Out of possession defending width

[OrientTillIDie]

Does anyone else find that, regardless of the defensive width you choose, your full backs sit really narrow within the width of the 18 yard box? I’ve done experiments with every 4 and 5 defender formation and, without fail, my full backs leave veritable canyons of space down the wings for their wide players to attack and pepper me with crosses. I really don’t get it. I’ve tried different mentalities and different roles in tandem with the defensive width, all to no avail. 
 

As a side note, it’s not preventing me having success as such. I’m doing okay. My issue is more that I don’t seem to see a difference between the options of forcing the play inside compared to forcing the play outside.
 

As I say, I’m doing okay but it is frustrating to see my left back sitting in my left centre back’s pocket inside the width of the penalty area about 20 yards from goal rather than pushing outside more to close the space down quicker. The positioning of the full backs just doesn’t seem to change at all.

[Experienced Defender]

Defensive width is not just about fullbacks and their positioning, but defensive behavior of the entire team. I don't know how exactly you expect your players to behave in defense under the wider defensive width, but players will always naturally move toward the side where the opposition attack is focused at a given point. That's simply how zonal marking works. Defensive width only serves to encourage players to focus a bit more on certain areas of the pitch. 

Plus, any instruction - including defensive width - can be effective only if it makes sense in the context of your tactic as a whole, because tactical elements work in conjunction with one another. If your tactic contains any contradiction or imbalance, no instruction is going to work properly. 

[13th Man]

 

On 13/04/2021 at 08:33, OrientTillIDie said:

Does anyone else find that, regardless of the defensive width you choose, your full backs sit really narrow within the width of the 18 yard box? I’ve done experiments with every 4 and 5 defender formation and, without fail, my full backs leave veritable canyons of space down the wings for their wide players to attack and pepper me with crosses. I really don’t get it. I’ve tried different mentalities and different roles in tandem with the defensive width, all to no avail. 
 

As a side note, it’s not preventing me having success as such. I’m doing okay. My issue is more that I don’t seem to see a difference between the options of forcing the play inside compared to forcing the play outside.
 

As I say, I’m doing okay but it is frustrating to see my left back sitting in my left centre back’s pocket inside the width of the penalty area about 20 yards from goal rather than pushing outside more to close the space down quicker. The positioning of the full backs just doesn’t seem to change at all.

I think your issue might be more about where the WB's press then the width.  PI to 'close down more' or tight marking OI's on opposition wide players might help.  Like Experienced Defender says, defensive width seems to be more about team shape than individual behavior.

If you want an unorthodox solution - push them into the midfield if you play 3 atb.  I've had the same issue with my full/wingbacks, especially with the 3 at the back formation I'm working in my current save.  Even as wingbacks with the PI and OI's I mentioned, they took way too long to close down the opposition for my taste.   I moved them up into the midfield and played them as defensive wingers to make a true 3-4-1-2 (or sometimes 3-5-2) and it's worked perfectly for me.  There are certainly times where it's undone by a crossfield diagonal or by wide overloads (I'll sometimes return to 5-2-1-2/5-3-2 in these cases) but overall it's surprisingly secure if you have the right players to play the role and the formation works for you.

Edited April 15, 2021 by 13th Man