FIFA 23 FUTURE STARS ALVAREZ PLAYER REVIEW

It must be nice… When your Norwegian Robot malfunctions to simply bring on one of the brightest young talents with a World Cup to his name and endless potential.  At the outset of this review it did look like oil money would be the only way to bring this lad into the mix… That and a convenient loan from the Moments Store… but the price has since evened out to a respectable number and made this card a lot more enticing.

The drop in price was huge for this review and offered an opportunity to bring the Argentine back into the mix for a second round of tests… The experimentation with chemistry styles, a key reason for round two.

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Regardless of the style it was clear that Future Stars Álvarez would be best utilized as the main striker in the 4-3-2-1 formation, and in all cases this proved true with some excellent performances this weekend.
The initial chemistry test was with the HUNTER chemistry style (as per the statistics image) and it went rather well.  But ironically the two areas that seemed to be misfiring were the Shooting and Pace, with the Acceleration, in particular, causing issues.

Round 2 saw the application of the ENGINE chemistry style and definitely fixed the Acceleration issue, and seemingly fixed the Shooting as well… The second part makes zero sense and I would chalk that up to two things.  1.  I was a bit smarter with my decision making when shooting on the second go.  2. The extra acceleration did mean I was under less pressure when attempting shots on goal.

In all cases Álvarez proved to be a fantastic focal point and main man leading the line all weekend in the following squad:

Overall 

8 goals and 1 assist in 7 matches is not the worst total ever.  If you throw in the fact that one was a 0-0 quit and at least 3 more didn’t make it the full 90 then it is even better.  It is obvious that the HUNTER chemistry style was not horrible, but it just didn’t feel right either.  

The ENGINE application was a different story and brought out a lot of the quality in this card.  The rest of this review reflects the second round of testing which resulted in 11 goals and 3 assists across 10 matches.  Not a massive improvement on the scoresheet… But a notable boost in quality on the pitch.

Main Statistics – Shooting

Shooting Rating: 9.5/10

Weak Foot: ★★★★★

Traits: Finesse Shot, Outside Foot Shot

When it comes to shooting Álvarez has every tool at his disposal and a nice collection of statistics to go along with them.  Even without any boosts the 91 FINISHING was on point and the 93 SHOT POWER just as lethal on either foot.

These statistics can obviously look a lot better with the HUNTER, HAWK & even FINISHER style, but I didn’t feel like I lost anything going back to the ENGINE… And the statistics largely proved that feeling to be true.

Throughout the review there were a few head scratching misses and just couldn’t justify a perfect 10/10 rating, but more often than not the quality in this card shone through.  Definitely a true 5 STAR WEAK FOOT card with the finesse shots especially working a charm. 

Value/Coins

Value/Coins Rating: 4/5

The massive drop in price over the past 24 hours has certainly brought this card back down to a level where you see potential value compared to other options available.  The comparison of base statistics between Álvarez and other options does look good on the Man City man.  His 5 STAR WEAK FOOT setting him apart from the majority of options.  

But in the end this card didn’t quite dominate matches the way that a 1.6 million coin player should.  In fact if I was given a choice between our two reviews this weekend, I would take Mudryk every single time.

Good vs. Bad 

Good vs Bad Rating: 5/5

Even though the price might not be just right, there are a lot of top tier qualities about this card that make it close.

+ The dribbling with this card is unsurprisingly brilliant.  The smaller size, EXPLOSIVE AcceleRATE, 96 AGILITY & 99 BALANCE really made a difference and as I mentioned, opened up the space in the box for easier finishes overall.

+ The way I play the 4-3-2-1 involves the main striker dropping back into space and linking the play, which Álvarez managed with ease.  The 92 SHORT PASSING was crisp and accurate, while the 92 VISION, 89 LONG PASSING & 91 CROSSING were all put to good use with great returns. 

Even with the above-mentioned quality, Álvarez could have offered a bit more, falling just short in a couple of areas.

- The ENGINE application helped the acceleration on this card reach a more reliable standard, but with both the HUNTER and ENGINE it always felt like Álvarez was lacking that high end sprint speed.  91 SPRINT SPEED should have been plenty to keep Álvarez in the clear once past defenders, but it simply didn’t.

- The 88 STAMINA & 75 STRENGTH are both big issues in the Physical statistics category and both offered their fair share of disappointment during the review.

Closing Words

If this card had the sprint speed of Mudryk I think this weekend would have gone drastically different for my squad overall.  Álvarez chipped in with key goals time and time again, but there could have been so much more given the overall quality of his shooting.

With so many cards boasting so many statistics it does start to come down to these fine margins and I just felt like Álvarez was on the losing end of those situations too often given the price tag.  The card is really good, don’t get me wrong, but it could and should be better for the price.

If this card continues to drop into the 1.2 - 1.3 million coin range then there is definitely a new conversation to be had.  But for now, this is just an amazing card, that doesn’t quite live up to the astronomical price tag.  
 
Hoping you are well.  Cheers for reading.