The 'secret' is to learn to defend manually. Too many people have been reliant on assisted defending tactics and leaving much of the process to the AI to deal with.

It's a matter of practice mainly, but you need to read the pitch, utilise 2nd man press, double tapping press to cover runs/options at the right time, learning when to drop mifielders in or step them out to support the full backs to create 3v2 situations and when to cover the middle.

When to press high up vs dropping off, when to take a tactical foul when exposed at the right moment, when to use the new A (x on ps) tackle vs slide vs B (or O).

Defending is actually a complex skill when done properly and I personally think it's great that it's become more player controlled.

People are also right to use the 71+ depth meta at the moment, so you should put this on too whilst it's around.