TOTS Ansu Fati Review

It is safe to say that the LaLiga TOTS drop this past Friday got off to a near perfect start.  The team was filled with a nice mix of top tier cards and cheap beasts… the 5 STAR WEAK FOOT for King Benz… and two objective cards that could challenge for a place in a lot of FUT Managers squads.  While it is clear what you will get if you put the time into Navas, I was immediately interested in seeing what Ansu Fati could deliver to the table at this stage in the game.  Coincidently my eye had also been heavily fixed on the ridiculous statistics attached to TOTS Pedri and with that, the reviews were set.  Well, kind of, there was still the matter of getting the Spanish winger into my squad, which meant a dive into the LaLiga Links FUT Friendlies game mode.  The goals were simple, the through balls happened without any attention, the 4 wins were a piece of cake, but the 10 midfielder goals proved otherwise difficult… or at least time consuming.  In the end, it only took the 10 matches to complete which was nice, but of those 10 matches, I only had 4 rage quits after scoring first.  I realize that this is not a requirement, but I just wish people realized how much faster it could be for everyone if we all bought in… but I digress. With Fati finally secured it was a return to the 4-2-2-2 formation this weekend while the application of the DEADEYE chemistry style looked extremely enticing on this card… with an argument out there for the MAESTRO as well.  Now, the reviews were set as Ansu Fati proved to be a passenger all weekend long in the following squad:   

Starting Formation:

Overall

Rating: 7/10
Pace Rating: 9/10
Dribbling Rating: 8.5/10
Shooting Rating: 7/10
Passing Rating: 7/10
Physical Rating: 7/10
Defending Rating: N/

Once again there were some gameplay complaints levied against EA this weekend and I would love to place the blame for Fati’s lackluster performance on Vancouver… but in this case, the players around the Spanish winger still managed to perform at a quality level.  I say Spanish winger… but given the crazy Pace, Dribbling & Shooting statistics I thought I could use Fati as a ST in the 4-2-2-2 and started the review with him there.  This lasted all of 2 matches and after a handful of missed chances that experiment ended.  From this point on it was a trial run as the RAM where performances improved but still left a lot to be desired.   

Main Statistics - Pace

Pace Rating: 9/10
Dribbling Rating: 8.5/10
Skills: ★★★★
Height: 178cm | 5’10

I think that we can all agree by now that certain cards have hidden statistics that allow them to outperform their surface qualities.  Some ICONs are notorious for these shenanigans and if you want further proof just take a stroll with NIF Mbappe and tell me something isn’t going on there.  Yet, while some cards outperform their statistics there are also some who go in the opposite direction and Ansu Fati falls into this category for me.  You can not tell me this card has 99 ACCELERATION & 99 SPRINT SPEED when I sub Moussa Diaby on the opposite flank who is moving twice as fast.  I realize that the height difference and unique body type will affect these types of statistics… but in this case, it is certainly not for the better.  The same can be said for the 99 AGILITY, 97 BALANCE & 96 DRIBBLING which did not scratch the surface of those levels even with the addition of the 4 STAR SKILLS.  The card is not clunky by any means, but it is not responsive on a level that those statistics should produce either.  

Main Attribute - 4 STAR WEAK FOOT

Shooting Rating: 7/10
Weak Foot: ★★★★
Traits: Outside Foot Shot

Another mirage with this card came in the form of the Shooting statistics and as previously mentioned originally impacted my squad building decisions.  With no time to rework the squad, it was a small tweak in tactics that allowed Pedri to play a FALSE 9 ST which ultimately proved a fantastic stroke of luck.  But back with Ansu Fati, I could not get over the lack of clinical finishing on this card.  I literally paused the game and double checked he was right footed at one point.  With 99 FINISHING & 99 SHOT POWER, it shouldn’t be this way, but it was.  The 7/10 comes from the fact that there were some moments, 6 to be exact, where Fati took his chances.  Some of those moments were actually some quality strikes, but it was the inconsistency and match on the line misses that drove me over the deep end with this card at times.  

Value/Coins & Good vs. Bad

Value/Coins Rating: 4/5
Good vs Bad Rating: 3/5

It took me 2.5 hours to get this card and it should have been 1, but in the worst case scenario, it will be 3.  The current cheapest 92 rated fodder is 45k and at this point, I think that is what Ansu Fati will be for me.  I plan to complete the 93+ upgrade given the weaker red picks I have had (minus Salah so I am not complaining), but with all of that fodder, I can see myself throwing Fati in as well.  Currently, I have TOTS Diaby, TOTS Min Son and even NumbersUp Jota who I would all trust in wide positions over Fati.  In the end, if someone told me I could get 45k for 3 hours of playing I would probably say that is better than my rewards in other game modes and would go for it.  

While there was a lot to gripe about with this card, such as the lack of pace and responsive dribbling leading to the lack of strength being exposed… or the poor passing despite the 99 SHORT PASSING… and the list goes on… I would still point out that the 9 assists in 15 matches are a solid return.  So what happened?  The one area I really liked about this card was the 98 POSITIONING.  Yes, he missed a lot of chances… but he was in the right place to get them.  The same can be said for the assists.  Time and time again I was able to find Fati in and around the box and it was a simple final pass from the Barcelona man into a striker to finish off the move.  While I would never recommend a card over taking up a few nice positions… it would be wrong to exclude one of the areas the card did shine and then delivered.   

Closing Words

If you didn’t grasp my thoughts by now, I would save your time completing this card.  Perhaps the most significant contribution Ansu Fati had to my Weekend League success was the hyperlink to get Pedri into my squad.  The question is always, “why a 7/10 if he was so bad??!?” And in this case, the card still produced 6 goals and 9 assists in 15 matches in a difficult gameplay and sweaty competition Weekend League.  There are worse cards out there, 100%, and you could get some decent moments out of this card.  But there are just so many cards I would put my time towards earning over this one, which is too bad considering it seemed like EA was really giving us a banging objective card to pair with this TOTS.  Hoping you are safe and well.  Cheers for reading.
 

Game Stats:
 

Game Highlights: