EA Sports FC 24 | Defending Guide (Advanced v Tactical, Playstyles, and More!)

EA FC24 is a bit different than past titles, introducing brand new defending animations and playstyles. This guide aims to cover all you need to know about defending in order to ensure you keep those clean sheets. Nothing is more frustrating than conceding goals due to not being able to control the correct player in time. That, or the ball kept bouncing back to your opponents. Either way, we’ll help you minimalize your defensive mistakes, paving a smooth path to Division 1 and beyond. That being said, this is a guide on how to defend in EA FC 24.

For more relevant articles, check out these guides on KeenGamer:

1. EA Sports FC 24 | Manager Career Mode Guide
2. EA Sports FC 24 | How to Make More Coins Fast
3. EA Sports FC 24 | Player Career Mode Guide
4. EA Sports FC 24 | Best Pro Clubs Builds

EA Sports FC 24 is available on PlayStation, Xbox Series X|S, PC, and Nintendo Switch.

Tactical, Advanced, Legacy Defending

In EA FC 24, there are a number of new features that have been introduced. One of which involves the introduction of a new style of defending called ‘Tactical Defending’. In the game settings menu, you are able to pick which style of defending you want to play with. This is arguably the most important decision as all three options are vastly different.

Tactical

The first defensive option is Tactical. This defensive style focuses more on you staying in position and trying to time your tackles. Once you press the tackle button, the AI will choose between either a standing tackle or a more aggressive tackle depending on your player’s position and the situation’s context. At phase value, this sounds like a pretty good option, having the AI guide you in making decisions. However, that is far from the case as often times maintaining your defensive position grants your opposition time and space on the ball.

EA FC 24 Defending options in game settings.

Not only that, but jockeying whilst using Tactical Defending is a bit clunky as the AI is unable to properly react accordingly to the attackers’ movements. When you focus on maintaining your position, you’ll find that rapid Strikers and Wingers can easily skill around you before your defender even has time to turn or react. Mistiming the button press for tackling can lead the AI to completely blunder the defensive attempt, leaving you exposed and unable to recover quick enough.

Advanced

This defensive style is a bit more manual, giving you the freedom to decide which tackle type you’re going for. On PlayStation, pressing the X button allows for a seal-out, whilst pressing O will initiate a tackle. Although this might seem a bit confusing to grasp, once you get the hang of it, you’ll find that it works much smoother than Tactical Defending. You should definitely use Advanced Defending as it allows for quicker defensive recoveries, better jockeying and even has more defensive animations.

Legacy

Legacy Defending harnesses the old-school style of defensive play, focusing on an arcade-like approach to tackles. You’ll find that jockeying is less frequent and instead your players tend to rush the attackers in an attempt to intercept the ball. Overall, this style of defending is high-risk and is not recommended. It can leave you prone to counter attacks and is difficult to recover if you miss the first initial tackle.

Playstyles

Playstyles are one of the best new features in EA FC 24. They allow certain players to gain in-game boosts that enhance their style of play. The best playstyle for defenders in EA FC 24 is definitely Block. We discuss the best playstyles for each position in our Pro-Clubs guide if you want to know more.

Kalulu’s playstyles menu in EA FC 24.

As you can see from the image above, Kalulu possesses Block. This playstyle your defenders extra reach, allowing them to make interceptions that they wouldn’t normally be able to perform. On top of that, they tend to throw themselves in front of the ball more often, preventing long-shots, crosses, passes, and more.

Another playstyle that is extremely useful is Interceptions as it helps your defender come out on top when there is a weird scuffle for the ball. In terms of fullbacks, you’ll want your RB and LB to have the Jockey playstyle. This increases the maximum speed your defender can reach whilst performing Sprint Jockey, which is extremely valuable when defending on the wing/out wide.

Kyle Walker’s playstyles menu in EA FC 24.

On top of that, this playstyle allows for quicker transition speed from jockey to sprint. As a fullback, you’re going to be marking some pacey wingers that will definitely try and either cut inside or skill around you. Either way, having a quicker transitions makes it so that you can recover faster and face the attacker once again. At the end of the day, it’s a little bit of extra speed on the movement which is always valuable to have.

Settings

Before you jump into a game, we need to adjust some settings in order to ensure you’re well set-up. This includes camera settings, player switching, and in-game tactics. Obviously, not everyone plays football the same, therefore, you’re free to change these up a bit if you find another option that makes you play more comfortably.

Camera Settings

Camera settings are subjective as a lot of people differ on what is the ‘optimum’ camera to use. We’ve found that there are two cameras that work the best, ensuring you’re able to keep up with the action as well as possible. First, we’ve got a custom Tele Broadcast setting below that is somewhat close to the players on the pitch. This allows you to see closer and thus be able to time your tackles better. As a result of having such a clear view of the players, you’re able to dribble past opponents easier as well.

Custom Tele Broadcast camera settings in EA FC 24.

On the other hand, if you prefer to view the entire pitch, then the default settings of the Co-op camera is for you. You’ll be able to see almost everything at once, giving you a good sense of where everyone is. This helps you with positioning as well as spotting those sneaky through balls. Additionally, this also works in your favour in terms of through balls as you can spot run ins behind the defence better. This camera setting gives you more space but at the expense of being a bit further away from the action.

Player Switching

It is extremely frustrating when you’re trying to switch to a specific player to control but the game won’t let you. Not only does it waste countless valuable seconds, it brings your players out of position which ruins your team’s structure. Football is a sport all about timing and decision making, therefore, not being able to make a decision is already a disadvantage. Worry not as we’ve got some solutions to this specific problem.

Player switching settings in EA FC 24.

First of all, ensure that your ‘Right Stick Switching’ option is set to Classic. Adaptive switching makes it so that you can hold the right stick for a bit while flicking in order to select a player that is further away. Of course, this sounds great on paper but in practice it does not work well. Because you’ve got the option to flick for longer, the game waits a bit before registering your flicks to ensure you’re not going to hold the R stick down a bit. Therefore, you lose out on a second or two, making for some sluggish switching. Furthermore, it just feels way slower and less responsive than Classic.

Right Stick Switching Reference

In terms of ‘Right Stick Switching Reference’, this comes down to personal preference. By default it is set to ball relative but sometimes you’ll want to switch to a certain player and the game does not exactly know which one. This confusion occurs because the ball is constantly moving rapidly and in a lot of different directions.

Also, there might be a few players in the same direction relative to the ball. A solution to this problem is to try using Player Relative switching, which gives you a bit more control as you can clearly see and indicate who you want to switch to. You’ll struggle for a bit but once you get used to it, you’ll find that it’s actually a pretty viable option.

Gameplay

It goes without saying that your game plan, how you play, and your chosen tactics all play a huge role in determining the outcome of your matches. This is why we’ve gone ahead and given some tips, tricks, and advice in order to help you get set-up.

Game-Plan

In your game plan, you’ll want to keep your defensive style set to ‘Pressure On Heavy Touch‘ to allow your defenders to press whenever your opponent takes a bad touch. Of course, having players with good stamina is beneficial as this tactic has them applying pressure frequently. It’s the best defensive style as without it, you’ll find that your players aimlessly drift around the pitch. As newer cards release with higher defensive awareness, you’ll find that playing on Balanced works just as well. However, for the time being, Pressure on Heavy Touch is great, especially with you applying second man pressure (R1 on Playstation, RB on XBOX).

Tactics and game plan set-up in EA FC 24.

You’ll also want to set the depth to around 40 as anything higher often is prone to long balls and through balls. Width differs from formation to formation. If you’re playing a narrow formation, set the width to around 55. If you’re playing a wide formation, set the width to around 45. Of course, you can slightly modify these numbers if you find something that works better for you. This guide focuses more on defence rather than offence. That being said, always make sure that you don’t set your Corners or Free Kicks sliders too high as you’ll find that there won’t be many players to deal with any counter attacks that may arise.

Tactics and Gameplay Tips

A few years back, we did not have as many in-game tools at our disposal to use for better control. Therefore, we had to do a lot of the defending and pressing manually. Luckily for us, EA FC 24 has a lot of ways to control the shape of your squad as well as the amount of pressing they can do. Utilizing second man press is really useful to get your defenders closer to the attacker and close down space. Alternatively, you could access the ‘Team Press’ option from the d-pad in order to activate a few seconds of heavy pressure.

Formation tactics menu in EA FC 24.

Ensure that your fullbacks are on Stay Back While Attacking as having them on Balanced often leads them to make runs in unsuitable circumstances, leaving you completely open on the wing. Once you gain access to some top-tier fullbacks with great pace, dribbling, and physical, you can set one of your fullbacks to Balanced with the Run Type of Overlap. Ultimately, it’s still the start of the year and not many people have fullbacks that can run up and down the wing without error.

Therefore, it’s better to stay safe and leave them on Stay Back for the time being. In terms of your CBs (centrebacks), do not touch their pre-set in-game tactics as they are already optimized. Doing so will result in your defenders being out of position thus having a completely out-of-shape formation.

Midfielder Tactics

CMs and CDMs is where it truly matters, if you’re playing with a formation that has a packed midfield with players close together such as the 4-4-2, then leaving them both on Cover Centre and Balanced is good. However, if you’re playing a formation that isolates the central or defensive midfielders from your attackers such as the 4-2-2-2, then its best that your more defensive-minded midfielder is set on Stay Back While Attacking.

If you’re running a balanced formation with more than two midfielders such as the 4-3-3 or the 4-5-1. then set one to Stay Back While Attacking and both of your other midfielders (some of which being CAMs) to get into the box. If you find that this is a bit too attacking, then you could have two midfielders stay back. In that case, have the third midfielder get into the box and (possibly) stay forward.

Gameplay Tips

Rule number one of defending is to never rush the attacker except in certain niche scenarios. If they are taking a Power Shot or you’ve read the skill move they’re about to attempt, then you can go ahead and break his ankles. However, in most cases, rushing the attacker will open up space in your backline, allowing them to either sprint behind or play a through ball. As a result, it’s way better to try and jockey, maintaining your formation and position. Basically, treat in-game defending similar to real life.

Mispasses

That being said, there are a lot of random bounces and confusing glitches that happen in-game that do not occur in real life. Being able to predict these errors and playing accordingly is key in ensuring you’re prepared for it all. Ultimately, the number one mistake that leads to goals is mispasses, especially in midfield. Giving the ball to your opposition allows them to quickly hit you with a counter attack all while your players are still trying to recover. Ensure that you play out the back calmly and do not attempt risky passes or skill moves. Stay composed and play liquid football.

Constant Sprinting

Finally, a good tip to keep in mind is to STOP constantly holding down the sprint button. We know it’s basically built-in muscle memory and that we all do it as a force of habit. Yet, without sprinting, your player has more control over the ball and thus can dribble and get out of tight situations better. You’re also able to keep the ball close to you, eliminating the threat of a defender reaching out and stopping you after a bad touch.

All of this depends on your playstyle but this is just to give you a general idea of what to expect going into the game. That being said, this was a guide on how to defend in EA Sports FC 24.