MeinMMO author Maik Schneider has been enjoying playing the FIFA mode Pro Clubs for several years. He believes that with FIFA 21, it might actually be fun.
FIFA fascinates millions of players every year, and I often find myself tempted into purchasing it annually. For me, the football simulation offers a good balance of action, skill, and concentration that is rarely found elsewhere.
The mode I’ve played the most is the “Ultimate Team” mode, for which you no longer need a budget of a first division club to bag strong players. However, what I enjoyed the most is the PvP co-op mode “Pro Clubs”.
With 11 people on the FIFA field – This is Pro Clubs
What is Pro Clubs? You play with up to 11 players in a team. Theoretically, you can assemble an entire team and climb the leagues together. From the captain to free-kick takers and the goalkeeper, you can control every action of your team. You create a team, and each player builds their own professional, which can even be improved.
But you can also approach the mode with fewer players – just go in with two or three friends or directly into matchmaking and kick with strangers. You can play it in 2 ways:
- With “Any” – Players have only one player, the captain takes over the rest of the team
- Without “Any” – Each player has only their pro, the rest is handled by the computer
This can provide you with a lot of fun, and you train your FIFA skills. While the Any player has to keep things tight at the back, individual players can focus on their positioning, tricks, and dribbling. An all-around great mode – right? Unfortunately not if you enter with fewer people.
Pro Clubs seems like the perfect FIFA mode – But is pretty annoying
Why has the fun been missing so far? The problem is that hardly anything has changed in the mode over the years. It plays as if a developer once said, “Why don’t we create a mode where 11 players control the entire team?” – they went through with it, included the option to play with fewer players, and since then, they have been seeing how that goes.
And it’s also really good. You grow together as a team, develop tactics, and fight for every relegation. But I would also like to compete for a championship more often.
However, there is one important aspect that is taken for granted in every other mode, which gets in the way of fun – the tactical settings. So far, you couldn’t make separate settings for player or team tactics. So if you play with a 5-man defense and no wingers up front, you can’t simply tell the guys at the back: Stay in line, so everything doesn’t fall apart if we lose the ball.
And everything often fell apart. Not just on the wings. Moreover, your team only improves when you level up and even loses stars when the elevator goes back down a division quickly. FIFA 20 slightly improved this; in League 8, you already play with a 3-star team. I’d rather not think back to the amateurs of previous years.
The missing tactical settings have always been the annoying rain cloud that has turned us Pro Clubbers into a bunch of soft-weather fans. After a round of Pro Clubs gone wrong, we often head over to Rocket League, which also didn’t always go perfectly.
“With the next FIFA, everything will be better” – For Pro Clubs, that might actually be true
What will be different this season? So far, you could only change your team’s formation in Pro Clubs. With FIFA 21, 2 new options are being added: Tactics and individual instructions.
As in normal matches, NPCs can then be specifically instructed in Pro Clubs too.
- The defensive midfielder should only run between the center circle and the penalty area – no problem
- A striker offers for a pass while the other runs past – we can do that
- The back four should try to set offside traps – done
- Why didn’t that work before – no idea
Does it really make such a difference? Yes, it makes exactly the difference. A mediocre team can often hold their own against a team of high-caliber players with the right tactical settings, provided they just adjust their formation.
As long as solid work is done in defense during counterattacks, you can break through the toughest teams if you address a normal advance on your tactical approach early on. You can finally assign a clear role to the NPCs and don’t have to constantly fear that the outside defender will wander off in the opponent’s penalty area to greet his digital relatives in the audience.
Especially as an Any player, this was always very frustrating. You played with a team that you couldn’t adjust at all. But this year, I’m really looking forward to the mode because when it comes to tactics, I’m always at the forefront.
This season, I’ve had relatively few games, just under 170. But in the new season, it could be significantly more, as the mode could finally bring real fun. Whether that will happen, we will see at the autumn championship.
Tips for Getting Started – Defense is Key
If you want to try the mode as an Any player, I have 3 tips for you that have proven helpful over the years:
- When the defense is solid, the goals will follow
- Pay attention to whether your opponent plays with or without “Any”
- See if the opposing team is more focused on blocking paths or going after the player with the ball
Defense – Focus on tightening things up at the back. Only take your defensive midfielders to directly engage opponents when they push forward, and only select a defender when the opposing players are at the defensive line. Individual pro players are usually faster than your 3-star players, and as soon as even one defender steps too far out, the runners will overtake you. Counterattacks are an excellent way to score goals in Pro Clubs, and if your defense is secure, you often get good chances for a counterattack.
Any Player – Your approach in attack should partially depend on whether the opposing captain controls all players or not. Against NPC opponents, your tricks and dribbling must be precise, while a real player can be thrown off balance with a feint. If you notice that the opponent is playing without “Any”, you can make your life much easier by generating your attacks through short passing play.
Opponent Behavior – Pay attention to the opponent’s behavior in defense during the first few minutes of the game. Many players use an Either/Or principle here. Either they aggressively attack the player with the ball, or they slowly move towards him and prefer to cover the closest passing option. If you notice that they are heavily pressuring the player with the ball, use more passing for your advances. If the defense holds back, try making simple runs or little tricks to take a different direction. This tip applies to all PvP modes in FIFA.
The discussion about whether a new FIFA is worth it every year is almost as old as the game itself. Nevertheless, the annual title always manages to engage a large player base and provides many hours of fun in the football simulation. If you want to know what gameplay changes have been made this year, check here: 4 important gameplay changes that EA promises for FIFA 21.
