The team behindEA Sports FC 24has decided the best players of 2023, and they’re all wrong. Okay, maybe not all of them, but they’remostlywrong. The Ultimate Team of the Year is usually an exciting time to get back into the game after that end-of-year lull – players save packs for months to try to pull the best players, and there are dozens of celebratory SBCs and league-specific teams to showcase the best players of the previous year.
Usually I have few complaints with the teamsheet. But then again, usually it isn’t so transparent in its objective to sell loot boxes rather than celebrate a year of great footballing achievement.Leaks, which are usually pretty on the nose for Ultimate Team, suggest that the team is as follows:
Let’s start with the attackers. Erling Haaland has been a machine this year for Manchester City, guiding them to a historic treble and the club’s first Champions League trophy. After a lacklustre start to the year, Kylian Mbappe has hit the ground running in the 23/24 season, propelling himself to third place on the top scorer charts for the year. The man in second place, Harry Kane, is completely absent, and him not being there highlights the flaws of the whole idea.
Just one goal behind Haaland’s tally for the year, including three hat-tricks for Bayern Munich since joining them from Spurs in the summer, Kane may not be the most exciting Team of the Year pick, but he’s one of the most deserving. His place is instead filled by Lionel Messi, who has lit up – checks notes – the MLS with an astonishing – reads smudged writing on palm – 28 goals and 12 assists. He’s a legacy inclusion, likely thanks to Argentina winning the World Cup in – looks at calendar – 2022. With this precedent set, I fully expect Cristiano Ronaldo to be revealed as the 12th man due to his exemplary goal tally in the Saudi Pro League, all of which will have been scored in front of dozens of fans. Dozens.
Lautaro Martinez deserves the place over his countryman Messi here too, after a 29-goal season for an overperforming Inter Milan, but is unlucky to miss the cut with so many generational talents ahead of him. Likewise, Ollie Watkins should make the Premier League TOTY, but doesn’t get into the overall one. The same goes for Antoine Griezmann and La Liga.
The midfield starts strong with Rodri, the key to Manchester City’s imperious playing style and, as much as it pains me to admit it, my pick for Player of the Year in 2023. The man won more trophies than he lost matches. Next to him, however, is Kevin De Bruyne. Kevin De Bruyne who spent more time on the injury table than the pitch last year. I know he’s got the pedigree and City have the trophies, but 2023 was not his year. The final midfielder is Jude Bellingham, and nobody can argue with that. The most complete player in the world at the moment, Real Madrid’s young England star is the full package and is fresh off winning Bundesliga Player of the Season. It helps that he’s got that special aura on EA FC, too, which makes him play far better than his stats would otherwise suggest.
With just one midfield slot up for debate, I’d put forward the likes of Florian Wirtz, Nicolo Barella, or Bernardo Silva for the position, however in reality I’d switch the formation from 4-3-3 to 4-4-2. Mbappe moves to the left midfield spot, Messi on the right if the game is so determined to put him in (in reality I’d opt for Mohammed Salah there instead thanks to his 39 goal involvements for Liverpool), with Rodri and Bellingham in the centre of the park. That allows Haaland to be joined by Kane up top, and everyone’s happy. Except Kevin De Bruyne.
Finally, we’ll move onto the defence. I don’t watch much Bundesliga football, but hear good things about Jerome Frimpong. I’d love Trent Alexander-Arnold here after his move to half-back which revitalised Liverpool as a team and made the most of his excellent abilities, but I’m biased. To prove I’m not actually biased, however, is the fact that Virgil Van Dijk does not deserve to be in TOTY. He returned to form in 2023, appearing to finally get over that awful knee injury, and has been nothing short of imperious in the 23/24 season. In the whole of 2023 though? He’s in the top two defenders in the world? Returning to form isn’t good enough for me, especially as he didn’t achieve any team honours. I fully expect a deserved Team of the Season card come June, but Team of the Year? Maybe not.
“At left back, we have the worst decision in the team.”
Like KDB, Ruben Dias also seems to be riding on the coattails of Manchester City’s team success. Dropped through injury or ‘Pep roulette’ for a third of City’s Premier League matches in their treble-winning season, he’s recementing his place in the backline in 23/24, but the constant rotation seems to be affecting their defensive stats as they’re conceding plenty. But which centre backs would replace this Premier League pair?
Kim Min-jae would be hopeful of a shout, after impressive performances for Napoli and Bayern Munich that reach the ears and highlights programs of even the most casual Bundesliga viewer. The likes of William Saliba and David Alaba deserve to be mentioned at this point, but don’t quite make the first eleven for me. I think the answer is Dias’ Manchester City teammate John Stones. Stones did everything for Guardiola in the past 12 months, moving up into midfield, back into defence, and performing a stalwart job at all times. His performances defined City’s success last year, and though you could argue Dias is the better defender overall, 2023 was the year of Barnsley’s finest – an injury at the start of the 2023/24 season, or perhaps his lack of glamour as a player, may have kept him out.
At left back, we have the worst decision in the team. Theo Hernadez is a decent left back, but he’s a phenomenal player on EA FC. He’s got all the right stats in all the right places, and thus features in countless teams. However, even Milan fans will admit that he didn’t have a good year last year, and doesn’t deserve a place on this team. His rival across the stadium Federico Dimarco had a great season for Inter, who exceeded expectations as a team, and Alphonso Davies is always in contention for this honour. My pick would be Alejandro Grimaldo, who has had a storming season alongside Frimpong at Xabi Alonso’s Bayer Leverkusen.
This is the point where I die on the hill of Alisson Becker. While Liverpool drastically underperformed in the 2022/23 season, our final league standing would have been even worse were it not for Alisson. He has the best statistics in the world for xG saved, and Liverpool’s high line forces him to pull out world-beating saves on a regular basis, especially when our centre backs keep getting injured.
However, I’m surprised he made it into TOTY this year, as I fully expected his Brazilian compatriot Ederson to get the nod in the same way Dias and De Bruyne did, despite performingokayon a personal level. As happy as I am with Alisson’s inclusion, my pick for 2023 would be Emiliano Martinez, who came off the back of a World Cup win with Argentina to be a part of an impressive title challenge for Aston Villa, who may well end up with a Champions League spot by the end of the season. André Onana might have been in contention before his disasterclass since moving to Manchester United, and Mike Maignan could also be in with a shout based on his annual performance.
Of the 11 spots on EA Sports FC 24’s Ultimate Team of the Year, I judge just five to be worthy of their place. I’ve tried to be objective and unbiased here – I removed both Liverpool players! – and I can only see one reason for the rest of the picks: to sell packs. The players picked are the most popular players, players who sell FC Points, and players like Hernandez and Van Dijk who perform obscenely well in-game and will be chase cards for their overpowered auras.
Deserving players have missed out because EA is chasing profits, when players would have collectively spent millions trying to get a souped-up John Stones anyway. When you see something like this, it’s hard to believe that EA cares about football at all other than the cash it can line its pockets with.
Next:Here’s What A $10,000 EA Sports FC Ultimate Team Looks Like
