Tight Marking
This affects how closely your players stay to the opposition player when marking him.
- Related instructions: Use Tighter Marking (team), Mark Tighter (player).
Always
Can be useful:
- Against a player with good creativity (Anticipation, Decisions, Flair, Teamwork and Vision), and good passing ability (Passing and Technique) or crossing ability (Crossing and Technique), or a player with good long range shooting ability (Long Shots and Technique) – To restrict his availability and force him to move into less dangerous positions to receive the ball or simply have less space when he receives the ball, therefore reducing his effectiveness. If a player has good dribbling ability (Dribbling, Technique and Flair) then he may be able to take the ball past his marker more easily, but tight marking can still be preferable to giving him too much space to receive the ball. However, you should consider the mobility of the player, as explained below.
- Against a dangerous goal-scoring attacker.
- Against an attacker with good aerial presence (Jumping Reach) and physical presence (Balance and Strength) if his usual markers have better or similar aerial and physical presence.
- As a position opposition instruction against a central attacking midfielder if you are not using a player in the central defensive midfield position.
Those players in the same area of the pitch as the opposition player should ideally have good marking ability (Marking, Anticipation, Decisions and Positioning) and tackling ability (Tackling), as otherwise tight marking the opposition player may be ineffective. You should also take into account relative aerial presence (Jumping Reach), physical presence (Balance and Strength) and mobility (Acceleration, Agility and Pace). If the opposition player is able to win a physical tussle or aerial challenge with his marker or quickly move away from him into space then he will be able to take him out of the game.
You should not use this instruction against too many players as it can cause your own players to be dragged out of position, creating gaps and space for the opposition team to exploit, while it can also result in your players having less space when your team wins back possession.
Never
Can be useful:
- Against an attacker with much better mobility (Acceleration, Agility and Pace) than his usual markers or good attacking movement (Anticipation and Off The Ball) – So that he does not move away from your players into space so easily.
- Against an attacker with much better aerial presence (Jumping Reach) and physical presence (Balance and Strength) than his usual markers – So that he does not take your defenders out of the game so easily by winning physical tussles or aerial challenges. Such a player can instead be dealt with by using a closing down always instruction.
- Against a player with poor creativity (Anticipation, Decisions, Flair, Teamwork and Vision) and passing ability (Passing and Technique) – To give him more space to receive the ball and encourage the opposition to play through him.
- In combination with a closing down always instruction against a player with poor control (First Touch and Technique), dribbling ability (Dribbling, Technique and Flair) and mobility (Acceleration, Agility and Pace), or a player with poor focus (Composure and Concentration) – To encourage the opposition to play through him but make him less effective when on the ball.
- In combination with a tackling hard instruction against a player with poor endeavour (Aggression, Bravery, Determination and Work Rate) and physical presence (Balance and Strength), or a player with poor morale – Again to encourage the opposition to play through him but make him less effective when on the ball.
You should not use this instruction against too many players as it can make it too easy for opposition players to find teammates in space.
Closing Down
This affects how early your players close down the opposition player when he is on the ball.
- Related instructions: Close Down Much More, Close Down More, Close Down Less and Close Down Much Less (team and player). Mentality also affects closing down.
Always
Can be useful:
- Against a player with poor mobility (Acceleration, Agility and Pace), control (First Touch and Technique) or dribbling ability (Dribbling, Technique and Flair), or a player with poor focus (Composure and Concentration), particularly if other abilities such as good creativity (Anticipation, Decisions, Flair, Teamwork and Vision), passing ability (Passing and Technique), crossing ability (Crossing and Technique) or long range shooting ability (Long Shots and Technique) make him a threat – To make him less effective when on the ball by putting him under pressure.
- Against a player who has stops play or dwells on ball as a trait.
- As a position opposition instruction against wide players in the full back positions or wing back positions if you are using a formation without wide players in the wide midfield or wide forward positions, or similarly against wide players in the wide midfield or wide forward positions if you are using a formation without wide players in the full back or wing back positions – To help to prevent these players having too much time and space on the ball in wide areas.
- As a position opposition instruction against defenders with poorer creativity and passing ability, or with poor focus (Composure and Concentration) – To prevent the opposition team from building play from deep and instead encouraging them to attempt direct passes out of defence, or simply to put extra pressure on the opposition’s defence and increase the likelihood of defenders making mistakes. You should ensure that your team’s defence is able to deal with direct passes effectively. For example, the threat of an attacker with good aerial and physical presence can be reduced by using a high defensive line or a defender with good aerial and physical presence, while the threat of attackers with good mobility who could run onto long balls can be reduced by using a deeper defensive line or defenders with good mobility.
- As a position opposition instruction against a lone striker with no support from central attacking midfield – To take advantage of his lack of support and make it difficult for him to hold up the ball or take it forward.
Those players in the same area of the pitch as the opposition player should ideally have good closing down ability (Aggression, Work Rate, Acceleration, Agility, Pace and Stamina), as otherwise closing down the opposition player may be ineffective.
You should not use this instruction against too many players as it can create gaps and space for the opposition team to exploit as well as tiring your players out, especially if they do not have good Stamina.
Furthermore, it is generally advisable not to use this instruction against strikers or central attacking midfielders, unless the opposition is playing a lone striker with no support from central attacking midfield. This is because it will often be your centre backs who take on the instruction to close down earlier which can leave too much space between them and the goal, as well as creating dangerous gaps that may be exploited.
A central attacking midfielder can be instead dealt with by instructing a defensive midfielder or central midfielder to specific man mark him. Both central attacking midfielders and strikers can also be dealt with using tight marking always instructions, as detailed above.
Never
Can be useful:
- Against a player with good mobility (Acceleration, Agility and Pace) or dribbling ability (Dribbling, Technique and Flair) but poorer creativity (Anticipation, Decisions, Flair, Teamwork and Vision), passing ability (Passing and Technique), crossing ability (Crossing and Technique) and long range shooting ability (Long Shots and Technique) – To make it more difficult for him to take the ball past your players into space.
- Against a player with generally poorer attacking ability in a team with particularly dangerous attacking players in other positions – So that your own players concentrate on marking his more dangerous teammates to restrict their availability.
You should not use this instruction against too many players as it can give opposition players too much time on the ball, making it easy for them to make and execute decisions.