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FIFA 21 update finally nerfs the team press tactic

If you're one of those FIFA players that spams d-pad tactics, you might not enjoy these patch notes

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FIFA 21 

If you’ve ever played a game of FIFA 21 online, you’ll run into two common occurrences: facing teams with 90+ pace and people spamming the team press tactic. The latest FIFA update attempts to address the team press issue, a problem that has plagued the game for years.

The frustrating thing about team press is that EA attempted to fix this issue with the launch of FIFA 21, but the solution was to simply place a cooldown on this tactic. EA has decreased the amount of time the team press can be active for, dropping it from 30 seconds to 20 seconds. This should result in players being unable to rely on this technique for a large portion of the match.

Overload ball side, another d-pad tactic is being nerfed to have a bigger effect on in-game stamina. This is also something that EA has tried to combat in the past, but as players continue to receive upgraded cards, this nerf doesn’t end up having a drastic impact. A number of popular formation tactics are also being tweaked, with constant pressure, pressure on heavy touch, and pressure on possession loss using up more in-game stamina than before.

One of the big changes to come out of this new update is that the drop back tactic should be more effective due to these nerfs. As someone that doesn’t have the team to deal with speedy players thanks to my useless Arsenal squad, now I might be able to cope with counter attacking teams.

Title Update 5 goes live later today for PC players, but console players will have to wait until November 17. Earlier today, we covered another feature arriving in this update called FIFA Playtime. You’ll definitely want to check that out if you’ve ever wanted to limit the amount of time and money you’re spending in FIFA 21. Check out the rest of the FIFA 21 patch notes over on EA’s forum. Can you run it? Check the FIFA 21 system requirements at PCGameBenchmark.

Christian is PCGamesN’s deputy guides editor. In West London, born and raised, on the virtual battlefield is where he spends most of his days. You might see him twirling his Fade Bowie Knife in Counter-Strike 2, racking up win streaks in Street Fighter 6 as JP, and scoring hat-tricks with his unstoppable Arsenal FC team in EA Sports FC 24. He’s been working in the games industry as both a video producer and writer for several years, and has written for Rock Paper Shotgun, Wccftech, The Loadout, Pocket Tactics, and GameWatcher. When he’s not writing guides about the latest games, he’s probably reviewing something hardware-related to improve his computer setup.