retired_ladylimdiddy

Cleon what positions would you normally select tight marking for?

retired_kellyk

Personally speaking, between tight marking and weather conditions, I make more changes with respect to weather changes.

For instance, on a muddy or wet pitch, I tend to go more direct, and use targetmen more often.

When it comes to tightmarking, I haven't really tried it as much because this is largely dependant on the type of players you have. For these kind of specific instructions I really need the players to suit the position they are tightmarking to. The dangers of tightmarking often mean that a player could be beaten by pace. I seem to recall a thread some time back where you would use tightmarking for some instances and closing down for others...I'm not sure now..but I would think that...

You can tight mark wingers which would imply that you shouldn't need to have high closing down, since both affect zonal marking. If a player is on high closing down, it should mean that his zonal area could be very large. If he is set on tightmarking then it could result in the player being caught out of position more often than not. So in situations where I need to employ tightmarking to nullify the effect of a good winger, I make sure my closing down is not set on high..somewhere around 6-8 is the highest I would go. It seems to work just fine with the new patch, though I am still making some small tweaks here and there to find the right balance with mentality as well.

Mentality affects positioning as well as the way a player distributes a ball. If a player has a high attacking mentality then he is higher up a pitch. Logically speaking where a player makes his tackle will depend on the level of closing down, his mentality, and whether he is on tight marking.

The way I play, I want my wingers to play high up a pitch but rush back when they lose the ball and take up positions to deny good passing options for the AI. I do this by balancing mentality/closing down. I don't really depend on tightmarking nearly as much for wingers. The defensive line affects where the tackles also comes in as well...

Is tightmarking a simple panacea to solve defensive problems, no it isn't. But if you think things through logically and keep things simple then it shouldn't be too tough set up a defensively solid tactic, where the only reasons why you concede goals should be because the other team managed to beat you fair and square cos you lost the numbers game on the pitch

retired_slayerbing

Rashidi - I'm going to ask a dumb question but one that will help others because they want to know to but are afraid of asking dumb questions:

What is the difference between tight marking and closing down?

My understanding of tight marking is you are standing right next to a player and attempting to deprive an opposition player from passing to them.

Closing down comes into play when that player actually has the ball and you want to put them under pressure to make a mistake and lose possession.

If I understand it correctly you can't have low closing down and tight marking because one is saying to the player to stay away and the other is saying stay close... is that right?

So if someone is told to close now alot and also tight mark what happens then? Telling them to close down is redundant if they are already tight marking.

Can you please help me understand this better and also how best to implement the two together if at all.

retired_elpata

Tight marking means you will mirror the position of the player hes marking. So basically you are just following him around.

Closing down is how much you hound him before a challenge. Higher the closing down, sooner you will make a challenge.

retired_slayerbing

Thanks Cleon - so if he is told to close down alot and tight mark then he will follow the player around and try to get the ball of him immediately.

Whereas if he has low closing down but is tight marking he will let the player keep the ball more but will keep himself between the ball holder and the goal.

retired_kellyk

By George I think he's got it

retired_elpata

Indeed, all closing down basically is the pressure they put a player under etc

retired_ladylimdiddy

Does closing down also mean the range in which a player will close down? for example is that why its best to have central defenders on quite low closing down so they dont get dragged out of position

retired_kellyk

Precisely. Too high and then get pulled all over the place...having said that there are only three components to closing down...in own half, normal and all over. So I usually stick to a zone, based on the players position. For a defender I want him to close down in own half only cos it makes no sense for him to close all over since there should be a lot of players in front of him doing the job.

retired_Itsjustmehere

So confused now...
Okay, so how should Tight Marking work for full backs? Do they have low closing down with man marking and tight marking? That way they stay close to the strikers, and only attempts to steal the ball when the striker goes for goal? Does the strength of tackling affect any of these factors ?