Player Review

First thing I'll say is that I have never done a player review before but this card was so good that I thought it was finally time. I am a division 4/3 player and finish Gold 1 in weekend league when I play. My club value is pretty low (around 400k) as I refuse to spend any money on fifa points, and I have no notable untradables other than Drogba. I have been working my way through the objectives for the icon swaps tokens and after changing my mind 500 times, I finally decided I was going to get him when I made it to 23 tokens. Best decision I have ever made in FUT. I play him as a single striker in a 4231 formation with engine and default instructions, and in his first 30 games (which were all in the weekend league), he scored 58 goals and assisted 8. I also finished Elite 3 for the first time ever and give this card the credit for that. He is absolutely brilliant and I am so glad I decided to take him. I nearly used my tokens on other icons because I could not find any reviews from more casual payers like myself, so hopefully this review helps out anyone who has still not used their tokens or is considering buying him. So lets get down to specifics.

Pace - 9/10

You often find with big strikers that there is a mismatch between sprint speed and acceleration, with their acceleration often being quite a bit lower than their pace stat may suggest, and this makes them feel slower than expected. Drogba does not follow this pattern and is nicely balanced with 85 sprint speed and 85 acceleration, and both increase to 90 with engine applied. He feels very quick, especially for his height, but his strength compliments his pace massively because in the event that someone does catch up to him, he can just hold them off with good use of the left trigger. Overall though he definitely does feel like the 90 pace that his stats say with an engine applied and can latch onto through balls or carry the ball up the pitch himself without being caught.

Shooting - 9.5/10

As mentioned, I use an engine chemistry style on his so his shooting is not boosted but it is still almost perfect. However, this is a little dependant on the type of shot you do. Power shots both inside the box and outside the box, near post and across goal are all perfect and he never missed a single opportunity that ended up costing me a game. However, his finesse shots are not quite as impressive. They are of course consistently good from one on ones and still generally very good, but I wouldn't say they are as outstanding as his regular shots. As a result, I find myself using 90% regular shots with this card, and rarely try any long range finesse shots. You might question the choice of 9.5 when I have hardly used his finesse shooting, but in all honestly with the quality of his regular shots, I just do not even need to finesse much with him, so using them less it really not detrimental to me at all. However, this may be something to consider if you love the satisfaction of a long range curler from outside the box. As for his positioning. It's perfect. The runs he makes are everything you could ask for and he is constantly moving to get free in the box. 58 goals in his first 30 weekend league games is all the evidence you need.

Passing - 9/10

The engine chemistry style gives a welcome boost to his passing to bring it to a very good level. As mentioned, he plays in a 4231 and the three CAM's around him are all pacey and agile which is perfect to pass into Drogba to hold it up and he can then play the ball in behind to them. His through balls at medium to short range are excellent. He doesn't really have much use for long passes because he is only really ever on the ball in the final third anyway. All in all his passing is superb and definitely good enough to use as a hold up player to work off of and for one-twos with players around him.

Dribbling - 8/10

His dribbling stats receive a boost with engine, and the boost to his balance and agility are welcome. I have only used him with this chemistry style but he was actually far better than I had expected based on the few other reviews I had read. If you are a player that likes to create chances with nimble dribbling through defences with players like Mbappe and Mane, then he might not be for you, as he is obviously not an hugely agile player, but he can pull off a quick drag back in the box to create space for a shot as good as I ever need him to. Overall its good for a 6 ft 2 striker, and I cannot really remember many times where I have lost the ball with him due to poor dribbling. His 4* skills is also a helpful asset to have. and it has has helped me beat players many times. I do not use skills more than the average player though so I'm sure this could be made use of even more.

Physical - 9.5/10

Superb. It really makes the card in my opinion. His physicality just compliments everything else. He doesn't need 99 pace because his great strength just allows him to hold people off when in behind, his hold up play is exceptional which allows you to utilise his impressive passing, and if you do need to dribble in a tight situation he can shield the ball to keep possession and make a chance which makes up for the below average agility. His jumping is also great, even with no chemistry style, and he does win lots of headers. I rarely cross the ball in the air so I don't score any headed goals really and don't try to, so I can't give any opinions on this, but in terms of winning headers at goal kicks or just in open play to win the ball, he is great. As for his stamina, there really is no problem there even with High/High work rates. As long as he is over 80 fitness or so going into a game, he will last through 120 minutes without a problem and 90 minutes is a doddle for him.

Defending - N/A

I am not going to give this a rating because obviously he plays at a striker, but I did think it was worth a comment because he actually does win the ball off defenders quite a lot for me. If he gets tackled and loses the ball, he will often fight back and win it back which I haven't really been ale to do successfully with any other strikers. I think this is mainly down to his size and strength as he just dominates the opponent into stumbling and giving the ball up and sometimes it almost feels like he has them surrounded all on his own because of his size and power. As I say, no rating for this one because he is not there to defend, but might be useful information to anyone who likes to press and win the ball up the top of the pitch.

Overall it really is an excellent card. I was not sure about using 23 of my tokens on him, but it has tuned out to a very very good decision. I would just say though to bear in mind that I have not used any other striker over 100k this year so I cannot compare him to any other elite strikers. That said, 58 goals in 30 weekend league matches really does speak for its self. His record now is 80 goals and 11 assists in 44 games (30 weekend league and 14 rivals) and my win percentage in those 44 games is 82%. I can pretty much guarantee that the win percentage would be far lower if not for him, as he has scored the goals to win the vast majority of those games, and my win percentage before having him was a fair bit lower than 82%.

Final verdict - Perfect for what I wanted and I can pretty much say with certainty that he'll be in my team until TOTS. Would recommend to almost anyone.