Football gaming fans will be putting their phone on silent and ignoring social requests as FIFA 23 hit the shelves this week.
The latest instalment of the hugely popular series has made multiple eyes awaken and a debate among football fans as the player ratings have been released a few weeks prior.
A few weeks have passed to process the numbers and the only conclusion is the ratings have been finalized by someone who has never played football or by the soccer lovers at EA Sports.
Of the top 23 Premier League players, Manchester City possesses eight players in the rankings; the most of any club. Kevin De Bruyne is the best rated, sitting alongside Karim Benzema, Robert Lewandowski, Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe as the world’s best. Who can argue with that selection?!
Manchester City have eight players in the Premier League top 23 on FIFA 23 😤 pic.twitter.com/CofLMTJxaV
— B/R Football (@brfootball) September 13, 2022
Then there’s Ederson, Erling Haaland, Joao Cancelo, Rodri, Bernardo Silva, Aymeric Laporte and Ruben Dias amongst the names in the 88+ rating bracket.
That is not the purpose of this article though, it is purely to see which City player has been harshly treated with their rating, based on the performances of the last season and their ability.
The one to start with must be Nathan Ake as the central defender was in imperious form at the back end of last season with his impressive defensive performances crucial in City winning the league yet again. He had to fill in for injuries to Aymeric Laporte and John Stones as the centre backs department looked thin to say the least.
The rating of 78 is an outrage with the Dutchman’s not able to overcome some of the Premier League’s most overrated defenders in yesteryear: Harry Maguire (81), James Tarkowski (79), Andreas Christensen (82), Viktor Lindelof (80) and Davison Sanchez (79) all surpassing his rating.
He may not be the first choice under Pep Guardiola but Ake is trusted enough to do a job and that rating is likely to be a reflection on his time at AFC Bournemouth rather than his development in the past two seasons.
Another 78 rating that may make your jaw drop a touch, Julian Alvarez. You could probably forgive this one given the gamer behind the ratings has probably never seen football in the Estadio Mâs Monumental.
The Argentine is now a regular with the national squad and credit should be bestowed upon his name as he has taken to the Premier League, like a duck to water.
Impressive performances with his running/pressing style and he has a keen eye for goal certainly don’t reflect his technical assessment of the game.
The last choice for me is probably Erling Haaland.
This guy is next level and he should be on the cover or certainly matching Mbappe’s rating of 91 given the constant comparisons. The numbers certainly speak for themselves and goal contributions are better than the French forward in a better league (supposedly).
Considerable mentions should probably go to Phil Foden (85), John Stones (83) and Kalvin Phillips (81) who could be felt hard done by.
All I can say is it is a good job we don’t live in a FIFA world.