September is nearly over, so it’s time to discuss some POTMs. We’re starting with La Liga as they usually post their nominees without counting last match day. We’ll see how they’ll do it this year, but FYI – I’m writing it before last match day, that’s why some stats may be better (or worse) for some players.
This month in La Liga was interesting. Some great results, but main highlight, of course – Real Madrid with 3 wins out of 3 games, all of them are high scoring ones and it’s really fun to watch them right now. They scored 14 goals over 3 games and I’ll have at least 2 players from Real in my predictions.
Which other teams had a good month… Atletico Madrid, Rayo Vallecano, Real Sociedad and Real Betis had same results this month: 2 wins and 1 draw in 3 games. Rayo is the surprise of the start of the season, Falcao went there and already scored 2 goals, like in a good old times. One of the most interesting teams in La Liga right now under the management of ex-Athletic play Andoni Iraola.
Sociedad and Betis are my teams to watch this season. Won’t be surprised if they’ll pass Barcelona in table and we’ll have someone new in UCL next year. All of those teams will have a nominee in this article.
Atletico Madrid – I prefer not to speak, really. Hard to watch this squad, even with a lot of talent in attack – it just doesn’t work for me. Despite good results – I won’t have a player from them, but if anyone will get nominated – it should be Suarez or Carrasco.
So, let’s start with 5 players that I’ll nominate, but won’t win, because in my eyes the winner is clear.
First one I have Rayo Vallecano player – I wanted to include Falcao, but apparently he’s not in the game, so I went with Ismaila Ciss or Oscar Trejo. Both were important in their games. Ciss has 1 goal and 1 assist to his name, Trejo 1 pen goal. Both not that good, but wanted to show appreciation for Rayo’s September. If they’ll win – they’ll be really cheap 82-84 cards and wouldn’t worth a lot, even in the start of FUT.
Next in line I have Betis player – Guido Rodriguez. Defensive Midfielder had a good month. Not only Betis played well – Guido is one of the main players in that team, but also Rodriguez got 2 assists in a win over Granada and got a nice marks from Marca and other sites. If he’ll win – he’ll be 84 rated card with some nice defensive stats. I think he’ll worth around 40k or so. Should be less, of course, but I dunno, they usually don’t price POTMs well enough in my opinion.
Aritz Elustondo is my pick from Real Sociedad. Defender had nice month. He got 1 assist, 2 cs in 3 games and also scored 2 goals in 3-2 win over Granada. Sadly his base card isn’t really good, but with few upgrades (maybe he’ll get IF too) he might be decent. I don’t think he has a chance for POTM, but would be decent card with 84 or 86 rating (depends on getting IF or not). Wouldn’t worth more than 60k in my opinion. Again – I may overprice some of these cards, but as I’ve said – POTMs at the start are hard to predict in terms of prices.
I nearly forgot to mention Santi Mina with 2 goals and 2 assists this month, but Celta didn’t have a good enough month in my opinion: 2 losses and 1 win. Santi Mina had 2 assists vs Levante in their 2-0 win, 1 goal in 2-1 loss vs Cadiz, 1 goal in 5-2 loss over Real Madrid. So, if he’ll somehow manage to win it – he’ll get 84 rated card with some decent stats. Still should be a very cheap card.
First candidate from Real Madrid is Vinicius Jr. Vini had a very bright start to this season. 2 goals and 2 assists in 3 games, overall Vini playing for fun, he looks confident and already scored more than during last season. He already got 1 IF and it costs a lot. His POTM would be insane level card at the start of the season. He’d be 86 rated card with very good stats. He’d be worth around… Let’s say 400-500k. I think it might be even more, but fodder is pretty cheap right now. First POTM is good because of that – fodder is cheap. I’d love Vini card, but we have to move to one main guy.
And the main candidate is: Karim Benzema from Real Madrid. Real won 5-2, 2-1 and 6-1. Let’s name Benzema contribution: 3 goals and assist vs Celta in 5-2 win, 1 goal and 1 assist in a comeback vs Valencia, 2 goals and 2 assists vs Mallorca in 6-1 win. Ergh… Honestly – insane numbers. I know that it’s record breaking numbers and he got 10 contributions in 3 games. He’s clearly going to win it.
Chances of POTM: 99,9%
Let’s talk about investing: I’m nearly sure that they won’t require any Benzema cards. They’ll require a fodder. A lot of it and maybe some IFs.
What about his price? His NIF is around 20k or so. His IF will be around 120-150k, right? Around that. So his POTM will be between 200k-300k. I think so. Maybe, just maybe. If they’ll price it correctly – he’ll be less. But I just go by logic of last few years.
I think the start of La Liga is exciting, I honestly think that there are 4 candidates for a title this season and it’s interesting to see some teams evolve as long-term leaders of those squads are leaving (Ramos, Messi, for example). Maybe Atletico will win 2nd title in a row, maybe Sevilla will improve on last year’s result. It’ll be very exciting season.