jamesbonds

When you defend try to wait and see what your opponent is doing. Hold R1 so that another player helps you out and you can close down possible options for him to pass. If he runs trough just run along instead of trying to stop him directly (unless you are really confident it will work).

Use custom tactics. Put passing to mixed on free form and passing for build up play on normal. You can put it on risky but yuor players will try to run forward and lose their fifa ultimate coins which makes it harder to recover.
Put pressure to 35 and agressiveness to 30 or 60, try it out what you like most, but put pressure to low. This makes your defense sit back and just wait for your opponent, so you won't get countered.

It's also a good idea to have atleast one defensive midfielder with high tackling, decent pace and good interception rate. Try to have LB/RB's that can also catch players/wingers cutting inside or players that outpace your defense (not happening much this fifa). I consider my LB's and RB's more important than my CB's, they do all the dirty work while my CB's intercept more and deal with headers.

All in all, just keep waiting for your opponent and predict what he will do. Sometimes walking along and not making FIFA 16 Points can be a good option because he might make mistakes where you can profit from.