Pressing with all my might, but no possession?

I've just played the most frustrating game against Sunderland, and drew 0-0, when I was being dominated.

But the thing which annoys me most about this:

For the entire second half, I had:

Time Wasting; Rarely(maximum)

Closing Down; Whole Pitch(maximum)

Attacking; All out Attack(maximum)

Tempo; Slow(maximum)

Width; Wide(maximum)

Passing Style; Mixed(neutral)

Last season, I finished second due to my dominance in possession, and ability to use it wisely.

Now, with only one or two improvements to my team, I can't keep possession at all.

Sunderland were on a 4 losing streak, and have a GD of -13. However, they had 9, yes, 9! CCCs. Compared to my 2.

They had 67% possession.

Now, why, with all of my settings, do I barely see the ball? I swear, about 1 minute of the entire second half had highlights. The rest was commentary, because either they time wasted like hell, or there is something wrong with this.

Can anybody elaborate as to why I've just been screwed like this?

i would say its your tempo, jogging while pressing down is not good

i would say its your tempo, jogging while pressing down is not good

But surely tempo is to do with me having possession?

Well, I've always thought this. If I have the ball, and I tell them to go slowly, then I want to pass and take there time... ?

I don't know...

Turn your "Time Wasting" up to "Often". (a mid to high 'mixed' setting may be better, if you are chasing a game.)

Think of 'time wasting' more in terms of 'Urgency'.

In setting your 'time wasting' to 'rarely', you are in effect setting your urgency to maximum. Thus you are not keeping possession as your players (in following your instructions) are rushing their passes (and everything else they do) in an effort to get the ball forward as quickly as possible; resulting in persistently giving the ball away, and being unable to retain it.

By setting your team to a more balanced Urgency (time wasting), you will encourage them to take more time over what they do, often resulting in more efficient retention of the ball.

I hope this helps.

Woah careful there Bennico! It's my understanding that the time wasting slider is to do with how quickly a dead ball is played. So for instance if it's the 89th minute and you're trying to hold onto a lead then time wasting can be useful as it lessens the playing time available for the opposition to score. Again I'm not explaining well - it's when the goalie takes an age to take a goal kick for instance!

Urgency is more accurately described, within the slider definitions, as game tempo. A fast tempo will encourage crisp passing at a fast err... tempo and a slow tempo will ensure your team will take more time over their passes and possibly hold onto possession longer. There is, however, a balance to keep. If your tempo is too slow and your players of low skill, a low tempo can mean that they get pressed by the opposision and lose possession. Balance is key and position on the pitch is key as well. There are also other factors to consider such as whether passing is set to direct or long etc.

Anyway in correcting (I Hope) Bennico's post I've rather moved on from the OP. Jdownie I would advise you to read the excellent guide at http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php?t=61144. It's an indepth tactical guide to FM 2009 and can explain the nuances of tactics far better than I can. I think the problem with your tactics is that you haven't issued individual player instructions based on position. A global use of sliders like aggression and passing can mean that your players won't gel together - one example is strikers where some consider it best to have one less aggressive than the other to encourage link up play. Anyway try reading the guide and hopefully you will be all set.

I have time wasting as rarely, and yet have plenty of possession.

The real problem the OP has is that he's playing all out attack. It will cause players to attempt riskier passes and to lump the ball forwards more often.

Closing Down; Whole Pitch(maximum)

Width; Wide(maximum)

Judging by the two instructions, it seems to me counter productive.

high pressure is most effective when you can get at least two players closing down the ball carrier, so setting your formation to max width, spaces out your players and when they try to converge on the ball carrier there coming from a further distance and maybe getting there too late and as a result giving your opposition more time on the ball to exploit the space that has been created from your players who are now out of position, hence no possesion.

Play defensive line deep, slow tempo, short passing, keeper distribution to defender collect.

Play defensive line deep, slow tempo, short passing, keeper distribution to defender collect.

Deep defensive line makes pressing more difficult. A high defensive line would be better suited to a pressing game.

Butting in again. I think the problem is that you're talking about global settings for the entire team. With the example that Devilschark raised of closing down it's far better, and of course this is all opinion, to close down more with your attacking midfield players and attackers. If your entire team are intent on closing down the ball you're asking for a defender to make a mistake and allow a skilled opposition player past him.

Personally I think that the title itself is counter productive. If you're playing a pressing game with all players in attacking mentality then it stands to reason that you will lose the ball more often as you'll be trying to get through the opposition defence. Try balancing out your team. Some players have to be water carriers after all. Give each player individual roles and allow some players to do the grunt work whilst others attack. If no one has a defensive mentality how will you get the ball back after you lose it?