A general appeal from a player who leaks online goals like a rusty bucket…

[Mascot]

I posted this on the official EA forums, but am hoping that some of you guys here might be able to offer some much needed advice:

Can nobody provide a definitive guide to defending?

BluChampBlogger’s tips are great and up to his usual highly detailed standards, but by his own admission he doesn’t play online and consequently some of the tactics (eg letting your AI defenders mop up at the back) are footballing suicide against a human opponent with any sense of attacking skill.

Personally I’m getting sick to death of my defence avoiding the ball like it’s got dog muck smeared all over it and acting like they would rather be back at home watching the telly.

I’m not too proud to admit that I need help from better players, so please, somebody – anybody – can you offer any tips to someone who gives goals away like some footballing charity worker?

A typical problem for me is the defence getting ripped apart by through balls, with the nearest defender fast asleep until the attacking forward is so far ahead that he has an easy one-on-one with the keeper. What formation, mentality, custom tactics etc are best for dealing with this situation? What buttons should I be pressing to make sure the nearest defender contains the attacker or (better yet) closes him down quickly and wins the ball? Should auto-switching be set as high as possible so that I am instantly in control of the nearest man (and what should I do when I am in control of that man), or is using ‘team-mate press’ (holding A or B on the 360 controller in the default control map) the best option? Whenever I am in the same situation at the other end of the field it seems like my attacker will instantly have two or three defenders converging on him at speed, and even a lightning forward like Torres can’t seem to out-sprint the defenders, even when he knocks the ball ahead of him and runs on to it. When I am defending the opposing team seem to leave my defenders for dead, easily passing the ball around them or dribbling past for an easy shot at goal. My defenders seem static and for the most part might as well not be there. What should I be doing?

Another annoying thing is if I’m using the team-mate press option, but need to manually switch to that defender because he’s not sprinting and the attacker is pulling away. When I switch to that player there is a momentary pause where the defender stops for a split second before continuing, by which time the attacker is dust in the distance. Is there a way to stop this happening?

Also, what is the best way to contain an attacker who receives the ball with his back to you, then turns and sprints past? What button and thumbstick combos are best for stopping him in his tracks?

I guess what I really need is an idiot’s guide to defending, for someone to say “in situation X, do Y by pressing button Z”. I know there’s a hell of a lot more to defending than just pressing the right button at the right time, but if I can’t master the basics (and believe me, I’m struggling to) then there really is no hope for me.

I’ve trawled countless forums and websites and a lot of people seem to be asking the same questions, but for the life of me I haven’t really found any specific solutions.

Can anybody help? Please? Pretty please?

Many thanks in advance..!


(Just to clarify, these tips are needed for online play)

[EXboxur]

Dude, everything you mentioned is my problem online!

I killed in FIFA 08, because my D was so tight. This year....FORGET IT! Through balls rip me apart. My backline is like Swiss cheese. My defenders get turned so easily. Switching to Team Press is a nightmare with the 360 d-pad. My defenders don't like to soft tackle and often don't respond to me pressing the A button. EA changed something this year to make my defending so ineffective, but I just can't put my finger on it. I don't know what to do anymore.

[EXboxur]

Anybody? Any real solid tips aside from the BS that EA released?

It's really a shame because all of the aforementioned problems are making me consider dropping FIFA and picking up PES again. I never thought I'd say that, but the change from 08 to 09 in the defensive department is so drastic that I can barely stand it any longer. Granted I have not spent nearly the amount of hours playing 09 that I did 08, but I find it hard to believe that defending could have changed so much from one year to the next. It's to the point where I'm getting beat by friends who don't know a lick about footie and couldn't hang with me at all in 08. And I'm not even talking getting beat by a goal or so, I'm talking 4-1 score lines at what some might consider an alarming rate.

Everything just feels different this year. Player momentum, especially on defensive is poor. Players just let balls go passed them when simply sticking their foot out would intercept a pass. Pressing the soft tackle button quite often does not soft tackle, but lunges towards a player, which then puts the defender out of the play because his momentum is so exaggerated. Through balls shred my back line like Swiss Cheese. Calling second defenders sometimes requires 2 or 3 presses before they react. Team press is a pain to trigger on time this year because of the awful 360 d-pad. There is more, but I think you get the idea.

It's really disheartening to be so dominant in the series one year and then the next year be so woefully ineffective. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Kwb62000]

I tell you what, online is a nightmare. You come up against a player, and this has happened to me multiple times, who will sit back and just long ball...long ball, long through ball. I swear this happened....I picked Barcelona again Inter, as the guy had picked him like 5 times so I though i'd teach him a lesson....No.

What happened is he put it on ultra defensise and sat back and just hoofed balls over my D-line to C. Ronaldo, none of the players reacting, and I got screwed over 3-0. I sent him a message saying, yeah nice tactic there...and he just said well, it's cos i'm ****.

What can be done to sort this out?!

[FORMULA316]

I'll chip in for what's worth, as I have had some clean sheet wins but also know
know what it's like to get blasted off the digital pitch. My advice, stay in front.

Stay in front of the attacker with your defender, preferably a mid-fielder that you
control and avoid toggling to various players when on defense. If you're always in
the middle of the attack and your own goalkeeper, you'll be less prone to giving
up a break on goal and you'll likely get more tackles and blocked shots.

Also edit your formations to make your defense play more defensive. I have some
edits that I can share later on.

Also maybe try the game off with a 'defensive' mentality first, and adjust accordingly
after seeing what your opponent is up to. Don't be afraid to pass back, and build up
the attack from your backfield. You can get your opponent to bite and then you can
set yourself up for the counter attack.

[jaguar8311]

I have been shutting people down because I use 2 sweepers, Forget trying to get the offside call, I just dont want anyone behind me and its worked very well.

I am running a (Attackers first)

2-1-3-3-1(Weird formation I know) it works pretty good, I still genertate an attack, My Outside Midfielders require fantastic speed so they chase down players up and down. My 3 D are jam packed in the Centre with the sweeper just clearing away any through balls.

As another poster said, Make sure to set your Defense to a very defensive mentality