After a short delay, FIFA 21 is finally upon us. As well as the usual tweaks and updates, many fans are excited to see the new ratings that have been dished out to their favorite teams and players. Although it’s once again the usual suspects topping the pile, there are some pretty big surprises a little further down the pack.
It’s always great to see some of the young up-and-coming players being given the recognition they deserve, and there’s plenty of that to be found in FIFA 21. It’s been a pretty tough update, though, for some of the more established players, while others have been incredibly lucky. As with every year, a fair few of the ratings are likely to leave fans a little puzzled. Many players were overlooked despite having their best ever seasons, while others seem to have been graded more on their team’s performance than their own individual input.
10 Thomas Müller (Overall: 86 -> 86)
Thomas Müller hadn’t been having the best of times when the 2020-2021 season kicked off. It had been two or three years since he’d been able to find his best form, and he was perhaps a little lucky to have held on to his 86 rating. Thankfully for Bayern, Müller would go on to have one of his best-ever seasons.
The mercurial German managed four goals in his side’s charge to Champions League glory, including a brace in the 8-2 mauling of Barcelona. As a key component of a treble-winning side, many felt that Müller deserved a rise to 87. EA clearly disagreed.
9 Jadon Sancho (Pace: 88 -> 83)
Coming off the back of another fantastic season, Sancho’s overall rating was always going to increase in FIFA 21. EA duly delivered in this regard, with his overall rating rising to 87. What doesn’t make sense however is his pace being lowered to 83.
Looking at the numbers, you’d be forgiven for thinking that Jadon was in his mid-thirties and nearing the end of his career. At just 20 years old, though, why the Dortmund man’s pace would suddenly drop by five points really is a mystery.
8 Thiago Alcantara (Overall: 87 -> 85)
The 2019-2020 season was a pretty good one for Bayern Munich. Not only did they win their domestic league and the DFB-Pokal, but they have also crowned champions of Europe. At the heart of their treble-winning side was Thiago.
Many will have been expecting his rating to rise to reflect his fantastic season, so a drop of two points came as a big surprise. It could certainly be argued that he didn’t play every match, but he did feature in 10 of his side’s 11 Champion’s League matches, including the final against PSG.
7 Alphonso Davies (Overall: 72 ->81)
Alphonso Davies’ meteoric rise to stardom surprised a lot of people last season. From a complete unknown to a starter for the European champions, he fully deserved a big rating increase. While EA delivered in this respect, Davies will likely still feel a little short-changed.
Sure, the plus nine rise is pretty huge, but it doesn’t come close to doing Davies justice. At just 81, his current rating doesn’t even put him in the top 20 full-backs in the game. Anybody who has seen him play will know that this shouldn’t be the case.
6 Serge Gnabry (Pace: 90 -> 82)
It sometimes feels as though the team at FIFA pick their ratings completely at random, and that’s definitely the case when it comes to Serge Gnabry’s pace rating in the latest FIFA game.
Gnabry is one of the fastest players in the world. While this was clearly reflected in the 2020 edition of the game, his new pace rating of 82 is a little farcical. What makes it all the more puzzling is the fact that it has fallen so dramatically since last season in spite of the player still being in his prime.
5 Roberto Firmino (Overall: 86 -> 87)
Roberto Firminho is an integral part of the Liverpool team. Despite them ending their 30-year wait to win the league last season though, he will probably be the first to tell you that it wasn’t his best season.
Although there’s a lot more to his game than just goals, his tally of 12 last season was his worst since his debut season at Anfield. Though goals aren’t everything, as a center forward, they’re pretty important, and his lackluster return certainly did not warrant a rating increase.
4 Romelu Lukaku (Overall: 85 -> 85)
After a difficult few years in Manchester, Lukaku made the move to Milan last summer and went on to have his best-ever season in front of goal. With 34 goals in 51 appearances, a rise to 86 should have been on the cards. Unfortunately for the big Belgian, the team at EA Sports had other ideas.
Bizarrely, his 85 rating puts him three whole points behind Juventus striker Paulo Dybala at 88. Considering they both play in the same league and that Lukaku scored twice as many goals last season, Lukaku has every right to feel hard done by.
3 Jordan Henderson (Overall: 83 -> 86)
He might be a fantastic captain, but Jordan Henderson is not an 86 rated player. His new rating puts him in the same bracket as players like David Silva, Paul Pogba, and Marco Verratti and above others like Saúl Ñíguez and Frenkie De Jong. To say that this doesn’t make sense would be the understatement of the century.
It feels as though many of the Liverpool squad’s ratings were heavily impacted by the club’s domestic success rather than the ability of the players themselves. Though this could be used as justification, it begs the question as to why Bayern players did not receive the same treatment.
2 Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Overall: 88 -> 87)
Aubameyang has been an absolute revelation since signing for Arsenal back in January 2018, and last season was one of his best for the club. With 22 league goals in 36 appearances, he matched his record from the previous season and was rewarded with a new contract as a result. His reward from EA? A lower rating.
For his rating to have fallen is somewhat bemusing, especially considering Manchester City striker Sergio Agüero was able to hang onto his 89 rating in spite of an inferior goal tally. Whether this is a case of EA’s big club bias is unclear, but it’s certainly harsh on the Gabonese striker.
1 Timo Werner (Overall: 86 -> 85)
Before moving to Chelsea in the summer, Timo Werner managed 94 goals in his four seasons at RB Leipzig. Last season was by far his most productive in front of goal with an impressive 34 goals in 45 appearances. To put that into perspective, only Robert Lewandowski managed to score more Bundesliga goals.
In spite of the German’s fantastic season, the team at EA Sports opted to decrease his rating by one rather than giving him the increase that he clearly deserved. On the pitch, Werner is yards ahead of players like Memphis Depay and the aging Dries Mertens. However, that’s not the case in FIFA 21.
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