FIFA 12 | So You Want A… Left Midfielder

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In the second part on wide players, this is the article on wide-left players, both LMs and LWs – there is often a lot of overlap (i.e. LWs are often mislabelled as LMs in the game, etc). As before, there is a distinction – the LM and the LW. The left midfielder (LM) plays deeper than a left winger (LW), and his job is to provide service to the strikers from the flanks. These players are usually very good at crossing and long balls, and can be relied upon to provide quality service into the box. Left wingers, on the other hand, usually play a little further up the pitch, and directly contribute to the attack, along with a (usually) lone striker. These players are often very fast, have great dribbling skills, and often have a trick or two up their sleeve. They are usually decent at shooting as well. When determining which player from the list below you want, bear in mind your team’s needs – do you need a left midfielder or a left winger? Looking at the player’s stats should help you determine which type of wide player they are.

As always, in an attempt to make this relevant to as many players as possible, I have not included any left midfielders whose OVR is above 73 – this way you can keep your costs down and have some cash left over for other purchases (be they real players or new scouts). Furthermore, I have listed the players by cost, with the cheapest at the top of each sub-group (players are grouped by potential).

Here are my recommendations:

• Ryo Miyaichi
• Nicolás Colazo
• David Templeton

Ryo Miyaichi is one of the fastest players in the game (Theo Walcott is only fractionally quicker than him in real life) and so straight away can tear defences apart – slip a through ball into his path and watch him carve open the back line. More than that though, he has fantastic dribbling abilities (he has a 79 dribbling stat) which will only get better and better, and both his skill moves and weak foot are rated 4 stars. His young age means that he has a long time to grow, but will start terrorising defences the moment you get him.

Nicolás Colazo is much more of a left midfielder than a left winger. He’s not as quick as Miyaichi (but then, most people aren’t), but his skill lies in his ability to pick a pass. His vision and passing stats are very good, and put with his crossing abilities this means that he can provide great service to your strikers whether the ball is in the air or on the ground. He also has 4 star skills moves, meaning he can easily take on and beat defenders.

Like Miyaichi, David Templeton is a winger. He is lightning quick with excellent balance, plus he has 4 star skills moves, making him a nightmare for defenders. His weak foot is rated 5 stars, meaning you could put him on whichever flank you need him most. Furthermore, his decent finishing and positioning attributes mean that he will score you a few goals as well, making him an excellent attacking package.

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 drop radically after a while.

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: