Premier2k Posted November 5, 2012 Share Posted November 5, 2012 Hey guys and gals. I'm just come into half time in my game and I'm having a problem with the way a team plays against me, I can't work out what to do to counter it. I'm playing as Dag & Red against York at home. I'm playing a 4-4-1-1 (TQ and Poacher), these guys work very well together and score a lot of goals. The problem I'm having is that York aren't letting me have the ball. They are passing it around short passing, with the occasional ball over the top or the ball through my defence. Thankfully my keeper isn't letting anything in (yet!) and so at half time the score is 0-0. I fully expect that to change in the 2nd half though. They have had 61% possession in the first half. I started the game Balanced and Standard with more direct passing as I usually do and I've tried to switch it to retain possession and control and also retain possession and counter but none of it is working. If I can get the ball off of them for a longer period then I have no doubt that I'll be able to score. I can see that they are closing me down pretty quickly and my players are doing sloppy passes or getting tackled, then it's back to the one touch football that York seem to have mastered. What can I try to change this? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter G Posted November 5, 2012 Share Posted November 5, 2012 I'd try and instruct your team to hold onto the ball more. Try and grab hold of the midfield and tell them to pass to feet. Potentially change your tactic to a 4-5-1 if it helps but if you need a goal you can then move your ML/MR into AML/AMR position. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premier2k Posted November 5, 2012 Author Share Posted November 5, 2012 Yes I was just thinking about Retain Possession with Play out of defence and Pass to feet. I'm not sure what else I can do to get them to hold on to the ball. I'm reluctant to change the shape but I may have to to gain control of midfield York are playing 4 at the back, a dmc, 2 mc's, 2 AML/R and a lone striker Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter G Posted November 5, 2012 Share Posted November 5, 2012 I find sometimes that having a DM can help keep control of the ball ahead of your defence. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premier2k Posted November 5, 2012 Author Share Posted November 5, 2012 So I've made some changes.... I've brought my AMC back to give me a flat 5 in midfield, brought on a player in place of the AMC as an advanced playmaker support and changed my striker to be a deep laying forward to prevent a gap between midfield and forward. I've changed back to balanced and standard and given instructions to Retain possession, play to feet and play out of defence. Let's see what happens! Unfortunately all my DMC's are currently injured so I don't have that luxury. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lam Posted November 5, 2012 Share Posted November 5, 2012 If a team is passing the ball around a lot at pace then I like to man mark them; tightly. If they are passing the ball around and it's kinda slow then some closing down might work nicely. One thing that I read a while back and never realyl tested, but it made sense was to tight mark their best players whilst leaving a weaker player completely free...... let him be the free man to pass to each time and in reality, he shouldnt do to much with it. LAM Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premier2k Posted November 5, 2012 Author Share Posted November 5, 2012 Hi lam, yes I had tight marked a couple of players in midfield but we seemed to be running around like headless chickens. In the second half, we went a man down at 80 minutes from a sending off but then my striker received a cracking ball from midfield to score a one on one against the keeper to put us in the lead. We had a lot more possession in the 2nd half and they weren't quite so cocky with me Game finished 1-0 to the Daggers! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premier2k Posted November 5, 2012 Author Share Posted November 5, 2012 Thanks for your help guys, in particular Peter G who really got me thinking about the shape of my team Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter G Posted November 5, 2012 Share Posted November 5, 2012 No worries. I'm learning about all this stuff myself so it's a learning curve for me as well. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rigga89 Posted November 5, 2012 Share Posted November 5, 2012 If they're passing it around freely it's because they're being afforded too much time and space. A more pressing style of play with tight marking and a higher line will close down the space they have to work with and force them to misplace passes or get caught on the ball. Make sure your wingers participate in the pressing too, they have a tendency just to watch. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocSander Posted November 6, 2012 Share Posted November 6, 2012 They are passing it around short passing, with the occasional ball over the top or the ball through my defence. Did they pass the ball around in your half or not? Sometimes when teams push up high with a possession-based slow tempo style I find that it can be hard to knock them off the ball. Turning my style into a more direct game with shouts like 'pass into space' and 'get ball forward' then helps to exploit the space behind their d-line. Make sure you have some offensive players ready to make runs into that space, so a striker on CF or Poacher role helps and wingers on attacking duty. Remember it's not about winning possession, it's about winning the game... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ffcfulham Posted November 6, 2012 Share Posted November 6, 2012 You have answered your own question..... 'I can see that they are closing me down pretty quickly and my players are doing sloppy passes or getting tackled, then it's back to the one touch football that York seem to have mastered' Close them down quickly and make them make the sloppy pass. Play a high defensive line, make the pitch as small as possible for them and really test how good their passing is (their lower league oppo they WILL **** up). Easy tackling so that nobody slides in and losses position. perhaps play 3 at the back and 5 in midfield and pack the midfield tight. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piratesarecool Posted November 6, 2012 Share Posted November 6, 2012 When I read the op my thoughts were 2 questions; how are they winning the ball back and how are you trying to win the ball back. Are you being to tame with and without the ball? If you improve either of these areas you should see possession swinging back to a more even contest Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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