FIFA 23 FUT BALLERS BAMFORD PLAYER REVIEW - COP OR FLOP?

Our second daily FUT Baller SBC has dropped and it’s the multilingual, musical master of goals himself, Patrick Bamford. With yesterday’s Diaz being such a hit for those new to the game and those just needing some cheap fodder, this is another out of the top drawer from EA.

This promo has really got me asking why we can’t have more content like this alongside regular promo teams in packs. With all the pack objectives and SBC grind at the moment, it seems ludicrous for there not to be something in packs alongside it. I would love upgradeable cards that are in Milestones too. Give us a real journey to 100 goals or 100 wins and this concept could become an integral part of the Ultimate Team journey.

As with yesterday, the in game review and comparisons will be done against the 88 rated upgraded version. The base card this time round is just an 85 rated.

A common theme with the FUT Baller cards is that the dribbling stats are uniform and match the face card stat across the board. In this case we’re partying cause it’s 99. 

Check out the card! - Patrick Bamford 88

Patrick Bamford FUT Ballers SBC Requirements

#1 - Patrick Bamford
England Player - Min 1
IF Player - Min 1
Squad Rating - 82

Total Cost from scratch ~ 27K

This is even cheaper than yesterday! With the amount of discard IF’s that usually litter people’s clubs, the main cost of this SBC is unlikely to be something you’d need to buy. You can essentially complete this with duplicate fodder from the upgrade grind! To top it all off, we also now have the “Play To Ball” (terrible, terrible name) Objective group giving copious pack rewards from easy to complete objectives that should ply you with more than enough fodder for every upcoming SBC. 

Bamford FUT Baller SBC In Game Analysis

As with yesterday, if you are an ardent player of FUT, this card isn’t going to touch the sides. Unless you love Leeds, England or the public schooling system, this is a novelty card at best and a fodder at worst. But he has 99 dribbling, so we had to try him out. 

The first thing to note here is that, compared to yesterday, there is a very noticeable upgrade in the player from the base version to the upgraded version. Diaz was just a slightly nippier, slipperier customer with the upgrade. This upgrade is night and day. 

For those of you wondering if 99 dribbling is any good. It is.

To expand further on that, he has 37 more stats in agility and balance in the upgraded version and for those of you that extoll the virtues of those stats, this is your Shangri La. He is buttery smooth. If you ever play mystery ball, you’ll know that when you get the dribbling boost, the player seems to get much quicker. This is also in effect here. 83 acceleration feels like a straight up lie. He is one of the quickest on the ball players I’ve seen in the game. 

However, as a striker, you’re paid to finish chances. And whilst I don’t have to pay a virtual card to do that, if I did, I’d be withholding pay.

His shooting is a bizarre let down. With 90 finishing and 88 shot power, combined with 99 composure, he should be absolutely surgical on his strong foot. But I just couldn’t get him to stick it in the onion bag. His 3 star weak foot was absolutely impotent as well. 

His physicals were a big let down too. Whilst his 94 stamina meant his High/High work rates didn’t drain him, his 80 strength was pitiful. He really struggled to hold off defenders if they got tight to him. 

For me, a hawk or a deadeye are absolute necessities to try and offset these issues. Both make him an absolute animal statistically but I couldn’t extract that from him in the games I played. It could just be heavy weekend servers in fairness.

How Does He Compare?

Currently the fodder value of an 85 and an 88 rated player is 45k. So for the cost of 27k liquid, the comparison fodder wise is an absolute no brainer. However comparing the actual player himself is an entirely different beast.

It may be an obvious statement but he is absolutely unmatched dribbling wise. He will win every comparison in this category and it won’t be close, so if we just take that as gospel, we’ll see if there’s anyone else in the Prem that can compete elsewhere.

Above 87 rated, there are very few strikers with 4 star skill moves and 3 star weak foot in the premier league. You have the Nordic meat shield in Haaland and Mo Salah’s 92 OOP card. Both of which are either complete anomalies or just plain better.

However the only other 4/3 card here is Nketiah’s future stars card. Coming in at 89 rated and 150k, he’s probably the closest we are going to get to a comparison.

Pace wise, it’s all Eddie. He has the opposite pace split to Bamford with far more acceleration than sprint speed. However Bamford’s 83 acceleration is destroyed here and gives this comfortably to Eddie. Shooting is a similar story, beaten in every important stat, Bamford’s lack of potency is becoming a little easier to understand now. By comparison, Nketiah is an absolute assassin in front of goal and his 3 star weak foot feels like an absolute lie. 

However Bamford is a much more proficient distributor of the ball. With 9 more vision and 13 more long passing, his ability to spring attacks is quite solid compared to the Arsenal goalscorer. However physically it all goes downhill again. Beaten in every stat including a comprehensive 27 extra jumping for Nketiah. 

It feels like the 99 dribbling is doing a lot of heavy lifting in Bamford’s face card rating.

FUT Ballers Bamford - Cop or Flop?

This SBC has 89% upvotes. I will be surprised if any of the SBC’s are less than 80% this week. Alex Oxlade Chamberlain could end up proving me wrong in a few days time though…

For the highlighted comment, it’s time to acknowledge a patient soul. Sometimes, you type a username and know that it will be ridiculed, laughed at and that it may never truly fit. 

Today though, his time came…

Without sounding like a broken record. This is cracking from EA. Whether you’re new to the game and are getting a serviceable striker or are just looking for cheap fodder, this is a belter.

This is a BAMF of an SBC (Don’t google that children).

Cop

SBC Rating: 9/10