This is as accurate as a sports simulation can get!
The main reason is the total control you have over every situation on the field. Loose balls can be won in a variety of ways, pressing is riskier than last year's game. Tactical defending requires you to make more than one decision at a time and it's a satisfying challenge to develop a patience and win a ball. Last year's game felt too automatic, defenders were too easy to control, and the game felt like a mosh pit at times, and you succeeded in Fifa 11 just by sitting back and waiting for the time to create a turnover by homing in a few defenders and creating an odd man counter attack, and timing a pass. Now, patience is key more than ever. Even offense is tougher because you have to take defenders on one on one to get open. Instead of timing you're passes, or long balling a well timed pass, this time you have to muscle your way into the box, or use precision dribbling to sneak past defenders. Whereas last year, all you needed to do was be patient, and time passes. Shooting the ball is also a bit tougher, since you need to hold the shooting button longer to put air under the ball, rather than tapping the button and still smashing a shot. Not the case this time around.
When it comes to sport games, it is rare to see a video game emulate the real thing so well. Watching the players on the field work together to set up a goal feels so real. The speed of the game is slower in Fifa 12, just like a real game, the new physics system adds to this realism, even though there are limited animations when it comes to the collision system. But as for the other animations, there are so many new ones! I feel as if there are twice as many as FIfa 11.
As for new features and stuff, I won't get into that. Many of you are aware of what is new in Fifa 12. My overall opinion of the game is that it improved on last year's version tremendously, forcing even the most experienced Fifa players to need to learn how to play a new football game all over again.