The FIFA 23 ratings show a lot of players with high ratings. But there are already indications that some top players from real life will have a difficult time in the game again. Because once again it is the most important FIFA value.
Over the past few days, EA Sports has gradually published more and more ratings. The best Premier League players are well known, as are the top Bundesliga cards, the highest rated players in FIFA 23 and more.
And yes, there are some fierce players again. Mbappé as an Über card, a much-improved Christopher Nkunku, Sadio Mané as a Bundesliga newcomer – such cards are what many FIFA players will be squinting at with hope after the release of FIFA 23.
But at the same time, the new ratings also bring a certain sobering effect. The problem: There are already indications that some top players in FIFA 23 will once again become bench pressers. Because: They are simply rated as too slow.
Top players in Bundesliga but too slow in FIFA 23?
The example of the Bundesliga: Looking at FIFA 23: Best Bundesliga Ratings, five maps stand out in particular when looking at slow speed readings.
All 5 players are known for strong performances in the Bundesliga. But in FIFA 23, these values could cause difficulties. There is already criticism in the FIFA subreddit:
Thomas Müller is a clear example of the importance of speed, because: The Bayern offensive player has consistently performed well in the Bundesliga for years and is one of the best players there.
In FIFA, on the other hand, it has been rated very highly for years, but is ultimately useless. Why is that so?
The big FIFA problem with speed
“He’s completely unplayable” – this is a phrase that the FIFA community likes to hear when it comes to slow players. But it’s not surprising, because over the years, speed has become more and more the all-important factor in FIFA.
Exaggerated, the response to such players likes to look like this:
Things like positional play, anticipation, passing intelligence, which are an important factor in football in real life, carry over only to a limited extent to gameplay in FIFA. Much of this is done by the hands on the controller anyway. High speed, on the other hand, is a clear, measurable factor: either a player has it or he doesn’t.
The problem is that high speed paired with strong dribbling is often enough to make a player at least usable in FIFA. Adding more good stats is a nice bonus, and if all stats plus speed are high, a card immediately becomes an object of desire.
A good example is Nkunku – a fast, dribbling attacker, which a player on the FIFA subreddit says, “Nkunku just looks ridiculous (in a good way)” (via reddit). That’s a Thomas Muller higher in the overall rating rated as Nkunku doesn’t matter at all given the value distribution.
On the other hand, slow players are quickly completely lost. The best defensive value of a defender is of little use if the opposing striker is at least four meters away and cannot be caught. At the same time you need fast players on the flanks and up front to get past the defense – otherwise you will be intercepted quickly.
This is why fast players, who were inferior in almost all values, were sometimes more popular in the past than their better rated competitors. Then you just take Diaby instead of Gnabry or Werner instead of Müller.
The question is: can other strong stats like dribbling, good passing or perfect positional play in FIFA 23 make up for a lack of speed? The developers of FIFA 23 have at least emphasized that they have worked on the speed.
It will only be possible to finally say whether it will bring anything when the game is out. But the experiences of the last few years make that seem rather unlikely.
What do you think about speed in FIFA? Do you like the current system? Or would you like a change? Tell us in the comments!
You want to tinker with your team before the release of FIFA 23? Here you can find out everything about the start of the FIFA 23 Web App.