Being closed down

[Serj]

Could someone recommend TI's for when being closed down?

Playing as Leverkusen, only losing once before October (away at Bayern) and regularly achieving an ideal 52-54% possession. Now all of my opponents are closing down and I can barely get 45% (even at home). Lost 3 in a row.

I'm using Standard, Flexible, Retain Possession, Pass Into Space, Play Out of Defence, Exploit Middle, Close Down More.

I've looked under the hood and we are being intercepted a lot more, and the number of "lost balls" has increased, it's hard to tell in 2D but looks like they are mid-range passes such as my CB trying to reach my ST and being intercepted, or flank switching, that kind of thing but not exclusively.

Was thinking my main options could be playing around with tempo to prevent the opp reaching me before I can get passes away or adding shorter passes but I was reluctant since we're already playing Retain Possession and from watching highlights many of my goals are coming from flank switching or direct passes.

I guess I could set CB PI's to pass shorter too but it isn't only those players making mistakes.

Essentially I want us to be safer without becoming stale. I like the equal amount of high and low scoring wins we've had, I don't mind conceding if we can score 2 or 3 ourselves.

Any thoughts? Looking for something specific.

[westy8chimp]

12 minutes ago, Serj said:

I'm using Standard, Flexible, Retain Possession, Pass Into Space, Play Out of Defence, Exploit Middle, Close Down More

What is your overall formation/lineup?

I'm looking at retain possession, POD and exploit middle ... that combo could be your issue. You are passing a lot, at a reasonably slow pace, in a possibly congested area. Pass into space is also a cause... you are asking for riskier passes/through balls... so this will result in more turnover.

Keep playing out of the back, but at a slightly higher tempo (maybe switch retain possession to short passing) , if they press too much and you can beat the press, you will open them up nicely.

Or bypass the press by playing a bit more direct.

I'd certainly try and use more of the pitch, harder for the opposition to press in numbers, more exhausting for them, more space for you to play in. (Remove exploit the middle) ... try removing retain possession and tinker with tempo/passing directness.

Also, I wonder if you are playing a playmaker or two? they will attract the ball, but also attract more man-markers or AI will use OI to be close down more. Is your playmaker good enough in those situations (balance, agility, composure) maybe you are using someone like Havertz in a specialist role too early.

 

[Serj]

It's a flat 4-1-4-1. I don't have any labelled playmakers, my midfielders are both CM-S. I liked the idea of a packed midfield and my heat map shows we are controlling their half, but most of my mistakes are from my own half. I am playing with IWBs so that adds to the packed midfield. Havertz had actually been one of my best performers.

The frustraing thing is that the first dozen games were perfect, and I haven't changed a thing (I'll accept the loss to Bayern, beaten by a late free-kick). All of a sudden our possession dropped 10% and I noticed every team was closing down. I've searched and can't find any thoughts on being closed down, surely it must happen to everyone with a successful tactic.

You seem to be touching on TI's I had in mind so I'll take a look at those and see if it helps. Thanks for the advice westy.

 

[westy8chimp]

I think with the iwbs and cm-s you have good support in the middle to dictate play, I don't think you need to added 'exploit middle'. 

Can't answer why you'd see a big drop off in possession or results all of a sudden if you got 10 or so games in doing fine. There's external factors to be considered like morale, injuries, fitness, opposition (maybe you played teams of a certain style in a row).

To complete the picture; what role/duty is your striker? and wide men?

 

[Serj]

Striker is DLF-S, with Wingers on Support but they both prefer their opposite foot and have cut inside traits.

Removing Exploit Middle may stop my CB trying to reach the striker so I will start with that, from what you've said it sounds redundant anyway. I'll also probably remove pass into space and, if that doesn't help, add shorter passing. (Is it still common place for shorter passing and retain possession to be overkill?)

Eventually when my team becomes one of the strongest in the league I want to switch to Control so will probably make the TI changes above anyway. Maybe the opposition's attitude towards me will enforce that change early.

[westy8chimp]

1 minute ago, Serj said:

(Is it still common place for shorter passing and retain possession to be overkill?)

Not as rule of thumb. If you started with a more aggressive formation or mentality they can be used to curtail the directness quite well.

But yes, in your setup, it would be suffocating; bottom heavy formation, total support duties (which I like, but you could have someone looking to get behind the defence, and/or holding width!), all wide players coming central... it's very congested.

[sporadicsmiles]

I have found that when I am either being closed down, or that my build up is too slow, it is usually a good idea to either try to play at a quicker tempo, or to try to be more direct in my passing. Both serve the same purpose, which is to give the AI less time to get into a defensive shape and stifle what you are trying to do with the ball in the middle of the park. In particular, if you are now coming up against teams who are simply packing out the middle of the park and denying space, you have to try to create it on your own. Another way to do something about it is to be aggressive on the flanks. Given yourself a wide option not only allows you to stretch the park, it will force the other side to deal with it, and could free up some space in the middle of the park. 

[Snorks]

You could try the 'Dribble Less' instruction - I'm not sure what it actually does under the hood, but seems to encourage one and two-touch passing and I often use it to improve possession.

If the opposition are man-marking you though it can be risky.

[mourinho-herrera-defense]

when klopp first took over liverpool and they tried their pressing game, teams found a way to simply bypass the press by playing longballs forward, imagine a 4 man pressgang coming towards your defence and they just lobbed the ball forwards, not only do you complete the defensive function you also have to deal with 4 less men when you counter attack, so perhaps you should try playing more direct

[Experienced Defender]

17 hours ago, mourinho-herrera-defense said:

when klopp first took over liverpool and they tried their pressing game, teams found a way to simply bypass the press by playing longballs forward, imagine a 4 man pressgang coming towards your defence and they just lobbed the ball forwards, not only do you complete the defensive function you also have to deal with 4 less men when you counter attack, so perhaps you should try playing more direct

That's what I'd opt to do, rather than risk losing the ball in a dangerous area.