FC 26 86 FC Pro Live Chiesa Player Review

The FC Pro Live promo is officially… Well, live I guess.  With a new batch of nation themed cards loosely tied to the FC Pros who will control their fate.  This is always a fantastic promo that offers a unique connection to the pro scene, bringing eyes to matches if only to hope and pray that you see the upgrades you are hoping for.  Perhaps the biggest complaint has to come in the form of the near two month span that the Pro Open event takes place over… Even Group C and D cards having to wait until next week to see any upgrades seems like forever.  

Regardless of the timeline there are some intriguing options available with this promo and certainly tied to some intriguing pro players.  One card that remained at the top of the popular pile from promo release to this review has been Federico Chiesa.  Chiesa was a huge favorite at the start of the cycle as his 81 NIF played beyond a lot of the listed statistics.  The Pro Live version now benefitted from a small Pace, Dribbling & Shooting boost… Along with a sizable upgrade to the Passing, Physical & Defending.  

Once again it was the 4-4-2(2) set up this Weekend League and immediately I built a squad surrounding Chiesa and a host of other FC Pro cards, with the Italian taking his spot as the FALSE 9+ Striker.  My thought process included putting Chiesa in more attacking situations with increased pressure to truly see how he performed in attack… That and I had used Chiesa as a striker during those early days of FC26.  But I couldn’t just let the INSIDE FORWARD++ go unused and just had to throw in an extra game from the Right Mid position and will be a few of the clips in the video as well.  The FINISHER Chemistry Style turned out to be what I would say is the perfect choice and everything was ready to go for another trip down Weekend League Lane.  Chiesa provided the pace and precision all weekend long in the following squad:

Rating: 9/10

The 16 goals and 2 assists in 5 matches (one early D/C), with two early rage quits, tells one story about this review with Chiesa… He has all of the weapons that he did at the start of FC26 and now is back in line with the power curve.  These statistics were all gathered while playing the FALSE 9 role and involved a lot of receiving the ball with back to goal, turning opponents, burning them for pace, and finishing.  With those matches complete I started the second chapter with Chiesa at Right Mid and INSIDE FORWARD++, only to watch him score 3 and assist 1 in his first match… The additional space caused less stress on his Physical statistics and allowed the Pace to shine through.  In the end the information I acquired from the FALSE 9 experiment was vital to an overall snapshot of this card and perhaps an out and out Right Mid review would have led to over the top ratings.

Main Statistic - Pace

Pace Rating: 10/10

PlayStyles: Rapid Plus, Quick Step, Relentless

The Pace with this card is literally everything and facilitates the end results of everything good you get from Chiesa.  From a straightforward standpoint the 89 ACCELERATION, QUICK STEP, & EXPLOSIVE AcceleRATE all combine for a lethal injection of quickness often too hot for defenders to handle.  Then you have the 88 SPRINT SPEED & RAPID Plus hitting the after burners and leaving those same defenders for dead.  The key here is not that Chiesa is both quick and fast, but that you do not need a Pace orientated Chemistry Style to make Chiesa burn.  The ability to apply the FINISHER Chemistry Style is huge when you look at the difference in Shooting statistics to the likes of a HAWK or HUNTER and makes this card the potent finisher that you will see in the video.

Value/Coins

Value/Coins: 5/5

This is a tricky category to place value when you consider all the variables.  First off if you are buying this card based on Chiesa receiving all of the upgrades then you are probably a problem gambler.  The likelihood that Caccia, who has the lowest rank in group B, has much success even in the Group Stage is quite slim.  But who doesn’t love an underdog story… Lets just predict that it is a difficult road ahead for Caccia… This means that Chiesa will likely only be eligible for the Skill Move or Weak Foot upgrade.  However, if EA were to give this card the 5 STAR WEAK FOOT upon Caccia winning a match, all of sudden this card falls into some elite company based on base statistics and SM/WF combination…  So you’re saying there is a chance!

Good vs. Bad 

Good vs Bad Rating: 4/5

I mentioned the Shooting but should elaborate a bit more, along with some rave reviews on the movement…

+ “The Pace allows a FINISHER” was the summary… The end result was a lot of nice goals along the way.  The 92 FINISHING & 90 SHOT POWER are huge and provide lethal low driven finishes without the PlayStyle and some FINESSE SHOT magic as well.  Even the GAMECHANGER was in on the action with an outside the foot chip to add further misery to one opponent.  The 4 STAR WEAK FOOT is just as consistent as it was with the NIF and was reliable in almost all situations throughout the review.

+ The Dribbling is equally as impressive and again the 4 STAR SKILL MOVES are not perfection but the card moves like a card with near-perfect movement.  The FINISHER helps again with the 97 AGILITY, 89 BALANCE & 95 DRIBBLING.  You can feel the EXPLOSIVE AcceleRATE engage and Chiesa can create Shooting space in the tightest of areas.

Few areas that you wouldn’t really call bad, but you certainly wouldn’t call them good either… Okay the Physical is bad…

- Chiesa joins my growing list of forwards that I wish had a bit more about their Passing… even a stray PlayStyle wouldn’t hurt.  This was originally one of the reasons that I strayed away from a solely Right Mid review as those passes are often over further distance and require more precision.  

- I am a big believer that certain cards outperform statistics and Claudia Pina is currently the golden goose for those arguments.  But with that belief is the idea that certain cards largely underperform statistics and with Chiesa that was the 71 STRENGTH.  If it had said 35 it would have been more appropriate as defenders just bounced the Italian off of the ball when they were able to catch him.

Closing Words

The Passing is suspect.  The STRENGTH is non-existent.  But everything else is dynamite in a bottle and that is where the goal contributions racked up.  Whether at striker or one of the outside mid positions, you are going to get offensive contributions in barrels from this card.  I would recommend you give Chiesa a go, especially if his price continues to fall at this rate… But keep in mind the unlikely chance of any upgrades outside of the first +1 SM/WF.  Hoping you are well.  Cheers for reading.