Player Review
91 - Icon
I've been buying, selling, and testing a number of different icon ST options (93 Van Basten, 91 Lineker, 91 Trezeguet, 91 Shevchenko, etc.) with a budget of 1.25 Million coins.
As someone who really appreciates a fast & strong striker, I expected a lot from the prime Kluivert. While he definitely felt fast enough and extremely strong in the game, he also felt oddly sluggish. To elaborate a bit more on this, he can run straight pretty fast without the ball, but with the ball - especially when involving some lateral movements, his movements seemed a bit awkward and sluggish. His shooting was obviously better than all of the non-icon strikers that I've used so far, but in comparison to other icon STs, it did not stand out due to a small degree of inconsistency. I had several occasions where I missed relatively easy low-driven shots that I would have scored with other icon ST options. And because of his sluggish movements, it was harder to get him to shoot as well. I definitely realize that a lot of different factors could have contributed to this (my own skills, playing tendencies, formation, etc.) and want people to read this review with a grain of salt. Having said that, I personally would NOT recommend spending 1.25-1.3 million coins in buying 91 Kluivert as there are many alternative options with much better cost-effectiveness.
- Strength: I don't remember a CB I wasn't able to out-muscle or run away from with the prime Kluivert.
- Heading: Many of my goals with him were from some great headers. His heading was definitely great.
- Pace: Despite feeling sluggish at times, for a 6'2" ST, he felt fast enough in the game.
- Shooting: Except a few occasions when he surprisingly missed low-driven shots, his shooting was otherwise great.
- Passing: His passing #s are very good for a striker, and this showed in the game. Although he only recorded two assists in 15 games, this number does not reflect how reliable and good he was at passing.
- Movement: As stated above, he felt noticeably sluggish. This unfortunately downplays his otherwise great pace too.
- Stamina: Despite his H/L workrate, I often felt tempted to substitute him out past 75th minutes. In many games, he somewhat disappeared after 75th minutes.
- Low-driven shots: While I understand low-driven shots are not as effect as it used to be, he displayed a bit of inconsistency in this area that I did not experience with other icon STs.