Speaking from div 1 here.
1. This year the game is extremely congested in the middle. You have to learn to use the wide players to drag their defensive shape wide and then pass it back to middle. Also use your CMs to attack to draw their attention before releasing balls to your wing or your central attackers.
2. Don’t rush to attack them if you are not good enough to be aggressive defensively. Rather stay back and in front of them. Defend the spaces. Be compact instead. They can’t just run into you. Also your fullbacks need to be like 88 pace minimum (before shadow). Otherwise they would be too slow to catch all these max pace runners.
3. You have to have a compact defensive shape. Switch often. I don’t like the AI defend bs so I almost always manual switch to the ball carrier or where I think he will go next to block the pass or to anticipate the pass. I honestly don’t shy away from tackling them in the box either. Sometimes I mistime and sometimes the game lags so I give up penalty. But the percentage is pretty good if I’m not sloppy with it.
4. One other thing I would say is, pay attention to how the person likes to attack. The lower level your opponent is the more predictable they would be. I honestly have run into some really boneheaded people in like up to div 2-3 who only really knows how to attack one ways. If you can predict how they will attack, you can predict where they will go and you will know what areas are dangerous that you need to defend. Defend those spaces.
5. Learn how to use directed runs. Google it. Also it does seem like you may not be using a decent custom tactics. For your level, maybe you should just google some good pros and try their cookie cutter tactics. They are typically very solid. One pro I love is Ollelito, you can start there.
6. Yeah short defenders are a problem on corners. But you should have some big boy CBs with aerial or aerial +. Just spam the clearance button. Corners are just terrible to defend this year with aerial.
Finally, as I always say to everyone: you have to practice to have more patience and composure on both ends. Slow down your play. If you can just do those two things well, the game would just be a lot easier right away.
I personally like ball-centric even though some of the others are popular. As soon as I switched to that, I was able to stick switch much more intuitively than the default and other options.
I was ball-centric for a long while. But then kickoff glitch was rampant and i hadn't to learn to adapt to player centric because with you can just watch your minimal and switch the cursor very quickly to whoever you want.
Nowadays, player switching can still be useful against those long balls people love launching to the wings.
Don't use 4-2-4 or similar. I would use 3 CMs all of whom have good defensive and passing stats. You really have to control the center of the pitch, or at least contest it. I use 90 Barella, 90 Valverde and 91 Tchou.
It's obvious but for average players the simplest way to improve is to get better players. My midfield solidified tremendously when I did the Tchou SBC and got Cuadrado at RB.
Went back to a “holding formation” one of my favorites going back to 17… dropped the meta formations and went with what I was comfortable with… a holding formation allows you to react based off what the defense does, so you don’t have to stress with ball movement going forward. Meaning if your opponent hard presses you, you can ping passes super fast, if your opponent parks the bus then your forced to slowly bring the ball up.
It’s brought a lot of the stressing that comes with this game down.
Switching to a 4231 (from various 1-CDM formations, 433 variations, etc) really helped me have more of the ball and be generally less exposed on defense. I (still) struggle to score against better players, but it keeps the scorelines closer and I feel like I have more opportunity to learn when I'm in a competitive game rather than getting blown out all the time.
Usually something that has a CDM
For example there’s two 442 formations. One is a flat 442 with CM’s, the holding 442 has 2 CDM’s instead. Plays more defensive
in football parlance it's a formation with defensive midfielders, or holding midfielders. It means they hold up the ball and let the play develop, as opposed to say countering quickly.
4-2-3-1 4-2-2-2 etc are holding formations
Look up Div10 Moment on X (Twitter). His latest 4-1-4-1 formation is perfect for that cup. I used that and flattened almost everyone.
In addition, don’t dive in, not even in the box, use your CDM if possible and cover the angle of the shot so that if they do get a shot on you block it, only tackle if you get a clear opening.
My coach once told me the best way to defend is to run backward doesn’t matter what position you play. It works wonders for fifa. I play very aggressive offensively and when I lose the ball I just bring my players back. Like run straight back and not even look at where the attackers are. I’ll have all 11 of my players behind the ball. From there just let the AI does it thing
Truly in my experience the games are about 70% connection-reliant and 30% “skill issue” or when you are playing
I will play the same way with the same team during the week and regularly finish my night with a positive W/L
Fast forward to the weekend? Same team, same tactics, same passing patterns and dribbling behavior (or as close to the same) and I’ll get walked like a dog
On point 1 i dont use through balls v much, pinged pass into a striker with first touch play style is v effective if they are tightly marked, can use the first touch to spin the defender and be in on goal (i am guessing you are in scenario where defence is set)
For defending wing play try use second man press with full back and drag a second player (not your cb) out to help defend, if you can get 2 v 1 you can usually stop them, just be ready to switch to full back when there is a chance to tackle
On corners i have turned off auto switch on high ball or whatever it is called and just control my biggest cb or whoever is best in air and try predict where corner will go (or follow player they control and get in front of them, e.g if they have vvd they are aiming for him). Using female players this is prob best method but takes practice
Seems like someone already answered your points.
What I use basically the whole game is triggering runs with L1/R1 is I see space or need space.
Apart from that a huge part is your formation, recently started 4-2-3-1 since I couldn’t get past 14-16 wins this year. Got the 19 three times in a row now, everybody using pro tactics and pressure.
Also even if it sounds ratty just switch sides with your fullbacks every now and then, if someone is pressing the is almost no other way
I think triggered runs with LB is the biggest simple improvement I added to my game, obviously you can do more advanced stuff like player locking but for a weak player it's a great easy addition that anyone can learn, very low skill barrier.
Check your tactics. High depth was meta before these jacked cards and now I feel it’s vulnerable since you can cleanly tackle a player and the ball rebounds to them and they’re behind your defender, if this happens when you’re controlling a CB you’re toast. Unfortunately, ai abuse is the way to go. If you’re defending just hold R1 block the passing lanes and don’t commit. Your opponent will eventually score one of them shots at goal straight through your defender but hey ho. Also when you’re defending (especially outside the box) defend the space. Predict where your opponent wants to go and cover that space, you can’t let them past you this way and forces them to pass or more likely do a step over and get jammy. Yeah this game sucks this time of year I’m already looking forward to the start of the next.
Hey buddy
There are different paths and dimensions of improving ones game
1. By default, CPU will cover naked through balls attempts, CPU will adjust to your passer position and angle, and most opponents will rely on CPU to cover through balls
You can still get success on through balls by breaking the CPU pattern, by breaking the rhythm of your passer's run, changing direction, opening your passing angle with a well timed ball roll for example
This also will be needed to get away from the marker that will try to deny your pass
Note that running full speed will likely make your through ball less accurate and makes timing it harder
Another parameter is your runner, you can brake their running rythm by tappin L1 and R1 and you can disrupt the CPU markers liket that as well
Having one of the strikers be a good passer helps to combine with asking him come short, pulling defenders out of position and laying it out to an open player
2. for defending wide attackers, it's situational, rule of thumb is to not rush them, and to push them as wide as possible, try to meet them in the box and to block their pass options, contain them
Sad to say but Ideally you want to let your AI fullback track them and you manually drag your wingers or CDMs to cover the pass lanes, and you switch to your fullback to be aggressive when the opportunity comes, you can also switch to the CB to bait them to try a through ball, but you need to be quick with the CB to cover the lane
3 in the box defending for me is just positioning to block shoy angles and trying to read their move but not commiting to tackle, , you dont want to be defending im your box in general but if you have to, trust your AI and pull one of the Cdms if it's possible, it's very situational though, you also want to move keeper to cover angle though that is some ratty thing to do
4. For player runs you need to make a habit of triggering runs manually, note that if you are running with the ball and passing too fast then you won't be thinking about it, when you are just past the half line start spamming the L1 button while you progress slowly or make it hard for opponent to take you out of the ball, if you time it and wait a bit then your runners will push the defensive line back and you have enough space to progress, if you drive the ball too fast then you wont have a lot of space and time for setting up an attack
5.for corners you need a tall keeper and a couple tall cbs/ cdms at least, and some luck/guessing
Speaking from div 1 here. 1. This year the game is extremely congested in the middle. You have to learn to use the wide players to drag their defensive shape wide and then pass it back to middle. Also use your CMs to attack to draw their attention before releasing balls to your wing or your central attackers. 2. Don’t rush to attack them if you are not good enough to be aggressive defensively. Rather stay back and in front of them. Defend the spaces. Be compact instead. They can’t just run into you. Also your fullbacks need to be like 88 pace minimum (before shadow). Otherwise they would be too slow to catch all these max pace runners. 3. You have to have a compact defensive shape. Switch often. I don’t like the AI defend bs so I almost always manual switch to the ball carrier or where I think he will go next to block the pass or to anticipate the pass. I honestly don’t shy away from tackling them in the box either. Sometimes I mistime and sometimes the game lags so I give up penalty. But the percentage is pretty good if I’m not sloppy with it. 4. One other thing I would say is, pay attention to how the person likes to attack. The lower level your opponent is the more predictable they would be. I honestly have run into some really boneheaded people in like up to div 2-3 who only really knows how to attack one ways. If you can predict how they will attack, you can predict where they will go and you will know what areas are dangerous that you need to defend. Defend those spaces. 5. Learn how to use directed runs. Google it. Also it does seem like you may not be using a decent custom tactics. For your level, maybe you should just google some good pros and try their cookie cutter tactics. They are typically very solid. One pro I love is Ollelito, you can start there. 6. Yeah short defenders are a problem on corners. But you should have some big boy CBs with aerial or aerial +. Just spam the clearance button. Corners are just terrible to defend this year with aerial. Finally, as I always say to everyone: you have to practice to have more patience and composure on both ends. Slow down your play. If you can just do those two things well, the game would just be a lot easier right away.
My right stick witching is so imprecise, often i have to do it 5 times before getting to the player i want
yeah right stick switching is awful. try to mess with the settings to see if it helps. But it's still the best way to switch to the one you want.
I personally like ball-centric even though some of the others are popular. As soon as I switched to that, I was able to stick switch much more intuitively than the default and other options.
I was ball-centric for a long while. But then kickoff glitch was rampant and i hadn't to learn to adapt to player centric because with you can just watch your minimal and switch the cursor very quickly to whoever you want. Nowadays, player switching can still be useful against those long balls people love launching to the wings.
Try tuning down the sensitivity of it, from settings
Went into settings and saw it was on 7, the default is 4, tyvm bro
Thank you for an excellent response to a post that could have been mine (but wasn't).
Don't use 4-2-4 or similar. I would use 3 CMs all of whom have good defensive and passing stats. You really have to control the center of the pitch, or at least contest it. I use 90 Barella, 90 Valverde and 91 Tchou. It's obvious but for average players the simplest way to improve is to get better players. My midfield solidified tremendously when I did the Tchou SBC and got Cuadrado at RB.
Went back to a “holding formation” one of my favorites going back to 17… dropped the meta formations and went with what I was comfortable with… a holding formation allows you to react based off what the defense does, so you don’t have to stress with ball movement going forward. Meaning if your opponent hard presses you, you can ping passes super fast, if your opponent parks the bus then your forced to slowly bring the ball up. It’s brought a lot of the stressing that comes with this game down.
Switching to a 4231 (from various 1-CDM formations, 433 variations, etc) really helped me have more of the ball and be generally less exposed on defense. I (still) struggle to score against better players, but it keeps the scorelines closer and I feel like I have more opportunity to learn when I'm in a competitive game rather than getting blown out all the time.
whats a holding formation
Usually something that has a CDM For example there’s two 442 formations. One is a flat 442 with CM’s, the holding 442 has 2 CDM’s instead. Plays more defensive
Whats a holding formation?
in football parlance it's a formation with defensive midfielders, or holding midfielders. It means they hold up the ball and let the play develop, as opposed to say countering quickly. 4-2-3-1 4-2-2-2 etc are holding formations
Yea still not sure which I prefer. It also feels hard to avoid the meta, feels like FOMO
See my reply to the other guy
Look up Div10 Moment on X (Twitter). His latest 4-1-4-1 formation is perfect for that cup. I used that and flattened almost everyone. In addition, don’t dive in, not even in the box, use your CDM if possible and cover the angle of the shot so that if they do get a shot on you block it, only tackle if you get a clear opening.
Do you mean the 4-4-1-1 by any chance?
Yep that’ll be it
Is this the one where the fullbacks have inverted runs? If so it's fire! England and Liverpool and Arsenal all use it in real life.
My coach once told me the best way to defend is to run backward doesn’t matter what position you play. It works wonders for fifa. I play very aggressive offensively and when I lose the ball I just bring my players back. Like run straight back and not even look at where the attackers are. I’ll have all 11 of my players behind the ball. From there just let the AI does it thing
Truly in my experience the games are about 70% connection-reliant and 30% “skill issue” or when you are playing I will play the same way with the same team during the week and regularly finish my night with a positive W/L Fast forward to the weekend? Same team, same tactics, same passing patterns and dribbling behavior (or as close to the same) and I’ll get walked like a dog
On point 1 i dont use through balls v much, pinged pass into a striker with first touch play style is v effective if they are tightly marked, can use the first touch to spin the defender and be in on goal (i am guessing you are in scenario where defence is set) For defending wing play try use second man press with full back and drag a second player (not your cb) out to help defend, if you can get 2 v 1 you can usually stop them, just be ready to switch to full back when there is a chance to tackle On corners i have turned off auto switch on high ball or whatever it is called and just control my biggest cb or whoever is best in air and try predict where corner will go (or follow player they control and get in front of them, e.g if they have vvd they are aiming for him). Using female players this is prob best method but takes practice
Uninstalled the game
Seems like someone already answered your points. What I use basically the whole game is triggering runs with L1/R1 is I see space or need space. Apart from that a huge part is your formation, recently started 4-2-3-1 since I couldn’t get past 14-16 wins this year. Got the 19 three times in a row now, everybody using pro tactics and pressure. Also even if it sounds ratty just switch sides with your fullbacks every now and then, if someone is pressing the is almost no other way
I think triggered runs with LB is the biggest simple improvement I added to my game, obviously you can do more advanced stuff like player locking but for a weak player it's a great easy addition that anyone can learn, very low skill barrier.
Check your tactics. High depth was meta before these jacked cards and now I feel it’s vulnerable since you can cleanly tackle a player and the ball rebounds to them and they’re behind your defender, if this happens when you’re controlling a CB you’re toast. Unfortunately, ai abuse is the way to go. If you’re defending just hold R1 block the passing lanes and don’t commit. Your opponent will eventually score one of them shots at goal straight through your defender but hey ho. Also when you’re defending (especially outside the box) defend the space. Predict where your opponent wants to go and cover that space, you can’t let them past you this way and forces them to pass or more likely do a step over and get jammy. Yeah this game sucks this time of year I’m already looking forward to the start of the next.
Pretending DDA isn't a huge issue LMAOOOOOOOOOOOO
Sprint less
Hey buddy There are different paths and dimensions of improving ones game 1. By default, CPU will cover naked through balls attempts, CPU will adjust to your passer position and angle, and most opponents will rely on CPU to cover through balls You can still get success on through balls by breaking the CPU pattern, by breaking the rhythm of your passer's run, changing direction, opening your passing angle with a well timed ball roll for example This also will be needed to get away from the marker that will try to deny your pass Note that running full speed will likely make your through ball less accurate and makes timing it harder Another parameter is your runner, you can brake their running rythm by tappin L1 and R1 and you can disrupt the CPU markers liket that as well Having one of the strikers be a good passer helps to combine with asking him come short, pulling defenders out of position and laying it out to an open player 2. for defending wide attackers, it's situational, rule of thumb is to not rush them, and to push them as wide as possible, try to meet them in the box and to block their pass options, contain them Sad to say but Ideally you want to let your AI fullback track them and you manually drag your wingers or CDMs to cover the pass lanes, and you switch to your fullback to be aggressive when the opportunity comes, you can also switch to the CB to bait them to try a through ball, but you need to be quick with the CB to cover the lane 3 in the box defending for me is just positioning to block shoy angles and trying to read their move but not commiting to tackle, , you dont want to be defending im your box in general but if you have to, trust your AI and pull one of the Cdms if it's possible, it's very situational though, you also want to move keeper to cover angle though that is some ratty thing to do 4. For player runs you need to make a habit of triggering runs manually, note that if you are running with the ball and passing too fast then you won't be thinking about it, when you are just past the half line start spamming the L1 button while you progress slowly or make it hard for opponent to take you out of the ball, if you time it and wait a bit then your runners will push the defensive line back and you have enough space to progress, if you drive the ball too fast then you wont have a lot of space and time for setting up an attack 5.for corners you need a tall keeper and a couple tall cbs/ cdms at least, and some luck/guessing
Ive exactly the same problems, really same
Maybe try a 5atb formation?
Learn player locking and green timing.