retired_sohallor

i just played a match against liverpool and couldnt contain them was outplayed as chelsea as well, i cant think of a way i can combat this formation.any help? i did use one dc to man mark the solo striker and brought my full backs in from the flanks to man mark the two ams on either side and my dmc to man mark the solo centre am but im not left with much in terms if attacking options doing that

KryptonSean

What?

Can you tell me who those attackers were, the promblem may be that you have a pair of pathetic, slow full backs who can't keep up with Gonzales and Garcia.

retired_mary43

Would you be annoyed if the solution was to simply be more offensive?

Keep the ball up by playing a medium (or high if you are feeling good) defensive line, and close down moderately. Do short passing. Then they will be forced to drop backwards, which makes things easy. Play wide, too - and if you are playing with wingers, close down their full-backs to remove their width. Then close down the wide AMCs and tight mark the FC. Then you have to put the ball into the net - which is a problem I can't help you with - you should know better what to do there.

Lesson: Don't play to Liverpool - force Liverpool to play to you. Think of how you can force Liverpool's formation to be more defensive. If it works, Liverpool usually end up shifting to 4-1-4-1 or 4-4-1-1, or 4-4-2 if Kuyt plays. Same rule applies to Arsenal.

retired_sohallor

excellent thank you x42bn6 that formation i have never cracked

retired_mary43

Doesn't always work, remember. But my guess is that you tried to think that, "Playing more defensively works because Liverpool are playing so offensively!" Not really. Quite frankly, if you play hyper-defensive to counter Liverpool, you are simply inviting them to attack. Likewise, if you try and absorb Arsenal's passing pressure and counter-attack, you will fail miserably. I used to think that way - but then who'd've thought that offensive play could actually be good against offensive teams!