Player Review
86 - Rulebreakers
I recently got RB Diaby out of an 78+ upgrade and decided to give him a go in my BuLi / Prem hybrid team with a splash of Liga Portugal. I played him for 10 games in Rivals and in Champs Qualification (wednesday evening, CET). I used him as the left striker in my 3-5-2, with RB Antonio at right striker and POTM Wirtz at CAM. Diaby scored 10 goals and had 13 assists in the aforementioned 10 games. He is quick, he is agile, he has a great left foot.
The thing that impressed me the most is that even though he realistically only has one foot for shooting, most opponents were not able to stop him. He simply is too agile and fast at this stage of the game. The dribbling is smooth, and with a good connection he can outmaneuver any opposing player.
The lack of strength is an issue, but I'd say a minor. I paired him with a physically strong counterpart on the right side and they complement each other very well. I'd also say he needs a good ball supplier due to his low defensive stats. He is not a player that wins back balls for me. RB Antonio as 2nd striker can do that, but to play that last pass I chose POTM Wirtz to be the assists man for both of them.
Overall I'd say Diaby is an 8.5 out of 10. He is not the perfect striker, mostly due to his weak foot and lack of physicality, and he is not a playmaker like Neymar. But he can do both very well and for me he tore my opponents apart. As a French his linkability is totally fine and especially with Nkunku or Wirtz it is no problem to get him into the squad.
- Left foot, hits 100% of times
- Pace obviously, even with the ball he outruns the defenders
- Dribbling, due to his agility he is hard to tackle and can turn on a dime
- Strength, if somebody catches up or gits a tackle he is weak and loses the ball often
- Passing is okay, but nothing special
- 2* weak foot