Player Review: Prime Essien

Hey everyone,

Welcome back to another review focussed on an Icon Swaps’ Player. Last time we did Zambrotta and now we’re looking at Prime Essien. Most of us vividly remember The Bison from his time at the European top clubs. I always was a fan, because how could you not be a fan from someone who’s called The Bison? I had a busy week so that’s why it has been a bit quiet on the reviews, however I’m aiming to change that again and provide you guys with hopefully more helpful insights.

Review

I really had high hopes for him to perform in game as a potential new competitor to Vieira. EA might rate him the same as base Vieira, but I couldn’t imagine them being on the same level. 88 or 91 Vieira would be closer I reckoned, but it isn’t EA’s first mistake and it won’t be their last. I must say I haven’t used Vieira yet this FIFA, but last year his baby was significantly worse than his other two cards. So far my eyes were set on Essien as the better choice of the two.

• Positions played: CDM in 352
• Chemistry Style: Shadow
• Games Played: 20
• Goals/Assists: 1/8
• Game mode: Rivals

Squad used in

Shooting & Passing

One thing I remembered from Essien were his spectacular goals and I kept trying to launch them in the top corner, however the EA gods weren’t favoring me and sadly he only managed to score one tap in from a corner. His stats suggest he is able to pull of some decent Long Shots, but he didn’t manage to do so for me. He would get them on target though, but none flew in. I imagine if you keep trying he’ll eventually score some screamers though. His passing on the other hand was excellent, helped by his 4* WF obviously. I had to adapt my playstyle a bit from Kanté with whom I’d never try a risky pass, but Essien was able to pull them off. Not once did I feel that he passed the ball somewhere I didn’t want it to go and I was really impressed.

• Shooting: 6.9/10
• Passing: 8.7/10

Pace & Dribbling

His already very decent Pace gets a boost to an impressive 99 Acceleration and 96 Sprint Speed and you could really see him flying over the pitch. He was constantly running back and forth and always in the right place on time. Opponents would think twice about making a run forwards from midfield, because he’d keep up with them without breaking a sweat. His movement is very good and if you enjoy to crabwalk around the pitch with your CDM’s like me, you’ll like Essien. I mean he is no N’Golo “The Crab” Kanté, but he doesn’t feel sluggish or unresponsive like some other CDM’s. His movement wasn’t only noticable off the ball, but also his on the ball dribbling. His 3* skills invited me to do some Zidane turns and he pulled those off without too much trouble.

• Pace: 9.2/10
• Dribbling: 8.2/10

Physical and Defending

Here we are, at the most important part of Essien’s review. Don’t worry, you won’t be dissappointed. His defensive stats get all boosted to 99 except his Heading (80) and his Standing Tackles (97). I could care less about heading this game, so in my book he gets a rounded off 99 in Defending. You really notice this in game, he fights his way back when he gets passed, if he gets passed at all. He will intercept passes that will make your opponent blame EA and he will block shots that you already thought you’d concede. I played him alongside TAA or Frenkie TOTY at CDM and they both got outshone by the Ghanaian defensively. He is strong, I mean we all know that. You don’t get named The Bison if you’re not physically impressive and he really lives up to his name. He is a tank and I heard that the American army is looking into acquiring him to replace their M1 Abrams with.

• Physical: 9.6/10
• Defending: 9.5/10

Rating: 9.6/10

This is the best CDM I used this year. Now I must say I haven’t tried the other big names: TOTY Kanté, any Vieira or Prime Matthäus, but I am 100% conviced that he can compete with any of those. To imagine you can get this card for free is crazy. I mean it will be a huge grind, but if you aren’t a trader like me, I can only imagine it to be worth it. He’s 100% an end game CDM!

Value for coins:

1.7m is what he costs currently on PS4 and in the 1-2m price range you find mid Matthäus, base Vieira and TOTY Frenkie and all of these are great CDM’s, but I can’t imagine him being worse than base Vieira. Matthäus and Frenkie both strike me as better box-to-box midfielders, but not per-sé as better pure CDM’s. Besides the competition I don’t think that you’re overpaying for a card like this. He is in my opinion worth every penny.

This is one of the harder to get Icon Swaps and I’ll review base Ronaldinho soon for you guys,

YourAverageFuttie

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