High press with a 442

[nidhar.ram]

I want my team to defend in a 442 high up the pitch with the aim of winning the ball in the opponents half. 

Below is my defensive set-up.

I am a top team so expect most of my opposition to sit back and play meaningless side ways passes with their backline and I want to stop that from happening.

My players have good mental and physical skills; so I am expecting them to win the ball in opposition half.

-- Can balanced mentality achieve high press? I think it can but with a 442 and 8 players stationed rather deep, can it work?

-- What defensive TI's can help?

-- Which players should I ask to close down more? wide players?

-- counter press ? This often breaks the two banks of four and opposition easily play through my press.

-- Marking specific players? - Can I use it on my midfield players to close opposition's midfield? What are the disadvantages to it?

 

 

[Bluebird123]

What roles/duties are you using?

[Experienced Defender]

You should reconsider the formation first. Because 442 is not ideal for what you want to achieve. 

Apart from that, you'll need to up the Line of engagement to higher (if not even much higher), the mentality to Positive and possibly even add the counter-press. 

But everything can fail if your roles and duties are set up poorly, which cannot be seen in your screenshot. 

[nidhar.ram]

Below is my set-up

                      PF(S)             AF(A)

  WM(S)        MEZ(S)          CM(D)        IW(A)

  WB(A)        CD(D)            CD(D)         WB(S)

I am expecting my PF(S), WM(S), CM(D) and WB(S) to my key pressers as they have the rounded attributes to do so.

I have noticed that counter press seems to break the formation quite easily as players aimlessly run towards the opponent in the aim of winning the ball.

Is it possible to set-up something more structured where I use a mix of closing down and marking to prevent opposition build-up?

 

[Starsurfer]

13 hours ago, nidhar.ram said:

I want my team to defend in a 442 high up the pitch with the aim of winning the ball in the opponents half. 

Below is my defensive set-up.

I am a top team so expect most of my opposition to sit back and play meaningless side ways passes with their backline and I want to stop that from happening.

My players have good mental and physical skills; so I am expecting them to win the ball in opposition half.

-- Can balanced mentality achieve high press? I think it can but with a 442 and 8 players stationed rather deep, can it work?

-- What defensive TI's can help?

-- Which players should I ask to close down more? wide players?

-- counter press ? This often breaks the two banks of four and opposition easily play through my press.

-- Marking specific players? - Can I use it on my midfield players to close opposition's midfield? What are the disadvantages to it?

 

 

I have achieved such a defensive strategy before using ONLY:

• Balanced mentality
• Counterpress
• Higher LOE
• Much higher DL
• Extremely urgent pressing
• Use offside trap

However it only works with very good players on well sort out roles and duties. In short, possible but not easy. 

[Experienced Defender]

10 hours ago, nidhar.ram said:

Below is my set-up

                      PF(S)             AF(A)

  WM(S)        MEZ(S)          CM(D)        IW(A)

  WB(A)        CD(D)            CD(D)         WB(S)

Does not look promising, but you cannot know if it will work or not until you test the tactic.

[nidhar.ram]

Can you tell me why it isn't promising?

[Experienced Defender]

Just now, nidhar.ram said:

Can you tell me why it isn't promising?

Primarily because the left side looks fairly unbalanced and too risky for a system such as the 442.

[nidhar.ram]

What roles can be used to achieve high press while using 442?

[Experienced Defender]

1 hour ago, nidhar.ram said:

What roles can be used to achieve high press while using 442?

Roles are not about high press but about tactical balance. Although certain roles do press aggressively, such as PF, DW and BWM. But that was not the point of my comment.