Defensive winger

From rules: Defensive Less Winger, more Defending

Defensive Wingers use their defense skills to help prevent wing attacks of their opponents from succeeding, while still retaining some offensive capabilities from their wing skill amd passing skill. Defensive wingers still contribute approx. 50% of their PM to the midfield rating just like normal or offensive wingers do.

Defensive winger is not normally used as a usual positioning, but rather as a response to an opponent with unusually high wing attack ratings. An ideal Defensive Winger closely resembles a Wingback or Offensive Wingback.

Defense: High defense is a key for this position.

Wing: Wing skill is still rewarded with this order, unlike Winger Towards Middle which has the wing skill diminished greatly. The recent game engine changes have increased the effect of the wing skill of defensive wingers, while further handicapping the wing contribution of a WTM.

Passing: Unlike a Defensive IM, the passing of a Defensive Winger is not diminished by playing the player "defensive". Their wing skill suffers, but there is no mention in the rules about a loos of passing. This favours a Defensive Winger with high Passing.

PM & Stamina: Just like a Normal Winger and an Offensive Winger, a Defensive Winger contributes approx. 50% of their PM to the midfield rating.

Defensive Winger vs Winger Towards Middle (WTM)

WTM Pros: - Higher Midfield rating equals less need for defence (less chances by opposition)and equals more chances for a team's offence to score

WTM Cons: - Wing attack rating declines sharply - " 1 more chance is traded for 1 less attack side".

Def Winger Pros: - Targetted defense ideally suited for countering AOW (rather than AIM as a counter) - Potential for a reasonable attack ratings using a lower % of wing skill and an unchanged passing skill.

Def Winger Conms - Less midfield contribution.

Why use a Defensive Winger?

If you have teams with high wing attack ratings in your league, Defensive Winger gives you the opportunity to shore-up your wing defence with-out sacrificing your central defence(CDTW).

AIM is the worst thing to try against such a team, with both teams feeding each others strengths.

However, p[laying a team with only two good wing attacks is a prefect candidate for using a Defensive Winger. Limiting that team to only 1 "weaker" wing defense approach cuts their opportunities to score down to such a level that they become considerably beatable. By playing a Defensive Winger, you have cut their viable attacks by 50%.

The Future

There will be more Defensive Wingbacks played in the future for a few reasons:

1. The game engine changes have favoured wing attacks 2. The introduction of FTWs will mean more teams concentraing their attacks on the wings. 3. Wingbacks and other players suitable for the Def Winger order will become more popular and more plentiful than they are today.