FIFA 14 | So You Want A… Defensive midfielder


If you’re in need of a defensive midfielder to break up opposition play and protect your defence, this is the place to look. I’ve picked out a few recommendations below, a mix of powerful enforcers and ball-playing holding midfielders:

  • Junior Malanda
  • Nathaniel Chalobah
  • Magomed Ozdoev
  • Levin Öztunali

First up is a player who has become very popular with FIFA players lately – Junior Malanda. This is your typical enforcer defensive midfielder – he’s very strong and has great interceptions and tackling. He’s got decent pace and stamina as well, so he will cover a lot of ground for you and use his strength to win the ball back wherever needed. As an added bonus he has fantastic balance (rated 90), so combined with his strength this means he will be extremely difficult to knock off the ball once he’s won it back for you. The only down side is that he’s on loan in the first season so you’ll have to wait to get him, but be patient and the rewards will be yours.

Second is another popular player, Nathaniel Chaloba. He’s not quite as powerful as Malanda, but he makes up for that with a great array of skills that make him a blend between the enforcer type and ball-playing type of CDM. He’s got the strength, interceptions and tackling to serve you well in defence, the pace and stamina to cover as much ground as you need him to, and the vision, passing and agility to make a nuisance of himself going forward. I managed to get him for £2.5m, not bad for a player some are tipping to be the next big thing.

Third up is Magomed Ozdoev, who is just the player you need if you’re looking for a ball-playing CDM. Like my other picks he is strong and can tackle, but his passing and ball control are also excellent, so not only will he be breaking up opposition attacks but he’ll be starting ones for your team as well. Pair him with a strong enforcer CDM (like Malanda, in fact) and you’ll have the perfect holding midfield combination. Lokomotiv seem to have a bit of a glut of CDMs, so a bid of only £1m should be enough to make him yours.

Finally we’ve got Levin Öztunali. Although he’s still very raw and undeveloped, his massive potential and rock bottom price tag means he’s one you simply can’t ignore. Although Bayer 04 won’t budge in the first window, try again in January, when they might be more receptive to offers. Alternatively, wait until the next season, by which point they will be more willing to sell him and he should have improved markedly, giving him a better chance of getting game time at your club.

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The articles in this series should give you some ideas if you’re looking for a new signing in a key area. There is one article for each position on the pitch to make it easy for you to quickly find players to bolster your squad.

All of the players given here have a minimum potential of 80, so you know you’re getting quality. The maximum OVR for each player is 73, both to keep transfer prices down and to avoid presenting you with too many options and thus making it too difficult to choose the player you need.

The ‘Avai?’ column is short for ‘available?’ and refers both to whether or not you can buy the specified player at the start of the first season and how long their current contract is. Let’s take Y/2 as an example – Y means that yes, you can buy him at the start of a new career, and the number means he has two years left on his contract. Similarly, N/3 would mean that no, you can’t buy the player straight away, and he has three years left on his contract. These ‘no’ players are often available for transfer if you wait until the January transfer window, however. For some players this column is blank – this means that they are out on loan at the start and are therefore unavailable for purchase until the second season.

Initial player costs may seem very low this year. The figure in the player cost column refers to the price you are given if you scout the player. But I’ve also added a new column this time round – ‘They want’. This refers to the price the other team want for the player if you enquire about him. Often there is a large difference between the player cost obtained through scouting and that obtained through an enquiry. This leaves a lot of room for negotiation, so don’t be put off if a price in the ‘They want’ column is high, as you can usually get the player for much less. Try bidding lower than what you think will be accepted – you may be surprised at their response. If the ‘They want’ column is blank it’s because the team refused to give a price, either because the player has just joined them or because they are loaning him in.

And as a final note, in FIFA 14 EA update player OVRs and potentials every week. Mose of the time these are very minor changes, and most players won’t be affected at all unless they have had a very noteworthy week. Furthermore, some players occasionally disappear if they have been put in the reserve squad that week. So just bear in mind that these figures should be read as a guide only and not a definitive account of player costs, potentials, etc, for the entire season.[/expand]

Here’s the complete list:

[table id=89 /]

And don’t forget to check out the other articles in this series by going to the ‘So You Want A…’ button in the top menu!