FIFA 21 Positioning Awareness Trailer

EA revealed that they pretend players who are tactically aware to have a bigger impact in FIFA, by being in the right place at the right time to shoot, pass, or block the ball.

Two main attributes dictate how good players will be at these behaviors; Positioning for Attacking Personality, and Defensive Awareness for Defensive Personality.

The Positioning attribute can impact many elements of Attacking Personality, and the specific behaviors below scale according to the player’s attribute. This means that an attribute of 85 might feel good and have a pronounced effect, but 90 is significantly better, and 99 is exponentially superior.

• Onside And Offside Runs - Awareness to know when to slow down and time the run to perfectly stay onside. This behavior will be overridden when using Fast Build Up tactics and/or Get In Behind Player Instructions as the intent of those is to focus more on using speed to break down the defense.
   
• “Passer Readiness“ Runs - Understanding of when the ball possessor is ready to make a pass so the player can time their run perfectly. High attribute players will show intelligent timing and movement, based on where the passer is facing and moving. This behavior will be overridden when using Fast Build Up tactics and/or Get In Behind Player Instructions for the same reasons as detailed above.
   
• Decision Making Time And Intelligence - The ability to make faster and accurate decisions on where and when to move. Higher Positioning Attribute players will decide where to move quicker and smarter.
   
• Passing Lane Analysis - Understanding of spaces to determine where the next best move to receive a pass is, providing more options for passers and teammates.
  
  Behaviors that will only happen when a player has a very high Positioning Attribute
   
• Open Up Space - Ability to create separation between attackers and defenders when the defense is tight or to provide more passing options. Happens mostly with diagonal runs when there are available spaces.
   
• Ideal Crossing Positioning  - Understanding of the best open space in the box to beat defenders during dangerous in-play crossing situations. This does not apply to set-piece plays.
   
• Fake Runs In The Box - Creating forward fake runs and then pulling back to be available for cut back pass options, or changing run direction from near post to far post.
   
• Chance Creation Support - AI forwards are more aware of the lack of passing options and will drop back to the midfield to support teammates in order to help in build-up play.

• Run Tracking - Ability to track a run and anticipate one before it happens, with highly aware defenders doing a much better job at staying with their runners.
   
• 2-Man Marking To Prevent Counter Attacks - Ability for two high attribute defenders to mark a striker so they have limited space to avoid a counter-attack. Requires 2 AI Teammate players, each with very high Defensive Awareness attributes.
   
• Defensive Midfielder Diligent Tracking - The ability to intelligently mark and track runs by attackers without giving up or leaving them open. They will track dangerous attacking opponents even if they are already marked by a teammate, due to the scale of the threat.
   
• Defensive Midfielder Cutting Passing Lanes - Awareness to position themselves better in order to cut off passing lanes and limit the opponent’s options. Requires an AI Teammate in a defensive midfielder capacity with very high Defensive Awareness.
   
• Active VS Passive winger behaviors - Determines how active wingers can get when having to perform defensive duties such as marking, defensive positioning, and tracking runs.
   
• Full back Cooperation - Better awareness of the teammate's full back’s positioning, allowing them to better work together when marking. When one full back pushes up, the other will cover and become more aware to mark and track attackers. Full backs with a high Defensive Awareness attribute are more effective defending runs on the far side of the pitch than players with a lower one.