First I would like to say that I'm a huge Dutch fan of the Fifa Series.
I've played every single one with much enjoyment , from "Fifa Soccer"(94) to "Fifa 2000"

But to be fair the competition is getting better and we don't want that now do we.

So I think I've got 5 Realistic improvements to make "Fifa 2001" an absolute Block-Buster:

*) Slow down the flow of the game by:

-Larger pitches.
-make the passing between the players less accurate and not so fast paced.

*) Give special attention to set-pieces by:

-Letting us make or customize our own set- pieces in training (and save them).

*) Make the shoot and pass ability of the players much much more realistic by letting us play:

-real accurate and inaccurate distance shots.
-tight high passes over the defenders in real empty spaces for players to run into.
-not always so incredible accurate passes and shots
-combinations between players like; one- two's and improve the through passes.

*) The AI ofcourse must be tweaked by letting:

-the defense act more like a whole group and not so much individually.
-midfielders generally must have a better sight of the game by improving their running and passing skills.
-forwards play over the wings much more and combinate much better ,like one two's (etc).
-the referee have a brain , let them make mistakes but also certain straight rules.

*) Add different kinds of goalposts with different kind of nettings. Also have more grass kinds , aswell textured as size.