442 is killing me down the wings

This kind of performance is becoming a running theme in my recent matches...

I just don't know how to deal with teams that play 442 as they keep doing this to me.

This is what I generally start out playing:

I tried pushing higher up, dropping deeper, hassle opp. In the end I was just randomly trying stuff without any clue why so thought it best I ask for help.

Can anyone tell me how to deal with teams that play like this? 4-0 defeat and all 4 goals from crosses tells me i'm doing something seriously wrong here.

Well you're playing in quite an aggressive way. Neither winger will really help defensively and the dlp isn't going to move out to the flanks and help support the full backs either. If you're struggling it's perhaps best to become more defensive. Drop the wide players back and play them as defensive wingers, they will still get forward but will help out lots more too. If you're really keen on having them advanced, then maybe even dropping an extra central midfielder into defensive midfield would help. The weakness of this formation is the big gap between the full backs and wingers, no formation is perfect but formations like 442 will cause you problems.

Regarding those highlights, on the first there's no real pressure on the central midfielder or striker when they get the ball. Your full back is isolated and has no help. This is always going to cause problems and I would like to either get more pressure on their midfield and striker or get support like a defensive winger for your full back. The second goal demonstrates the space that their is for the opposition winger. He picks up the ball and has lots of time to run at your right back. If you look your winger is still way up the pitch and their full back is also a danger. It's two against one and so they have time to pick out the cross. I'm not so sure you should pay to much attention to the third as it comes from a corner, unless you concede a lot from them. Have you looked at corner roles at all? Finally the fourth demonstrates much the same as the second. One on one against your full back, the central midfielder doesn't help out and a good wide player will often cause problems there.

Hope some of this helps and as I just said in another thread and something that I was once told and has stuck with me, is try to figure out where the space is that is causing you problems, in this case it's the area in front of the fbs and between fbs and cbs and try to nullify it. Sometimes it's as simple as sticking a player in the way or you can do some of the same things with instructions.

hahaha I can relate to that. especially the long pass (probalby from their worst passer with his wrong foot), in the air for a million years, and your full back runs a circle to allow the opp winger to get the ball and start his run forward.

and I absolutely love how people still purely point out that this is tactical.

Being able to fix it tactically means in this case working the ME in your favor, not actually fixing something that is tactically illogical and wrong. aggressive wingers/inside forwards are a part of the game. The real issue is that under no circumstances these aggressive winger will ever track back. Watch a football match. Even the most aggressive winger will look to drop back and either cut off passing lanes higher up the pitch or help out defensively when his full back goes marauding.

And look at the situations. it is always the same. opponent passing the ball around until the play the perfect through ball between the central defender and the full back. And it does not matter what duty the full back has. your own midfielders are happy to sit in the box, however all they do there is stand and watch instead of actually making something that is useful, like marking someone.

I've just played an away cup match against a side two divisions lower than myself. They created 3 CCCs within 20 minutes exactly this way, and I play 4-1-4-1 flat. Yet once I went up they started playing quick, direct and crisp passing, not giving my players a sniff at the ball and threading through ball after through ball through my defense. I'm sorry, this is not tactical, this is bull****.

Again, being able to fix it via the tactics interface does not mean it'S a tactical issue.

To look at it a little differently, consider your offensive approach. The advantage of a 451 against a 442 is the extra man in central midfield, but you're not really using that edge with a direct attacking game. I'd suggest playing shorter passing and lowering your mentality. The other team can't put crosses in if they don't have the ball.

Thanks for the advice guys. As it turns out it wasn't just 442's that were beating me. I think I hit the 'no longer underdog' status and teams started defending deep against me and denying space for the direct attacks.

Seems kind of weird that a direct attacking tactic works well as the underdog, I assume it's just because of all the space over-adventurous teams left in behind.

Anyway, I took SpartyOn's advice and just tried to keep the ball a bit more and it worked wonders and I scraped promotion to the Norwegian Premier League or whatever it's real name is.

Back to being an underdog I guess.