retired_tiger_nakatsu

hi,

like wwfan, i tinker endlessly with tactics. unlike wwfan, i'm basically crap at defending. until 2 days ago i had never read RoT or RoO. and still won the premiership, first season, with villa.

HOWEVER, one slider still baffles me: closing down. there are of course different views on this, mine has always been closing down 9-10 for DCs(i play with 3 including a sweeper set at 2, which is fine) and my wingers / dmcs set anywhere between 15-20.

EITHER my DCs get pulled out of position for closing down heavily, or balls end up in the box ---> back of the net. my tactics have always been set a la Keagan to outscore the opposition, which i do with the paciest strikers around, however perfectionist as i am i would like to get to grips with this.

how can i set closing down for my , basically 31312 formation to ensure no confusion and the right people go for the ball at the right time?

i have a theory that as my sides are attacking by nature, all the midfielders set 15-20 closing down are so far up the pitch (despite not being on forward runs) that they are always 30 yards behind the game. any thoughts? obviously sleep is out of the question until i've sorted this once and for all many thanks,

retired_tiger_nakatsu

...am also incapable of putting all thoughts in one post, sorry.

having read nearly the whole tactical bible i still cant find any mention of WHERE each notch on the closing down slider relates to on the pitch. is 6 edge of area? further up? what is the halfway line, 15? or does this refer to 1-20 pixels from the chap with the ball?
still baffled......

retired_jasminesmom825

i remember, from somewhere, that the sliders correlate to an imaginary field around the player...if you think of the setiings as a circle around your player it makes more sense...ifyou have the slider set to 1 then your lil guy will attempt to close down the opposition when hes very close (cant help exactly how close or far), if its set to 20 then he'll attempt to close down players much farther away, therefore getting pulled all over the place...ive also found that tempo seems to have an effect on this, could just be going crazy though...if you have the tempo high and the CD high your players will go chasing all over the pitch

retired_tiger_nakatsu

yeah i read that somewhere. high tempo means chasing the ball.

this is stillthe one area i can't get right. guess i'll just have to keep testing and watching. thanks!

retired_kounelaki813

if high closing down in fm for defenders mean they go mental all over the pitch, then this game is badly implemented, defenders should be on high closing down but their common sense in real life would tell them to close down the strikers or player their marking, not to go chasing everywhere, this game doesnt implement common sense in players for the very reason that its a game and your team keeping its shape sucks too at times, mainly when i conceed a goal

retired_vmacalik

Personally the only time I ever go above mixed closing down for the whole team is if the opposition are playing keep ball in their own half and I really need to get a result as you are setting yourself wide open for a counter attack if the opposition are playing direct/longball or are a technically gifted side able to play high tempo one touch shortpassing.

Also think about your players ability when you ask them to close down. Wingers like Kewel or Robben for example dont like to tackle so asking them to close down is just inviting the opposition to skip past a half hearted challenge and open you up, but if your team is packed with Hargreaves and Gerrard types it would be more succesful.

retired_mgavlick

My Rule of Thumb is:

One FC and Wingers: High CD All formations (as in manual guidelines)

Defensive Formations: Low CD, tight-man marking, easy tackling

Attacking formations: High CD, loose-zonal marking, heavy tackling

Last season (following roughly that rule) I conceded 0.4 per game. However, the AI undoubtedly closes down heavily with its midfield in its most defensive variants, so....

retired_shella12

All the tips here are good but listen to this theory of mine. Its closer to what wwfan is saying. I think that just likey passing, closing down has to fit the style of play.

If the spanish teams play slow, short, tight and through the middle, therefore closing down is rare. The english game is more highly paced. More spaced out with direct passign and therefore more closing down. The english league has different playmakers than the spanish league does.

You were talking about losing down for the midfielders. Like I said it depends where you are. Do you really want to give a player like Riquemlme, who has 10 workrate and stamina high closing down? Probably not. But you can ask Lampard or Gerrard to do it. It depends on the style of play. Everything goes hand in hand. LIke wwfan says in his guide.

High Mentallity goes with defensive line. Passing goes with Tempo which goes with width which goes with closing down. Just try and figure out what kind of team you have and what is suited for them. My Villareal team play the more spanish type of game. Which takes adantage of my players. They are hight technical, but not ery strong and fatigued. So I got for the slow, shot, tight and rare closing. With Villa I would imagine its different. Figure it out.