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Reviews
92 - Icon
I've been trying a number of different Icon ST options for the past month (93 Van Basten, 92 Nistelrooy, 91 Trezeguet, 91 Kluivert, 91 Shevchenko, etc.) for review purposes, and the prime Lineker was definitely the most enjoyable and best lone ST option for a budget of 850,000 to 1.25 million coins in my opinion.
*I plan on writing reviews for the rest of the aforementioned icon STs within a week or so.
His shooting, particularly in close to mid-ranges and around the box, was remarkably accurate and saved me from numerous difficult matches. His trait of beating defensive line with 90 acceleration (without any chem boost) provided me with an ample amount of one-on-ones with GKs. He definitely is not a fancy dribbler or finesse shot master, but he is agile enough, strong enough, and fast enough for any formation or style of offense. While there may be better options with more coins, I strongly think that the prime Lineker stands to be the best option for anyone looking for an icon lone striker under 1.25 Mil.
- Pace: With 90 acceleration (which you can make it even higher with a chem boost), he felt extremely rapid in the game
- Shooting: This is by far the best attribute of this card. His offensive positioning, shooting, and finishing were incredible, and they make you realize why it may be worth investing ~ 1 million coins into a single position.
- 4 star WF: As much as I liked other icon ST options, their 3 star WF was really noticeable in the game. His 4 star WF felt as consistent and reliable as 5 star WF.
- Passing: I used Engine for his chem style to boost his passing #s after several matches. But even without any chem boost, his passing felt perfectly fine and assisted in almost every other game.
- Physical: 85 stamina with his H/L work rate was perfectly good enough for him to feel fresh for 90 mins. Despite his tendency to beat defense lines without having to out-muscle defenders, when needed, he felt stronger than 79 strength and was able to hold the ball until taking shots.
- Heading: I've decided to briefly mention about his heading, because it caught me by surprise. I was not expecting much heading effort from him due to his height (5'10") and 78 jumping. However, his superb offensive positioning frequently positioned him for open headers.
- Finesse shots: His shots pretty much do NOT bend. Due to 64 curve, even if I were to try, his shots were always straight. But this didn't seem to matter, because bent or not, his shots go into the net anyways. The fact that I prefer to take finesse shots with my wingers and CAM also made this almost unnoticeable.
- 3 star skills: This card would have been near perfect if it had 4 star skills. But with everything else in mind, 3 star skills are alright.
I was a bit skeptical about this card simply due to the fact that I almost never run into a team with him during the weekend league.
Well... this card has been probably one of the best icon strikers I've used so far. It has basically almost everything you want in your striker - excellent pace, shooting, offensive positioning, ball control & stamina. I strongly feel that my team's offensive productivity has been taken to another level with this card. This card is a very good buy at 1.1M. and is better than most, if not all, other icon striker options under 2M. I highly recommend you to try him out!!
- Excellent acceleration
- Accurate shooting
- Superb offensive positioning --> he just knows where to be at to score (probably due to his "poacher" specialty)
- Stamina --> good for 90 minutes
- ??? --> not sure what to call this, but when he bumps into other players while running or dribbling, I've noticed that the ball tends to stay with him or bounces back to him almost always. This really boosts his scoring ability especially when near or inside the box.
- Curve - his shots don't bend, but this doesn't seem to affect his scoring ability at all. And I am saying this as someone who loves and abuses finesse shots.
- 3 star skills - this card would have been perfect with 4 star skills, but that would probably make this card much more expensive.
Had the luck to pack him in a 100k pack during lightning round. My instant thought was to sell him, but since this is my first packed icon ever, wanted to try him for a bit first. Best thing I ever did. Played 10 division rivals and the results were amazing: 10 games, 22 goals and 3 assists. I play 4-1-2-1-2 with Jesus IF at CAM and Sturridge Flashback as the other striker. I play him with maestro chemistry style.
Pace
His 90 acceleration is very noticable, even in this fifa where pace isn't everything. You can give him a through pass and he will leave defenders in dust, especially in the first few meters.
Shooting
ABSOLUTELY insane. With maestro slapped on him, he has 98 shot power and 96 long shots. Just shoot it from distance, won't even have to finesse it neither do you need to time it. 1v1 on the keeper is no problem for him. With 95 finishing he puts it away for you
Passing
Not the best, but not the worst either. As a striker with get in behind instructions. I don't really pass with him a lot. Short passing with maestro is 93 and very noticable. Can easily give a nice pass inside the box
Dribbling
With 88 agility, 94 ball control and 95 dribbling this man is like..... I don't know man.... His dribbling is just insane, nuff said...
Defending
I don't defend with my striker... Though his 88 heading accuracy makes providing him with some nice crosses a very nice thing to do
Physicality
85 stamina is very nice. Only thing is that vs Van Dijk etc. he might get bounced away easily with his 79 strength
- Pace
- Shooting, shooting, shooting....
- Dribbling
- Strength against strong defenders
He's just really good.
- Pace: he is really quick and he make the right runs behind the defenders.
- Shooting: it's amazing overall.. He only has 64 curve but you don't notice because he smashes the ball through the net almost every single time.
- Stamina: 85 stamina says it all.
- Workates: with high/low workates you know he'll always be in position. Also, he has 92 reactions which is deadly inside the area.
- Price: you could not find a better icon striker for 1M.
- Passing: except for short passes he's pretty awful, don't except much from this point of view.
- Strong/Balance combo: I was expecting more since he has 79 on both. He gets pushed off from the ball really easily.
- Heading: he has a low elevation, 88 headers but he is short, so don't expect him to win headers. If he's not marked, he's awesome, but if he is, he's not going to win any headers.
lineker was my first ever icon, looking at stats he looked to be the best option for me after selling messi for being too lazy. He started off like a house on fire, scoring goals for fun, with hunter his pace is insane and with the tries to beat defensive line trait he makes insane runs in behind to make easy 1 on 1 chances. However, his shooting is so rendom, his shots are usually like cannons, finding the corner and devestating however on some occasions (especially low driven shots) he scuffs the ball so badly the ball goes miles wide, it makes no sense how such a monster can go from so good to so bad, ive played 191 games with him, all online and hes scored 227 goals so hes definitely a game changer, i just wish his shooting was more consistent, if it was hed be the best striker on the game and i cant even think how many goals he would have scored for me
his dribbling is good enough, he has good control of the ball. his passing is nothing to shout about, in fact apart from his short pass hes pretty useless, however he still has 99 assists in 191 online games so its no real issue. dont expect him to be winning many headers, he does seem to be incapeable of getting off the floor however on the rare occasion when he does actually head the ball he will be scoring it. his finesse shots because of his poor curve arent really too great but he can still score a good few, but i prefer just to use him as brute shot power and finishing.
pace
runs in behind
finishing
weak foot feels like 5 star
mediocre passing
cant win many headers
sometimes scuffs shots