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Master FIFA 22's massive new patch with pro player Jamodo
How to score goals and defend solidly in the evolving FUT 22 gameplay meta.
In early January, EA Sports dropped a massive patch in FIFA 22 that attempted to address overpowered tactics, exploits and imbalances that had started to grow tiresome for devoted Ultimate Team players. But while nobody will mourn the loss of the so-called 'rat corner' exploit, a lot of players may struggle to adapt to other changes that alter build-up play.
FUTWIZ pro player Jamie 'Jamodo' O'Doherty reveals what's changed and offers advice on how to make the most of the situation...
Goodbye, low driven passes
In recent months, the attacking meta has solidified around low, driven passes, which have become the most efficient way to build up play quickly and accurately. While there is skill involved in doing so, EA Sports obviously felt that things had become a little one-dimensional, and so the most noticeable gameplay change brought about by the patch concerns these driven passes.
"I think, pre-patch, the driven passes were pretty much the only way in the game to progress higher in the pitch at a fast enough speed," says Jamodo. "For me, normal passes this FIFA, they just seem either really inaccurate or not as quick as you want them to be; I think the pace is a bit off. So pre-patch it took a bit of adapting for me, realising I need a driven pass every time, and pre-patch even if you drove a pass into someone, you had a pretty high chance of getting it back [if it was blocked], so the main thing that they fixed was that if you use a driven pass, you're more likely to have it intercepted and lose the ball."
While this has been disruptive for players who had adapted to using driven passes almost at the expense of everything else, Jamodo thinks long-term this should improve the game, although the way it has highlighted flaws in other pass types could lead to further patches.
"On paper I think the driven passes is a good addition, because at the end of the day you don't want to be reading your opponent's passes every time and them just bouncing off you and going back to them like you're a brick wall," he says. "There's nothing more annoying than that when you're trying your best to read your opponent.
"You could say that normal passes aren't really accurate or fast enough, and maybe left-stick dribbling isn't as responsive as we want it to be so this patch ends up making it a lot harder to create chances. This has made games closer than they need to be in some scenarios. Hopefully a few of these things can be looked at in future patches."
More FIFA 22 tips
Breaking down Jamodo's preferred 4-4-2
With build-up play unfolding at a slower pace, meta formations like the increasingly popular 4-1-2-1-2(2) -- sometimes referred to as the 4-1-2-1-2 narrow or second variation -- may be less effective, and Jamodo has switched his own formation in response.
I feel like it's key to have two-striker formations
"Where I was using the 4-1-2-1-2 narrow pre-patch, spamming quick driven passes up the pitch, I can't really do that now, so I'm back to 4-4-2, and I'm putting a bit more of a methodical approach and using the wings a bit more now, which is something I didn't think was really important pre-patch," he says. "I feel like it's key to have two-striker formations to be able to build up, play between them and find those spaces to score goals. The buildup play between those front two and even getting the wide players involved... I call it the triangles, where on the right side of my 4-4-2 I have my right centre midfielder, my right midfielder and my right striker, I feel like they're often playing one-two passes [L1/LB + pass] to slip them in behind. Sometimes my right midfielder will make that run past my striker for example and they're the one through on goal."
Signature Series Renato Sanches is a great central midfield option
© FUTWIZ
It's not just about the formation, though. In order to play to its strengths, you need to have the right kind of players, and use Custom Tactics to make sure they behave in ways that complement the rebalanced strengths and weaknesses of slower attacking build-up. For Jamodo, that means having box-to-box midfielders in the central midfield positions -- he mentions Signature Series Renato Sanches as a good example, rather than a more defensively-minded card like Headliner Fofana -- and setting instructions accordingly.
"On a 4-4-2 I'll always have Stay Back While Attacking on my full-backs but I'll have Overlap on them for the run type, so they'll naturally make that run around the right-mid or left-mid when you're attacking, but with Stay Back on them so they won't be left behind for a counter-attack if you do lose the ball. And since the patch as well, I've gone back to Balanced/Balanced in my attacking tactics. I was using Fast Buildup and Direct Passing, but as we've learned, there's not too much fast or direct going on now, so it's more of a Balanced style of play for me again."
Jamodo recommends Stay Back While Attacking for full-backs in a 4-4-2
© EA Sports
For the midfielders, Jamodo goes with "Stay Back, Cover Center and Cut Passing Lanes". "I want my left mid and my right mid to come back on defence, so I have Stay Back on them, but I want them to Get In Behind for run type on attack. Playing the triangles, sometimes the right mid and left mid are going to be the ones making that run ahead of my attackers. If it was just my two attackers making those runs it would be too predictable, so I want them to make those runs as well. And then I just leave my strikers on Balanced. I did have them on Get In Behind before the patch, which worked well, but I want them to show to feet more now and create goals that way."
How to defend post-patch
Another noticeable thing about FIFA 22 gameplay has been the way defences behave.
Jamodo has upped his defensive depth from 50 to around 60-70
© EA Sports
"For me personally, something I noticed at the start of FIFA 22, was even if I had 50 depth on my defensive tactic, it felt like they sat a lot deeper than they usually would in any other FIFA," says Jamodo. "So that was one thing -- hold on a minute, I'm using 50 depth, but my backline is on my six-yard line inviting so much pressure. And maybe that's how some people like to play FIFA, but for me I would rather not give my opponent so much space and be able to create an attack inside my box, so I've upped that to 60 or 70 now and it's about using the offside traps in the right situations for me. I feel if I drop too deep it gives them too much time on the ball."
While the patch notes EA released suggested we might see some alterations to the way defences behave, specifically when players manually increase their depth to more than 70 in Custom Tactics, early impressions are that not much has changed. From Jamodo's perspective, defending is much the same as before.
"Post-patch, I don't know if people are dropping their depth lower or something, but it feels like defences are dropping deeper, if anything. Maybe that's just an effect of the driven passes [nerf] and people not being able to build up as fast as they could like we spoke about before," he says. Either way, it would make sense to learn how to use the offside trap (by pressing down and then down again on the d-pad) to manually push the defensive line up a few yards whenever it is safe to do so.
So long to the 'rat corner'
One undisputed success in the FIFA 22 January patch is the tweaks that have rendered the so-called 'rat corner' technique unusable. Prior to the patch, players had discovered that a short corner routine involving a pass to the edge of the box and a looping cross to the back post could result in an unsaveable downward header from whoever was waiting there. Defences and goalkeepers were powerless to react, and by having to commit heavily to close down a short corner, it was easy to leave space for canny opponents to break into the box instead if they wanted to do so. While Jamodo studied it, as pros have to seek every advantage, he makes no secret of his happiness that it's gone.
"I'm glad it's gone," he says, "because I rate myself at good corner techniques at the best of times, so the fact people could score so easily was a bit frustrating for me personally!"
Have there been any unintended side effects? Jamodo thinks perhaps headed goals from corners are less likely in general now, although with more width in his formation, he sometimes finds that crosses into the box can create opportunities, especially with very powerful headers of the ball like Team of the Year Lewandowski now potentially on the end.
"Using the width I mentioned earlier that I feel is important now in a 4-4-2, I will use my right and left midfielders. I feel like crossing into the box with those types of player, if it's a Ginola or a Lewandowski, there's definitely an aerial threat. Weirdly, it doesn't feel like they score as many now from corners, but from open play it's a viable option.
"When we talk about not being able to build up as fluently using normal passes or driven passes on the ground, I guess naturally we're looking at other ways to score, and one of those is lobbing a ball across the defence where they can't really defend it, and it doesn't need to be a contested header, they can just be a free shot on goal."
