Given that in FIFA, attack is much more popular than defense, this skill is often under-appreciated as one of the key factors for winning matches. For FIFA players, defending is a complex duty, much like scoring.

It's nice to be a good striker, to be quick and shoot free kicks like a cannon. But if you can add to that a great defense, then you have a long-term winning formula.

Add these defensive strategies right now to your playstyle if you don't want to lose points whenever your offense has a bad day.

Do Not Relly On The Computer

In our initial scenario, AI took care of the majority of the defensive duties. While employing strategies like the second-man press (holding RB/R1) might occasionally be successful, keep in mind that since AI is artificial intelligence, it has patterns that can be exploited by both AI opponents and skilled real players.

You'll typically be considerably more successful if you manually defend if you manage passing lanes or play on the ball. In other words, be careful with AI.

Focus On Agility Ratings

Don't focus solely on the overall rating of your defenders; if they can't move quickly enough to keep up with an attack, they might as well not be on the field. Any squad needs have players like Leipzig center-back Lukas Klostermann (91 sprint speed, 82 stamina).

They have high defensive quality ratings as well as high pace ratings to make sure that your adversary will struggle to get on the offensive. They won't be able to get behind you for simple goals if your defense can keep up with their offense.

The Jockey Tactic

The defender you are controlling can remain face-up with the player possessing the ball by jockeying (holding LT/L2). With this move, you can drive your opponent into unfavorable situations, which may result in an interception or a terrible pass.

Real-world players employ this strategy by refusing to give the ball dribbler any time or room to maneuver. Jockeying may just take a few seconds to slow down your opponent, but in FIFA, those brief seconds might mean the difference between conceding a goal and stopping one.

Hard Tackling Without Getting a Card

Hard tackles are an effective strategy to take your opponent's attention away from the ball. A striker racing toward your goal can be stopped by applying a hard standing tackle (holding down B/O) or a hard sliding tackle (holding down X/Square), which can also take away a midfielder who is attempting to play keep-away with the ball. However, you must be aware of when and how to hard tackle! If you time it incorrectly, you risk incurring an expensive infraction or perhaps stumbling out of place. When using this strategy, make sure you are in a position to receive the ball first.

The Conclusion

There you have it. These are some of the things that if applied correctly, can have a huge impact on your game.

Defending in FIFA 23 involves all of the steps for the above – employing manual defense, using agile defenders, jockeying, hard tackling, and selecting the appropriate defenders. Just keep in mind that proper usage requires proper practice.