FIFA 23, we have tried all the contents dedicated to the magnificent crossover with Ted Lasso

FIFA 23

If you are between 25 and 40 today, there is a good chance that in your teens you found yourself at least once zapping Mediaset networks on a lazy summer afternoon, ending up getting hooked on a bad movie about. American sport such as that in which a baseball team is helped by angels to win the championship. The very idea that someone has thought of making a film like Angels may seem ridiculous today, but the fact of making every successful sport transmedia is rooted in American culture, hungry as it is to consume any type of product related to their passions.

With the exponential growth of football in the United States, the result of enormous investments and the constant tendency to sign the most important athletes on the European scene, it was natural that sooner or later a series like Ted Lasso would emerge , the comedy drama starring Jason Sudeikis that is depopulating on the Apple TV streaming service and which, unlike the American sports broadcast by Italia 1, has turned out to be an excellent television product.

The series tells the story by Ted Lasso, an American football coach who is hired by an English Premier League team, AFC Richmond, without having any knowledge of the world of football. Among the many themes that the show deals with with a unique delicacy, there is also that of the substantial differences between the American and European sports philosophy and, if you like football, the advice is only one: recover it, you will not regret it.

You may have heard of it too if you are in the habit of frequenting these editorial shores, but EA Sports, proving once again to have a nose for this kind of thing, had the brilliant idea of ​​inserting Lasso and the his AFC Richmond in FIFA 23, the new iteration of the legendary football series coming to PC and consoles on September 30th. With the release of the game around the corner we finally got to try all the contents of FIFA 23 dedicated to Ted Lasso and, even if the path that will lead us to the review has just begun, we first thought of browsing through the modalities of FIFA 23 to find out how the series has been implemented within it. Here's what we discovered below.

AFC Richmond in FIFA 23

This is how Ted Lasso looks in FIFA 23 As we have long argued, the main merit of the FIFA series, what has allowed her to earn the global success she enjoys today is her ability to interface with the world of real football to embrace all the latest trends, sometimes even managing to influence it herself. The choice to introduce Ted Lasso themed content is part of this perspective, and not only will it delight fans of the series who now have a very good reason to approach FIFA 23, but will allow the game to break into that American market. that the series had never been able to penetrate.

Index of how every initiative fielded by EA Sports is always studied at the table to have the greatest possible impact, the contents linked to Ted Lasso end up touching the greatest part of the FIFA 23 modes, from Career to Performances, from Ultimate Team to Online Seasons. Basically, AFC Richmond has been included as a real football team among the many others that make up the official licenses of this chapter and, in the future, it will also be able to appear in FUT, with themed elements on which, however we currently have no information. You can find it in the Rest of the world section: jerseys and logos are taken directly from the TV series (the fictional sponsor Bantr is also present), while the line-up is the one we learned about during the two seasons that were broadcast on Apple TV.

Here are the overall players of the AFC Richmond The most representative players have also been inserted with their real features, replicated thanks to a facial scan of the actors who play them in the series. This implies that in FIFA 23 players like Roy Kent, Jamie Tartt, but also Dani Rojas, Sam Obisanyas, Jan Maas and goalkeeper Thierry Zoreaux are indistinguishable from their real counterparts, on the pitch. EA also said that they worked on the animations and expressions of the Richmond members to make them more consistent with the series, in order to characterize each of them to perfection. Some players are not currently present with the faces of their actors and it will be curious to find out if in the future EA Sports will introduce new cast members to the team who will join Ted Lasso as the seasons pass.

In terms of performance , the 11th owner of AFC Richmond was brought into the game with respectable stats, not very different from those of any mid-table Premier League team. The star of the line-up is undoubtedly Jamie Tartt, who leads the Greyhounds attack with five-star skill moves and an overall of 84, the same as players like Vlahović, Leão and Lorenzo Pellegrini. Following him we find Roy Kent, with a score of 83, not bad for a 40-year-old midfielder. The other members of the starting squad oscillate between ratings ranging from 82 to 76, a balanced squad but certainly not first-rate, just as happens in the series.

AFC Richmond, being formally on a par with any other formation of the game, it can be used both in the Local Exhibition mode, as in the Online Friendlies and in the Multiplayer Seasons, although to our great disappointment we have discovered that choosing it does not trigger any kind of special presentation at the beginning of the match and indeed, both the Italian and the English commentary do not include the name of the players nor that of the team. It's a real shame, because a few small quotes would have been enough to make fans of the TV series literally in raptures.

Climbing the top of world football with Ted Lasso

The AFC Richmond recap at the beginning of the Career Undoubtedly, the most interesting part of this well-chosen crossover is the one concerning the Career career, in which you can take on the role of Ted Lasso and lead AFC Richmond (or any other team in the world) towards the conquest of the most important national and international trophies. Since the team does not belong to any federation, we will not be forced to compete in the English Premier League, but we will have the opportunity to choose any of the leagues included in the game, so you will not have any obstacles in bringing the coached team to Serie A. from the US coach to make them face the queens of our championship.

Even if the campaign does not include special Ted Lasso themed content, it is difficult to explain what it feels like to be a fan of the series and to go down every Sunday on the grass of the Nelson Road, the home stadium of the Greyhounds, faithfully reproduced in every detail to provide the backdrop for Richmond's climb to the top of world football. If you are thinking of approaching FIFA 23 for the opportunity to immerse yourself in the atmosphere of the TV series, you will also find one of the best careers of recent years waiting for you, full of gameplay innovations capable of deepening the experience of game. In short, it could really be the right time to give Electronic Arts sports series a chance.

The captain, there is only one captain! Have you seen the two seasons of Ted Lasso on Apple TV? What do you think of the content inspired by the series with Jason Sudeikis? Will you play as Ted Lasso any of these modes? Please let us know in the comments!

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