FLASHBACK POGBA PLAYER REVIEW FIFA 23

The TOTY Promo is well underway and we have so far seen some fantastic midfield options. But tonight alongside the Team of the year defense we have been introduced to the second Flashback item, which is none other than Mr. Paul Pogba.

I took Pogba in-game with the 4-3-3 formation to be a part of a brute midfield trio alongside Renato Sanches and Bastian Schweinsteiger. The trio was ready and set to wreak havoc in the midfield. This card also comes along with the upgrade from Medium/Low work rates to High/Medium.

I saw the SHADOW chemistry style gaining a lot of popularity with this card and tested it out for the first couple of games, but I personally wanted to push more for passing and dribbling and so opted for the ENGINE Chemistry Style…his performances improved after this.

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Paul Pogba entered the weekend league in the following squad:

Overall 

I would have liked to have rated this Pogba a 9/10, but there were far too many occasions where this card couldn’t cope under close pressure. Often in the box, I found his passing and finishing just couldn’t meet the mark compared to the sensational long shot and long passing ability this card has.

However, this is more than a notable upgrade from his base item with the card feeling marginally faster and more agile on the ball. It also certainly does not hurt with the 5* Skill Moves.

Key Area 1 - Passing

The ENGINE chemistry style was perfect for this card to me and felt like a massive improvement from the first few games of testing Pogba with a SHADOW chemistry style. But with the ENGINE, this saw some key stats such as Long Passing & Vision hit the high end of the 90s. 

Key Area 2 - Shooting

Long shots on this card were phenomenal, I would recommend this over close-range attempts with this card every time as if your opponent was foolish enough to give Pogba some space outside of the box, he tends to have a way of finding the back of the net. But I often found that in close proximity to the defense, he would struggle to get to the goal which was often recovered by his fantastic passing capabilities.

Value for Money

At the time of playing with this flashback item, the Pogba SBC is sitting at a price range of around 580,000 coins. Do I feel this was worth it? I want to say no.. There are so many options at a much cheaper rate that can meet the criteria that Pogba does. Is this card usable? Absolutely. Should you complete this SBC? If you’re a fan of Pogba, sure. One thing worth noting is the timing of this SBC. At current, a lot of cards are hitting the market which will drive the price of fodder down, which in turn will drive the price of this SBC down. So if you are able to craft this item and have no other better SBC options then it may well be worth a punt.

The pricing of this SBC is something that simply cannot be overlooked, As previously mentioned. If you are looking to flat-out purchase the cards required to complete this SBC, the value just is not there. I paired Pogba with Renato Sanches’ ones to watch item. Both come in at a similar price range, however, Sanches is both tradeable and a live item, so has a possibility to get even better. There are so many other options for much less out there that you can go out and use instead.

If you have acquired this card though, he becomes a real asset to the midfield and the pricing should not overshadow his performance in the game. A fantastic box-to-box midfielder with an incredible passing ability. Especially if your game plans include blasting the ball up to your wingers and sending them through on goal. He tracks back very quickly too and supports the defense when needed on any of your opponent's attacking runs. His defensive awareness certainly was not as bad as the in-game stats suggested (70) but was also not anything special.

It is also worth noting that Pogba has a selection of positions you can choose from such as CM/CDM/LM which can make for some flexible squad building in your pre-game.

Summary

The statistics on this card certainly seem to be in the elite category, but for me, this card felt like it may not quite fit in with the meta as again the likes for Sanches, who is 5 ratings lower than this card, felt notably more impactful with the team in the game. I would expect to see a little bit more from a 90-rated midfielder with as well-rounded stats as he has.

The mixture of 5* skills moves and the flair trait certainly make a great recipe in a game that is for sure but the pacing of this card didn’t quite make for the perfect mixture.

As much as the card offers great options for links, I feel that has played a huge tax on the pricing which just lowers the worth for me and creates unnecessary expectations for this card.

Thank you for reading and if you did pick this card up I hope he wows you a lot more than he did for me.