[Discussion] Customized Ratings & Opinions: Top 10 Strikers in FM18

[Rose Suburban]

Typically, FM17 ratings for players were pretty much spot-on and allowed the algorithm to simulate real life-like outcomes for most leagues, usually. But with every winter update even they rethink some players, e.g. Eric Bailly started off as a modest 145/159 (CA/PA) virtual unknown in the November release but blew up into a 150/165 potential world beater in the latest DB. Same applies to 2016/17 stalwarts Van Dijk and Belotti. So my question is: who do you guys think will be the top 10 strikers in FM18 according to their attributes alone, and what custom rating (CA/PA) would you give each one of them, 1 to 10, in descending order? I would like to see how your own scouting differs from mine and how far apart our opinions are from those of the developers.
E.g.
Top 10
1. R. Lewandowski 186/186
2. L. Suárez 185/190 (highest potential)
3. S. Agüero 179/185
4. G. Higuaín 179/179
5. A. Griezmann 177/182
6. P. Aubameyang 171/171
7. H. Kane 170/178 (ask Antonio Conte)
8. D. Costa 169/173
9. K. Benzema 168/175
10. R. Lukaku 163/172

 

[CataDiaz12]

1. R. Lewandowski
2. L. Suárez
3. Higuain
4. Griezmann
5. Aubameyang
6. Ibrahimovic
7. Aguero
8. Benzema
9. Kane
10. Falcao

 

[Rose Suburban]

1. R. Lewandowski
2. L. Suárez
3. Higuain
4. Griezmann
5. Aubameyang
6. Ibrahimovic
7. Aguero
8. Benzema
9. Kane
10. Falcao

Hmm. Interesting that you have Ibra ahead of Aguero and Kane. Waiting anxiously to see how good he will be at 36, behind an up-coming world beater & post-injury. He's not human so will probably be just fine. Very good list, glad to see Aubameyang — who I feel the developers criminally underrate & who also couldn't find a top club to pay his worth this crazy summer — in the top 5.

 

[Edd1920]

It's interesting to compare those lists with the top European goalscorers from the 2016/2017 season which surely be given some weight when deciding CA/PA:

Messi - 34 goals in 37
Cavani - 35 in 36
Dost - 31 in 34
Aubameyang - 31 in 32
Lewandowski - 30 in 33
Kane - 29 in 30
Suarez - 29 in 35
Dzeko - 29 in 37

And that's a list without Dybala, Neymar (stiker?), Morata, Belotti, Icardi, Mbappe and probably a number of others I can't think of off the top of my head.

 

[Rose Suburban]

It's interesting to compare those lists with the top European goalscorers from the 2016/2017 season which surely be given some weight when deciding CA/PA:

Messi - 34 goals in 37
Cavani - 35 in 36
Dost - 31 in 34
Aubameyang - 31 in 32
Lewandowski - 30 in 33
Kane - 29 in 30
Suarez - 29 in 35
Dzeko - 29 in 37

And that's a list without Dybala, Neymar (stiker?), Morata, Belotti, Icardi, Mbappe and probably a number of others I can't think of off the top of my head.

Dost is such a wildcard. He could be rated anywhere from elite-ish to decent to mediocre. 31 in 34 in Liga NOS is impressive (ridiculous, really) but it seems more like a step down for the former Bundesliga man rather than a rebirth. Still, that's ludicrous finishing. Belotti is interesting considering he has only had one (and a half?) prolific seasons — but has shown enough to draw comparisons to Christian Vieri, Gianluca Vialli and, in my opinion, the throwback no.9 I expected Cavani to become but didn't. Up-and-coming finishers like Icardi, Dybala and Morata will virtually have the same stats as FM17 I think, since they were quite highly rated in that. Perhaps slight improvements. In reality, world football ranks Mbappe as perhaps the best U-21 player in football even with such a small sample size; but FM18 will likely be so thorough with the scouting that they'd be unwilling to commit him to such a high potential (190+) and will possibly place him in the -95 bracket (anywhere from 160 to 190) with Ousmane Dembele, Martial and Asensio.