FIFA 12 | Lower League Gems – Left backs (winter update)

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I realise I may not have made it clear at first – this article refers to players’ stats after the winter update.

What is it about left backs and being out on loan? Loads of them are in this article. Never mind, on the plus side at least they’ll be getting plenty of game time, so if you choose to go for them a season later they’ll already have made good progress.

Anyway, my recommendations don’t contain any players currently out on loan, and they are:

• Florentin Pogba
• Atila Turan
• Benjamin Mendy

At first glance, it would appear that Florentin Pogba (elder brother of Paul) is a mispositioned centre back. He’s really strong and has jumping 93 (!), and his tackling is excellent. However, his passing and crossing in particular are much better than the average centre back’s, so don’t rule him out as a useless full back. In fact his strength could be used to his advantage if you choose to bring him forward on runs. So here you have a full back who can effortlessly slot into central defence, all for £725,000. Bargain.

Atila Turan is a very different kind of left back. In a rare case of talent well-spread, only one of his technical stats is marked as red. Even among such versatility, however, it is clear that he will become your dead-ball specialist, as his curve and free kick accuracy are standout features. Even his penalties are good! Furthermore, his crossing and dribbling are just as good as his tackling and marking, so just put him at left back or left midfield depending on your needs. One of the cheaper players on the list too. What more could you want?

Finally, Benjamin Mendy will become your engine on the left side. Possessing blistering pace, excellent stamina for such a young player and a high attacking work rate, he’ll be just as good at speeding past defenders as he will be at catching up with opposition wingers. Plus he’s only 16 years old, so has plenty of time to grow. I don’t doubt that within a few years he’ll be a speedster with stamina and strength in the 80s. Le Havre will miss him.

These figures refer to the winter update stats. As always, please bear in mind that these figures may not be exactly the same on your game. These stats are taken from my own personal experiences, but are likely to be very similar to those on your own game. The best thing to do is to make sure you keep checking these players, as their prices may change radically after a while.

Players are ordered by potential, then cost, so it should be pretty simple to find someone who meets both your budget and ability/potential requirements.

Finally, if you’ve had any experiences of good players’ prices changing wildly (especially if their price drops), please post it in the comments!

So, without further ado, here are the players: