Neymar

Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior; one of the most polarizing figures in world football.  It seems like there are only two options when it comes to the Brazilian superstar… you either love him… or you love to hate him.  Regardless of where you stand it is impossible to deny the seemingly limitless skill that this man displays every time that he touches a football.  Thankfully, EA has managed to replicate a lot of Neymar’s best attributes in his virtual persona and equipped 91 Neymar with some serious weapons.  If you follow me on Twitter: @IVIaeNine you would have already known that this review was coming and that Neymar put on an absolute show this weekend in my return to Elite after last week's heartbreak.  Neymar put the squad on his shoulders and lifted us to success, breaking records for the squad and player output along the way.  With 59 goals in 29 Weekend League matches Neymar now stands alone as the Dinamo Parklund all-time single weekend scorer… and was also a big part of the squad record 93 goals in a weekend.  Truthfully, I do not see either of these being eclipsed this year, but anything can happen.   While I don’t think you can really go wrong either way, I used the HUNTER chemistry style throughout my review and it obviously worked perfectly.  I played Neymar as the ST in my 4-4-2 & 3-4-1-2 formations… along with the CAM in the 3-4-1-2 as well.  Regardless of your formation, I think it is vital that Neymar be somewhere in the thick of the action… It seems a waste to have that amount of talent out on the wing and receiving only a portion of the ball… when centrally he can influence everything; and influence everything he did.  Neymar was the Samba King all weekend in the following squad:
   

Overall

Rating: 10/10
Pace Rating: 10/10
Dribbling Rating: 10/10
Shooting Rating: 10/10
Passing Rating: 10/10
Physical Rating: 9/10
Defending Rating: N/A

Following suit with his PSG teammate it is a perfect 10/10 this week for Neymar as well.  While they are both certainly worthy of the accolades, they find their way there in different ways and for me, Neymar is well and truly clear as the winner of, “who does it better?”  There are really no flaws in the card and in my experience, Neymar was not as reliant on smooth gameplay as Mbappé was.  Yes, you notice a difference and you do not get the same free-flowing and dangerous card when the gameplay is slow.  But you still always have the finishing & passing, which are vital when grinding through the sluggish challenges that you will ultimately face throughout a weekend.  However, with 45 goals and 8 assists in the 20 match review I think it is clear that Neymar did more than just grind … he flourished, and now stands alone as the prime Ultimate Team warrior that I have used this year.           
 

Main Statistic - Shooting

Shooting Rating: 10/10
Weak Foot: * * * * *
Trait: Outside Foot Shot

The shooting with this card is simply on a different planet than what I have previously used.  Del Piero is probably the closest option I have used in terms of weak foot perfection, but there is something different about Neymar.  97 FINISHING, 85 SHOT POWER & 84 LONG SHOTS do not begin to exemplify what I witnessed throughout the weekend.  The card doesn’t miss… seriously.  Beyond the odd goalie movement by my opponents, I do not remember a clear cut chance not ending up in the back of the net.  One of the keys here is not just the 5 STAR WEAK FOOT, but the Outside of the Foot trait. The reason being that Neymar will always just choose the best weapon to get the job done, and time after time the result is a goal.  After 5 matches I went back into the statistics and was shocked to realize that Neymar does not have the finesse trait as well because in-game he is clinical with these finishes on both feet and you would swear he is benefitting from the added trait bonus.  In the end, that sums up the shooting with this card; it just feels like something else is going on beneath the surface and that leads Neymar to outperform his statistics… and the scary part is this isn’t just with his shooting. 
 

Value/Coins & Good vs. Bad 

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

This has to be one of the most underpriced cards on the market at just over 1 million coins.  I realize that this is a small fortune to some FUT Managers and that there are some “cheap beasts” available… but with Mbappé at 1.3 million, this card is a steal.  I could talk about the quality of passing that goes hand in hand with all of the other weapons with this card… but instead, I will say that Neymar delivers even better statistics… 10/10 Fun.  Even in the poor gameplay, even against drop-back-Danny… I had fun every match just seeing what this card would produce next, which is worth every coin in itself from my viewpoint.

If this card had 80+ PHYSICAL it would not be unfair.  Honestly, the 50 STRENGTH with Neymar is all that is keeping him real at this point.  In-game it takes a lot of effort to actually lay a finger on this card, but when you do, the reward is the ball nine times out of ten.  The one out of ten is when the game has decided that you must lose and somehow Neymar outmuscles your VVD and fires a missile into the top bins… not that this has happened to me before or anything...
 

Closing Words

While the price tag will be astronomical, I am almost hoping we do not see a special version of Neymar for some time.  It seems like everyone and their dog are already rocking some of the most foolish teams I have come up against… and it is November.  The last thing I need is my opponents adding a special Neymar to their lineup of Mbappé, CR7 and Cruyff.  What I do need, is to reiterate just how fantastic this card was and shine the spotlight on a card that truly hits differently than anything I have used in FIFA 21.  Neymar brings the goals, brings the flair, brings the fun, and brought the quality needed for an Elite return for my squad.  He was the push I needed to progress in my results, and I know he would do the same for you. Cheers for reading.  

Game Stats:
 

Game Highlights: