Coping with opposition wingers

[tottenman]

This is possibly going to sound ametuerish (despite playing the game year after year) but i am having real trouble with dealing with the oppositions wingers in this version (and possibly in other versions from memory). I have tried man marking (with and without tight marking on), adjusting the individual instructions before and during a game (based on Assistant feedback) and having closing down both high and low, but the oppositions wingers always seem to skip past (more to the point my wingbacks just seem to let them past with minimal contest). Now i can understand that some wingers (i.e. ronaldo) are just pure class and 9/10 times will make my wing back look a fool anyway, but it seems to happen with any winger i play against, to the point where i may forget wingback/Full backs and use the player in a different position as he is wasted on the wing.

Does anyone have any advice for me as cleary i am missing something (i wont go on about how annnoying the AI is, how it cheats or anything as that gets no where).

Thanks in advance for any help.

[Yonezzz]

I have absolutely nothing to add, I'm afraid, other than that I'm having largely the opposite problem! My wingers are less effective in 9.3 than before. Someone will be able to offer some good advice though.

[josha007]

Im sure there is something wrong with the marking of wingers in this game.Ive had my fullbacks on all the different kinds of settings and they are sometimes no where near the winger!!Ive conceded so many goals where the winger wanders in completely alone at the back post for a simple tap in.Its really annoying and it seems it cant be stopped

[Yoobastid]

"(i wont go on about how annnoying the AI is, how it cheats or anything as that gets no where)."

Good, becuase the fact is it doesn't.

Its hard for me to help when you are so vague about how you go about your tactics.

I'd be happy to try and help if you could explain your tactics more indepth or maybe post up some screenshots as they would be ideal?

[tottenman]

I have exactly the same problem josha007. Wingers seem to be left alone by the wing backs and crosses fly over everyones head only for the winger on the other side to be there for the tap in. Like i said i have tried man marking (specific in some cases) and they get left alone at vital points in the opposition attack. Zonal marking reaps no reward either. The only thing i can think of in response to Yoobastid's query is that i play wing backs and not full backs (in their repective position on the pitch) but from memory full backs have not joy either in preventing wingers running riot. What i would be looking for is someone who has found a system (set of instructions) that they use that helps to nullify wingers more often than not (cos lets face it the human error, ok its a computer game, is always there and sometimes players laps in concentration or forget, or dont listen).

[Freeman21]

Same problem here. Just last night i ditched the 4 defender system and used 3 defenders (while placing the extra man as an AMC). At least now i know why i'm getting trashed on the wings.

P.S: i only played 5 games in the new system but, surprisingly, i got some decent results.

[phnompenhandy]

For neutralising wingers I tend to focus on OIs rather than my players' settings. They need closing down, and if they're not too speedy and intelligent, tightly marked too.

Then there is the 'foot' instruction - this depends on who they are supplying the ball to. If the forward is better in the air than your DCs, the wingers need showing onto the foot that stops them getting in good crosses. However, if the striker is short and nippy, make the winger cross rather than play a through ball. Similarly, if the winger is a better passer than crosser, keep him pinned to the byline.

This kind of approach, with OIs, could prove to be the effective tool you need.

[Codename47]

For neutralising wingers I tend to focus on OIs rather than my players' settings. They need closing down, and if they're not too speedy and intelligent, tightly marked too.

Then there is the 'foot' instruction - this depends on who they are supplying the ball to. If the forward is better in the air than your DCs, the wingers need showing onto the foot that stops them getting in good crosses. However, if the striker is short and nippy, make the winger cross rather than play a through ball. Similarly, if the winger is a better passer than crosser, keep him pinned to the byline.

This kind of approach, with OIs, could prove to be the effective tool you need.

Yes thats the basis I work on aswell.

I tend not to complicate things too much. I usually (all things being equal) have my FB (who are now fast - helps) to be on tight zonal marking with higher closing down (middle) and use the OI function on their wingers and FB does help. It also helps as mentioned above to look at their wingers & FB skills. You may want to hard tackle them if appropriate. And also having your own wingers on high closing down makes them back track but also placing them on loose zonal or sometimes tight zonal if required.

[kingpin]

I have the same problem, it's annoying seeing my FB tracking the winger all the way down the line not putting in a challenge, just to wait for the winger to play it off him for a corner, wingers do tend to get left alone at vital times, i have had the cross to unmarked winger who taps in happen so many times despite whether i use zonal/tight/man/loose marking i have tried everything it still happens.

There is also times when the FB decides to go mark one of the strikers, and leaves the winger to get a unchallenged cross in.

[micro-ice]

have you tried loose man marking their full backs with your wingers (i assume you are using a 433)?

[llama3]

my marking is loose, zonal, and with average closing down - try that, it means your defence keeps its shape much better so the wingers cant penetrate too far without running into traffic. could try showing onto weaker foot too!

[Thengil]

What are you seeing as the problem? Is it

a) The opposition winger gets played into space in behind and outside your fullback who has tucked in close to the central defender to stop the striker from getting too much space?

b) The opposition winger receiving the ball in front of your back four and then beating your fullback with pace/dribbling?

c) Your fullback being left completely alone against a winger AND an overlapping fullback?

In the (a) case I'd say a high closing down setting won't have any real effect - I'd watch a match in full match mode for a while and try to experiment to see what settings do the trick (I suspect no forward runs, defensive mentality and low to moderate closing down on your fullback will be fairly successful).

In the (b) case you probably have a fullback that's up against a really tricky and skillful winger - tight marking may be a bad idea here since the fullback will get skinned if he isn't absolutely awesome. Once again, try different instructions in full match mode to see what the effects are. If the winger is extremely one-footed you could probably show him onto his weak foot to limit his effectiveness.

In the © case your fullback needs help! He's never going to win the battle alone vs 2 attacking players - tell your winger to man-mark their fullback or at least give him a more defensive mentality and raise his closing down stat.

In order to find what works and what doesn't I really recommend you watch at least a bit of the game in full match - highlights are fairly useless at telling you why your tactics fail.

[orangecloud]

Your own wingers are the key. Your fb's will be skinned when in a man-to-man situation with a winger who is quick and a good dribbler. Have your own wingers manmark the opposing wingers and put your fullbacks on zonal marking. Your fullbacks will be the cover. Works like a charm.

[lucatonix]

I play a counter attacking 4-1-4-1, so i have up to 9 players back and therefore my main emphasis in defending is stopping quick attacks or passes to the strikers/dangermen. Once this is done mainly by tight marking but varies dependant on the team and players then my winger and full back tend to double team the opposition winger making it near impossible for him to do an effective cross or cut inside and score.

[meyer]

i think alot of this has to do with width. i just got battered by chelsea 3-0 at home and it was all because their wingers were just walking past my fullbacks. so in my frustration i switched to my all out attack tactic. for some reason i decided to put width to narrow and despite not scoring i completely dominated the remainder of the game.

so to check this wasn't a one off i played the game again with my normal tactic but set the width 7 ( 1 above narrow) i also dropped my def line back from 12 to 10 and only set OI to closing down often on wingers as per normal.

i beat them 3-0 and their wingers didn't get a look in. most of the time they coundnt even get to the byline. most of there shots were from distance and once again i dominated possession

they played a 4-3-3 and i play a 4-4-1-1

i know this is just 1 game but would like to see if it works for anyone else