Last week on Balls we brought you a Dublin Derby of a different kind. With the League of Ireland currently suspended, the closest thing we could get to the real thing was seeing two members of Bohemians and Shamrock Rovers face off on FIFA 20.
It was a hotly contested between Keith Ward and Aaron McEneff, with the Bohs man ultimately coming away with a deserved victory. It was all for a great cause too, with over €2,000 being raised for Pieta House. You can still donate by clicking here.
One interested observer came in the form of Conran Tobin. Better known as 'Rannerz', Conran is the number one ranked FIFA player in Ireland.
Speaking to Balls, he said that the standard on show was decent, even if it was not quite up to the professional standard. However, he was very impressed with the recent Premier League tournament which saw real-life players face off, ultimately being won by Wolves' Diogo Jota:
That standard was surprisingly high, Jota was really good. Then he went 30-0 in FUT Champs the following weekend, which is really impressive. I'm not sure if a professional footballer had ever done that before.
With people stuck in their homes at the moment, many are returning to FIFA after a bit of a break in recent months. Some of them may be struggling, especially if they have been away from the game for a while.
We asked Conran for some tips to quickly improve your game. Here's what he told us.
On what Ultimate Team bargains to pick up:
Last week the Team of the Season for the Championship got released. These cards are so good, but they only cost 20/30K. You can get a few of them and link them together.
There's also a lot of English players so they have strong links. Just put them in your team.
The EFL Team of the Season So Far is available now! 🏴😎#TOTSSF #FUT20https://t.co/bwXoXpGtoX pic.twitter.com/848KamFq6K
— EA SPORTS FIFA (@EASPORTSFIFA) April 24, 2020
Most common mistake players make:
The one thing I tell to everybody, and you'll notice it if you watch out for it, is that when people get the ball back they just pass it aimlessly up the pitch and lose it straight away.
They never take their time. As soon as they win it back they just want to go forward. If you just hold it for a second, play one short pass and calm it down and then attack, you will play so much better just from that one thing.
Tips on defending:
One FIFA 20 specific tip is that tackling is not great this year, so you need to position your players for interceptions and try to win the ball back that way rather than tackling.
You want to be baiting people into passes and win the ball back from interceptions.
Breaking down deep defences:
Learn how to do a drag back. It's a pretty simple skill move, you just use 'R1' or 'RB' and move the left stick.
You can look up a tutorial on YouTube, but it's really effective. It's only a two-star skill as well so anybody can use it.
More skill tips:
Just a fake shot. Honestly, it's such a simple skill move but it's really good this year. All you need for that is 'square' and 'x'.
On set-pieces:
For corners I always play it short, and even for free-kicks as well. I actually never go direct from any set-piece, so I just like to set it back to set up a normal attacking scenario.
I just pass it around and allow my team to go back into position because that's what I'm more comfortable with.
On finishing:
I still think near post is the way to go. It bothers me how counterintuitive it is because I would have played football myself, and you always shoot across goal.
But this year you should definitely hit it near post, I don't know why the goalkeepers can't save it but they never do, so make sure that's where you aim for.
This year they decreased the effectiveness of time finishing, so barely any pros use it. It's really not worth the risk.
If you would like to make a donation to Pieta House, you can do so at any point here.
