How to shut down a game

[ryandormer]

Does anybody use an ultra-defensive tactic to see out the end of a game? I've tried it a couple of times, only to see my team immediately concede (likely because they're not used to playing that kind of system). Any advice on defensive tactics to see out the end of a tough game?

[HUNT3R]

5 minutes ago, ryandormer said:

Does anybody use an ultra-defensive tactic

Don't use an ultra defensive tactic. It invites far too much pressure. By all means, dial things down, but don't go all out defensive. Change a couple of Attack Duties to Support. Lower the LoE and D-Line a little. Press less. There's lots of different ways to be more defensive and keep your shape.

[Johnny Ace]

2 hours ago, ryandormer said:

Does anybody use an ultra-defensive tactic to see out the end of a game?

Heck no!!! 

I do as @HUNT3R says, just tone down what I'm doing now. Change a wide attack role to Support, decrease width, slow down the Tempo. Just a little change here and there to make us attack just a little less and hold onto the ball a bit more. 

A) Going too negative makes it too easy for the opposition

B) Changing the tactic too much and the players aren't going to be familiar with what I'm telling them  

One thing I like doing is bringing a player off the bench who's a little more defensive than who's on the pitch, like say I'm using a CM(S) I'll bring on a central midfielder or DM to play the role who's more defensive minded than the player I'm taking off 

[ryandormer]

That all makes sense. Would you swap 'counter press' for 'regroup,' or do you think that is the sort of change that would require a complete shift in tactics?

[HUNT3R]

1 hour ago, Johnny Ace said:

One thing I like doing is bringing a player off the bench who's a little more defensive than who's on the pitch, like say I'm using a CM(S) I'll bring on a central midfielder or DM to play the role who's more defensive minded than the player I'm taking off 

This, so much. I think this is often overlooked. Take off the little playmaker or the tiny fullback and bring on a tank. It works wonders.

[HUNT3R]

59 minutes ago, ryandormer said:

That all makes sense. Would you swap 'counter press' for 'regroup,' or do you think that is the sort of change that would require a complete shift in tactics?

I don't use counter press ever, so I can't comment. I would imagine it entirely depends on just how you're setting up though. Don't just change that one instruction.

Here's an example of what I do. I've managed a few teams in my career and every time, I set up tactics for them. I've had 424s, 352s, 4231s, 442s and 442 diamonds so far. At my current club, I've now changed to a 4132 for the last 2 seasons (I've managed them for 5) as it matched the current squad better.

Here's my normal tactic that I will use in 95% of my matches:

 

This is a creative and technical team who can rip apart most teams I face.

If I want to see the game out or I have a tough match coming up that I am not confident in, I'll swap to this, though it has been modified a couple of times and I'm still not very happy with it:

 

The shape is similar, but one fullback is more defensive and won't take part too much in transitions and attacks. It's a 4 man team that watches a quick attacking opposition. The other fullback bombs forward as there should be space to push into aggressively.

The key is that I have a much more defensive set of players here. Pedro is a centreback/fullback hybrid and so is Janssen. Gavrilovic is a tank at DM. The other three midfielders (two of them shifted into new positions) are all defensively solid with Strength and Tackling above 13 and that includes the CM/A.

The CM/A is probably the biggest change. I switch from a 8 Tackling, 9 Positioning, 7 Aggression and 12 Strength player to someone with 13, 14, 10 and 13 for those same attributes. Next season, I am going to use Bossard there (who you can see can even play as a striker) and he has 12 Tackling, 10 Positioning, 20 Aggression, 19 Bravery, 17 Anticipation and 13 Strength. He's also a decent finisher, so he can do it all, really.

The DLF is also different. Yates is faster than Esposito and a better finisher with fantastic Anticipation, something that is useful on the counter.

Obviously you can sub this many player within a game, which is when I use this the most, just to see out the last 15 mins. I tend to sub on the more defensive left back (as he's a lot better and bigger from a defensive point of view) and the CM/A spot. I usually just have 2 subs left by that time.

It's just an example of what I change and it's not always the same things. Sometimes I drop the LoE too or I'll drop to Balanced Mentality. I also only do it if a fear their attack will overpower my original tactic, which is not that often.

You can argue that I got lucky, but being 1-0 up from the first leg, I used this in the second (away) leg against a very strong (better than mine) Juve team and I scraped by. I created the only CCC, restricted them to poor chances on the whole and a lot of off target shots.

 

As you can see from who scored and assisted, they're not my usual starters either, so we were a little under strength but this was a cup match.

[Lurking Manager]

I’ve had success with going from a 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3 to a varied 4-2-3-1 with the wingers dropped back on the flanks of two defensive mids, 1 mid ahead of the DMs and the striker on a shadow striker role or pressing forward. 

I then do what others have suggested, hitting regroup, slow pace down, lower the tempo, Disciplined and Dribble less. Lowest I’ll set the mentality is balanced. If I’m very panicky I’ll hit defensive lol 

[Cam NBH]

I use one, inspired by @Loversleaper -- works pretty well for me. Here is his thread: