Re: Midfielders don't defend

Of course, I totally agree with that. But I guess that at this point it becomes a matter of taste, not that the system itself is completely broken as I thought initially.

Let's hope that maybe AI gets tweaked a little so that the player still need to add some input but the midfielders don't remain that stupidillly idle if nothing is done.

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There are many more AI gameplay issues like the team not moving forward at kick-off when it is needed (not even with ultra-attacking setting) or the AI goalkeeper distribution (this is indeed laughable in 2024)... But I'll let all that for another thread.

I’m wondering if guys aren’t running constant pressure the way their AI is defending me, but I don’t end up seeing the stamina drain effect. It’s not the 71 depth thing bc I’ve ran that and I don’t get the same kind of response I’m running into. 6 weeks in and the game is still god awful and built to favor undisciplined, yet twitchy players. I’ve got to cope with my favorite game now being unfun, unbalanced, and miserable. I’m finally at a point where I know I won’t buy this next year unless they really overhaul the game on the field. I’ll bear with FIFA’s first game good or bad before I do this right here again. I’m just stunned at how the gameplay on the field has gotten WORSE when you’re dropping the same game every year. I can only imagine how bad it’ll be next year.

Why is there always one guy who wants to sugar coat salt even when their face is cringing? Does the game look nice?  Of course.  Does the game play nice? Absolutely not.  It does what it wants when it wants to make the game APPEAR realistic but literally does the opposite in its attempt to seem realistic. The culture of the game has been programmed to be toxic from not giving cards to players obviously flailing into others trying to hurt them, to kicking the ball in the goal after you already scored.  It's despicable behavior.  I could live with the option but it is literally programmed in to the game.  How many crossbars and posts do you hit on average per game? I bet it is a number not even comparable to a reality.

I just mean that the system is not fully broken if you play defence the way I explained (Double R1 must be used). The rest is for another topic.

My face is not cringing, and actually I'm enjoying more the game once I've learnt this mechanic (I'm talking playing against AI, and I use manual controlls in world class difficulty).

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That said, I don't buy FIFA since Fifa 13. I have played the rest sporadically with friends and this EAFC24 I got it as a gift. For me eFootball now has much better gameplay it you ask me 😄... If only they had all the game modes EAFC24 has...

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@Piccolo_Demigais wrote:

I've been exploring this double teammate press and I think I understand now how the devs want the user to play defence.

Basically it is a key feature and not an optional way of defending as one could may think initially.

If you hold R1 once a teammate will track the player who has the ball. If you press it twice 2 teammates will track the players who DON'T have the ball, effectively cutting the most dangerous passing lines for the AI. However you have to time it well since doing it too soon or too often will drain your players stamina.

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I tried this, and you're right, it *largely* works.

*largely* because... I still have another problem. If the opponent has the ball in or just outside my penalty area, double-press R1 will just cause my back four to move out of position because my 2 CDMs (whom I want to be the ones tracking) aren't anywhere near the penalty area.

My 2 CDMs simply don't track back. I can manually pull one back but ( a ) I won't be able to control the defender defending the ball, ( b ) the other CDM doesn't track back and ( c ) once I switch control, that CDM whom I've been trying to pull back then moves upfield again...

I play 4-3-3 ( 3 ) and ironically, the midfielder who DOES track back is the CM (who isn't defensively great) but the 2 CDMs will somehow naturally be ahead of that CM (and the ball).

I tried all sorts of custom tactics but can't seem to do anything about the CDMs' behaviour.

100% agreed.

The double tap R1 is not totally reliable because of what you expose.

Another situation like this happens with the full backs. For example, if playing 4-4-2, if the opponent has the ball between the RB and the CRD (center right defender) you have to handle the CRD to cut passing lines or defend the goal. The RB will stand there idle and when pressing R1 sometimes is the CLD who comes to press instead of the RB from behind, which leaves an enormous gap in the center of the box.

So yeah, even though you can try to defend as best as you can with these mechanics, sometimes you concede goals in which you are helpless with the controls and the total lack of AI support.

The frustrating thing is, some of the human opponents I played against, their CDMs DO defend. They do position themselves behind the ball, and pack their penalty area alongside the defenders. But no matter what I tried, I just can't effect this, short of manually pulling one back. Tried asking but noone wants to offer any advice.

I can't help feeling like, while some of us have been here complaining about this issue, there are those who know how to get this to work properly, silently reading our posts, thinking to themselves "these know nowts", sniggering, and then beating us game after game...

Either that or maybe CDM coming back to defend is a paid DLC feature. Maybe if I spend enough on EASFC points, there will be an additional player instruction for CDMs to actually come back and defend...

Its not so much that the custom tactics don't make a difference, but rather (or worse), they work in quite ridiculous ways (to me).

For example...

Setting defensive style to "drop back" in a bid to get my 2 CDMs to fall back behind the ball when defending. What REALLY happens is that, well, my CDMs STILL doesn't fall back. Instead, when my opponents have the ball near the edge of my penalty area, my entire back4 falls back all the way to near the goal area, effectively giving my opponents free long shots on goal. Same for when I set my defensive depth to below 30.

Another example...

Setting "forward runs". The forwards end up going on ridiculous blind runs whenever I get the ball, in the way that there's simply no way I have an angle to pass to them. Better to set to balanced and then use L1 to manually trigger runs.

So, yes, custom tactics do make a difference, but in ridiculous ways that I don't intend. (Or maybe its just 'cos I don't pay for packs...)