With the major European football leagues well under way for the 2014-15 season and FIFA 15's release date approaching, EA Sports has begun to announce the player ratings in the upcoming title.
EA Access Will Expand In September, Includes NHL 15 And FIFA 15 Early Access Trials
The developers are releasing the top 50 players according to their ratings, which began yesterday with those ranked 50 to 41. Today EA Sports moves on to the next 10 players, who begin at 85 overall and go up from there.
PS4 And PS3 Getting Animated And Customized Dashboard Themes
I have a bit of an issue with the way players are rated in the FIFA series, which you can read on yesterday's rankings post, but here are the newly announced players regardless:
85 Overall: Karim Benzema, Carlos Tevez, Mario Goetze, Diego Costa, Toni Kroos, Arturo Vidal, Petr Cech
This tier contains many of the games elite, but not quite best strikers, though I think the score is still a bit low. 86 would arguably be more fitting for most of them, particularly the red-hot Diego Costa. I agree that all of the players on this rating are about the same level in their positions (among the best), but think that level is higher than an 85. Additionally, (and supporting the argument that central midfielders are rated too lowly and all positions should not be on the same scale), Kroos and Vidal simply deserve higher ratings as two of the best in the game.
Cech has always been a bit under rated in the series, despite many years as a top four goalkeeper in football. Tevez has tailed off as he's gotten older and 85 is fair, which is why it's odd that Costa and Benzema share his rating. Goezte has shown flashes of his immense talent (the World Cup winning goal, for one), but doesn't use it as consistently as others yet--expect him to be higher in the future.
86 Overall: Edinson Cavani, James Rodriguez, Thibaut Courtois
The inclusion of Rodriguez over the majority of players rated 85 is pretty unreasonable in my view. The Colombian had a fantastic World Cup and is supremely talented, but his season at Monaco wasn't overly impressive and he doesn't have the career to support this rating. Goezte is undoubtedly more accomplished and just as gifted, and this one strikes me as a product of his World Cup and mega transfer to Real Madrid.
Cavani at this level is fair level, though it's hard to say he deserves it more than Costa, who had one of the best goal-scoring rates in Europe. Courtois is the best young keeper on the planet, and likely in the top 4 overall, so 86 (or even higher) isn't too debatable in my book.
Check back for more player ratings as they come from EA Sports leading up to the game's September 23 North America release date.