Ok, at my wits end with fullbacks marking

[Richard76]

Please bear with me, this is going to be a long one.............................

I'm playing with the latest patch and I'm really really struggling to get my fullbacks to mark the AI wide players as they should be doing. Despite playing with width my fullbacks seem to want to play as centre backs all the time.

I'm playing a man marking system and my FB settings are as follows:

This is just one example of a many I could show you.

So, picture 1. Chelsea's number 2 has played a simple ball down the line to number 16. Everything looks fine to me here. As you can see my back 4 is in a good line. My DMC is in a good position. Midfield looks reasonable. Although I think my number 8 should be marking Chelsea's number 19. No big deal really as my RB (number 30) is there to pick up number 19.

Picture 2. Similar team positions. Number 16 has the ball and my LB (31) has gone to close down. On the opposite flank my RB (30) is still in a good position and my RM (8) is still picking up number 7.

Picture 3. The play carries on. Now here's the problem starting. We're 2 on 2 on the right hand side so not a total disaster as long as number 30 goes to pick up their number 19.

Ok, picture 4. The ball has now been played inside to number 15. Their number 7 and 19 are starting to become a problem as, instead of attempting to mark the wide players my number 30 has decided to play as a CB and head towards the ball.

So here on picture 5 we have my RB (30) now playing as a CB and my RM (8) has decided he can't be arsed to mark anybody anymore. Now we've got a problem.

Picture 6 shows the ball being played by the AI number 15 into the area to number 24. Now my RB sees 2 players steaming into the area unmarked and starts to head out wide to go and mark them as he should have been doing from the start of this move.

Picture 7, moving on a touch, shows my RB deciding not to bother marking out wide anymore and heads towards the ball as I would expect a CB to do.

Fianally, picture 8 shows number 7 slotting the ball home.

Still with me???

SSSSSssssssssssoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo it's fair to say I'm really struggling with this now.

I'd really appreciate the mods or isuckatfm having a look at my pics and, hopefully, giving me some pointers and tell me what I'm doing wrong.

Thanks.

[sando123]

wow sorry i would read but i am to lazy

i have this same problem agaisnt the big teams my rb and lb ewant to join the center backs for some reason costs me alot nocked out of champions league by barca they did well first game kept it 0-0 then went to barca and got hammerd 5-1 couldnt do anything had no choice but to attack n then when it came to there goals i had 4 center backs and messi runing into open space had no chance

[Terry85]

Have you tried telling your Full Backs to specifically man mark the opposition wingers? Just to see what effect it has?

[millwallrules]

I have found the secret to a stronger defence is to make your fullbacks tight zonal markers while your wingers are the loose man markers. I give the wingers high closing down so they push onto the fullbacks if they get forward, and the fb then comes across to take the winger. It leaves me more solid centrally but also when crosses are put into the area, one of the wingers is normally back defending.

You lose a little attacking impotence but you gain a much stronger defence

[Richard76]

Have you tried telling your Full Backs to specifically man mark the opposition wingers? Just to see what effect it has?

I sure have.

This kind of works but becomes problematic when AI wingers start to roam all over the pitch. This totally destroys my defensive line.

I also find as soon as I set players to mark specific men the AI then decides to swap players round and constantly change formation.

[Richard76]

I have found the secret to a stronger defence is to make your fullbacks tight zonal markers while your wingers are the loose man markers. I give the wingers high closing down so they push onto the fullbacks if they get forward, and the fb then comes across to take the winger. It leaves me more solid centrally but also when crosses are put into the area, one of the wingers is normally back defending.

You lose a little attacking impotence but you gain a much stronger defence

Sounds good to me.

I'll give it a go when I get home from work.

Losing attacking impotence isn't an issue. I'm playing 4-1-4-1 trying to keep Leicester in the PL by stinking the place out with a not losing tactic.

Any more ideas??????????

[millwallrules]

Tight marking allround. In the premier league you come up mainly against 4-4-2, so both centremidfielders could be loose man markers while the dm, is a tight zonal marker. Basically what happens is that the centre midfielders follow the opposition's cm's and then the dm comes in to cover them as well as cover the cb's when they get pulled around.

I think it is important to give players tackling that matches there tackling attribute. If a player has 14 or over for tackling, let them dive in as they win the ball most of the time. But if your wingers tackling is like 5, then tell him to tackle easy, this way he just jockeys, holds up time and breaks down attacks.

I feel also playing a cb with slightly less closing down and mentality then the rest of the team is important, as he then acts as a sweeper.

Keeping possession is the final secret to keeping clean sheets. If your team has the ball, then the opposition can't score.

[Richard76]

Tight marking allround. In the premier league you come up mainly against 4-4-2, so both centremidfielders could be loose man markers while the dm, is a tight zonal marker. Basically what happens is that the centre midfielders follow the opposition's cm's and then the dm comes in to cover them as well as cover the cb's when they get pulled around.

I think it is important to give players tackling that matches there tackling attribute. If a player has 14 or over for tackling, let them dive in as they win the ball most of the time. But if your wingers tackling is like 5, then tell him to tackle easy, this way he just jockeys, holds up time and breaks down attacks.

I feel also playing a cb with slightly less closing down and mentality then the rest of the team is important, as he then acts as a sweeper.

Keeping possession is the final secret to keeping clean sheets. If your team has the ball, then the opposition can't score.

I've been pretty reluctant to use tight marking in the PL.

Everything I've heard about tight marking in the PL says no. Good qualuty players will skin your players if they're too tight. Especially as my team is relitivley poor.

Both my CB's are 2 clicks back from my FB's closing down.

Certainly food for thought there with the individual tackling instructions.

[ZdlR]

I think it depends on how the opposition are playing. In this short - probably not indicative - example, it appears Chelsea are focussing on possession and playing simple passes. Otherwise, the winger would have gone down to the byline instead of playing a simple ball in to Gilardino. If they are trying to pass to feet it would be best to have a man tight on the receiver to intercept right at the destination. This would mean relatively low closing down so that once a marker has found a man (keep it zonal, tight man marking with Chelsea's movement would be disastrous) he won't leave him unmarked. Were they playing balls into space, I would advocate loose zonal marking to defend the space and use midfielders to close down the source of the pass, denying time to pick it out.

[Richard76]

Can anybody else help??????

[millwallrules]

How is the advice I gave you going? I think a brilliant goalkeeper is important for a solid defence

[Richard76]

How is the advice I gave you going? I think a brilliant goalkeeper is important for a solid defence

Not too good to be honest mate.

I'll show you.

Still playing with the FB instructions above but this time my FB marking is set to zonal and tight.

Picture 1. Fulham's number 6 has the ball. As you can see, back 4 in a line and both my FB's are marking zonally. You could argue that it's not tight zonal as I've told them to do though. In fact, my CB's (on loose man marking) are tighter than the FB's who should be using tight marking.

Picture 2. The ball is played into Fulham's number 8. My RB (number 2), as you can see, has decided to totally ignore the AI ML (number 17) and let him run past him. I wouldn't expect to see that on a park on a sunday morning. My LB (number 23 is not marking tight either).

Picture 3. You can see, despite totally different instructions this time around, both my FB's (number 2 and number 23) have decided to play as CB's again.

It's really baffling me now. I've set them to zonal marking. This is not zonal marking by any streach of the imagination.

[big daddy]

you need to close down more, have the full backs closing down 11 (the middle) and thight marking when against good wingers, that should solve your problem

[Richard76]

you need to close down more, have the full backs closing down 11 (the middle) and thight marking when against good wingers, that should solve your problem

Thanks for the suggestion. Tried this in my next game.

So, team on loose man marking and FB's on tight zonal with closing down on 11. As you can see below it's made no difference to my problem what so ever.

Picture 1. My RB (2) is now closing down the AI winger (19). However, as you can see, on the left hand side my LB (23) has clamped himself onto the AI striker (also number 23) and is ignoring their MR (18).

http://img102.imageshack.us/img102/3453/mid1sa5.jpg

Picture 2. The ball is played into the gap left by mr RB closing down the Boro winger. On the left hand side my LB (23) is still playing as a CB.

http://img120.imageshack.us/img120/7254/mid2uw8.jpg

Picture 3. LB still playing as a CB and there's 2 unmarked Boro players steaming into my area.

http://img156.imageshack.us/img156/1822/mid3xu7.jpg

Picture 4. The AI RM has an easy chance as my LB is still clamped to their striker.

http://img156.imageshack.us/img156/9871/mid4dl4.jpg

Help me please.

[jascko]

Do you use OI? What is your width in team instructions? How high/low is your D-line?

It seems to me that you having a problem with the width. You are eather too narrow or to width. If you are to narrow tight zonal mark wild turn out wrong because FB will choose to mark the ST instead of LM / RM. Try to play with your width a little. If the opponent plays very wide and you to narrow then you will have problems to CD opponent LM / RM, because FB will have much longer way to CD LM/RM. If you are to width then you leave to mach space between your CB and FB, wich means LM/RM will seek the space between. I would look for a solution in width in relation to CD.

[Richard76]

Do you use OI? What is your width in team instructions? How high/low is your D-line?

It seems to me that you having a problem with the width. You are eather too narrow or to width. If you are to narrow tight zonal mark wild turn out wrong because FB will choose to mark the ST instead of LM / RM. Try to play with your width a little. If the opponent plays very wide and you to narrow then you will have problems to CD opponent LM / RM, because FB will have much longer way to CD LM/RM. If you are to width then you leave to mach space between your CB and FB, wich means LM/RM will seek the space between. I would look for a solution in width in relation to CD.

Hi mate.

I don't really use OI much at all. Just the odd ass man recommendation regarding tackling or showing onto weaker foot.

My width setting is 15 and my D line is 7.

It seems to me as my CB and FB are too close together even though I'm playing quite wide.

[big daddy]

Do you use OI? What is your width in team instructions? How high/low is your D-line?

It seems to me that you having a problem with the width. You are eather too narrow or to width. If you are to narrow tight zonal mark wild turn out wrong because FB will choose to mark the ST instead of LM / RM. Try to play with your width a little. If the opponent plays very wide and you to narrow then you will have problems to CD opponent LM / RM, because FB will have much longer way to CD LM/RM. If you are to width then you leave to mach space between your CB and FB, wich means LM/RM will seek the space between. I would look for a solution in width in relation to CD.

I am with jacko on this one, your team is looking narrow , try using OI and have your team thight marking their wingers/rm´s that might keep your fullback closer to the right wingers charging forward

[jascko]

Hi mate.

I don't really use OI much at all. Just the odd ass man recommendation regarding tackling or showing onto weaker foot.

My width setting is 15 and my D line is 7.

It seems to me as my CB and FB are too close together even though I'm playing quite wide.

Hmm ... strange. But you are playing to wide in relation to the D-line. Your D-line is set up too low in relation to the mentality and width.

You should not have extreme differences between the ment, D-line, width and CD. When you are favorite at home then you should increase the D-line, mentality, width and CD. When you are underdog then do the opposite. That's fine with little difference between these instructions, but not too much. Keep these instructions within 3-4 notch so your team plays as a unit. You have to have som structure and rules in relation to the opponent. For large differences, and you will be punished. This is what I have experienced at least.

[Richard76]

Hmm ... strange. But you are playing to wide in relation to the D-line. Your D-line is set up too low in relation to the mentality and width.

You should not have extreme differences between the ment, D-line, width and CD. When you are favorite at home then you should increase the D-line, mentality, width and CD. When you are underdog then do the opposite. That's fine with little difference between these instructions, but not too much. Keep these instructions within 3-4 notch so your team plays as a unit. You have to have som structure and rules in relation to the opponent. For large differences, and you will be punished. This is what I have experienced at least.

This is what I'm doing at the moment.

http://img108.imageshack.us/img108/9211/teaminsed6.jpg

So you think upping the D line and narrowing my width will help???

[jascko]

This is what I'm doing at the moment.

http://img108.imageshack.us/img108/9211/teaminsed6.jpg

So you think upping the D line and narrowing my width will help???

I think so. Is it any reason why you are playing with low D-line? How is pace for your defenders in relation to the opponent pace? If there are not major differences, than it is no reason to play with low D-line. If you want to play with normal mentality I would have considered increasing the D-line 2-3 notch and watch the match in full. I have some rules when setting up tactics. Against good teams away I play more narrow with relatively low D-line. But not too low, or I will invite opponent too much. With the D-line that you use in this case you are invite the opponent to attack and give them more space in front of you. This results that oppenent have more time to pint point passing, wich I belive happend in your case. If I want to attack more then I increase my D-line, CD, and width, as I reduce time wasting. I do not know how good your team is in relation to other teams in the league, so I do not know whether you should attack or defend more. I can not point directly at what is wrong with your tactics since I do not have fully overview of your save. Everything will be just wild guess.

[Richard76]

I think so. Is it any reason why you are playing with low D-line? How is pace for your defenders in relation to the opponent pace? If there are not major differences, than it is no reason to play with low D-line. If you want to play with normal mentality I would have considered increasing the D-line 2-3 notch and watch the match in full. I have some rules when setting up tactics. Against good teams away I play more narrow with relatively low D-line. But not too low, or I will invite opponent too much. With the D-line that you use in this case you are invite the opponent to attack and give them more space in front of you. This results that oppenent have more time to pint point passing, wich I belive happend in your case. If I want to attack more then I increase my D-line, CD, and width, as I reduce time wasting. I do not know how good your team is in relation to other teams in the league, so I do not know whether you should attack or defend more. I can not point directly at what is wrong with your tactics since I do not have fully overview of your save. Everything will be just wild guess.

I had a low D line as I was constantly conceding to through balls.

I've upped it a bit now and playing as a unit a bit more. Seems to be working too.

My fullbacks still refuse to play as fullbacks though.

It's not idel but I now set them to specific man mark the opposition wingers.

Still no mods willing to lend a hand????????

[mattbuck]

Here is my take on things.

Zonal - Full back will mark anyone that enters his zone, first, regardless if its a striker, or a winger. Depending on your closing down settings, it could be either. A full back could pick up a striker if he has ppm of moves into channels.

Man - Full back will be responsible for the man on his side of the field, more than likely a winger. He will mark this player, and will use his closing down settings as to when to close him down.

Tight - Full back will stick close to the nearest opposition player. Quite often it will be a striker, which can lead to the player getting drawn into the penalty box. Leaving the wing open.

With the right closing down settings, team based closing down settings, zonal or man should stop him from being dragged out of position.

[Richard76]

Here is my take on things.

Zonal - Full back will mark anyone that enters his zone, first, regardless if its a striker, or a winger. Depending on your closing down settings, it could be either. A full back could pick up a striker if he has ppm of moves into channels.

Man - Full back will be responsible for the man on his side of the field, more than likely a winger. He will mark this player, and will use his closing down settings as to when to close him down.

Tight - Full back will stick close to the nearest opposition player. Quite often it will be a striker, which can lead to the player getting drawn into the penalty box. Leaving the wing open.

With the right closing down settings, team based closing down settings, zonal or man should stop him from being dragged out of position.

My main problem is that both my full backs behave in the same way regardless of whether they are set to zonal or man.

If we use my zonal marking example from above.

http://img155.imageshack.us/img155/8577/ful3wh7.jpg

There is no possible explanation in my eyes that my fullbacks (2 and 23) are in those positions if I'm using zonal marking.

[Tejaswi]

Could you go back to the replay and check when exactly the fullback picks up the opposition striker?

I think it's something to do with your width too. If the Opposition striker falls into his 'zone' in which he's supposed to Mark / Close-down, while the winger is out of it (somehow) then this would probably happen.

Checking when exactly the fullback seems to drift and mark the striker is one of the things you could do...

Anyway, not to sound too critical, but this is the annoying thing about sliders. IRL, this will probably NEVER happen, players have enough sense not to do it.

[ZdlR]

I think you'll find that a lot of goals are scored because defenders are out of position.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Lzlye-ATOIg

Watch Hull's right back. Awful positioning allowing Nasri in. So, sorry, but footballers are actually idiots a lot of the time and make abhorrent decisions.

[Richard76]

I think you'll find that a lot of goals are scored because defenders are out of position.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Lzlye-ATOIg

Watch Hull's right back. Awful positioning allowing Nasri in. So, sorry, but footballers are actually idiots a lot of the time and make abhorrent decisions.

That I can deal with.

It's whoever I play as my left or right back making the same abhorrent decisions at the same times game after I have difficulty swallowing.

[ZdlR]

Either you need to change their instructions or buy a better full back. Some players are just not good enough for the level required. If you have a player capable of playing at the level, you will be able to pick instructions that make sense and give him a great chance of performing well.

If Phil Brown has told his full back to stick tight to Nasri and not let him get space, then it's the player's fault for leaving the man he was assigned to mark. This is an intelligence problem and indicates the full back isn't good enough to play at this level (ie: against a tricky Arsenal side). However, if Brown didn't mention Nasri, told him to deny the man on the ball space with closing down instructions and had his side deny space in the middle of the park by playing narrow (and he probably did what with Arsenal favouring playing through the middle), then the player isn't so much at fault and the manager should carry the can. The player was simply doing what he was told.

[Richard76]

Either you need to change their instructions or buy a better full back. Some players are just not good enough for the level required. If you have a player capable of playing at the level, you will be able to pick instructions that make sense and give him a great chance of performing well.

If Phil Brown has told his full back to stick tight to Nasri and not let him get space, then it's the player's fault for leaving the man he was assigned to mark. This is an intelligence problem and indicates the full back isn't good enough to play at this level (ie: against a tricky Arsenal side). However, if Brown didn't mention Nasri, told him to deny the man on the ball space with closing down instructions and had his side deny space in the middle of the park by playing narrow (and he probably did what with Arsenal favouring playing through the middle), then the player isn't so much at fault and the manager should carry the can. The player was simply doing what he was told.

That's the point though, I have changed instructions and I still get both my full backs doing exactly the same thing.

Surely you're not suggesting that both my fullbacks can make the same poor decisions at precisley the same time?? I appreciate it must be something I'm telling them to do that is causing the problem and that's why I posted in the first place.

My fullbacks are certainly good enough. First season in the premier league and I'm 10th with 24 games played.

I'll post pictures of them when I get home from work.

[ZdlR]

Ok, well, returning to your original post to try to solve the problem.

I think the settings you show are generally fine, save for the mentality. Even without seeing his stats I think he's not defensive enough. It would help if you showed your entire defensive set up and team set up, along with their stats, but I understand if you're reluctant to.

Having his mentality right in the centre of normal, to me, means that he is not concerned enough with defending. I know the problem might not be manifesting itself very well, but he's being caught out of position because he's not too bothered about defending. If you played him like this against Chelsea I'm honestly not too surprised he was at fault.

[sparks199]

the easy answer to your fullbacks is .... if your not happy with the fullbacks then dont play with any

3 at the back

[Richard76]

Ok, well, returning to your original post to try to solve the problem.

I think the settings you show are generally fine, save for the mentality. Even without seeing his stats I think he's not defensive enough. It would help if you showed your entire defensive set up and team set up, along with their stats, but I understand if you're reluctant to.

Having his mentality right in the centre of normal, to me, means that he is not concerned enough with defending. I know the problem might not be manifesting itself very well, but he's being caught out of position because he's not too bothered about defending. If you played him like this against Chelsea I'm honestly not too surprised he was at fault.

Yes, mentality may be an issue. I'm using a global mentality at the moment as I'm not a big fan of the 8 clicks mentality rule. In my eyes, defenders should defend and forwards should attahc. That's another debate though.

Yes I'll post what I can later when I get home.

[Richard76]

the easy answer to your fullbacks is .... if your not happy with the fullbacks then dont play with any

3 at the back

Thought about doing that but I have a lot of very good wide players who I need in my team.

I don't have any wingbacks either.

[Richard76]

Ok, well, returning to your original post to try to solve the problem.

I think the settings you show are generally fine, save for the mentality. Even without seeing his stats I think he's not defensive enough. It would help if you showed your entire defensive set up and team set up, along with their stats, but I understand if you're reluctant to.

Having his mentality right in the centre of normal, to me, means that he is not concerned enough with defending. I know the problem might not be manifesting itself very well, but he's being caught out of position because he's not too bothered about defending. If you played him like this against Chelsea I'm honestly not too surprised he was at fault.

Ok, here's my latest settings

FB

http://img50.imageshack.us/img50/9120/33919493ep6.jpg

CB

http://img249.imageshack.us/img249/6122/52898752qf1.jpg

Team

http://img134.imageshack.us/img134/197/teamhm0.jpg

Here are my right backs

Silva (RB 2)

http://img50.imageshack.us/img50/7361/silvapw4.jpg

Omozusi RB (RB 30)

http://img249.imageshack.us/img249/6378/omozusirl8.jpg

And these are my left backs

Mattock (LB 23)

http://img134.imageshack.us/img134/273/mattockyz9.jpg

Yordanov (LB 31)

http://img249.imageshack.us/img249/2039/yordanovpn9.jpg

All thoughts would be most welcome.

[yMngwie]

after been seeing your screenshot,i think you should try this ...

- set your both FB from often cross ball to mixed

- set your both CB cross from (from mixed to deep)

- tell your both winger to help the defend if being attacked, just tick the tight marking and set to man marking... and set the closing down to all pitch.

hope this help.

[Richard76]

after been seeing your screenshot,i think you should try this ...

- set your both FB from often cross ball to mixed

- set your both CB cross from (from mixed to deep)

- tell your both winger to help the defend if being attacked, just tick the tight marking and set to man marking... and set the closing down to all pitch.

hope this help.

I'll try that on my wingers. Cheers.

How will changing crossing instructions help??? Sorry mate, can't see that one working.

[ZdlR]

You're playing very quick and rather direct. I'd be surprised if you ever had the majority of possession. Neither of your right backs will be in any way accurate with that passing instruction and their passing attribute. Your left backs will probably fair better. Silva has some decent decisions on him but you're still playing him too attacking considering he doesn't offer a great deal going forward, he's actually a solid defensive full back, bar some poor anticipation, questionable work rate and dire strength. I'd consider having him concentrate more on defending and think of other avenues of attack, rather than trying to create from the back. Omozusi is a back up at best, but he's got a better spread of attributes.

Mattock is a different prospect. He has the stamina and ability to get up and down the line and cause a bit of havok to the opposition. I would advise he crosses from deep so that he doesn't try to go too far up the pitch and get caught on the counter. His crossing isn't all that great though, passing being a better option for him. Train him tactically and technically, while just maintaining his current physicality or increasing it slower. Given another season, he could be very good for you.

Yordanov is showing promise but he needs to be put back in the oven for a bit longer.

I'm also pretty amazed that you've left your DCs on normal mentality. They'll be positioned too high up the pitch, leaving space behind them, and too laissez-faire with defensive duties. As a point of perspective, in my Inter save I would occasionally set Materazzi to the first notch of 'normal' if we were playing some total no-hopers, but generally he would be one or two clicks back into defensive.

[diabolicpanda]

I would very much like to hear how this has turned out.

I'm having a world of trouble trying to explain my full backs that marking strikers is none of their business. Zonal or man, tight or loose, wide or narrow, my full backs more often than not hugs the strikers leaving the wings unmarked. Really annoying as this is the last thing i need to sort out in order to overachieve immensely with my Morecambe team.

So, Richard76 (or anybody else), did you find the philosopher's stone?

[pandemonium]

From my experience (which is not a lot - disclaimer) playing as a fullback myself in real life for a sunday team, i was always told to drop back into a CB position whenever the opponent is attacking the opposite side of the field. So I don't really see a problem with your RB's positioning in the first post as he has to drop into the area to cover the space left open by the CB's shifting left to cover the LB as he closes down on Chelsea's RM. If anything, the thing that i see being wrong on your first post pic is your DCl not shifting enough to help the LB out in case he is dribbled by the Cheslea MR. Also, your RM is just sitting there marking noone with two Chelsea players lurking on the weakside. It's not a big problem that Chelsea has 2 open players in the far side, in fact you want them to pass it that way - its the least dangerous area of the field as it will your defense time to regroup. What you don't want is for Chelsea to be able to play a through pass to their FC and cut right through your backline (which they did)

All that said, your problem is not your RB acting as a CB, but your CMs and DM not doing their job. A few pics down your first example - when the Chelsea MCr gets the ball ALL 3 of them close him down, leaving the defense matched 1 on 1 with the Chelsea attack. If the Chelsea MCr is able to deliver the pass to the striker (which he is) then you have problems. True, your DC and RB get beaten to the ball and you get scored on, but that is very likely to happen if they are 1 on 1 inside your area. You can't expect your defenders to stop Chelsea easily that close to your goal.

I think you need to tweak your CMs and DM closing down and tight marking, maybe tell your DM to close down rarely and leave him with very low mentality and back arrow so he exclusively helps out the defense, and leave your CMs to do the you dont need him in attack anyways as you have 2 CMs. However, it might not do much good as they always seem to go for the same opposing player a lot (same with DCs btw). Thats a weakness of the ME in my opinion.

Just my 2 cents. Feel free to disagree

[borivoje213]

Sorry if this has already been suggested, if so then ignore (I should have read the entire thread but its late and im lazy). Have you tried zonal marking instead? that way they'll mark up on anyone who drifts into their domain but they won't be pulled away on a wild goose chase by high creativity wingers.

[Richard76]

You're playing very quick and rather direct. I'd be surprised if you ever had the majority of possession. Neither of your right backs will be in any way accurate with that passing instruction and their passing attribute. Your left backs will probably fair better. Silva has some decent decisions on him but you're still playing him too attacking considering he doesn't offer a great deal going forward, he's actually a solid defensive full back, bar some poor anticipation, questionable work rate and dire strength. I'd consider having him concentrate more on defending and think of other avenues of attack, rather than trying to create from the back. Omozusi is a back up at best, but he's got a better spread of attributes.

Mattock is a different prospect. He has the stamina and ability to get up and down the line and cause a bit of havok to the opposition. I would advise he crosses from deep so that he doesn't try to go too far up the pitch and get caught on the counter. His crossing isn't all that great though, passing being a better option for him. Train him tactically and technically, while just maintaining his current physicality or increasing it slower. Given another season, he could be very good for you.

Yordanov is showing promise but he needs to be put back in the oven for a bit longer.

I'm also pretty amazed that you've left your DCs on normal mentality. They'll be positioned too high up the pitch, leaving space behind them, and too laissez-faire with defensive duties. As a point of perspective, in my Inter save I would occasionally set Materazzi to the first notch of 'normal' if we were playing some total no-hopers, but generally he would be one or two clicks back into defensive.

Thanks for this mate. I have been playing a global mentality recently and had great success with it. I think I'll try knocking down my defenders mentality a touch and see what happens. I may even go for a 5 x 5 theory set up.

I would very much like to hear how this has turned out.

I'm having a world of trouble trying to explain my full backs that marking strikers is none of their business. Zonal or man, tight or loose, wide or narrow, my full backs more often than not hugs the strikers leaving the wings unmarked. Really annoying as this is the last thing i need to sort out in order to overachieve immensely with my Morecambe team.

So, Richard76 (or anybody else), did you find the philosopher's stone?

Sorry, not had much time to play recently.

Sadly not. I have, however started to set my fullbacks to specifically man mark the opposing wingers. This is working a lot better. It's far from ideal but I'm hoping the next patch will help.

Speaking of which, I also posted a link to this thread in the bugs forum. It wasn't even dignified with a response.

From my experience (which is not a lot - disclaimer) playing as a fullback myself in real life for a sunday team, i was always told to drop back into a CB position whenever the opponent is attacking the opposite side of the field. So I don't really see a problem with your RB's positioning in the first post as he has to drop into the area to cover the space left open by the CB's shifting left to cover the LB as he closes down on Chelsea's RM. If anything, the thing that i see being wrong on your first post pic is your DCl not shifting enough to help the LB out in case he is dribbled by the Cheslea MR. Also, your RM is just sitting there marking noone with two Chelsea players lurking on the weakside. It's not a big problem that Chelsea has 2 open players in the far side, in fact you want them to pass it that way - its the least dangerous area of the field as it will your defense time to regroup. What you don't want is for Chelsea to be able to play a through pass to their FC and cut right through your backline (which they did)

All that said, your problem is not your RB acting as a CB, but your CMs and DM not doing their job. A few pics down your first example - when the Chelsea MCr gets the ball ALL 3 of them close him down, leaving the defense matched 1 on 1 with the Chelsea attack. If the Chelsea MCr is able to deliver the pass to the striker (which he is) then you have problems. True, your DC and RB get beaten to the ball and you get scored on, but that is very likely to happen if they are 1 on 1 inside your area. You can't expect your defenders to stop Chelsea easily that close to your goal.

I think you need to tweak your CMs and DM closing down and tight marking, maybe tell your DM to close down rarely and leave him with very low mentality and back arrow so he exclusively helps out the defense, and leave your CMs to do the you dont need him in attack anyways as you have 2 CMs. However, it might not do much good as they always seem to go for the same opposing player a lot (same with DCs btw). Thats a weakness of the ME in my opinion.

Just my 2 cents. Feel free to disagree

I like your thinking here.

I'm playing a slightly different way now 4 4 1 1. I think I will try and tone down my closing down as it may well be a bit too high as you suggest.

Thanks for your 2 cents. Much appreciated.

Sorry if this has already been suggested, if so then ignore (I should have read the entire thread but its late and im lazy). Have you tried zonal marking instead? that way they'll mark up on anyone who drifts into their domain but they won't be pulled away on a wild goose chase by high creativity wingers.

You should read it all at some point, it's a good read.

The problem here is I get exactly the same problem regardless of whether I set my fullbacks to mark man (chelsea pictures) or zonal (fulham pictures).

[pauly1616]

Christ man, don't beat yourself up over it full backs are probably just bugged/stupid. I think they were having some problems with them...

[Noel Gallagher]

I normally find just setting the OI's before the game to show them onto their weaker foot, tackle them hard and always close down works a treat as you are making sure they are given attention all the time, but it's not just one person handed the responsibility, they will be dealt with by whoever's zone they're in