World Cup 2014 – Analysing the FIFA McDonald’s Player List

The McDonald’s FIFA Fantasy World Cup game has been the cause of much consternation on these pages. Riddled with uncertainties, FIFA have seen fit to tweak their rules on numerous occasions – including last night’s change that saw the points awards for Recovered Balls revised further.

Even so, many Fantasy managers have sought to battle through the fuzziness and constraints to compile a squad ahead of tonight’s kick-off.

If you’ve yet to do so, or are still indulging in some tweaking, this guide – my take on the FIFA player list – may just help or cloud your thinking further as we approach the deadline.

Before we start, a shout-out to DanielLevy16 who, over the past few days, has scribed some superb guides to the budget players offering options across the positions. Check out his articles keepers, defenders, midfielders and forwards as an essential supplement to my article. Indeed, throughout, I’ll be referring to many of the same targets discussed in detail in those guides.

Goalkeepers

Traditionally a neglected post in our squads, the temptation is always to forgo a genuine clean sheet magnet and lurk in the mid-price bracket. In the case of the FIFA game, there appears to be an incentive to dive even lower – wading into the budget market immediately.

The crucial factor here is that saves reward all keepers with a point apiece, while a stopper that keeps his sheet clean earns just four points. Similarly, for a keeper to lose more than one point to goals conceded, he’d need to let four or more goals into his net.

Those variables considered, it’s questionable whether there is any merit in considering the real heavy-hitters in this position. Iker Cassilas of Spain and Thibaut Courtois of Belgium, while superb keepers who will make saves and earn clean sheets, don’t appear to justify 7.5m price tags in a game that is so demanding on our funds.

Personally, my take on this is that budget keepers who look set to be kept busy during the group stages, should earn plentiful points from saves. The likes of Charles Itandje of Cameroon (3.0m), Orestis Karnezis (2.0m) of Greece and Fatawu Dauda of Ghana (2.0m) all look likely starters and, while they’ll struggle for shut-outs, should compensate for that with save points.

If you’re looking to hedge your bets with this theory, then current Dutch number one, Jasper Cillessen, is available for 3.0m and could come out of Group B with a clean sheet or two.

Defenders

Things get more tricky in this position. Again, the budget option is tempting. Players like Erik Durm of Germany (4.5m), Daley Blind of Netherlands (4.0m) and Marcos Rojo or Argentina (4.0m) are all expected to start and offer cheap routes into three well-fancied back fours.

There is a push to continue on this strategy and pack the defence with further budget options from less fancied nations. Again, the scoring system plays a part in this thinking.

While we’re not clear on the definition of “Recovered Balls”, we are expecting those teams under pressure from strong attacking opponents to reap these at a decent rate. Similarly, with “Blocked Shots” earning defenders two points, we can assume that centre-backs from lesser sides, continually having to put their bodies in the way of goal attempts, should score strongly.

Dominant centre-backs in teams set to be under the cosh certainly look viable targets. Madjid Bouguerra of Algeria (2.0m) was a top ranked defender for Recovered Balls in the last World Cup and, similarly, the likes of Jalal Hosseini of Iran (2.0m) and Victor Bernandez of Honduras (3.0m) are imposing figures in defences that are set to come under a wave of pressure in their group matches. I’m not expecting clean sheets but Blocks and Recovered Balls could more than bridge that gap.

As Daniellevy16 revealed in his guide to defenders, there are a number of eye-catching mid-price options to explore, while set-pieces also figure in the reckoning for targets like Dmitri Kombarov of Russia (£4.0m) and Jose Holebas of Greece (£2.5m). I also like the option of doubling on the Argentine defence via Federico Fernandez (£5.0m), whilst Belgium’s Thomas Vermaelen can be gathered in for 5.0m for those looking for the comfort of clean sheet potential over points from stats.

Midfield

If you thought the defence was tricky, the middle of the park is pure minefield territory. Again, we thrown into deep uncertainty here due to a scoring matrix that rewards midfielders for defensive actions, plus their propensity to feed attacking team-mates with passes and crosses into the box.

The balance between these scoring methods and the traditional goals and assists is very difficult to assess without clear definition. I believe that “Blocks” and “Recovered Balls” should play a part in our thinking and drive us to at least a pair of cheap or mid-price enforcers. However, with FIFA changing their Recovered Balls ruling for midfielders only last night, it now appears that fewer points are on offer for defensively minded players.

My fear is that the pricing has been modeled on the original ruling of one Recovered Ball equally one point. Now that midfielders require two Recoveries to earn a point, I wonder if the likes of Xavi Alonso (7.0m), Sergio Busquets (6.5m) and even Steven Gerrard (7.5m), can justify their price tags.

Deliveries into the box could well be bigger factors – certainly the fact that Andres Iniesta (8.5m) is the top priced midfielder in the game indicates that successful passing in the attacking third will reap midfielders plenty of points.

Set-pieces could also play their part – corner takers and those charged with swinging in indirect free-kicks into the area will presumably be rewarded with points for successful deliveries. This could have us turn attentions back to the likes of Alonso and Gerrard, no so much for their defensive qualities but for their craft at set-plays and spot-kick duties.

We seem to be forced to either back one particular scoring method or opt to spread the risk by selecting a midfield that offers points in all areas – a goalscorer, a couple of set-piece hoggers and an array of cheaper midfield enforcers.

Certainly the pricing drives us to consider budget options again. DanielLevy16 outlined some excellent targets in this area in today’s guide. Algeria’s Nabil Bentaleb, a player known to us Fantasy Premier League managers, has remained a hugely popular target at just 1.0m, while the case for Alejandro Bedoya of the USA (2.5m) also looks strong given his potential for all-round returns.

Destroyers and passing hubs such as Japan’s skipper Yasuhito Endo (4.0m), Australia’s captain Mile Jedinak (4.5m) and South Korea’s Park Jong-Woo (3.5m) also have their merits as fillers that can free up budget for one or two more expensive assets with the potential for goals and assists.

Where you invest your big midfield funds, if at all, looks to be the big decision. Argentina’s Angel Di Maria at 7.5 looks a reasonable target with goals, assists and set-plays up his sleeve. Similarly, Andre Pirlo (8.0m) of Italy, and Mesut Ozil of Germany (8.0m) will have set-pieces in their armoury and should be a frequent earners from passes delivered into the opposing penalty area.

In all those cases you’ll be putting hefty funds in place for midfielders who are unlikely to earn defensive points. While it could be wise to opt for one or two of those options, budget and the nagging doubt that defensive points could be key, will likely steer many to the mid and bottom end of the midfield market.

Forwards

For me, this position is the most cut and dry. Obviously goals are king but, with deliveries into the box also likely to be a factor, we’re ideally looking to target strikers who both score and provide opportunities for others. Neymar of Brazil (9.5m) and Lionel Messi of Argentina (10.0m) are those players.

The two favourites for leading scorer in the tournament, I’m struggling to see past the allure of these two heavy-hitters given the additional points available to forwards who also patrol outside of the box.

While the likes of Karim Benzema of France (8.0m), Fred of Brazil (8.0m), Gonzalao Higuain of Argentina (8.0m) and Robin van Persie of Holland (8.5m) all offer goal threat, their may struggle to earn additional points outside of goal getting.

The classification of both Thomas Mueller (8.0m) and Mario Gotze of Germany (7.5m) also robs us of their potential – while I’m more than happy backing them as midfield options in other games, I’m concerned on splashing such funds on players that may not be deployed as out-and-out strikers.

Again, the budget market comes into play in this position and, again, DanielLevy16 has provided us with a suitable list of targets to fit our needs. Certainly, Islam Slimani , at just 2.0m and Park Chu-Yeung of South Korea (4.0m), look to have decent potential as a filler working in tandem with expensive assets.

I’d like to stress that much of this guide is based on my own take on the FIFA game’s scoring. There’s a degree of speculation and I think it’s very likely that, once the tournament gets underway, we will have to realign our thinking and squads accordingly.

I guess we have to accept that as “part of the fun” in playing the official game – although having scrutinised the player list and scoring matrix for many hours and considered the strategies available, we would hope to have more definite ideas on how the tournament will progress form a Fantasy perspective.