Earning good match ratings | The Journey FIFA 17 Guide

Last update: 17 October 2016

Having good match ratings is crucial for the development of your character. In the best clubs managers expect from you ratings of at least 8.5 or 7.5. These are not easy to earn, especially if you only get about 15 minutes of play time from the coach. The most efficient way to raise your assessment is by scoring goals and assists, but good passes, dribbling or shot attempts can also grant you some points . On the other hand, losing the ball, inaccurate passes, poor shots, fouls and cards will lower your rating.

Play as the team, or as Hunter ?

You choose the way the games are conducted at the beginning of your career, however, this choice is not final. Before each match the game gives you the ability to change your previous decision. Therefore, you can switch between the options and choose the one which provides you with a better experience.

It is much easier to play with the whole team, because then you have control over all of the players and the whole team can focus their efforts on aiding Hunter. This makes it so that you are not as dependent on the form of your partners, who can fail to use your passes and the chances you provide them with.

Tips

Focus on Hunter

If you play with the entire team, you can consider getting Alex to score goals or assists as more important than winning the actual game. The matches which the manager tells you to win are obvious exceptions from this rule. Besides that, you can safely reduce the number of goals scored by players other than Hunter.

Do not, however, pass every possible ball to him. Conduct plays calmly, from your side of the pitch, without paying much attention to your star player. Only when you are in front of the enemy goal should you search for Hunter. You can see a symbol over his position on the field. This way you know where he is at all times. Create favourable situations for him, and even if you're looking at an empty goal, look for a pass to the young Englishman. Points can also be gained through assists. It does not really matter whether your colleague scores on an empty goal, or you simply pass the ball to him and he scores a beautiful goal from 30 meters away.

Playing as Alex

If you play the whole match as Hunter, you can ask your teammates to pass the ball to you or suggest that they should try to score. To this end, use the basic control buttons. Use the ground pass button to ask for a ground pass from a teammate, you can use the perpendicular pass and the cross buttons in the same fashion. By using the shot, you will suggest that your colleague should try to score.

Be careful not to use this too often. Teammates will always execute your commands, regardless of the chances of success. If you request a pass while Alex is marked, the pass will be intercepted and you rating will be lowered due to the untimely request.

Use sprint cautiously. When you play as the entire team it is easy to get used to pushing the sprint button most of the time, which will exhaust Hunter in a matter of minutes. Please note that if you are using a console pad the sticks responsible for the sprint are analogue, which means that depending on how they are pressed, your player will run faster or slower.

Respect possession

Do not try to perform difficult and risky passes with Hunter, if you do not have a chance to gain an assist. Even if your pass will be crucial in the play and your team will score on it, you will not get as high of a rating than for scoring from a meter into an empty goal. In the middle of the field you should focus primarily on accuracy. You can simply play short passes to the teammates behind you. You should only risk the loss of the ball in front of the enemy goal if your teammate is entering a good position and you have a chance to gain an assist.

Playing on the defensive

Aggression when in defence should be minimized. Nothing stands in the way of pressing your opponents or attempting to intercept passes, but make sure to use the traditional ground tackle as rarely as possible and you should never perform slide tackles. Bonuses for regaining the ball on the attacking positions are minimal, and the risk of fouling or receiving a card is simply not worth taking.

Changing the settings

Change the match length in the settings to a longer one. Especially in the initial phase of the game, when you will be sitting on the bench a lot of the time. It is really hard to please the manager with a goal if you only play for 15 minutes of the match time, while the length of the entire game is on the lowest possible setting.