@Tauntmatt This year CB's with Anticipate retain the ball much better than other defenders. I had a tough time with CB's that in other FIFAs were good, but this year they're not. Once I made the switch, my defending has been much better (I crafted both Thiago Silva and Ledley King SBC's).
Dudek has been consistent for me whereas Alison would get scored on dumb and easy to block looking goals. Courtois is a bit of a nightmare for me to play against.
Passing stats definitely matter more than ever this year, I'm using KDB and Triple Threat Madison (both with the Engine Chemstyle applied).
I didn't want to play the meta, but it does make a huge difference: you have to play high depth as well.
My tactics for a 4-2-4 are:
91 depth
40 defensive width
70 offensive width
7 bars of players in the box for a cross
Possession-based chance creation.
Instructions are also important, I have my fullbacks on stay back and my wingers on come back to defend -- I suck at defending and need any advantage that I can get. I also play all of my Defensive line on Conservative Interceptions to try and maintain my line.
You don't have to copy and paste my tactics/instructions, but it is important to figure out what best fits you.
I recently gave my brother EAFC24, I helped him with his tactics. He just started playing and has won games from Div 10 - Div 7 without a single loss (10+ games). He prefers his defensive line being more active, so he doesn't turn on Conservative Interceptions, but I like to hold off and jockey more so that's why I put mine on Conservative Interceptions. His defense is Thiago Silva + Van Dijk.
We're both Grind2Glory players, we don't buy "FIFA" points. We grind for what we have and our teams is mostly packed untradeable players.
My brother is a better player than I am, took a break from playing FIFA for a couple years, and just came back. He's pretty much as good as ever. Lol
But, we both really enjoy the game.
There are moments of rage, when animations or connection is bad, but we're still for the most part, able to enjoy the game.