Question regarding Pressing and Defensive Line

[Adelrahn]

I was wondering about what each setting does?

For example if i play a high line with pressing in own half - what happens? Do my strikers just let the defenders past them without doing anything? And if i choose sit-back with high line - does this mean my players just watch the ball without actually tackling?

If i want to close the middle and lure my opponents to either flank and press then - how can i achieve this? Also how can i close the middle if i play on wide width?

I red the description in the online manual but it doesn't really explain much on how the player respond. 

Thanks for help

[Blancos]

On 22/02/2024 at 22:00, Adelrahn said:

I was wondering about what each setting does?

For example if i play a high line with pressing in own half - what happens? Do my strikers just let the defenders past them without doing anything? And if i choose sit-back with high line - does this mean my players just watch the ball without actually tackling?

I simplify the understanding by imagining that every player has circle around him, and that circle is his zone of responsibilities. The lower the press setting, the smaller the circle would be.

With that picture in our mind, no... your players won't always just watch the ball. They will still do something to harass the opponents (pressing/tackling/contesting/etc) AS LONG AS the opponents are INSIDE their zones.

Edited March 5 by Blancos

[Marc Vaughan]

Pressing is about how 'close' to the opposition your players attempt to get and how much they harass them. For instance if you defend with a high line and high pressing then you'll attempt to close down and retrieve the ball straight away.

If you play a high line and low pressing then its more about closing down the passing routes than staying close to the men.

With this in mind it IS entirely possible to play a high line and only own half pressing. This is the approach that a lot of teams have used against Brighton successfully in real-life, they defend high up the pitch but instead of committing hugely to a press and allowing Brighton to play through it they concentrate on cutting off the passing options and wait for Brighton to try and bring the ball up the pitch .. then because Brighton are prone to taking risks and pushing players upfield when they have the ball they will sometimes make an interception and end up with a high quality attack.

Teams who defend high and press are more likely to end up highly committed up the pitch and thus should their press be broken they are more likely to concede a high quality chance ... although obviously it can be argued that by not being passive they might cause more turnovers than the other approach, which say suits your team is your choice as manager ..

(hope that makes sense?)

PS - As always no if a player attempts to get past an opposition player then he'll track or challenge as appropriate depending on the circumstances regardless of what his pressing setting is, there is also some 'variance' in pressing according to a players abilities and personality (ie. some lazy players (esp. strikers and wingers) won't press overly effectively even if you ask them to, I'm sure most people can think of a few irl who are liabilities when their team presses because of this).

[Adelrahn]

Thank you both for your answers 🙂

[RSeven]

On 05/03/2024 at 23:45, Marc Vaughan said:

Pressing is about how 'close' to the opposition your players attempt to get and how much they harass them. For instance if you defend with a high line and high pressing then you'll attempt to close down and retrieve the ball straight away.

If you play a high line and low pressing then its more about closing down the passing routes than staying close to the men.

With this in mind it IS entirely possible to play a high line and only own half pressing. This is the approach that a lot of teams have used against Brighton successfully in real-life, they defend high up the pitch but instead of committing hugely to a press and allowing Brighton to play through it they concentrate on cutting off the passing options and wait for Brighton to try and bring the ball up the pitch .. then because Brighton are prone to taking risks and pushing players upfield when they have the ball they will sometimes make an interception and end up with a high quality attack.

Teams who defend high and press are more likely to end up highly committed up the pitch and thus should their press be broken they are more likely to concede a high quality chance ... although obviously it can be argued that by not being passive they might cause more turnovers than the other approach, which say suits your team is your choice as manager ..

(hope that makes sense?)

PS - As always no if a player attempts to get past an opposition player then he'll track or challenge as appropriate depending on the circumstances regardless of what his pressing setting is, there is also some 'variance' in pressing according to a players abilities and personality (ie. some lazy players (esp. strikers and wingers) won't press overly effectively even if you ask them to, I'm sure most people can think of a few irl who are liabilities when their team presses because of this).

Very usefule explaination. Thanks.

But in my practice in FMM2024, my prefer defense set-up is "Defensive line -  Deep" + "Closing Down - All Over", which is very to the contrary.

"Defensive line -  Deep" will make my defenders (back 4) sit back more to avoid counterattacking. 

"Closing Down - All Over" will make my front attackers to press opponent defenders. 

[Blancos]

On 26/03/2024 at 09:09, RSeven said:

Very usefule explaination. Thanks.

But in my practice in FMM2024, my prefer defense set-up is "Defensive line -  Deep" + "Closing Down - All Over", which is very to the contrary.

"Defensive line -  Deep" will make my defenders (back 4) sit back more to avoid counterattacking. 

"Closing Down - All Over" will make my front attackers to press opponent defenders. 

Depends on the attackers, I think. I can try to tell Vini or Rodrygo or Joselu to press all I want, and they will ignore it most of the time 😄.

[Marc Vaughan]

13 hours ago, Blancos said:

Depends on the attackers, I think. I can try to tell Vini or Rodrygo or Joselu to press all I want, and they will ignore it most of the time 😄.

That is (as in real-life) something that can happen ... players with low work-rate will tend to drop off from pressing if they feel tired ... or if they are unprofessional, just might not 'feel like its their job' if they're attackers etc. ... 

Ideally pressing players need high work-rate, stamina and good positioning ... which means that quite a few strikers won't be the most effective at it for obvious reasons (although pace can help).