Reviews

For Context: Low D1 player (~1900 SR), Average 14-16 wins in WL

Tactics: 352 Defensive - Press After Possession Loss, 5 Width, 8 Depth Attacking - Balanced, Width 5, PIB 6, Corners 3, Free Kicks 2

Instructions: Come Back on Defence, Balanced Width, Get In Behind, Get in the Box, Conservative Interceptions

Chem Style: Shadow

Going in to this weekend, I was playing the SIF Vazquez as my RM in a 352, and he was very solid in that role, offering enough going forward, as well as being able to do the job in defence where required. As soon as I saw his UCL MOTM card drop, I knew I had to try him out, and at the time, he was only 5k more than the TOTW (now he's cheaper!!!), so it was a no brainer!

He slotted in the team in the exact same position, starting at Right Back in a 451, becoming a box to box RM in my GengenPress 352 that had dragged me from D3 to D1 in the last month. Immediately I noticed a slight upgrade from his previous card, particularly when it came to the attack. This card is very responsive on the ball, and made great attacking runs down the right side, as I was often able to pick the ball up in midfield, and ping a long cross field path over a narrow defence to Vazquez in behind. Once on the ball, he was often able to cook the opposing full back with tight left stick dribbling, and the occasional skill move (I'm not the biggest fan of skilling, but his 4* 4* allows you to do a decent amount of the OP ones), before either sliding the ball across to a waiting teammate, or if the situation dictated, taking a shot on goal. Whilst his goal and assist numbers over the weekend weren't outrageous (4G, 12A), I feel like his impact was greater than those stats suggest, as often he'd play the 'assist to the assist', and seemed to pop up with crucial goals. In particular, I found smashing the ball near post to be the most effective goal scoring method, as although I did try his finesse shot, he didn't have the whip that players like Zola and Messi can pull out, although this might be due to the angle I ended up shooting at.

Defensively Vazquez was also solid. He's quick, and his acceleration with a Shadow was good enough to cover most situations, and could often track back a midfielder and jockey them off the ball. However, when it came to the fastest of players (talking your Mbappe, Neymar, R9, Eusebio class of Fuck You Pace), he would occasionally get torched, although I'm willing to attribute this fact to him advancing up the field in my attacking scheme. In the tackle, he's adequate, and that's about all I want in a wide midfielder in the 352, and Llorente was far more consistent on the other side with regards to this, although in the course of the WL he did hit some absolute crunchers, and came up with some clutch blocks when opponents countered. The same applies for most of his defensive stats in all honesty, as his positioning occasionally left a little to be desired, and his strength was also average (by which I mean he can sometimes body a Neymar, but don't count on it). In my scheme, this is less of a factor, but anyone considering him for a 4 back formation may want to look elsewhere (Freeze Moreno is better here at a similar price).

Overall, for 70k, I was delighted with Vazquez, and he will remain in my team for the next few weekends unless another card comes my way, and if you like an attacking full back/wide mid (or so you can slide SIF Marcos Llorente to a central position), Vazquez will be more than suitable. And now he's under 50k, its almost no harm no foul, pick him up, and if you don't like him, you can always sack him off again!

So, in my previous review for If Cafu, I said he was a God, and he is, but he is now just ridiculous, passes are spot on, defends really well for 68 def, and 99 stamina, he really has 4 lungs, for everyone playing 3 back 5 back or the 41212/4312, please, use him... 100% worth it