Goal caught up with Hashtag United's Harry Hesketh to look over his ridiculously good Ultimate Team squad on FIFA 19.
Hashtag Harry plays a 4-2-3-1 with a near-perfect attacking force of both Ronaldo's, Lionel Messi and Johan Cruyff - here he lets us in on a few of the secrets to his success!
So your team is one of the best currently available in the game. Who is your most expensive player and are they worth the price tag?
So my most expensive player is actually my first purchase ever this year which shows how long I was opening packs for. I think I got prime R9 for about 5.1 million coins in the second week of the game but I think he's worth over 7 million now.
He's definitely worth it, one of the first three players I bought. I wanted three players, a striker a centre-midfielder and a centre-back to build around so I bought R9, Ramos and Gullit. With Gullit as well, because he was so key in my team we made sure we splashed half of our budget on him in the Gfinity Elite Series draft through my recommendation.
Who, then, is the MVP of your squad, the one player who pulls you through to wins again and again?
Probably Gullit because can run a game from start to finish if your opponent lets him. Even if your opponent targets him he'll do it anyway.
Is there any player who let you down this year or wasn't as good as you were hoping?
I would probably say prime Laurent Blanc because I had him before Maldini on previous FIFAs. He was usually my go-to centre-back but he wasn't that good this year at all. He wasn't as good in the air as Ramos, he didn't seem as quick as Maldini. He's not as special as he used to be.
On the other hand, is there any player who was way better than you thought and completely exceeded your expectations?
I would probably say Messi. I really liked him last year while a lot of people didn't but I think more are beginning to take more notice of him this year. His turning and especially his finesse shots are ridiculous, even if people move the keeper. I don't think he's even had an inform yet, hopefully he'll get a Team of the Year card and that'll definitely be in my team.
A lot of people this year have said that Messi feels better. Is that purely because of how strong finesse shots are?
I'm not sure to be honest because with most players if you time a finesse it will still go in. I think it's more things like drag backs and, for me, his powershot is better than anyone else on my team by far.
Of course your team is already stacked, but is there anybody else you have your eye on?
I want to upgrade Cruyff to prime Cruyff if that counts? Because of the players on the team, the likes of Messi, Ronaldo, Marcelo and Ramos always get a Team of the Year so it's just a case of upgrading each of them. That's why I haven't really replaced Ramos yet even though I could with an Icon, because I know he'll probably come back into the team when he gets a blue card.
As your team is so expensive, are there any cheaper, more affordable players you've tried this year that you would recommend?
Yeah I'd say Mousa Dembele and Riyad Mahrez, especially Mahrez at centre attacking mid. He's literally nearly as good as Messi, that's how good he is.
With your 4-2-3-1, have you played around and experimented much with tactics at all? What's been working for you?
Weirdly for the first month I tried so many combinations: press after possession loss, fast build-up, drop back etc. I ended up settling on balanced/balanced. I think that's the way to start the game and then if the game feels too slow or you aren't getting anywhere [you can change]. I would say don't delve too far away from having more than two formations.
I usually, have 4-2-3-1 and 4-1-2-1-2 and if the game is going slow I'll put on press after possession loss and fast build-up but I tend to stay on balanced/balanced for most of the game. I also have the two extremes of ultra offensive and defensive for the last few minutes if I'm winning or losing where I'll go 4-2-4 or 5-4-1.
You can catch Hashtag Harry in action every Friday in the Gfinity Elite Series via www.gfinityesports.com.
