Lengthy is one of the new buzzwords in FIFA 23 Ultimate Team. This is nothing new, of course. EA Sports loves to trademark the names of its game systems, and AcceleRATE is another of the latest examples. But, within this new system, Lengthy is the one acceleration style that has the community buzzing. Are your players Lengthy? Have you go enough 'Long Bois'?

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.

How does AcceleRATE work in FIFA 23?Is Lengthy OP in FIFA 23?FIFA 23 best Lengthy defendersFIFA 23 best Lengthy midfieldersFIFA 23 best Lengthy attackersThis FUT 23 deep dive trailer provides a decent overview of this year's mode.

If you’re interested in Ultimate Team, we have pages on best starter teams, Squad Battles, Milestone rewards and FUT Coins and trading.

How does AcceleRATE work in FIFA 23?

AcceleRATE is a new movement system introduced in FIFA 23 on next-gen platforms. That last part is very important. If you are playing FIFA 23 on PS4 or Xbox One, you don’t need to worry about AcceleRATE at all, because your players won’t be affected by it.

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] >= 15Acceleration >= 74Height <= 180cm (~5’11”)

Lengthy players must have the following:

Strength >= 65[Strength minus Agility] >= 14Acceleration >= 55Height >= 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.

Is Lengthy OP in FIFA 23?

So why is everyone obsessing over Lengthy? The answer is probably a bit more nuanced than people are making it out to be, so let’s try to unpack it before we start banging on about DA BEST LONG BOIS and all that good stuff.

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!

FIFA 23 best Lengthy defenders

It certainly doesn’t hurt to have Lengthy on key players, so let’s take a look at the best players by position. If a player needs a Chemistry Style to achieve Lengthy, we have noted that by their entry in the table below. Here is a rundown of the best Lengthy defenders, who will be Rare Gold players unless noted otherwise.

PlayerPositionsAcceleRATEVirgil van DijkCBLengthyRuben DiasCBLengthyKalidou KoulibalyCBLengthyAntonio Rudiger (Rare Gold or Ones to Watch)CBLengthyNiklas Sule (Road to the Knockouts)CB, RBLengthyBremer (RTTK)CBLengthyKyle WalkerRB, RWBLengthyTheo HernandezLB, LWBLengthy with ArchitectRaphael VaraneCBLengthyFikayo Tomori (Gold Rare or TOTW)CBLengthy with Anchor, Architect, Backbone or SentinelReece JamesRWB, RBLengthy with Anchor, Architect, Backbone or SentinelRobin Gosens (RTTK Objective)LWB, LB, LMLengthy with ArchitectFerland MendyLB, LWBLengthy with ArchitectPresnel KimpembeCBLengthyRonald AraujoCBLengthyDiego CarlosCBLengthy

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.

FIFA 23 best Lengthy midfielders

Moving onto the midfield, there are also a bunch of Lengthy fellas here that could form the fulcrum of your attacking or defensive middle-of-the-park designs. (Can something be the fulcrum of a design? That is beyond the remit of this guide to answer.) (Not really.)

PlayerPositionsAcceleRATECasemiroCDMLengthyRodriCDMLengthy with Anchor, Catalyst, Engine, Hawk, Hunter or ShadowLeon GoretzkaCM, CDMLengthy with Anchor, Architect, Backbone, Hawk, Marksman, Sentinel or SniperFederico Valverde (Rare Gold, TOTW, Player of the Month or RTTK)CM, RM, RW depending on cardLengthy with ArchitectFabinhoCDM, CBLengthySergej Milinkovic-Savic (Rare Gold or TOTW)CMLengthyPaul PogbaCM, CDM, LMLengthyFranck Kessie (Rare Gold or Ones to Watch)CDM, CMLengthyEmre CanCM, CB, CDMLengthyDenis ZakariaCDM, CMLengthy

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.

FIFA 23 best Lengthy attackers

Lengthy players in attack have had some good early-cycle PR thanks to the Alexander Sorloth Team of the Week card, which a lot of people packed or got in their red rewards from Weekend League. Sorloth’s combination of strength, height, very high sprint speed and Lengthy acceleration type mean he gets ahead of defences, stays ahead and holds off attackers before unleashing very accurate shots. Using Architect to change players like Ronaldo and Benzema to Lengthy has also brought them into the meta.

PlayerPositionsAcceleRATEKarim BenzemaCF, STLengthy with ArchitectRobert LewandowskiST, CFLengthy with Architect, Hawk, Marksman and SniperCristiano RonaldoST, CFLengthy with ArchitectErling HaalandST, CFLengthyHarry KaneST, CFLengthyMario GomezST, CFLengthyCiro ImmobileST, CFLengthy with ArchitectAlexander Sorloth (TOTW)ST, CFLengthyRafael Leao (TOTW)LW, LMLengthy with ArchitectNiclas Fullkrug (POTM)ST, CFLengthyEldor ShomurodovST, CFLengthy with Architect

So there we have it! Whether the domination of Lengthy will last is anyone’s guess, but for now, go get dem long bois!

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