Advice please

[LeeWHU888]

Having a couple of issues that I can't seem to rectify.

In the 3 seasons I've had, I've given away about 8 penalties in injury time all given by VAR and most are for pushes in the box. I'm telling my players to get stuck in so i expect to commit more fouls than normal but pushing in the back isn't getting stuck in, that's just being stupid. Why are my defenders doing it? I''ve got Harry Maguire and Rudiger at CB, and Andy Robertson and Thomas Munier as full backs so all solid defenders IRL and yet they're defending like ***** when it comes to injury time. What can I do to stop this? Is it the get stuck in instruction? I can count on 1 hand how many penalties I've been awarded on this save yet we give them away all the time.

Also, holding onto leads. There's been a few times when I've gone 2-0 up in a games then begin to struggle, players start making silly decisions which result in goals, then once we've conceded 1, it normally means come injury time we'll concede and it's always worldies. Player gets ball out wide, skips past my players and sticks 1 in from 25 yards. What changes do you make to see out a result? I'm always wary of going too defensive as I feel like that will invite pressure on and we won't cope. Any advice appreciated.

[Experienced Defender]

You need to post a screenshot of the tactic, so that we could see the whole context. It might be the get stuck in instruction, but could likewise be something entirely different. Don't look at tactical settings in isolation, because everything is interrelated. Having good defenders alone is no guarantee that your team will be defensively sound.

[LeeWHU888]

Played 16 games this season. Conceded 6 penalties already this season.

[Experienced Defender]

43 minutes ago, LeeWHU888 said:

Played 16 games this season. Conceded 6 penalties already this season

Immediately upon opening the screenshot, I saw the most likely reason why that happens - the combination of high d-line and get stuck in (which is further compounded by more urgent pressing). Tighter marking may also contribute to some degree, not because it's a wrong instruction per se, but because it can be risky in this particular setup. I use tighter marking often, but my setup(s) is/are very different from yours.

And this was only about the defensive side of your tactic.

[_Daniel_]

It could be due to their hidden 'dirtiness' attributes? This makes them more likely to commit fouls. If they are happening late in games it could be due to their concentration attribute. Concentration fades later in games and mistakes creep in. 

[LeeWHU888]

12 hours ago, Experienced Defender said:

Immediately upon opening the screenshot, I saw the most likely reason why that happens - the combination of high d-line and get stuck in (which is further compounded by more urgent pressing). Tighter marking may also contribute to some degree, not because it's a wrong instruction per se, but because it can be risky in this particular setup. I use tighter marking often, but my setup(s) is/are very different from yours.

And this was only about the defensive side of your tactic.

The thing is, 90% of them are given away at corners or long throws into the box so would the d-line have anything to do with it? 

I think Daniel has it right with concentration as apart from Andy Robertson, their concentration stat are all "12". 

Any advice on how I can reduce the chance of it happening? I'm thinking to take away get stuck in, urgent pressing and tight marking around 75/80 mins? Hopefully we'd then focus more on holding a shape late on rather than going chasing after the ball and making reckless decisions.

[Experienced Defender]

2 hours ago, LeeWHU888 said:

The thing is, 90% of them are given away at corners or long throws into the box so would the d-line have anything to do with it? 

I was not talking solely about d-line, but the combination of high DL and get stuck in (and more urgent press on top of that) as a very risky defensive setup in general. Because it's an overkill when all these are used together. Plus, you play on a high-risk mentality, which further increases the risk. Higher d-line on positive mentality is not same as higher dl on balanced (or cautious etc.). Likewise, more urgent pressing on positive mentality is not same as more urg press on a lower mentality. Even tackling intensity is affected by a change in mentality. Because mentality affects everything (even when that's not visible in the tactics creator). If you play on higher DL, leave both pressing and tackling on default. Maybe you will even have to consider removing the tighter marking TI (both because of high DL and the top-heaviness of your 4231 formation). Instead, you can tell the entire midfield (or 3 central midfield players) to mark tighter in their PIs. And last but not least, you always need to consider your players' (relative) abilities.

 

2 hours ago, LeeWHU888 said:

I think Daniel has it right with concentration as apart from Andy Robertson, their concentration stat are all "12". 

Concentration can contribute of course, but I still fear that even if they had a lot better concentration, it would not solve the problem completely.

 

2 hours ago, LeeWHU888 said:

Any advice on how I can reduce the chance of it happening? I'm thinking to take away get stuck in, urgent pressing and tight marking around 75/80 mins?

As I already said, if you (want to) play on a higher DL, I would remove both get stuck in and more urgent pressing (and perhaps even tighter marking as a team instruction), and not only in the finishing stage of the game but from the very beginning. Even if you managed a lot better team than WHU, your defensive settings might be risky, let alone with WHU.