Wesley TOTW Player Review - FIFA 20

One of the better things about making it back up to the Premier League is the relevancy our players have within FIFA Ultimate Team. The Premier League is one of the easiest leagues to link players up in and honestly EA has a bit of a bias towards the Prem. This bias often leads to higher base ratings on cards and more in-forms. Wesley was able to take advantage of this, earning his spot in the Team of the Week by virtue of his performance against Norwich when he scored 2 goals and contributed an assist.

Wesley’s base card sports a 79 Overall and some decent face stats; however, the card doesn’t hold up within higher tier modes like Weekend League. The Team of the Week version of Big Wes is much more appealing on the face stats with a 3-point upgrade overall and an additional 20 points of face stats. One of the worst aspects of the standard gold Wesley was his inconsistency in finishing combined with his low passing ratings. This was especially frustrating due to the role which Wesley will likely play on your team, either he’ll be a Target man who you’ll expect to dictate the offense or a talisman who stays up top to put in the goals. His regular ratings are not conducive to either playstyle, his special card however remedies one of these issues.

Wesley’s TOTW boasts an increase to the face card shooting stat of 5 points, which is a world of difference. This makes the Brazilian a capable finisher and a card that is capable of beating upper-mid tier keepers like Kepa or Cillessen. Wesley still has limits to his finishing and is still better suited to poaching goals or holding the man off with his 97 rated strength stat. But, unlike many forwards in the game, he is fully capable in leading the line by himself. Using Wesley as a target man though is still not effective. Players like Harry Kane have been instrumental in my success in Weekend League: over 30 games he had 48 goal contributions, 7 Hat Tricks, and I won 22 games. Kane acts as a fantastic Target Man, within the same team in the same role Wesley couldn’t get the job done.

Wesley’s 72 rated passing simply holds the card back. The Brazilian doesn’t get passes out as quickly as he would need to, and his long passing is incredibly inconsistent. This means that when the striker drops deep to collect the ball, if he is under any pressure the only way to reliably move the ball forward is to abuse his strength stat. However, this also can be a bit suspect due to the incredibly low dribbling stats of 55 Agility and 46 Balance. This essentially means that the card can’t really turn around or make a man miss. This brings up the strategy of using the player as a poacher, if you can give Wesley service in the box he’ll produce. The shooting stats are high enough and the Strength stat ensures that he’ll make his mark inside the area.

Wesley’s biggest obstacle to high level play this year has absolutely nothing to do with the card however. This year along with the emphasis for possession among high level play, the power of the header has been dramatically decreased. Even with high level players with good stats for heading the ball, probability of a successful header is about 1 in 20 at best. Last year Wesley’s card would have had me salivating, FIFA 19 had some of the best heading I’ve experienced, and Wesley’s card would have been perfect. This year though Wesley’s Jumping, Hight, and Heading Accuracy is nearly worthless.

If the meta ever changes or if Heading is patched, then Wesley is a must buy. As of right now though there are better options for your 15k coins for similar roles or divesting into different players. Wesley is a fantastic budget option for SBC fodder though and if you want to make a cheap Premier League/Brazil Hybrid squad he can fill a role as well. Wesley’s inform is an improvement on the standard but still leaves much to be desired, certainly if and when the Brazilian can pick up another Special card it will be a monster in the box.