Packed this bad boy in a mid or prime and was pretty excited to use him for my WL. At this time in the cycle post TOTY a lot of midfielders require either a lot of pace or ability on the ball. When you talk about Icon midfielders you think Mid Vieira, Mid Gullit, Mid Lahm, and Matthaus are usually seen every weekend. Not to mention the plethora of special cards out at the moment. If you're looking for this card its more than likely just for the links however, this card will do a job in central or defensive midfield.
I used him with a shadow as a balanced CDM in a 4-2-3-1 and as a balanced CM in a 4-4-2. It must be said that he is an AUTO DEFENDER, if you are patient and try to cut off the lanes he will lunge and try to intercept and he is gonna get a majority of them. With his height and physicality in game he will win tackles against smaller attackers. What sets him apart are two things; 4* 4* really compliments him as it gives him a bit more versatility going forward. As well as his 90 shooting and 94 short passing and 93 long passing which makes him a dual threat when attacking. If you're gonna play him primarily as a CDM you should slap a shadow and it'll make him a very ideal balanced CDM. If he's gonna play CM you could go with a shadow but a basic gives him a more complete package.
To conclude, this card is going to stand out in the midfield. He is reliable shooting in and outside of the box and he can pick out any pass with enough space. His dribbling stats are not incredible; he's not meant to take on other cards unless you are on the edge of your opponents box. His 4 star skills will come in handy. His pace is not out of this world but for his size he's gonna be faster in game than you would think. His physical stats are really good across the board, and combined with his workmates he will do well to win the ball back.
I played with his baby version and it was horrible, but i saw this prime version and it was a lot of more usable, his 80 pace make more usable and good, for 200k its a beast from the midfile
-Shooting
Very good finishing,nice long shot and shot power (94 and 92)
-Pace
That 80 pace make more funny the game but a little fake
-Passing
Nice vision, short and long passing
FK Acc with powerfull free kick trait
-4 star skills & 4 star weak foot
Nice for a midfiler, a W
-Physicality
That animations and aggresion make a strong player and thats a plus for defending
-Animations
Very good defensive animations
-Box2Box
Very complete player with nice stats in a lot of aspects
-Gullit Gang my boys
This is a personal opinion but is so beautiful seeing and 80+ in all stats
-Curve (69)
This year its very usefull longshot on the corner ot the area and if its doesnt have a lot of curve its a big problem
-Agility and balance (68 and 70)
Thats the big problem on this card, 68 agility and 70 of balance make slower and chunkier the player, with an engine you can use it but you have to know have to use chunky player, it doesnt really matter buecause its a midfiler but its make the gameplay horrible
-A little bit slower than 81 of pace
If you dont put on it an enginge o a shadow it will be very difficult to defend in a lot of situations