Player Review: TOTY De Jong vs TOTY TAA

Hey folks,

First of all sorry for the inactivity, I had to focus a bit on the outside life. However, we’re back now with another head-to-head review for you guys. This time I’m taking a look at TOTY Frenkie De Jong and TOTY Trent Alexander-Arnold. I had been waiting for a potential Frenkie TOTY card this whole FIFA and was ecstatic when he did get one. I 100% had to try him and put him up for a vote. You guys voted on Mané though so I had to postpone my personal favorite. I wasn’t looking forward to TAA that much, but in the end his card looked amazing and I found a good role for him so I decided to slot him in as well.

Review

I played both these guys as my CDM beside Prime Essien and as my RM, 10 matches with both on each position. When the game was released I preferred the 433(5) formation, and I envisioned Frenkie playing CDM behind Gullit and Zidane at CM. However, the game changed and I found the 352 to be a more effective formation. Luckily both of these guys can easily play either position, but both were significantly better at CDM. They are great at RM, but as CDM they’re just much, much better.

TOTY Frenkie

• Positions played: RM and CDM in 352
• Chemistry Style: Engine as RM and Anchor as CDM
• Games Played: 20
• Goals/Assists: 3/7
• Game mode: Rivals

TOTY TAA

• Positions played: RM and CDM in 352
• Chemistry Style: Engine as RM and Anchor as CDM
• Games Played: 20
• Goals/Assists: 0/9
• Game mode: Rivals

Squads used in

Shooting & Passing 

As you can see I didn’t manage to score that many goals with these guys, but I hardly ever do with my CDM’s or RM’s. Frenkie managed to get 3 goals, but those were the results of me being a real life fan of his forward dribbling and trying to recreate it in game. I pulled it a bit further though, seeing how he in real life doesn’t usually finish his solo’s with a shot on target, but with a pass. He has the shooting stats to actually score though, and I don’t think I took on many more shots than the 3 that resulted in his goals. TAA didn’t get into a scoring position for me so I can’t really rate his shooting, but from what I’ve heard and looking at his stats, he should be more than adequate

On to their passing: here I can review Trent and let me tell you that boy can pass. 97 passing almost doesn’t feel like it’s enough. I can’t recall him misplacing a single pass and more often that not he pulled off risky through balls that I have yet to recreate with KDB TOTY. I almost dare to call him the best passer I have used this FIFA. Frenkie doesn’t come far behind though. He almost always finds his target, but the key difference between these guys is their weak foot. Where Frenkie’s WF feels almost like a 4*, TAA’s feels like a 5*.

• Frenkie’s Shooting: 8.1/10
• TAA’s Shooting: N/A
• Frenkie’s Passing: 9.5/10
• TAA’s Passing: 9.9/10

Pace & Dribbling

How De Jong only has 88 baffles me; he is so rapid in real life. I’ve seen a video of him completely smoking Ousmane Dembélé during practice. However, with the extra +5 pace from Engine and Anchor he feels more than fast enough. He is able to keep up when playing as RM and he is able to be back in time to defend when playing CDM. The same goes for TAA. He feels a bit faster than De Jong, which shouldn’t come as a surprise since he has better stats.

Just as De Jong’s pace doesn’t reflect his real life pace, neither does his dribbling. This is one of those players that is so hard to translate in game and sadly they didn’t get it right. I remember him versus Real Madrid when he pulled off La Croquetta between Modric and I believe it was Vinicius with such finesse. Try the same skill with him in game and he just doesn’t feel as smooth. Luckily he has 4* skills which for me is important, and as a CDM he has all the dribbling I needed. TAA doesn’t have 4* skills, but his stats are also more than enough. He is slightly better at “crabwalking” than De Jong which I find useful while defending.

• Frenkie’s Pace: 8.6/10
• TAA’s Pace: 8.9/10
• Frenkie’s Dribbling: 8.9/10
• TAA’s Dribbling: 8.5/10

Physical and Defending

This is where TAA takes charge. I recently called Prime Essien the best CDM I used this year, but I wasn’t entirely honest. TAA beats him, I just didn’t want to give away any spoilers. Give him a try as a CDM; you’ll love it. His defending is great, and combine that with his dribbling and passing and you have everything you need from a CDM. I absolutely loved him. I also loved Frenkie, but not for the same reasons. His defending is not as good as TAA’s, but he has one thing that makes him stand out over TAA and that is his legs. I don’t know what it is, but it feels like they extend when he’s going for the interception. I thought it was due to the height difference, but I just checked and they’re the same height, so… yeah.

When it comes to physical, both are great. They don’t get tired running up and down the pitch. They have the right amount of aggression for a CDM. Frenkie wins on Jumping and Strength, though, which you really notice in game. Especially his power on the ball. TAA would sometimes get pushed off, but not Frenkie, he’s like a rock.

• Frenkie’s Physical: 8.8/10
• TAA’s Physical: 8.4/10
• Frenkie’s Defending: 9.3/10
• TAA’s Defending: 9.7

Frenkie’s Rating: 9.5/10

I love him, both in real life and in game. If only he had a real face though, that would finish this card. I had such high hopes for this card and he truely lived up to them. I enjoyed every minute he was on the pitch and I can’t wait till I’m going to try TOTY Messi, because he’ll 100% be in the team for the links.

TAA’s Rating: 9.7/10

What a card, I don’t have much real life affiliation with him, but I have a lot of it in game. I am using him now again in my new team as a RB and it is a joy to relive everything I’ve written here. So a little extra tip: he is also good as RB (shocker). In the end, however, I found him a little more effective than Frenkie, so that’s why he gets the win.

Value for coins:

Frenkie currently sits at ~1.8m and TAA at ~1m and I say in both cases: worth it. Every penny you spend on these guys you feel in game. Especially TAA is a steal at ~1m if you manage to get him to CDM in game. Unbelievably good cards for their price. Besides that they both have strong links to other great cards and I recommend everyone to at least try them.

I really enjoy writing these head to head reviews and I’ll try to write more in the future,

YourAverageFuttie

FIFA 20 Reviews