while i appreciate the answers, it still seems to me that the real problems of Fifa 09 haven't been ironed out in 10. Here are a few of them:
1/ The tripping animation runs the same length for ALL players. So Rooney trips for 3 seconds, as does C.Ronaldo. This isn't so in real life, and is particularly annoying in 09 when you know your player could easily recover quickly and fight for the ball. Rooney doesn't trip easily in real life and even when he's knocked off balance and loses the ball, he fights back and sometimes gets the ball again. This isn't represented in 09.
These animations have been reworked and use the collision engine to decide more appropriate animations etc.
2/ Some turning animations are completely off in 09. There are times when the player turns and completely slows down. It's absolute rubbish and ruins the gameplay. In fact, I've completely avoided moving my player in certain directions because of this
This is where 360 dribbling fixes this mostly I although I notice in 09 it was more prominent in online games so maybe the slight controller latency or lag is a factor but it is a lot better especially if you dont sprint all the time 
3/ When the player runs towards the edge of the field and the ball is going out, the player slides to keep the ball in play. Good addition in 09, rubbish execution. The player slides, keeps the ball in play and takes forever to stand up. Even when he DOES stand up, it's like he's forgotten he has the ball and should keep going. During all of this stupidity, the ball is collected by the opposing player.
Hmmm this is an interesting one as I seemed to walk the ball out of play in 10 than have the slide animation trigger. Cant really say this has been addressed or not fixed. Good spot.
4/ Players sometimes allow the ball to pass by their feet and don't bother to collect it during passes. I've watched Rooney, Ronaldo, etc do this in Fifa 09 and wondered what the bloody h*ll the devs were thinking when making the game. Perhaps EA should employ better testers.
Players are more "urgent" and alert which quells this most of the time now in 10
5/ Through pass, through lob, and crosses are completely useless in 09. Say what you wish; on assisted they may work, on semi everything falls apart. When I asked for help, someone told me to forget about through pass, set my pass to manual and use that instead for through passes. I had a question mark on my head while thinking, "Er ... forget the through pass? If it's in the game shouldn't it be used?" I won't even go near through lob. I've used it 5 times after owning Fifa for almost a year. 5 times. The crossing works when you're crossing into your opponent's box or out of your box or whatever - if that's what you're into. But crossing the ball so that my player doesn't have to stop, stand and wait for the ball to hit is chest is a complete no-no in Fifa 09.
Use manual crossing and practice. You actually have to cross much earlier than you think because of how long the ball stays in the air in 09.
Just practice with manual and it can be deadly
I can't remember other nonsense that riddle 09 but when I do I'll be sure to put them up. So far, all everyone's been talking about is 360 dribbling in Fifa 10. That's great. But if these problems I've listed persist, it just makes the game half finished. I still can't believe I haven't used a through lob in almost in year while playing a football game. It's like being able to walk but being forced to sit in a wheelchair forever. It's frustrating.