Accessibility
Home
Players
Evolutions
Squad Builder
SBCs
Draft
Squads
Market
News
Packs
Objectives
Token Tracker
More
Language
Platform
Theme
EA Tax Calculator

Winter Refresh Ibrahimovic

 

I can sum up the Winter Refresh in three words, R.I.P.  Let us all have a moment of silence for the upgrade investors (including some myself) as EA threw yet another investor curveball to the masses.  The 50 selected cards received their upgrades, while an additional squad of Winter Refresh players hit the market this past Friday.  In amongst the squad was the new/old Milan signing in none other than Zlatan Ibrahimovic … the focus of this week’s review.  There has been a craving for a Zlatan SBC and this was a close second, bringing another useable option to the ST pool in the Serie A.  After deciding to Dare to Zlatan I once again flip-flopped between the 4-2-3-1 and 4-4-2 with Zlatan as my ST in both formations. I decided, in the end, to go with the SNIPER chemistry style despite the majority selecting ENGINE or HUNTER … my reasoning is that regardless of the ENGINE style, 53 BALANCE is not even close to adequate and might as well be 30, so I opted for the focus on the 99 FINISHING that comes along with SNIPER, dropping to 48 BALANCE.  In the end, I had dreams of my Flashback Zlatan in FIFA 19 dominating the center of the pitch, but what I got was a nightmare performance that I couldn’t wait to end.  Zlatan was the lion (or lion cub?) in the following squad:
 

 

 

Overall

Rating: 8.7/10
Pace Rating: 8/10
Dribbling Rating: 8/10
Shooting Rating: 9.5/10
Passing Rating: 8.5/10
Physical Rating: 9.5/10
Defending Rating: N/A

Perhaps the biggest discrepancy I have noticed between card stats and in-game performance is Zlatan’s 88 pace.  89 ACCELERATION & 86 SPRINT SPEED somehow equaled out to a snails crawl.  I could have tried HUNTER of course, but an even bigger issue for Ibra was the dribbling.  Even with a boost to 89 AGILITY I could not get this bus to turn and at least 10 times this weekend I turned defenders and shot as I normally would, only to realize that Zlatan had not completed the full swivel … then watched the shot go haplessly wide.  One of the worst feelings in FIFA is when you like a player in real life and can’t wait to try them, only to be disappointed by their quality, and I experienced that all weekend long.

    

Linkability & Current Game Strength

Linkability Rating: 3/5
Current Game Strength Rating: 4/5

You will note that Prime Larsson was in the squad this weekend and for two reasons.  One I wanted to review a Prime ICON as soon as I could... and two the squad building options around Ibra are so limited that I needed the strong green link to fit him in.  
One of the lowest ratings I have provided in this category in a while.  Ibrahimovic just does not fit the current game at all. The drop back, overload ball side merchants just squeezed Zlatan for everything he had, and he did not have the pace or dribbling to get out of it.  The one saving grace was his ability to hold the ball up in these tight quarters and make chances through strength.  99 STRENGTH & 97 BALL CONTROL paired nicely with 99 COMPOSURE, 99 FINISHING, and the 4 STAR WEAK FOOT once you get the ball into his feet in the box.  In the end, Ibrahimovic still managed 16 goals in 20 matches and while not as clinical as Martinez or Greenwood, he was right there.

 

Value/Coins & Good vs. Bad 

Value/Coins Rating: 3.5/5
Good vs Bad Rating: 4/5

Again, the speculation of some sort of Flashback or at one point an EOAE card for Zlatan has driven the hype train into the station on this card.  If it were not for the larger than life personality of the man himself I do not think this card is beyond an 800k option, if not even cheaper.  

You have to play to Zlatan’s strengths to get this rating out of him, with his strength being … his strength.  In-game he appears massive in size and can hold off any defender, and I do mean any.  It was one of the only times I have witnessed my opponents Van Dijk or Varane bounce off of my attacker when trying to pressure from the back.  If you wrap your mind around the fact that no matter how open the run you can never lead Ibrahimovic with the ball it will save you a huge headache and slower build-up is much more effective.  I have been through just about all of the negatives, but even worse, he was tired after 85 minutes even as a ST given the 68 STAMINA.

 

Closing Words

It is a shame that they didn’t give this man a proper send off in the end.  Sure, the stats are boosted and he is a decent option, but he just doesn’t fit the current gameplay at all.  For curiosity’s sake, I even lobbed up a variety of crosses to the big man just to see what might happen, only to have my opponents TAA, Wan Bissaka, and even Semedo launch themselves above me and ruin quality chances.  To close, I always know a review is not going well when I am a) checking how many games until 20 after every match, b) constantly checking my phone every half or pause to see how many coins I am losing when I sell, and c) having lengthy conversations with the on-screen player about how poor their performance has been and how soon I will be selling them after their last match… this is normal right?  In the end I can’t recommend this guy even to the most loyal of Ibra followers.  He might be the lion in real life, but he is not the king of the FIFA jungle.  Cheers for reading.  

 

 

Game Stats:

 

 

 

Game Highlights:

 

Latest Articles on FUTBIN
Top Rated
New
Controversial
Show comments