Player Review
83 - Rare
An extraordinary player for the price when you take a closer look at his stats. And while no doubt an excellent CDM in his natural position it is at CB where he is exceptional and the best option in the league. His pace, strength and defensive capabilities are fearsome and mean he is a wall that covers so much ground. But what takes this card to the next level as a CB is his dribbling and passing. Often when trying to find the right CB in FIFA you either have to compromise dribbling, passing and pace for strength and size (see Sule, Boateng) or vice versa, where a quicker and more agile option means losing strength and a physical presence (Alaba). The CBs in the game that are so highly coveted (Ramos, Van Dijk) are desired because they come the closest to finding that balance. Zakaria is as close as you can get to that balance in the Bundesliga and is only a few defensive stat improvements away from being in the top tier of defenders on this game. For what it's worth he's been a mainstay as I finished Gold 1 in weekend league and impressed against all opponents.
* Strength + size:
6ft3, 87 strength and 89 aggression mean Zakaria simply does not lose out in a physical duel
* Pace
With acceleration and sprint speed both in the 80s, combined with his stature, Zakaria covers ground with lightning pace for a CB, whether moving to break up an attack early or covering a counter
* Dribbling and Ball Control
Remarkably smooth for a player of his size, his composure on the ball and ability to turn in tight spaces mean he is more than capable of handling trickier dribblers and the meta forwards that do so much damage when facing stronger opponents
* Passing
83 short passing + 76 long passing for a CB with 76 vision makes an enormous difference when under pressure, with the ability to play an early release or quick passes to feet
* Defending
His defensive stats are strong for this stage in this game, and aided greatly by his aforementioned strengths. With a Guardian as chemistry style you can improve these stats significantly as well as his dribbling to aid his smoothness on the ball
Honestly none, he is so complete. His defensive stats while very strong aren't 'god tier' but a chemistry style remedies this easily