is it impossible to defend against pace

i just got a job offer from west ham who are 18th lost 10games in a row i take over, first game arsenal 3-2 loss Theo Walcott hat trick, next game 0-0 robinho misses a hat full same case in a 4-0 loss to portsmouth (was 1-0 till the 85th minute then i went all or nothing)

everytime a striker with 17 pace or more has ripped me to pieces - i defend deep as you can go use Matty Upson (15pace) and Micheal Dawson (12pace) and i just get ripped apart HOW DO YOU DEFEND IT?

sit your defensive line deeper

"I defend as deep as you can go"

"sit your defensive line deeper"

do you mark tight back off, play a sweeper?

what kind of marking are you set to? because if you have "tight marking" against a striker with pace, they will beat you on every thru ball. be careful about your defensive line being too deep because if you are as deep as you can go, there is too much space between the midfield and your back 4, making it easier for your opponents to attack and cut thru your defense. It seems like you have defenders with pace so I would recommend playing zonal or tight marking (whichever you prefer) but without tight marking. Also don't have your defensive line too deep either. See if that works. Another aspect that is important, but you don't have very much control of is a defender's "positioning" attribute. Defenders with high positioning will get caught out of position less and will be less prone to getting shredded by pace because they know where to be to effectively defend their opponent. I hope this helps a bit.

yeh ta, so man mark not tight, defend deep but not to deep and pick players with decent positioning attribute

yeah, that should improve how many goals you concede due to pace. it helped me a lot when the same happened to me.

Deep defensive line, loose marking, and closing down OI on creative midfielders.

Good strikers always have the potential to rip you apart no matter how good your defenders are. I suggest tightly marking them and hoping it puts them off their game.

Quality of player, it's not just about tactics - as in the real world

yeh but every team in the premier league have amazing strikers!!! it was never like this on the old football managers - stats were realistic!!! Adebayor is not quicker than Colin Kazim-Richards!!!

You might get more luck in the right place, Tactic part of forum.

I just play a sweeper and hard tackling set to the pacey strikers, seems to work.

Or yeah, score more than they do and you'll win.

with Dean Ashton, Carlton Cole and Mido are my strikers available... if i survive relegation this team is getting torn apart

I agree so easy to consider from a big kick out of defence or from the goalkeeper, quick striker skins the last defender and taps it in.

Soooo annoying.

Yeah I agree you should use hard tackling OI. With a bit of luck one of your defenders might mess him up.

For me positioning and anticipation is as important as marking and tackling. You can make up for pace by getting to the ball and intercepting.

i used the - defend deep but not too deep/ not tight/ hard tackling

beat sunderland 3-2, Kenwyn Jones ripped me apart, soon as you go deep defence they kept playing long balls onto his head!! and they were constantly in my half. After i went 2-0 up using 4-4-2, i went 5-3-2 (with sweeper), conceded 2 set pieces, (penalty HARD TACKLING!! and from a free kick near the box going to Kenwyn) so at least the defence tatic works against small fast players.

thank god for a Dean Ashton 92nd minute goal - swapped places with Sunderland upto 17th, shame they beat Stoke next game and stil to play Burnely (19th), Reading (16th), Bolton (15th) in the next few games - where as i have tough games