Player Review
94 - Icon Moment
Background - I'm in Div 1 2200 SR, regularly Elite 3/2 player so that's my perspective in terms of completing his SBC.
He's not the meta god. He's a bit clunky, as you can tell from his height, body type and agility/balance stats and even if you put hunter to max his pace, he doesn't have that "I've been shot out of a rocket" speed that an Mbappe or even a TOTS Vazquez feels like in game. At a full sprint in the middle of the field, even though he has high aggression stats, he doesn't necessarily have that "ball stuck to his foot" trait that Neymar and Ben Yedder have.
BUT - everything he does is strong. There are 5 ST/CF that have 90 base stats for all the categories but defending. They are TOTS CR7, Benzema, Suarez, and Lukaku. The difference is that Cantona's body type, 5* skills make him a freakish cross between Lukaku, Suarez, and CR7. He's got Lukaku's brute strength where you can just hold L2 and shield the ball and not get bowled over 95% of the time. He's got Suarez's playmaking abilities with his passing, dribbling with his back to goal, and set pieces. Then he's got close (but not the same) to CR7's skills and finishing in the box.
He is the complete striker for those who like build up play and need help breaking down teams around the box. He is NOT the through ball merchant that a majority of FIFA players use to play with. There's just something about his body type where he doesn't necessarily feel "fast" even though his stats are maxed. And because of the aforementioned 'clunkiness', he does take some time to get used to how he moves. But if you're someone who can build up properly and use those 5* skills, then there are very few players like him in the game.
Whatever you need to do, he can do it. Win a header? Done. Hold up the ball? Done. Cross field pass or a double tap to squeeze it to your strike partner in the box? Done. Finesse, the FINESSE, from 35 yards out? Done. Ball roll scoop to get some space? Done.
There are still some negatives though. In bad gameplay/connection, he suffers. Just doesn't have that left stick dribbling responsiveness. His shooting is great, but he has a long shot animation because of his body type and feel like he gets blocked more than others. Compare it to CR7's where there's little back lift to the shot, and CR7's gets blocked less often. So there are some negatives there but that's only because I come up against 20m teams when I'm trying to get elite 2/1 so you notice every little thing.
He cost you your whole club if you're doing the SBC, so there's also that (went from 700 players to 194).
So all in all, would I recommend him? Gun to my head - I'd say for most people - no. There's cheaper, less club draining options than the King. He won't fit into everyone's playstyles and if you have a middling to bad connection (40 ping or higher) - then you're going to wonder why you completed this guy.
But, when you need that big of magic to break down the horrid 532 or two banks of 4 in a 442, there's few that can do it better than the King.
- Strength
- 5* skills on a big boy
- Long range shooting if drop back Danny doesn't want to press you
- Great physicality for those bridge/directional nutmeg glitches
- Will probably lead your team in assists with his passing stats
- Great on free kicks, delivering or receiving corners, and penalties
- STRENGTH
- Can feel clunky in bad gameplay or with a bad connection
- Lacks that game-breaking top end speed
- Shooting animation seems predictable