Defending

[tripedius]

I'm in my third season with Chelsea now. It's going quite good, but I feel that since the patch I have to scrape against lower teams more often and seem more vulnerable for a ransack by a big team (having just lost 5-1 to PSG away, luckily I already won 4-0).
I play a possession 4-2-3-1. The problem seems to arise from balls falling behind my defensive line and opponents getting to the ball sooner. It wouldn't seem like much of a problem if it was by clever play, but more often than not it is a total random (or so it seems) kick forward, like defenders clearing an attack. A lot of the this the ball falls to an opponent and a chance is created, leading to quite some goals.
Any ideas on how to counter? Dropping the defensive line would seem to be a solution, but that would probably create a gap between midfield and defense.

 

[AayushCFC]

First, use pacey defenders. I'm in my 2nd season with Chelsea and I'm kicking *** with an attacking 4-2-3-1 and 4-3-3 and one Counter attacking tactic to grind out results in difficult matches. I've never let more than 2 past my GK in a match in this season. Courtois is a beast, whenever my defense struggled, he makes up for it. I hope you're still not playing John Terry? He's too slow for a high line.

 

[Hector89]

Ha ha. Tripedius, you are doing what AVB did at Chelsea with the high def line. 4-2-3-1 is always vulnerable to counter attacks. Use a tactic with a DM. He has to shield the defenders and use only fast defenders when using a high line. Terry, Pique are quite useless when usin a high line. Now, don't ask me how Barca do it with Pique. They are just extra ordinary and I don't remember them giving the ball to the opponents when Pep was at the helm. And last year, you saw how Munich destroyed them. Ouch!!!

 

[tripedius]

So it probably is the high defensive line. Think the patch pushed it over the top as it went well before that or at least it happened a lot less. As the patch notes say defenders push higher up now. And Terry would explain the 5-1 against PSG as I was resting some players. Guess Varane and Jones are fast enough .
I do often use a 4-5-1 in away games with a DM, but wanting wingers & having superb AMC's & MC's 4-2-3-1 seems the best default option. Besides it's the most used I think, so there has to be a solution somewhere. Guess I'll try dropping the defensive line some.