How to defend in FC 27: protect the middle, then win the ball

The PlayMuchBetter model starts from a question most players never ask: what am I happy to give away? Defending isn't about winning the ball back as fast as possible. It's about keeping your opponent out of the two places goals come from, the central lane and the penalty box. Everything outside that is negotiable, so your default is to steer him towards the touchline.

A winger on the flank still has to beat your full-back and travel a long way before he's dangerous. A striker who receives in the centre is one touch from a shot, and you're relying on your centre-back winning a 50-50. Deny the middle first. Once he's been pushed wide and the box is covered, think about the tackle.

“Defend with your midfielders” gets repeated a lot, usually without saying what it means. Here it's a rule about who goes first. Whenever the opponent starts an attack, through the centre or down a wing, the player you send is a midfielder. Your back four doesn't move. If he beats that midfielder and gets between the lines, that's a different situation, but not before.

The idea underneath is who makes the decisions. If you pull a centre-back out to press, you've decided for him: the gap behind your defender is the pass he wants, and all he has to do is play it. Keep the line intact and defend in front of it, and the easy options disappear. Now he has to choose something harder, and you react to his choice instead of the other way round.

Two details. Defending with midfielders includes the second man press, not only stepping in with your CM. And your midfielders stay in the central lane. A midfielder who drifts out to the wing to help has just opened the one area you were protecting.

Most goals in FC 26 came from the moment the ball changed hands, and FC 27 is similar. The reflex when you lose it is to chase the ball. Don't. Ask what the real threat is, and in a counter it's almost always a runner going in behind.

That creates a dilemma. If you switch to a defender and drop with the runner, the ball carrier is free to run at you and pick his moment. If you press the carrier, the runner is free. The way out is the second man press, R1: you take one job manually and let a team-mate do the other.

• Get your current player close to the ball carrier first, so there's someone to press with.
• Switch to the full-back or centre-back and cover the run yourself.
• Hold R1 so the player you left closes the carrier down. He doesn't have to win it. He has to make the attacker feel someone is on him, so he slows down or goes wide.

When the counter has been slowed, switch back to a midfielder and go for the ball.

Stepping a defender out of the back line is the mistake everyone makes, pros included, and the one that gets punished most reliably. So the question isn't whether to step up but when it's allowed: only when you can see that his next pass or shot is a goal if you don't act. If that's the case, take the full-back or centre-back and go. If it isn't, jockey to block the lane or bring a midfielder across, and let the line hold.

The hard part is that in the moment, every attack feels like a certain goal. Go through your replays and you'll find plenty of situations where you stepped up and the danger wasn't there. Telling the two apart is what decides whether you step or stay.

Breaking the line is a mistake, but it can be fixed. The real damage comes from the second, third and fourth mistakes you make chasing shadows. Once he's past you, drop back and get your players back where they belong. Two things, and most people only do the first:

• Move your player manually into the big gap where your opponent can really hurt you.
• Hold R1 so a team-mate also fills the space he needs to cover.

If you make one mistake, don't make five more. Recover your shape.

This is how PMB defends in Champions and competitive games, in theory. Taking it to the controller, when taking control pays off, which player to take and what the rest of the team does meanwhile, is in “Manual defending in FC 27”, in the Basic plan. If your opponent keeps hurting you the same way, the guide “FC 27 tactics: how to adapt to every opponent” covers what to change.