United States youngster Indiana Vassilev has been tipped to make an impact at Aston Villa after finally joining the Championship club on a permanent contract.
The 17-year-old had been on trial with Villa since November 2016, but has now been handed a professional contract by the English outfit.
Vassilev’s former coach at the IMG Academy is Kevin Hartman, and the American has claimed that the future ‘is boundless’ for the teenager.
The Birmingham Mail quotes Hartman as saying:
“He understands what’s going on around him and it allows him to not only be better himself, but it makes the players around him better.
“He’s got great leadership qualities and he’s got an undying desire to win every time he plays. That competitiveness is an attribute that I think every coach is going to be looking for and it really drives development.
“His future is boundless. He has all the physical capabilities of a top level player. The attributes and the characteristics that he has within are the ones that will drive his development. I don’t see a limit to what he can achieve.”
The Birmingham Mail has described Vassilev as ‘a technically sound player who is comfortable across midfield and even in attack’.
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Villa boss Steve Bruce has not been afraid to hand first-team minutes to youngsters this season, and Vassilev will be eyeing a future role at Villa Park.
Villa, whose supporters have recently been commenting on the future of John Terry, have lost their last two Championship matches, but they are still comfortably inside the playoff positions in fourth spot, and will be looking to return to winning ways when they travel to Hull City after the international break on March 31.
Manchester City midfielder Samir Nasri has revealed he rejected the chance to join Manchester United before opting to sign for their rivals Man City from Arsenal.
Nasri completed a controversial £24million from the Emirates to the Etihad Stadium, a move that Arsenal fans have struggled to forgive him for, but, speaking to BeIn Sports, Nasri revealed it could’ve been Old Trafford if he had gone along with Sir Alex Ferguson’s request:
“We met with Sir Alex in Paris, in a hidden place, out of sight, so as not to fuel the rumours.
“But there was one thing that was a problem; I was asked to go to war with Arsenal to be able to join. I could not see myself doing it, especially with Arsene Wenger.
“After Man City showed their interest. Mancini called me every day during the holidays. I then decided that they really wanted me.”
“Manchester City was the first club to show interest.
“I had some doubts about the evolution of the club. Then I thought they really wanted me. They were about to sign [Sergio] Aguero and there was already [David] Silva, [Mario] Balotelli, [Carlos] Tevez.
“I had a discussion with my agents. They asked me if I wanted to make history or be a player like any other at United.
“I said “Go ahead”. I won the title in my first season, so my choice was the right one.”
Nasri, who joined Arsenal from Ligue 1 outfit Marseille in the summer of 2008, has made 109 Premier League appearances for Man City bagging 14 goals and 27 assists during that time.
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The Frenchman will face his former manager and employers this Sunday when Arsenal make the trip to the Etihad Stadium to face Manuel Pellegrini’s side in the late Sunday kick-off – a win for Nasri and his team-mates would see Man City extend their lead of Arsenal to 14 points.
On May 14 2012, the entire country was battered with gale-force winds after every Aston Villa supporter let out a collective sigh of relief. The news that the much-loathed figure of Alex McLeish had departed was met with rapturous applause, especially when Paul Lambert was announced as his replacement, having just guided a mediocre Norwich City to unimaginable heights.
Alas, six months later, the club is still wallowing at the wrong end of the table after securing just four Premier League victories all season while boasting the worst goal difference in the division. A demoralising festive period saw the Villans concede a startling 15 goals during three consecutive defeats in which they also failed to score. A potentially season-defining set of fixtures remain in January, but can Lambert’s young side finally fulfil their potential?
A number of underachieving clubs have already flexed their financial muscle during the transfer window, in an attempt to reverse their ailing fortunes. Unfortunately Villa cannot afford this luxury, with Lambert revealing he can only bring in ‘on or two’ players this month. A burning desire for loan signings has also been extinguished, with chairman Randy Lerner refusing to substitute the wages of any temporary solutions.
Lambert can have no cause for complaint after frittering away his transfer budget during the summer. Of the eight new faces he drafted in for a combined figure of nearly £20m, only man-mountain Christian Benteke can be considered a success. Having spent well over £200m in six years, it’s no surprise Lerner seems reluctant to dig further into his pocket.
[cat_link cat=”aston-villa” type=”list”]
Two years ago, Lerner caved into the demands of former manager Gerard Houllier and funded the £18m+ purchase of Darren Bent. The move effectively helped steer this sinking ship away from the drop but there will be no repeat performance this time round, with supporters and staff both in agreement that the club cannot risk their financial future.
In truth, the accounts have slipped further into the red ever since the ‘successful’ reign of Martin O’Neill. The club did achieve three successive sixth-placed finishes, but never managed to qualify for the Champions League or win a trophy and was therefore unable to sustain its expensive pursuit for glory.
O’Neill is often credited with the profitable signings of Ashley Young, James Milner and Stewart Downing, but few remember the £8.5m dumped on Nigel Reo-Coker or the £10m on ‘future England defender’ Curtis Davies. The club’s wage bill has been slashed but still carries the likes of Alan Hutton and Stephen Warnock, while fellow detrimental signings Charles N’Zogbia and Stephen Ireland have hindered rather than helped proceedings.
There is further bad news in the money-saving quest to find a buyer for Darren Bent, especially since Harry Redknapp finally lured Loic Remy to London. If a suitable destination fails to materialise he has to be allowed back into the first-team. Villa have scored just 17 goals this term – the joint lowest in the league – and even though Bent’s immobile presence goes against everything Paul Lambert is trying to implement in his new side, his name will still regularly dress the scoresheet.
With Villa unable to buy their way out of trouble, Lambert must revive his squad of adolescent starlets struggling to cope with the pressures of the Premier League. Unfortunately his inexperienced defence, which had an average age of just 22 in the defeat to Southampton, is in desperate need of experience. Never did I think the likes of Richard Dunne or Ron Vlaar retuning from injury would be deemed so important for a top-flight club.
Lambert’s insistence on gifting opportunities to lower league players proved fruitful with the Canaries but his team lacks the grit and cohesion of a side that has battled its way up through the Championship. While the likes of Anthony Pilkington continue to play above and beyond all expectation, I can’t think of a single Villa player that is currently playing at the top of their game.
In a recent poll, 53% of voters were convinced Villa would be relegated, a split-decision that serves to embody people’s perception of the club. There is undeniable potential within the squad, which rose to the surface in the memorable 3-0 victory at Anfield but their inability to find consistency will inevitably end in disaster.
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The prolonged absence of captain Stiliyan Petrov is a painful reminder of past glories but the distinct lack of fight displayed by the current group of players is arguably more painful. The supporters are subdued yet restless as the club drifts somewhat aimlessly from one match to the next and the current stale atmosphere is in stark contrast to the air of optimism that exists among every other relegation candidate in the league.
The upcoming fixture against West Brom is rather daunting considering the pair’s contrasting league positions and while the cup games offer a nice distraction, the prospect of overturning the scoreline against Bradford and a trip to the New Den will be anything but a reprieve. At present, the club are the only side still competing in every competition they’ve entered but fans will only be satisfied if they are still in the Premier League come May.
Newcastle fans are getting fed up with Islam Slimani after Algeria’s assistant coach said the striker needs more rest.
According to Algeria’s assistant coach Djamel Menad, Islam Slimani’s injury is “not too serious” but he will not feature in Algeria’s friendly with Iran on Tuesday.
The on-loan striker has not kicked a ball for Newcastle since his loan move from Leicester because of an ongoing thigh injury, but reports last week suggested he could make his debut in the clash with Huddersfield this weekend.
“Brahimi and Slimani? I do not think they will be attacking but we’ll see by Tuesday,” Menad said.
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“Brahimi’s injury is not serious, but it requires rest. Same thing for Slimani but we will see what will happen. For changes, I do not know, we will see with the staff during training.”
Fans on Tyneside have been infuriated by the club’s transfer business on plenty of occasions, but the loan deal for Slimani is turning into one of the worst moves yet.
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If Slimani can come back into the fold for the final months of the season, it could be win for all parties, with the player hoping to revive his Premier League career and Newcastle in desperate need of some firepower up front.
Fans don’t seem particularly optimistic about that happening though, and some of the best Twitter reactions can be found below…
Ayoze Perez arrived at Newcastle United in June as somewhat of an unknown entity. But after an excellent start to life at St James’ Park, the Spaniard has already proved to be one of the bargain buys of the summer.
Perez rocked up on Tyneside from Tenerife in a deal believed to be around £1.5m, and to say the 21-year-old has hit the ground running in the Premier League would be an understatement. Perez has taken to life in England like a duck takes to water, and has already turned himself into Newcastle’s most potent attacking force.
The young Spaniard scored his first ever Premier League goal – the winner in the Magpies’ 2-1 win over Tottenham Hotspur in late October – and hasn’t looked back since. He has gone onto score another four times, three of which have ended in Newcastle wins – over Liverpool, West Bromwich Albion and Everton. Perez’s other strike was the only Newcastle goal in a 4-1 away defeat to Arsenal in mid-December.
Perez has been a revelation on Tyneside this term. The Spanish under-21 international gives the Magpies a different dimension up front, with a very apparent low centre of gravity and an eye for goal. The starlet shone once again in Newcastle’s in 3-2 win over Everton on Sunday – he proved to be a constant threat to the Toffees’ defence, and he could have easily had more than just the one goal to show for his efforts.
After the Magpies’ 3-1 defeat to Manchester United on Boxing Day, former United boss Sir Alex Ferguson praised Perez’s performance in the loss. Alan Pardew also lauded his new star, as he told the MailOnline; “I have been fortunate to work with some really good strikers. I think of Carlos Tevez, Teddy Sheringham, Dean Ashton, and he has got faster feet than all three of them. And the work ethic he has put in for the team as well, if he progresses like he is, we don’t know where he’ll end up. He really is surprising us with how good he is and his performance on a big stage, he relished it, like all top players.”
Perez was named player of the year in Spain’s second tier last term, and Pardew was not all that surprised with his instant success; “He won player of the year last season in the league below La Liga (Spanish second division), so it’s not a complete mystery. But we worked hard on his signature and worked hard on his family to just give him the platform and that we would give him an opportunity. We have done that and we have kept our side of the bargain.”
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Perez is still very young, very raw and has a lot of developing to do, but it will be very interesting to see just how good a player Ayoze Perez can develop into. The Spaniard has all the tools to become a Premier League great – but it’s up to Newcastle United to nurture him and make him become an even better player. If they can do that, the Magpies may well have found themselves an absolute gem.
A common feature of Brendan Rodgers’ short spell in charge of Liverpool FC so far has been a strong emphasis on the word ‘hunger’, whether it be applied to the young players snapping at the heels of their more established first-team counterparts or used as a negotiating tool, but when it comes to the January transfer window, it seems that the club may not be bullied in the pursuit of a fair deal for the first time in a long while.
The move to bring Chelsea forward Daniel Sturridge to Merseyside has stalled according to reports not down to any footballing concerns that either party has, but due to the player’s representatives after the club appeared to come to some reasonable middle ground in terms of his £60,000 per-week wage.
The 39-year-old boss has been made keenly aware of the need to balance the wage budget the longer the club stay out of the promised land of the Champions League, which has seen Andy Carroll leave on loan, with West Ham paying all of his wages, Charlie Adam sold to Stoke and Craig Bellamy, Maxi Rodriguez and Dirk Kuyt all allowed to leave in the summer.
A signal of this shift in direction from a club which seemed quite unfathomably incapable of striking a fair deal for itself to one which is more reluctant to part with its hard earned cash is a welcome one given the litany of transfer failings and deadwood that Anfield has been treated to in the past few years.
When Rodgers hauled Joe Cole off at half-time during the club’s loss against Swansea in the Capital One Cup at home earlier in the season, he chose to highlight the midfielder’s wages and compare them against his failed Liverpool experience: “The club have invested an astronomical amount of money on a talented player and Joe had the opportunity. He has been back fit a couple of weeks and his opportunities have been limited but you have to see. I thought it was difficult for him, it was too slow and it wasn’t what I would expect from a team I tried to set up to be dynamic.” This kick up the backside has prompted Cole to perform better in recent weeks whenever he’s been granted a starting berth to impress.
A recent report released showed that Liverpool spent the second most, behind moneybags and reigning champions Manchester City, on agents’ fees between October 2011-September 2012, to the embarrassing sum of £8.6m, which has seen Rodgers adopt a more hard-line approach in trying to head off the greedy demands of Sturridge’s agents this time around. That amount is £5m more than Manchester United, £2.1m more than Tottenham and £3.1 more than Arsenal. Given the quality of players, the lack of competition for their signatures and the fact that they all wanted to move to Liverpool, it’s literally unforgivable that the club paid so much under the Kenny Dalglish and Damien Comolli era in particular.
Now, the England forward’s entourage want to receive a percentage of any future transfer fee if he leaves the club in order to rubber stamp the move and precisely because Liverpool have paid more than £31m in fees to agents since October 2008, a change in approach is long overdue and they shouldn’t have to kowtow and bow down to players in such an obvious fashion.
[cat_link cat=”liverpool” type=”list”]
There is a time and place to be prudent, though and to curb an engrained reckless approach to expenditure and when principal owner John W. Henry wrote an open letter to the club’s fans back at the start of the season, he stated: “We will build and grow from within, buy prudently and cleverly and never again waste resources on inflated transfer fees and unrealistic wages. We have no fear of spending and competing with the very best, but we will not overpay for players. We will never place this club in the precarious position that we found it in when we took over at Anfield. This club should never again run up debts that threaten its existence.”
Quite how this translated into believing that paying anything above £3.5m for Clint Dempsey was excessive is yet another baffling move in a string of odd decisions by Fenway Sports Group since coming to power at the club. Picking your battles is fine, but getting it so wrong on such a consistent basis is troubling, even if their tough stance now looks to be the correct one.
Rodgers stated in the aftermath of Raheem Sterling agreeing a new £35,000-a-week deal after months of haggling with his representatives: “They will get a good contract coming here but if they want to argue over money, and other things that go around it, I don’t want them here. In my experience those players will eventually let you down anyway. So, for us, it is about getting players in who are hungry to succeed and to pull on the shirt.
“That’s the simple message for any player coming here – you can’t take the money and run. You have to earn the right to play for this club and to help us succeed. The club are really on board with me on that. It is part of what we need to be successful again. You trace back over many years at this football club and they have brought hungry players in. They were also good players, but they were all hungry.
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“I’ve seen it at Chelsea, you pay a fortune for top players and it doesn’t always work when you spent £30 million or £20 million, it doesn’t guarantee you anything. You could bring a boy in here on a free transfer or bring him from the Championship, all of these big players weren’t dropped out of heaven, they have to come from somewhere and the most important thing when you get that type in is that they’re hungry to succeed.
“Football is a unique business. It’s one of very few sports and industries where you can get paid very good money on potential. People will tell you what they’re going to do. I would rather reward people for what they do and then there’s no drama.”
The reference to Chelsea is clearly aimed at Sturridge, and it seems for once that the club actually has a plan B should they have to pull the plug on the deal, despite the medical being seemingly done and dusted, with PSG’s Kevin Gameiro lined up for a short-term loan switch.
Liverpool have been a laughing stock in the sport for years now when it comes to their powers of negotiation, both in terms of inflated fees and needlessly high wages, but it seems as if the tide is finally turning in that respect now under Rodgers guidance, which with Financial Fair Play on the horizon, is the only logical approach to take.
West Ham United have been hit with the news that Winston Reid and Sam Byram are both expected to miss the remainder of the season through injury.
Reid picked up a serious knee problem during Saturday’s 4-1 defeat at Swansea City, with the centre-back being taken to hospital after leaving the field on a stretcher.
Byram, meanwhile, suffered an ankle injury in the same match.
It is understood that both players will miss the final months of the 2017-18 campaign in what is a bitter blow to the Hammers, who are currently battling to stay away from the Premier League relegation zone.
The West Ham fans have been reacting to the news, and many are furious that both players have picked up injuries once again.
Reid has made just 18 Premier League appearances this term, while Byram, who has recently commented on the team’s injury problems at the back, has appeared in just five league matches after struggling with injury throughout the campaign.
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A selection of the Twitter reaction can be seen below:
There may still be two months until the January window, but we at Football Fancast, in addition to every manager in the Premier League, are already preparing for it.
Indeed, it looks set to be a busy one for Liverpool, with the tabloids claiming Brendan Rodgers will be given funds to spend in the new year – most likely on a new centre-forward.
But that’s not the only issue the Anfield boss will need to resolve when the transfer window reopens, and just to prove it, here’s a list of FIVE key questions Rodgers must answer via the transfer market.
[ffc-gallery]CLICK ON THE REDS MANAGER TO REVEAL
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DO LIVERPOOL NEED ANOTHER GOALKEEPER?
This key issue comes with two essential questions; firstly, do Liverpool need to sign a goalkeeper in January? Secondly, if so, is he to replace Simon Mignolet as No.1 or simply provide better competition than hap-hazard understudy Brad Jones?
I’d argue the Reds have already got good value out of their £9million signing, but he’s never far away from criticism and there’s a common opinion that Liverpool need an upgrade between the sticks.
Indeed, Mignolet was at fault for both of Manchester City’s goals amid their 2-1 victory over Liverpool at the Etihad last season, whilst Sky Sports pundits Jamie Carragher and Gary Neville even found grounds to scrutinise his efforts to save Phil Jagielka’s wonder-goal in the Merseyside derby:
Rather than belonging to the European goalkeeping elite, the 26 year-old is more one of the best of the rest. So where do Liverpool go from here?
Well, Brendan Rodgers clearly doesn’t fancy former Barcelona star Victor Valdes, currently a free agent, allowing him to go on trial with Manchester United instead:
But Espanyol ‘keeper Kiko Casilla, whose impressive performances have seen him claim the third-choice spot in Vincente del Bosque’s Spain squad, has been linked by the tabloids:
He’s bagged four clean sheets in eight appearances this season and is currently second in La Liga’s saves charts:
Here’s a look at the 28 year-old in action:
A more jugular option might come in the form of Chelsea’s Petr Cech. The Czech international has vowed to fight for his place at Stamford Bridge and boosting Chelsea’s goalkeeping depth enormously, Jose Mourinho is under no hurry to sell.
But even struggling for game-time in the auxiliary competitions this season, thus far featuring just once in the Champions League, it’s likely the 32 year-old can be prized away in January. Here’s a look at some of his best ever saves for the Blues:
But whether Chelsea would be prepared to surrender one of world football’s top goalkeepers to another Premier League side remains to be seen.
Sell now or wait until the summer?
There’s a number of players on the Liverpool roster whose Anfield careers are effectively over already. At this point, the only genuine decision Brendan Rodgers has to make is whether to sell in January or at the end of the season.
Take Glen Johnson for example, who rejected a one-year contract extension during the summer – with his current deal set to expire in 2015. According to the tabloids, the right-back has already been told he’ll be allowed to leave Merseyside at the end of the season:
His experience could prove vital to Liverpool’s leaky backline between now and May-time, but Brendan Rodgers may as well cash-in when the transfer market reopens and add a few pennies to his budget.
Likewise, Fabio Borini was widely expected to leave Anfield this summer, with Liverpool accepting a £14million bid from Sunderland after the Italian claimed ten goals on loan at the Stadium of Light last season.
But the 23 year-old reject Sunderland’s advances, instead using Twitter to profess his manhood and desire to fight for his place on Merseyside:
Since going on to receive just 94 minutes of Premier League action however, Brendan Rodgers is clearly freezing the forward out of first team affairs. That suggests the Reds would be prepared to flog him in January, but with Liverpool’s strikeforce still struggling for goals, Borini could prove useful in a cameo role this season. Here’s a look at ‘Il Bomber’ in action:
Then there’s Lucas Leiva, who came close to leaving Anfield during the summer:
He’s experienced, gritty and offers Liverpool’s midfield something a little different. But the Brazilian often struggles to perform when in partnership with Steven Gerrard, which is a quick way to end any Liverpool career.
Having made just two Premier League starts this season, if Napoli revive their interest in January, the Reds are almost certain to sell.
MARIO BALOTELLI – Does he stay or does he go?
According to the tabloids, the car-crash start to Mario Balotelli’s Liverpool tenure could be ended as early as January, making it just six months on Merseyside:
Indeed, Napoli are allegedly interested and Brendan Rodgers hasn’t helped the situation by refusing to rule out a January departure for the misfiring Italian.
The 23 year-old will have received a huge boost from scoring a dramatic equaliser against Swansea in the Capital One Cup yesterday evening, only his second goal in twelve appearances for the Reds:
But yet to get off the mark in the mark in the Premier League and clearly alien to Liverpool’s energetic attacking style, it appears Rodgers could be convinced to sell in the new year – something Jamie Carragher has already prophesised.
If so, who comes in as Balotelli’s replacement?
So if Balotelli were to leave Liverpool in January, the question remains; who comes in as the enigmatic Italian’s replacement?
There’s already a number of centre-forwards on the Anfield radar, such as Swansea’s Wilfried Bony who was strongly linked with a Mersey move during the summer:
The 25 year-old’s £19million release clause is more than affordable and his stock continues to soar with four goals in nine Premier League outings this term, building upon last season’s return of 16 in 34. That includes this rather special goal against Leicester City last weekend:
Then there’s West Brom whipper-snapper Saido Berahino, currently the Premier League’s top-scoring Englishman:
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This kid looks like the real deal:
But young, home-grown and obviously talented, the papers are already mooting an outrageous £25million transfer fee:
A significantly cheaper option comes in the form of Schalke’s Klaas-Jan Huntelaar. At 31 years of age, he’s no spring chicken and the Netherlands international’s contribution to open play is infamously poor.
But he boasts stunning returns of 97 in 149 for the Miners and 36 in 66 for Oranje. Here’s a look at Huntelaar’s top five Bundesliga goals:
With his contract at the Veltins Arena winding down, the 6 foot 2 striker could be available for a pittance in January.
WINSTON REID – IS HE NEEDED?
According to the tabloids, Liverpool are keen to add to their defensive depth with a winter swoop for West Ham’s Winston Reid:
The 26 year-old may not be the most talented defender to ever grace Anfield, but he’s well proven in the Premier League and currently in ‘no hurry’ to extend his expiring contract at Upton Park, could prove to be an astute addition.
Liverpool’s defence has certainly lacked confidence and organisation this season – a master of the nuts and bolts of the trade, Reid’s simple-yet-effective style could be the perfect remedy.
But do the Reds really need another centre-half? Brendan Rodgers has invested over £40million in that department over the last two summers, in the form of signings Dejan Lovren, Mamadou Sakho and Tiago Ilori, and the Anfield defence requires greater regularity – not even more new faces.
Reid presents an interesting transfer opportunity, but one that could provide more problems than solutions.
James Milner has not always been the biggest fan favourite at Liverpool during his two-and-a-half-year stay at the club.
The 32-year-old has spent the majority of his career playing as a winger, but upon moving to Anfield, he admitted that he had a desire to play more centrally in midfield.
During his time at Liverpool, the experienced player has been asked to take on various positions.
Last season, the former Manchester City man was used at left-back ahead of Alberto Moreno.
In the current campaign, manager Jurgen Klopp has not always included Milner in the first XI, but in recent performances, the midfielder has impressed.
In total, Milner has started just 15 games in all competitions, but in his last two outings he played the full 90 minutes.
In an interview with the club’s official website, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain sung the praises of his hardworking teammate.
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A large number of Liverpool fans agreed with the sentiments, and some feel that Milner is not given enough credit.
With people across the globe currently suffering from World Cup fever, it’s a great time to discuss the most highly anticipated football game of the year, FIFA 15. But with its annual release cycle, the FIFA franchise is often criticised for not making significant progress with each new edition.
Having said that, FIFA 15 is set to be the latest and greatest FIFA yet, and it seems as though its developers have really listened to fan feedback this time around. And even though FIFA 15’s official release date isn’t until the end of September, you can still guarantee yourself a copy by pre-ordering online:
FIFA 15 Ultimate Team Edition with Pre-Order Pack exclusive @GAME – £67.99
(includes football, t-shirt, collectors tin)
FIFA 15 Ultimate Team Edition @ Amazon – £52
FIFA 15 @ Tesco – £45
Despite not being released yet, there’s still enough substance already to identify the five following most called for changes:
More emotion
FIFA’s developers want gamers to get a true feeling of emotion when playing FIFA 15. They’re trying to recreate the feeling that football fans get when they watch their favourite sport on the TV.
To achieve this, every player in the new game has their own set of emotions and characteristics that can be seen on the pitch. Apparently, there are more than 600 reactions that can be witnessed in a single game.
Context-sensitive artificial intelligence
This innovation is potentially massive and means that FIFA 15 could be a truly ground-breaking title. Imagine playing a game of football where your computer opponents adapt their style and tactics automatically depending on the situation.
For example, if you are losing and there’s not long to go, you can expect your opponents to sit back and defend till the cows come home. However, turn that situation around and you’ll see them throw everything at you, including the kitchen sink!
Improved tackling
As in real life, tackling is now much more balanced and doesn’t always favour the attacking player in one-on-one situations. So, if you’re a defensive maestro who likes to lock down the pitch and keep a clean sheet, FIFA 15 is definitely for you.
If, however, you like to play attacking football and run at defensive line with world-class players like Messi, you should expect that the defensive side will get the upper hand more often than they did in previous FIFA titles.
Fitter players
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FIFA 14 was criticised by many for its bulky, shapeless player models. FIFA 15’s developers have definitely reversed this and the bodies of players in the latest instalment are far more muscular and athletic.
After all, real-life footballers are elite athletes and should be represented this way in any football-based games that are released, right?
Visible pitch wear and tear
FIFA fans will testify that no matter what the weather; no matter how intense the game; the pitch condition in previous versions always remained constant – not in FIFA 15.
Now, every slide tackle, miskick and footprint makes a visual impact on the playing surface. So much so that at the end of big games the surface is totally unrecognisable and would need a world-class grounds man to fix it!