FIFA 23: Why the target man meta MUST make a return for EA's next title

The Premier League is back, with some exciting new signings, new narratives and new styles of play for fans around the world to enjoy.

But one notable return to the top-flight is seemingly the return of the big man up front.

However, the route one style of football hasn't been a viable option in FIFA for several years now, with the meta being dominated by smaller, agile players.

We would LOVE to see EA bring the big man meta back in FIFA 23.

The Target Man Returns

It seems as though as Premier League teams have adapted to a modern style of football and improved at playing out from the back, they have simultaneously become more fond of having a target man up front.

We ran the numbers and it looks like more than half of the current Premier League squads have a big man as an option up top.

The following strikers all represent different PL clubs and can be considered as 'target men':

Aleksandar Mitrovic, Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Kieffer Moore, Jean-Philippe Mateta, Ivan Toney, Darwin Nunez, Erling Haaland, Chris Wood, Michail Antonio, Sam Surridge, Raul Jimenez

The target man hasn't just returned to English football, either.

The likes of Sebastien Haller, Romelu Lukaku, Dusan Vlahovic, Tammy Abraham and Ciro Immobile all dominate up front for top European sides.

The S***house Meta

So, given how prominent it is in top-flight football these days, we feel that the target man style of play, or route one in some cases, should be represented in FIFA 23.

For several successive years now, the small, quick five-star skillers have dominated the attacking meta in Ultimate Team and competitive play.

However, we think it's time for the heading meta to return alongside the tika-taka style of FIFA that we see so often in the Weekend League.

The likes of new FUT Hero Peter Crouch and FUT legend Zlatan Ibrahimovic could spearhead your attack, with pacey wingers delivering crosses into the box.

Some footballing greats, such as Didier Drogba and Marco van Basten, became famous for being dominant target men.

Despite possessing highly-rated Icon cards in Ultimate Team, these number nines have been virtually unusable in recent years - this must change!

Countering The Low Block

One of the most frustrating trends in FIFA 22 competitive gameplay was the opposition using the maximum depth and drop-back tactic.

This basically involved 10 men sitting in a low block in the defensive third at all times and hitting teams on the counterattack at pace.

One effective counter to this style of play is the traditional target man.

If EA makes strikers with an aerial presence viable in FIFA 23, we could see a route one style of football causing problems to the low block.

Whilst a lofted cross into the danger area for the big man to go and attack might not be the most beautiful style of attacking football, it would surely be a fun method to exploit in FIFA 23.