Defending in Football Manager 2023 is no doubt a tactical puzzle. There are so many options available to you that you may not be able to differentiate between them all to discover the best fit for yourself. That being said, you need to consider several factors such as your style of play, the level of your opponent, the current phase of the match and so on and so forth. It’s important you get this right so that you can find the right balance between your defense and attack and start racking up those wins. Let’s first talk about Central Defense, then we will move onto the Full-Backs and Wing-Backs.
If you want more Football Manager 2023, check out our other guides, including these:
- Football Manager 2023: Best Tactics for Possession – KeenGamer
- Football Manager 2023: Best Tactics for Counterattacking – KeenGamer
- 5 Best Challenges on Football Manager 2023
- 7 Best Football Manager 2023 Tactics for All Kinds of Teams
- 15 Best Teams to Manage in Football Manager 2023
- Football Manager 2023: Best Tactics for Pressing – KeenGamer
Central Defense
Libero
First up is the Libero. The Libero can only be assigned to the central defender of a three man backline. The Libero will drop deep to build out from the back and sweep the ball around the defensive backline to alleviate pressure and initiate attacks. In addition, much like the Cover role of the central defender, the Libero will look to intercept the opponent passes from deep rather than stepping up and pressing them into giving up the ball. Other than that, they should also be capable of making last ditched goal saving tackles owing to their rather deep position.
Two duties are available to be assigned to the Libero. With a support role, he will have the freedom to carry the ball into midfield and create a majority in the middle of the park, however, he won’t be able to venture further. With the Attack duty however, the Libero will have a lot more creative freedom and can join the attack when the opportunity presents itself.
The Libero role is great for defenders with good passing ability and teams that like to retain control of the ball. They also overload the opposition midfield which can lead to dangerous counter attacking opportunities due to turnovers.
The Libero drops deeper than the other defenders.
Traditional CD
Now for the traditional Central Defender Role. With this, the defender is expected to stay behind the ball and stop opposition forwards from penetrating the defense and getting a clear route to goal. To achieve this the defender will make standing and sliding tackles and clear the ball when the danger requires so. However, unlike the No Nonsense Centre Back role which we will discuss soon, the Central defender Role does encourage the defender to help build from the back with open passes and retaining possession for attack-minded teams. I recommend assigning this role to at least one defender in your backline as it provides balance to your defense whether you are a possession minded player or a counter-attacking one.
With the defend duty, your player will align himself behind the ball alongside the rest of the defensive press line and wait for the opposition players to come to him rather than engaging them first. With the stopper role, your player will become slightly more adventurous and step out more often from the defensive line to meet the opposition head on and press them more with standing tackles to stop the opposition attacks from the source rather than sitting back waiting for the danger to manifest itself. Finally with the Cover duty, instead of man marking like the defend role, your player will look to intercept passing lanes by keenly observing the opponent’s passing options and pouncing at the opportunity to break down the attack by intercepting. It’s a more passive approach.
If you are taking the high press approach, I recommend using the stopper role to engage the opposition higher up the pitch. For parking the bus and overloading your penalty box, the simple Defend role will do the trick.
No-Nonsense Center Back
Next up in this Football Manager 2023 Defensive Roles Guide is the No-Nonsense Centre Back role is quite similar to the traditional Central Defender Role in that it also requires the defender to win back the ball by tackling them and shutting down attacks. However the key difference is that in this role the defender will not hesitate to clear the ball at the slightest hint of danger. It’s thus a safer approach that should be used when you are facing a much superior opponent who you expect will dominate possession with plenty of chances. You will want your players not to take any chances whatsoever at playing out from the back against this high pressure opponent, thus the emphasis on clearing the ball. The three duties available are the same as the Central Defender Role. Namely, these are Defend, Stopper, and Cover.
Ball Playing Centre-Back
The Ball Playing Centre-Back is a specialized role perfectly suited for players looking to manage their team like the great Pep Guardiola. It encourages the defender to play out from the back both by passing around the press and also by releasing the ball forward to transition to counterattacks. Defenders will take greater risk, so make sure they have sufficient attributes to execute this role to perfection. Playing this way can be really risky against high-pressing teams, as you could quite easily lose the ball in dangerous areas, so proceed with caution.
The three duties are much the same as the Centre-Back as discussed earlier. These are Defend, Stopper, and Cover.
I have found that pairing up a Ball Playing Centre-Back with a No-Nonsense Centre-Back makes for an interesting dynamic as they provide a balance in transitional play which you don’t get by playing the same roles together.
A combination like this could work for you.
Wide Centre-Back
The Wide Centre-Back is very similar to the traditional Centre-Back in that they have much the same responsibility of clearing the ball and winning it back from the opposing players. The difference is the width they operate in. This role can only be assigned to the two flanking central defenders in a back three system, and they operate like a hybrid between the centre-back and full-back. As the former, they stay steady in defense to deal with any threats, as the latter, they will press forward to strengthen the attack when the opportunity presents itself either by occupying the spaces left by the midfielders charging forwards or in the wide areas with overlapping runs along either side.
There are three duties available to assign to the Wide Center-Backs. The first of these is the Defend duty. With this, understandably so, the player will charge forward far less whether this be into central midfield or overlapping areas. Instead, they will maintain a passive position with the backline to stay wary of any threats. With the Support role, the defender will make runs into central midfield and wide areas in attack, and with the Attack Duty, they will make these runs far more often. While this creates a numeric advantage the attacking third, it’s a dangerous gambit as it leaves your backline greatly exposed to opponent turnovers. Balance your odds carefully.
Wide Centre-Backs are like a hybrid of traditional CBs and fullbacks
Full-Backs and Wing-Backs
Traditional Full-Back
Now let’s move a little wider and talk about the fullback positions in this Football Manager 2023 Defensive Roles Guide The first role here is the traditional fullback. They have the task of defending the wings but they also have some attacking responsibilities further up the pitch. If there’s an opportunity, they will become the additional man in the midfield and attack by making overlapping runs, usually along the sides of the field, and pinging in some dangerous crosses for the forwards.
These guys have four duties available to them. These are Defend, Support, Attack, and Automatic. While the primary focus of the Fullback is always going to be on his defensive responsibilities, he can be asked to assume more prominence in attack by selecting the Support and Attack duties. With the Automatic duty, he will make decisions based on the circumstances and his personal judgement.
No-Nonsense Full-Back
The No-Nonsense Full-Back is extremely similar to the normal full-back except for the almost total focus on defending. They will scarcely provide any width in attack, rather sitting back in defense to deal with any danger that may present itself. Accordingly, they only have the Defend duty available to them. This role is quite suitable for when you are playing against a clearly superior opponent and want to sit back and park the bus to shut down any attacking opportunities for the opposition. They pair up nicely with the No-Nonsense Centre-back if parking the bus is your objective.
The two variations of the full-back.
Traditional Wing-Back
Let’s now move on the wing-back roles in this Football Manager 2023 Defensive Roles Guide. First up we have the simple Wing-Back role. This is the most balanced position that targets both the attacking and defensive responsibilities of the player in equal measures. This makes pace a very important attribute so that they can cover ground as efficiently and quickly as possible. They should also have decent dribbling ability to help them in attack and they must be able to put in delicious crosses into the box from wide areas.
There are four duties available for this balanced role. These are Defend, Support, Attack, and Automatic, and they are pretty self-explanatory. Defend encourages the defender to prioritize his defensive responsibilities, Attack does the opposite. Support instructs the player to join the attack when a reasonable opportunity presents itself to increase the numerical advantage upfront. Finally, automatic relies on the player’s intelligence to assess the situation and juggle between attack and defense as required.
Complete Wing-Back
Next up in this Football Manager 2023 Defensive Role Guide we have the Complete Wingback. These are best suited for managers who prefer an attacking style of play as they encourage the defender to shed some defensive responsibility to focus on the attacking side of play. While the wingback will still help out in defense, they will charge forward more often than not. Keep in mind though that this is a double-edged sword, and though you might score more goals, you will also concede far more than before. It does make for entertaining matches however.
There are just two duties available for selection for the Complete Wingback. These are support and attack. The only major difference between the two is that the latter is far more aggressive than the former.
The difference is in the attacking mindset.
Inverted Wing-Back
The inverted Wingback is very similar to the regular Wingback. While the defensive responsibility is much the same, in attack, rather than making overlapping runs, the player will prioritize underlapping runs through the midfield to help his team dominate the center of the pitch. By cutting inside this way, it may also free up room for the wingers to exploit along the flanks. I like to pair up the Inverted Wingback role with a proper wide winger who is able to operate with much more freedom.
The four roles available to the Inverted Wingback are the same as the regular wingback: Defend, Support, Attack, and Automatic. These operate very similarly, the only difference being that the attacking runs are going to be underlapping rather than overlapping. This is a brilliant tactical move that may unnerve the defensive strategies of a number of opponents and allow you to win the midfield battle.
Win the battle for central space with this tactical variation.
Conclusion
That concludes this Football Manager 2023 Defensive Roles Guide. Hopefully you now have a better understanding of the different roles and their respective duties and how you can modify these to personally suit your playstyle. The possibilities are endless, experiment with varying roles and duties to find what works best for you.
