For decades now, FIFA (now renamed FC) has been the ultimate digital playground for
football fans. From dominating leagues to building ultimate teams to playing with (and
against) friends, the game series has been host to an uncountable number of legendary
moments for players across the globe. While the series has improved in many ways over the
years, its player ratings system remains contentions—particularly as it’s so important for fans
of specific teams.
In this article, we’ll have a look at Tottenham Hotspur, unpacking the question of how their
virtual talent has changed over the years.
Early FIFA
FIFA debuted in 1993. Meaning the heritage of Tottenham players goes back three decades
now. This means that Tottenham legends like Gary Lineker and Glenn Hoddle showed face
in these early games. However, their prowess didn’t translate into the highest
ratings—partially due to the games’ limited design.
Later on, though, as the Premiere league started to gain momentum, players like Jürgen
Klinsmann and Paul Gascoigne also blessed these games. But, again, these (now legends)
were only given decent ratings. Leaving them to fall behind some of the competition.
The Golden Generation
The late 90s and early 2000s brought in some of Tottenham’s best players; now known as
the “Golden Generation”. These talented youngsters pushed the club towards the top of the
table, making it the iconic team we know today.
These players are of course legends like Sol Campbell, Ledley King and Robbie Keane.
Fortunately, FIFA recognised the dominance of these players and awarded them significant
ratings because of this. Bolstering the virtual power of Tottenham.
In other words, this was where FIFA started to respect Tottenham’s power.
The Modric Era
In the late 2000s, Keane and Campbell left the club, leaving a star-sized hole which
needed to be filled. Fortunately, Luka Modrić saw this and stepped up to the plate.
Modric’s technical ability and masterful dribbling translated over into the virtual world,
keeping Tottenham’s ratings high in the FIFA series.
Then Gareth Bale arrived on the scene, and things just got better thanks to his blistering
pace and shooting prowess. This squad undoubtedly brought several people over to
Tottenham’s side.
The Pochettino Anomaly
Manager Mauricio Pochettino arrived at the club in 2014, ushering in a new era of tactical
innovation, particularly when pushing the attack. This new strategy came with a bunch of
new faces. Christian Eriksen, Dele Alli and Harry Kane are but three of the major stars to
head the squad during Pochettino’s management of the club.
While the club performed well across the 2010s, FIFA didn’t necessarily reflect that so well.
Despite their innovative tactics, strong individual and group performances on the pitch and
incredible goalscoring prowess, the team’s virtual ratings stagnated. Pushing them under
some of the competition.
In particular, Tottenham fans began to complain that players like
Eriksen was undervalued in the rankings—potentially because of Tottenham’s play
had become far more tactical across the entire squad instead of simply being focused on
star players.
Ultimately, FIFA seemed to lose some respect for the squad—or at least it couldn’t
accurately capture the power and prowess of Tottenham’s tactical abilities within their usual
rating system.
Today’s Team
Following the end of Pochettino’s time at the club, Tottenham continues to have several star players. Harry Kane, Son Heung-min and Christian Romero to name but three.
This trio—particularly Son and Kane—have revived the star-player focus of earlier Tottenham
days. Helping FIFA to once again recognise the ability of Tottenham with a notable boost in
their overall rating.
Not only that but given the new features of FIFA and FC, players are now given much more
unique personalities, reflecting their on-the-pitch abilities, favourite skills and prowess.
Ultimately, we believe that Tottenham’s team is in a pretty good place right now—at least
when it comes to FC24 and FC25. Making them an incredibly playable and enjoyable team
both in competition and for their inclusion in Ultimate Team. Speaking of which, be sure to
top up your FC Points to get your hands on the best players from Tottenham this coming
season.
The Verdict
FIFA is a game which has been around for a long time. So it’s seen Tottenham evolve and
change—sometimes representing those evolutions well, and other times not so much. But
despite the ups and downs, today Tottenham’s FC team is in a great place for Tottenham
fans to play. Whether this will change in the coming years is unclear, but for now, we can
enjoy our time with these players packed into our Ultimate Teams.
