YPOTY Dele Alli - A Force of Nature

Today, we’ll be reviewing at Young Player of the Year Dele Alli. The young Englishman has set the Premier League alight this seasons, racking up goals and assists in Tottenham’s title challenge. His rise has been nothing short of meteoric - within the space of two seasons, he’s moved from being a young prospect at MK Dons to one of the best players in what is arguably the toughest league in the world. His YPOTY award is reflective of that growth, and truly stamps his position as one of the hottest prospect in world football.

To commemorate his victory, EA released this special YPOTY SBC item, with heavily boosted stats. This card is one of the most complete midfielders in the game, with four of his card stats over 90, as well as 88 pace and 75 defending. In addition to those stats, he’s also 6’2”, has 3* skills and weak foot, and a relatively decent composure stat (79).

His in-game stats are truly ridiculous:

FUTHEAD

On the basic chemistry style (which is what I used on him), they become even better:

FUTHEAD

With these boosts, he becomes a 96 rated CM, a 97-rated CAM, and a 94-rated striker:

FUTHEAD

I’ve used Dele Alli in a variety of teams, for a lot of games.

EA Sports FIFA/Arun Das

I primarily use Dele Alli as a RCM in the 4-1-2-1-2 (2), with a few games at CAM (I only recently switched him to the hawk chemistry style). He cost me around 350-370K to complete, and that was without opening the packs.

Let’s get into the review:

Pace: 10/10

Blistering. For a midfielder, he has all the pace you need. Combine incredible sprint speed and acceleration with his huge stride and fantastic dribbling stats, and you get a player bombs up and down the field, catching up with any opponent. He dominates the right hand side of the field, hunting down strikers, wingers and full backs with ease, and can burst past opponents without any difficulty. His pace is an incredible asset - it makes it virtually impossible to get past him, and virtually impossible to stop.

Shooting: 11/10

Perfection. There are no negatives when it comes to his shooting. He can score from anywhere within 40 yards, with any shot. His finesse shots are fantastic, but not the best, but that is the only limitation he has. Long shots, outside of the foot shots, low driven shots, perfect finishing - he can do everything. Give him a clear line to the goal, power up that shot, and watch it go in. Simply breathtaking.

Passing: 10/10

You might look at my stats with him and see he only has 14 assists. This is for two reasons - one, this game is broken and doesn’t track assists properly. Two, he usually assists the assist - he plays the perfect ball that breaks open opponents, before one last pass is made to tap it into the net. His passing is perfect - in all these games, he has never misplaced a short pass. His long passing is incredible, his pace and fantastic crossing make him a menace on the wings, and his through balls are accurate 99% of the time. I even scored two free kicks with him, so don’t that affect your decision.

Dribbling: 10/10

Wow. I never thought I’d enough a player with 3* skills this much, but Dele is truly magnificent. The ball is glued to his feet when he runs, and the face-up dribbling is ridiculous. He can change direction instantly, stop every ball perfectly, weave between defenders effortlessly. In the midfield, he is composed and elegant, and never has a bad touch. A world class dribbler.

Defending: 9/10

The card stat is a lie - this feels a lot more like 85. His tackling is superb (thanks to his long legs), and his height makes him a formidable presence in the midfield. His interceptions feel far higher in game - he closes down so many opportunities, and suffocates so many attacks. Finally, his heading is pretty good, allowing him to win a lot of duels in the air, and consistently win long passes and head them down to his team mates.

Physical: 10/10

You know when Dele is on the field. He dominates everyone - his height, strength and aggression is too much for almost any player. He wins every 50-50 duel, and bullies most players off the ball. His 99 stamina is one of his best stats - he can run all game long, well into injury and extra time. His 73 jumping feels a lot higher - he wins a lot of duels in the air.

Skills and WF: 8/10

3*/3* is not usually my favorite combination, but I have very few complaints here. His fantastic physicality, pace and dribbling makes up for the 3* skills, and I only occasionally wish he had 4* skills. His 4* weak foot feels far better, much closer to a 4* weak foot. He still puts chances wide, but those are few and far between.

Overall: 10/10

This is the best midfielder in the game. I know there is an argument to be made for POTY Kante, but Dele’s height and power makes him a far more dominating presence in the midfield. For those comparing him to MOTM Pogba or TOTY Modric, he’s on par with them. I prefer Dele to both of them, because he excels in every category, while both of Pogba and Modric have weak points.

Regardless of whether he gets a better TOTY, this card will be in my team until the end of FIFA 17. He is 100% worth it.