Player Review
96 - TOTS
I packed this card in the Ligue 1 guaranteed TOTSSF pack and was initially a little disappointed. I stuck him in a team and tried him out regardless, and wow was I proven wrong. I played him as the central CAM in a 4231 and he was incredible. Just for context, I used him for 10 games in division 3 and am a consistent Gold 1 level player in Champs
- His obvious biggest strength is his left foot. His lack of finesse shot trait is made up for by the 99 curve. He scored 2 finesse shots for me in the 10 games i played with him, both from outside of the box.
- Another thing that I noticed, more so on this card than his fut birthday, was his pace. He generally felt very fast, and for once I felt like a Di Maria card was playing to what his card stats actually were.
- The main talking point with this card is his weak foot. Let me tell you his right foot is very very useable. ,On several occasions he'd opt to shoot (and score) with his right foot rather than utilise the outside of the foot shot trait, something which I didn't notice as much with the majority of Di Maria's other cards this year. I've used both his fut birthday and now TOTS this year, and I suppose the big question is whether or not the plus 5 rating is worth losing 2* of weak foot for, and the answer very much depends. Which card do I prefer? The TOTS, by a mile. But if you're an elite tier player, chances are that 5* weak foot could be the difference for you, so I suppose it would depend on circumstance and level. All I will say though is that the 3* weak foot certainly doesn't ruin this card.
- His passing was brilliant, but that's something I've noticed with almost all of Di Maria's cards this year, so it's not much of a surprise
- One of the biggest surprises to me was how strong he felt. When I used the FUT Birthday card a few months ago I decided he wasn't working as a CAM for me as he was far too weak. If any opposing defender pressured him, chances are he'd skew his shot or pass. This card felt different. Don't get me wrong, he doesn't feel like a Hulk, or Akinfenwa, he just feels much better on the ball and dribbling past players, something which is really important in my opinion when playing centrally.
- 5* skills
Potentially stamina? 91 at this stage of the game isn't exactly perfect, if you're taking a game to extra time you may need to replace him with that Ryan Kent you've got sat on your bench, or that Moses Simon, but I wouldn't say it ruins the card, it's just clutching at straws really.
I've only played 10 games with this card, so its a little difficult to pinpoint weaknesses, I haven't come across any evident ones yet. I really do feel the difference between this one and the FUT Birthday card, and for only 300k I think he's well worth trying out. I'll be using him in weekend league this weekend anyways, thats for sure