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A closer look at FIFA 15 USMNT player ratings

USMNT Starting Eleven

Photo by Thomas Eisenhuth/ISIphotos.com  

By FRANCO PANIZO

Less than 24 hours separate North American gamers from picking up a copy of EA Sports’ FIFA 15, meaning the always-intense debate over player ratings will begin promptly.

FIFA 15 is set to hit stores on Tuesday, and one of the first things fans of the popular video game like to do – aside from playing for hours on end – is check out which of their favorite players received good and bad overall ratings. U.S. Men’s National Team supporters are no different when it comes to this, especially when they begin to look at which players they could bring onto their FIFA Ultimate Teams at bargain deals.

The top players on the U.S. roster in the game’s first downloadable roster update is not much of a surprise. Clint Dempsey leads the way with an 81 rating while Michael Bradley takes second place with an 80. They are followed by Brad Guzan’s 78 and Jermaine Jones, who owns a 77.

Other notable player ratings on the U.S. – which is rated as a four-star team in the game – are Jozy Altidore and Fabian Johnson at 74, and DeAndre Yedlin at 68.

Players that are not on the 23-man squad, but still rated among the best Americans in the game are Tim Howard with a U.S.-best 82, Landon Donovan at 77, Benny Feilhaber with a 72 and Maurice Edu and Danny Williams with 71s.

Notable American absences, due to different reasons, are Juan Agudelo, Joe Gyau, Freddy Adu and Oguchi Onyewu.

There are a number of Americans who could have serious gripes about their ratings, including DaMarcus Beasley (65) and Ray Gaddis (63). But San Jose Earthquakes and Under-20 U.S. attacker Tommy Thompson probably has the biggest argument to make, as EA Sports has clearly not bought into the hype and disgraced him with one of the lowest player ratings at 53.

Here is a closer look at the FIFA 15 player ratings of the U.S. Men’s National Team, other players in the talent pool, and current and former youth national team players:

USMNT/American Player Ratings on FIFA 15

(FIFA 15’s USMNT roster in bold – 4 stars)

Clint Dempsey – 81
Michael Bradley – 80
Brad Guzan – 78
Jermaine Jones – 77
Jozy Altidore – 74
Fabian Johnson – 74
Kyle Beckerman – 74
Nick Rimando – 74
Aron Johannsson – 74
Omar Gonzalez – 74
Matt Besler – 73
Geoff Cameron – 73
Graham Zusi – 73
Alejandro Bedoya – 73
Timmy Chandler – 73
Mix Diskerud – 72
Chris Wondolowski – 72
John Brooks – 71
Brad Davis – 70
Bill Hamid – 68
DeAndre Yedlin – 68
Julian Green – 67
DaMarcus Beasley – 65

Tim Howard – 82
Brad Friedel – 78
Landon Donovan – 77
Benny Feilhaber – 72
Danny Williams – 71
Maurice Edu – 71
Lee Nguyen – 71
Sacha Kljestan – 71
Chad Marshall – 71
Gyasi Zardes – 70
Clarence Goodson – 70
Mike Magee – 70
Matt Hedges – 69
Chris Schuler – 69
Jose Torres – 69
Michael Parkhurst – 69
Carlos Bocanegra – 69
Dillon Powers – 68
Andrew Farrell – 68
Perry Kitchen – 68
Joe Corona – 68
Tim Ream – 68
Jack McInerney – 68
Brek Shea – 68
Eric Lichaj – 68
Luis Robles – 68
Brad Evans – 68
Edgar Castillo – 68
Herculez Gomez – 68
Eddie Johnson – 68
Harrison Shipp – 67
Terrence Boyd – 67
Josh Gatt – 67
George John – 67
Ike Opara – 67
Tally Hall – 67
Jonathan Spector – 67
Andrew Wooten – 66
Alfredo Morales – 66
Will Bruin – 66
Luis Gil – 66
Michael Orozco – 66
Dax McCarty – 66
Chris Klute – 65
Bobby Wood – 65
Kofi Sarkodie – 65
Zac MacMath – 65
Amobi Okugo – 65
Teal Bunbury – 65
Sean Johnson – 65
Paul Arriola – 64
Jose Villarreal – 64
Charlie Davies – 64
Robbie Rogers – 64
Shane O’Neill – 63
Ray Gaddis – 63
Kelyn Rowe – 63
Will Packwood – 63
Greg Garza – 63
Emerson Hyndman – 61
Matt Miazga – 61
Benji Joya – 61
Rubio Rubin – 59
Fernando Arce Jr – 57
Erik Palmer-Brown – 57
Tommy Thompson – 53

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What do think of the U.S. Men’s National Team player ratings in FIFA 15? Who should be higher and lower? Which players got the shaft from EA Sports?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. I give this comment thread an 84 rating. Which, btw, is the first comment thread that has broken 80 in months. The player ratings for the USMNT and prediction line-ups always score high.

    fwiw, I don’t play video sports games and I see where the French dude is coming from. I do not judge those of you who do.

    Reply
    • The problem is he came off as pretentious to put it lightly. He pretty much grouped everyone into the old adult video game player stereo type of “no life and a loser”. I think that assumption is what set many people off. I know being my age, 27, we grew up with these games so many of us still enjoy the hobby, along with having successful careers and social lives to go along with it.

      Reply
      • i concur, the french one can have his opinion but should consider the overall purpose of commenting negative tangents.

        im 31, active social life, play soccer in a weekly rec league, watch around 3-4 games a week, active dater, etc. i solely play FIFA, stopped playing COD about 4 years ago and those are the only games i played for the most part. occasionally id get a used cheap game (skate 3 or something fleeting). but in the end, whats wrong with turning on FIFA at 11:15 on a tuesday night and playing a couple games before i go to bed? Or on a casual Sunday in between NFL games or such?

        The French One’s point assumed only an end of the spectrum. SURE, there are 48 year old D bags that literally talk to no one outside their headset and never leave their house. that’s a 1% kind of thing tho. assuming that EVERY gamer over 30 is such a gamer displays your intelligence, sir. focus on raising your kids and let that be your positive contribution to society, not population assumptions.

        all in all, its not that serious, but since i noticed you kept responding to posts as if all you do all day is post on this blog (deemed by you as socially acceptable rather than over-30-gaming), i decided to comment.

  2. 1. i knew as soon as i saw the title this was would be a Franco article
    2. you know the rankings are a joke when FJ is a 74 and that players like Yedlin had literally no change in last year’s rating despite, very clearly, demonstrating an improved game.

    that said, ill be buying it…

    Reply
  3. Wow, Run DMB got the shaft.

    Then again, EA has never really given a hoot about US national team player rankings. If FJ was playing for the Bund he would be an 80.

    Reply
  4. I’d say Beasley has the most to gripe about. He has played very well over the last couple years and been a legit starter on our A team. Definitely don’t see why he is rated so far below the other defenders.

    Reply
  5. No Juan Agudelo? No Joe Gyau? I guess they will be in the later updates. I agree with everyone, Fabian Johnson is our best player and should be an 80! FIFA always downgrades USMNT players. Tim Howard was always an 81 for many year which is really ridiculous if you ask me he’s easily an 85.

    Tim Howard – 85
    Clint Dempsey – 81
    Brad Guzan – 81
    Fabian Johnson – 80
    Michael Bradley – 80
    Landon Donovan – 80
    Jermaine Jones – 80
    Aron Johannsson – 75
    Timothy Chandler – 75
    Matt Besler – 75
    Graham Zusi – 74
    Geoff Cameron – 74
    Jozy Altidore – 74
    Omar Gonzalez – 74
    John Brooks – 74
    Danny Willams – 73
    Mx Diskerud – 73
    Alejandro Bedoya – 73
    Julian Green – 72
    Eric Lichaj – 72
    Maurice Edu – 72
    DeAndre Yedlin – 70
    Terrence Boyd – 70
    Juan Agudelo – 70
    Tim Ream – 70
    Bill Hamid – 70
    Alfredo Morales – 70
    Eddie Johnson – 70
    Brek Shea – 69
    DaMarcus Beasley – 68
    Joe Gyau – 67
    Will Packwood – 67
    Emerson Hyndman – 66
    Greg Garza – 66
    Rubio Rubin – 65

    Reply
  6. I have 4 kids. I can’t, for the life of me, understand why a grown man would play this video game, let alone care about these made up rankings. If you are single or under the age of 25, I shall not judge you, according to the scriptures…

    Reply
      • Relax man and take a deep breath.

        I’m just amused with your definition/distinction of playing a video as a grown man versus posting your unsolicited feelings on a soccer blog, as a grown man.

        For clarification, I’m amused. I’m not “judging” you, according to scriptures.

      • “unsolicited feelings on a soccer blog…” Isn’t that what we’re all doing here, posting unsolicited feelings? But that’s cool. I’m in the minority on this one, and I’m ok with that

      • Have 3 kids. Still play Fifa. Will always play Fifa.

        BTW – the only reason why I care about the ratings is if they are not high enough I have to go in and manually make them higher or it just not as fun to play the game. Have been doing this for 15 years.

        Of course this results in the occasional transfer of Stuart Holden to Real Madrid or rumors of Wondo to Barca….

      • and based on your comment, you clearly have no kids because I’ve never met a father who has ever complained about the number of kids he has. never. not once.

        so enjoy fifa 2015, squirt

      • Its alright guys, he basically told everyone he’s more important than them while playing the paternal card and informing all you young “kids” to become men and start growing up. This guy probably uses the word “whippersnapper” still. What he doesn’t realize is that he is posting this on a soccer blog and seems completely oblivious to other facts, such as the average age of a video game player is 30 years of age…and that 36% of games are 36 yrs. or older.

        http://www.theesa.com/facts/pdfs/esa_ef_2013.pdf

        News to the TheFrenchOne, grown men do all sorts of things, including play video games.

      • My kids can play video games all they want (within reason); they’re all under the age of 15. That’s kind of my point.

        Don’t be sour because my comment hit a little too close to home, Joe. You go on clinging to those stats, while the rest of us discuss actual soccer games and play weekly rec league games.

      • meeoow, Chris… I guess this is a touchy subject for you. I get that I’m in the minority on this issue. No biggie. I don’t think that makes me an a-hole, just someone who would rather watch a real game, or play a real game.

      • yeah, because it’s totally impossible to watch a real game, play a real game and still have time to play a virtual game…

        that’s a standard Sunday. but go on, enjoy riding your high horse. to each their own.

      • that’s cool JB. I play fifa with my son on occasion as well. my comment was directed at grown men who play fifa by themselves, not because they’re spending time with their kid.

    • I don’t care about My Little Pony but I don’t bother to question the life choices/priorities of those that do on the forum in which they congregate.

      Reply
    • that’s not my problem. but because you don’t like it doesn’t mean jack. the game is fun and given that the rankings have an affect on the game-play, you naturally begin to “care” because you are playing the game. i’m married, 30, happy, and love playing when i have time. so you can just f**k right off 🙂

      Reply
    • If anyone actually thought about it, these rankings are “OVERALL” rankings. Its easy to see when a player like Ike Opara is a 67, that is inflated because of his athletic/physical attributes, which are far above average. A player like Zusi does not have amazing pace or skills, but he is a decent passer, and has a big leg, thus 73. It may be a bit high, but I do think it is about right.

      Reply
      • As we saw in the World Cup, Grandma is terrible, he’s too slow and doesn’t have anything to write home about except for solid defense and a decent cross. It’s too bad he’s too slow and unathletic to be able to get the cross of against decent opposition.

  7. I have no idea how Gonzales is a 74 in comparison. Must be some type of height/heading metric boosting his stats because it can’t be due to agility, speed, acceleration or defending.

    Reply
    • 71 is his set level. 74 is his adjusted level from playing well. All players have their scores adjusted weekly base on their performance so expect his to rise once the game is in motion.

      Reply
    • Howard is high enough – have you seen him play this year?

      id bump Rimando and Guzan up a few

      id say that Cameron and Besler should by 74s Omar and Brooks 73

      Yedlin and Green are where they should be but could be over 70 quickly

      other than that id give Nyguen, Garza, Thompson, Okugo, Beasley, Boyd, Gil, McMath, E. Johnson and few others a point or two

      Reply
      • yedlin should be 72-74. Gil should me 69-71, tommy should be 68-71
        . overall they have players i.e gomez who should be lower and a ton of usa player who should be higher. but hey its fifa england players will be overrated(look at wickham in 14 he had 84 potential which translates to 90)

    • 74 is pretty accurate, watching him against FC Koln this weekend, he was playing Left Mid, but was almost invisible. Yes he has pace, a bit of flair, and the ability for the spectacular here and there, but considering a player like Paul Pogba is only an 80, you have to be happy with FJ at 74.

      I think these rankings are fair.

      Reply
      • The overall score is also a bit overrated. Case in point: Gatt. He has top marks for speed and agility, but his overall scores are far below the 68. Shea is another example of a decent score, but when you go into his individual numbers, he falls apart.

        So FJ isn’t really a well-rounded player when you consider shots, strength, positioning. But he is athletic and a good dribbler.

        Those guys in the 80s are just fantastically well rounded, not specialists or generalists.

        Hyndman’s score is disappointing. Mix needs a transfer to earn higher points.

        We’ll see scores change by the January transfer window.

      • to me, it’s because of his versatility that im surprised with his overall rating only being a 74. he can play LB, RB, LM, or RM and yet only hits a 74? his is athletic, high stamina, quick, good passing/vision, good positioning, decent dribbling, good enough tackling, etc. you would think enough stats would be at a higher level so that his overall is better than 74.

        based on the other scores, i think a 77-80 is absolutely fair. all this said, it’s a video game and people like Pogba are 80 despite being better than that. of course, you could argue that EA should improve their ratings so they are more consistent.

        from what i’ve gathered, it seems most of the rankings are driven by EA trying to get club star levels as accurate as possible. so if a league, like MLS, should be rated 3.5 stars according to EA, they’ll write an algorithm that adjusts players stats accordingly. then, for bigger name players, do some customization. but this is a best guess based on what i’ve heard.

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