Football manager 2020 press trial#

If you have a more urgent pressing style out of possession and a transitional regroup, players may be caught between the two, and end up out of position doing one thing whilst his team are doing something else.Ī lot of defensive tactics in Football Manager are trial and error, you can have an idea in mind, but it may not translate in the Football Manager world. These instructions can cause problems when used with team instructions, so again, it is worth trialling during pre season. By counter pressing your teams will naturally press more all over the pitch.

If you have defensive traps set up in deeper positions, this could be useful, to avoid your players being caught out of position and get them back to initiate a trap. Don’t go changing things for the sake of it.īy regrouping (transitions) your team will automatically become slightly more defensive minded, and will largely ignore the ball to get back into position. Analyse games as much as you can, even though the opposition might have had more shots than you, these might be speculative long range efforts that yield 1 in 100. By limiting the number of clear cut chances and half chances, you will naturally concede fewer goals. Ultimately it is to not concede, but you’d be naive to think of it so simplistic. The overall aim of good defensive tactics in Football Manager is to limit the opportunities that opposition teams get to score. Forwards are the first line of defence, but they are more than just a manic chaser of the ball. Mark them, close them down, force him into making that mistake or misplacing the pass.

Maybe one of them has made 5 mistakes leading to goals in the last 5 games, or one of them has 3 passing. The other one can have the ball all day if he cant pass to anyone. Does one tend to pass to the other more often? Mark the receiving defender, he’s likely the most creative so stop him creating. Try looking at the attributes and analysis of opposition defenders first. Most peoples idea of a forward helping out with the defence is using a high line of engagement and pressing forward. They might not be as technically gifted in defending, but the fullbacks they are against aren’t adept at attacking either. Don’t be afraid to use them defensively, assign them tasks to help out. If they are trying to underlap, maybe ask a central midfielder to pick up some responsibility. Set them to close down suitably and channel fullbacks to where you want them to go. You may need to include wide midfielders or wingers in your defensive tactic, to combat an attacking wingback, use these similar to fullbacks. Don’t make four changes all at once make a change, analyse it, change something else, analyse. Two supporting fullbacks and two central defenders is a good place to start. Tweak tactics during pre season and again in competitive games. I know a lot of you are guilty of giving that responsibility to your assistant manager (tut tut). All defensive tactics require suitable roles, and those roles and structures are best discovered during the pre season friendlies. A very high defensive line and short distribution might give a pacey forward the opportunity to cut a pass out. A pair of no nonsense centre backs are not going to want to play out from the back. Roles of players also directly impact team instructions.

Something to think about when setting an offside trap maybe…? Certain roles can have a more positive effect on certain defensive traps, others may completely undermine your defensive structure.

Stoppers push forward and close down more, whereas covering defenders sit deeper. A wingback will look to sit wider than a fullback, so wont work as well in a narrow defence. You all know the different roles for defenders, but what you might not know is how they work together. Whether you use a back four, a sweeper, or complete wingbacks leaving a central pair, defensive tactics differ. Don’t forget to adjust and tweak game by game. Choose areas where you know you are defensively strong, and try set the traps to force the opposition away from where you are weaker. You can set defensive traps in any area on the pitch simply target an area, and use team and player instructions to define how and when the trap is used. Player instructions can be altered on a game by game basis depending on the type of defensive trap you are aiming to set