Both in the real world and the Fifa series, football is a game where the top end of the pitch is given the bulk of the headlines and highlights.
However, as the famous goes: ‘attacks win you matches, but defenses win you leagues’, and the same can certainly be said for the world of Fifa. Knowing how to defend in Fifa is vital for being successful competitively, so here are some of our top Fifa 22 defending tips.
Cut out the sliding
There are few better sights in the defensive side of the beautiful game than a big center-back flying across the turf in a last-ditch slide tackle. However, whilst it might look good on the cameras, a slide tackle is the most desperate form of defending and is usually reserved for when a defender has made a mistake and is attempting to recover from it.
Slide tackling has a reputation in the Fifa community as being something titled players do when looking to vent some frustration, and one of the best tips we can offer for those hoping to master the art of defending in the game is to keep this form of tackling with those players.
Slide tackles are the ultimate high-risk strategy and should be seen as an absolute last-ditch option, with the consequences of getting them wrong often being severe. Given how easy it has become to give away free kicks and penalties in Fifa over the past few editions, employing a more patient, low-risk approach to defending has become one of the best strategies a player can opt for.
Just like with every competitive game in the world of Esports, letting your tilt dictate your style of play often only makes your performance dip further.
Learn how to switch manually
Every Fifa player knows how to automatically switch between their players, pressing the L1/LB button where the game will put you in control of the nearest player closest to the action.
However, every Fifa player will also be all too aware of how frequently automatically switching can let a player down by selecting the wrong player at the crucial point, causing you to miss a pass or potentially concede a goal when defending.
One way to prevent this from happening and improve your defending is by learning how to manually switch between defenders. Simply flick the right analog stick in the direction of the player you want to take control of, and in one motion you have removed the risk of picking up the wrong player and stand a much better chance at creating a far more staple backline.
Take advantage of jockeying
When faced with an attacker running at your defense with the ball at their feet, the natural instinct with most players is to send their defender charging out in an attempt to win the ball back. However, this is another strategy that carries more risk than reward, with the defender often leaving a huge amount of space around them ready to be exploited by any good attacker.
Instead, the smartest play is often just playing the patience game and keeping your backline as rigid and structured as possible, plugging the gaps and making it harder for the attackers.
One of the best ways of helping this is by holding down L2/LT to lean in and jockey an opponent, allowing for a defender to get as close as possible to an attacker and win the ball back, without giving away a foul.
Not only does this strategy help with marshaling attackers away from your goal, but it can also be an invaluable option for shielding any loose balls out of play and recycling the possession in your favor.
