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This is the best card (midfielder) i have ever used , he is amazing. if you have the tokens for icons swap i would highly recommend. this card is about 10x better than Kante. He wins everything. i use him in a two cdm formation with Prime Roy Keane. He bully's people off the ball , he's super quick and he has insane passing. there are no cons with this card , and he can also rip a long shot.
pace
long shots
dribling
agility
stamina
positioning
strength
agility
everything else you can think of
This guy has it all. I've used 86 and 88 Vieira, 85 Blanc, 91 Zidane, but Essien offers such a well rounded game compared to any of these.
Strength
Pace
Passing
Long shots
Aggression
Maybe no 4* but he doesn't need them
Well, after grinding so hard and feeling like I lost about 6 years of my life due to a combination of stress and what I can only describe as an 'almost heart attack', I finally had enough swap cards to redeem Prime Essien! OH BOY!!!!!
After playing 30 FUT Champs games with this card, I'm left EXTREMELY pleased with my Icon Swaps choice. I normally finish between Gold 1 and Elite 3 and am a Div 2 Rivals player.
First off, this guy is 100% a duplicate Kante (And I don't mean that in an Andre Mariner confusing The Ox and Kieran Gibbs cos they're both black sort of way). He's like Kante with sonic shoes! Ironically I have them both in midfield and yeah, they're an unstoppable pair!
What I love about Essien is he's just everywhere in midfield. He's strong, aggressive and quick.
He does tend to press very high sometimes, and there has been the odd occasion where my striker has turned around to find Essien standing right next to him, begging my winger to cross in the ball so he can smash a volley.
His high/high work rates aren't bad though. He's got a good shot on him and he's already scored a good number of goals for me.
His passing is good, but like...I DID have Prime Keane in his place, and I do notice a difference between him and Keane when it comes to long passing. Like, the amount of times Keane would slide the PERFECT ball through a crowded midfield to Messi who was making a good run down the wing.
Essien is also capable of this, but just not as graceful. He does tend to fluff a couple, but nothing where I've thought I needed Keane back in.
He does have 22 assist for me, so that at least show's he's finding the right player in the right place more often than not.
All in all I'm really happy. That was a big grind and I think he's definitely been worth the doctors appointment I'll be making this week to make sure I haven't punctured a lung screaming at my first owner non rare bundes squad for losing their 6th in a row.
Fast
Agile
Can shoot and score
Tackling and Defensive work
Passing
Strong and Aggressive
Stamina - Played a few games that went to extra time and despite him being high/high, I never once found him to be totally out of it.
Tends to push high a lot
As soon as Icon Swaps II was released I knew Essien was the card for me, and finally (many many squad battles and rivals games later) he is sat with Roy Keane (from Icon Swaps I) in the CDM position. I've only played 7 games with Michael but I can already tell that with the Engine Chemistry Style that he's staying in the team until Fifa 21 releases. In his 7 games he has scored 4 goals and nabbed 1 assist in CDM. Now you may think that these goals were spoon-fed to him however I tried to play as naturally as possible and he still scored 4.
Defending
Physical
Pace
Long Shots
Hair
Finishing
Got him in the prime icon pack and to be honest i was quite dissapointed because i submitted a tots jordan henderson only to get another holding midfielder for my club. Nevertheless I gave him a go anyways and was quite surprised. Ingame i notice him alot, he has such a presence on the field wherin he is always at the right place at the right time. Even though his base cards stats say that he will just be used to get the ball and pass it to a more capable attacking player that was not the case. This man could start an attack as well which really surprised me.
Pace
Defending
Physical
Dribbling
Shooting(better than what his stats say)
passing (he could misplace easy passes sometimes which can be very annoying)
weak foot
My honest review of prime Michael Essien. As soon as I saw that he was in icon swaps 2 for 23 tokens, I instantly decided the I was going to grind for him. He was the type of player I desperately needed at the time as I was lacking a rock in midfield. I started having my doubts though when I realized how long it would be before I was able to unlock him, and if he would be worth the effort. After changing who I was going to pick for swaps about a million times, I’m glad to say that I made the right decision by going the distance to pick him. He is a beast.
The thing about Essien is that he’s not particularly special, he doesn’t have the technical gifts that other midfielders possess, and he’s definitely not the most graceful player on the pitch. However, the fact of the matter is that this dude is an absolute animal. He does all the dirty work that you expect your CDM to do…..and then some. The guy is an absolute savage. The amount of times I’ve seen him bully people off the ball and not get called for a foul is ridiculous. He’s also incredible at breaking up play with his interceptions, very similar to Kante in some respects, but he feels like he has a more imposing presence than regular Kante does. I tried an engine on Essien which was good, but in my opinion he thrived with the artist chem style. After I applied that chem I immediately noticed the difference with his more boosted agility, and it definitely helps his passing a lot more which was very useful.
Is he worth the 1.7mil he’s currently going for on the market? I would say probably not as there are a lot of cards on the market at this stage of FIFA that offer what Essien does for a more reasonable price. However, in regards to icon swaps, I think he is clearly the best choice (depending on your team needs of course). He’s now my starting CDM until at least TOTS, and if not the rest of FIFA 20.
- Speed
- Physically imposing
- Has a presence on the pitch
- Strong defensive stats
- Intercepts and breaks up plays
- End game quality
- High/high work rates
- Finishing (hoping to bang a longshot with him one day)
- Value for coins compared to other CDM's on the market
WOW! Prime Michael Essien is an incredible card at CM or CDM and will put in a shift undoubtedly whatever instructions you will use him with. I did him in icon swaps 2 however, I would pay anywhere around a million coins for him. I play him with flashback vidal and fut birthday sissoko in a 41212(2) with essien CDM and he CARRIES. He saves me in weekend league since he can easily play 90 minutes and is always the one with the most stamina after 120 minutes, btw I am currently 10-0 this weekend so I'm doing really well and it is much thanks to this guy. Chemistry style - I would use an engine because honestly he doesn't need the defending or physical upgrades as they are both incredible in-game. He is the best in his position
Stamina - literally Mo Farah, never gets tired and puts in a shift all game - even in extra time.
Pace - I use him with an engine and he is rapid! If you play your cdm on cover wing then he will do well as he CAN catch Mbappe and then later body him or if you play cover centre (where I play him) he tracks back and often catches their strikers.
Strength - It is like having a bulldozer in your midfield, he can body anyone - Ronaldo, Drogba, R9 - he is so powerful and doesn't give fouls but wins the ball and sends them flying.
Shot Power - his shots are like missiles, though they are not quite Vidal's, he can really strike them!
Tackling - Perfect, literally tackles anyone with the perfect combination of tackling stats, balance and aggression.
4 Star Weak foot
good passing.
Finishing - If he does charge into the box he hits it hard but not often particularly accurately so you might want to put him on stay back as he does have a High Attacking Workrate so he will drive forwards so beware.
Nothing else.
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