retired_Missygal

Hi guys, before i start to rant about my bad luck, it's me and not another Cheating AI Post lol.

KK nothing I do works and tbh i'd like help cos its getting to the point now where i just go days without playing cos i cant be bothered sitting hours to watch the same thing happen over and over again.

1, Center backs- if i play man marking they just follow their guy out of the area while box is still packed, if i go zonal they both go to same guy and my full backs get stuffed everytime on far post. This has happened in about 6 different started games, with about 15 of my different teams and 100 combinations of players lol.

2-My defenders get either 6, 9, 6, 9, 6 ratings or it's my guy having 9 everygame that leaks all the goals, also same with my striker, scores loads but also loses ball hell of alot resulting in goals against me.

I cant be losing to crap teams all the time with real madrid, and i havent just started with a big team, i first went NEC in holland, was given ajax job, did well went to real.
I've earned my way up but I've had the same problems all through, just in dutch league u can get away with giving away goals.

retired_BrownVanilla

although some people such as wwfan swear by it i think man marking is suicide and although i can't really give you much advice as i've never had these problems i would just say that just for 2 or 3 games watch the highlights on full, yes it may be boring but it may be the difference between spotting something and changing it completely shutting and opposition player out or him running riot - it really does give you a better insight into the strength's and weaknesses of yourself and the oppostion.

as for your strikers losing headers this could be down to what passing and distrubution your GK is set to

retired_lolindir

Do you have your d's close-mark the strikers? I did notice this problem with fm2005, so I NEVER man-mark there, but i didn't find it to be a problem in fm2006, except on a few occasions. I understand your frustration, it really is a terrible feeling, but you should try everything before quitting. Maybe you should put an anchor-man--def. mid.--to take care of those runs through the middle, and try using offside-trap. Please update me if anything changes.

retired_lolindir

Also, try to put CLOSING-DOWN to minimum on your defenders if you're using man-marking routine.

retired_pennyyoung

man marking works, only if you have the right people.

i doubt you'll have any success in any league below 1st tier using man marking.

furthermore, how many DC's do you play? have you tried a DMC to plug the holes? Maybe a SW is what you need have you considered that? with the SW even if your DC's man mark and are pulled away, your SW sitting in the penalty area should be able to cut off through balls etc....

retired_Missygal

thx for tips.

I have collicini and Mexes playing man mark tight marking or zonal no tight marking, but my whole team is set on high closing down, reading a few threads tonight it seems thats a big no go.

Could i be playing my DM & MC too defensive? cos i find they are running back into my area instead of keeping their pos and this is often when my dc start to stray.

Full backs, they just havent got a clue, they either go walkies up field and get caught out or they keep going in to DC positions.

I set my keeper distribution to short pass and pass to mexes, but he's still slamming up field 75% of the time.

retired_Missygal

Could someone give me an idea of how my def should be set, like
mentality
creative freedom
ect
ect

I'm hoping its allowed to ask for this part of tatic, i've seen other posts advising how to play ronaldo ect.

thx guys for helping keep the faith.

I've now quit Real and gone back to dutch football, but its def getting to me how i cant really advance my career without wrecking a big club and boring the hell of myself lol.

retired_sandy19644

Right.........try this.

Your defender mentalities should be no nore than 1 or 2 notches apart from the midfield, EG CB's on 5, FB 6, DMF 7 etc. Have medium to little creative freedom, perhaps a bit more on full backs if you want them getting forward. Only have forward runs on your FB's if you are playing poor opposition and they don't have long forward arrows on their wingers.

Closing down is key. Try the last notch of rarely (1 off from medium) for your CB's and maybe two higher for FB'S. Also, if you have them set to cross, put it to rarely or medium and at least from mixed or byline. Any more than this and they tend to boot the ball in the area straight away when nobody is there and your strikers are going to lose more and more headers this way.

I think it is also vital to employ a DMF. Have him sit in front of defence with no forward runs, run with ball etc. Give him mixed through balls if he has decent passing. His closing down should be somewhere around the middle.......you don't want him running around like a headless chicken as he needs to sit in that hole to stop the through balls.

With these closing down settings, you can now try man marking again with your CB'S. Don't put them on specific as they can get pulled around if the AI switches strikers. Also, if the AI is playing 1 up frony, make sure you change your CB's marking otherwise one will run out of defence to mark someone else.

This should give you a solid base, hope it works for you. Let me know how you get on.

retired_pjrobinson

Have your whole team closing down just below often and use a quick tempo.

Set CB's very defensive with little creative freedom, zonal and tight marking, forget about man-marking altogether. Also obviously rarely making forward runs and crosses etc. Set your FB's a couple of notches above the CB's for mentality and creative freedom, but have them making forward runs and crossing often. Have you DM set almost exactly as your CB's but a little more attacking and creative. Also make sure your DM is tight marking.

IF you try this, let me know if it works for you.

retired_lolindir

when individually setting your players go to 'SET TO' wnich is left to 'INSTRUCTIONS' and set your player to whichever position you want, and AI will set individual instructions that best suit that position.