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With FIFA 23 early access going live two days ago, newcomers and returning players have had to get accustomed to the new defensive mechanics added to the game. While people still say offense is the best defense when it comes to FIFA, properly defending against attacking opponents is at the core of its gameplay.
EA Sports has made substantial changes to the latest game in the premier footballing franchise with the introduction of many new features such as Hypermotion 2, new ways to dribble, and a complete overhaul of set pieces.
Defense has also been enriched with the inclusion of brand new features such as Partial Team Press, hard sliding tackle, and a completely new player switching method. We already have a guide to taking free kicks and penalties in FIFA 23, now let's concentrate on how to master defense to stop pesky strikers from slipping through the backline so easily.
FIFA 23's new defensive mechanics explained
As expected, players with good defensive awareness, tackling, strength, and interception skills are essential for a good defense. However, FIFA is still a football simulation game where matches only last for a fraction of what a real game would in real life.
This means that the faster the defender, the better they are at covering more ground in minimal time, making pace essential to the game. Here are some of the fastest defenders in FIFA 23 that would be a great addition to your squad's center-back position.
That said, pace has always been an in-game meta strategy, but now it's time to take a closer look at the brand new mechanics in FIFA 23.
What is Partial Team Press and how to use it
Pressing while the ball is out of possession has been a popular tactic in football and in FIFA 23, EA has added advanced defensive positioning in the form of a completely new tactic called Partial Team Press or PTP. While out of possession and chasing the opposing player with the ball, using PTP will force two defenders to mark their opponent's passing options.
To use it, players have to double tap the R1 button on their Xbox controller and the RB button on their PlayStation controller. While it can be quite a viable strategy to block the opposing player's passing options, the fact that defenders will leave their positions to mark the potential passing lanes means that there is a chance of getting caught out of position.
After double tapping R1/RB, the two players who will engage the passers will have a green arrow appear over their heads. The arrow will indicate how much stamina they have, after which the defenders will stop pressing and try to get back into position.
New player switching
The new right-stick player switching is an innovative way to juggle between players when defending. While using the right stick to switch, a visual indicator will appear on the screen which will allow gamers to switch to players further afield in the direction they choose, giving them greater control over choosing different footballers in their team.
A flick of the stick towards a direction will instantly switch players like before, so the functionality is not going to hinder returning players at all. The whole point of the visual indicator while player-switching in FIFA 23 is to free gamers from the hassle of flicking the right stick multiple times to select a desired player.
In the options menu, the right-stick-switching reference can also be changed between player-specific and ball-specific according to the personal preference.
Hard-slide tackles and backheel tackles
Hard-sliding tackles have been included in FIFA 23 for players who want to send a ball out of play in urgent defensive situations. Attributes such defensive awareness and sliding-tackle ratings will determine the success rate for hard-sliding tackle and players without high defensive stats have a higher chance of committing a foul while sliding.
To perform a hard-slide tackle, press R1+Square on Xbox and RB+X on PlayStation but beware, an ill-timed tackle is much more likely to produce a card from the referee.
Another new addition is the backheel tackle, which will only occur for defenders who have high defensive awareness and will manifest itself as a successful late tackle.
With a mastery of the new defense mechanics in FIFA 23, any player can start defending like a beast.
