Reactions to Stoke’s FIFA 21 Player Ratings

Stoke City’s FIFA 21 Player Ratings – Thoughts and Reactions

FIFA 21 player ratings are out for Stoke. Personally, I’ve grown accustomed to being disappointed with FIFA ratings as they rarely do capture players accurately, especially for squads outside top leagues. This year,  there are really no huge surprises for Stoke. The biggest disappointment from the player ratings is somewhat expected – little to no overall bumps for a few younger players that have clearly made recent improvements. Stoke’s overall outlook for FIFA is fine, not amazing, and definitely not the worst in the Championship. They have a squad firmly in the low 70’s across the board, have great depth, and can play a variety of formations in-game. Stoke also have a set of high potential players that sets them apart from some other Championship level squads.

Highest Potential Players

Nathan Collins: 62/81

Tyrese Campbell: 67/80

Tom Edwards: 68/80

Harry Souttar: 66/79

Josh Tymon: 68/79

Tashan Oakley-Boothe: 62/78

This is a pretty solid group for a Championship club in terms of younger players with high potential. Leading the group, as expected, is Collins and Campbell. What is slightly disappointing is the lack in overall bumps to Nathan Collins and Tashan Oakley-Boothe. Their lower ratings will make them tougher to integrate in-game, and just does not reflect their actual skill. Realistically, they should both be in the upper 60’s which would be in line with the other listed players. Also surprising to see Tom Edwards keep his 80 overall potential despite his form and lack of playing time this season.

Top Ten Rated Players (excluding loans)

Jack Butland: 74/78

James Chester: 73/73

Sam Clucas: 73/73

Joe Allen: 72/72

John Obi Mikel: 72/72

Tommy Smith: 72/72

James McClean: 71/71

Nick Powell: 71/74

Adam Davies: 70/73

Tom Ince: 70/70

No huge surprises here – lots of players in the low 70s, no clear superstar, and veterans who are hanging onto skill in the latter portion of their careers. All of which actually makes a lot of sense. I would have notched Tommy Smith up another point even though he did see a +1 from FIFA 20. McClean and Davies also probably deserved slight increases after their performances last season.

Biggest Downgrades

This should have been expected, but Ryan Shawcross has lost 2 overall points going from a 72 to a 70 this year and is Stokes single biggest downgrade. Stoke also had 8 players lose a point in their ratings from last year – Allen, Butland, Chester, Powell, Martins-Indi, Vokes, Gregory, and Thompson. Of these downgrades, I think the only two that are questionable are Jordan Thompson and Bruno Martins-Indi, who are neither aging or saw a big drop off in form.