FC 25 91 Grassroot Greats Olise Player Review

With the Future Stars promo done and dusted for another year it is onto the next one and a new look idea involving the Grassroots Greats.  On first impressions it is maybe fitting that this is the GG promo considering all of the current additions.  Solid squad, solid EVO, solid SBC, and of course the Maradona Evo that has stolen the majority of the headlines.

While all eyes were on Maradona (and rightfully so), we felt it might be good to take a look at a card that has been an FC25 standout thus far.  If you watched any of the FC Pro Open then you would have seen the wonder that is Thunderstruck Michael Olise gracing the wings of almost every squad.  Obviously the 150k price tag allowed the likes of R9 at striker and was part of the reasoning… but then you watch the card perform and it is easy to see why so many pros chose him and even more difficult to see how he is so cheap on the market.

Been trying something new with a  4-2-3-1 (2) formation and was tempted to try Olise’s upgraded CAM SHADOW STRIKER ++, which is definitely a nice addition, but settled on the RM positioning.  The INSIDE FORWARD ++ fits my style perfectly and meant an opportunity to see if  Olise could produce similar attacking returns as his Thunderstruck card throughout the review.  The Chemistry Style was a bit of a back and forth choice with many options equally as high on the FUTBIN popularity list… But I just had to go with a HUNTER to really see what Olise could produce this weekend..  With everything set it was time to get Olise out onto the pixelated grass to see if he really could be great this weekend in the following squad:   

Rating: 9/10

As I have said Thunderstruck Olise is a special card and has many qualities that have made him so popular in Pro Competitions, but the two trademarks this year have been the near perfect execution of the FINESSE SHOT PlayStyle and a closer-to-5-STAR WEAK FOOT.  I don’t think I am exaggerating when I say that if this card could not continue those trends then it would be a lost cause review… After one match it was clear that the FINESSE SHOT would match that of the Thunderstruck version… Interestingly enough the weak foot seemed worse than the Thunderstruck and makes absolutely zero sense.  From there, everything else went well for Olise  who produced one of the better displays in a review this year scoring 12 goals and 5 assists in only 5 matches.  

Main Statistics – Shooting

Weak Foot: ★★★★

Shooting Rating: 9/10 

PlayStyles: Finesse Shot Plus, Trivela, Dead Ball

Again it was a weird experience having just used Thunderstruck Olise in my Rivals grind and previous Weekend League, to then use an upgraded version that seemed worse on the right foot.  The 12 goals still demonstrates a lot of the weapons and quality that Olise does have, but a similar weak foot to the Thunderstruck would have seen this card receive a 10/10 for sure.

Really liking the choice of a HUNTER Chemistry Style in this category as the 98 FINISHING & 92 SHOT POWER only add to the quality of weapons in Olise’s arsenal.  I can again see an argument for a HAWK here in the added SHOT POWER & LONG SHOTS, but I always like the best FINISHING I can get and the added Pace turned out to be great as well.

One addition to Grassroots Olise that the Thunderstruck version lacks is the TRIVELA PlayStyle, which comes in handy when players favor their strong foot over a weak footed strike.  For Olise this is just another option for goal scoring and was useful when coming off of the right side and shooting close post.  The DEAD BALL did not deliver in this review but is a nice option to have in the squad, especially with a left footed player.

Value/Coins

Value/Coins: 4/5

When you compare this version of Olise to the Thunderstuck version alone there is no way that he is currently 1.4 million better and even if that falls to 1 million it wouldn’t make a difference.  Maybe it was just a bad sample set, but even with 12 goals I felt like Olise left a lot of opportunities on the table and could have set a crazy goal contribution tally had he been more clinical overall.

Good vs. Bad 

Good vs Bad Rating: 4/5

Olise does have a lot of quality and demonstrated that in numerous categories.

+ The Pace and Dribbling dovetail well with Olise and the best compliment I can give is the Bayern attacker is that he certainly does not feel like a 184cm | 6’0 card.  The HUNTER creates a 99 ACCELERATION speedster that slingshots out of L1 dribbles while the 98 SPRINT SPEED is enough to keep Olise in the clear to try and take his chances.  The 5 STAR SKILLS are another GG addition and would combine great with the responsiveness of the 97 AGILITY, 95 BALANCE & 93 DRIBBLING.

+ The Passing is another area where Olise has a lot of quality and delivered on that quality throughout the review.  The INCISIVE PASS is simply too good and made threading the ball into Kane considerably easier.

One area of concern to discuss.

- While I highlighted the positive of Olise not feeling like a bigger card in the dribbling, unfortunately he also did not feel bigger in the physical battles either.  The 58 STRENGTH is of no help at all, the 71 JUMPING saw Olise lose every 50/50 header, and the 85 STAMINA on a wide player meant that Olise gassed out in the 80th minute of most matches.

Closing Words

This is not the Michael Olise Thunderstruck 2.0 (at least in my eyes) card that I was hoping for.  I was really expecting gold dust and instead I got a silver lining in a card that delivered throughout the review and scored some insane finesse shots along the way.  Yet for me the value of this card does not line up with what was delivered across this review and while Olise can shine, there were certainly frustrations along the way.  I would still recommend a test drive and a few finesse shots from distance, but overall there is still something special about the Thunderstuck version that this card did not adopt.                                  

Hoping you are well. Cheers for reading.