Defensive set ups Help Needed

[Jon23]

Hiya lads, im new here but i have been searching for this forum for a couple of days and some of the threads and help given has been top notch

Im wondering if people can help me make my defence more stable when being attacked. Im using Crystal Palace in this mini league im doing and noticed i was very vunerable with through balls. ive set my back four all to high defensive and arrows going towards my own goal but it still gets breahced so just wondering if you could help

I've also tried creating additional formations in the strategy section but im stuck on making 3 good formations for different scenarios

Thanks in advance

Jon23

 

[RedBlooded]

Try and play pacey players at the back, and make sure there's not too much space between the full backs and the centre backs... Also try playing a holding midfielder to try and cut out the passes early, or stop them being made in the first place.

Hope this helps!

 

[orkyben]

Move your centre backs closer to the goal. Then if a through ball gets through the striker will have no space to run in and your keeper will collect it.

 

[ScousEvolution]

There is no specific way of stopping through balls whatsoever.

But playing your centre back closer to the goal or playing a hoding midfielder won't work too well in my opinion.

What you need to do first is play in manual (not semi auto). If you do not already, then learn. It is the only way to have any control over the back line.

Secondly, on the formation set up screen, in the section where it asks you how hard you want your team to press in certaoin situations (A, B or C) set your offside trap to A. It says this will make the players tire quicker, but that they'll press harder. But the players stay pretty much the same, buyt they play the oiffside trap more frequantly, and better.

But, even with all this in place, the best way to track the through ball is to not commit to a tackle, or the one striker. If you play in semi auto you have no control over who you are in control of. So it becomes difficult. But in manual, you can watch the runs of the opponents, and switch to the right man accordingly.

 

[ScousEvolution]

By the way. You said you try different formations, but this is the last thing you should be doing.

You should stick to the same one, and get to know exactly where your players will be and when.

Another mistake you are making is that you should not be setting your defensive arrows to high. Set them to normal, and have all of your back line on the same setting. This is very important, as it will mean that your defence works in tandem instead of being out of sync with eachother.

Do not be tempted to mess around by having one playing deep, and another playing high. Have them all on the same defensive arrow setting. Preferably normal.

This will mean they are not sitting too deep, and are able to play the offside trap if needed. (remember to set that offside trap to setting-A.)

I go with defence normal, wingers low, midfielders normal (sometimes with one being more defensive) strikers both low aswell. This is important for the counter attack, so they stay high up the field. It also makes the opponents defence have to play deep to cover them, whch allows you mors space in midfield.

I also keep the two strikers on the same defence and attack setting. And I have them playing right alongside eachother (in a line that is, not too close though). This helps greatly for one-twos, as you always know where the other one is.

Also, in position edit, do not try to move all your defenders far back towards your own goal. This does more bad than good.

And this tip is important - ALWAYS remember to put your defenders in line on the position edit screen. If you play your fullbacks a tiny bit further forward than your centre backs, then that is ok. But never ever ever play your centre backs even a dot ahead of your fullbacks. This will totally **** up your defensive line and leave you open to the thorugh ball.

Hope that helps a bit.

I've got a few more tips aswell. But it's late. So I'm off to bed.

Later.

 

[Jon23]

Cheers lads, very interesting views, ill definately check them all out

ScousEvolution, you know when you say put your defence on normal defensive and set offside trap to A, do i do the same for 'Back Line'?

Also, do i set Counter Attack to A or use it as a manual setting ( X etc)

Thanks Again

 

[RedBlooded]

What I do, which is rock solid, is play three CBs and two DMs:

Vomme M. Cranie Diarra

Dagaka Muntari​

What this means is I can still play an OM, two strikers and two wide players...and the way it works is it's near impossible to slip a through ball through all that. Then, when the opponent goes down the wings instead, Vomme and Diarra go out wide to challenge them and the DMs drop back into defence.

This means the attackers are always under pressure but there are always 3 players in my own box. It really is rock solid!

Also useful with Dagaka racing forward on the counter-attack.

 

[Jon23]

RedBlooded, do you have vomme and viarra attacking to the sides so they challenge down the wings? And do you have the DMCs attacking backwards?

Im also concerned that Crystal Palace are not good enough for this formation

Thanks for the help lads

 

[Jon23]

wow, Just tried the 3 defenders and to Dm's and its more stable than i thought it would be.

Redblooded, i've sent you a private message with my msn addy, can we talk about this formation in more detail mate?

Thanks!

 

[RedBlooded]

I've added you

 

[ScousEvolution]

Jon23,

Sorry for not getting back to you on that question mate. I've only just logged back onto here since your last post.

Go to the formation settings screen, and go to `team` and then `settings list`.

Set defence sytem to `line defence`.
Set `back line` to - A
Set offside trap to - A

That is it.

Obvoiously if you are looking to play the offside trap, so you should also have the `back line` setting as high as possible aswell.

However, this is where it gets complicated for you.

Because you are playing as crystal palace, and probably have slow defenders, you will be succeptable to the through ball- no matter how well you organise your defence.

What you have to remember is that no formation whatsoever will allow you to completely rule out the possibility of a clever opponent being able to slip a through ball past you. No matter how well it works for someone else.

You should not be looking to someone else for advice about formations to be honest, because I think the only way to become solid is to learn to know yourself where your players are at all times. Then you can develop a formation to suit how you want to play.

For example, Redblooded plays the same formation I do, which is the 3-5-2. And says it is very solid because of the two defensive players and the three centre backs. However, if you play against someone who plays their wingers very wide and high up the pitch, you will be vulnerable against them down the flanks with this formation. In which case you would have to widen the gap between your centre backs to cover either wing. But then that would leave you open to the ball through the middle. And so an and so on. So really, there is no formation whatsoever which will allow you to do all the things you want to do all of the time. And this is why it is so important to choose one which gives you the things you want, but sacrafices others which you can live without.

For example, Redblooded or myself might play a lot of the game in the middle of the park, whilst you might be more direct. So whilst 5 midfielders work well for us, and compensate for only having three at the back, it might be better for you to play with three strikers, and only three midfielders, and keep four at the back.

You see what I mean?

 

[luv4skating]

Well I see what you mean, but one question....

What's some of the better ways to set your other settings like Attack/Defense and Team Strategy?

 

[ScousEvolution]

That all depends on what settings you mean.

I'll give you a run down of how I play, and what formation I use.

Hardly anyone has ever beat me, whether that is down to the formation or my own genuis (insert modesty smiley) is anyoness guess. I think it's a bit of both (insert another modesty smiley)

I play the 3-5-2 with the two defensive midfielders and one attacking player behind the strikers. 3-5-2-B it's called.

I go to position edit and move the left sided defender further to the left (up), and the right one further to the right (down). About four moves each. Then I move the left and right midfielder further out wide. About four moves again. The two middle men I move two moves each away from eachother, then about two moves forward. I also move the strikers a little bit apart so they are easier for the wide players to find and give the attacking midfielder good angles for the one-two, but not too far so they can still link up with eachother for the one-two (about two moves each). Then I move them back about 4 moves to play a little deeper so they are not too isolated from the midfield. This helps you keep possesion better, and works especially well if you have fast strikers who can exploit a high defence (which is what they will be if you play your strikers deep). I have the attacking midfielder far enough ahead of the midfield so he is an option to set the ball free, but not so far as he is isolated. And far enough behind the strikers that he can link up from deep, but not so far that he can't link up with them on the attack.

I set the attackers defensive attitude to `low` so they stay upfield for the counter attack, one of the centre midfielders is set to normal, and the other one set to high to protect the defence. The wingers are both set to low so they are ready for the outlet ball on the counter attack. I find this works very well. You can set the defender's to normal or high, depending on how deep you want them to sit. That's entirely up to you. But one thing to remember is never to have them set differently. For example, the midfielders can play differently, so can the strikers etc, but the defenders must all be set in a line, and all try to keep that line. So set them all the same.

Team strategy is something which you don't really neeed to bother with all that much. People will tell you that you do, but by far the most important thing is to udnerstand your formation properly, and have the right players doing the right things. Once you've sussed that, then you can start figuring out how to use the offside trap manually and all that. But until then, it will only distract you from the proper art of defending and attacking.

Hope this helps.

 

[ScousEvolution]

By the way, not sure if I mentioned it, but I use "line defence" which means your back three try to keep in a line as much as possible.

 

[luv4skating]

Yes it does alot, I'm very new to this game but already addicted....LOL, do you earn a certain amount of wen for each game that you play in ML, weather you win of lose?

And if so the only time I recieved any wen was 40 for a tie...(I haven't won a match yet)

 

[luv4skating]

Also in ML you can't just start with any team in the game, why is that?

And I'm Currently playing WE8 with the May/June option file in ML on X-Box with FC Messina Peloro and dont know where they are from as well as any of the other teams in the ML A Division 2 league, I would like to know the best place to find out all of the countries these teams are from.

Starting off in ML:

10 or 15 Min Matches

2 or 3 Stars

Remember I'm a newbe

 

[ScousEvolution]

You get points for every game you play, although you get less for being on 2 or 3 stars. I would never start on 2 or 3 stars myself. The reason is simple. You only learn by playing a high level of opponent. I would recommend playing against 4 stars at first, then move on to 5 stars.

If you are new to the game, it will take you at least 3 months to get to a high level. That is how realistic the game is.

At first it doesn't seem as if you are getting anywhere, and you will get easily disapointed when you think you have cracked it, only to lose the next game. But remember that you will not learn all the little details of the game in just a few days or weeks. Not a chance in the world.

This is what makies pro evolution such a special game. You really do develop your whole style and quality by practising and learning about the game. As oppose to other games where you have it cracked in a week or two.

When pro evo 3 came out, I was totally back to square one again (well almost) because of the game engine being changed, and it took me ages to score freely against 5 star. But it comes. Don't ask how, because there's no special tips. It just starts to click.

The most important thing to learn, in my opinion anyway, is the one-two and through ball.

Try exiting the master league, and playing a few practice matches. And in those practice games, try practicing this:

When you pass the ball, hold R1. This makes the man who passed the ball make a forward run. Then try to watch his run, and use the man in possesion to keep the ball until the player who passed it has run into space. Then play the through ball.

Once you have mastered this you will definately tear holes in the opponents defence.

 

[ScousEvolution]

When I said you get points for every game you play, what I meant was you get poinbts for every game you win or draw. Although you only get a few if you play in 2 or 3 stars.

 

[Rangers_Fureva]

You could play a sweeper so when the threw balls come there will be a defender waiting for it

 

[luv4skating]

Alright then I try 4 Stars and bite the bullet, that move was for PS2, I have X-Box so I hold down the right trigger to make the man run ahead, right?

Anyway I'm going to start a new ML, 15min Matches, 4 Stars, creating my own team....Thanks a bunch.