Although it may amuse, I am proud to say that I have never spent a penny on Ultimate Team. After the disappearance of VOLTA or The Journey, to continue to survive, EA is therefore leaving it up to the choice of the public, who are loyal to a video game experience, in spite of being artificial, entertaining, and addicting .

What’s ‘meta’?

Despite its flows, it is the favourite mode of many players, who shell out dozens of promotional packages regularly offered, at not at affordable prices, to field a competitive squad. The vast, not to say varied, proposal has ruined the experience of thousands of users, who do shovel a heap of cards, systematically upped, on weekly basis, for promotional events.

It happens, then, that you complete a challenge to get an Icon and/or a Hero, better – at least on paper – than lots of golds. Not saying, however, they lack the good stats in the right place or a body type suited to the style of play that suits your desires.

Considering they come from the past they should have a significantly higher rarity than the others, without, notwithstanding, disproving that a higher overall does not necessarily correspond to a better performance in game.

Although there are no pay-to-win players, everything can be meta: from the choice of the lineup, up to custom tactics, inluding playstyles, transitions, kickoff glitches, or the turnaround shot; till’ one or more of these mechanics are – only temporarily – nerfed or fixed. I understand the rage, especially the dedication or frustration of the gamers, demotivated as never before by the rewards of the Weekend League, considering the far below effort value of such twenty games.

Expectations

Perhaps, new rewarding system should be introduced, one that distributes gachaaccording to truly challenging goals. In March, meanwhile, are coming the one’s picks everyone needs not to drop the game, embracing either the career-coach or the career-player. As regards a videogame that bases its business largely on microtransactions, that is a big problem.

Because, there is – as yet – no competitor is capable of sparing the opponents, you expect sales to plummet, and the interest in the next releases too. After all, Electronic Arts' strength was the license to most football leagues and their clubs.

With the demise of FIFA, the impairment undermined not only its name, but also its credibility in the eyes of users, who were driven to play a poor title, but with names, colours, and emblems of all teams in the right place. Indeed, Konami has proven that, even if been unrealistic – PES first and E-Football later – whether you enjoy playing, both the gameplay and immersiveness benefits. While behind the scenes of FC developers work to optimise the rendering, the overall feeling that loses out, especially in comparison to UFL which, despite the positive feedback from some game-changers, remains dramatically backward and mostly anachronistic.

On the other hand, as in politics, alternation helps to ferment an ethical and statist judgement, this monopoly undermines the creativity of the videogame industry, keep on dragging their feet in pursuit of an unparalleled samples. Not to mention the exclusives on icons such as Totti, Maradona and so. In this regard, Manchester City pro-player Ryan Pessoa said:

“In FUT, Icons are unique items, as they can bring out the potential of any other card in the game. They are, therefore, extremely useful when you are building teams. You might not have the best players, but if you have some good Team of the Season (TOTS) grafts that you can no longer sell and need to get along, a couple of Icons placed in the right places will be very useful to boost your roster”.

Despite the abuse of promo cards, finding a usable icon could really turn your season around. Moreover, most of the players introduced to the roster belong to women's football, and you all know what a considerable impact they have had owithin Ultimate Team.

Bobby Charlton ? Still a meme

FC is altering our judgement of the footballer in the person of a stand in a sporting campaign rather than as an athlete in his competitive past. Are we that suggestible to change our opinion on an In Real Life (IRL) player based on his involvement with a mere football simulator? I think so, and frankly it scares me.

Because, if when asked who their childhood idol is Endrick names Bobby Charlton, there are who, finding him in the envelope, got the gut to discarde him for a pittance – and with him Ljungberg, Carragher, Dudek, Larsson, Keane, Rush, Litmanen, Barnes, Riquelme, Inzaghi and so. The issue moves to the bar with Irishman Patrick O'Brien who, after writing racially charged messages to Wright because his in-game counterpart had failed him, was – yet forgiven by the Gunners legend – banned for life from FIFA 21. Ian is heavily weighted, his huge torso, his gait unsteady and limp. Midfielders like Gattuso or Scholes are nerfed in favour of more slender and, for that matter, sprawling performers, certain legends are reluctantly unusable.

For instance, Park Ji Sung – 'Three-Lungs Park' according his teammates – , the only Asian footballer ever to ever won the Champions League trophy, was one of the best midfielders in Man United's history. The South Korean used to be an indispensable pawn in Alex Ferguson's chessboard. From his debut, the no. 13 stole the show at Old Trafford, with the fans falling in love with him at first sight.

However, in the last FC 25 there are many who dislike him, preferring players who are easier to link up with and possibly in the position of centre attacking mid, rather than solely midfielder.

Unlucky

Petit, preferably in the 4-4-2 with shadow priest style, is made for defending, but nothing more than that. In FIFA 18, on the other hand, even though Kluivert was undoubtedly quite overused, he has therefore fallen into oblivion. Fernando Morientes remains an excellent card, and there’s no coincidence he was Real Madrid's starting centre-forward before Ronaldo O' Fenomeno came along to steal the Blancos' no. 9 jersey.

A vintage striker, he neglected Barcelona to lift the LaLiga cup against his bitter rivals at the end of his fifth and final season with the Galacticos. He is one of the very few forwards with the aerial 'Style Typo', that makes him, despite the four stars in both weak foot and skill move, definetely fun to play with. The former German star Rudi Voeller is a fantastic raptor and, thanks to his movements without the ball, balances out his poor finishing in one-on-one against the goalkeeper – a bit underwhelming for the player who scored the penalty that defeated 'El Diez' in the 1990 World Cup final in Italy.

On the other hand, in the follwing edition of Ballon d'Or Jean-Pierre Papin awarded the prize of best player in the world; in this FC he does not stand out for stats, while he has an extraordinary speed boost, a mechanic that has been broken from this very first season.

Although morphologically unfit for football, Berbatov is known for the proverbial mastery throuh which he tamed the ball in the narrowest recesses of the penalty area rectangle. The Bulgarian's ballistic prowess is summed up in one play , the goal-scoring dig in AS Monaco's home game against OGC Nice. However, due to his crookedness, leanchest, and tall legs, those who find him instantly put him on the transfer list. Zola? Vialli? Big L. Fernando Carvalho was a tiny, shrunken centre-back, but in game he is phenomenal. Even so, it has to be said that, it would perhaps be worth buying Saliba, and that's enough to see how strong the Frenchman is, or how underrated the Lusitanian too, at least compaed to modern defenders.

As in Nevio Scala's Parma, Brolin is a thorn in one’s side of any rearguard. He can certainly be used for counter-attacking. His eclecticism allows him to range over the offensive front either as CAM or as ST, like during those unforgettable seasons in the ranks of the ‘Crociati’. Antonio Di Natale was one of the best’ bombers’ of our Serie A, an old-fashioned striker, endowed with a superlative technique on a par with current great scorers.

Although we have not seen him in anywhere except for as offensive terminal, following the launch of the Out of Position in FIFA 23 now Totò is at his best behind the attack as COC. And this anticipates another major problem with the video game. Albeit this function remains somewhat limited, does not seem to apply to higherratings, so there is no dominance or difficulty in adapting.

Though they have introduced stricter rules, the shoppers can choose to put, for example, Ronaldinho Gaucho along the left flank, Rijkaard in the centre of defence, or Dalglish in the middle of the pitch. This certainly does not apply to Zanetti or Mascherano, who have alternated between defence and midfield throughout their careers.

and Again

Otherwise, no matter how cutthroat he was inside the penalty area, in his prime, Milito is nowhere near El Principe Enzo Francescoli, who is still one of the best heroes of the latest FC. Within in South America, this time in Uruguay, although we cannot reduce the fine technique to his feature Power Shot, Diego Forlan – as well as Carlos Tevez – are two decent cards, but only in the early game. Good for you if you find them, but ain’t cop them, there’s much better around. Almost fifteen years later, many people still wonder how Sneijder did not win the Golden Ball.

In 2010, after winning the ‘Triplete’ with Inter Milan and the silver medal in the World Cup against Spain, where he was joint top scorer in the competition, the Dutchman was not even given a step on the podium. Messi did, in fact, repeat the victory of the year before: a bitter ending, very unfair in light of that unforgettable sporting year. I remember vividly when, at the official ‘Nerazzurri’ store, Dad asked me which player's jersey I wanted, my first as a ‘La Beneamata’ fan. He shared his hometown with Van Basten, a nickname which, as much as his jersey number, weighed like a stone on his thin shoulders.

The serious face, dense with confidence, a glacial gaze that burned with ambition, a compact body that collected a TNT on its left foot, ready to explode with every shot. His arms, devoid of ink, recall a footballing jubilee during none was above him, not even the best ever. It is hard to say whether this is a choice of the heart or merely nostalgia.

Iconic Anyway

EA, for its part, has decided to strip him of the epithet of Icon, preferring, for example, Ribery, Cole, Larsson, and Gareth Bale. I certainly don't shine for objectivity, however I considere it an injustice. The Welshman was a splendid striker, but the Utrecht Hawk was to me something more than an imaginative ten. After all, on FIFA it is always a question of figures.

The younger generation is clouded by a veil of hypocrisy, which falls over the highest international sports’ institution. We are really that tied to the past we cannot distinguish between two generations that are as close chronologically as distant in practice. Even if the vice of comparing a pair of athletes, despite belonging to different times, is quite recurrent.

Certain analyses, no matter how strongly based, are fallacious anyway. Regardless of the etymon, any opinion is ‘prima facie’ questionable. Apart from the stats, is the choice of EA's pro gamers that binds? Looking at the Teams of the Year (TOTY), chosen by the FC community, you tend to wonder whether the fans are really being listened to or if they no longer have a say.

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