Ironclad Concepts of Defensive Football

[Ripamon]

Supposedly the bane of FM21, The Art of Defensive Football has bamboozled football managers the world over. Led astray by a counterintuitive tactics creator, many managers have been left scratching their heads, as their attempts to establish a low block have been met by repeated heavy, soul-draining defeats. 

It's not easy. Especially not in a game where high gegenpressing is undoubtedly king. Over the course of my Blackburn save, I came to dread fixtures vs Liverpool and Man City away, as no matter how strong my team was, no matter how high up the table, I would come away with disgusting defeat. 

But after perusing the works of great minds of this forum, I was able to collect and curate several concepts on how to set up a defensive, counter-attacking team. And when I applied them, I watched in amazement as my youthful, workmanlike Schalke team ground out wonderful results at the Allianz Arena, Signal Iduna Park, and Bay Arena. I never believed it was possible. Indeed, in previous occasions, I had found more success using my default tactics than trying to adjust to a counterattacking style vs the biggest teams away from home.

One disclaimer. I am well aware of the complexity of the tactics creator, and am aware that there are various ways of setting up tactics. Therefore, hard and fast rules do not of course exist. These concepts are just meant to serve as a general guide of elements that worked well for me when i had given up after one too many thrashings. Perhaps they would help the beginner who allies a defensive mentality with Much Lower Defensive Line.

Without further ado, here are the concepts that served me so well.

Concepts of Defensive Football

1.      Have your wingers mark opposition fullbacks and close down more. After setting up a medium or low block with the right roles and duties, a strong opponent’s main threats will come from the fullbacks - Credit to Ozil-To-The-Arsenal

- How many times have you groaned in agony, as you see Trent, with the freedom of Anfield, measure a pinpoint ball to Mane at the backpost? Your winger, picking his nose 5 yards away, is positioning himself for the counterattack that will never come. Absolutely infuriating.

2.      Ideally, have your defensive line one notch higher than the line of engagement. This allows you to set a compressed block to squeeze and pressure your opponent within. Easiest way to achieve active compression is with a standard defensive line and lower line of engagement. Usually, a medium or medium low block works excellently for this. Credit to Experienced Defender

- The pressure will prevent them from placing through balls beyond your defensive line, and the compression between your defence and midfield will deny them the freedom to spread balls to the flank or pick out long shots.

3.      Tight marking and Get Stuck in enable you to grapple aggressively within your compressed block and prevent the opponent from picking their passes comfortably - Credit to Rashidi

4.      Have at least one player covering the space in front of your midfield. It could be an attacking midfielder, or a striker set on support duty - Credit to my personal observation.

- This player is essential for preventing the opposition DMs from easily recycling the ball and spreading them to the flanks.

5.      The role and duty of your striker in a lone striker system will conduct the directness of your counterattack 

- If he is on attack duty, like an advanced forward, your method of attack will likely be more direct and binary, with quick long balls passed exposed fullbacks or in between retreating centerbacks. A deep-lying forward on support, however, will utilize his deeper positioning to receive the ball to feet, hold it up, and find support to enable the team to burst forward together. Of course, variables like mentality and roles will affect these elements. 

6.      The Counter transition option and the Pass Into Space TI are very helpful for setting up quick counters

- While normally a situational TI, Pass Into Space is particularly helpful against strong opponents because they tend to use higher defensive lines. A quick slidethrough pass from midfield could slip a winger in for a quick 1v1. The Counter Transition Option helps throw more bodies forward in the moments after winning the ball, simulating the stampede forward normally associated with the Cautious Mentality or situations where your team identifies the opponent is outnumbered in defence.

7.      Having around 2 attack duties ahead of your defence is rather useful for simulating regular counter-attacks - Credit to Rashidi

Not a hard and fast rule, but I've found that having a few attack duties helps promote even quicker transitions and prompts the highlighted players to strive to get in front of their opponents, as opposed to wanting the ball to feet

8. You can still play out of the back vs stronger offensive teams away from home. It's just a bit harder

Yes, they will press you high up the pitch. Yes, you will likely suffer some embarrassing turnovers. But selecting the right TI's and presenting numerous options to your defense in order to progress the ball can allow you to create an extra one to two chances per game vs the big guns. 

For reference, this does not include play out of defence (which I've found to be suicide most times in these fixtures). Usually, I use a combination of distribute to FB's and CB's, and even Roll It Out along with Distribute Quickly. I have found that their pressure is much less intense when the goalkeeper distributes from his hands, as opposed to the excruciating pressure when taking goal kicks. 

 

 

Edited April 21, 2021 by Ripamon

[lfds89]

About point 1, let me just warn people reading this and trying to implement it: on attacking corners, let's say you leave your wingers on the halfway line because they don't help much inside the opposition area and they are fast so good to defend counters: they will run towards their full-backs as soon as the opposition gets the ball and leave your half of the field exposed. So make sure when you set this up you have other players with the "stay back" instruction and your wingers are taking corners/inside the area/offering short option.

[Robson 07]

My own view right now on why people struggle defending is the mentality assigned to the individual players.

Check the mentality of your players on a defend duty against those on an attack duty.  If you have some players (very)attacking whilst other are (very)defensive then you might be headed for trouble.  It is these mentalities which create positioning depth in the structure of you side. 

Having some depth may be beneficial when used with an overall positive or attacking strategy.  However at the other end of the scale, with cautious and defensive strategies, it runs the risk of being more harmful with the spread of individual mentalities across the team coming to represent gaps or holes within a leaky system. 

The way the TC mentality framework has been set up the past couple of versions is very unhelpful in this respect and that's before considering that the ME seems to be weighted against defensive play..  If you don't understand how individual mentalities are allocated or what to look for then there are traps you may blindly walk into.

Personally I don't want straight lines (all players allocated a support duty) in any tactic but at the same time I only want a modest amount of depth in my sides.  This is currently hard to create in any tactic.

In summary, it might help if SI were to take another look at the TC's mentality framework.

Edited April 28, 2021 by Robson 07

[Robson 07]

Made a few adjustments to the post above with the aim of providing a clearer insight.  Thanks.

[nugatti]

Great piece, and galso great advice for weaker teams with some fast players.

You could rename this 'Play like Italy in the world cup' 
 

[nugatti]

Having read this through in more detail, I'd like to ask you if you have tried these tactical settings with different setups? I have a love for playing a compact 4-4-2 in combination with this kind of style, either with 2 DMs or with 2 CMs. But many of these choices should work with many setups, and I saw a video from @Rashidinot too long ago playing a low block using a 4-2-3-1 with Nottingham Forest.

Do you think the tactical setup would increase/decrease how much effect the tactical choices will contribute? And if so, which ones?

Edited April 30, 2021 by nugatti

[Rashidi]

@nugattiBasically they should.

 

You should consider things like:
In a compressed block tight marking could work better, because you mitigate against faster opponents by playing in a more compressed area. This makes defensive styles better. So a Standard DL and a lower or much lower line of engagement creates a compressed block that only seeks to win the ball within your own third. Once you think of defending as basically considering what your DL/LOE zone looks like then it becomes easier. And don't forget OIs are super underrated this year. I showed a match on Youtube recently where we came back from 3-1 down to win 4-3 and the only major change I did in the game was OIs

[Christopher S]

26 minutes ago, Rashidi said:

And don't forget OIs are super underrated this year. I showed a match on Youtube recently where we came back from 3-1 down to win 4-3 and the only major change I did in the game was OIs

I can testament to this. I've definitely had games where I could visibly see my OIs making a difference, and I try to be more diligent with it than I've been before. Word of caution to everyone, though; OIs can and will be detrimental to your tactic as a whole if you don't apply them coherently. For example, if you specifically want to force opponents inside because you don't think you can defend your flanks, forcing a right footed LW onto his left foot might not actually be what you want - as that would both enable the oppositions wing play, and drag your player out of your narrow block. 

Also, I think OIs in FM21 are supposed to be sort of like the popular term 'pressing traps' - ie. instructions you can use to create specific triggers and traps for your opponents to fall into. For example, if the opposition has a player that is average in pace/acc/agility, with low bravery and concentration, you can use OIs to make your opponents pass to him more often and make it so he gets pressed ihard and tackled hard - in turn creating turnovers due to his lack of ability to withstand pressure and lack of willingness to get stuck in. 

Edited April 30, 2021 by Christopher S

[nugatti]

12 hours ago, Rashidi said:

@nugattiBasically they should.

 

You should consider things like:
In a compressed block tight marking could work better, because you mitigate against faster opponents by playing in a more compressed area. This makes defensive styles better. So a Standard DL and a lower or much lower line of engagement creates a compressed block that only seeks to win the ball within your own third. Once you think of defending as basically considering what your DL/LOE zone looks like then it becomes easier. And don't forget OIs are super underrated this year. I showed a match on Youtube recently where we came back from 3-1 down to win 4-3 and the only major change I did in the game was OIs

Cheers. thx for the feedback... a very thoughtful answer (as one could expect :)). But to ask you for a couple of very precise answers; Is it reasonable to expect these kinds of settings to work just as good with traditional 3-52s, 4-4-2s, 4-3-3s, 4-2-4s and 5-2-3s or other formations?

Does the effect of a lower LOE bring just as much to a formation with 1 forward as one with 3 forwards, for instance?

Edited April 30, 2021 by nugatti
typo

[nugatti]

11 hours ago, Christopher S said:

Also, I think OIs in FM21 are supposed to be sort of like the popular term 'pressing traps' - ie. instructions you can use to create specific triggers and traps for your opponents to fall into. For example, if the opposition has a player that is average in pace/acc/agility, with low bravery and concentration, you can use OIs to make your opponents pass to him more often and make it so he gets pressed ihard and tackled hard - in turn creating turnovers due to his lack of ability to withstand pressure and lack of willingness to get stuck in. 

This, I believe, is the whole mantra of Simeone's Atleti (combined with a world record amount of shithousery)  

Edited April 30, 2021 by nugatti

[Fantasista10]

23 hours ago, Christopher S said:

I can testament to this. I've definitely had games where I could visibly see my OIs making a difference, and I try to be more diligent with it than I've been before. Word of caution to everyone, though; OIs can and will be detrimental to your tactic as a whole if you don't apply them coherently. For example, if you specifically want to force opponents inside because you don't think you can defend your flanks, forcing a right footed LW onto his left foot might not actually be what you want - as that would both enable the oppositions wing play, and drag your player out of your narrow block. 

Also, I think OIs in FM21 are supposed to be sort of like the popular term 'pressing traps' - ie. instructions you can use to create specific triggers and traps for your opponents to fall into. For example, if the opposition has a player that is average in pace/acc/agility, with low bravery and concentration, you can use OIs to make your opponents pass to him more often and make it so he gets pressed ihard and tackled hard - in turn creating turnovers due to his lack of ability to withstand pressure and lack of willingness to get stuck in. 

I’ve found this thread really interesting. Recently I began a new save in the Vanarama South with Dulwich Hamlet. As a result I’ve moved away from my usual high press, possession based game to a medium-low block counter attacking system which puts defence first. 
 

In both styles I typically like to defend narrower and compress the space for the opposition to play in - this time it’s just closer to my goal. Obviously the easiest way to achieve that is by using the Force Opposition Outside TI.
 

I also use OIs in conjunction with this, however I’ve never been sure if I’m using them correctly. I ask my players to show full backs and wingers down the line (e.g. show a right back onto his right foot). Does this make sense or should I really be showing them inside where my players are ready to engage them? 
 

My defensive record is really strong so it’s not becoming an issue, it’s more a matter of understanding the use of OIs in conjunction with TIs in case things do go wrong. 

[Rashidi]

On 30/04/2021 at 18:41, Christopher S said:

if you specifically want to force opponents inside because you don't think you can defend your flanks,

This is one OI I hardly ever play, I don't see the need to since most players seem to be decent with both feet. Instead whenever I OI there is a simple logic to them.

OI fullbacks and defenders if I am doing a Tuchel kind of press.
Show wrong foot to players who have a great long shot
Show wrong foot to creative flank players. For some players its obvious, you see them trying to whip in crosses by trying to play with the outside of the foot. Sometimes I do homework.

Tight marking on creative players and hard tackling them to give them less time on the ball. There is probably more, but it really depends on the opposition. During my livestreams you can see me sometimes use OIs, sometimes forget. And sometimes I curse myself for missing an obvious OI that needs applying. Personally I like the way OIs are working in FM21, there are more reasons to use them than before and they are super effective, but one needs to be careful with the show wrong foot ones and the tight mark ones, cos there are times to use them and times not to.

A lot of them have to do with the kinds of defensive blocks you keep, compressed blocks benefit from tight marking/hard tackling OI combos, but more expansive systems can get ripped apart with the wrong application of tight marking/pressing intensity OIs.

I remember playing a game live managing Forest against United, United took the lead, and I put on my shithousery hat, and went to town on their two central midfielders, we managed to pull back a point at old trafford as heavy underdogs. Felt good, seeing their midfielders being tackled.

[nully29]

I love playing defensive football too, so I would add:

 

Score fast. Come out with high pressure, ultra attacking football and open the score in the first 20 minutes.

Shut the door. No need to setup a counter-attacking approach. Just park the bus:

 

Much lower line if engagement, lower line of defense. 

Extreme pressure. Tight marking. Stay on feet to avoid fouls.

Press and tight mark OI on almost every opposite player except for their CDs. I know, in balanced approach it's wrong to tight mark speedy opponents, but with low compact block it works.

Defensive width depends on ops formation

Waste time, much lower tempo, much shorter passing.

My formation 4-1-4-1

PFd (sometimes DLFs)

DWs BWMs BWMs DWs

HB

FBd CDd CDd FBd

 

Works very well with tall defenders in Vanarama South

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 4, 2021 by nully29