FIFA 23 FUTTIES Xavi Simons Player Review

The Futties continue to roll out and at this stage the choices for squads have become endless.  There are more than enough cheap beasts floating around to bring squads to ridiculous levels…  and so we grabbed one of the cheaper options to test for ourselves and report back for those FUT Managers who just need that finishing touch to push them over the edge.

The choice wasn’t a random one though… At this point  I have been tinkering and changing my final FUT squad more than my final FPL squad throughout the week.  There are just so many players I want to try before the final bell tolls on this version of FIFA. Unfortunately, that list only keeps growing as new squads and SBCs are released… and Futties Xavi Simons is no different.

Previous versions of Simons have been personal favorites of mine and now the opportunity to possibly add the Dutchman to my final squad was too good to pass up.  For the sake of offering some different perspectives on position, and for my own curiosity, I deployed Simons as both my box to box CDM and RAM in the 4-2-2-2 formation.  The ridiculous set of statistics lending themselves well to the seldom used SENTINEL Chemistry Style.  
Xavi Simons was certainly a talking point all weekend long in the following squad:

Overall 

Up there with one of the most disappointing reviews that I have completed this year and honestly couldn’t wait for it to be over.  Not all was a disaster and there are some redeeming qualities that Xavi Simons can deliver, but overall this was a complete crash and burn experiment.  First off, I thought it might be the SENTINEL Chem Style so I tried the MARKSMAN… Then maybe the AcceleRATE so I went to the MAESTRO… But nothing worked.  The CDM trial was also “short” lived for many of the reasons that I will cover below, and so the RAM position became Simons’ home for this review.

Main Statistics – Dribbling

Dribbling Rating: 9/10

The one saving grace and an area that feels like it appears on the statistics… The MAESTRO did feel slightly better than the other options and the 99 ratings across the board (save for the 97 COMPOSURE) contribute heavily to this feel.

The 5 STAR SKILLS will tick a very important box for a lot of FUT Managers and overall the card feels responsive and touch tight from a left stick reliant perspective.  The only reason that this card is not an automatic 10/10 for dribbling comes from outside factors such as Pace and Physicality that impact the quality too drastically to say that what Xavi Simons can do on the ball deserves a “perfect” rating.

Value/Coins

Value/Coins: 2/5

Truthfully this might be a generous rating given the lack of quality that Simons has in comparison to some of the weapons you come up against in Weekend League.  Additionally, the insanely low price point of some top tier players leaves this card with little to stand on when stacking up against the value of other players currently available.

Good vs. Bad 

Good vs Bad Rating: 3/5

Some shining moments that are worth discussing.

+ The Passing with this card is an area that didn’t completely disappoint.  The 5 assists in 7 matches is a decent RAM return and can be summarized in two types of assists.  The first is when the quality dribbling led to situations where a simple pass offered a tap in for teammates.  The second relates more to the passing quality itself and especially crossing quality that Simons demonstrated throughout.  The irony is not lost on me that one of the best performing statistics (81 CROSSING) is also one of his lowest in game statistics.

+ I am going to turn around and throw this in as a negative in a second… But there were some decent finishes from Simons in his 4 goals.  The 4 STAR WEAK FOOT is about right and did contribute to the goal totals.

Unfortunately, that is about where the quality stopped.

- I mentioned the Shooting so here it is… This card, even with the 99 SHOT POWER & 99 FINISHING of the MAESTRO, is a complete waste in front of goal.  At times it felt like Simons had a 4 STAR STRONG FOOT in situations where should be goals ended up wide or well over the bar.

- This card has movement of a 168cm | 5’6 with a LEAN Body Type card… But the acceleration was abysmal.  The 98 ACCELERATION was about as far from close to perfect as you could imagine and really spiraled into affecting the quality of the dribbling as well.  There was simply no competing with the likes of Camavinga or Capdevila who simply dominated that space against Simons.

Closing Words

At the outset of this review, I thought there was an opportunity to see a card with the possibility to dominate at various positions and really offer FUT Managers a real bargain… What I got was a complete waste of coins and a serious struggle to compete at the start of this weekend.

Not many times do reviews go so bad that I look forward to them ending and getting someone… ANYONE… back in there place… but this review was just that.  I truly believe two matches were lost at the expense of stacking Simons up against the super squads lurking in the murky Weekend League waters… He just isn’t him.

Hoping you are well.  Cheers for reading.