Opposition playing defensive when you are in a winning form

[aditya]

I am currently 32 games unbeaten, almost 70% through the season and I am still competing for EPL, CL, FA and EFL. However I've noticed my opposition are regurarly parking the bus where I cant no longer score more than 1 goal, or at times a nil nil draw. I say this because when I play teams like Man City, A Madrid, I can still score 2-4 goals against them. I've tried different training style, change tactic slightly and experiment with team talks, yet I still cant find solution to counter their defensive tactic.

Anyone got tips on how to counter ultra defensive tactic? I am currently playing the 3-5-3 strikerless chinese tactic. Beginning of the season I would score 3-6 goals reguarly in a match, that is why Im positive the tactic worked.

[right_winger]

You better tell us where you found the option to field 12 players instead of 11... sorry, couldn't resist

[aditya]

24 minutes ago, yasiek83 said:

You better tell us where you found the option to field 12 players instead of 11... sorry, couldn't resist

hahah i mean 3-4-3 It does look like having 12 players when you dominate so much ;P

[mbabbs]

Teams that go ultra defensive rely on defending deep, limiting space, keeping their shape and defending against an aerial threat. They then hope to catch you on the counter.

There are a number of approaches you can take to this;

1: Beat them in the air

If your forwards are better in the air than their CBs and goalkeeper then you can exploit that. Put the ball in the air in the box and see if your attackers can get on the end of it.

2: Create space

Their defense relies on them keeping their shape and limiting space. Therefore you need to pull them out of position and increase the area for your attackers to exploit. You do this by dropping your defensive line and playing wide. This also helps you falling to their counter.

3: High Tempo

If you have the players with the right attributes, then increase the tempo. It will give the opposition less chance to organize themselves.

4: Pepper the goal

If they park the bus, you'll be in command of the space that allows your central midfield players to pepper the goal with long shots. If you give them license to shoot then their goalkeeper will be a busy man and you'll get an abundance of corners.

[Erith22]

I am running into this big time this season.  I have like a %80 win percentage away, and draw half the time at home, because teams park the bus.

But I find its even worse than in previous editions.  It's not that they are just parking it and blasting the ball upfield.  Rather, they are playing contain and just passing it between their defenders.  So its not just that I'm not getting good shots, I'm not getting enough shots.  Even with very high closing down, my players don't aggressively try and pry the ball away that far up field, and if there's a touchy ref, they all start picking up yellows.

 

In my most recent match against relegation zone Watford, I managed only 2 of 11 shots on target, %51 possession and had 5 yellow cards (on 11 fouls).  They had 1 of 4 shots, 2 yellows on 14 fouls.

I watched the last 30 minutes full and Watford was just passing it between their defenders and defensive mids, not even attempting to go forward.  My players set on maximum close down would get close but too slow and tentative to get the ball back until another minute had ticked down.  They were playing a 4-2-2-1-1 with a flat 4, 2 DMs, 2 wide mids, an AMC and a striker

[GreenTriangle]

19 hours ago, Erith22 said:

Even with very high closing down, my players don't aggressively try and pry the ball away that far up field, and if there's a touchy ref, they all start picking up yellows.

They are running like chickens after the player who has the ball. And other opposition players are free around this player. Tight marking for 1 or 2 opposite player is more useful.

[isignedupfornorealreason]

I just slow the tempo initially and see where that goes. If needed I can then raise the creative freedom.

 

But for me, I have a few players who are roaming into space naturally, and I play on structured to try and open up more space anyway. The problems I see when the AI park the bus is my own team forces the issue too much, with expansive, long passing, which is fine if there is space to exploit, but when the opposition is packed, it's counter-intuitive as it'll lead to players being isolated and outnumbered. - So it also depends on the opposition formation; I've seen the AI try and contain/defensive with a 4-2-3-1 (everyone up in the AM strata) and it is just so easy for me to walk through them. When they go 4-2DM-3-1 it becomes a bit more touch and go.

 

That said, I'm blessed with quality players with superb composure, decision making, technique and vision attributes across the board. And also very fast and agile players who can operate in tight spaces and give the opposition twisted blood. So there's no one-size fits all method imo.