FIFA 23 POTM Ben Yedder Player Review

The undisputed Rat King returns.  It is unlikely that any player’s cards will go down in FUT history as having more love and hate than Wissam Ben Yedder.  You love to have him… and the fact that Ben Yedder himself comments and alludes to his knowledge of this card’s devastation just adds to the aura. 

But you hate to play him… the amount of crazy bounces and broken plays that seem to follow this card.  The unexplainable statistics and of course the 5 STAR WEAK FOOT have only added to the disdain.
Then there are some that simply love to hate him… The “rat” title connected with this card often gets attributed to those using him, and it has gone as far as spawning one of my personal content creator favorites in the Rat to Glory.

Regardless of where you morally stand when it comes to a card like Ben Yeddar, there is one thing for certain, at least in the past… this card delivers.  The hope would be that this card and this review will  follow in previous footsteps and add yet another piece to my growing untradeable squad.

There will be obvious comparisons to the FUT Centurion version of Ben Yeddar and rightfully so.  But in this case you get a grindable option that can also be used in situations such as First Owner objectives.  

In order to put this card to the ultimate test we played Ben Yedder as the frontman of our 4-3-2-1 formation with the HUNTER chemistry style applied to add to the already impressive Pace and Shooting.

Ben Yedder proved worthy of the POTM title throughout FUT Champions Qualifying in the following squad:

Overall 

This card really is a joy to use and a menace to play against.  The Pace and Dribbling are top notch and the Shooting is simply special.  The thing that I always say first and foremost about my strikers is that I want them to finish the hard earned chances that the squad creates… and Ben Yedder did just that.

In only 6 games (with two 0 - 0 quits in the image) it was clear that Ben Yedder was a difference maker and will contribute massively to my squad in the coming month or two.

Main Statistics – Shooting

Shooting Rating: 10/10

Weak Foot: ★★★★★

Traits: Outside Foot Shot

At this point in the cycle it is all fine margins that begin to separate players from good, to great, to incredible.  With that in mind it is often the deficiencies that stand out over the quality.  With Ben Yedder the lack of the FINESSE SHOT Trait was immediately a concern… but it was largely dispelled within one match of play.

In truth I haven’t used much of Ben Yedder this year and I am starting to think that was a huge mistake for both my finishes in Champs and my sanity.  The 99 FINISHING & 93 SHOT POWER with that 5 STAR WEAK FOOT are so clinical and left very few chances unrewarded.

The 98 POSITIONING is also spot on and it always felt that Ben Yedder was right there when I needed him to put the finishing touches on a solid move in attack.  

The only other concern was the 78 LONG SHOTS and in truth the shot power overcame this issue.  The power shot also proved key and generally removed any outside the box concerns.

Value/Coins

Value/Coins Rating: 5/5

The argument here is always going to come in the form of the FUT Centurion version that is tradable at the end of the day.  

I think for myself and most FUT Managers, we like to see a discounted price when completing SBCs, which of course is not the case here.  But with the amount of grindable packs and fodder in the game this card does give you a fantastic place to put it.

Just looking at the price and then looking at the statistics, you still have to consider this card excellent value.  The 9 goals and 4 assists in 6 matches doesn’t do anything to hurt that evaluation either.

Good vs. Bad 

Good vs Bad Rating: 5/5

Having not used Ben Yedder much at all this year I was hoping that two staples remained in this card's arsenal.  Blistering pace and touch tight dribbling… and thankfully they both delivered.

+ The HUNTER chemistry style brings the Pace to a matching 95 in both ACCELERATION & SPRINT SPEED and truthfully both felt great.  However, I would say that the acceleration felt on par with some of the better cards in the game… while the sprint speed was not nearly as devastating when in behind.

+ 170cm | 5’7 with the EXPLOSIVE AcceleRATE and +90 across the board dribbling statistics was really only going to go one way.  As mentioned the acceleration out of the dribble was amazing and it was nice to have a forward both finishing chances and creating his own in attack.

+ As the main striker in my 4-3-2-1 formation it was vital that Ben Yedder link the play with his passing and he was able to do exactly that.  With 90 SHORT PASSING I wasn’t overly surprised, but I definitely didn’t expect the long passing quality that led to a few of the assists you will see in the video.  

Not everything was 100% perfect in paradise though.

- The size of this card makes him everything that people fear when they see him in the opponents line up.  But when combined with the 74 STRENGTH it was a recipe for possession loss in almost every physical encounter.  The 85 JUMPING was also a concern as the outlet ball in the air was largely dominated by my opponents CB’s and created a lot of difficulty when playing past the press.

Closing Words

I think that this card will 100% stand the test of the current power curve, which really hasn’t changed much at all since before TOTY.  

The Dribbling and Acceleration are on par with some of the top end options and the 5 STAR WEAK FOOT is just about automatic.

If you like a proper target man, Ben Yedder simply won’t get the job done and needs to be in motion to truly deliver everything this card can.

Lots of goals and assists in a short period of time and I look forward to the Mbappe link for the foreseeable future in my normal “everyday” squad.

If you want something to put that hard earned fodder towards, you could do a lot worse than the Rat King himself.

Hoping you are well.  Cheers for reading.