Creating an Atlanta United starting XI on FIFA 17

Someone pinch me, I must be dreaming. With the addition of Jacob Peterson and Greg Garza to Atlanta United, supporters of the club now have enough players to create a starting XI on FIFA 17.

Although the list of available players is short, we shouldn’t be picky about this. We’ve waited a long time to be able to play as a team that symbolically represents Atlanta United, and now we can.

Here are the twelve Atlanta United signees that are available on FIFA 17, as well as the clubs they can be found playing for in the game(as of December 24th):

Goalkeepers: Alec Kann - Sporting Kansas City

Defenders: Michael Parkhurst - Columbus Crew, Zach Loyd - FC Dallas, Mark Bloom - Toronto FC, Mikey Ambrose - Orlando City SC, Greg Garza - Club Tijuana

Midfielders: Chris McCann - Coventry City, Tito Villalba - Club Tijuana, Miguel Almiron - Lanus, Harrison Heath - Orlando City SC, Jeff Larentowicz - Los Angeles Galaxy, Jacob Peterson - Sporting Kansas City

Forwards: N/A

As you can see, there are no forwards currently signed to Atlanta United who are playable on FIFA 17. During their time on loan, Jeffrey Otoo, Kenwyne Jones and Romario Williams all played for clubs that are unavailable in FIFA 17. Brandon Vazquez spent most of last season with the Club Tijuana U-20 team, which is probably why he isn’t featured for their senior team on the game.

With the current crop of players available to us, here is the Starting XI I would go with:

Kann in goal is the obvious(and only) choice.

As for the backline, the only decision that has to be made is whether to start Garza or Ambrose at left back. Garza has a 69 rating, while Ambrose is 61. The choice for me is pretty simple. Parkhurst, Loyd and Bloom all start by default considering they currently don’t have anyone to compete with.

A 4-2-3-1 formation seemed proper with Heath and Larentowicz both listed as Central Defensive Midfielders on FIFA 17. McCann is just above the duo simply because he’s listed as a Central Midfielder in the game, though we’ll likely see him as a holding mid during the inaugural season. I put Almiron on the left because he’s had experience on the wing, while Peterson joins him on the right flank.

Since we don’t have any true forwards, I have Villalba up top. His pace can cause issues for any backline. Remember, he’s the seventh fastest player in the game.

Here are the eight Atlanta United signees that are currently unavailable in FIFA 17:

Goalkeepers: Alexandros Tambakis

Defenders: None

Midfielders: Andrew Carleton, Chris Goslin, Kevin Kratz

Forwards: Jeffrey Otoo, Kenwyne Jones, Brandon Vazquez, Romario Williams

You can create the Starting XI on FIFA Ultimate Team, but I just added the available players to Bournemouth(black and red stripes) and created a league with the 20 MLS clubs. I’ll continue to update the Starting XI as more players sign with the greatest club in the world.

Hey Atlanta United, all I want for Christmas is a forward that’s available on FIFA 17. The higher the rating, the better. Please and thank you.