brown at this point in the game. Dont know yet, havent worked it out.

You can also use this type of save to test new tactics out. Bear in mind that a new tactic takes quite a few games to get embedded in, but if a new tactic plays well away against a rival in good form, it has promise.

I have changed my Full Backs wide play settings to "hug touchline", that seems to have cut down the number of crosses coming in, might be worth a try.

Strange cause my pompey team after much cut-backs tackle,throw them selfs in front of the ball and defend generally well but can't score

I used the shouts of get stuck in and hassle opponents added to the harder tackling than default in tactical wizard. Guess I have to go into advanced tactical editor to change the sliders to save myself time.