EA FC 24: Best Formations, Custom Tactics, and Player Instructions to Use

So you’ve just picked up EA FC 24. In excitement, you’ve opened up Ultimate Team and have started grinding to improve your team. But upon getting a team you’re satisfied with, you enter a competitive online game, be it on Rivals or Weekend League. You discover your players aren’t doing what you want them to do. In this guide, we’ll go over the best formations, custom tactics, and player instructions to use in EA FC 24.

The Best Formations, Custom Tactics, and Player Instructions to Use in EA FC 24

• Formation: 4-4-2
• Formation: 4-2-3-1

Formation 4-4-2: Tactics and Player Instructions

• Defense
  • Defensive style: Press after possession loss.
  • Width: 50.
  • Depth: 40.
• Offense
  • Buildup play: Balanced.
  • Chance creation: Forward runs.
  • Width: 50.
  • Players in the box: 7.
  • Corners: 3.
  • Free kicks: 3.
• Player instructions
  • Both strikers: Stay central, get in behind, stay forward.
  • Both wingers: Come back on defense.
  • Both central midfielders: Stay back while attacking, cover center.
  • Both fullbacks: Stay back while attacking, overlap.

4-4-2 Formation Strategy

4-4-2 is a four-back formation with two central midfielders, two wide midfielders (or wingers), and two strikers. This formation is great for remaining sturdy in the middle of the park while also allowing attacking overloads in the final third of the pitch.

To make this work, you need two seasoned central midfielders who are competent at attacking and defending. In my experience, I’ve really enjoyed the pairing of Martin Ødegaard and Eduardo Camavinga.

• Despite not being on the level of Patrick Vieira, Ødegaard‘s defensive rating is at a respectable 61. It can be increased with the Shadow chemistry style. This also provides significant boosts when it comes to his pace. Additionally, Ødegaard possesses 5-star skill moves and the Incisive Pass PlayStyle+. He’s hard to dispossess and sprays quality passes consistently.
• Camavinga is also well-balanced and is at least very competent in every attribute category.

For wingplay, the fullbacks will be held back with player instructions, giving your back line a solid 4-back at all times. Your actual wingers will pull double duty, providing width in the attack while also coming back to support the defense.

Crossing the ball to one of the two strikers also seems to be overpowered right now. The 4-4-2 will provide many opportunities here. The ideal players for the winger roles should:

• Have plenty of pace.
• Have good passing.
• Be able to at least appear threatening in defense.
  • A player like Marcos Llorente is ideal, as they meet all the physical requirements while being technically adept on both sides of possession.

I’ve chosen to use Press After Possession Loss to quickly recover the ball when I lose it. However, this is an aggressive tactic that can leave you vulnerable to counter-attacks. If you find yourself struggling to defend the counter, throw this on Balanced.

Formation 4-2-3-1: Tactics and Player Instructions

• Defense
  • Defensive style: Press after possession loss
  • Width: 50
  • Depth: 45
• Offense
  • Buildup play: Balanced
  • Chance creation: Forward runs
  • Width: 50
  • Players in box: 6
  • Corners: 3
  • Free kicks: 3
• Player Instructions
  • Striker: Stay central, get in behind, stay forward
  • CAM: Stay forward, get into box for cross
  • LAM/RAM: Come back on defense
  • Both defensive midfielders: Cut passing lanes, stay back while attacking, cover center
  • Both fullbacks: Stay back while attacking, overlap

4-2-3-1 Formation Strategy

The 4-2-3-1 has long been one of the most used formations in EA Sports’ football sim, now EA FC 24. And there’s no mystery as to why. Boasting a four-player attack and six-player defense setup, the 4-2-3-1 is designed to give you stability and balance on both ends of the pitch.

Ideally, you want a very technical center attacking midfielder who’s adept at distribution and can smoothly operate when the opposition is attempting to clamp down. Again, I’ve chosen Martin Ødegaard for this role, as he meets all the necessary prerequisites.

Unlike the 4-4-2, however, this formation only deploys one striker, so it’s best to have one that’s either big and can act as a target man or has blinding pace and can consistently get in behind. When it comes to your wide attacking midfielders, pace and passing are priorities. If you’re strapped for coins, a player like Ferran Torres is quite useful.

For midfield and defense, the 4-2-3-1 I’m running is a bit more conservative. Both defensive midfielders and both my fullbacks are instructed to stay back and defend first. The defensive midfielders play a pivotal role in the attack, though.

Due to the narrowness of the formation, the attacking players are occasionally forced to retreat and set up further passes by recycling the ball to the defensive midfielder on their side of the pitch. Avoiding overly offensive trappings and keeping your DMs back will ensure two things:

• There’s always an option backward that can set up another incisive ball into the attacking third. It doesn’t need to go back to the fullbacks and restart every time you run into issues.
• Alternatively, you can instruct both DMs to stay back while allowing at least one fullback to make wide runs into the final third. However, I’ve found this approach can lead to disorganization and big gaps across my backline without proper cover.

As with the 4-4-2, I’ve decided to spice things up and put my defensive style as Press After Possession Loss. If you’re struggling, don’t feel bad about putting this setting to Balanced.

These are the best formations, custom tactics, and player instructions to use in EA FC 24. If you’re looking for more EA FC 24 guides, check out our list of the top 50 rated players in the game and whether or not you can get the game through EA Play.