The delay that a lot of people (including me!) have experienced in Pro Clubs since the start of FIFA11 has been infuriating at times and unfortunately caused a lot of good Pro Clubs players to hang up their boots with frustration.  If it’s affecting you don’t hang up your boots just yet, there may well be a solution!

Despite EA not having an official line on the delay it certainly seems like their geek squad have been beavering away behind the scenes because the delay rarely happens these days (for me in the UK anyway) apart from at peak times of the day (from around 8pm – 10pm GMT).

I’ve got to admit though, it has still got to the point where if someone was to say “put your undies on your head and sing Bat out of Hell backwards and it will sort out your lag” I’d probably give it a shot…  Another suggestion I had was to pour Dr Pepper in your Xbox vents and put marmite up your nose but I wouldn’t recommend this either (unless you really like marmite…).  There is however one solution that I would recommend and really is working for me!

The Problem

The trouble seems to be with the cut scenes during FIFA Pro Clubs matches.  This includes the opening scenes of the match with the players coming out onto the pitch and then the team line ups etc.

If you’re as impatient as I am you’ll be spamming that A or X button as fast as you can to skip the cut scenes and get straight to the action!  The same when the ball goes out for a throw in or during a slow motion replay.  Click, click, click at 100mph to get back to the match and keep that momentum going.

Herein lies the problem.  Impatiently spamming the A or X button to skip through the cut scenes seems to cause some players to come out of sync with the rest of the game and it feels like you press the pass button and your player passes it on screen 3 seconds later.

The Solution

Be patient!  I know it’s tough but sit on your hands if you have to!

Watch the first 5 seconds of the cut scenes and then only press the A or X button once to skip (if at all).

I know the game will be longer and you might lose momentum but in my opinion that’s a very small price to pay for a lag / delay free match!

This is a relatively new solution theory and originated from willkill12345 in a thread on the EA forums and is still open to some debate.  I can honestly say though that it appears to have worked for me and a large number of people I have spoken to. 

For the last couple of days I’ve been making a conscious effort to remain patient and not skip the cut scenes and every time I have enjoyed a great connection.  A couple of times though, enthusiasm has got the better of me and I’ve spammed through the cut scenes without thinking and each time I have lagged.

Evidence enough???  Try it for yourself and let me know how you get on!  If we get enough feedback that this works then we may have isolated the problem.  This can be reported direct to EA to help them put solutions in place, maybe for FIFA11 but certainly for FIFA12.