FIFA 23 FANTASY FUT HERO DI NATALE PLAYER REVIEW

After what was a serious let down during our most recent Fantasy FUT Hero review featuring Peter Crouch, the hope was that Antonio Di Natale would put in a performance worthy of the Hero title during this past Weekend League.

Given the price tag there was always going to be huge expectations with this review and after the Italian finally became available from his ridiculous extinct 3.8 million coin price tag, the matches were ready to get started.

The make up of my squad will certainly look familiar from previous weekend reviews, but we have once again returned to the 4-2-2-2 formation ingame, which has been a mainstay of my squads for some time now.  Di Natale slotted in perfectly as the strike partner alongside POTM Ben Yedder and all that was left was the chem style.

In this case I tried both the HUNTER and HAWK chemistry styles and found that the difference in pace and shooting was so insignificant that I couldn’t tell the difference, which is weird considering the change in AcceleRATE type as well.  In any case this obviously meant that the HAWK proved to be my favorite as the added strength is a clear bonus. 

Di Natale proved a constant threat all weekend long in the following squad:

Overall 

9 goals and 3 assists in 7-ish matches are not numbers that make you sit up and take notice.  The 7 comes from the fact that two 0-0 quits are skewing the totals that Di Natale produced.  The -ish comes from the fact that a lot of my opponents ended up quitting early during this review.

Di Natale is a potent finisher and due to this fact he was able to suck the life out of a lot of my opponents.  The negative side effect is of course that his numbers do not look as plentiful as other reviews.  But his finishing is certainly not an area where I was concerned during this review.

Main Statistics – Shooting

Shooting Rating: 9.5/10

Weak Foot: ★★★★

Traits: Outside Foot Shot, Finesse Shot

Shooting is the one area that this card really resembled a 2.4 million coin card and from 18 yards in he is just about flawless.  97 FINISHING & 96 SHOT POWER felt just as accurate and just as powerful on both feet and largely led to some simple finishes in the end.

The one area that I am starting to notice the best shooters separating themselves from average comes in the form of first time finishes.  Di Natale was as reliable as any striker I have used and again proved lethal when in dangerous scoring positions.

The reason for the 9.5/10 overall is a simple explanation.  I would 100% take Di Natale and his ruthless finishing over some of the slightly less potent strikers I have used… But his outside the box shooting proved a little less than perfect.

With both Shooting Traits and 99 LONG SHOTS, shooting from distance should have been an area that demanded the respect of my opponents… But after numerous unsuccessful tries it started to be a slight burden on my scoring options on the whole.

Value/Coins

Value/Coins Rating: 4/5

When you simply look at the statistics and use FUTBIN to filter that search, there is a very special set of cards remaining to look at and compare to Di Natale.  Yet, the direct comparison is not exactly there and sort of explains the 4/5 Value rating.

The presence of IF and Centurian Salah for well under half the price can be explained away by the 3 STAR WEAK FOOT… while the 3.1 million coin price tag on Prime Jairzinho takes into consideration the 5 STAR SKILLS.  In a sense Di Natale is just about perfectly priced, but there were a few areas where further quality was required to earn the full 5/5.

Good vs. Bad 

Good vs Bad Rating: 5/5

There is a lot to like about this card when you simply apply the eye test to statistics… and thankfully the majority translated perfectly into game production.

+ The HAWK chemistry style brings the Pace to 98 ACCELERATION & 94 SPRINT SPEED and for the most part this was a huge asset throughout the review.  The acceleration was especially noticeable on a smaller card and produced a lot of the chances you will see in game.  

+ 170cm | 5’7 with 4 STAR SKILLS and the FLAIR Trait… It could really only go one direction.  The 89 AGILITY & 93 BALANCE on top of the 91 DRIBBLING simply adding to the quality movements you can produce through left stick dribbling.

+ Playing as the target man meant the need to distribute the ball to create counter attacks, which Di Natale did masterfully.  In truth the 3 assists doesn’t tell the whole story as Di Natale was often turning to play both Mbappe and Elliot into space, who then fed Ben Yedder to finish.  While not gaining direct credit, Di Natale certainly earned my attention as his 87 SHORT PASSING proved vital during the short review.

There were a few negatives with this card and again speaks to the less than perfect value rating.

- While the 98 ACCELERATION and body type had Di Natale out of the blocks in a hurry, the 94 SPRINT SPEED did not always prove the perfect match to keeping the lead by the end of the race.  I found numerous defenders simply ate up the ground on Di Natale, taking away what should have been clear cut chances.

- I mentioned being a target man.  Di Natale certainly had the passing and end product to keep the position.  However, the size & 76 STRENGTH were always going to be sore points on the overall end product.

Closing Words

Great card.  Great finishing.  Great all-around contribution to my squad.  But the key section of this review is definitely the value for coins and the fact that until that reaches a 5/5 overall, I would wait to pull the trigger on this one.

Of course we have to respect the upgrades and the fact that Di Natale is all but guaranteed a +1, but even then I still think this card needs some discount pricing before I would suggest jumping into a purchase.
There is no doubt he will perform for you and he puts those hard earned chances where they belong… But there were simply not enough “wow” moments from Di Natale to suggest that a card for a lower price tag couldn’t have produced the same.

Hoping you are well.  Cheers for reading.