FC 26 88 Star Performer Osimhen Player Review!

Call them Man of the Match cards, call them Star Performer cards, but they will always be Fanta cards to me.  The release of some of Europe’s top performers from this past week has certainly caused a fair bit of nostalgia for those that have been around the game for some time, and we were itching to test out one of the new additions to the game this weekend.

If I am completely honest it was always going to be Micky van de Ven for me and with the unique combination of an “inform” style upgrade, plus the ridiculous Shooting boost, and a RAPID Plus addition, it was a lock… Until the price tag got in the way… I suppose “Weekend League with Only Micky van de Ven and Untradeables” would have made a decent YouTube title, but would also make for a long Weekend League, and so we went for Mr. Consistent himself, Victor Osimhen.

After missing out on the key Silver Stars from Season 1 I have made it my mission to get Season 2 done sooner rather than later and thus my squad contained some Brazilian flair this weekend.  The 4-4-2(2) remained the same and did not affect Osimhen in the least… The ADVANCED FORWARD++ Role was a perfect fit and the hope was that the FINISHER Chemistry Style would add the Shooting potency behind a solid looking card.  With that everything was set to see if Osimhen could replicate his hat trick heroics during the Weekend League grind, leading the line in the following squad: 

Rating: 9/10

One of the more interesting reviews that I have had this year and at times it felt like I had one of the best strikers I have used this year on my hands… While at other times I felt like Osimhen was going to single handedly lead me to a losing record to start off the weekend.  16 goals and a single assist in 5 matches is not the best performance I have witnessed from an attacker, but averaging a hat trick per match is not easy and ironically earned Osimhen the Fanta card in the first place.

Main Statistic - Pace & Shooting

Pace Rating: 9/10

Shooting Rating: 9/10

PlayStyles: Rapid, Chip Shot, Gamechanger, Acrobatic, Precision Header, Low Driven Plus

Weak Foot: ★★★★

If there was one area of consistency during this review it was in Osimhen’s ability to mind the gap when in behind defenders.  My opponents struggled in situations where I could get Osimhen moving without the ball and find him into space, at times burning past defenders as if they were standing still.  You can literally feel the LENGTHY AcceleRATE take over as Osimhen finds that extra gear when chasing down loose balls.  The 9/10 comes from the fact that the 92 ACCELERATION was not so potent and really this card is a QUICK STEP away from being unplayable for Pace.  

Once Osimhen finds opportunities, he seldom lets them go without finding the back of the net.  The LOW DRIVEN Plus was lethal on both feet as the FINISHER PlayStyle provides the near perfect 98 FINISHING.  Of course this is another benefit of the Pace with this card as a Shooting/Dribbling focused Chemistry Style can be easily applied without concern for speed.  Just about all of the Shooting PlayStyles that you would want, save the FINESSE SHOT, which is another reason to not even consider a 10/10 despite a Shooting clinic from Osimhen throughout the review.

Value/Coins

Value/Coins: 4/5

You will find few strikers with this combination of Pace, Shooting, & Physical statistics… In fact it is only one in UCL Primetime Bonny… but the 67 Passing just kills the value of this card for me.  Paying over 500k and even if he drops to 400k for this card feels like too much.  Perhaps if it was just the Passing you could overlook that detail, but the Dribbling was an issue as well and really both areas hold Osimhen back from being a real force moving forward.  Not to mention the difficult links that do not help at all.

Good vs. Bad 

Good vs Bad Rating: 4/5

I just mentioned Pace, Shooting, & Physical but have not talked about the one yet…

+ 92 STRENGTH on a 186cm | 6’1 card that can absolutely fly down the pitch feels like a cheat code at times.  Like I said earlier, there were times that Osimhen was virtually unplayable and all I needed to do was pick the right shot for the right moment.  

But here is where it kind of fell apart for me and Osimhen this weekend…

- The Passing is actually quite poor with this card (I know with 67 Passing this is a shocking statement).  Yet, sometimes pacey cards can get away with poor Passing by creating enough space to just play simple balls to teammates, but with Osimhen it still didn’t help.  Perhaps a DEADEYE could have been a shout, but considering I now need to talk about the Dribbling I am not sure that works either.  72 VISION (maybe the mask?) & 74 SHORT PASSING surrounded by a sea of yellow just isn’t it and again for 500k, you need more. 

- The Dribbling was not great either despite the FINISHER application and was where you notice the ACCELERATION issues more than anything.  Despite 92 ACCELERATION and the boost to 86 AGILITY & 90 DRIBBLING there are still quite a few moments you are left, well, standing still.  Don’t get me wrong you can still spin off opponents who do not read your turns correctly and then the Shooting takes over making it 1 - 0… But more than a handful of moments my attempts to cut back were comically slow and for someone relying on left stick dribbling it was a painful experience at times.

Closing Words

There are goals in this card and the 16 I managed in 5 matches came against some difficult opponents.  The biggest issue for Osimhen as a long term option is the wide variety of cards that can also score at this rate while pitching in with assists along the way.  Perhaps there were a few moments I could have squared passes that Osimhen ended up finishing himself anyway… But the goal contributions tally would not have changed and the Passing deficiencies were still felt during the review.  For a card that has been lights out for me in the past it was a bit of a disappointment and if I were you I would skip trying this one in the end.  Hoping you are well.  Cheers for reading.