FIFA 23 93 End of an Era Roberto Firmino Player Review - Cop or Flop?

Today marks the beginning of the end for the Team of the Season promo. The build-up for this over the last few days have built a fair bit of hype. Especially around the Award Winner Cards. But that has of course been met with disappointment with said cards coming at the exact same rating and stats as their TOTS counterpart.

To soften the blow however alongside that we have been presented with some End of an Era cards. Rumours of this have been circulating all week and this evening we have been given a Bobby Firmino  End of an Era SBC.

This one seems to have the community torn. I believe that comes down to the price tag, which comes in at a staggering 525k at the time of completing this. It’s a lot to dump into a card when there is so much out there currently… But let’s dive into this EoE Firmino card.

You can check out the card here!

Here are the following SBC Requirements you’ll need to complete:

#1 - The Reds 
# of players from Liverpool - Min. 1
Squad Rating - 85
Pack Return - Mixed Players Pack

#2 - Premier League
# of players from Premier League - Min. 1
Squad Rating - 86
Pack Return - Prime Mixed Players Pack

#3 - Top Form
IF or TOTS Players - Min. 1
Squad Rating - 88
Pack Return - Small Rare Players Pack

#4 - 89 Rated Squad
Squad Rating - 89
Pack Return - Rare Mixed Players Pack

For me this SBC is quite heavily priced. We typically do expect to see “Premier League Tax” on this kind of SBC, so I suppose we’re used to it. But that doesn’t make the blow hit any less. That being said is it bad value? I’m reluctant to say yes but at the same time can see the appeal.

The lineup had Firmino in the ST position playing alongside Saint-Maximan and of course.. Mbappe. I was initially worried that Firmino may end up a small fish in a big pond but he really held his ground to become a key man within the squad.

What worked well for this card is that we have also been given an End of an Era James Milner objective alongside this release. As for the requirements, Firmino helps out a lot. On top of that, if you do complete this Firmino SBC, it’s a great link between the two. 

You can find the requirements for EoE Milner here.

How did he perform in-game?

+ Shooting was really impressive to me. He had an absolute rocket on him that just didn’t seem to miss.
+ Positioning was great on this card. He moved around so much and seemed so aware of his surroundings and moved in the perfect place to receive the ball.
+ Dribbling on this card was superb. He felt incredible on the ball and looked silky smooth moving around the pitch
- The only downside to this card was his Strength. Whilst he does have 82 Strength which isn’t awful… He just seemed to get knocked off the ball pretty easily.

Roberto Firmino - Cop or Flop?

This one is a tough one for me as he is so expensive and when it comes to a big price tag I can’t help but look around and make comparisons. You could complete the POTM Haaland for less and though they are two different styles of players, we all know how broken that card is. Off the market you could pick up a TOTS Moments Son for around 300k and play him at striker if you wanted to.

I may be going against the grain here but for me personally, this is a flop. If you’re a Liverpool fan then sure, pull the trigger on this card. It is a good card and feels great in-game, but for me, I would suggest holding off for now and seeing what else gets released. We have the Shapeshifters promo in a weeks time. This SBC is out for 2 weeks so there is plenty of time the stew on it. There is a lot of packs to be earnt currently as well so potentially this could be a good place to dump excess fodder into.

Verdict: FLOP