How to stop players crossing?

[Chair_]

Players constantly putting in awful low percentage crosses. Most of the time the cross isn't even on, blocked off by defenders.

I started a new save with man city (to make sure my players weren't the problem) and played 1 friendly against Ajax with the same tactics.

All wide players are set to cross less often, all central players are set to move into channels (in an attempt to give the wide players passing options).  I've attached an image of the tactics. 

 

I watched the full first 30 mins to make sure the problem was still there (it was) before skipping through the rest. There were 15 attempted crosses in that period, 3 completed. 6 of the 15 I would describe as horrendous attempts: either the crosser had much better options or no hope of beating the first man. 

Kyle Walker attempted an impossible cross after 5 mins, blocked by 2 defenders. I've attached a screenshot, with arrows on to show his passing options. With neither defender applying pressure, he was free to hold the ball and wait for better options. 

De Bruyne did the same after 15 mins with much better passing options and under even less pressure. The cross once again went straight into the closest defender, image attached. 

We finish the game with 28 attempted crosses from open play, with 4 successful. 

 

Can anyone please make a guess at why this is happening or how to stop it?

[Experienced Defender]

First, you play on the extremely wide attacking width, which will naturally encourage more crossing. So this looks to me like the most obvious cause of your issue (although probably not the only one). 

Then you use the Be more expressive TI, which gives more creative freedom to your players (especially in the final third), which may also encourage them to cross more - and even more so if they don't have better options. 

Having mentioned the potential lack of better options, by being so aggressive when defending, you are not just putting a lot of pressure on the opposition but also limiting/reducing your own players' space in the final third. 

Then there is contradiction between different elements of your tactic. On one hand, you use possession-oriented instructions - such as PoD, WBiB and the already mentioned extremely aggressive defensive TIs - but then you also have other instructions like pass into space (which space?!?), extremely wide width and counter, which are far from being possession-friendly. 

In terms of roles, you have both CMs as runners from deep (CM on support), meaning none is helping to recycle possession (let alone protecting the back-line). 

And since you are Man City, it's quite reasonable to assume that you most of the time face very defensive opposition that tends to pack their defense in order to make themselves as hard to break down as possible. Which means that you need (a lot) more variety in your attacking patterns if you want to break them down effectively. 

 

[Chair_]

14 hours ago, Experienced Defender said:

First, you play on the extremely wide attacking width, which will naturally encourage more crossing. So this looks to me like the most obvious cause of your issue (although probably not the only one). 

Then you use the Be more expressive TI, which gives more creative freedom to your players (especially in the final third), which may also encourage them to cross more - and even more so if they don't have better options. 

Having mentioned the potential lack of better options, by being so aggressive when defending, you are not just putting a lot of pressure on the opposition but also limiting/reducing your own players' space in the final third. 

Then there is contradiction between different elements of your tactic. On one hand, you use possession-oriented instructions - such as PoD, WBiB and the already mentioned extremely aggressive defensive TIs - but then you also have other instructions like pass into space (which space?!?), extremely wide width and counter, which are far from being possession-friendly. 

In terms of roles, you have both CMs as runners from deep (CM on support), meaning none is helping to recycle possession (let alone protecting the back-line). 

And since you are Man City, it's quite reasonable to assume that you most of the time face very defensive opposition that tends to pack their defense in order to make themselves as hard to break down as possible. Which means that you need (a lot) more variety in your attacking patterns if you want to break them down effectively. 

 

Hi, thanks for replying. 

 

I have a question about the 'conflicting' instructions: 

How are 'pass into space', 'extremely wide' and 'counter' contradictory with possession football? I'd say all three of those apply to Liverpool and City (in real life), the two teams with the most possession in the league. 

[Experienced Defender]

Just now, Chair_ said:

How are 'pass into space', 'extremely wide' and 'counter' contradictory with possession football?

I think it's more than evident.

Passing into space entails more passing risks, which is obviously not possession-friendly. Rather than encouraging the whole team to make passes into space, you can tell a couple of your best and most creative passers to take more risks in their PIs. There are situations (tactics) where passes into space can be part of a possession-oriented play, but that's a different story. 

Extremely wide width means (much) greater distance between players, whereas possession football requires them to be close enough so that those short passes can be played more safely. This does not mean that you need to go with a narrower or much narrower width. Instead, standard or slightly wider should be optimal (especially if you manage a top team). 

Counter is obviously anti-possession instruction, because it encourages your players to attempt counter-attacks as soon as they win the ball back, which more often than not actually leads to losing possession cheaply (especially if you are the favorite playing against packed defenses). As important - you don't need to use the Counter TI in order for counter-attacks to take place. They will happen even without the instruction when/if a good opportunity presents itself. 

6 minutes ago, Chair_ said:

I'd say all three of those apply to Liverpool and City (in real life), the two teams with the most possession in the league

Liverpool do not play possession football. They do have high possession statistically, but that has much more to do with their aggressive defensive style and/or opponents intentionally letting them have the ball. Actually, Liverpool mostly play fast attacking football, which is the exact opposite of possession football (apart from certain periods during a match when they slow it down a bit before going fast again ). City, on the other hand, do play some sort of possession-oriented hybrid style, but their tactic is very different from yours (including the formation).