How to play defense on Fifa 2012 and Fifa 2013:
Set the controller down on the table and watch the computer play defense for you.
If it looks like you are playing a team with a fast forward, this "do nothing" defense will not work because they will do Y lob chips over your defender all day and get free and clear access 1v1 with your goalkeeper. What you will have to do in this case is select your main back defender, and then have him run towards your goal as quickly as possible, because the other team is going to do Y lob passes all game long until the game lags and your defender lets their forward easily through.
I start each match by running a 5-3-2 formation and have 5-7 defenders jam up at the top of the penalty area so that they can't shoot straight-in. I play defense all through the first half because trying to score is pointless - as soon as you try to score, if you miss, their are given an automatic Y lob pass over your defenders and a clear chance at goal. In the first half, I have my best forward benched, I bring him on the field at half time. By the 2nd half, their forwards are too tired to run past your defense. At this point you can change to a 4-3-3 or a 4-4-2, run a possession game, and start shooting every chance you get from outside the penalty area. Also try some runs down the side to kick in some corners.
Generally speaking in Fifa 2013 the easiest way to score thanks to a bug in the defense AI is to have your best goal scorer stop about 5 feet outside the top of the penalty area. Send a straight A button pass into him, pull the left trigger to settle the ball, let the defender run by and then ram it home. Works 50-75% of the time because the defense AI is ****ty and causes your defense to just run past the offender giving him a clear shot on the goal every time. I haven't found a way to stop this except running 5-3-2 and having 5-7 guys jam up the top of the penalty area.
Hope this helps, my 5-3-2 formation is fully custom meaning I had to cluster all the guys around the goal and penalty box, but it seems to frustrate the good players and it's gotten me up to Division 2/Division 1 several times.
Second tip is don't ever play on Sundays evenings if you live in North America. You will only get paired with South American or UK players that don't have jobs and do nothing but sit around all day playing fifa. You will win way more games Friday and Saturday night when all the noobs are on-line.
Another tip, you can quit anytime before 5:00 in the first half without conceding a loss. If there is game lag - get possession, pause the game, and QUIT!!! There are lots and lots of players using lagswitches to screw up your defense and ruin your timing. Don't bother trying to play these guys nor guys that are 4,000 miles away on dialup modem with 400 ping.
i love soccer but its bugged and ****ed up