Who are the Best Budget Left Backs in "Fifa 19 Ultimate Team"?

This is article three within my series exploring the best budget options for players within FIFA 19.

Today I’ll be taking a look at left backs. Although many players in Ultimate Team ignore the importance of the defensive wide man, I believe they are integral not only to shutting down the oppositions wing play, but to the initial stages of an attack too. They are required to be fast and agile to deal with wingers but also capable of dealing with crosses too. I think they’re a tricky player to get right, and hopefully this list will help you to identify the key elements that make this type of player great.

Understanding the position

I believe there are two types of left back within FIFA . The first I call traditional, who operates very defensively, and rarely pushes past the half way line. The second is the modern left back, or "wing back" who will look to get involved in attacking as well as defensive play.

For traditional, the primary key stats are:

• Pace
• Interceptions
• Standing tackle
• Physical (general)

With a secondary focus on:

• Passing
• Dribbling

These players will look to keep control of the opponents wingers, are rarely get involved in build up. They operate similarly to a centre back, but should be more agile, due to having to keep pace and turn with the tricky wingers.

For a wing back, the primary key stats are:

• Pace
• Stamina
• Interceptions
• Passing (general)
• Dribbling (general)

With a secondary focus on:

• Marking
• Standing tackle
• Strength
• Aggression

These players look to support the attack of your team, providing an outlet for centre midfielders and wingers. They also tend to overlap the winger, so need to be adept at dribbling and passing. Stamina is absolutely crucial for this role, as they will be contributing heavily in both the offensive and defensive cycles of play.

Interestingly, with the current meta of FIFA being a heavy focus on crossing, I believe the traditional style of defender will get a lot more focus.

Traditional left backs are generally taller than the wing backs and therefore deal much better with opponents crossing. Furthermore, with chemistry styles such as Sentinel and Anchor boosting the players jumping I believe the more traditional defender is a viable counter to the current meta.

Key

UCL Live: Uefa Champions League Live Card

CL: Champions League

IF: In Form

SIF: Second In Form

FUT Future Stars : Heavily boosted card based on hot prospects for the future.

(x): Stat with Chemistry style applied, assuming 10 chemistry on player and 100 chemistry on team.

86 UCL Live Tagliafico (wing back)

Key Stats :

• Pace : 92 (92)
• Stamina : 99 (99)
• Interceptions : 84 (94)
• Passing (general) : 80 (80)
• Dribbling (general) : 84 (89)

Suggested Chemistry Style : Guardian (Or for a more offensive build, Artist)

With the upgrades applied to the card due to Ajax advancing in the champions league, Tagliafico has pushed himself forwards to be one of the top players for a budget team. With 99 Stamina and 90 Pace, he will not slow down for 90 minutes, or even 120 minutes if you go to extra time. This is perfect for a more offensive style of play, and why he is first on my list.

Although he does play within a strange league for chemistry linking, he has a strong link to De Ligt, a fantastic Eredivisie Centre Back, who coincidentally links with Virgil Van Dijk, another player who made my top five budget players list for centre back. Therefore, it would be very simple to include both Tagliafico and De ligt into most squads.

88 FUT Future Stars Grimaldo (wing back)

Key Stats:

• Pace : 91 (91)
• Stamina : 93 (93)
• Interceptions : 91 (99)
• Passing (General) : 87 (87)
• Dribbling (General) : 89 (96)

Suggested chemistry style :Guardian (or for a more offensive build, Artist)

Boasting the most amount of stats for a left back within the budget we laid out, it would've been a crime not to include FFS Grimaldo. With Dribbling, Defending and Passing in the high 80's, and Pace in the 90's, he looks a truly incredible card to play an aggressive style of play. He also has 4* skills, allowing you to be skillful from wide, a powerful addition to a player who can successfully pull off skill moves consistently (in reference to the La Croqueta, which has become a key component of players games at a high level. This skill move is done by clicking LB/L1 and moving the analogue stick to the Left or Right)

Although being from Liga NOS which maybe difficult to link, Eder Militao (CB) who I have mentioned in another article is from the same league, and the Spanish nationality means it would not be too difficult to link to Centre Midfielders. I would even consider playing Grimaldo off chemistry, due to the fact he has such high base stats.

Alex Sandro (Traditional/Hybrid)

Key Stats:

• Pace : 85 (90)
• Stamina : 92 (92)
• Interceptions : 82 (87)
• Passing (General) : 77 (77)
• Dribbling (General) : 81 (81)
• Physical : 83 (88)

Suggested Chemistry Style : Anchor

I decided to class Alex Sandro as a hybrid between the two play styles for a number of reasons.

1. he has a H/H work rate.
2. He has all round great stats, including stamina, physical and pace.
3. Does Not lack in the passing and dribbling department like other players on this list.

I think Alex Sandro can do it all, although he definitely does edge towards a more defensive style, it's perfect for those teams who want a supportive element, but not an outright winger.

For chemistry links, the brazilian nationality makes it very easy for him to form part of a hybrid squad, at all budget ranges. For lower budgets, you have wingers such as Felipe Anderson and Douglas Costa, for mid tier budgets you have Neymar, and high end budgets he actually gets a strong link with Ronaldo due to them both playing for Juventus. So he literally can be a rock in your squad that you may never have to change.

85 CL Alex Telles (Traditional/Hybrid)

Key Stats:

• Pace : 86 (90)
• Stamina : 93 (93)
• Interceptions : 81 (86)
• Passing (General) : 84 (84)
• Dribbling (General) : 81 (81)
• Physical : 78 (82)

Suggested chemistry style : Anchor

Almost a carbon copy of Alex Sandro, Alex Telles is his Liga NOS doppelganger. I do believe Telles is slightly more offensive than Sandro, due to the higher passing but lower physical, and the H/M work rate compared to Sandro's H/H. I again categorise Alex Telles as a hybrid player, leaning more towards a traditional defender, due to his height, jumping and high defensive stats. All the things I stated about Alex Sandro also ring true for this Alex, and therefore there is a reason he is also featured heavily within lower budget teams.

For chemistry, he does play in the Liga NOS, which seems to be notoriously hard to link. However, he has a perfect link (nationality, club and league) with Eder Militao, the player I mention as the second best budget centre back. These two players can essentially be plugged into any starting line up with full chemistry, making them hugely versatile, if you change teams often.

84 CL Lucas Hernandez (Traditional)

Key Stats:

• Pace : 83 (95)
• Interceptions : 84 (94)
• Standing Tackle : 86 (91)
• Physical : 81 (81)

Suggested chemistry style : Shadow (or Anchor for a more physical player)

Our most defensive player on the list, Lucas Hernandez' further in forms actually change position to a centre back, which just shows how defensively sound he is. With most of his stats being focused in Pace, defending and Physical, he will basically be a third central defender. He also stands at 6ft tall, and has M/H work rates, meaning he will work way harder in defence than attack (a rarity in the modern game).

In terms of links, Lucas hernandez has almost the perfect setup, being French and in La Liga. He has a strong link to Varane, another top tier player, but also can be easily fit into a hybrid with french players. Overall, Hernandez would definitely be the easiest to link within this list.

Honorable Mentions

• 84 SIF Vieirinha - Although this card on paper has fantastic total stats, he is way more difficult to link due to his portuguese nationality and playing in the greek league, so this is why he didn't make the list.
• 88 Jordi Alba - Another fantastic card, I just couldn't find who I would replace on the list, he is an offensive player but isn't better than Grimaldo or Tagliafico, perfect if you are using a Barcelona focused squad.
• 84 IF Ghoulam - A player I am currently using, he is tall and has great all round stats. However, you basically have to use a Serie A squad, or Koulibaly at centre back, which is extremely limiting.