On the previous page I questioned whether the Marking slider actually does anything any more.
>>THIS<< is what it did in FIFA12, it was basically a marking distance modifier. They would get tighter to the player that they decided they were assigned to. There was a kind of a sweet spot between being too slack, and between devolving into 1v1 battles that left defenders isolated.
From briefly playing around with it in 13, I can't say I identified any consistent difference between 1 and 100. But perhaps there might be other opinions seeing something I didn't.
To get teammates closer together, I think you have to look more to the Line Height/Length/Width settings.
And have you found slider settings for these that you think improve things?
If you're being exposed on the counter, are you committing too many players forward? The AI is now able to identify when it has a numerical opportunity to attempt a full-blown counter.
You see, that's just the thing: I always play with at least one designated CDM, and often two for away matches, and yet they'll still join in too aggressively in attack rather than sit back and protect the back four.
This I think is a general problem with FIFA because no matter whether it's FUT, CM, or exhibition matches, holding midfielders will make runs into the box whilst no one will cover for them.
It doesn't matter who it is I play there, they always join in on the attack and leave the middle open. (Though I've yet to try a CDM or CM with a low attacking rate, so maybe that'll help?)
I'm tempted to make a custom formation in which it's essentially a 5 at the back system, with one of the CBs essentially playing as a stopper sitting in front of the other two CBs, and use a CDM there so that he has the skillset of a midfielder.
But aside from that, the other issue is simply that the AI is too successful with its long passing in quick transitions from defenders to attackers. One element of this is that, just like in the past, clearances too often end up as perfect long passes.
Another is, like I mentioned before, a pass will go to an AI attacker and my defender will be sitting off him by like 10-15 yards.
Another is simply that my players too often don't respond to air balls whilst the AI players will come to it.
Some of all this I think can be attributed to the fact that I'm playing with a 1.5-2 star team in Npower League 2, because I don't have these issues when playing with higher rated teams or in FUT (with high chemistry), but the frustrating aspect is that the CPU doesn't seem to have the same issues - it feels quite unbalanced in this regard, which I suppose partly has to do with playing on Legendary.
Aside from coming to grips with these issues, though, I'm finding playing with a lower rated squad a blast when it comes to the variety and pace of play, even if the skill levels and quality in play isn't comparable to the top teams.
I can't go back to football gaming anymore with perfect first touches all the time.
I encountered too many injuries whilst playing play now games and live games.
