Great teams are built on defense

There is a reason why many world class players end up playing for teams ranked over 250. That's because the top teams take their defense very seriously and that's where they spend a great deal of their money. There is no point having Fernando Torres up front if you central defenders are going to get run a merry dance by a couple of mediocre opponents in their attack.

Central defenders are one of the most important positions in your team. You should aim for central defenders with a AF of over £200k each. Good central defenders have both high mental attributes and high physical attributes. Never buy a central defender with less than 11 (at an absolute minimum) pace. Having a left footed DC on the left of your pair can help you in possession - but it's no deal breaker. You should aim for one DC dominant in the air, and the other one fast and alert (anticipation).

To get the most out of your defensive unit you should learn a few tactical skills. Tackling, individual tackling, individual marking, tight marking, offside trap and show onto other foot can all help. The only problem being you will end up making a bunch of tactical changes at the start of every match to map out your individual marking plan. This will change depending on how the opposition line up looks when their team is first submitted. Here are few examples.

451

Against 451 you central defenders only have one striker to mark. Remember the strong and fast DCs I mentioned earlier? This is why you need them. The strong DC marks the loan striker - change his marking to specific and click the striker (tight marking), the fast defender is switched to zonal marking with tight marking turned off. This will allow him to sweep and deal with onrushing midfielders who join the attack. Because there is less covering for your fullbacks in this formation, I favour switching them to tight, specific marking on their wingers too. If you are really anal (like me) you might also want to check out the play of the opposition fullbacks. If they are playing aggressively you could assign your strikers to closely mark them too. However this is will limit your ability to counter attack.

442

Against a flat 442, tight and specific marking on both strikers. Only if one is a known to drop deep (ie Totti or Rooney) or is being played deeper should you hold off this strategy. A DC following a striker into no mans land creates massive gaps in your defensive line. Your defensive minded midfielder should also track the opposition's most aggressive MC/AMC. Look at the attributes of their strikers. If they are both fast strikers set your d-line deep and ensure closing down is set to a minimum. If your defenders are roughly equal in pace - send your d-line up high.

Weird formations

Some managers play weird formations in an attempt to fool the match engine or you. One pain to play against is a formation with no striker. Somestimes this comes as a 4-6-0 formation that many claim that Man Utd played last year. Sometimes you see two wingers push right up to the top line and no striker with the AMC plus MCs breaking forward. Anyway - both are a pain because your DCs get confused about who they should be marking. Many standard formations make your DCs man mark. Against these formations make sure your marking is set to zonal for DCs and tight-specific man marking on the wingers with your fullbacks. Also ensure your fullbacks are set to forward runs rarely. Man marking fullbacks should not be given too much to do in possession - they need to find their man and stick with him. Sometimes it pays to keep attacking fullbacks and defending fullbacks in your squad and swap them against the right opponent.

Most of this advice is aimed at managers wanting to reach the top 50 and who want to compete in the premier leagues and cups. Speaking of which, congratulations to Jim Furlong and his wonderful This is Anfield team who beat me 1-0 in the All Evening FA Cup Final yesterday. Jim and I got promoted together in the first season to the All Evening Premiership so I knew what his team would bring - unfortunately I just couldn't enough about it. As the beta ends tomorrow I have closed the doors on beta. I was ranked 4 last night and have maintained a top 10 position for quite a while now - so I am confident for beta. I also had to switch from Blissett to Saunders due to the change in launch dates.