You can’t lose a game if your not conceding. Although you may argue you can’t win without scoring, but 1 point can make a big difference opposed to losing 3 to your league rivals. What elements of your squad and tactics make up a good defence? Starting a series of posts I start with the last line of the defence, central defenders.

What makes up a centre back?

Naturally tackling, strength and if you want your player to be an aerial battler heading will be what is analysed when searching for a centre back. But without the intelligence these attributes will be useless. Intelligence ensures your defenders make the right judgments, move in the right areas and are there to cover you when you most need them too.

Concentration, anticipation and decisions are important as these players are the last line of the defence you don’t want to allow those strikers in space unopposed, intellegent defenders will position themselves effectively and less likely to make rash challenges preventing holes at the back. It can be argued, that tackling can be much more important attribute for your defensive midfielder then your centre back, what do you think?

Centre back pairings

Effective tactics are built on balance. Very rarely will you find two centre backs that are equally amazing in one squad and therefore you will may want each to take different roles, balancing their skill set. Teams will come with a variety of threats and you will want to be able to deal with each effectively.

England for example play with John Terry and Rio Ferdinand. Terry good in the air, commands his area and makes good decisions. But isn’t very fast. Rio is athletic and fast and able to play on the ball distributing the ball much better to starting attacks. Both complement each other compensating for each others weaknesses and able to defend against different types of threat.

Stopper/Cover v Defend/Defend

The abilities of your defenders will dictate what duties they are able to handle. England setup with a Stopper and Cover, this exploits the talents of Terry and Ferdinand. Terry will chase strikers, head the ball away and go in strong on anyone trying to get past. Rio will be more mobile, using his pace to chase the ball. Although there is debate that Football Manager 2010 doesn’t yet handle this system effectively.

Playing as Spurs I have found the stopper/cover system good against reasonable strikers. Against the likes of Manchester United and Arsenal, Woodgate played too deeply and was found flat footed dealing with Rooney, Berbatov and Eduardo. The cover defender does act well against those sides who will look to exploit your defence with through balls, but can invite pressure against strikers who want to take the defence on. Making it much more important that both players in are able to do each duty very well.

The defend/defend setup is a much simpler setup, if you have your two defenders with good decision making skills and team working they will do this job well, taking their own decisions when to leave the line, close down or jump into tackles. When your players don’t posses the technical ability to play specific duties, they will play much better football when it is simple.

Roles

Finally, consider if you want your defender to be a central defender, ball-playing defender or limited defender. The Central Defender is the more traditional man at the back in modern football. He will act to stop the strikers and get the ball out of danger as soon as possible, but doing their best to keep possession of the ball a good all rounder but doesn’t need to be brilliant in any particular attribute.

The ball-playing defender, similar to the Ferdinand type player will be more suited to teams that want to start attacks from the back, looking for the ball at the back and distributing it or taking it forward. Again this highlights the importance of decision making, composure and passing ability as the player will need to know when to run with the ball or get rid of it, careful not to be caught on the ball.

Limited defenders does one job well win the ball and hoof it at any given chance, he won’t take any nonsense and will look to use strength to keep the ball from going past them, possibly for the least talented of defenders, but can work effectively doing this one simple job with strength, height and positioning proving an advantage.

I’d like to see what you think about central defenders, have you tried a defend/cover combination to any success? Join the debate on whether the stopper/cover combination can be affective strategy in Football Manager 2010 and leave a comment on the forums.