Player Review: ShapeShifter Ribéry

Hey everyone,

It’s no secret that I love Cruyff, largely in part to his 5* skills and 5* WF. Ribery also makes that list, and I was excited to give him a try after he was released last week. When I started my new series of Squad Reviews I went for a French team straight away, so that I could try him out.

Review

Ribéry would take up the role of my playmaker in 4231 as CAM and 442(2) as ST with false 9 instructions. I had high hopes that his passing abilities combined with his 5* WF would result in one of my favorite CAM’s of the game. Unfortunately, this couldn’t be further from the truth. When I first used him I was unimpressed, but I initially attributed this to poor gameplay and lack of experience using the card. However, even with improved gameplay and more familiarity he still underperformed. He’d constantly lose the ball due to a bad pass, a faulty touch or a weak attempt at goal.

• Positions played: CAM in 4231 and ST in 442(2)
• Chemistry Style: Maestro
• Games Played: 35
• Goals/Assists: 5/15
• Game mode: Rivals

Squad used in

The only changes were Mbappé and Ikoné in game – the others stayed in pretty much the same position. The team was pretty balanced and I really enjoyed it for the most part.

Shooting & Passing

Most of my shots with this card weren’t even on target. They went all over the place. Perhaps if I had aimed at the corner flag I might have had a better chance at hitting the target. I know Maestro didn’t boost his Finishing (86), but his base stat should already result in many more goals than I was scoring. His other stats all looked great, but I couldn’t get the results I wanted. At one point I honestly gave up on shooting with him and started looking for the pass.

While his passing was much better than his shooting, it’s still not great. His 5* WF really helped here, but his Vision (98) and Short Passing (99) didn’t result in what you’d expect from stats like that. He’d find his target most of the time, but he never released a pass that made me reconsider my opinion about him. He just lacked the wow factor in both of these categories.

• Shooting: 6.8/10
• Passing: 8/10

Pace & Dribbling

Unlike shooting and passing, these are categories where I had a positive experience. He is truly rapid straight out the blocks. His Pace (91) feels more like 95 at least. His Acceleration (93) is his best feat – he goes from 0 to 100 extremely quickly. Next up is his Dribbling (99) and apart from his inability to make a proper first touch this is his 2nd best category. He twists and turns through spaces I couldn’t believe were there and his 5* skills make this card a lot of fun, even considering how poorly he performed in other categories. His only problem in the dribbling compartment were his first touches. Time and time again my attacks halted at him when he couldn’t control the pass.

• Pace: 9.5/10
• Dribbling: 9.2/10

Physical and Defending

82 Strength on a card with these kind of dribbling stats sounds like a dream, and this was the main reason why I didn’t throw my controller out the window when he botched another touch. Even with the worst touch you could imagine and a defender hanging over him he’d still be able to keep the ball sometimes. That’s something I’ve never seen a card do. His Stamina (80) is sadly way to low for him to play a full match as a CAM and I had to either play 442(2) the second half or sub him off after 60-70 minutes.

• Physical: 8.3/10
• Defending: N/A

Rating: 8.2/10

This is truly a card of highs and lows and I don’t know how to properly describe my experience with him. I’ve done my best to review him in a manner that is useful to my readers, but I don’t know if I succeeded. While I’m sure others have had completely different results and probably love this card, for me he was a let down.

Value for coins:

An affordable 5*/5* central card is hard to come by, especially with stats like this. Inform Neymar costs around 2 mil, and baby Cruijff costs about 2.5m. If Neymar doesn’t fit your team or Cruijff is too expensive you could give this card a try, but based on my experience I would hesitate.

Shame I couldn’t write something more positive about this icon. Please let me know if he plays any different for you,

YourAverageFuttie

FIFA 20 Reviews