retired_josapa

Im looking for some tactical advice here. Its the first time ive been my beloved Blades in the Premiership and have Chelsea (home) then man u (home) then liverpool (away). Havent played teams of this calibre for a while and want to be as prepared as possible before I lock horns with them....

Just as general questions for anyone who wants to offer advice....

would you play a deep defensive line? (they obviously posses pace)

if so would deploying a defensive midfielder stop them getting shots in from distance?

Would high closing down be better or would keeping position be better?

Should I tighten up the shape of the team? How narrow should I play?

retired_nsample

Read the Unofficial Tactics Bible thread for help with tactics.

retired_jveklund

I would try a deep Dline, not too deep though, maybe 6-8.
Definately a defensive midfielder.
I would stand off rather than chasing the ball around. Obviously this is the case if you play a deep Dline.
I would not play any narrower than normal.
Mentality: Not too defensive, but obviously not too attacking either. Hard to tell, but maybe normal/defensive would be ok to start with?
I would consider man marking most of their key players.
And I would counter attack fast down the flanks.

retired_janae55

Would play a counter attacking tactic. For advice on how to set up your tactics, read Cleon and wwfan's threads.

retired_jfarleymeade1

Instead of a deep defensive line I use a normal one (11) but put the DCs on a barrow. This has them drop back as soon as you loose possesion. I HATE having the other team get in clean on goal. The downside is that the DCs will give ground when there isn't danger and really would be better served challenging in the middle third, but I'd rather trade space for time. I set closing down to lowest rarely/normal...I want to play position.
YES use a DMC!
I would not try high closing down with the back line, they will have too much skill for you and will beat you too often and leave you exposed. Closing down in the centre of midfield is another issue. You might want to try packing the centre and close down centrally. Also if your Forwards have good stamina, pace and workrate you can close down on their back line...especially if there is a weaklink with poor decisions (not likely though.)
When you play Arsenal you will want to man mark Fabregas. These three teams are too balanced (in my view) to focus on any one player.
counter attack is a good idea, or if you have a good target man, use him...especially if you can find an arieal mismatch against one of their DCs