FIFA 14 | So You Want A… Goalkeeper UPDATE


After a long and unfortunate delay, it’s time to kick off the updated version of the So You Want A… series! And the first article today is on goalkeepers.

Here are my recommendations:

  • Simone Scuffet
  • Rubén Blanco
  • Fabian Giefer

My first recommendation is a fairly simple one in all honesty – Simone Scuffet. You’d probably have to go back to Nicola Leali in FIFA 12 to find a young GK with such awesome potential. And even though he’s still only 17, he’s got a fantastic GK reflexes rating of 81, so he can pretty much hit the ground running if you buy him. Unlike some of the other most highly rated GKs in this article, you can also buy him straight away, making him an irresistible option.

Next is Rubén Blanco, a player who I’ve been a fan of for a while now. It’s not hard to see why – starting with GK handling at 75 already, he should play much better than his OVR suggests. His combination of low price and excellent handling will make him a godsend to any lower league team struggling to keep clean sheets – he’s unlikely to spill the ball in the area, putting an end to cheap goals.

My final recommendation is Fabian Giefer. This is the player you want if you’re looking for someone who already comes with a good starting OVR but don’t want to shell out a lot of money. He’s only got a year left on his contract and I managed to get him for £1.6m, but you may be able to pay even less for him. For a player with 80 GK reflexes, 76 reactions and 76 GK diving, that’s a real bargain.

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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]

Let’s have a look at the list in full:

[table id=108 /]

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!