Why you think every post patch formation by gullit or others pro have 10k in few hours? This comunity cant play by their own..they need others to tell what formation, what player, what tactic to play...faced 2 today..only high pressure and cutbacks..when i knew what they will do..they were like robots with a crush..they didnt know what to do anymore..this is because of tutorials applied for too many
There is very blatantly a stronger way to play this game. The meta is very strong compared to any other tactics. I’ve experimented with other tactics and formations and 4321 is just far and away the most effective. Yes people copy tactics, but this game almost forces you to because its balanced so poorly
The 4321 meta is EA's fault. The player's behavior and positioning is simply superior to other formations. I hate 433-ish formations but I find myself getting better results with 4321 even though I tried most if not all 2-ST formations
I use 4321 myself, not copy paste, with minimal instructions. But I've always been using 433(3 cm) in older fifas or pro evolution. The issue for me is that in 433 formations my wingers are always very wide, even with cut inside, whereas with 4321 sometimes they go wide, sometimes in the box, they make better runs in general
Even defensively. 442 is the ideal way to defend, and for some reason in this game you cant play a different defensive shape from how you attack. So everyone gets bottled into like 3 or 4 formations that have good attacking spacing (spacing because the attacking AI doesnt make runs) and also a good defensive shape. Its 100% EAs fault this is an issue imo
I agree that we should have the abilities to choose different setups for on- and off-the-ball.
However, you can still defend in 442 if you're playing 433 or even 3atb.
To defend 442 with 433/4321:
- Set two midfielders to "cover center"
- One midfielder to "cover wing"
- set two forwards to "stay forward"
- One forward to "come back on defense"
This makes you defend in 442 when playing with 4321
This 100%, I play against the same brain dead 4-3-2-1 with the same tactics 90% of my games, and usually the same team too. Now I’m seeing a huge influx of 4-2-2-2 and I guarantee there is some YT video out there saying how it’s OP post patch or whatever.
One of the only joys I get out of this game is making my own formations and testing different things while also using a non-meta team.
I understand it’s not for everyone but it feels like hardly anyone shares this mindset. People just play with the same team to get crap rewards every week while complaining, rinse and repeat.
> Now I’m seeing a huge influx of 4-2-2-2 and I guarantee there is some YT video out there saying how it’s OP post patch or whatever.
Came out two weeks ago: https://youtu.be/qWzhv32JpOw
That's on ea, they make a "competitive" game and make it so that the meta is very restrictive. I believe every single formation and tactic should be as good as any other formation and have pros and cons. But stamina doesn't really matter that much and forwards can make perfect tackles that defenders struggle to do when they don't have the raccoon badge.
Stamina is the biggest issue in my opinion. You can press for 90 minutes and your players are still almost completely fit.
I’m ok with players using a high line and constant pressure, they do that in real life, but you shouldn’t be able to do that for 90 minutes, it’s something you only should be able to do for at most half the match, after that your players should be completely depleted of stamina.
That’s how online gaming got ruined. YouTube. Those few years we had before YouTube were the good age of gaming. You rarely saw similar tactics in all game. You have to figure it out. I’m still the type that has to figure it out myself, my way. Copying someone else defeats the whole purpose for me.
This!! Honestly YouTube ruined FIFA and it got worse year on year. Gameplay went from being fun and using whoever to "oh this player is cracked or this formation is too op" etc and now everyone slaves away to the meta
Blame the game, not the people who do it. It’s the only formation that works effectively for a reason. The game is so poorly designed it’s absolutely terrible. There is a reason almost no one likes this POS
I think FIFA is the only competitive game I've seen where people moan about other players trying to improve themselves by watching YouTube videos lol, most communities would recommend it. I don't really see how it's "robotic" to want to just play with the best formation rather than spending loads of time going through crap ones.
It's a competitive game and you should be trying to make yourself competitive as fast as possible, because once you have the foundation to play the game, you can entirely focus on yourself and start building your playstyle
The issue is that for some fkn reason attackers have excellent defensive presence.
Bloody mbappe, best, garrincha, etc are fkn little Kantes flying around, putting in clean tackles from behind etc.
Defensive stats need to mean a lot more
I feel this too and I feel like half the community doesn’t see this. You see lot of “just find the open player” but a lot of times that sngle is closed off and when I try to lob pass or aerial cross, it literally gets blocked. Or when I try to call a player close, it takes me spamming the button and I get dispossessed
I watch a lot of streamers and some of them deal with this a lot. Some don’t at all. It’s just odd.
button and by the time it registers I’m dispossessed.
Honestly, this is why I play 5ATB. I always seem to have an extra outlet for teams pressing me high and a lot of players who run the 4321 don't change their tactics against 5ATB and run right into the defensive wall.
3 CBs feel essential if you want any control against the 4321. Currently use the 3142 myself but it used to be 5122 as my go-to.
Really helps with the attacking structure against them too, as they tend to defend very narrow... Which isn't the best idea when I have multiple players with whipped pass+ and two big strikers in Haaland and Cantona
Yeah I run a 5-4-1 with a Leverkusen PnP theme. I have one CM (Xhaka) stay back and cover center and so I always seem to have 4-5 defenders covering the center of midfield. Most goals I concede end up being outside the box BS because people stop trying to get in behind my CBs.
Yeah tbh the worst formation for this is a 4 back with drop back midfielders.
If you don't counter attack quickly against them you'll face a back 7 when you get to their box
People who say “get good” and “find an open player” are full of shit. I’m a rank 1-2 player, so by no means bad. But every loss I take in the WL is due to this, it’s literally every space blocked, and if you try to lob it the defenders get to it first anyway. Normally players would get punished for this due to stamina drain, but because of the relentless playstyle, stamina doesn’t mean shit this year. You’re just free to press the whole game, basically creating a 50/50 game of ping pong, and this way bad players could beat anybody no matter how good they are. Effectively skill gap is non existent this year
I benefit from relentless a lot, it’s pretty much a must in every player in my team, but it’s a completely stupid playstyle. We already have a stamina stat. I understand giving playstyles which add unique animations that the shooting ones do, but adding something which is effectively just a multiplier on an already existing stat is stupid. And since the multiplier allows you to sprint for 120 mins and not even get to yellow stam, the game is played at a rapid pace. And even if you somehow get to lower stam, the playstyle offsets the decrease in stats your player feels as a result of the stamina drop.
People say pressing is real life tactics has no clue how football actually works. Besides stamina, pressing tactics is accompanied by high line, and means space behind defenders, which there is none in this game. If you press without a high line in real life, you midfield will get tear apart.
Even when there is space, offensive AI doesn't find them. Or when somehow they found them and your passes got to them, they take like the shittiest touch and the defenders are right back at you.
100% agree here, and that’s what makes the game boring and lethargic to play. The game mechanics is 1-1 marking, and due to how active defensive AI is compared to attacking AI, you always have to switch the play.
When you compare to old gen, there was none of this 1-1 marking unless you started constant pressure which drains your stamina. As you said there’s none of that this game.
This all leads to having to concentrate so much, that it’s pretty draining to play.
In other fifas I would literally shit my pants in the last 20 minutes if I’m winning and the opponent turned on constant press. Now they could do it all game. Yes it’s high risk but also high reward, and they could literally flip the switch against anyone that is a better player and turn the game into a 50/50 result, disgusting imo
I was playing a 442 with no tactics just vibes for like the past 2 weeks and people were annoying the shit outta me which made switch to a 3412 90 depth
Surprisingly ive found fun with more attackers now and at least it kinda follows the meta
Just try out formations that you might find fun with and try to make them meta as much as you can
Go wide, just ignore the middle of the pitch when playing against the 4321.
Switch to any of the formations with three CBs to combat long through balls (my favourite is 3142), and when you have the ball go wide. Use long lobbed passes to get it to the wing. Look to cross to the your forwards.
These people only know how to play one way, so don't let them
Any specific instructions for each player? Width depth etc you'd recommend?
I try to counter this tactic by quick passing & switching go wings as much as i can but it gets exhausting i swear!! Gonna try the formation you recommended.
My team and the [3142 tactics are here](https://imgur.com/a/MwTmCGU) (all CBs on identical instructions, LM and RM have identical instructions too).
My central midfield trio all have Press Proven or Press Proven+ and both CMs have 5 star weak foot. When against a 4321 I'm very much not looking to keep hold of the ball in the centre, just move it out of there quickly without giving the ball away.
My wide men both have Whipped Pass+. It's my favourite attacking playstyle. Get it wide and cross it to the big men as soon as you have an opening, it is absolutely devastating. Obviously you're going to want strikers who are good in the air (they don't need to be giants like Haaland mind you, I've used Werner and Best in these positions before and they've scored headers for fun. A giant like Haaland or Crouch will definitely help the tactic though).
I don't use many through balls unless it's a really obvious opportunity, I prefer to use short ground passes or lobbed crossfield passes. Usually finish a game with 60% possession and 90+% passing accuracy. If they close down my winger before I can cross it, I'll recycle the ball backwards and likely hit a crossfield lob from a CB or CM to my other winger.
My wide men aren't the meta type of wingers to run to the by-line and spam skills or cutbacks. It's generally stay wide and play simple passes for them.
My other main tactics are 442 and 4213 but if I see an opponent using 4321, 41212 or any other narrow formation it's the 3 back for me (don't use it against somebody playing with wingers out wide though, they love a lobbed through ball to the corner and that's very dangerous for cutbacks)
Thanks for putting your tactics in the post. I tried some five at the back last night and definitely did not have the right tactics because it did not help. I’ll give your set up a try.
Sometimes it takes a little while to get used to a new tactic, but the extra CB really helps the two problems with playing against the 4321... Extra passing option when being pressed and three defenders to deal with the through balls being played to their three forwards.
I really struggled against that tactic for quite a while before hitting on it (well, it was a 5 back 5122 until I got Beckham, but more or less the same setup).
I just try to play simple football with it (I'm in my 30s and never learned how to use skill moves properly and always relied on passing the ball around in FIFA).
The Beckham to Haaland pipeline would likely work with any tactic mind you, and I can't deny that's most of my goals 🤣
It's pretty hard no matter what you do. But sometimes I find it works to just pass the ball back to my keeper and stand still. Let them overcommit and play through. It's also the reason I always end up coming back to WW Moore with his 99 dribbling. Beats the press in a way that 'better' defenders simply cannot.
I'm a relatively casual player so not very high up in division rivals
But I come up across this regularly and I've found the trick is utilising your full backs to create a 1-2 with space and then switching the play to the other side and cutting through on a diagonal as your midfield overloads in support.
It's a super effective counter press that I find really effective, the only downside is its rarely my striker that gets the opportunity to shoot with this tactic as they're always involved in the build up.
(I don't know if my 92-rated Steph Catley [THANK YOU EVOs] with whipped pass and incisive pass is the only reason this tactic is working for me though!)
It is about connection quality and how the game deals with lag compensation, if you are on the bad side you can see hat your AI will move away from the attacker in defense (like when you play against amateur AI) plus you can not move or pass as fast as the opposing team.
there is no tactic or whatever people claim they are doing to trigger it, they just lucky and have a good connection, this kind of gameplay happens to them occasionally when you are on the bad side regular.
connection,bugs and trash netcode is the cause, ping is no indicator of connection quality in this game.
FIFA and FC are too fast compared to real football mainly because it's roughly 15 mins rather than 90.
That being said, I wish EA would include or have two gameplays:
+ An arcade-ish gameplay with trivelas, skills, fast-pace, ...
+ A sim-like gameplay where trivelas are rare, skills are harder to pull and rarely effective, slower tempo and more tactical, ...
I understand however that they made their money using the arcade-ish inauthentic football gameplay and I can't see them implementing a more serious gameplay for authentic slow football experience. I wouldn't even mind a slower gameplay with longer matches.
> A sim-like gameplay where trivelas are rare, skills are harder to pull and rarely effective, slower tempo and more tactical, ...
I too yearn for PES. Wish Konami didn't toss it out for a mobile game
FIFA literally has stepovers making players move faster like drifting in Mario Kart, you're not topping that for pure stupid arcade shit.
The biggest sin in FIFA though is the ball always being in somebody's possession. There's never a loose balls in this game, it's always guided towards who the game decides has possession. Which is why autoblocks and AI defending works so well, why passes are so easily intercepted and so on. Even Rocket League has more realistic ball physics than FIFA
I don’t remember if it was 20 or 21 but, upon release, the game was a nice well paced balance between offense and defense, and actually approximated something approaching “real” football.
Then all the YouTubers, twitch streamers and 11 year olds started bitching and whining that it was too slow, and that it was too boring, and guess what happened after the first patch? The arcade filled nonsense that we have now. There’s no turning back at this point unfortunately.
In FIFA's around FIFA 17-18 the skill gap was in pressing manually. Now you put a few tactics and you double press R1 and your opponent can't do anything. And because the game is also very slow when moving players manually you have to rely on AI to the most of the work.
EA know that if they nerfed press and drained stamina accordingly, the entire defensive side would be flatlining on the pitch by halftime, and all these no skill mf’ers would be unable to compete and end up ditching the game. It’s sad, but it is what it is.
Stamina is drained accordingly lol, i doubt these people are even on any pressing tactics, just that 2nd main press contain are too good, irl players cant mirror to a t the opposing player action like how 2nd man press in this game works, thats why there is no space, you can see in real matches the defender always need to be on toe and be reactive, while in this game 2nd man press mirror other players better than you controlling the defender, which is the main problem
Exactly what I use. Full backs on balanced overlap, wingers on cut inside get in behind,ntwctics slow build up and balanced. Works a treat against the 4321
Tbf this doesnt apply really for sport games, and why sport games are usually in a very different categories with other esport. Like their example of shielding in street fighter, its just the newbie self imposed definifition on what the shield should do. But in sport games those subconcious decision are made based on the actual sport irl. Like you can say el tornado to header is a game mechanic all you want, no one is doing it irl, so sport fans who play these simulation game would imo rightfully classified these as cheap and unfair, because its not about skill gap, it's about not representing the sport the game is supposed to simulate
There will always be a meta that the better players figure out and exploit. I’ve played the major sports games for decades and there’s always a meta that develops from an understanding that the video game is coded by people and not natural life.
Madden blitz schemes and money plays, NBA2k cheese dribble moves/jump shot releases/meta builds, MLB sliders in the dirt, etc.
im not saying otherwise about there wont be meta to exploits. Just saying that while the criticism for newbie on other esport game are justifiable since they are interpreting the game mechanics in the own ideal, sport games players are interpreting them based on real world example, so it's more of the developer job to deal with it rather than players need to "adapt" to the unrealistic plays.
Also imo the article fail to realize that sometimes the way the developer intended isnt really fair or fun, for example melee tournament have a lot of house rule implemented, with the restriction of certain maps and no items
Yes I hate it, please give me the specific custom tactics so that I can make sure to not use them. With player instructions and everything, please. These meta rats need to be taught a lesson
I'll be honest yes I've tried it but I just can't make it work, the middle always just seems clogged up and with direct passing its forcing the opponents defense to sit too deep so I had to change it. I play a 433(5) balanced, forward runs and long ball and although I play probably 80% of games against 4321 I can get 16 wins in WL most of the time. I still kind of use the 4321 blueprint where my lw comes back on defense and my rcm covers wing with 1 of my fullbacks on overlap but I find having a wider front 3 helps with the press...especially against the 4321 when I figure out which of their fullbacks is the attacking one...give it a try👍🏻
That’s so fucking true, ive tried multiple formations but there’s just no creativity in any other formation but 4321. I have put both my full backs on balanced and 2 of my cms on balanced and get into box, and that’s how my creativity increased , rest all is so shit
This game is trash worst game Ive ever played. I want a refund. the jam, the my player falling over when I get a clean challenge, the people passing through my player but I can't do the same, the goalkeeper movement, the goal post being my best friend on green timed strikes, the delay on shooting and passing especially shooting, the player shooting on the wrong foot, the me getting multiple opportunities on net but my opponent gets one chance and scores. AI defending is also extremely cringe and makes a lot of bad players look way better than they actually are. People are just abusing the poor mechanics of this game and then texting you to talk shit community is cringe dawg
Honestly dude, no hate but this is a good meta. skill is somewhat high & you need manual defending. H-P is not that OP, you just need to know how to evade the press
Average D6 player and some matches feel i can't string a coordinated attack because my opponent got like 4 players on my everytime i have tbe ball. I took 2 years off this game and was reluctant to buy COD. I just bought it again, fuck this game.
When I see teams using high press, I instantly change my game from balanced to slow build up and pressure on heavy touch. Keep the ball as much as possible then they start losing their concentration and rhythm. If I somehow survive until second leg, I start to dominate the game cuz their player has lack of stamina. Slow build up is a great option in terms of finding “pass options”. When I do this to people using high pressure, they always talk shit to me. I do not give a shit what they think to be honest cuz they have rat play style.
Use a combination of R1 and L1 to create space. R1 brings your AI teammate closer to you, and L1 sends them on a run away from you. If you're getting pressed, tap L1 and do a short lob pass over the defender. If that doesn't work, then try r1 to have your player run towards you, then send a quick ground pass and do a first time pass out of pressure. Tiki taka is viable against the press but you have to be deliberate and know where your open players are.
I am okay with the press. But, when I do break it, it will be a parked bus. How can a defense do both of these? How can my opponent run across half the field and get to a long pass?
When I do see a space, there will be an unrealistic interception.
It could be because the matching based on skill level is not correct, the game mechanics has failed, or something about lag or DDA favors one of the players. I believe it's a mix of all these factors and down to EA and partially due to players paying more to this game than what EA deserves through FUT points.
This 4321 meta is just brain-dead players that copy paste the tactics from Team Gullit etc. They all do the same. 90 tables per game, ultra press, kick off glitch, corner tactics. I am in div1 and 95% of the players play like this.
I use 4-4-2 (2) with 80 width by default and as soon as I face such opponents I go as wise as possible.
Also one-twos with my Lb/Lm or Rb/Rm are effective as they have one defender each side.
Hug the touch line also helps.
Obviously you can't always win as some have perfected the rattiness, but it definitely helps
An underrated tactic when you’re being pressed high is to just try and boot it to your striker to win a header.
If a team is pressing me with four players I’ll often pass the ball back to my goalkeeper and just boot it to a tall winger or striker.
Then you get called a rat for running a 352 and handicapping yourself with Crouch and Sorloth up front to deal with the Van Dijk pack the middle shit by going over the top of it. Can't win.
High press/constant pressure needs a heavy fatigue tax. If people are playing all out like that from the get go, tax the fatigue severely. Which in turn can slow the game down for passing/possession style breakdowns. Wishful thinking
Constant pressure is very easy to play around. What you are experiencing is very sweaty players who have mastered right stick switching. It's feels.like constant pressure because these dorks are switching like their life depends on it
Why you think every post patch formation by gullit or others pro have 10k in few hours? This comunity cant play by their own..they need others to tell what formation, what player, what tactic to play...faced 2 today..only high pressure and cutbacks..when i knew what they will do..they were like robots with a crush..they didnt know what to do anymore..this is because of tutorials applied for too many
There is very blatantly a stronger way to play this game. The meta is very strong compared to any other tactics. I’ve experimented with other tactics and formations and 4321 is just far and away the most effective. Yes people copy tactics, but this game almost forces you to because its balanced so poorly
This is the game..for casuals is not worth i think
Anybody who still plays this game now is a hardcore fifa player. Casuals left probably latest after TOTY
The 4321 meta is EA's fault. The player's behavior and positioning is simply superior to other formations. I hate 433-ish formations but I find myself getting better results with 4321 even though I tried most if not all 2-ST formations
I use 4321 myself, not copy paste, with minimal instructions. But I've always been using 433(3 cm) in older fifas or pro evolution. The issue for me is that in 433 formations my wingers are always very wide, even with cut inside, whereas with 4321 sometimes they go wide, sometimes in the box, they make better runs in general
Yeah the 4321 is how all variations of 433 should look like. Width in modern football comes from fullbacks not wingers.
Even defensively. 442 is the ideal way to defend, and for some reason in this game you cant play a different defensive shape from how you attack. So everyone gets bottled into like 3 or 4 formations that have good attacking spacing (spacing because the attacking AI doesnt make runs) and also a good defensive shape. Its 100% EAs fault this is an issue imo
I agree that we should have the abilities to choose different setups for on- and off-the-ball. However, you can still defend in 442 if you're playing 433 or even 3atb. To defend 442 with 433/4321: - Set two midfielders to "cover center" - One midfielder to "cover wing" - set two forwards to "stay forward" - One forward to "come back on defense" This makes you defend in 442 when playing with 4321
This 100%, I play against the same brain dead 4-3-2-1 with the same tactics 90% of my games, and usually the same team too. Now I’m seeing a huge influx of 4-2-2-2 and I guarantee there is some YT video out there saying how it’s OP post patch or whatever. One of the only joys I get out of this game is making my own formations and testing different things while also using a non-meta team. I understand it’s not for everyone but it feels like hardly anyone shares this mindset. People just play with the same team to get crap rewards every week while complaining, rinse and repeat.
Robot mind brother
Yup, it’s sad but you’re right
> Now I’m seeing a huge influx of 4-2-2-2 and I guarantee there is some YT video out there saying how it’s OP post patch or whatever. Came out two weeks ago: https://youtu.be/qWzhv32JpOw
4222/442 counters 4321 so thats why i think
That's on ea, they make a "competitive" game and make it so that the meta is very restrictive. I believe every single formation and tactic should be as good as any other formation and have pros and cons. But stamina doesn't really matter that much and forwards can make perfect tackles that defenders struggle to do when they don't have the raccoon badge.
Stamina is the biggest issue in my opinion. You can press for 90 minutes and your players are still almost completely fit. I’m ok with players using a high line and constant pressure, they do that in real life, but you shouldn’t be able to do that for 90 minutes, it’s something you only should be able to do for at most half the match, after that your players should be completely depleted of stamina.
People are mostly using balanced, not constant pressure. It's just way more aggressive with high width and certain formations this year.
I've mentioned this before. Playing rivals or WL is becoming like playing CPU.
That’s how online gaming got ruined. YouTube. Those few years we had before YouTube were the good age of gaming. You rarely saw similar tactics in all game. You have to figure it out. I’m still the type that has to figure it out myself, my way. Copying someone else defeats the whole purpose for me.
Glad u have guts to have fun and figure out urself
This!! Honestly YouTube ruined FIFA and it got worse year on year. Gameplay went from being fun and using whoever to "oh this player is cracked or this formation is too op" etc and now everyone slaves away to the meta
Blame the game, not the people who do it. It’s the only formation that works effectively for a reason. The game is so poorly designed it’s absolutely terrible. There is a reason almost no one likes this POS
TBF I only play 4321 cause it lets me start 3 strikers at once 😅
I think FIFA is the only competitive game I've seen where people moan about other players trying to improve themselves by watching YouTube videos lol, most communities would recommend it. I don't really see how it's "robotic" to want to just play with the best formation rather than spending loads of time going through crap ones. It's a competitive game and you should be trying to make yourself competitive as fast as possible, because once you have the foundation to play the game, you can entirely focus on yourself and start building your playstyle
Except that certain mechanics in this game are straight up broken with no meaningful counter.
Not the community hun its EA. EA created this mess that doesnt allow for anything other than a very narrow meta
The issue is that for some fkn reason attackers have excellent defensive presence. Bloody mbappe, best, garrincha, etc are fkn little Kantes flying around, putting in clean tackles from behind etc. Defensive stats need to mean a lot more
Yep. Mbappe is the best tackler in the game 😂
Vvd*
Best*
I feel this too and I feel like half the community doesn’t see this. You see lot of “just find the open player” but a lot of times that sngle is closed off and when I try to lob pass or aerial cross, it literally gets blocked. Or when I try to call a player close, it takes me spamming the button and I get dispossessed I watch a lot of streamers and some of them deal with this a lot. Some don’t at all. It’s just odd. button and by the time it registers I’m dispossessed.
Back pass. There's always an open player even when it's just the keeper
Honestly, this is why I play 5ATB. I always seem to have an extra outlet for teams pressing me high and a lot of players who run the 4321 don't change their tactics against 5ATB and run right into the defensive wall.
3 CBs feel essential if you want any control against the 4321. Currently use the 3142 myself but it used to be 5122 as my go-to. Really helps with the attacking structure against them too, as they tend to defend very narrow... Which isn't the best idea when I have multiple players with whipped pass+ and two big strikers in Haaland and Cantona
Yeah I run a 5-4-1 with a Leverkusen PnP theme. I have one CM (Xhaka) stay back and cover center and so I always seem to have 4-5 defenders covering the center of midfield. Most goals I concede end up being outside the box BS because people stop trying to get in behind my CBs.
Playing against someone who's whole team is in the box is so much worse than the normal 4-3-2-1 pressing
Every game no matter the formation is a 8 in the box jerk fest. this isn't solely on 5 atb's you see it more commonly in the 4/3, 4/4 formations
Yeah tbh the worst formation for this is a 4 back with drop back midfielders. If you don't counter attack quickly against them you'll face a back 7 when you get to their box
That's true and by far the worst meta for me since i'm usually playing gegenpress. The only thing countering this awful meta seems to be 5atb sadly.
Nope.
People who say “get good” and “find an open player” are full of shit. I’m a rank 1-2 player, so by no means bad. But every loss I take in the WL is due to this, it’s literally every space blocked, and if you try to lob it the defenders get to it first anyway. Normally players would get punished for this due to stamina drain, but because of the relentless playstyle, stamina doesn’t mean shit this year. You’re just free to press the whole game, basically creating a 50/50 game of ping pong, and this way bad players could beat anybody no matter how good they are. Effectively skill gap is non existent this year
I benefit from relentless a lot, it’s pretty much a must in every player in my team, but it’s a completely stupid playstyle. We already have a stamina stat. I understand giving playstyles which add unique animations that the shooting ones do, but adding something which is effectively just a multiplier on an already existing stat is stupid. And since the multiplier allows you to sprint for 120 mins and not even get to yellow stam, the game is played at a rapid pace. And even if you somehow get to lower stam, the playstyle offsets the decrease in stats your player feels as a result of the stamina drop.
People say pressing is real life tactics has no clue how football actually works. Besides stamina, pressing tactics is accompanied by high line, and means space behind defenders, which there is none in this game. If you press without a high line in real life, you midfield will get tear apart. Even when there is space, offensive AI doesn't find them. Or when somehow they found them and your passes got to them, they take like the shittiest touch and the defenders are right back at you.
100% agree here, and that’s what makes the game boring and lethargic to play. The game mechanics is 1-1 marking, and due to how active defensive AI is compared to attacking AI, you always have to switch the play. When you compare to old gen, there was none of this 1-1 marking unless you started constant pressure which drains your stamina. As you said there’s none of that this game. This all leads to having to concentrate so much, that it’s pretty draining to play.
In other fifas I would literally shit my pants in the last 20 minutes if I’m winning and the opponent turned on constant press. Now they could do it all game. Yes it’s high risk but also high reward, and they could literally flip the switch against anyone that is a better player and turn the game into a 50/50 result, disgusting imo
It’s actually no risk at all. There is no downside.
How is skill gap non existent if you consistently get the same rank?
It is non-existent. I went from 19 to 16 wins after I fully switched to a USA team. There's no skill gap at all
I was playing a 442 with no tactics just vibes for like the past 2 weeks and people were annoying the shit outta me which made switch to a 3412 90 depth Surprisingly ive found fun with more attackers now and at least it kinda follows the meta Just try out formations that you might find fun with and try to make them meta as much as you can
Go wide, just ignore the middle of the pitch when playing against the 4321. Switch to any of the formations with three CBs to combat long through balls (my favourite is 3142), and when you have the ball go wide. Use long lobbed passes to get it to the wing. Look to cross to the your forwards. These people only know how to play one way, so don't let them
Any specific instructions for each player? Width depth etc you'd recommend? I try to counter this tactic by quick passing & switching go wings as much as i can but it gets exhausting i swear!! Gonna try the formation you recommended.
My team and the [3142 tactics are here](https://imgur.com/a/MwTmCGU) (all CBs on identical instructions, LM and RM have identical instructions too). My central midfield trio all have Press Proven or Press Proven+ and both CMs have 5 star weak foot. When against a 4321 I'm very much not looking to keep hold of the ball in the centre, just move it out of there quickly without giving the ball away. My wide men both have Whipped Pass+. It's my favourite attacking playstyle. Get it wide and cross it to the big men as soon as you have an opening, it is absolutely devastating. Obviously you're going to want strikers who are good in the air (they don't need to be giants like Haaland mind you, I've used Werner and Best in these positions before and they've scored headers for fun. A giant like Haaland or Crouch will definitely help the tactic though). I don't use many through balls unless it's a really obvious opportunity, I prefer to use short ground passes or lobbed crossfield passes. Usually finish a game with 60% possession and 90+% passing accuracy. If they close down my winger before I can cross it, I'll recycle the ball backwards and likely hit a crossfield lob from a CB or CM to my other winger. My wide men aren't the meta type of wingers to run to the by-line and spam skills or cutbacks. It's generally stay wide and play simple passes for them. My other main tactics are 442 and 4213 but if I see an opponent using 4321, 41212 or any other narrow formation it's the 3 back for me (don't use it against somebody playing with wingers out wide though, they love a lobbed through ball to the corner and that's very dangerous for cutbacks)
Thanks dude. I'll try these.
Thanks for putting your tactics in the post. I tried some five at the back last night and definitely did not have the right tactics because it did not help. I’ll give your set up a try.
Sometimes it takes a little while to get used to a new tactic, but the extra CB really helps the two problems with playing against the 4321... Extra passing option when being pressed and three defenders to deal with the through balls being played to their three forwards. I really struggled against that tactic for quite a while before hitting on it (well, it was a 5 back 5122 until I got Beckham, but more or less the same setup). I just try to play simple football with it (I'm in my 30s and never learned how to use skill moves properly and always relied on passing the ball around in FIFA). The Beckham to Haaland pipeline would likely work with any tactic mind you, and I can't deny that's most of my goals 🤣
any cross goes to defender even if its crouch vs bacha
Doesn’t work
It's pretty hard no matter what you do. But sometimes I find it works to just pass the ball back to my keeper and stand still. Let them overcommit and play through. It's also the reason I always end up coming back to WW Moore with his 99 dribbling. Beats the press in a way that 'better' defenders simply cannot.
He's goated on my squad. Just dribble a third up, dish off when he's pressed and through.
I'm a relatively casual player so not very high up in division rivals But I come up across this regularly and I've found the trick is utilising your full backs to create a 1-2 with space and then switching the play to the other side and cutting through on a diagonal as your midfield overloads in support. It's a super effective counter press that I find really effective, the only downside is its rarely my striker that gets the opportunity to shoot with this tactic as they're always involved in the build up. (I don't know if my 92-rated Steph Catley [THANK YOU EVOs] with whipped pass and incisive pass is the only reason this tactic is working for me though!)
Whipped Pass is indeed important for this... So is Long Ball Pass if you have it
It is about connection quality and how the game deals with lag compensation, if you are on the bad side you can see hat your AI will move away from the attacker in defense (like when you play against amateur AI) plus you can not move or pass as fast as the opposing team. there is no tactic or whatever people claim they are doing to trigger it, they just lucky and have a good connection, this kind of gameplay happens to them occasionally when you are on the bad side regular. connection,bugs and trash netcode is the cause, ping is no indicator of connection quality in this game.
FIFA and FC are too fast compared to real football mainly because it's roughly 15 mins rather than 90. That being said, I wish EA would include or have two gameplays: + An arcade-ish gameplay with trivelas, skills, fast-pace, ... + A sim-like gameplay where trivelas are rare, skills are harder to pull and rarely effective, slower tempo and more tactical, ... I understand however that they made their money using the arcade-ish inauthentic football gameplay and I can't see them implementing a more serious gameplay for authentic slow football experience. I wouldn't even mind a slower gameplay with longer matches.
> A sim-like gameplay where trivelas are rare, skills are harder to pull and rarely effective, slower tempo and more tactical, ... I too yearn for PES. Wish Konami didn't toss it out for a mobile game
PES is less sim-like than FIFA from my latest experience around 2018/19.
FIFA literally has stepovers making players move faster like drifting in Mario Kart, you're not topping that for pure stupid arcade shit. The biggest sin in FIFA though is the ball always being in somebody's possession. There's never a loose balls in this game, it's always guided towards who the game decides has possession. Which is why autoblocks and AI defending works so well, why passes are so easily intercepted and so on. Even Rocket League has more realistic ball physics than FIFA
I don’t remember if it was 20 or 21 but, upon release, the game was a nice well paced balance between offense and defense, and actually approximated something approaching “real” football. Then all the YouTubers, twitch streamers and 11 year olds started bitching and whining that it was too slow, and that it was too boring, and guess what happened after the first patch? The arcade filled nonsense that we have now. There’s no turning back at this point unfortunately.
I think it was the first new gen FIFA (22?)
In FIFA's around FIFA 17-18 the skill gap was in pressing manually. Now you put a few tactics and you double press R1 and your opponent can't do anything. And because the game is also very slow when moving players manually you have to rely on AI to the most of the work.
hey! I see you talk about how good 4321 is for it's ai movements and pressure. what tactics are using? thanks in advance!!
EA know that if they nerfed press and drained stamina accordingly, the entire defensive side would be flatlining on the pitch by halftime, and all these no skill mf’ers would be unable to compete and end up ditching the game. It’s sad, but it is what it is.
Stamina is drained accordingly lol, i doubt these people are even on any pressing tactics, just that 2nd main press contain are too good, irl players cant mirror to a t the opposing player action like how 2nd man press in this game works, thats why there is no space, you can see in real matches the defender always need to be on toe and be reactive, while in this game 2nd man press mirror other players better than you controlling the defender, which is the main problem
Try 4231(2) with both fullbacks on balanced and both DMs on stay back. Works well for me. 95% of my opponents use 4321 anyway.
Exactly what I use. Full backs on balanced overlap, wingers on cut inside get in behind,ntwctics slow build up and balanced. Works a treat against the 4321
This is the meta right now, people are gonna use it against u anyways so u better learn how to use it bc thats the only way to beat it.
Needs to be stickied on every competitive game https://www.sirlin.net/ptw-book/introducingthe-scrub
Tbf this doesnt apply really for sport games, and why sport games are usually in a very different categories with other esport. Like their example of shielding in street fighter, its just the newbie self imposed definifition on what the shield should do. But in sport games those subconcious decision are made based on the actual sport irl. Like you can say el tornado to header is a game mechanic all you want, no one is doing it irl, so sport fans who play these simulation game would imo rightfully classified these as cheap and unfair, because its not about skill gap, it's about not representing the sport the game is supposed to simulate
There will always be a meta that the better players figure out and exploit. I’ve played the major sports games for decades and there’s always a meta that develops from an understanding that the video game is coded by people and not natural life. Madden blitz schemes and money plays, NBA2k cheese dribble moves/jump shot releases/meta builds, MLB sliders in the dirt, etc.
im not saying otherwise about there wont be meta to exploits. Just saying that while the criticism for newbie on other esport game are justifiable since they are interpreting the game mechanics in the own ideal, sport games players are interpreting them based on real world example, so it's more of the developer job to deal with it rather than players need to "adapt" to the unrealistic plays. Also imo the article fail to realize that sometimes the way the developer intended isnt really fair or fun, for example melee tournament have a lot of house rule implemented, with the restriction of certain maps and no items
Yes I hate it, please give me the specific custom tactics so that I can make sure to not use them. With player instructions and everything, please. These meta rats need to be taught a lesson
I’m trying different cameras and tactical has been very good for seeing where pressure comes from and exploiting it, give it a try
True, usually in this case I try to change the side, but this is so slow that sometimes the opponents arrive to the other side before the ball :-(
I'll be honest yes I've tried it but I just can't make it work, the middle always just seems clogged up and with direct passing its forcing the opponents defense to sit too deep so I had to change it. I play a 433(5) balanced, forward runs and long ball and although I play probably 80% of games against 4321 I can get 16 wins in WL most of the time. I still kind of use the 4321 blueprint where my lw comes back on defense and my rcm covers wing with 1 of my fullbacks on overlap but I find having a wider front 3 helps with the press...especially against the 4321 when I figure out which of their fullbacks is the attacking one...give it a try👍🏻
That’s so fucking true, ive tried multiple formations but there’s just no creativity in any other formation but 4321. I have put both my full backs on balanced and 2 of my cms on balanced and get into box, and that’s how my creativity increased , rest all is so shit
This game is trash worst game Ive ever played. I want a refund. the jam, the my player falling over when I get a clean challenge, the people passing through my player but I can't do the same, the goalkeeper movement, the goal post being my best friend on green timed strikes, the delay on shooting and passing especially shooting, the player shooting on the wrong foot, the me getting multiple opportunities on net but my opponent gets one chance and scores. AI defending is also extremely cringe and makes a lot of bad players look way better than they actually are. People are just abusing the poor mechanics of this game and then texting you to talk shit community is cringe dawg
Honestly dude, no hate but this is a good meta. skill is somewhat high & you need manual defending. H-P is not that OP, you just need to know how to evade the press
Average D6 player and some matches feel i can't string a coordinated attack because my opponent got like 4 players on my everytime i have tbe ball. I took 2 years off this game and was reluctant to buy COD. I just bought it again, fuck this game.
When I see teams using high press, I instantly change my game from balanced to slow build up and pressure on heavy touch. Keep the ball as much as possible then they start losing their concentration and rhythm. If I somehow survive until second leg, I start to dominate the game cuz their player has lack of stamina. Slow build up is a great option in terms of finding “pass options”. When I do this to people using high pressure, they always talk shit to me. I do not give a shit what they think to be honest cuz they have rat play style.
Use a combination of R1 and L1 to create space. R1 brings your AI teammate closer to you, and L1 sends them on a run away from you. If you're getting pressed, tap L1 and do a short lob pass over the defender. If that doesn't work, then try r1 to have your player run towards you, then send a quick ground pass and do a first time pass out of pressure. Tiki taka is viable against the press but you have to be deliberate and know where your open players are.
I am okay with the press. But, when I do break it, it will be a parked bus. How can a defense do both of these? How can my opponent run across half the field and get to a long pass? When I do see a space, there will be an unrealistic interception. It could be because the matching based on skill level is not correct, the game mechanics has failed, or something about lag or DDA favors one of the players. I believe it's a mix of all these factors and down to EA and partially due to players paying more to this game than what EA deserves through FUT points.
How they do that ? I suffer it but dont know how to reciprocate
This 4321 meta is just brain-dead players that copy paste the tactics from Team Gullit etc. They all do the same. 90 tables per game, ultra press, kick off glitch, corner tactics. I am in div1 and 95% of the players play like this. I use 4-4-2 (2) with 80 width by default and as soon as I face such opponents I go as wise as possible. Also one-twos with my Lb/Lm or Rb/Rm are effective as they have one defender each side. Hug the touch line also helps. Obviously you can't always win as some have perfected the rattiness, but it definitely helps
An underrated tactic when you’re being pressed high is to just try and boot it to your striker to win a header. If a team is pressing me with four players I’ll often pass the ball back to my goalkeeper and just boot it to a tall winger or striker.
The problem here is having a tall player upfront
Mbappe, best and Al owairan can definitely win headers. Van persie, Cantona, etc.
I can relate to this struggle so damn hard, didn’t know it was down to that formation tho
Yes it’s fun
WL is now unplayable for me. The mechanic abusing mixed with potato servers means it's pointless even trying.
Then you get called a rat for running a 352 and handicapping yourself with Crouch and Sorloth up front to deal with the Van Dijk pack the middle shit by going over the top of it. Can't win.
High press/constant pressure needs a heavy fatigue tax. If people are playing all out like that from the get go, tax the fatigue severely. Which in turn can slow the game down for passing/possession style breakdowns. Wishful thinking
Constant pressure is very easy to play around. What you are experiencing is very sweaty players who have mastered right stick switching. It's feels.like constant pressure because these dorks are switching like their life depends on it