Sergio Aguero Antoine Griezmann Jordan Pickford 2018Getty/Goal

FIFA 19 Ultimate Team: Aguero, Griezmann & Pickford in as Spencer Owen reveals his squad

Raising money and awareness for the Movember Foundation, Spencer Owen has been playing and watching football every day for 30 days with his '30 games in 30 days' challenge. 

The Hashtag United owner and FIFA 19 YouTuber has been focusing his efforts on the pitch this month but has still managed to build an excellent team in FIFA 19 Ultimate Team.

Goal caught up with Owen to break down his team and find out which players he recommends.

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Walk us through your Ultimate Team squad, what formation do you play and who's in there?

"I have a FUT Champions reward, in-form Jordan Pickford in goal. I decided to sell David de Gea to get those coins back and invest in the rest of my team. I also think it gives you a bit of a mental edge, when you go to play Weekend League, if someone sees you have a Weekend League reward in your team. They'll be like: 'Oh my God he plays Weekend League a lot he must be good!'

"What I try to do over the years, I'm a bit of a sucker for these SBCs, so I slowly try to make as much of my team as possible untradeable. That way, any coins I have can go into the spaces into the team that need them as opposed to spending across 11 players.

"I got Ferdinand in a SBC which cost a lot but I hoard players I've had since the game came out. My transfer list was full with players as I knew there would be a few Icon SBCs I wanted to do. So, in the end Rio only cost me around 400-500k coins because I had all those players ready to go.

"In midfield I did have Mousa Dembele until recently I packed Fabinho and I know a lot of people have been using him. I stuck Fabinho in and I've been really enjoying using him.

"Like many, I start with a different formation to improve the chemistry. I go into a game with a 4-2-2-2, Griezmann is in front of Hernandez because they have the same club and nationality, that's why I have him as left-back. I also have Kante up front [below is the formation Spencer plays once changed]."

Spencer Owen FUT

"All of my bench are untradeable because I don't see any point in spending coins on subs so I have the likes of FUT Champions reward Di Maria as my impact subs."

What was the idea behind your team and how did you start building it?

"When I started the game I did a few drafts so I can play with the best players and suss out which ones I liked. You get all these loans if you've played over the years in the EA catalogue so Paulo Dybala, Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo all on loan. Some people save them for Weekend League which I probably should have done but I tried them out in Rivals.

"The one who did the best for me was Griezmann so I was keen to get him involved. But I couldn't find a way to incorporate him into what I believed would be a predominantly Premier League team because I have the strong connection to the players.

"Then I just went through players I packed. I had Eric Bailly and Georginio Wijnaldum at first. I actually packed Aguero which I was very happy with. What really changed it was when I did the Champions League SBCs, that was how I got Hernandez which was perfect so after I had him I went and splashed the cash on the rest of my team.

"Also from the draft I realised that Kante is an absolute god in this game. If you can't afford Gullit or Vieira, you can't do any better than Kante. I had Cesar Azpilicueta for a while, who's a friend of mine. I always try to play with players I know but unfortunately for him I think in FIFA 19 height is really important at the back."

Who's your most expensive player and are they worth the price tag?

"My most expensive player is normal Kevin De Bruyne. I brought him in and he basically got me Elite on FUT Weekend League on his own. He's an absolute joke of a player. He cost just under 400,000 coins and he's been fantastic for me."

Who do you want to sign for your Ultimate Team Squad next?

"I'm eyeing up Lionel Messi, I really want to get him in. Griezmann is my favourite, he's so good I feel like I should get in Messi because he's basically a better version of Griezmann in terms of physique and stats so if I want to get both of them into my team I probably need to get another Icon.

"Patrick Vieira would be the dream but he's very expensive so I'll probably go for Michael Ballack in Fabinho's position and then I'll put Aguero out wide, drop Aubameyang with Messi in the middle and Griezmann on the left. That's the plan but I'm a few coins off being able to do that yet."

Are there any players who have disappointed you or weren't as good as you hoped?

"I wouldn't say any player has disappointed me too much, I didn't get on amazingly with Ronaldo but that was probably because of the squad I had him playing in - there's no doubt of his quality in the game.

"De Bruyne isn't for everyone but in my formation, he's lethal. His five-star weak foot is so important with how overpowered finesse shots appear to be in this game. If you can score those from either side then it's pretty dangerous."

On the flip side then, are there any players who completely exceeded your expectations in-game this year so far?

"My in-form Pickford has been pretty good so far considering he's 85 rated and De Gea is 91. I'm quite happy with him, he's made some big saves.

"I've really liked both Fabinho and Dembele. And, although I don't play with him now, someone I really enjoyed playing with was Wijnaldum. He's not expensive at all, you can get him for a couple of thousand coins, and he can do everything in the centre-midfield spot.

"He has pace, he can shoot, he can pass but he can defend as well. You can play him as CDM or further forward. He's a top tip for a cheap squad, he was my biggest surprise. I'd lump in Jamie Vardy with him, too. Off the bench Vardy has been really good for me.

"And, although the SBC is gone now, the Player of the Month Lucas one was really cheap to do and he's a really good super-sub."

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