My Problems

[Motcha]

The issues I face are as follows:

1) My defenders and strikers lose headers more than 50% of the time.

2) Opposition strikers beat my defenders to the ball in crosses to score.

3) My goal keeper plays the ball log even though I give him instructions to play it short, fewer risky passes, pass it shorter and be disciplined.

4) I insert individual instructions for players to pass it shorter and play out of defense but the team is still playing very direct. By shorter I mean I want them to pass it sideways rather than forwards for the majority of the time.

5) My strikers tend to go for the shot quite a lot even though I set their instructions to try fewer shots and retain possession.

6) My wingers track back even though I set their closing down to "much less" and I want them to stay up the pitch at all times.

So how do I deal with these issues?

I don't really want to play a particular formation, I just want to deal with these six issues regardless of the formation.

[jevans]

First thoughts - for 1 & 2, check out their attributes - it could just be that they're weak in the air for the level you play at, and you may need to replace them. But either way, what circumstances are they losing headers in (and how does that compare to the headers they win). Are you putting pressure on the cross, or does the opposition have time and space to pick out a good pass? Is your midfield covering runners so that the defender can focus on the aerial battle? In attack, are you putting in good deliveries, or just pinging it to a big man and hoping?

3&4 suggest that the latter may what's actually happening. Do you have a target man set? If so, players will naturally look to aim at him, often ignoring other passing instructions. Some roles are also prone to hoofing it (limited defender/fullback). What's your mentality? Some are quite direct by default.

If players are isolated they'll also hoof it, so if your forwards are too attacking they might be breaking too far up for your defense to actually have a short option. Lack of options is often a reason behind speculative shooting as well. Also, check your players' preferred moves - if you have a lot of players who like to play risky passes or shoot from distance, they'll ignore your instructions.

For 6, my interpretation of that instruction is that you're telling them not to pressure the ball, but to immediately drop into their defensive line - possibly if you ask them to close more they'll press high and stay high? Could be wrong there though.

This is all speculative, it's very hard to tell without knowing what formations/mentalities/duties/TIs you typically use. I get that you're finding it a general problem, but if you give some specifics you'll get better advice, which hopefully will be easier to apply to other tactics.

[kingjericho]

3) My goal keeper plays the ball log even though I give him instructions to play it short, fewer risky passes, pass it shorter and be disciplined.

You don't need any of those instructions. Just give him a PI 'distribute to defenders/centre back/full back). Then, your keeper will only kick the ball long if he has no options to lay it off to a defender.