EA Sports are rolling out upgrades for their Ultimate Team game mode on FIFA 17, and up first was the Premier League which has seen two Irish players recognised for an impressive first half of the season.
Over 60 players in total have seen a change in their ratings on the first day of a 10 day period when players from many leagues will have their ratings altered in order to be more accurate considering what they have managed to do since the season began, as explained on easports.com:
From Feb 17 to Feb 27 hundreds of players will have their ratings permanently updated in FUT 17 as part of the Ratings Refresh campaign. The updated ratings will apply to new base items which are found in packs however some existing In-Form versions of select players will be automatically updated.
Along with the likes of Diego Costa, Philippe Coutinho, Dele Alli, and Alexis Sanchez, two Ireland internationals in Darren Randolph and Harry Arter have been upgraded.
While the ratings have only been boosted by a single overall point, for both Randolph and Arter the move from 74 overall to 75 overall sees them available as 'gold' players in Ultimate Team, a change that is going to be valuable if we see another St.Patrick's Day tournament this year as expected.
Here are the new gold cards.
Darren Randolph
Boosts to his diving and reflexes were enough to see him move up a rating point.
Harry Arter
Upgrades to everything other than pace and shooting is good to see for Arter who has been excellent for Bournemouth.
While those changes are positive, we are really surprised that Seamus Coleman has been overlooked, as while his 82 overall rating is acceptable, his brilliant form surely deserved a bump to 83.
Another Irish player who can feel hard done by is David Meyler, a big FIFA player himself, and he let his feelings be known to EA Sports on Twitter:
@EASPORTSFIFA @premierleague where's my update? I expected to be upgraded to at least 71.
— DM (@DavidMeyler7) February 17, 2017
On the flipside, two Irish players have been given downgrades, and have gone the opposite way to Randolph and Arter by moving from gold cards to silver.
Both John O'Shea and Stephen Ireland are now rated 74, as opposed to 76, which does seem a little harsh on the Sunderland man considering his recent return to the lineup. Ireland, however, can have no complaints really.
Unlucky lads.
Here is the list of Premier League upgrades in full:
Eden Hazard - LW - Chelsea: 88 → 89
Alexis Sanchez - ST - Arsenal: 87 → 88
Coutinho - LW - Liverpool: 85 → 86
Diego Costa - ST - Chelsea: 85 → 86
Christian Eriksen - CAM - Tottenham Hotspur: 84 → 85
Harry Kane - ST - Tottenham Hotspur: 84 → 85
Joel Matip - CB - Liverpool: 82 → 83
N'Golo Kante - CM - Chelsea: 81 → 83
Adam Lallana - CM - Liverpool: 82 → 83
Ander Herrera - CM - Manchester United: 82 → 83
Roberto Firmino - ST - Liverpool: 82 → 83
Dele Alli - CAM - Tottenham Hotspur: 80 → 82
Virgil van Dijk - CB - Southampton: 79 → 82
Jordan Henderson - CDM - Liverpool: 80 → 82
Idrissa Gueye - CM - Everton: 76 → 82
Kasper Schemichel - GK - Leicester City: 81 → 82
Antonio Valencia - RB - Manchester United: 80 → 82
Kyle Walker - RB - Tottenham Hotspur: 81 → 82
Sadio Mane - RW - Liverpool: 79 → 82
Danny Rose - LB - Tottenham Hotspur: 80 → 81
Jermain Defoe - ST - Sunderland: 80 → 81
Héctor Bellerín - RB - Arsenal: 79 → 80
Marcos Alonso - LWB - Chelsea: 77 → 79
Alvaro Negredo - ST - Middlesborough: 80 → 81
Wilfried Zaha - RM - Crystal Palace: 79 → 80
Nordin Amrabat RM Watford: 79 → 80
Heung Min Son - LM - Tottenham Hotspur: 79 → 80
Victor Wanyama - CDM - Tottenham Hotspur: 78 → 79
Divock Origi - ST - Liverpool: 78 → 79
Marcos Alonso Mendoza - LWB - Chelsea: 77 → 79
Victor Moses - RWB - Chelsea: 77 → 78
Michail Antonio - RM - West Ham United: 76 → 78
Tom Heaton - GK - Burnley: 76 → 78
Troy Deeney - ST - Watford: 76 → 78
Marcus Rashford - ST - Manchester United: 76 → 77
Robert Snodgrass - RM - Hull City: 75 → 77
Mohamed Elneny - CDM - Arsenal: 74 → 77
Kelechi Iheanacho - ST - Manchester City: 74 → 76
Jordan Pickford - GK - Sunderland: 73 → 76
Darren Randolph - GK - West Ham United: 74 → 75
Matt Phillips - RM - West Bromwich Albion: 74 → 75
Oriol Romeu Vidal - CDM - Southampton: 74 → 75
Harry Arter - CM - Bournemouth: 74 → 75
Viktor Fischer - LW - Middlesbrough: 74 → 75
Pierre-Emile Højbjerg - CM - Southampton: 74 → 75
Danny Simpson - RB - Leicester City: 74 → 75
Alex Iwobi - LM - Arsenal: 70 → 74
Harry Winks - CM - Tottenham Hotspur: 64 → 70
Joel Castro Pereira - GK - Manchester United: 57 → 67
Tom Davies - CM - Everton: 58 → 64
And downgrades:
Nicolas Otamendi - CB - Manchester City: 85 ← 84
Steve Mandanda - GK - Crystal Palace: 85 ← 84
Bastian Schweinsteiger - CM - Manchester United: 83 ← 82
Claudio Bravo - GK - Manchester City: 85 ← 83
John Terry - CB - Chelsea: 84 ← 82
Robert Huth - CB - Leicester City: 80 ← 78
Wes Morgan - CB - Leicester City: 79 ← 77
Lazar Markovic - RM - Hull City: 78 ← 76
Oumar Niasse - ST - Hull City: 77 ← 75
John O'Shea - CB - Sunderland: 76 ← 74
Stephen Ireland - CAM - Stoke City: 76 ← 74
Evandro Goebel - CM - Hull City: 76 ← 74
Bakary Sako - LM - Crystal Palace: 75 ← 72
Gerhard Tremmel - GK - Swansea City: 75 ← 71
Anyone hard done by there, either by being omitted or by being downgraded? Get in touch and let us know.
[via EASports.com, imagery from FUTWiz.com]
