How EA Sports determined Thomas Müller’s rating on FIFA 23

FIFA 23 is coming out this month and many gamers are looking forward to the release of the last ever FIFA game between Electronic Arts (EA) and FIFA, who will end their partnership; the football games that EA will be creating beyond FIFA 23 will be known as “EA Sports FC”. The ratings of the top player have already been leaked, which included Bayern Munich’s squad ratings and there were some interesting ratings for the Rekordmeister.

Thomas Müller (and basically the whole Bayern team) has drawn the short straw a lot when it comes to EA Sports, who gave the Raumdeuter a rating of 87. The legendary Bavarian sits fourth on the list of highest rated Bundesliga players, behind fellow Bayern players Manuel Neuer (90 rated), Sadio Mané (89), and Joshua Kimmich (89).

Müller got the same rating from the last edition of FIFA and has maintained that rating since FIFA 21, when he went up from 86 to 87 following Bayern’s treble-winning season.

Photo by Alex Grimm/Getty Images

The way EA determines player ratings is thus: a group of 9000 (!) data reviewers that includes professional scouts and coaches decide the rating, while season-ticket holders who regularly attend games provide feedback. Müller’s case, however, is a different one. Apparently, the reason why EA gives Müller the same rating is because it’s hard to pinpoint something that he’s good at.

The aptly named man who collects and verifies data for EA Sports, Michael Mueller-Moehring, explained why.

“A case is Thomas Muller, who isn’t good at anything, really, apart from his positioning.” he told ESPN (via Sport Bible). “He always finds the right spot on the pitch, it’s amazing. But he’s not a great dribbler and he can’t really strike the ball properly — his finishing is sometimes really, really off. Shot power is not his strength as well. So if you rate Thomas Muller properly, he ends up with a rating that we say doesn’t make sense. It’s too low.”

What do you think? Is Müller rated correctly or have EA undercooked him once again? What rating would you give him? Let us know in the comments!