Defending in FC 24 has been challenging so far. But trust me, that’s over now. Because in this guide, I’m going to teach you how to effectively defend against the three most common attacking strategies. Let’s get your defense to the next level. 

Of course, if you have enough FC 24 Coins, I still recommend you to improve your players. This way, your team will become stronger.

Cutbacks

Let’s address the elephant in the room right away - Cutbacks. 

The first step against players who try to abuse running down the wing is simple. Don’t let them run down the wing.

In previous years, it was always beneficial to push the Attacker towards the wing and then close him down there. This year, however, that’s the danger zone. And therefore, you want to keep your Fullbacks in position all the time.

Don’t pull them out too far to press and don’t get baited to cover the inside with them, just for the opponent to turn back and run down the wing. Locking up the outside is your priority and if you’re consequent with it, you will win position back a lot of the time.

Of course, you can’t stop a good opponent from breaking through every now and then. Once you’re in a position where you need to defend against a Cutback, there is one key to success: you need to put pressure on the ball as early as possible.

At first you want to defend the obvious pass to the middle. But once you accomplish that, don’t just stay passive covering the pass. You need to approach the passer and try to tackle the ball away. Otherwise, you let the opponent get closer and closer to your goal and at some point he will find the open opening.

It’s better to surprise them with your aggression and clear the ball out while he is still looking for that passing option.

Finally, I have a tip for you that not many players know about or use yet. While you go for the ball, you can use partial team press to cover the inside. Simply tap R1/RB twice and hold it on the second tap. This will cause two of your Defenders to tightly mark Attackers inside the box.

And if the opponent is able to avoid your tackle on the wing, he will have a much harder time finishing his attack successfully.

Finesse & Trivela Shots

The second common attacking strategies are those Finesse and Trivela Shots from distance.

Step 1: in order to defend these is being aware. 

Look at your opponent’s team and note playstyles. If you see Benzema, Griezmann, Salah (and those types of FC 24 Players), you already know Finesse Shots are going to come. 

So, when the opponent enters the critical areas around your box, then you need to grab the closest Defender and cover the inside. If you’re early enough, then there won’t be time for your opponent to get the proper angle and get the shot off.

Defending step two becomes necessary if you realize that you’re going to be too late either because you got surprised or there just isn’t a Defender close enough to stop the shot.

In this case, you want to move the keeper towards the far post by pressing in the right stick and pointing it towards the far corner. This will put your keeper in a better position to save the shot since he has quite a lot of time until the ball arrives.

Controlled Sprint

Moving on to the third meta attacking strategy, we have defending against Controlled Sprint.

This can be quite a tough one since the combination of speed and ball control is naturally very strong. But there’s two key tips that should already help you out a lot.

Tip number one is to switch ahead instead of chasing from behind. Against Controlled Sprint, you can’t fall back to the typical defending strategy of selecting an Attacker or Midfielder and trying to pressure the opponent from behind. Because he is going to penetrate the space in front too quickly and then you can’t rely on your AI to defend properly.

Switch after switch, you’re going to be too late and then the opponent is through on goal. Instead, switch back early enough and get control of a Defender that can actually do something and get into the way of the Attacker.

Now, once you have that Defender, tip number two comes into play - position carefully. Don’t anticipate and move in aggressively too early. This will only cause you to lose control of the situation when the opponent Controlled Sprints past you.

Instead, soak up the pressure like a sponge for a short moment and let the opponent come to you. Once he is in a situation where he doesn’t have anywhere to go, you can close in to win the ball with a tackle. 

If he has space all the way through, then you need to find the timing when he takes a touch and you’re in reach to tackle before he gets another touch.

This comes down to practice and is not as easy against Controlled Sprint, but your opponent is still losing some control and can change direction as rapidly. 

So, take advantage of that.