ShapeShifters El Shaarawy Review

Certainly one of the more interesting reviews that we have done this year… and if you read the Werner review you would know that it originally wasn’t even slated to happen.  With the seemingly impossible task of getting our hands on Ramos, it was a shift of gears into El Shaarawy that set off this review.  But this is not the interesting part of course… that came later after I was done with all 15 matches and found out that the card I had used did not have the proper in-game statistics. While nothing surprises me at this point, it was an irritation knowing that the card I had reviewed was no longer the card you would want to use or avoid moving forward.  In the end, I didn’t want to deal with ifs, buts, and maybes and instead carved out the time to use this card again during my most recent FUT Qualification set of matches.  Truthfully, I did not notice even the most minuscule difference in the two… what worked well this weekend was on point again… while the same struggles reared their ugly heads in a similar fashion.  In both cases, the MARKSMAN chemistry style is the weapon enhancement of choice, and in both scenarios, it was a test run at LAM in my 4-2-2-2 formation for the Italian speedster.  El Shaarawy was so nice we tried him twice, all weekend long, and then again, in the following squad:       

Starting Formation:

Overall

Rating: 8/10
Pace Rating: 9/10
Dribbling Rating: 9/10
Shooting Rating: 8/10
Passing Rating: 7/10
Physical Rating: 7/10
Defending Rating: N/A

Despite the different positions, it was a similar experience on the pitch for El Shaarway and Werner this weekend.  Neither is bad by any means, but neither is going to last long in this FIFA 22 and for good reason.  The 8 goals and 5 assists that El Shaarway posted this weekend from the LAM position are decent viewing… Some of the goals were even of the highest quality and suggested a potential in this card to be unlocked moving forward.  Yet, there could have been so much more and in the end, I could have made a montage out of the calamity of errors I experienced with this card in between those moments of brilliance.        

Main Statistics - Shooting

Shooting Rating: 8/10
Weak Foot: ★★★★
Traits: Finesse Shot

If there was one area that genuinely impressed me during this review it would come in this card's positioning.  While not really the act of shooting, it does fall in this category, and certainly led to more shooting opportunities.  The 97 POSITIONING mixed with the 4-2-2-2 instructions and HIGH | LOW work rates simply meshed perfectly and led to a constant nightmare for my opponents.  Now, if these moments all led to goals, this review would have a different overall tone and certainly overall rating.  Unfortunately, even with the trifecta of 99 FINISHING, 99 SHOT POWER & 99 LONG SHOTS, this card is less than clinical.  Even worse, the 4 STAR WEAK FOOT can be borderline comical at times.  Some bangers in the video, but some clangers throughout the review.   

Main Attribute - 5 STAR SKILLS

Height: 178cm | 5’10
Pace Rating: 9/10
Dribbling Rating: 9/10 
SKills: ★★★★★
Traits: Flair

This should have been the pinnacle of this card and the reason for ultimately pulling the trigger on buying the Roma man, and to be fair, there were certainly moments.  The left-stick dribbling could be lethal as the 99 AGILITY & 97 BALANCE created moments of very responsive turning.  But much like the shooting, not minutes later EL Shaarawy would experience moments of rigidness in trying to execute otherwise easy turns.  The pace was similar.  The 97 ACCELERATION & 97 SPRINT SPEED never seemed to be working in tandem as quick acceleration was often undone by a slower top end speed… or at times when the acceleration itself simply felt lacking.  I would have chalked this up to gameplay, but both during my Weekend League and then again in Qualis, other cards seemed unphased by these moments of inconsistency.

Value/Coins & Good vs. Bad

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

300k for this card feels like it is on the edge of what could be considered fair.  However, I went for the 4 here given the fact that I stand by the 8/10 overall and with so many high tier cards for ridiculously cheap prices… Why settle?  As a card that you are using to link your squad together, he can certainly do a job and not a bad one either.  But I certainly wouldn’t be shuffling my squad to fit him in.

This was ultimately the make or break section of this review.  The Shooting, Pace and Dribbling all have moments that make you believe there is a real player here and hence the 9/10 ratings.  If you can put up with some chin scratching moments and simply look at the best parts of his game, El Shaarawy could be a serious wide option. But then you start factoring the Passing and Physical into the equation and it stops adding up.  The 96 SHORT PASSING & 85 STRENGTH are fraudulent in every shape of the word and tainted a lot of the good things El Shaarawy produced.

Closing Words

I like clipping and making the videos for these reviews right before I write them.  Oftentimes these opportunities act as a reminder about the bigger picture and not just the recency bias of how the review ended off.  This review in particular produced some banging goals from a card that was often a cause for frustration by the end.  The reminder was good for the overall rating, but also brought back annoyance from using a card that you can feel the potential, but end up with limited results.  Despite a role playing possibility in squads, it is still a pass from me.  Hoping you are safe and well. Cheers for reading.

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Game Highlights: