FC 24 89 Centurions Grace Geyoro Player Review

EA Sports certainly have not had the smoothest start to year one of the EAFC franchise, producing one of the more glitchy versions of their pixelated football simulator.  This was all but cemented by the 24 hours of NFL Blitz that we experienced earlier in the week.

However, you have to give credit where credit is due and the content and card designs have been right up there with the best EA have produced.  The Centurion promo offering an equally good example of that success heading into this weekend.

This go around we take a long overdue look at one of the female talents in EAFC and on this occasion, potentially one of the best midfielders currently in the game as well.  On the surface Grace Geyoro looks like the OP midfield archetype and the hope was that her ridiculous statistics would lead to ridiculous performance in game. 

The need for ball carrying midfielders who are also strong in the tackle is a 4-3-2-1 must have… So far Jude Bellingham has been the card to deliver the best performances in this area for me and the hope was that Centurion Geyoro would follow suit.  The application of the SHADOW Chemistry Style was meant to help the defensive side of the ball and all was set.

Geyoro was the power behind the engine room all weekend long in the following squad:

Overall 

Rating: 8.5/10

While Bellingham has been my best midfield option, the opponent who has caused me the most issues has been Aitana Bonmat.  So, it really should have come as no surprise that Geyoro was a thorn in my opponent's side all weekend.  Everything that should be true about power in the midfield really is countered by the pace and quality in the smaller female cards and produces fantastic results.

Main Statistics – Defensive Midfield

Pace Rating: 9/10

Defending Rating: 10/10

PlayStyles: Relentless Plus 

Tactically I set up the 4-3-2-1 to essentially play with a holding midfielder and Geyoro took up this role throughout the weekend.  The 93 ACCELERATION & 84 SPRINT SPEED were the perfect combination for closing down opponents who took one touch too many and generally moving quickly to fill dangerous areas.  Perhaps the clip of Geyoro torching Mbappe for pace is one to take issue with, but it was a constant theme throughout the review.

Despite the general bounce back tackles that happen this year, I found Geyoro to be extremely reliable throughout the review.  The SHADOW again benefitting the 99 INTERCEPTIONS & 99 STANDING TACKLE to an almost automatic level.

The last piece of the puzzle is the 98 STAMINA & RELENTLESS Plus PlayStyle which allow that consistent pushback against opponents attacks, along with allowing the ability to dribble out of pressure to find dangerous passes late into the match.

Value/Coins

Value/Coins: 4/5

I mentioned Bonmati and in the end the Barcelona midfielder offers the perfect comparison to the Paris equivalent.  The statistics are very similar and while Bonmati edges the attacking advantage, Geyoro is considerably better defensively.  However, it is the PlayStyles and price tags that would have me leaning towards the Spanish Flair over French Power.  However, it is worth noting that Geyoro is a fantastic link to Karchaoui who is just unbelievable at left back.

Good vs. Bad 

Good vs Bad Rating: 5/5

Covering the trifecta of statistics needed to run the midfield takes away a lot of the positives you would normally talk about here, but still another positive takeaway to add.

+ The Passing is finally a highlight with this review and probably fitting that it comes with a card boasting 92 SHORT PASSING, 89 LONG PASSING, & 86 VISION with both the PINGED PASS & LONG BALL PASS PlayStyles in her back pocket.  Worth noting how well the left-footed crossing and passing turned out when compared to the subpar shooting.

Perhaps fitting that the more attacking parts of the midfield skill set alluded Geyoro given how dominant she was on the defensive side of the ball.

- When every statistic that impacts Shooting falls below 80 on a card with a 3 STAR WEAK FOOT you basically get what you see… And what I saw was certainly not good.  Again, still contributed a few goals from being in good positions and that is certainly Geyoro’s major strength on both sides of the ball.

- The 168cm | 5’6 build was at the heart of how good Geyoro moves around the pitch defensively, but also at the heart of every header and physical battle lost on the pitch as well.  Worth noting that the 78 STRENGTH did not affect tackling, but was more of an issue in ball retention when trying to drive the midfield. 

Closing Words

Maybe the best outcome of this entire review was more of collateral success in this case, with Karchaoui contributing to the squad on a fantastic level.  As for Geyoro it was certainly a case of a card that is made for defensive midfield positions, even with the HIGH | HIGH Work Rates she seldom left the pocket in front of my defense and offered fantastic cover.  The price tag is one that is hard to overlook and from a performance standpoint was just not quite at the level of some recent reviews compared to what is available either.  Some good moments, but not enough to convince me of the price tag in the end.

Hoping you are well.  Cheers for reading