You Should Use Opposition Instructions

[bababooey]

In every save on Football Manager, one of the first things I do tactically, is decide on how I want to approach opposition instructions. Generally speaking, this involves two different parts.

1. What type of pressing traps are we trying to create?

2. How and when do we use "tight marking/trigger press/tacking"?

 

To answer the first part, we have to look at where we are strong, and where we are weak.

This will help determine how to set up our pressing traps. When I use the term "pressing traps", I am simply referring to where I want to ATTEMPT to win the ball back, and the areas I want to funnel the opposition into.

If you plan on using a very narrow formation most of the time, especially if you've only got 2 wide players in something like a 5-3-2 or 4-1-2-1-2, then it probably makes sense to set up your OI's so that the opposition is funneled into the middle where you have a numerical advantage. This means, showing the opposition RB, LB, WBR, WBL, RM, LM, AMR, AML, to the inside/opposite foot.

If you are a team that plays in a relatively wide formation, or uses a more traditional set up with 2 wide defenders, and 2 wide mids/wingers (4-4-2, 4-3-3, 4-2-3-1, etc.) then I would recommend showing the opposition down the flanks, to the foot that matches the side they're on. The reason for this, is that the opposition players are forced to play down the line, and we all know that the touchline is a perfect defender. So it sort of makes your job of defending a lot easier. The other player doesn't have the same passing options (or movement options) if they're stuck between the touchline and a defender. 

However, this strategy comes with a risk. Showing players wide, down the flanks, means that you are more likely to see crosses from them. If your team is horrible at defending crosses into the box, then that should factor into this choice, and you should absolutely consider setting the cross engagement to "stop crosses". If your team is good at handling crosses, you might consider using "invite crosses" to keep your defense tight and compact, so they don't look to jump out of line and stop the cross. OR you could use neither, and adjust as you see fit on a per-game basis!

Here's what it looks like when I say to show the opposition down the flanks.

Pretend my team is in red.  Notice the big red box? Yeah, we don't want the blue team to easily make passes into this area. So, as you can see from the dotted lines, there are better passing options for the other team down the flanks. 

You don't even need to adjust your tactical instructions for the pressing trap if you dont want to. Sometimes I forget to use "trap inside/outside" and it's not a big deal. But it can be a powerful combination if you get this right (or wrong) to use that setting in conjunction with the OI's for show onto foot.

You can set this up to occur in every match by simply going to the tactics screen -----> opposition instructions ----->  (then change the tab from players) to POSITIONS. See screenshot below.  Just remember to engage the OI's before every match!

 

 

To answer the second part, we need to talk about a couple of things.

There are a few general guidelines that I like to stick to here. 

- The "trigger press" setting for "always" is the most risky one to use liberally, because it involves your players leaving their defense shape earlier, and closing down. This can open up gaps in your defense, and you need to be acutely aware of that. This could be effective in certain situations where you have a lot of cover. Maybe you have a back 3, and you want a wing back to aggressively trigger press on an opposition player, knowing you've got a wide center back behind him at all times. That's just one example.  I really think you should only use this setting on 1 player, and certainly no more than 2 at any time. Otherwise, your defense will be all over the place.

You should consider using the "never" setting on the trigger press if the opposition has a player who is not a threat on the ball. This will help make your pressing more efficient. Why waste time closing down a player who can't do anything with the ball? For example.  If the other team has a center back combination where one player is a great passer, and the other isnt, then you should consider setting the trigger press to "never" on the poor passer. That way, your striker(s) can focus more on the other center back. Same thing can apply to the flanks.

- The "tight marking" setting is super powerful, especially when combined with harder tackling. I think sometimes people are afraid to turn this one on because they think their players will get skinned all the time by a faster player. This is not necessarily true.  Again, you want to consider how this works with your tactical set-up in general, and I'll talk more about that further down in the post. As a general rule, I would say that tight marking on wide players is a good idea if the opposition plays in a system similar to Guardiola's Manchester City, where the wingers are CRUCIAL to the chance creation phase of play. You may also consider tight marking, a superb DM who is the pivot for the other team. Or you might even consider tight marking an isolated lone striker. There are many options.  I also believe you can get away with using this instruction liberally. It will not necessarily ruin your defense shape. But as always, you have to pay attention!

- The "tackling" setting is where you can have a lot of fun.  But you should understand how it works, and where it will be most effective. For example..  If the other team has players who are very brave, or strong, (or both) then hard tackling those players might not be that effective. But if the players you are targeting happen to be weak, or not brave, then hard tackling them can have a huge impact on the game. Pace is probably the most OP attribute in the game, and one way to nullify the impact of pace, is to hard tackle those pacey wingers and bring them down before they have a chance to do anything with the ball.  You might also consider hard tackling an opposition goalkeeper, in an attempt to intimidate the opposition, and force mistakes.

 

Finally, let's look at an example and put all of this together

In the following example, I am managing Manchester United in the first season of a new save. We have not made any transfers, other than a minor loan deal for a fringe winger. No funny business here. We are over-performing in the league, but the Manchester Derby is coming, and we are expected to draw or lose.

The tactical approach has been to play in a 4-2-3-1 DM, utilizing a mid-block with aggressive pressing, a higher line, and a positive mentality that seeks to get the ball forward quickly. We counter-press, AND hold shape. The idea is that we don't want to be rushed at all times, and I find that hold shape is just a great choice this year for all sorts of tactics.

So you can see here what we're trying to do. We want to engage the opposition by being compact and aggressive. We don't try to close down the GK very often, and do not select the pressing trap OR cross engagement by default. Those can be picked on a per-game basis. 

When the opposition has the ball in their own half, approaching the halfway line, our defensive shape looks like a 4-2-4 that squeezes up and stays compact.

Keep in mind, with this set up, the default setting for passing and tempo are linked to the team mentality. So, for positive, this equates to "slightly shorter" passing, and "slightly higher" tempo. That's perfect for what I want.

Anyway, we beat Manchester City 2-0 at home, despite being underdogs AND despite being ahead of them in the table in January 2024. So maybe the odds makers haven't caught up yet!   But, I digress.    The point here is HOW we played, and how OI's impacted the result.

I've added the OI's to this screenshot for you to see.  They are self-explanatory, I think.

City's build up shape of 3-2-5 requires the wingers to be isolated against their markers, and their width is critical for creating chances. If the wingers can't help disrupt the opposition shape, then the whole thing becomes blunted, and possession is kept at the back, cycling between the defenders. This is where they were weak. Grealish and Bobb are great players, but they are not significantly faster than my full backs, Luke Shaw and Diogo Dalot. To be honest, even if they were faster, I would still adopt this same approach.

Because we play a 4-2-3-1 DM, we can have Bruno Fernandes, our AMC, sit on top of Kovacic, who is also important to City's build up. So, not only did I tight mark him with the OI's, but I also changed Bruno's individual player instructions, adding "mark tighter" and "mark specific player" ----> Kovacic.

The only other adjustment that was made, was during the match I added "tackle harder" to the team instructions.

Here's our defensive shape against their attacking shape:

Notice how they have 5 players and we have 6.   Nice.

Now I'm gonna show you the post match player analysis for both Jack Grealish and Oscar Bobb's "lost possession" stats.

This is significant because it proves that our approach worked perfectly. Both Grealish and Bobb were completely nullified. We didn't hold them to a super low passing percentage, but we did prevent them from doing anything dangerous with the ball. They also struggled to dribble past us.  Bobb had 4 dribbles, and Grealish had 1.  None of them were impactful at all.  Bobb's dribbles were mostly attempting to come into the middle, to find a pass. He wasn't skinning anyone.

You can see in the match stats how this played out. City had a ton of the ball. 62% possession, but they did nothing with it. They didnt even have a single shot on target!

Again, we didn't look to break up their passing. The percentages were very high.  Instead, we looked to directly impact WHERE they could pass.

You can also see that we did a much better job tackling, heading, and crossing the ball.  0/7 in crosses, Guardiola had to be livid!

One final note...   City had 1 corner kick the entire game.  That's crazy!  But again, this is because of how effective we were at dictating where they could play. The majority of their possession came in their own third, and slightly higher.  They did not have much  possession in our third, and thus, they had few chances to win a set piece.

 

Closing Thoughts

I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to understand how your own tactical approach works against other shapes, and styles. If you don't know what you're doing, then how can you make informed choices about opposition instructions?  Keep it simple.  Where do you feel comfortable letting the opposition play? Set your tactics up accordingly.

If we faced a team that wanted to create overloads down the flanks with flying full backs, then this approach wouldn't work. Or, if we were a team that was unable to press aggressively and tackle well, then this also wouldn't work. You have to know what your team is good at doing.  And sometimes, if you're totally outmatched, then you just have to pick your poison.

So, don't be afraid to use OI's. They can give you a huge advantage if they're used properly. Start by targeting who you think is the key player for the other team, and then go from there. You don't have to do it all at once.  It just takes practice. 

[billmatic]

Brilliant as always. Combine this and @Duracellio's sensible approach to a match and you'll be unstoppable.

3 hours ago, bababooey said:

I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to understand how your own tactical approach works against other shapes, and styles. If you don't know what you're doing, then how can you make informed choices about opposition instructions?  Keep it simple.  Where do you feel comfortable letting the opposition play? Set your tactics up accordingly.

Thought I'd mention how much this resonated with me: I often take inspiration (copy) from tactics posted here and whenever things go tits up, I don't have a clue what to do. Back to the drawing board.

[crusadertsar]

@bababooey Nice write up and analysis 👍 Although I'm of the minimalist approach to FM management where I never found need for opposition instructions to succeed. It's nice that they are there for those who like to micromanage every aspect of the game. I prefer to make my tactics as simple as possible and instead focus on recruitment to get right the players for each role and let them do what their role dictates without the need to set opposition instructions. But I do love the fact that the game has so much flexibility to allow players to play how they like and with however much micromanaging and complexity they wish. Both ways can be successful and rewarding. It all just depends how much you are willing to invest. 

Edited June 20 by crusadertsar

[Cloud9]

4 hours ago, bababooey said:

In every save on Football Manager, one of the first things I do tactically, is decide on how I want to approach opposition instructions. Generally speaking, this involves two different parts.

1. What type of pressing traps are we trying to create?

2. How and when do we use "tight marking/trigger press/tacking"?

 

To answer the first part, we have to look at where we are strong, and where we are weak.

This will help determine how to set up our pressing traps. When I use the term "pressing traps", I am simply referring to where I want to ATTEMPT to win the ball back, and the areas I want to funnel the opposition into.

If you plan on using a very narrow formation most of the time, especially if you've only got 2 wide players in something like a 5-3-2 or 4-1-2-1-2, then it probably makes sense to set up your OI's so that the opposition is funneled into the middle where you have a numerical advantage. This means, showing the opposition RB, LB, WBR, WBL, RM, LM, AMR, AML, to the inside/opposite foot.

If you are a team that plays in a relatively wide formation, or uses a more traditional set up with 2 wide defenders, and 2 wide mids/wingers (4-4-2, 4-3-3, 4-2-3-1, etc.) then I would recommend showing the opposition down the flanks, to the foot that matches the side they're on. The reason for this, is that the opposition players are forced to play down the line, and we all know that the touchline is a perfect defender. So it sort of makes your job of defending a lot easier. The other player doesn't have the same passing options (or movement options) if they're stuck between the touchline and a defender. 

However, this strategy comes with a risk. Showing players wide, down the flanks, means that you are more likely to see crosses from them. If your team is horrible at defending crosses into the box, then that should factor into this choice, and you should absolutely consider setting the cross engagement to "stop crosses". If your team is good at handling crosses, you might consider using "invite crosses" to keep your defense tight and compact, so they don't look to jump out of line and stop the cross. OR you could use neither, and adjust as you see fit on a per-game basis!

Here's what it looks like when I say to show the opposition down the flanks.

Pretend my team is in red.  Notice the big red box? Yeah, we don't want the blue team to easily make passes into this area. So, as you can see from the dotted lines, there are better passing options for the other team down the flanks. 

You don't even need to adjust your tactical instructions for the pressing trap if you dont want to. Sometimes I forget to use "trap inside/outside" and it's not a big deal. But it can be a powerful combination if you get this right (or wrong) to use that setting in conjunction with the OI's for show onto foot.

You can set this up to occur in every match by simply going to the tactics screen -----> opposition instructions ----->  (then change the tab from players) to POSITIONS. See screenshot below.  Just remember to engage the OI's before every match!

 

 

To answer the second part, we need to talk about a couple of things.

There are a few general guidelines that I like to stick to here. 

- The "trigger press" setting for "always" is the most risky one to use liberally, because it involves your players leaving their defense shape earlier, and closing down. This can open up gaps in your defense, and you need to be acutely aware of that. This could be effective in certain situations where you have a lot of cover. Maybe you have a back 3, and you want a wing back to aggressively trigger press on an opposition player, knowing you've got a wide center back behind him at all times. That's just one example.  I really think you should only use this setting on 1 player, and certainly no more than 2 at any time. Otherwise, your defense will be all over the place.

You should consider using the "never" setting on the trigger press if the opposition has a player who is not a threat on the ball. This will help make your pressing more efficient. Why waste time closing down a player who can't do anything with the ball? For example.  If the other team has a center back combination where one player is a great passer, and the other isnt, then you should consider setting the trigger press to "never" on the poor passer. That way, your striker(s) can focus more on the other center back. Same thing can apply to the flanks.

- The "tight marking" setting is super powerful, especially when combined with harder tackling. I think sometimes people are afraid to turn this one on because they think their players will get skinned all the time by a faster player. This is not necessarily true.  Again, you want to consider how this works with your tactical set-up in general, and I'll talk more about that further down in the post. As a general rule, I would say that tight marking on wide players is a good idea if the opposition plays in a system similar to Guardiola's Manchester City, where the wingers are CRUCIAL to the chance creation phase of play. You may also consider tight marking, a superb DM who is the pivot for the other team. Or you might even consider tight marking an isolated lone striker. There are many options.  I also believe you can get away with using this instruction liberally. It will not necessarily ruin your defense shape. But as always, you have to pay attention!

- The "tackling" setting is where you can have a lot of fun.  But you should understand how it works, and where it will be most effective. For example..  If the other team has players who are very brave, or strong, (or both) then hard tackling those players might not be that effective. But if the players you are targeting happen to be weak, or not brave, then hard tackling them can have a huge impact on the game. Pace is probably the most OP attribute in the game, and one way to nullify the impact of pace, is to hard tackle those pacey wingers and bring them down before they have a chance to do anything with the ball.  You might also consider hard tackling an opposition goalkeeper, in an attempt to intimidate the opposition, and force mistakes.

 

Finally, let's look at an example and put all of this together

In the following example, I am managing Manchester United in the first season of a new save. We have not made any transfers, other than a minor loan deal for a fringe winger. No funny business here. We are over-performing in the league, but the Manchester Derby is coming, and we are expected to draw or lose.

The tactical approach has been to play in a 4-2-3-1 DM, utilizing a mid-block with aggressive pressing, a higher line, and a positive mentality that seeks to get the ball forward quickly. We counter-press, AND hold shape. The idea is that we don't want to be rushed at all times, and I find that hold shape is just a great choice this year for all sorts of tactics.

So you can see here what we're trying to do. We want to engage the opposition by being compact and aggressive. We don't try to close down the GK very often, and do not select the pressing trap OR cross engagement by default. Those can be picked on a per-game basis. 

When the opposition has the ball in their own half, approaching the halfway line, our defensive shape looks like a 4-2-4 that squeezes up and stays compact.

Keep in mind, with this set up, the default setting for passing and tempo are linked to the team mentality. So, for positive, this equates to "slightly shorter" passing, and "slightly higher" tempo. That's perfect for what I want.

Anyway, we beat Manchester City 2-0 at home, despite being underdogs AND despite being ahead of them in the table in January 2024. So maybe the odds makers haven't caught up yet!   But, I digress.    The point here is HOW we played, and how OI's impacted the result.

I've added the OI's to this screenshot for you to see.  They are self-explanatory, I think.

City's build up shape of 3-2-5 requires the wingers to be isolated against their markers, and their width is critical for creating chances. If the wingers can't help disrupt the opposition shape, then the whole thing becomes blunted, and possession is kept at the back, cycling between the defenders. This is where they were weak. Grealish and Bobb are great players, but they are not significantly faster than my full backs, Luke Shaw and Diogo Dalot. To be honest, even if they were faster, I would still adopt this same approach.

Because we play a 4-2-3-1 DM, we can have Bruno Fernandes, our AMC, sit on top of Kovacic, who is also important to City's build up. So, not only did I tight mark him with the OI's, but I also changed Bruno's individual player instructions, adding "mark tighter" and "mark specific player" ----> Kovacic.

The only other adjustment that was made, was during the match I added "tackle harder" to the team instructions.

Here's our defensive shape against their attacking shape:

Notice how they have 5 players and we have 6.   Nice.

Now I'm gonna show you the post match player analysis for both Jack Grealish and Oscar Bobb's "lost possession" stats.

This is significant because it proves that our approach worked perfectly. Both Grealish and Bobb were completely nullified. We didn't hold them to a super low passing percentage, but we did prevent them from doing anything dangerous with the ball. They also struggled to dribble past us.  Bobb had 4 dribbles, and Grealish had 1.  None of them were impactful at all.  Bobb's dribbles were mostly attempting to come into the middle, to find a pass. He wasn't skinning anyone.

You can see in the match stats how this played out. City had a ton of the ball. 62% possession, but they did nothing with it. They didnt even have a single shot on target!

Again, we didn't look to break up their passing. The percentages were very high.  Instead, we looked to directly impact WHERE they could pass.

You can also see that we did a much better job tackling, heading, and crossing the ball.  0/7 in crosses, Guardiola had to be livid!

One final note...   City had 1 corner kick the entire game.  That's crazy!  But again, this is because of how effective we were at dictating where they could play. The majority of their possession came in their own third, and slightly higher.  They did not have much  possession in our third, and thus, they had few chances to win a set piece.

 

Closing Thoughts

I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to understand how your own tactical approach works against other shapes, and styles. If you don't know what you're doing, then how can you make informed choices about opposition instructions?  Keep it simple.  Where do you feel comfortable letting the opposition play? Set your tactics up accordingly.

If we faced a team that wanted to create overloads down the flanks with flying full backs, then this approach wouldn't work. Or, if we were a team that was unable to press aggressively and tackle well, then this also wouldn't work. You have to know what your team is good at doing.  And sometimes, if you're totally outmatched, then you just have to pick your poison.

So, don't be afraid to use OI's. They can give you a huge advantage if they're used properly. Start by targeting who you think is the key player for the other team, and then go from there. You don't have to do it all at once.  It just takes practice. 

Great writeup, but the section on tight marking has some inconsistencies on how the OI works on FM24.

Tight marking is the OI you should be looking at using extremely sparingly in FM24....it will be disruptive to your defensive structure. 

• If an opposition player has Acceleration/speed, agi/balance, or Anticipation/first touch he will easily spin your defender. On opposition wingers, this is a disaster...your defender will get spun and the winger will celebrate as he runs into space unchallenged. 
• It's primarily useful against static roles/aging players who won't pull your player along with them as they move around the pitch. Mobile roles can be harmful to tight mark (especially so on FM24 where roles will rotate through the stratas).

You can use Show outside, Tackle harder w/far more safety (as you'd see fullbacks do IRL) than committing to a tight mark. I would personally recommend only using tackle harder when necessary, ie. a very quick or talented opposition player where the risk is worth the reward.

Edited June 20 by Cloud9

[crusadertsar]

15 minutes ago, Cloud9 said:

Great writeup but the section on tight marking has some inconsistencies on how the OI works on FM24.

Tight marking is the OI you should be looking at using extremely sparingly in FM24....it will be disruptive to your defensive structure. 

• If an opposition player has Acceleration/speed, agi/balance, or Anticipation/first touch he will easily spin your defender. On opposition wingers, this is a disaster...your defender will get spun and the winger will celebrate as he runs into space unchallenged. 
• It's primarily useful against static roles/aging players who won't pull your player along with them as they move around the pitch. Mobile roles can be harmful to tight mark. 

You can use Show outside, Tackle harder w/far more safety (as you'd see fullbacks do IRL) than committing to a tight mark.

I find that's the tricky part with opposition instructions. And exactly the reason why I never felt the need to use them, going back to FM13 or FM14. If you don't know exactly what they do or put in one that's wrong for situation then they can actually do more damage then help. It's one reason why when I give advice to people on creating some basic tactics I try to avoid opposition instructions. Often keeping it simple and leaving opposition instructions blank is just so much better and has less risk of ending up with a broken tactical system that's hard to troubleshoot. With FM simpler is often better like that old saying says K.I.S.S. keep it simple, stupid haha 

Edited June 20 by crusadertsar

[Cloud9]

16 hours ago, crusadertsar said:

I find that's the tricky part with opposition instructions. And exactly the reason why I never felt the need to use them, going back to FM13 or FM14. If you don't know exactly what they do or put in one that's wrong for situation then they can actually do more damage then help. It's one reason why when I give advice to people on creating some basic tactics I try to avoid opposition instructions. Often keeping it simple and leaving opposition instructions blank is just so much better and has less risk of ending up with a broken tactical system that's hard to troubleshoot. With FM simpler is often better like that old saying says K.I.S.S. keep it simple, stupid haha 

I had gotten into them on previous versions of FM to help execute defensive pressing traps/exert more influence on the game without the ball, but this year there are a lot of potential stumbling blocks for using the OIs (via Positional Play and a more reactive AI). Setting up your standard OIs for your tactic can land you in hot water, I tend to approach them on a game to game basis now. 

A good example of this is simply via the roles...if you Tight Mark a RPM, he'll drag your players all over the pitch as he moves around. In terms of utilizing Tight Marking:

• A TF is a good target most of the time  but I'd want to avoid using it on other supporting forward roles...like a F9 who's deep dropping movement you don't want your centerbacks tracking  DLF's are situational as they are generally slow and offer a long ball option like a target man...but can similarly lead your centerbacks on a nice little adventure when they drop deep. 
• Marking a solo 6 DM is another option, since a 4-3-3 is very dependent on them...again just make sure it's not a mobile role before committing. 
  • There will be roles/positions you want to target but will need to avoid due to the profile on the player(as mentioned above + take into account your players as well). Again any quick player who can turn his defender you should give space, get too tight and get burned (which is reflective of how it works IRL too). 

For anyone looking to get into OIs...Tackle Harder and Show Onto Foot are two you can use fairly liberally. Just be aware that Show Onto Foot is actually a pressing instruction and take into account the areas that you'll be conceding fouls with Tackle Harder (hence showing wide before the kicking). OI combinations can still be excellent in the creation of a pressing trap, but these are highly dependent on your particular tactic and squad.

For most scenarios, less is more and simple is good! If you don't want to do deep dives on your squad, their squad, what they're trying to do etc etc. then I would recommend avoiding them all together. The reactive AI in matches themselves will negate a ready to go OI setup, so you'll need to update them constantly as the opposition makes tactical tweaks.

Edited June 21 by Cloud9

[Aoyao]

In my mind, Much more often press(TI) = Always press(PI) in the game.

 

 

You can start a save with double manager to play a friendly match. One team makes TI much more often the others makes all OI always press.

[bababooey]

16 hours ago, Cloud9 said:

Great writeup, but the section on tight marking has some inconsistencies on how the OI works on FM24.

Tight marking is the OI you should be looking at using extremely sparingly in FM24....it will be disruptive to your defensive structure. 

• If an opposition player has Acceleration/speed, agi/balance, or Anticipation/first touch he will easily spin your defender. On opposition wingers, this is a disaster...your defender will get spun and the winger will celebrate as he runs into space unchallenged. 
• It's primarily useful against static roles/aging players who won't pull your player along with them as they move around the pitch. Mobile roles can be harmful to tight mark (especially so on FM24 where roles will rotate through the stratas).

You can use Show outside, Tackle harder w/far more safety (as you'd see fullbacks do IRL) than committing to a tight mark. I would personally recommend only using tackle harder when necessary, ie. a very quick or talented opposition player where the risk is worth the reward.

 

I've always believed that "trigger press more often" would be far more disruptive to defensive shape because it should, in theory, increase the likelihood that a defender will decide to close down. 

I mean I can understand where "mark tighter" would cause some disruption, but if you're combining this with a compact defensive shape, you are limiting the space the opposition has significantly, no?

[Cloud9]

4 hours ago, bababooey said:

 

I've always believed that "trigger press more often" would be far more disruptive to defensive shape because it should, in theory, increase the likelihood that a defender will decide to close down. 

I mean I can understand where "mark tighter" would cause some disruption, but if you're combining this with a compact defensive shape, you are limiting the space the opposition has significantly, no?

Trigger Press Always is another OI that is quite disruptive and you should only apply when you are 100% sure about it. I use it infrequently in a block, since most players in an opposition attacking unit are not incapable on the ball or simply press resistant. I find it more useful when playing higher up the pitch...where you could go after a centerback due to his attributes or goalkeeper distribution. 

• In a block it can be selectively, such as against a central opposition 10 who you need to shut down consistently and can't Tight Mark due to his attributes. A playmaker who can't carry the ball well but could turn a defender who gets too tight. You might also use it against a role you want to tight mark but can't due to the mobile nature.
• Any OI used closer to your own goal is more punishing so if in doubt, just don't do it. Getting the above wrong opens up the opportunity for the AP to flourish. 

It's worth noting that Trigger Press Always can be quite effective in a block w/the creation of pressing traps, but these will be specific to a tactic. Additionally, you could situationally Mark Tighter on wide players if you really wanted to stop crosses and push the opposition inside, but you are taking a huge risk with the wide players getting spun. I normally only deploy this in a formation that utilizes wingbacks or DW/WM such as a 3-5-2 or a 4-4-2...and in these cases I'd just use the PI of Mark Tighter compared to the OI. Note in both formations there is cover for the player Tight Marking and forcing the opposition inside. I would also consider using pressing PIs on players to execute the trap over OIs.

• The TI's of Stop Crosses and Trap outside are much lower risk options and can help you play aggressively with your wingbacks to constrict opposition wingers (going to the ball more often). 

Show onto Weaker Foot is a nice alternative  pressing instruction (defensively and offensively)...which will close down the player and trigger the press if he makes an error. You have to do a lot of checking of individualized players to find profiles susceptible to this OI.

In a block, misusing Trigger Press results in you being easy to play through, misusing Mark Tighter will nullify your player and create a free overload for the opposition.

• W/Mark tighter, putting aside the potential for your player to get dragged around, against the wrong profile you're instructing your defender to put himself into a situation where he will get too tight and turned easily. This is bad defending IRL and in game. A winger beating your FB in a 1v1 should result in a goal scoring opportunity and you need to limit these in a defensive approach at all costs. This is especially punishing in transition, where your CB is usually not quick enough to catch a winger and the opposition is in on goal directly.

I would also note, your tactic is already triggering the press constantly w/Trigger Press More Often + Counter Press...so you will see a lot of low % trigger presses from the defensive unit. Perhaps consider dropping the Counter Press? You will do less all in defending and preserve your shape a bit more.

Edited June 21 by Cloud9

[Cloud9]

Visual representation of why you should avoid tight marking on an opposition winger w/the mentioned attributes:

Edited June 21 by Cloud9

[vrig]

'Never tight mark' plus 'tackle harder' is my go-to OI combo against fast wingers and strikers. I'll occasionally add a trigger press if they still get too much time on the ball. 

Getting tight to a speedster isn't something you want to do on a football pitch, as it's the space they can beat you to that's the real danger. For slow playmaker types, however, tight marking can ruin their day.

[Captain_T]

Are the AI teams also using OIs?

[Fox-7-]

In my personal experience I find it counterproductive to set OIs by default directly in the creation of the tactic, given that they are player-dependent, the effect of an OI can be diametrically opposite depending on the player we are targeting.

In fact, I set them manually before starting every match, and for some players I even wait to see the first minutes of the match to understand how they are playing, and then when confirmation of the exact role arrives from my Assistant Manager I can implement others with a greater probability of success.

For example, preferring to play a 4-4-1-1 mid-block without Counter-press, I usually like to tell my AM to mark their DM if he plays as standard DM/A or DLP to cut him out of the game, but for example, if I see that he plays like an HB the OIs on him become those of never tight mark nor trigger press, since I don't care if he goes to play the ball far from my goal and it would be counterproductive for my defensive shape to have an advanced player easily bypassed by their build-up.

Similarly, if for example they play with a 3-5-2 or 3-4-1-2 I set OIs on the WBs of always trigger press and show onto their strong foot, so right foot for RWB and left foot for LWB . The latter may seem like a counterintuitive move since in theory it plays into the hands of the opponent's strenghts, but on the wings I still have a 2vs1 situation and I want to prevent them from playing towards the center, where they outnumber me. Maybe a couple of times in the match he manages to dribble past my players and get a cross into the box, but for me it's the lesser evil as my players can cope with this with their skills. I therefore leave a theoretical advantage to the individual player in exchange for less danger for my entire team

If they play with an AM, if it is a standard AM or an AP I try to always thight mark him to avoid him receiving the ball in a dangerous position, if he plays as an SS I leave his OIs blank as runs behind are difficult to track for my DMs

Edited June 22 by Fox-7-

[El Payaso]

Interesting stuff.

In my opinion a solid system and general tactical approach can do most of the job. This is also why I nowadays very rarely use opposition instructions at all.

The only situations are when I can clearly notice an opposition player (usually wide player) having too much effect on the game. In those situations I am more than willing of taking the risk of getting my player booked by going hard on the. 

Also otherwise the opposition instructions that I apply are fully based on what I can see in the heat maps and highlights. Sometimes I try to stop the feeding of a certain player by directing the opposition players to another side by showing into foot etc. 

I have also seen plenty of situations where someone might claim that they are playing a low-block system but they then apply full on closing down to basically the whole defensive line of the opposition. Not sure what is the official status on this but I think this kind of approach is then very far from a low block. 

And like @Fox-7- above me wrote: I see opposition instructions as something related to the style of play and individual style of the specific opposition. Setting a permanent set of opposition instructions in the tactics screen that you will apply against every opponent is again something more related to finding the meta instead of approaching things in a tactical way. 

Edited June 22 by El Payaso

[Los_Culés]

As a rule of thumb I try not to oversuse them because they can easily create a havoc in your defensive structure. I shortly tried to overuse them in FM24 and even with my cautious setup I was conceding 3 or more goals every match vs. good teams (I usually play with relegation candidates/mid table teams therefore tactical mistakes are accentuated). 

Eg. I am now managing in South Africa and there are a lot of quick, agile players (especially wingers). Everytime I selected Trigger Press often on them my team got hammered (my aging defenders did not help but still they were skinned so easily). So I changed my approach. I gave PI instruction "Close Down Less" to my Fullbacks and together with combination of Low Block and situationally Lower D-Line my defence improved remarkably.

As @Fox-7- mentioned above, I also use Trigger Press often on WBs vs. 3-5-2 and also on FBs vs. 4-1-2-1-2 for the same reason.

Edited June 22 by Los_Culés

[Cloud9]

9 hours ago, Captain_T said:

Are the AI teams also using OIs?

Yes, the AI has all the tools the human manager can employ on the pitch. Even if you do not intend to use OIs, understanding how your players can be neutralized is important when developing them. For example, here we have a wonderfully talented Brazilian boy:

Of course we want to continue to develop his passing ability...but it is more important to focus on attributes that will make him press resistant or difficult to man mark if he is going to become a focal point/pressure valve in buildup play in our tactic. 

Technicals are more difficult to improve as a player ages, so early training regimes to focus on Ball Control can be quite helpful

Edited June 22 by Cloud9

[bababooey]

23 hours ago, Cloud9 said:

Trigger Press Always is another OI that is quite disruptive and you should only apply when you are 100% sure about it. I use it infrequently in a block, since most players in an opposition attacking unit are not incapable on the ball or simply press resistant. I find it more useful when playing higher up the pitch...where you could go after a centerback due to his attributes or goalkeeper distribution. 

• In a block it can be selectively, such as against a central opposition 10 who you need to shut down consistently and can't Tight Mark due to his attributes. A playmaker who can't carry the ball well but could turn a defender who gets too tight. You might also use it against a role you want to tight mark but can't due to the mobile nature.
• Any OI used closer to your own goal is more punishing so if in doubt, just don't do it. Getting the above wrong opens up the opportunity for the AP to flourish. 

It's worth noting that Trigger Press Always can be quite effective in a block w/the creation of pressing traps, but these will be specific to a tactic. Additionally, you could situationally Mark Tighter on wide players if you really wanted to stop crosses and push the opposition inside, but you are taking a huge risk with the wide players getting spun. I normally only deploy this in a formation that utilizes wingbacks or DW/WM such as a 3-5-2 or a 4-4-2...and in these cases I'd just use the PI of Mark Tighter compared to the OI. Note in both formations there is cover for the player Tight Marking and forcing the opposition inside. I would also consider using pressing PIs on players to execute the trap over OIs.

• The TI's of Stop Crosses and Trap outside are much lower risk options and can help you play aggressively with your wingbacks to constrict opposition wingers (going to the ball more often). 

Show onto Weaker Foot is a nice alternative  pressing instruction (defensively and offensively)...which will close down the player and trigger the press if he makes an error. You have to do a lot of checking of individualized players to find profiles susceptible to this OI.

In a block, misusing Trigger Press results in you being easy to play through, misusing Mark Tighter will nullify your player and create a free overload for the opposition.

• W/Mark tighter, putting aside the potential for your player to get dragged around, against the wrong profile you're instructing your defender to put himself into a situation where he will get too tight and turned easily. This is bad defending IRL and in game. A winger beating your FB in a 1v1 should result in a goal scoring opportunity and you need to limit these in a defensive approach at all costs. This is especially punishing in transition, where your CB is usually not quick enough to catch a winger and the opposition is in on goal directly.

I would also note, your tactic is already triggering the press constantly w/Trigger Press More Often + Counter Press...so you will see a lot of low % trigger presses from the defensive unit. Perhaps consider dropping the Counter Press? You will do less all in defending and preserve your shape a bit more.

 

I see what you're saying.  So, maybe the reason why I found tight marking to be effective was because the opponent did not have an advantage in pace/acceleration. That makes sense to me.

Interesting point about using the team instructions as a safer choice. I definitely agree with you on that. 

[Cloud9]

7 hours ago, bababooey said:

 

I see what you're saying.  So, maybe the reason why I found tight marking to be effective was because the opponent did not have an advantage in pace/acceleration. That makes sense to me.

Interesting point about using the team instructions as a safer choice. I definitely agree with you on that. 

It's difficult to draw conclusions from an individual match but I think what you are seeing is that the Man City setup is really poor for the matchup. They are deploying their second team, and a very physically weak version of it, while still trying to control the game against one of the best sides in England who excel at transition football.

More importantly the key positions in the 4-3-3 are errors from City ie. Striker and DM.

• Kovacic doesn't have the height to cut out a direct ball in transition and has a mistake in him w/his defensive mentals. This is a huge problem for a solo 6 against a side playing transition football.
  • This choice alone is probably game losing for City? I would just up to a very direct counter attack after seeing this + the IWB and put it on key highlights. 
• The IWB leaves a gap to get after on transition. Another big win for you.
  • Their typical Libero + 3 central defenders is much harder to play against in a mid block. 
• The whole team is short and weak, they're very easy to bully.
  • Hard tackling is very effective here, which you employed well.
• Alvarez has no height as a solo 9, which leaves him ineffective at challenging for crosses. 
• Both 8's lack height/physicality to attack the box. I would just use the OI for "show onto weaker foot" on them to restrict their long shots.
  • Ordinarily you have height from Haaland up top so this isn't a big deal, but w/out his physical presence there it compounds the issues that the wingers shown wide will be ineffectual in their end product.

All these factors make this game an incredible matchup for a Man United team setting up in a mid block w/options like Hojlund, Rashford, and Garnacho up top.

On the Tight Marking question:

• I think the main reason their wingers are so lackluster this game is due to the structural problems I detail above.
  • You don't need to go all in w/tight mark on the wingers if you're quicker than them. You can just show them wide and if your fullbacks are quicker than them, what are they going do about it? In this situation there is no downside as the opposition lacks aerial threat to convert from crosses. 

Edited June 23 by Cloud9

[bababooey]

On 22/06/2024 at 15:12, Cloud9 said:

It's difficult to draw conclusions from an individual match but I think what you are seeing is that the Man City setup is really poor for the matchup. They are deploying their second team, and a very physically weak version of it, while still trying to control the game against one of the best sides in England who excel at transition football.

More importantly the key positions in the 4-3-3 are errors from City ie. Striker and DM.

• Kovacic doesn't have the height to cut out a direct ball in transition and has a mistake in him w/his defensive mentals. This is a huge problem for a solo 6 against a side playing transition football.
  • This choice alone is probably game losing for City? I would just up to a very direct counter attack after seeing this + the IWB and put it on key highlights. 
• The IWB leaves a gap to get after on transition. Another big win for you.
  • Their typical Libero + 3 central defenders is much harder to play against in a mid block. 
• The whole team is short and weak, they're very easy to bully.
  • Hard tackling is very effective here, which you employed well.
• Alvarez has no height as a solo 9, which leaves him ineffective at challenging for crosses. 
• Both 8's lack height/physicality to attack the box. I would just use the OI for "show onto weaker foot" on them to restrict their long shots.
  • Ordinarily you have height from Haaland up top so this isn't a big deal, but w/out his physical presence there it compounds the issues that the wingers shown wide will be ineffectual in their end product.

All these factors make this game an incredible matchup for a Man United team setting up in a mid block w/options like Hojlund, Rashford, and Garnacho up top.

On the Tight Marking question:

• I think the main reason their wingers are so lackluster this game is due to the structural problems I detail above.
  • You don't need to go all in w/tight mark on the wingers if you're quicker than them. You can just show them wide and if your fullbacks are quicker than them, what are they going do about it? In this situation there is no downside as the opposition lacks aerial threat to convert from crosses. 

Very detailed analysis here!  I think you're spot on, as evidenced by City smashing us when they had a full strength lineup out there in the Champions League quarterfinal

[cmonreds]

Hi there,

Thanks for an interesting read in this thread. My approach regarding OI is to do this according to my out of possession tactical instructions. I want my team to press high in a compact central block, pushing the opponents towards the sidelines when they have the ball. In FM24 the tactical team instructions shown in the image below:

When pressing high the OI instructions are targeting the opposition players in their defence line. When trying to trap outside, central players are shown onto foot that would lead to them playing the ball sidewards towards the nearest sideline (example: DCL shown onto left foot, DCR shown onto right foot, show onto weaker foot if a middle DC). The DL/DR or WBR/WBL positioned wide in defence are targets of the pressing trap (trap outside),  with trigger press and show onto weaker foot OI's. OI for positions as shown in image below:

For mid-blocks target the opposition players in midfield strata, and for low-blocks target the opposition players in their attacking strata.

Trap outside, target wide players in the respective strata (high press, mid-block, low-block) with trigger press.

Trap inside target central players in the respective strata (high press, mid-block, low-block) with trigger press.

Neither trap inside our outside, target the weakest players in the respective strata (high press, mid-block, low-block) with trigger press.

[Duracellio]

Em 20/06/2024 em 22:19, billmatic disse:

Brilliant as always. Combine this and @Duracellio's sensible approach to a match and you'll be unstoppable.

Thought I'd mention how much this resonated with me: I often take inspiration (copy) from tactics posted here and whenever things go tits up, I don't have a clue what to do. Back to the drawing board.

Thank you for the kind mention

I think threads as mine "sensible approach to a match" and this brilliant one by @bababooey tend to get a bit overlooked as I don't see people micromanaging as much and they don't get the credit they deserve. Maybe that's due to the fact that the game haven't changed that much in a few years from now and people realised once you reach a certain level, those little levers that give you a small percentage, became more or less irrelevant?! Or it is ending a cicle and people don't play the game as much, I don't know...

To me it's definitely one of the best parts of the game, understanding, preparing and see all the work coming together into success (or not) and therefore, I'm a bit concerned that they might consider to make those kinds of micromanagement redundant for the upcoming generations of the game, to target a larger and varied audience, to make it multi-platform friendly and the truth is, they have to adress the majority, and the majority (in my personal view) don't micromanage that much anymore.

Edited July 4 by Duracellio

[ceefax the cat]

I like this thread, because it chimes with my Rehhagel-inspired mission  

I use loads of OI's to try and get the man-marking as mean and tight as possible.

The big problem I have is getting man-markers to pursue their men all over the pitch and up to the halfway line, without necessarily taking massive risks with space in behind. Ideally I want the team as a whole to drop back quite deep, but whichever striker or winger receives the ball in buildup in the meantime to be pursued right up to the halfway line and kicked to pieces. I'm still fiddling with the ideal combination of halfbacks, liberos, stoppers, line of engagement etc to make that happen.

High line of engagement seems necessary to begin with, otherwise my markers seem to allow all sorts of space for their targets in the buildup, so I'm interested you've achieved these results with a mid block


Waaaaaait a minute.... you're saying you have to activate the OI's once you've set them per position? Nooooo

Edited July 8 by ceefax the cat

[ceefax the cat]

On 21/06/2024 at 06:57, Cloud9 said:

 

• A TF is a good target most of the time  but I'd want to avoid using it on other supporting forward roles...like a F9 who's deep dropping movement you don't want your centerbacks tracking  DLF's are situational as they are generally slow and offer a long ball option like a target man...but can similarly lead your centerbacks on a nice little adventure when they drop deep. 

This is the thing... I do want my stopper to follow the false 9 everywhere, because I know I have a defender covering, and defensive midfielders dropping in to fill holes, but it's really hard to get them to do it without super high defensive line and LoE, at which point you're starting to look an awful lot less like the defensive, zero-risk team I'm trying to be. High line / LoE and minimum closing down are potentially the way. As far as step up / drop off go.... step up because you want markers to aggressively clobber their opposite numbers knowing there's a sweeper, or drop off because you want to defend deep and not let anyone in behind, and your uneven defensive line is unsuited to playing offside?

I'm not sure the interface can really handle this style of play tbh

Edited July 8 by ceefax the cat

[Cloud9]

2 hours ago, ceefax the cat said:

The big problem I have is getting man-markers to pursue their men all over the pitch and up to the halfway line, without necessarily taking massive risks with space in behind:

I would suggest utilizing this in the PIs to achieve this. Specific Player vs Position can help you tailor how much you'd like your player to pursue the opposition player/role around the pitch:

2 hours ago, ceefax the cat said:

This is the thing... I do want my stopper to follow the false 9 everywhere, because I know I have a defender covering, and defensive midfielders dropping in to fill holes

I am not a big fan of a Stopper/Cover combo in a defensive block as they will disrupt your structure. Typically you are just making things easier for a side trying to break you down.

Yes the F9 is a creator...but he is primarily there to drag the centerbacks out of position. With a stopper told to mark him tight you are playing into the opposition hands (creating space for an onrushing goalscorer such as a Poacher, CM(a) or a SS).

To shut down a F9...I would consider simply sitting compactly and forcing the opposition into playing a direct/wing based approach which will see him isolated and frustrated. Giving him a good kicking could be applicable, especially if you are playing with a high defensive line and not in your own box.

• You could order your center back to follow him around if the opposition manager has set up inadequately  (ie. no supporting threat in behind and no onrushing goalscorer), but otherwise you will likely get burnt. 

Really you should avoid Man Marking any role that will drag you players around the pitch...so roles that trigger a rotation, drops deep, or move into the half spaces are largely a no go. You would need to be willing to sacrifice your own player in a Park Ji-Sun on Pirlo like situation. An 8 getting dragged around is far less destructive than your defensive unit.

Edited July 8 by Cloud9

[ceefax the cat]

Yes, I use specific marking and it's still not enough to convince them to follow their man into midfield, if the defensive line dictates otherwise. They fall back into their line and let deep lying forwards receive the ball and turn willy nilly. I want someone to be up their arse the moment they get the ball anywhere in my half, even if the rest of the team are dropping back into a block and defending from the edge of our box. The tricky part is that I need a high line to persuade them to be aggressive in their marking/closing down, but would ideally like the team as a whole (anyone not immediately preoccupied with kicking the cr@p out of a forward with their back to goal) to be happy to drop deep.

re following the false 9 - it's possible I'd use a halfback, or play a 3 with a covering defender either side. I don't really like stopper/cover combos because of the lack of symmetry. If the F9 or DLF goes to the sweeper's side, we have a problem. I want a player who'll follow him everywhere and another one (at least) who'll sit tight and mop up. I'm farting around with halfbacks in place of liberos too. I think they do a slightly better job overall because they'll close down higher up the pitch if necessary, only dropping into defence when a stopper commits themselves and leaves a hole.

I'm happy in principle for my markers to be dragged around the pitch by their men as long as I have an extra defender to cover. I'm being dogmatic and ideologically driven here - I know it's easier to win in FM by marking zonally, counterpressing blah blah blah. I could press and mark like hell and win everything if I wanted. But I'm trying to recreate a catenaccio-like system in which the opposing forward line is tightly, brutally marked while a sweeper fills the gaps.

Edited July 8 by ceefax the cat

[Cloud9]

15 minutes ago, ceefax the cat said:

Yes, I use specific marking and it's still not enough to convince them to follow their man into midfield, if the defensive line dictates otherwise. They fall back into their line and let deep lying forwards receive the ball and turn willy nilly. I want someone to be up their arse the moment they get the ball anywhere in my half, even if the rest of the team are dropping back into a block and defending from the edge of our box. The tricky part is that I need a high line to persuade them to be aggressive in their marking/closing down, but would ideally like the team as a whole (anyone not immediately preoccupied with kicking the cr@p out of a forward with their back to goal) to be happy to drop deep.

re following the false 9 - it's possible I'd use a halfback, or play a 3 with a covering defender either side. I don't really like stopper/cover combos because of the lack of symmetry. If the F9 or DLF goes to the sweeper's side, we have a problem. I want a player who'll follow him everywhere and another one (at least) who'll sit tight and mop up. I'm farting around with halfbacks in place of liberos too. I think they do a slightly better job overall because they'll close down higher up the pitch if necessary, only dropping into defence when a stopper commits themselves and leaves a hole.

I'm happy in principle for my markers to be dragged around the pitch by their men as long as I have an extra defender to cover. I'm being dogmatic and ideologically driven here - I know it's easier to win in FM by marking zonally, counterpressing blah blah blah. I could press and mark like hell and win everything if I wanted. But I'm trying to recreate a catenaccio-like system in which the opposing forward line is tightly, brutally marked while a sweeper fills the gaps.

Give Mark Specific Player a go for a more aggressive style if you are okay with the defender getting pulled deep. Mark Specific Position will end whenever the opposition player exits that area of the pitch.

• I would try this + a standard line of engagement to get the front foot defending w/out as much space in behind. 

The aggressive nature of the HB does sound like a strong option for the style of play you're pursuing. 

Edited July 8 by Cloud9

[ceefax the cat]

Yes, it opens up the unlikely prospect of defences composed of a stopper and halfback, or two stoppers and a halfback...!

[Cloud9]

1 minute ago, ceefax the cat said:

Yes, it opens up the unlikely prospect of defences composed of a stopper and halfback, or two stoppers and a halfback...!

A double pivot can also push your defensive line back a little for you...so you can try this + keeping your defensive line high! This could be a solid option. 

[ceefax the cat]

Yes, I've realised defensive midfielders don't really cut it either, unless they're picking up a very advanced AM, like a second striker. If you want to go man-for-man in midfield and generally congest the middle, you're better off with defensive-minded MC's. Sometimes I even end up moving players into the AM strata for marking purposes, to sit on deep-lying playmakers etc, so you end up with a midfield of MCL - MCR - AMCL or something 

Problem is, all of this, and the attacking mentality I probably need to do what I want once I get the ball (wham it forward to the target man and support him ASAP), results in a much more attacking tactic than I wanted. I'm trying to be negative here!

Edited July 8 by ceefax the cat

[Cloud9]

2 minutes ago, ceefax the cat said:

Yes, I've realised defensive midfielders don't really cut it either, unless they're picking up a very advanced AM, like a second striker. If you want to go man-for-man in midfield and generally congest the middle, you're better off with defensive-minded MC's. Sometimes I even end up moving players into the AM strata for marking purposes, to sit on deep-lying playmakers etc, so you end up with a midfield of MCL - MCR - AMCL or something 

How about looking at DMs who trigger a rotation? That way they will be higher up the pitch to contest like you're looking for...RPM and SV come to mind. 

That way you could play a defensive high line (now pushed back due to the double pivot) + your HB (aggressively man marking) + an aggressive SV who's rotation will see him in the AMC strata on turnovers. 

[ceefax the cat]

I usually base my defensive shape in midfield on the shape the opposition build up into, once they've finished their rotations. My midfield are ok to jog back and settle into their shape. But it's the first pass forward to the strikers or wingers where I want my defenders to absolutely pounce and nail the attacker, forcing them to turn back, while the rest of the side get back into position (or double up on him). If I start counterpressing deep in midfield as well, I've well and truly lost sight of my overall goal.

My dream pattern of play is: opponents win the ball, we start filtering back into our half while our defenders get close to their men (say the front 4 in a 4-4-2). As soon as they pass it to one of the front 4 we have a defender right up his arse, hacking away, and a midfielder coming in to help out. Upon winning the ball, we pelt it up to our target man and then get as quickly as possible into the space beyond him. So safety first defending, plenty of cover, but really aggressive man-marking and rapid, physical attacking. Rehhagel. 

I think the only way to really get close is absolute minimum team closing down (so the default is just to get back and stand in your shape) but lots of very specific individual marking and closing down instructions so that things get lively when the ball is played into the forwards. DoE and defensive line are interesting, as are defensive positions / roles.

Edited July 8 by ceefax the cat

[caco4003]

guys, what oposittion instuctions would you use against someone that uses ifb and iwb?