More than a meme, the ‘Lengthy’ acceleration style is particularly valuable on centre-backs, because it means they can often reel in fast-paced attackers on breakaways, when they might not previously have been able to do so. But how does it work? Is it really that OP? And who are the best players who have the Lengthy style? Those sound like tough questions to answer, but good news! We’ve done the (long) legwork for you, and this guide should tell you everything you need to know about how to get Lengthy, and whether it matters for your team. On this page: If you’re interested in Ultimate Team, we have pages on best starter teams, Squad Battles, Milestone rewards and FUT Coins and trading. For people on PC, PS5 or Xbox Series X|S consoles, however, AcceleRATE impacts how your players accelerate. There are three acceleration types:
Controlled - Think of this as the default, where players accelerate uniformly in a controlled manner. Explosive - These are shorter, more agile players who cover short distances more quickly, but slow down after an initial burst of acceleration. Think of someone like Luis Diaz, who can use his explosive acceleration to burst past a defender. Lengthy - Taller and stronger players are slower over a short distance, but can catch up over long distances. Think of someone like Virgil van Dijk, who might seem slow over the first few yards, but can rein in fast attackers over longer distances.
Annoyingly, EA does not list the AcceleRATE type for each player on their card, but you can see it on the pause screen during matches, and find it on all the usual FUT card database sites like Futbin and Futwiz. You can also work it out yourself, because AcceleRATE is assigned automatically based on a combination of their height, agility and strength. Explosive players must have the following:
Agility >= 65 [Agility minus Strength] >= 15 Acceleration >= 74 Height <= 180cm (~5’11”)
Lengthy players must have the following:
Strength >= 65 [Strength minus Agility] >= 14 Acceleration >= 55 Height >= 174cm (~5’9”)
There are a few more things that are worth noting about AcceleRATE styles:
Overall acceleration and speed still matter - It should go without saying, but people seem a little confused about this. If your player has high acceleration and sprint speed attributes, and the player they are trying to outpace has low attributes, it doesn’t matter what AcceleRATE style the slower player has, because the faster player will win the race. Players can change AcceleRATE style - If you apply certain Chemistry Styles to a player, it changes their distribution of stats in a way that impacts the above calculation. This can be used to change a Controlled player to Lengthy, for example, which is something that is proving popular among the FUT community. Promo cards may have different AcceleRATE styles - Promo cards that alter players’ stats in one area more than others — Rulebreakers, for instance, or Featured Team of the Week cards — can also influence the calculation, which might tip a player from one AcceleRATE style into another.
First things first, if you have two players with the exact same pace stats — acceleration and sprint speed — and they race side by side, they will reach their top speed at the same time. AcceleRATE does not simply make players faster overall. What it does is alter the acceleration curve during the period that they are accelerating. So during the time those two identically paced players are accelerating, which may be over 20-30 yards or so, an Explosive player would race ahead of the Lengthy player, but the Lengthy player would catch up towards the end of the acceleration curve as the Explosive player tailed off. They would then continue at the same sprint speed. All things being equal, obviously. The reason people are valuing Lengthy over the other types is because having faster movement in that second phase of acceleration is seemingly more useful in a lot of FIFA 23 situations. Here’s a couple of quick examples:
Centre-backs chasing attackers - When reacting to a through ball, the centre-back may seem to benefit more from Lengthy acceleration, because the chase lasts for quite a while and allows them to peak in their acceleration curve at the right time. Attackers outrunning defenders - A striker or winger who runs onto the end of a through ball may benefit from Lengthy acceleration, because they will be reaching the peak of their acceleration curve at the exact point the defenders will be hoping to reach theirs and make up the distance between them.
In other words, Lengthy suits players who are reacting to having another player go past them — it feels like it gives them an advantage at just the right moment. And it suits players who are trying to stay ahead of a chasing player, because it gives them extra oomph that lets them consolidate their lead. The obvious question whenever something is considered OP in FIFA is whether EA Sports might change it. In this case, it seems unlikely. The design intent behind it was to help differentiate players based on their real-world acceleration profiles, and on that basis the system is working as intended. It also does not feel as OP as, say, finesse shots did in the early days of the last game. It can make a difference, but it is situational, and to some extent it is being overhyped without being properly understood. As the game cycle goes on and new cards’ base pace stats increase, it should also become less of an issue, at least in theory! Throw some of those LONG BOIS into your defence, and you should be able to catch most of the meta attackers if they steal a few yards on you. Unless they, too, are elongated men. Remember, Lengthy may not be the best acceleration style for every midfielder. Think about their role within the team before leaning into it, or try it out and see how it fits your play style. If your player spends more time going forward and controlling the play than they do chasing down runners, it may make more sense to give them a Chemistry Style that boosts other stats — like shooting, passing and dribbling — rather than obsessing over their acceleration. So there we have it! Whether the domination of Lengthy will last is anyone’s guess, but for now, go get dem long bois!
