In FIFA 18, EA SPORTS has drastically revamped the crossing system, providing you with more control over your crosses and making them a better scoring opportunity. In past versions of FIFA, crosses have been simple lobbed passes from the sidelines, but in recent versions you could control the style and height of the cross -- you could do a regular cross, a low driven cross, or a mid-height slightly powerful cross that might cause havoc in the box. Even with that update, it was difficult to have any signficant control over the kind of cross your team would execute, but this is planned to change in FIFA 18. EA SPORTS released a video detailing an entirely new crossing system that allows you to have a huge amount of control over your crossing. In FIFA 18, there will be four different kinds of crosses you can use -- The 'Dangerous Cross', the 'Searching Cross', the 'Lobbed Cross', and the 'Whipped Cross'. In this guide, we will outline exactly how these crosses will work and when they will be most effective.

The Dangerous Cross

This crossing style is meant to be sent in just as the forwards are entering the box, allowing them to potentially run on to the ball and get a shot in on goal. It appears that this style of crossing is most likely to be used with counter-attacks or just quickly-advancing attacks, but this remains to be seen. It also seems that this style of crossing will naturally accomodate an inward curving-cross. To better illustrate this, we have included a video of the example EA gave along with a real-life example from David Beckham of what the Dangerous Cross would be like.

 

The Searching Cross

The Searcing Cross appears to be most effective when you don't exactly have as many options as you would like, but you still forwards running into the box and space to cross, thus making it a decent opportunity. The video EA released seems to show that this kind of cross will trend forwards as your offense arrives in the box (hopefully) but is a little less effective than the Dangerous Cross. There do seem to be some big similarities between this style of cross the the Dangerous Cross, but the two styles will likely be used in different situations. 

The Lobbed Cross

The classic cross -- the traditional lob across the defensive line intended for your center forward to head into goal emphatically. In FIFA 18, it appears that you will have a bit more control over when you'd like to give this kind of cross a try. This cross appears most effective when your offense has already arrived in the box, and you have an opportunity to send a cross in amid some serious defense already present in the box. Clearly, this method of crossing should be most effective when you have very tall players in the box. 

The Whipped Cross

This method of crossing involves a very fast-pace ball sent into the box at low height. This kind of pass is not very specific, but is likely to cause significant havoc in the box due to the pace of the cross. This cross is best when sent in from the touch-line so that it can whip back into the center of play and your offensive players can work to put the finishing touches onto it.