General advice for dealing with floated crosses?

[DarthInsinuate]

Even if my team is a set up as a fairly straight-forward 4-4-1-1, I find I still concede an uncomfortable number of goals from simple crosses from the wing on to a head.

Ideally the advice isn't just, 'Have taller players than the other guy', since this isn't the most practical solution.

I also concede mostly from corners, so I suspect it is the same issue.

[RTHerringbone]

Ideally the advice isn't just, 'Have taller players than the other guy', since this isn't the most practical solution.

Maybe not practical but you will tend to find that in real life the teams that concede fewest from aerial set pieces are those with strong physical attributes, including jumping reach (which in FM is influenced by physical height). In FM, you also need to be mindful of positioning, anticipation, pace, and many other attributes.

In game, you have options available to allow you to restrict the supply, You can man mark the wingers, or even man mark the playmaker to prevent the ball from even reaching the wingers. If the supply comes in you can try to outnumber the target centrally. You could use 3 centre backs, or you could use a deep sitting midfielder who adds an additional layer to the defence.

For corners, have you changed anything from the default settings?

[DarthInsinuate]

That all makes sense.

Hypothetical extreme example, I have Cannavaro and Mariappa at centre-back, and I'm playing against Crouch and Fellaini up front. Would my best option be to just to have my full-backs and wingers marking tightly and closing down aggressively?

I just have everything default for defending corners.

[RTHerringbone]

Hypothetical extreme example, I have Cannavaro and Mariappa at centre-back, and I'm playing against Crouch and Fellaini up front. Would my best option be to just to have my full-backs and wingers marking tightly and closing down aggressively?

You could try a few things. Try to use a really high defensive line to change the situation from balls lofted into the box for the giants to win easily, into a foot race onto a through ball, where the faster and more agile defenders can seize control. Marry that with aggressive wide defending and marking, and you should force a change in style from the AI.

In addition to that, you could try to use a big, physical midfielder to man mark one of Fellaini and Crouch. That way, he contests the initial physical battle, whilst you free up a DC to mop up a knock down.

For corners, I never change a thing. I'm a bit lazy in that regard. In general terms, we probably concede an even mix from corners and open play, so it's something I'd benefit from improving. I would experiment with setting a couple of your bigger (and defensively competent) players to mark the giants, and then pack the box with the remaining tall players in your team.