Alright, lots to get to here with 20 players being looked at overall. We have already covered Cuadrado and Morelos in separate posts so they will be left out here. We’ll be covering all of the Team of the Group Stage players in four posts.
You will be able to find links to all of them in each post once they go live.
In comparison to Mertens’ in-form 88 overall, you are getting +1 pace, +3 shooting, +2 passing, +1 dribbling, +1 defense and +1 physical. However, his price is 445K, while the in-form is 200K.
Mertens is incredible this year because he starts off checking off all the boxes by being 5-foot-7 with low defensive work rates and high attacking work rates. He also has four-star skills and a four-star weak foot. All that stuff remains in place, plus he still has finesse shot trait. The same concepts apply with this card where you want to boost his shooting and composure a little bit more and just let him cook for you otherwise.
He’s great, and the upgrades from the in-form version are important, but it’s a value decision if you think he’s worth more than double his standard in-form version and nearly 10 times as much as his base gold version. My value calculator says it’s not worth it, but the hype means this card won’t dip much in price in the near future.
Ramos is an amazing defender in real life, but I don’t love him in FIFA 20. This does not really change here with him. You’re getting +2 in strength over his base gold card, and he’s a little faster, but the pace is not ideal in this version of FIFA. He’s also near 300K, and I just can’t say that’s good value when I still think his base gold at 100K or so is barely good value.
Now, if you disagree and like using Ramos, then jump in and snag him. Plenty of people use him this year, but I just will not be one of them. If he ever gets a card that more closely mimics how good he is in real life, then I might reconsider. For now, I’ll stay on the sidelines here.
In comparison to Salah’s base gold version, the biggest change here is the passing. You’re getting +3 to short passing and +2 to long passing, as well as +3 to curve. His cost also shoots up from the 215K for the base gold version to 550K here for the Group Stage version. Be that as it may, we may not get a better Salah than this one on the year, and I already love his base version.
I do not want to pay 550K for him (and won’t), but that being said, even with it only being a +1 overall from his base gold version, there are at least some noticeable changes in how he will play between the two iterations.
Benzema’s SBC price did rise a bit, but he’s still only in that 80K range, which is a bargain. His gold card at 25K remains a relative bargain as well considering the links. Like Kane, the pace is perhaps what throws some off, but it’s an easy sell as an SBC worth doing. He only has medium attacking work rates, which is a bummer, but you 100 percent double down on his pace and shooting and let him do what he does: score goals.
Hey, nothing but frustration is needed if you want to snag Tagliafico. He absolutely exhausts himself in my lineup the way I use him because he has high-high work rates, and I love pushing my left and right backs forward on offense. However, as an Argentinian, it makes the links easy even with him being in the Eredivisie.
With that in mind, he really is just about the best non-Icon in terms of defense mixed with pace as of now. His 84 in-form was already very good, and I don’t know if people have really figured out yet how good he is. I understand why Telles and Semedo get all the love (and sometimes Robertson), but you have to give this Tagliafico a shot. He’s legit.
