FIFA 13 | So You Want A… Left midfielder (Winter update)

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Usually EA release a big update with all of the transfers sometime in early February. However, this year they did it slightly differently. Since FIFA 13 came out, every year the EA team have made updated OVRs and potentials available for download based on real life player performances. Usually these are just slight tweaks, but after some breakout performances a player’s potential can change a lot (Raheem Sterling is a good example). This is rare, though.

So please bear in mind that the information below is based on the updated squads from 2nd February. However, there’s no need to panic if you downloaded the update on 8th February (or any other subsequent update), as most players will not change (or if they do, it’ll be by a small amount). In any case, this year potentials are very flexible, so if a player you’re interested has his potential lowered in an update, he can still reach his old potential if he plays well for you.

The ‘Avai?’ column is short for ‘available?’ (there is not enough space for the full word), and it refers to whether or not each player is available to buy in the first transfer window. ‘Y’ means yes, they are available, whilst ‘N’ means that they’re not. The number after the ‘Y’ or ‘N’ is the amount of years left on their contract. So ‘Y/2? means that yes, they are available to buy in the first transfer window and that they have 2 years left on their contract. Similarly, ‘N/5? means they’re not available to buy right away and that they have 5 years left on their contract. The ones to look out for are Y/1, as you should be able to get these players for less than their listed value. Players who are on loan will have a “-” in this column because information on their contracts is not available.

Up next we’ve got wide left players. As with wide right players, I find there are two types for this position – left midfielders and left wingers. Left midfielders tend to have excellent crossing abilities and are very useful for providing good service to a big target man in the box. Left wingers, on the other hand, are usually very quick and have good dribbling skills, and are best at beating defenders and creating scoring opportunities. Both types are included in my recommendations below:

• Memphis Depay
• Jesé Rodríguez
• Bruma
• Jack Grealish

Well, once again I’ve found it very difficult to only chose a handful of left midfielders to recommend. However, of those I did manage to narrow it down to my first choice is Memphis Depay. I chose him because of his range of abilities. He’s not just limited to dribbling, as he is fantastic at free kicks and surprisingly strong for a winger (strength 73) so he should be difficult to knock off the ball. He’s also lightning quick and very agile, as well as having four stars for both his weak foot and skill moves. £1.4m is a very reasonable price for what he can bring to your club.

My second recommendation is Jesé Rodríguez. Like Depay, he is extremely quick out of the blocks and has fantastic dribbling attributes (as well as four star skill moves). He’s just as useful at right midfield as he is on the wing thanks to his crossing and curve stats – he may well get the ‘crosser’ speciality with enough growth. He has a high potential and although he’s a bit more expensive, his 2 year contract means you shouldn’t have to pay much more than his starting price.

Bruma is my third choice and he’s more of an out-and-out winger. He’s already very fast (acceleration 83, sprint 90) and has a brilliant dribbling stat of 79 – only seven points short of the ‘dribbler’ speciality. He his finishing and long shots are also decent so he can double as a second striker if you need him to. His high potential means he should grow very quickly, so if you want to get him for a good price then make sure you bid early, as £1.9m is a great price for someone with potential 85.

Number four is Jack Grealish. Although he’s not the quickest, he’s got balance 87 and dribbling 78, so he’ll be able to weave his way through defences with ease. Thanks to this he will become a real threat in the box – his agility on the ball should draw plenty of fouls and penalties, giving you plenty of goalscoring opportunities. It may be a good idea to try him as an attacking midfielder, as he’ll be more likely to get into the box and cause havoc for defenses. Either way, that a player with so much potential can cost just £1m should make you give him some serious consideration.

I’ve also got a few honourable mentions, as I wanted to talk about these players but didn’t have room to feature them all. Look out for Lerin Duarte for having almost all-green physical stats and great free kicks and passing, Gary Mackay-Steven for his five star skill moves and four star weak foot, and Josh Murphy for a ridiculously-cheap high potential player.

Now for the list in full: