Player Review
85 - Rare
I'll start by saying that Dries Mertens is by no means as good as previous years, I was insanely surprised to see a card with such good stats at such a low price, but this years meta provides the answer. This year Mertens sits in somewhat of an awkward position, gone is the super technical dribbling meta where agility and balance made Mertens an absolute king. This years meta means Mertens cannot play striker, he is pushed of the ball easily and isn't fast enough to pull away from your pacey Joe Gomez, Klostermann, Tomori, etc. Mertens gets stuck behind defenders on through ball runs, pushed off the ball if he tries to dribble around, and his shooting isn't super convincing. I found Mertens is only effective in a multi CAM system where he can flow into space and take quick shots before defenders can close the gap he makes. At his price he's worth a try, he certainly still is a quality player, but don't expect to see him in many teams a month from now.
- Pace - Mertens is fast and he will get the job done against slower defenders
- Shooting - can score goals if he's given space
- Dribbling - 94 agility and 92 balance is still fantastic if you commit to slow buildup and technical dribbling
- Pace - Mertens isn't fast enough to beat fast Cb's or any fullbacks, if he gets in behind, defenders close the gap and make light work of pushing him off the ball
- Physical - Anyone can push him off the ball
- Height - can't win a header meaning at striker he stops you from using an OP path to scoring via headers
- Passing - isn't good enough to remain a viable CAM for very long