MOTM Mané

Once again it was Super Mané to the rescue for Liverpool this past week.  The Senegalese superstar has really put his stamp on this season and a midweek brace against Bayern Munich was enough to see the German giants topple out of the Champions League.  The result propels Liverpool into the quarter-finals, while Mané’s individual performance earned him a MOTM upgrade as well.  Having used the other three versions of Sadio Mané with varied levels of success I was looking forward to this review and seeing what the pace merchant could achieve this past Weekend League.
I think it goes without saying that Sadio Mané is well equipped in the speed department.  I was left contemplating chemistry styles involving shooting boosts and I decided that the combination of Shooting and Physical with the FINISHER application was best.  While the squad image shows a 4-3-2-1 formation it was back to the balance of the 4-2-2-2 formation this weekend with Mané playing as the Left CAM.  Mané was the intravenous injection of pace in the following squad:
 

Pace

It has been well documented that the gameplay this weekend was not great.  I find that when this occurs it is extremely hard to judge the pace of Player A versus Player B.  However, in the small handful of games that I was able to play outside of the quicksand it was evident that this card is as fast as you would expect.  The CL and IF version of Mané are loaded with pace and it was no surprise to me when this card was a whirlwind down the wing.  Mané has a nice initial burst of pace, mixed with the top speed to utilize the space he creates early on.

Pace Rating: 9.6/10

Shooting & Physical

The FINISHER chemistry style is not one that I have utilized often in the past, but it continues to grow on me and was perfect for my review of Mané.  Picking up the right positions is such a key component for any player in FIFA; and “he is just in the right place all the time” is a common praise for influential players.  Mané was this player for me all weekend long (at least in the Left CAM position) and it always felt like he was there for tap-ins or to receive the final pass in the box.  His pace comes into play here and Mané would constantly be outstripping his opponent to a back post tap-in.  As a negative point I will say that 94 FINISHING did not feel anywhere near as clinical as the numbers suggest and Mané missed his fair share of opportunities during the weekend.  From a physical perspective 86 STAMINA was enough to last the match even when burning up and down the wings and it was enjoyable not to have to find a sub for him.  87 JUMPING and a 5’9 (175cm) frame somehow translates into a lot of headers won during the weekend.  In the center of the park and playing out of my own end this was a fantastic asset to have in the squad.  However, inside of the box I could have made a montage of Mané missing headers throughout the weekend.  Maybe this is a FINISHING issue again, or perhaps the 64 HEADING ACCURACY, or maybe even the laggy gameplay causing the Liverpool man issues?  Either way it became increasingly frustrating as the weekend went on.

Shooting Rating: 8.8/10 (4 STAR WEAK FOOT is nice)
Physical Rating: 8/10

Passing & Dribbling

Mané’s passing can be summed up in one word: average.  In playing down the wing of a squad featuring NIF CR7, 91 ICON Cruyff, and later in the match FB Ibrahimovic; it was my expectation that Mané would contribute a fair amount of assists with the amount these players score.  While Mané achieved just about a goal per game production rate it was interesting that the majority of his contributions came from goals.  The 14 goals are definitely a result of his positioning, pace, and 4 STAR WEAK foot … while only 5 assists is a result of misplaced passes and misguided crosses. 

From the not so good, to the fantastic it is worth a few words on how incredible the dribbling is on this card.  A nice mixture of 94 AGILITY & 88 BALANCE are the perfect combination allowing Mané to turn on the spot without any difficulty, and he exits his dribbles with excellent pace.  Even with the gameplay issues I found that Mané was still responsive and able to function through the quagmire of lag… and once the shackles were off in a lag free environment this guy was unstoppable.  

Passing Rating: 7.5/10
Dribbling Rating: 9.9/10

Final Score

Final Rating: 9/10

If I was asked to write a summary of Mané and was only given one line of text it would be easy.  Mané is yet another useable card that can add quality to most teams, but is not the finished article.  Bang for your buck I would say that Mané is just about perfect value at 330k on XBOX and can bring some dynamism to any squad.  The goal and assist return were not quite what I would like but I should also restate that this weekend didn’t offer the best conditions to judge a player that needs the speed of play to really strut his stuff.  Cheers for reading.

Game Stats:
 

Game Highlights: