Every third person you play online in FIFA 21 uses PSG. It starts to get a little old. The reasons are obvious – Neymar and Mbappe – but there are few things as vanilla in life as FIFA players who main PSG. That’s why I’m calling it now; being PSG in FIFA 22 is officially cheating.
In FIFA 21, PSG might just be the best team in the game. FIFA puts a huge emphasis on attacking pace, so Neymar and Mbappe – plus Icardi through the middle – are ideally positioned to execute that. However, they aren’t perfect. The midfield is solid without being spectacular, especially as Veratti isn’t that well suited to FIFA. Di Maria adds some dribbling ability, but clearly the front line is king. Defensively, it’s the same story. Navas is good between the sticks, and while there is no serious weak link in defence, there’s no man mountain either.
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For the record, I play as England, Liverpool, Dortmund, or Chelsea. Since playing as Newcastle just gets you matched with City anyway, you don’t really have a choice – you need to be a top team. But I can’t bring myself to be PSG. Even France seems a bit too far. In FIFA 22 though, PSG is moving from being an annoying cheese team to bona fide cheating.
The fruits of this window remain to be seen on the pitch for PSG – they could blossom into the Champions League trophy, or could grow bitter and sour very quickly. In FIFA 22 though, with the game's stats based on players at their usual standards and still unable to account for the unique unpredictability elite football brings, PSG are now monsters. Their transfer window feels like someone in the boardroom is busy playing Career Mode on FIFA. Gianluigi Donnarumma ousts the multiple Champions League winner Keylor Navas in goal, while Sergio Ramos arrives to provide that man mountain figure PSG has missed in the backline since Thiago Silva went to Chelsea. Hakimi adds pace and attacking intent to the back four as well. In midfield, Gini Wijnaldum arrives as a strong, pacy box-to-box technician who can dribble, pick a pass, and shoot from distance – he's the ideal FIFA player. Upfront? They've signed some Argentinian bloke who's meant to be quite good too. Leo Messi, not sure if you've heard of him?
PSG are annoying in FIFA 21, but they're beatable. Aside from the double threat of Neymar and Mbappe, most five-star teams can match PSG up. Being PSG feels dirty, but I play better with Mane-Jota-Salah, Sterling-Kane-Sancho/Rashford, or Reus-Haaland-Sancho anyway. PSG aren't the only team in the game – it just feels like that sometimes. In FIFA 22 though, the problem is only going to get worse. PSG's FIFA weaknesses are simple. They can be bullied in defence – except now they have Ramos. You can get in behind them – except now they have Hakimi. They aren't dynamic in midfield – except now they have Gini. They need to force play wide to bring in Mbappe and Neymar – except now they have Messi. Navas wasn't even a weakness for PSG, and he's still been upgraded. As a real life team, PSG feel like a soulless recreation of the Galacticos, and for all their quality, it's hard, even with a coach like Pochettino, to see every element of their squad gelling together perfectly. That doesn't matter in FIFA though, so expect them to dominate online matches for the next year – unless, of course, everyone agrees to my very legal rule that being PSG is cheating.
They could yet lose Mbappe to Real Madrid, which does take them down a notch. In theory, on FIFA at least you just move Messi out wide and bring Icardi back through the middle, or Di Maria pushes into Mbappe's spot. In real life, he leaves a major void, but PSG have so much depth it's still cheating without him. I mean, I've gotten through this whole article without mentioning the sensible signing of Danilo Pereira, or the fact they have Kimpembe, Draxler, Herrera, Paredes, Gueye, Marquinhos, and Sarabia in the squad. Don't let me catch you playing as PSG in FIFA 22 now, alright?
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