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Last Tuesday, EA released the Eredivisie and Pro League ‘Team of the Season’ (TOTS) squads. To mark the occasion, I decided to put together an Eredivisie squad, and put it though a division run.
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My approach was simple. I kept sniping Eredivisie TOTS players, and either putting them into my squad for a couple of games, or listing them up for some instant profit. I started with the cheaper players - Veltman, El Ahmadi, Larsson and Schone - and kept picking them up for discard and selling them for a little more. An hour or so after the squad was released, the prices of the more expensive players - Klaassen, Moreno, Elia, Sanchez, Dolberg and Vilhena - started to stabilize, so I switched to these players, and started sniping them for 2-10K below their minimum BIN. I then tried them out for a game or two, and sold them on, before repeating the process. Through the course of the evening, I probably bought and sold 150 Eredivisie TOTS players, making about 1-2K on average per player. Finally, I ended the evening by sniping the more expensive players - Toornstra, Haps, Karsdorp, Jorgensen and Guardado - as well as picking up one of each of the TOTS players I liked. This morning, when the prices spiked again, I sold a large part team on for a profit for 40K, giving me an overall profit of over 250K.
Over the course of the day today, I’ve put together a squad of my favorite players from this TOTS (I picked most of them up early in the morning, or right after the TOTW was released). Here’s the squad I ended up with:
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The team is absolutely fantastic. Last night, I was only able to hold Div. 1 (didn’t lose a game, just drew a bunch), as I was using some of the worse players in this TOTS, but this team is now at 5-0-0 in Div. 1.
The Eredivisie TOTS is often overlooked, because in past years, it has been part of the Benelux TOTS squad. As a result, there have only been 10 Eredivisie TOTS items, and not enough to put together a full squad. However, the release of an entire Eredivise TOTS means that there are a whole set of world-class players to try out.
Today, I’ll be reviewing the squad I used above, and talking about the other players you can get in the Eredivisie TOTS.
Defense: 9/10
The defense was absolutely incredible. The two full-backs are the best I’ve used this year. They have the perfect blend of blistering pace, solid defending, and incredible physicality. They are also good on the ball, with good passing and decent attacking ability. The two CBs are also very good - Moreno is technically perfect, with great tackling, passing and dribbling. Sanchez feels like a 90+ rated player in game - his pace and power can overpower most attackers.
Haps: 10/10. Best LB I’ve used this year.
Karsdorp: 10/10. Best RB I’ve used this year (along with SIF Coleman).
Moreno: 9/10. Great defender, but a little on the short side.
Sanchez: 9/10. Fast and powerful, but interceptions are a little low.
Alternatives: There aren’t too many other solid defensive options in this TOTS. There are no gold GKs, so you have to use a silver (I didn’t want to, so I used Van der Sar). You are also very limited in your other defensive options - Veltman is too slow for a RB, Botteghin can’t run, and the silver CB is just awful.
Midfield: 9/10
I was blown away by the midfield. Guardado is easily one of the best midfielders I have used this year - his only con is his height, but he is perfect in all other attributes. He can shoot, tackle, pass, dribble, sprint and even win the occasional header. Klaassen and Vilhena are two incredibly hard working players, who will press the opposition in all areas of the field. Their shooting is remarkable, particularly from outside the area. Finally, Toornstra was an incredible CAM - his passing, dribbling and shooting was sensational, and he was strong enough to hold his own in the midfield. The only downside in this midfield was the lack of skill moves - none of these players have 4* skills, which was a bit of a let down.
Guardado - 10/10. Potentially the best box-to-box midfielder I’ve used this year.
Klaassen - 10/10. A slower but stronger Guardado, with better shooting.
Vilhena - 8/10. An absolute workhorse in the middle. Not the best player, but he’s everywhere.
Toornstra - 9/10. Almost the perfect CAM, just missing those 4* skill moves.
Alternatives: The Eredivisie has some decent midfield alternatives. El Ahmadi is a solid midfield option, and despite his pace, Schone has some great shooting and passing stats. That Ziyech card looks downright disgusting, but his 2* weak foot was a bit of deal breaker for me. Finally, you have that silver TOTS Ayoub, though he’s probably not worth the 50K you have to pay (if you can find him on the market), and the TOTS Mokotjo, who is a pretty decent option.
Attack: 10/10
The combination of Jorgensen and Traore was better than I could have ever expected. Traore is one of the most fun players I’ve used this year - he’s fast, skillful, perfect on the ball, has a good pass on him, and is strong and tall. An absolute joy to play with. TOTS Jorgensen is the most clinical player I’ve ever used - all of his first seven shots were goals, and two of them were from the edge of the box. He’s quite possible my favorite out-and-out striker this year - not only is he very fast, but his dribbling is sensational, and his shooting, passing and physical are ridiculous.
Traore - 10/10. Cannot recommend him highly enough.
Jorgensen - 11/10. Wow.
Alternatives: You have a couple of other options. You can go with Dolberg (who was awful for me, but might suit your playstyle), or you can go with the wingers in Elia and Larsson. Elia brings raw pace, great dribbling, with a decent shot and physicality. Larsson is a lot slower, but still has those shooting, dribbling, passing and physical stats. Both of them were solid for me when I was running a 4321, and I would recommend them. I haven’t tried TOTS Unal, but he doesn’t look like anything too special.
Overall, the Eredivisie TOTS has some truly world-class players - I felt more than comfortable in Div. 1 with this side, and hopefully will win the DKT that is out right now with it. None of these players are too expensive, so definitely give them a shot!