FC 24 Greats of The Game Di Natale Player Review

As we set sail on the madness that was the TOTS grind, we embark on a new journey through the excitement of the upcoming Euro and Copa America Finals. Tons of content came flooding through the gates yesterday and while there were ample quality options to focus on, we went the route of the new Greats of the Game Hero item… Antonio Di Natale. 

Potential (and considering it is only 4 goals I would hope it is more guaranteed) upgrades aside, this card looked like an incredibly solid option regardless.  The FINESSE PlayStyle Plus remains just as lethal as always and Di Natale boasts all of the Scoring PlayStyles outside of the POWER HEADER.

The 4-3-2-1 remains at the forefront of my custom tactics and in truth I have been trying a variety of replacement center strikers for Dalglish who has fallen further and further behind the curve… An upgraded version during this promo would be the dream… But in a more believable scenario Antonio Di Natale looked like he could be the perfect card to fill that void and I applied the HAWK Chemistry Style in hopes of getting the best out of the Italian all weekend long in the following squad:

Overall 

Rating: 8.5/10

One of the top comments on the Saliba Path to Glory reads, “so tots was pointless” and in a way looking at the cards released this weekend it does feel that way for the majority of cards.  Basically anything under 96 rated feels like it has already been surpassed, which is insane to say.  However, in the case of Di Natale I am sad to say, but your strikers are safe for now.  This card was obviously quality and scoring 10 goals and 1 assist in 5 matches is an impressive return… but it was the overall contributions to the squad that felt lacking and in the end it wasn’t a review I was sad to see finish.

Main Statistics – Shooting

Shooting Rating: 9/10

Weak Foot: ★★★★

PlayStyles: Finesse Plus, Chip Shot Plus, Power Shot, Dead Ball, Trivela

Di Natale literally has every shooting trick up his sleeve and still it wasn’t a perfect 10/10 and the explanation is as simple as pointing to the weak foot and watching the couple of horrendous misses that the Italian produced… and that is in only 5 matches.  It is certainly worth noting that there were also some quality finishes on that same left foot… But at this stage in the game there is simply not enough room for error to be risking missed chances inside of the box.

The positive side of things was certainly the FINESSE SHOT Plus which was a devastating weapon and was a few cross bars away from really taking the final stats to a solid level.  Unfortunately those didn’t find the back of the net, but the majority of everything else I tried did and points to a card that is going to get you goals even with the odd frustrating miss on weak foot.

Value/Coins

Value/Coins: 3/5

Simply too expensive not to be perfect in the area of the pitch that you are paying the premium for.  It is also worth saying that it wasn’t just the Shooting that created minor issues as the lack of physicality for a central striker and the lack of blazing speed of a winger created a situation where I often found Di Natale not as dominant as other cards I have tried.

Good vs. Bad 

Good vs Bad Rating: 4/5

While this review has seemed and felt rather negative, I again want to make it clear that this is still a fantastic card with a huge upside in most situations.

+ Starting with the dribbling this card is one of the slickest and most responsive I have used.  The lack of STRENGTH doesn’t matter when opponents can’t lay a finger to you.  Di Natale has the size and body type that you would immediately connect with strong dribbling and then adds Technical, Quick Step, Rapid, Flair and Press Proven into an already fiery cauldron… The result is magic on the ball and a left stick dream for those that especially rely on it.

+ Having alluded to the Pace a couple of different times it is worth saying that the 99 ACCELERATION with the Quick Step and EXPLOSIVE AcceleRATE is about as quick off the line as it gets… The 98 SPRINT SPEED and RAPID however do not seem to be bringing the level of high end pace to the table that you would expect.  Many defenders caught Di Natale with relative ease in situations where I was otherwise sure I was through and created another layer of difficulty in attack.

The physicality of playing VVD, Rudiger, Bisseck and co. every match was always going to be too much of a challenge for Di Natale and you certainly want to avoid situations where they can get close.  But it wasn’t the only issue.

- It is hard to pinpoint exactly why Di Natale only managed 1 assist in 5 matches playing alongside capable strikers.  In the end it boils down to simply not completing enough passes in difficult areas of the pitch and the lack of traits probably didn’t help anything.  94 VISION & 95 SHORT PASSING suggest a level of results you can work with, but it was not a solid performance connecting the attack this weekend from the Italian.

Closing Words

Has to be an overwhelming pass for me on this one.  The likely +1 upgrade doesn’t seem like it fixes anything, but perhaps an INCISIVE PASS Plus unlocks some interplay potential.  In the end what this card really needs above all is the potential for a Weak Foot upgrade and all could be different, but alas it turns out that one of the Greats of the Game just doesn’t feel so great in the game after all.

Hoping you are well.  Cheers for reading