The Backpage | FIFA 12 TOP 10's
dmcdonagh
2011-12-22
FIFA gamer Darren Cross reveals the FIFA 12 players with the highest stats for key attributes like Strength, Sprint Speed, Finishing and more…
Working as a football journalist for MATCH magazine can be a surreal experience at times.
For example, I watched Olly Murs take on Joleon Lescott at FIFA 12 last week and, trying to follow the action while munching on a free but surprisingly hot pizza, I distinctly remember thinking ‘It’s not everyday this happens.’
The rest of the week in the MATCH office wasn’t quite as eventful. One of my more interesting jobs involved answering FIFA 12 related questions that readers had posted on our Facebook page. A huge amount of these focused on which players were the fastest, strongest or best dribblers etc, and while researching the answers I actually found out some things I didn’t know. Like Diego Forlan has the most lethal long shot in the game, Arsenal’s Ryo Miyaichi is the fastest left winger and Lionel Messi is quite good.
Honestly, I lost count of the amount of times my opposition assumed he’d be right-footed and then showed him on to his left, a gift that I gratefully accepted all the way to promotion.
Okay so I knew that last one, but the point is that researching these players taught me a few things I didn’t know that could prove pretty helpful in Career Mode. At the very least, knowing which players are the best in the most important categories will at least save me some time in the transfer market.
It’ll save you time too, because this week’s Backpage is basically a whole bunch of Top Tens for you to take a look at.
Yes, you could have found most of this stuff out for yourself, but it would have taken you a very long time. I know this because it took me a very long time.
Let’s start with…
TOP 10 STRONGEST…
Strength plays a huge part in FIFA 12, particularly for centre-backs who can use it to make up for a lack of speed. There aren’t many big names in this top ten so to give the list some perspective, keep in mind that Man. United powerhouse Nemanja Vidic gets nowhere near with a Strength stat of just 93…
| PLAYER | CLUB | POS | STR |
| 1. Adebayo Akinfenwa | Northampton Town | ST | 97 |
| 2. Wilfried Bony | Vitesse | ST | 96 |
| 3. Steve Fletcher | Bournemouth | ST | 96 |
| 4. Julio Baptista | Malaga | CF | 95 |
| 5. Felipe Baloy | Santos Laguna | CB | 95 |
| 6. Alexandr Orekhov | Rubin Kazan | CB | 95 |
| 7. George Elokobi | Wolves | LB | 95 |
| 8. Dickson Choto | Legia Warsaw | CB | 95 |
| 9. Jesper Mathisen | Start | CB | 95 |
| 10. Edin Salkic | SC Wiener Neustadt | ST | 95 |
TOP 5 FASTEST…
I know I said this was a column of top tens but Acceleration and Sprint Speed are such desirable attributes that I wanted to cover every position. To avoid this page being absolutely massive, here are the top fives…
| CBS PLAYER | CLUB | ACC | SS |
| 1. Marvell Wynne | Colorado Rapids | 97 | 95 |
| 2. Kim Ju Young | Gyeongnam | 91 | 84 |
| 3. Thiago Silva | AC Milan | 82 | 84 |
| 4. Mike Cestor | Leyton Orient | 83 | 80 |
| 5. Antonio Ferreira | FC Terek Grozny | 82 | 80 |
|
LBS PLAYER |
CLUB | ACC | SS |
| 1. Derick Tshimanga | Sporting Lokeren | 92 | 93 |
| 2. Tsepo Masilela | Getafe | 92 | 92 |
| 3. Behrang Safari | Anderlecht | 88 | 92 |
| 4. Corey Ashe | Houston Dynamo | 88 | 90 |
| 5. Gael Clichy | Man. City | 89 | 89 |
|
RBs PLAYER |
CLUB | ACC | SS |
| 1. Dani Alves | Barcelona | 92 | 94 |
| 2. Kyle Walker | Tottenham | 92 | 94 |
| 3. Kim Kwang Suki | Pohang Steelers | 92 | 93 |
| 4. Stephan Schrock | Greuther Furth | 91 | 91 |
| 5. Fernando Navarro | Tigres | 90 | 91 |
|
CMs PLAYER |
CLUB | ACC | SS |
| 1. Sebastien Giovinco | Parma | 94 | 89 |
| 2. Lucas | Sao Paulo | 92 | 89 |
| 3. Oscar Gobern | Huddersfield | 91 | 90 |
| 4. Christian Bermudez | Atlante | 90 | 86 |
| 5. May Mahlangu | Helsingborgs | 85 | 90 |
|
RMs PLAYER |
CLUB | ACC | SS |
| 1. Theo Walcott | Arsenal | 97 | 96 |
| 2. Aaron Lennon | Tottenham | 96 | 95 |
| 3. Jonathan Biabiany | Parma | 95 | 96 |
| 4. Jonathan Pitroipa | Rennes | 94 | 94 |
| 5. Vladimir Bystrov | Zenit | 93 | 94 |
|
LMs PLAYER |
CLUB | ACC | SS |
| 1. Ryo Miyaichi | Arsenal | 95 | 94 |
| 2. Ashley Young | Man. United | 93 | 93 |
| 3. Crusat | Wigan | 93 | 93 |
| 4. DaMarcus Beasley | Puebla | 93 | 93 |
| 5. Myles Weston | Brentford | 92 | 93 |
|
CF/FW/STs PLAYER |
CLUB | ACC | SS |
| 1. Seydou Doumbia | CSKA Moscow | 94 | 94 |
| 2. Lionel Messi | Barcelona | 95 | 92 |
| 3. Dennis Oliech | Auxerre | 93 | 94 |
| 4. Samuel Eto’o | A. Makachkala | 92 | 94 |
| 5. Maicon | Lokomotiv Moscow | 94 | 92 |
TOP 10 FINISHERS…
The Finishing attribute relates to a player’s ability to score when inside the area. Shots from outside the area are covered by Long Shots, which is coming up after this…
|
PLAYER |
CLUB | POS | FIN |
| 1. Lionel Messi | Barcelona | CF | 93 |
| 2. Wayne Rooney | Man. United | ST | 91 |
| 3. Samuel Eto’o | A. Makachkala | ST | 91 |
| 4. Carlos Tevez | Man. City | ST | 91 |
| 5. Robin van Persie | Arsenal | ST | 91 |
| 6. Diego Forlan | Inter | ST | 91 |
| 7. Filipo Inzaghi | AC Milan | ST | 91 |
| 8. Cristiano Ronaldo | Real Madrid | LW | 90 |
| 9. Edinson Cavani | Napoli | ST | 90 |
| 10. Mario Gomez | Bayern | ST | 90 |
TOP 10 LONG SHOTS…
This is a really useful attribute for at least one of your players to have, as good long shots bring goals, either by going straight in or by causing the keeper to spill the ball.
|
PLAYER |
CLUB | POS | FIN |
| 1. Diego Forlan | Inter | ST | 93 |
| 2. Cristiano Ronaldo | Real Madrid | LW | 90 |
| 3. Steven Gerrard | Liverpool | CAM | 90 |
| 4. Frank Lampard | Chelsea | CAM | 90 |
| 5. Fabio Quagliarella | Juventus | ST | 90 |
| 6. Arjen Robben | Bayern | RM | 89 |
| 7. Wesley Sneijder | Inter | CAM | 89 |
| 8. Dejan Stankovic | Inter | CM | 89 |
| 9. Theo Janssen | Ajax | CM | 89 |
| 10. Lionel Messi | Barcelona | CF | 88 |
TOP 10 DRIBBLERS…
Running with the ball in FIFA 12 is an even more enjoyable, and often productive, experience now. These players are the very best at dribbling…
|
PLAYER |
CLUB | POS | DRI |
| 1. Lionel Messi | Barcelona | CF | 97 |
| 2. Arjen Robben | Bayern Munich | RM | 94 |
| 3. Cristiano Ronaldo | Real Madrid | LW | 93 |
| 4. Franck Ribery | Bayern | LM | 93 |
| 5. Sergio Aguero | Man. City | ST | 93 |
| 6. Andres Iniesta | Barcelona | CAM | 91 |
| 7. Robinhor | AC Milan | CF | 91 |
| 8. Alexis Sanchez | Barcelona | RW | 90 |
| 9. Neymar | Santos | CF | 90 |
| 10. Ezequiel Lavezzi | Napoli | LW | 90 |
TOP 10 FREE-KICKS…
I loved watching Juninho when he was at Lyon. He was so lethal from free-kicks that opposing teams would go to great lengths not to give fouls away around the box. He is still very much the master from dead ball situations in real life and FIFA 12. David Beckham is miles behind the top ten with a stat of 85.
|
PLAYER |
CLUB | POS | FK |
| 1. Juninho | Vasco da Gama | CAM | 93 |
| 2. Marcos Assuncao | Palmeiras | CM | 92 |
| 3. Sejad Salihovic | Hoffenheim | LM | 91 |
| 4. Wesley Sneijder | Inter | CAM | 90 |
| 5. Didier Drogba | Chelsea | ST | 89 |
| 6. Rafael van der Vaart | Tottenham | CAM | 88 |
| 7. Roberto Carlos | A. Makachkala | CDM | 88 |
| 8. Theo Janssen | Ajax | CM | 88 |
| 9. Dmitri Loskov | Lokomotiv Moscow | CAM | 88 |
| 10. Xavi | Barcelona | CM | 87 |
TOP 10 LONG PASSERS…
Some of the biggest names in the game dominate this list, but there are also one or two players here that you may be surprised to see among the best passers in the world…
|
PLAYER |
CLUB | POS | LON |
| 1. Xavi | Barcelona | CM | 93 |
| 2. Cesc Fabregas | Barcelona | CAM | 92 |
| 3. Wesley Sneijder | Inter | CAM | 92 |
| 4. Andrea Pirlo | Juventus | CM | 92 |
| 5. Xabi Alonso | Real Madrid | CM | 91 |
| 6. Andres Iniesta | Sevilla | CAM | 90 |
| 7. Ivan Rakitic | Tottenham | CM | 89 |
| 8. Rafael van der Vaart | Ajax | CAM | 88 |
| 9. Borja Valero | Villarreal | CAM | 88 |
| 10. Charlie Adam | Liverpool | CM | 88 |
TOP 10 VISION…
This is directly related to passing, as a greater Vision rating means your player will spot spaces and runs quicker, so you’d expect them to be able to deliver the ball. You probably won’t be surprised to see three Barça players at the very top here, either…
|
PLAYER |
CLUB | POS | VIS |
| 1. Xavi | Barcelona | CM | 97 |
| 2. Andres Iniesta | Barcelona | CAM | 93 |
| 3. Cesc Fabregas | Barcelona | CAM | 93 |
| 4. Andrea Pirlo | Juventus | CM | 92 |
| 5. David Silva | Man. City | CAM | 91 |
| 6. Luka Modric | Tottenham | CAM | 91 |
| 7. Xabi Alonso | Real Madrid | CM | 91 |
| 8. Lionel Messi | Barcelona | CF | 90 |
| 9. Rafael van der Vaart | Tottenham | CAM | 90 |
| 10. Mesut Ozil | Real Madrid | CAM | 90 |
TOP 10 STAMINA…
Finally, let’s have a look at Stamina. Napoli’s Edinson Cavani is the biggest name and the highest rated Overall player here…
|
PLAYER |
CLUB | POS | STA |
| 1. Simone Rizzato | Reggina | LM | 95 |
| 2. Edinson Cavani | Napoli | ST | 94 |
| 3. Mauricio Isla | Udinese | RWB | 94 |
| 4. Willians | Flamengo | CDM | 94 |
| 5. Andre Santos | Sporting Lisbon | CM | 94 |
| 6. Edidio Arevalo Rios | Club Tijuana | CDM | 94 |
| 7. Kevin Grosskreutz | Dortmund | LM | 94 |
| 8. Rosinei | Club America | CM | 94 |
| 9. Jelle van Damme | Standard Liege | LM | 94 |
| 10. May Mahlangu | Liverpool | CM | 94 |
As always, thanks for reading The Backpage and please feel free to leave a comment on here or via Twitter.
Have a great Christmas
Darren
twitter: @Darren_Cross
