I want a solid defence like Fulham's irl!

[Robin_ellis_19]

I'm managing Fulham, 6th in the table. Playing a basic 4-4-2, Very rigid, balanced, short passing, more cautious, stick to position.

I'm conceding stupid goals, luckily when I'm in the lead. Yes I do subs when there tired and go to defensive, counter when in the lead with 10mins to play plus shouts etc. (thanks WWFAN it does help)

Konchesky---Hughes---Hangeland----Pantsil

---Schwarzer----

What can I do to keep a healthy mean defence, What kind of training helps you? What can I do in the tactics department? Literally anything to stop conceding some awful basic error goals.

[Neopherus]

A bit more info would probably help. What kind of stupid goals? Why do you counter when in the lead? And what shouts do you use?

Edit: also, you can't expect the ball to reach the players when countering with short passing..

[Robin_ellis_19]

I only use counter when Im in the lead against the big four and there throwing men forward. Stupid goals are, Hangeland getting done when I'm playing a deep defence, but cant have schwarzer as a sweeper due to his lack of pace. Conceding free kicks when my players are told to be more cautious and my team have very little agression apart from Konchesky.

When in the lead with 10mins to go, Retain possesion, pass to feet with short passing, clear ball to flanks, Drop deeper (if against pace), Push higher up if in the lead by 2 goals, with couple of minutes to go 'take a breather'

[samba23]

The best solution I have found is to play both CM's as DMC's to provide more protection in front of the back 4. I don't know what kind of goals you are conceding but I used to concede lots of goals from 25 yards and goals from through balls in between my CB's and full backs.

Another idea might be to play with a defensive mentality. For my Sunderland team we actually play better football, create more chances etc when playing defensively rather than a more attacking mentality.

[Lord Rowell]

I only use counter when Im in the lead against the big four and there throwing men forward. Stupid goals are, Hangeland getting done when I'm playing a deep defence, but cant have schwarzer as a sweeper due to his lack of pace. Conceding free kicks when my players are told to be more cautious and my team have very little agression apart from Konchesky.

When in the lead with 10mins to go, Retain possesion, pass to feet with short passing, clear ball to flanks, Drop deeper (if against pace), Push higher up if in the lead by 2 goals, with couple of minutes to go 'take a breather'

If in the lead, I wouldn't use counter against the big 4. In terms of sliders, its not much less than standard yet it includes "Counter Attacking" turned on - so its not a defensive formation. If you're playing as Fulham, you need to defend against top 4 sides.

I think everything samba23 says is spot on

Re. the bit in bold (my highlight)

Are you applying all those instructions at the same time, or in different scenarios?

One certain thing - I would not tell players to take a breather when defending a lead against a superior side, especially late in the game. They can't afford to take their foot off the gas and, as they are inferior players, their success at slowing the tempo down is likely to be limited and may result in their being caught in possession against an attacking side that is pressing hard for the ball.

[mufcmadman]

I've been having a lot of joy creating a mean defence with my Udinese side, 3 season in only allowed 87 goals in 130 matches. I play a rigid system with shorter passing, more disciplined creative freedom, press more, the rest are on default and they are told to stick to position. I set the keeper as normal goalkepper on defend. The fullbacks are both set on full back automatic. The dcr is central defender cover with mentality set to 0 and closing down set to 4, the dcl is central defender stopper, mentality is set to the last of defend and closing down on the first tick of own half. The two cms also help out they are set to box to box but with lowered mentality. Also the defensive line is set to the fourth tick of push up. I hope this helps its been doing wonders for me.