mhiggins

I need help with tweaking my tactics against this formation...driving me crazy!
If i am a goal up or playing away and the point seems a good result,whatever i do the opposition always goes to a 4-2-4 formation.I just sit and wait for an equaliser or the last minute winner.I have tried ultra defensive,arrows back on all my defence,man marking the four front players,wingers tracking back.....you know the rest! None of these seem to work.Any help or advice would be welcome so i can give it a try.

Thankyou.

retired_nae-nae

try slowing the game down and holding possesion and a bit of time wasting

retired_cristenr7

i've heard putting barrows on your fullback and tight man marking the pushed up wingers works well. i have my defenders hard tackle the pushed up wingers but the jury's still out on that....

retired_asarkozi

It depends on the tactics u use.
I use 4-2-2-2.Usually it is I who score in the last
10 mins or so. Thats why in my six seasons with Arsenal,2 of them unbeaten and another 2 one loss away at Blackburn(both).To defend against it I put
time wasting full,mentality back to normal from attacking.And it is rare to see AI score with 4-2-4

retired_slo_nes

1

retired_terryann68

The one thing I have sussed out as it happened to me loads of times and I tried man marking 'em all and got stuffed everytime, just put your defence onto zonal marking,since Ive done that a 4-2-4 hasnt scored against me

retired_katrinajones

Make sure no forward runs on FBs. Try to get people in the positions where there wingers ought to be (i.e. your own wingers). Focus ball down flanks, counter-attack. You will cause them a lot of problems too!!

I've tried using the opposition instructions to close down all 4 opp strikers too and that seemed to help.

emrah1987

If you are trying to play out time, you can also try man marking the two MCs with your wingers and back arrow your MCs. I find that more effective than double marking the wingers. You can also mark the more dangerous fullback with one of the striker.

retired_ahillary

wanna hear the sure fire?

Read wwfan's guide.

Try this, its been working for me 2 seasons now and i've only conceeded about 3 late goals(75th-90th).

1.First side arrow your 2 FCs.
2.Next, draw your wingers back, backarrow them 3.if needed, usually i dont thought, i just cancel the Farrows.
4.Change your DCs passing to direct, or very direct
5. Close down heavily and tight mark their wings with your FBs
6. Tight zonal on the DCs

Here's the rationale.
the 4-2-4 really works effective only if they got their entire 4 up front in possession. So close down heavily and force them to make bad passes or even intercept to gain possession. Then your defenders will go for a long pass(direct passing) to your FCs, who will then easily split their defence up to slot the ball home!

Rememeber, the 4-2-4 only works if they have possession, and sarrowing your FCs retains your possesion for some reason i do not understand.

Anyway the only kinds of goal you will concede is if,

1.they score from a corner(then its not a matter of 4-2-4 and cannot be prevented)
2.A quick break, which is a mistake of your DC, i feel that a tight zonal and low closing down has helped me reduce such erorrs considerably. Also, get a VERY FAST FB. As long as he's fast, like 15-16, you'll have absolutely no problem intercepting those runaway strikers.
3. Or a defensive error, like a bad marking. On the last 15 mins, remember to take out the 5-6 rated defenders because they are very most likely going to concede possession.

Anyway, the key to neutralising the 4-2-4 is really to retain possession, and you can do this in a variety of ways. For me, i combine tactics with some evil misdeeds, ie time wasting.

If you haven't already made subs, do them slowly one by one, (75,80,85). If their team has really shitty temperament, you'll soon find most of their player peeved and pushing about, and of course, picking up red cards as well

And AI managers usually favour defence over offence, so you'll find yourself dealing with a 4-2-3 instead

lost

What weichen said.

But the last 15-20 minutes when you are one goal up are hard. The AI seems to get some adrenaline rush and go all gung-ho on the human team. They run like the wind, close down like supermen, and can string some fantastic passes together. It's very annoying, as I can't seem to replicate it when the tables are turned.

Time wasting often helps though.