One area that I don’t particularly enjoy being FIFA 23 Coins highlighted is “better ball speed and angles for successful tackles, increasing the likelihood of the ball going towards your teammates.” The first part of that quote is fine, but the actual tackle and where the ball goes shouldn’t increase in its likelihood at going towards your teammate. It should go where the ball physics and player stats determine. Only the most elite of tacklers can pull off a successful tackle while also directing it towards a teammate.
When you’re tackling in real life, you’re usually just trying to get a toe on the ball — where it ends up is important but still not enough of a reason to pull out of most challenges. After all, tackling is a risk/reward scenario with the risk of being called for a foul weighed against the reward for stopping an attack. For far too long, the risk of being called for a foul has been removed as fouls are both hard to come by and rarely called when they do happen.
Physicality, which EA is addressing in this blog via more shoulder challenges and seal outs sounds great, but whether or not they will make a difference when defending is still yet to be determined. Here’s to hoping all of the new attacking controls are balanced appropriately with these new defensive behaviors.
Another area of concern is this new Teammate Contain mechanic. I like the general concept in that R1/RB will trigger your AI-controlled teammate to contain the ball carrier. However, I do not like the fact that there’s a “Contain Stamina” attached to it. Containing/Jockeying at a normal pace is something professional athletes can do rather easily, often as a way to replenish their energy when they’re tired from sprinting. Why EA implemented another stamina-related bar is beyond me, but the developers somehow doubled down on this odd decision by buy FUT 23 Coins tying the proximity at which your AI teammate will contain to a Player Personality.
