Updated at: 29-05-2023 - By: Craig Huey

In FIFA 17, goal defense must come first before any offensive strategy is considered. To help you become a better defender in FIFA 17, this guide will provide you with some strategies and tactics.

Master the Dials

Practice your defending skills in FIFA 17 by becoming familiar with the defensive controls. Here at www.lisbdnet.com/fifa-17-controls, we have the complete control guide for you to peruse. Depending on your preferred platform and controller, the defending controls for FIFA 17 on PS4, Xbox One, and PC gamepads are detailed below for your convenience.

DEFENDING – CONTROLS

Action PlayStation Xbox / PC
Alter the Musician L1 LB
The Manual Player Switch R course True North RS
Apply force (when chasing) by tackling or pushing or pulling. B
Tackle that slides X
Clearance B
Grab or yank, jockey Symbolized by the letters L2 (Hold Down), The LT (Hold Down)
Contain (Hold and Press) X As in (Depress and Maintain)
Protect Yourself From Your Teammates Option 1 (Depress and Maintain Pressure) The RB (Hold and Press)
Trainer of Racehorses Hold Down (L2 R2) Hold Down = LT RT.
As in “Twist and Hold,” but with chasing (Depress and Maintain) (Pushing and holding) Option B
Rise Up Fast (after a Slide Tackle) X
Take on the Opponent Behind the Shield The Dribbler’s Direction is L 2 and Left Dribbler Long Shot Long Two

Your starting eleven’s best defenders

Select the best defensive players from your club’s roster. The overall rating (OVR) of a defender says it all; keep in mind that the key traits as for the player ratings in terms of defending are defending (DEF), tackling (TAC), pace (PAC), and heading (HEA). Select four or five of your highest-rated defenders to participate. Choose defenders with higher HEA and TAC ratings for your CB positions. If you’re looking for a LB or RB, prioritize defenders with high PAC and TAC ratings.

Remember that your midfielders will assist your defenders in thwarting offensive attempts. The defensive abilities of the team can be boosted by selecting midfielders with high DEF ratings. If you don’t want to play any defensive midfielders in your starting eleven, you should at least have some on the bench in case of emergency.

Remember that chemistry is crucial in FIFA Ultimate Team, and prioritize the best defenders when building your team.

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This Is Your Finest Consolidation While the number of defenders in your defensive line is important, how you plan to organize them is more crucial when your opponent is closing in on your goal. To stop the other team from scoring, you need their full attention, not just your defenders. Your strikers, like the rest of the team, need to help out with defense. This means opting for a defensive formation that works best for YOU.

As defensive formations, 4-1-3-2, 4-3-1-2, or 5-3-2 are recommended due to their versatility in shifting between attack and defense. Of course, you should always aim to discover YOUR optimal formation.

Understand Your Weaknesses

Your next step after putting together a team should be to assess its performance and identify its flaws. Get out there and play some games, both offline and online. When playing online, I recommend playing unranked or friendly matches, especially in Seasons.

Do not dismiss the importance of focusing on your shortcomings; instead, pay close attention to the means by which success comes your way. It’s important to spot where your defense is vulnerable, whether it’s to a header off a cross or a direct shot. Try to isolate the source of your goals allowed; is it a simple defensive misstep, or do you simply lack the necessary defending skills? Write them down and make a list so you can check them off as you address them. That’s a major factor in enhancing your defensive abilities.

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Take the Fight to Them

Take advantage of as many one-on-one situations as possible on the field. Use short tackles to prevent your opponent from dribbling, and only use slide tackles if you are absolutely certain that you will make contact with the ball and not their legs.

The trick is to have patience. Please don’t worry. You shouldn’t worry or feel confused even if the opposing team has more attackers racing toward your goal than defenders. In that moment, your ability to handle a crisis is the only thing that will matter. Challenge your opponent, throw them off their game, and force them to make tough decisions. Time is of the essence for them, so remember that you need to delay their attack for as long as possible. Pay close attention to one-on-one situations, and make short tackles and blocks against the ball carrier.

Do your best to juggle things so that your teammates end up helping out. There will be times when you need to simply contain other players while you make your way to a teammate who is off the ball but in a better position to score. Keep in mind that the CPU is constantly managing your defenders, and it is likely doing a better job than you would. Therefore, you may achieve a more desirable outcome if you give them some space to defend themselves.

Conquer One-on-One Conversations

You should be able to handle the situation where a striker is running on the ball towards your goal while only your goalkeeper is defending it. Confusion is the best weapon to use against an adversary. With the attacker’s time running out (since your defenders are probably making their way back to him), it would be ideal if he were prevented from making a decision. How? One strategy is to move the goalkeeper closer to the action, but this isn’t foolproof because the striker can still score with a cheap shot. The goal is to confuse the striker so that he doesn’t know what to do. To throw off the opposing striker, I like to move my goalie to the half-field position. It’s effective often enough to be relied upon. By moving my goalie off the line but not too far from the goal post, I force my opponent to choose between taking a powerful shot or a cheap one, both of which are unlikely to be successful because my goalie is so close to the post.