FIFA 23 Team of the Season Fofana Player Review

Another year, another insane Ligue 1 TOTS squad, another frustrating experience of doing everything I can and packing none of them.  To add insult to injury it took only two matches of Weekend League qualifying to play my first red TOTS Messi.

While I don’t foresee the FUT Gods smiling down on me to pack one of the multi-million coin big boys I was excited to see a lot of usable options at relatively affordable price tags.  The selection process took some time but ultimately the popularity and affordability of Seko Fofana definitely jumped off the screen.

The price tag on this card is immediately at the focal point as Fofana boasts some incredible statistics, even at this stage in the game.  Even beyond the cheap price I think the popularity of this card stems more from the nostalgia of FIFA 22 than anything.  FIFA 22 Headliner Fofana was a weapon and his eerily similar TOTS followed suit resulting in a memorable FUT favorite.

Regardless of the why, it was straight to the qualifying grind this weekend as Fofana took his place as the more adventurous CDM alongside Vieira in my 4-2-2-2 formation.  The application of the SHADOW chemistry style brought pace and defending levels up and all was set to dive into some matches.

Fofana brought the thunder and lighting to the middle of the pitch all review long in the following squad:

Overall 

Right from the outset of the first match it was clear that Fofana was going to play a key role in my squad.  The more attacking box to box role certainly suited the Lens midfielder and early doors I thought he was going to score a hat full of goals.  In the end that did not happen, but the offensive contributions were a constant threat to my opponents.  Perhaps this focus was almost too intense at times, as I often felt a little short in the midfield due to Fofana’s attacking escapades.

Main Statistics – Defending

Defending Rating: 9/10

Physical Rating: 10/10

Height: 185cm | 6’1

It is interesting, but Fofana actually appears shorter on the field than his card would suggest.  Perhaps this is more down to the quickness and movement, which is a key to how this card defends at its best.

If you can utilize the movement and pace with Fofana you can truly cause havoc in the middle of the pitch.  Fofana literally flies into tackles and the 99 STANDING TACKLE & 99 SLIDING TACKLE were extremely reliable.  The card feels powerful and this is most evident in the tackles that Fofana manages to win the majority of the time.

I mentioned the height illusion and this continued for me into the 99 INTERCEPTIONS, which it did not feel were always there for Fofana.  The reach to intercept passes was not nearly as telescopic as Vieira and again this felt like an issue with the card size more than anything.

Value/Coins

Value/Coins Rating: 5/5

Insane deal that you can grab this card for 115k.  There are more pros than cons with every aspect of this card and overall there is a fine margin between this card and some of the absolute best I have tried.  We can all get our ‘why didn’t you link him with Trophy Titan Keane’ jokes out now when I say that one issue that developed was how hard it is to link the Ivory Coast midfielder, but it is difficult to really complain when you look at what you paid for the card in the first place.

Good vs. Bad 

Good vs Bad Rating: 5/5

While the focus was on defending, there were other areas that Fofana managed to shine.

+ The 96 ACCELERATION & 96 SPRINT SPEED are at the root of everything that Fofana does well.  The tracking and tackling part of Fofana’s game is excellent and generally helped control the flow of the match.  In an attacking role it was nice to have a midfielder that could really push the pace of the game and carry the ball at my opponents.

+ The Shooting was not perfect with this card but there were some excellent goal contributions.  The 79 FINISHING is always going to be the biggest issue, but the 92 SHOT POWER & 87 LONG SHOTS did pull through with some helpful contributions during the brief qualification test run.

Not everything performed 100% of the time and some key deficiencies stood out across the review.

- With 89 LONG PASSING & 95 SHORT PASSING you would expect some relatively consistent results and that is exactly what Fofana delivered.  However, it was actually the 95 SHORT PASSING that gave me the most grief, and in fact the long passing was normally sublime, but in tight spaces this card gave the ball away a few too many times for my liking.  Mishit passes the biggest culprit and a frustrating trend during the review.

- I don’t normally get into work rates much in these reviews, but in this case it was a glaring part of what makes Fofana so good, but so unreliable.  I like having two defensively responsible CDMs and if one can chip in offensively I take it.  With Fofana, it was a heavy focus on attack and while it bolstered my squad going forward, I often felt exposed at the back.

Closing Words

115k is a no brainer for this one and if you are looking for a card to both put in tackles and increase attacking threat then you can look no further.  Fofana was heavily immersed in the majority of my attacks and the 3 goals and 8 assists in 7 matches stands as proof. 

If you want a more defensive first CDM than I would look in other directions, but from an attacking perspective there are not many players I can remember during this entire year that have joined and improved the attack the way that Fofana was able to during this review.

Hoping you are well.  Cheers for reading.