Just a little idea whilst thinking about how to tell the difference between players of the same calibre.
It reminded me of football games like PES and FIFA, where certain players had one or more ‘special’ abilities.
For example, Zidane had the ‘Playmaker’ ability, defined as: ‘When Zidane has the ball, players push higher up the pitch and position themselves better’. One could imagine a similar ability for a MOC or MDC, which would result in an increase in the midfield rating when that player is on the pitch.
Other abilities I can recall:
GAC – Penalty-stopper
GAC – One-on-one specialist
DFC – A tackler in the mould of Maldini, for example
ATC – Penalty taker
ATC – Aerial ability
....

Well, there are actually some stylish players who specialise in that.