FIFA101: The pros give us their FIFA 21 fundamentals

With FIFA 21 now available on EA Play, we thought it was time to put together the best Ultimate Team tips all in one place thanks to our FIFA101 series.

While labelled a beginner's guide, these tips can take your game to the next level whether you are playing your mates or challenging competitively.

We have got everything covered from skill moves to market trading, so take a look at your route to success below.

Attacking threat

In the first ever FIFA101, former FIFA eWorld Champion Mossad "MsDossary" Al-Dossary gave his insight into attacking effectively in FUT 21.

“Through balls are a very effective way of attacking and getting 1v1s,” he said, before going on to state that Neymar Jr, Kylian Mbappe, and Cristiano Ronaldo are the must-have players this year.

While through balls have been effective this season, good defenders can put pay to your counterattacking plans.

Chelsea's ePremier League runner-up Diogo Mendes explained there are several ways to attack.

“When I play against a player that can defend very well, I try to adapt my style of game and try to play more in possession, calm, and wait for a mistake from their defence so that I can score,” he said.

Xbox CONMEBOL eLibertadores champion Pedro "Resende" Resende also prefers a possession-based style but warned of the negatives it can encounter.

“FIFA 21 is a bit complicated because it changed completely in the last two years, because it may punish you for having a lot of possession," he said, alluding to the fast-paced counterattacks we see in the game.

Aston Villa's ePremier League star Cameron Wiley helped us 'counter-press' counterattacks with his knowledge of the pressure tactics.

“I use that (4-3-1-2 formation) with the pressure tactic so if I do lose the ball, say in my opponents’ box, my players come in and press and if I win the ball high it’s a guaranteed goal," he said.

As an attacking player, Wiley noted how crucial it was to be aggressive, otherwise, you can be caught out on the counterattack too easily.

Finding the net

The most crucial aspect of any football game whether in real life or in the esports world is scoring goals.

NoFuchsGiven pro player Lisa "NFG_Lisa" Manley gave her finishing tips, and they certainly helped us find the net in Weekend League.

"The key thing to take into account when in front of goal is to stay calm, and don't just shoot straight away," Lisa says.

"There's a lot of AI blocks in FIFA so if you rush your shot, it's just gonna get blocked - I highly recommend just staying calm, and wait for the right opportunity."

Lisa's tips in open play are fantastic, and we were also lucky enough to have ePremier League champion Shaun "Shellzz" Springette help us out with penalties after his thrilling win in a shootout.

"If I score, it's mostly luck - but the main aspect this year is about timing your penalties," he said modestly.

"It gives you that extra chance to score even if the goalkeeper dives the right way."

Keeping them out

Back again in another instalment of FIFA101 was MsDossary, this time sharing his defending advice.

“You have to think like your opponent by reading the pass and where your opponent wants to go,” says MsDossary.

Sometimes there are no special tricks to learn, you just have to understand your opposition.

We have been lucky enough to talk to Scotland international Marc "MarcMarleyyy" Marley a couple of times, and his insights into defending on FUT 21 are a game-changer.

“I would just say, get your player switching right and be aggressive," were his wise words first-time round, and he expanded on them in his 'advanced defending' tips.

Altering how you change players can take your performance to the next level.

“Player switching is pretty much the biggest skill gap when it comes to defending, and that's what usually separates the better players from the worse players,” he said.

“The thing I would recommend is the right stick player switching because when you press L1 or LB it won’t always put it on the player that you want to."

“But, if you're using the right stick, you can actually change from the left side of the pitch to the right-side pitch in just one flick of the right stick.

“It’s just so much better than having to press something four or five times to get on them.

“It can be a long process at times, it took me years to get to that pro level, but I definitely recommend people to start trying to learn it and you will improve on it."

Skill Moves

FIFA content creator Sandra "SaNkHs" Martinez was not the only one to share their skill move tips, but she is renowned for her outrageous tricks in the FUT community.

"I like to stop and do La Croqueta, with Elasticos, Fake Shots, and stepovers my go-to moves," she said.

Chaining these moves has led to SaNkHs embarrassing many an opponent, but she claims she wouldn't know what to do without her silky skills.

"People are always calling me out - “You do a lot of skill moves", but I always tell them “If I don’t do it, I don’t know how to play”, you know?"

Trading Up

As we know, Ultimate Team is not all about the in-game skill as you must also be a master of the Transfer Market.

FUT Trading Methods explains that “while most FUT players are panicking you can use the sudden market downturn to your advantage.

“A market crash is a great time to invest your FUT coins Almost every player is down in value during a big market crash, meaning you can make coins on lots of players.”

Learn all about the FUT market with tips on utilising market crashes, picking up players at the right time, and more in our FIFA101 Trading Tips.