retired_2162001

Hi,

The AI has a nasty way of killing off a game when it is ahead. And since the game doesn't cheat (no fighting about this please ) it should follow that I should be able to do the same. However, I've never found a tactical way of doing it.
I normally play 4-2-2-2 and when I want to kill off the last, say 20 minutes of the game, I set the sliders to defensive or ultra-defensive, remove the L/RB to WB arrows for my backs, the CM to AM arrows for my central midfielders and set timewasting to its highest notch. (Obviously!) Inspired by what I think the real teams do, I set passing to short and tempo to low, hoping they will just pass about amongst the backs. I don't really know what to do with the closing down. I've experimented a bit, but setting it to a low setting seems to give the best results here. My logic here is that the fullbacks should be able to handle any emergency wingers, the centerbacks (of top quality btw) should easily deal with crosses etc. and the two DM's should tackle any surging midfielders. Even more, the CM's should be able to help out a bit too.
However, this seldom works, in the sense that the opposition still gets plenty of highlights, where I have been kept to zero highlights in an entire half by the AI. So what am I doing wrong? How do you kill off a game? Or are my attacking strategies against the AI doing this just rubbish and is that the reason he gets away with killing off the game and I don't?
Any and all help is appreciated.

retired_wh0isj3ss3

Max time waisting + Ultra Def (on all players) seems to do the job for me. You can also try to set all on direct passing, to hoof the ball away.

Do you use global mentalities for your players?
I think you have to use global mentality on your players to get the 'Ultra Def' effect.

I usually dont employ this until last 10-12 minutes of the game.

If I have been in control of the game, I switch to 424 myself, and 9 of 10 times I create a goal or two. No reason to get coward when you are in control, right...?

Good luck!

retired_veterin

Well, there's two ways to do it. You either play more defensively or go all out in attack and hope they crumble under the pressure. It depends on your philosophy as well as the environment. Obviously, the limiting factor would be your tactic.

If I'm a goal up and playing well, I keep at it. Maybe make some minor changes to strengthen the defense but still maintain that attacking edge. If my defense isn't holding up, I make minor changes to my tactic to play more defensively but like I said, I maintain that attacking edge. More often than not, I've been able to kill off the game because the AI was pushing its players up in order to get that goal and leaving holes in the defense.

With about 12 minutes left, I'll drag the team slider all the way back to ultra defensive. For some reason, the whole team plays more defensively regardless of the individual players mentality. For time wasting, I move the slider to mixed just before it changes to often. This way, if theres a chance to score, my player won't run off to the corner and make a fool of himself.

However, if I'm playing against a team from a higher division, eg. Vauxhall vs. Oldham, I tend to make changes sooner rather than later. Players getting sent off, key players getting injured, players not performing to expectations, etc. have an impact as well.

As a last resort, I might sub my striker for a defender and change from 4-4-2 to 5-4-1.

In the end though, sometimes you will have to accept those late late goals.