FIFA 23: How to Jockey
Extreme realism in soccer simulation returns for another year with FIFA 23. Everyone’s favorite yearly soccer game has once again made it into the hands of fans all over the world, and the gates of competition have been opened once more.
This year, FIFA means business, and it has content and feature updates to prove it. Whether you’re working your way to greatness in the single-player campaign, going back to your street roots with Volta Football, or clowning on other players worldwide in FIFA online, you can almost feel the cool air on your face, and smell the fresh-cut grass from the pitch.
That’s what FIFA’s goal has always been: to bring the full soccer experience to its fans, no matter where they might be. And that has never been more true than it is in FIFA 23. So, however you decide to play, you’re going to need a game plan. Most players develop a solid offensive strategy and just attack, attack, attack. This will work occasionally, but what separates good soccer players from great ones is the combination of a solid offense with an air-tight defense. If you’ve never considered your defensive strategy, this one’s for you.
Jockeying
One of the first things any soccer player (real or digital) will learn is how to jockey. Jockeying is the act of forcing a player who has possession of the ball into a position that is advantageous for the defender, or at the very least, a position that is not dangerous for the defender’s own goal. Here’s an example. You have settled midfield, keeping a close eye on the ball. A war is raging over it on the opposing side when an opponent player steals the ball and makes a break for your goal. You leap into action, attempting to head off the player.
You line yourself up in front of them and place your body between them and your goal, adjusting your position and distance to force them towards the sidelines, where it would be more difficult to take a shot. You do this until they attempt the shot anyway and it gets blocked, or until one of your teammates can steal the ball back, and the cycle continues. It might seem like you didn’t do much there, but in that example, you single-handedly prevented that player from taking a shot straight down the pitch into the goal. That’s a solid defense, and that’s what you will learn how to do in FIFA 23 with this guide.
This action is all about movement. You’ll need to be prepared to block from a standing position or move quickly while attempting to remain squared up. Here is how you do that in FIFA 23.
- Xbox One & Xbox Series XIS: Hold LT
- PlayStation 4 & 5: Hold L2
This method is for the standing jockey, which will prevent a player from passing or advancing.
- Xbox One & Xbox Series XIS: Hold LT with RT
- PlayStation 4 & 5: Hold R2 with L2
This is the fast jockey, which makes your player move differently and allows for pushing strikers off to the sides.