646: The Compensation Question

[00:00:00] Hello footies, welcome along to your latest slice of football ultimate team podcasting goodness.

[00:00:07] We are FUT IN REVIEW powered by footcoaching.com.

[00:00:11] We are recording this on Tuesday the 10th of December 2024.

[00:00:16] My name is Dan Wimbush, always known as Wimby.

[00:00:17] I am joined by the scout Nathan Downs and my main man Shaq Attack, the Tuesday club, all together once again.

[00:00:24] We are going to be talking about our latest feelings on this game.

[00:00:27] We had another icon SBC released on Monday night to discuss that wasn't covered in the shorts with Nathan and John.

[00:00:34] And, you know, we're just vibe.

[00:00:36] We're just going to vibe and do our best to try and draw the positives where we can on this game.

[00:00:40] But also be as open and honest as we can with our feedback on the game as well.

[00:00:45] Because there is, you know, a fair few things that are griping on us.

[00:00:48] But also EA have made a few tweaks.

[00:00:51] Promising changes do look to be on the way.

[00:00:54] Nathan, I'm going to start with you, my friend. How are you?

[00:00:56] I am very well, thanks.

[00:00:57] As those of you who can see, I'm back in my trusted Oodi.

[00:01:01] It's minus five here.

[00:01:02] So very, very cold.

[00:01:04] But I'm in a right place.

[00:01:06] I'm here to bring the balance and the positivity to the pod.

[00:01:09] So hopefully I can spread that festive cheer.

[00:01:12] Yeah.

[00:01:12] And best wishes to those of you who are affected by Storm Darragh over on the sort of west side of the UK,

[00:01:17] especially some really tough weather conditions there.

[00:01:20] So, yeah, I hope everybody's doing well.

[00:01:21] A man with probably no weather concerns over in sunny Australia.

[00:01:26] The sunny Australian summer is Shaq.

[00:01:28] Shaq, how are you?

[00:01:29] Rainy and humid and 34 degrees.

[00:01:32] So it's not ideal.

[00:01:34] It's not at all ideal.

[00:01:35] I will swap with you guys any day.

[00:01:37] It's just sticky, sticky, sticky Brisbane.

[00:01:40] Anyway, well, doing well.

[00:01:41] Thank you.

[00:01:41] Thank you.

[00:01:42] The game's doing all right.

[00:01:43] And I think not only the temperature wise, but I will have a quite opposite opinion to Nathan now.

[00:01:48] I'm joking.

[00:01:49] It'll be good.

[00:01:51] I just love the optics we bring on this show of Nathan's out there freezing in Scotland and his Oody and Shaq complaining about it.

[00:01:58] It's been too hot at 34 degrees.

[00:02:00] And me just in the south of England, just kind of chilling at whatever it is, six degrees apparently here.

[00:02:05] So there we go.

[00:02:06] But look, let's talk a little bit about content before we get into our sort of more general Tuesday Club vibes.

[00:02:11] Roberto Baggio Shaq released as an SBC last night.

[00:02:16] Ten sections to complete this bad boy.

[00:02:18] 51,000 coins.

[00:02:19] Looks a pretty nice card.

[00:02:21] There is one stat though in particular that has everybody sort of pulling that grimaced face.

[00:02:27] Shot power, 73.

[00:02:31] See, shot power is quite an important stat when it comes to finishing.

[00:02:34] I think one of the reasons why most of the female attackers, the ones with the high shot power do really well.

[00:02:39] And players like Sen Maximin is the one that comes into my head.

[00:02:42] His shot power is incredible.

[00:02:44] His finishing is horrible, but his shot power is incredible.

[00:02:46] And just goals keep happening.

[00:02:48] This card, honestly, if I didn't have Cruyff, I probably would just do him for this vibes.

[00:02:53] Because we're talking about vibes today.

[00:02:55] For the vibes, I certainly would do him.

[00:02:57] I tend, I would like to do him every year.

[00:02:59] But every year in that particular position, I tend to have someone else at that point in time.

[00:03:03] But I mean, for the price, for people of my vintage, our vintage, Baggio is Baggio.

[00:03:09] There's no one like him.

[00:03:10] The divine ponytail.

[00:03:11] It's nice to have something like that in your squad.

[00:03:13] So it's a good card if you like him, do him.

[00:03:16] Yeah, I love the fact now that I was talking about this.

[00:03:18] I did a Reading podcast last night and I was talking about 1994.

[00:03:21] Of course, when Baggio played in that USA World Cup and had a penalty moment.

[00:03:25] And then realizing that 1994 is 30 years ago and there's probably a large chunk of our audience that never even got to see Roberto Baggio play,

[00:03:34] yet alone be of an age to experience those kind of moments.

[00:03:38] Nate, I think I kind of agree with Shaq.

[00:03:41] It is a really nice card, but I can't get past that shot power.

[00:03:44] And it is in that little price bracket where it's a little bit more than a fodder dump.

[00:03:49] So I think you've really got to be sort of, as Shaq said,

[00:03:52] someone that kind of looked up to Baggio and admired him as a player to actually want to do this.

[00:03:57] Yeah, absolutely.

[00:03:58] I mean, we were talking before we came on air and it's tempting.

[00:04:01] I have Cruyff and Cruyff is nice at certain things and lets me down on others.

[00:04:05] So I think I probably would get on with Baggio a lot better, but that shot power just lets me down.

[00:04:10] I mean, we do need to put a massive shout out though.

[00:04:12] I don't know whether anyone, any of you guys or anyone listening has ever played Roberto Baggio's magical kicks.

[00:04:18] That's how I got through school.

[00:04:19] It was basically just him hitting free kicks from really weird positions.

[00:04:23] It takes you back to a bit of like FIFA 2003 where you could move on the ball.

[00:04:27] Really good game.

[00:04:29] It definitely got me through some times at school.

[00:04:32] So I kind of am tempted, but I think shot power, you know,

[00:04:35] we've seen finesses and power shots and Traveller's being tremendous.

[00:04:39] If you've got 73 shot power, I just don't think you're going to have enough on it to beat the keeper.

[00:04:45] That being said, if you can work him into some spaces, I bet his dribbling's really nice.

[00:04:49] His passing's nice.

[00:04:51] You know, his agility's grand.

[00:04:52] His pace is all right.

[00:04:53] If you boost it with Hunter, he does look a viable option.

[00:04:56] But like you say, 450-ish thousand coins is quite a lot.

[00:05:00] I think if it was coming in about 300, I'd probably have him even for the rotation option.

[00:05:05] But I think it's kind of just that overstretch.

[00:05:07] That's somebody who's got a bit of fodder and a bit of coins in the club.

[00:05:11] But a nice card.

[00:05:12] I don't think EA have done them dirty.

[00:05:14] I think it's a fair card, fair-ish price, maybe a little bit more.

[00:05:18] But it's not a bad option, to be fair.

[00:05:21] We've been crying out for more of these type of SBCs where, you know,

[00:05:23] it does at least give you an option and gives you a decision to make.

[00:05:27] Yeah, I just think that the way this card has been constructed is quite curious in that

[00:05:31] he's got fantastic passing, but only one passing play style.

[00:05:34] Again, he's got loads of, he's got two of the best shooting play styles.

[00:05:38] But again, the shot power isn't there.

[00:05:39] The composure at 85, not ideal.

[00:05:42] I kind of envision this player sitting in that kind of cam role, giving the ball.

[00:05:46] He's able just to quickly kind of turn, lay off those passes and sort of move

[00:05:51] and sort of create a bit of a nuisance for himself.

[00:05:54] But look, that technical plus is nice.

[00:05:56] Again, he's an icon.

[00:05:57] You know, some of these players are not icons that get icon cards.

[00:06:01] But as Shaq alluded to, Roberto Basho is an icon.

[00:06:03] And the good thing with these SBCs compared to some of the, you know, other cards we get

[00:06:07] is that they do have a loan version.

[00:06:09] We do have a friendly mode out at the moment.

[00:06:11] So go ahead and get that loan completed.

[00:06:13] And then if you really like the card, go and complete it.

[00:06:15] As Nate said, I don't think we can argue with the fact that more of these cards coming out

[00:06:18] and more options.

[00:06:19] I think that is certainly a positive.

[00:06:22] The only other kind of content he thinks to talk about,

[00:06:24] we did have the 81 plus double come out yesterday, Nate.

[00:06:27] Good, but unfortunately for those of us who are really looking to menu grind

[00:06:31] and maybe build some of those higher rated squads for the likes of Cruyff and Vinicius Jr.

[00:06:36] You know, the rumoured Salah Player of the Month SBC that might be coming as well.

[00:06:40] Not a lot of help for you there.

[00:06:42] No, I mean, I'm a big player pick fan.

[00:06:45] The one thing I will say is kudos that they finally got rid of this silly 81 combo upgrades.

[00:06:50] We seem to have a lot of them recently where it's, you know, 181 and one maybe 75 plus.

[00:06:55] So at least it's a double 81.

[00:06:57] It doesn't really tickle my fancy, I have to say,

[00:06:59] because I think the way that the pack weight seems to be at the moment,

[00:07:02] certainly my pack weight seems to be, is I just seem to get minimum ratings galore.

[00:07:06] You know, I opened an 84 player pick, one of five, and I got four 84s and 185.

[00:07:12] So that sort of sums up the last few days in terms of my pack luck.

[00:07:16] So I'll probably stay away for them.

[00:07:17] I'll probably do one or two out of pure boredom, or if my SBC storage gets full,

[00:07:23] but nothing really too exciting.

[00:07:25] You know, if it was an 81 player pick, I'd probably go ham on it,

[00:07:28] even if there's not a lot in packs that I really want.

[00:07:32] Yeah, and I think, I mean, it's nice to have it there,

[00:07:35] and it is a place for you to put your low-rated fodder.

[00:07:36] Was it six rares, two commons to get the upgrade?

[00:07:39] It will slowly build up your supplies, certainly of 83, 84, 85,

[00:07:42] which I know took a lot of a hammering for people over Black Friday.

[00:07:45] And of course, the League SBC did have a little bit of a tweak, Shaq.

[00:07:48] We talked about this, asking for those requirements for the Lib Sud section to be tweaked.

[00:07:52] They have, it has brought the overall cost of that SBC down.

[00:07:55] But my problem is, it's just a, the process actually, especially getting,

[00:08:00] the problem all year has been getting volumes of common goals and low-rated rare goals.

[00:08:06] It doesn't seem to be an easy way to do that.

[00:08:08] So it's great they've made those tweaks to the League SBCs.

[00:08:10] It's given that more of a repeatable grind.

[00:08:13] But again, I just don't feel like the menu grind is in a position that you want it to be,

[00:08:18] where you can spend, you know, as long as you would in a play session,

[00:08:22] just sit in those menus.

[00:08:24] Yeah, I might as well get into this.

[00:08:26] I've done a couple of rounds of the Argent,

[00:08:28] well, I've done one round of the Argentinian SBC as well as a couple of,

[00:08:32] maybe three rounds of League SBCs today.

[00:08:34] And it's easy enough to get completed, especially the League SBCs.

[00:08:37] But the return, yeah, you do get some coins at the end of it.

[00:08:41] Like if you quick sell all the consumables, blah, blah, blah,

[00:08:43] you will end up with higher coin balance than you started.

[00:08:46] But I haven't been getting fodder.

[00:08:48] I haven't been getting any cards off rate,

[00:08:50] off noting that I can actually dump into other SBCs.

[00:08:53] The grind stays pretty static.

[00:08:55] Eventually, the idea could be that I can go from there to the 81+,

[00:08:58] which again, results in nothing.

[00:09:00] Yeah, the grind's not as fun as it used to be in yesteryear.

[00:09:03] Yeah.

[00:09:05] No, especially when we've had it so good over Black Friday.

[00:09:08] And look, we discussed this on last week's show, didn't we?

[00:09:10] And we all said, look, we expect EA to calm things down a bit

[00:09:14] because they will go ham for winter wildcards.

[00:09:17] And then, of course, you've got team of the year.

[00:09:18] I mean, it's ridiculous.

[00:09:19] We're sitting here and we're, what, probably five, six weeks away

[00:09:22] from team of the year, which is just ridiculous.

[00:09:24] Think about how quickly things have gone.

[00:09:26] So this is not an unexpected development.

[00:09:29] But again, I think Adam raised the point,

[00:09:32] and we read it out in last week's mailbag,

[00:09:34] it felt like the first two and a half months of the game had been wasted.

[00:09:38] And to just go straight back into that feeling is just a bit disappointing.

[00:09:43] Now, I will say the positive, Nate, is this friendly mode that they released

[00:09:47] revolving around the succession with James Milner and Stephen Gerrard.

[00:09:52] That's given at least a decent reason to go into friendlies,

[00:09:55] and they have put some good packs in there.

[00:09:56] So I think this is probably the first time where actually,

[00:10:00] you know, we're sitting here in December.

[00:10:01] It's taken them sort of three months to make live friendlies workable.

[00:10:05] And it does, that is at least a slightly more chilled arena to go out

[00:10:08] and get some packs in.

[00:10:10] Yeah, definitely.

[00:10:11] I think there's two sort of objectives you can do.

[00:10:14] There's the max chemistry one, not the max chemistry,

[00:10:17] the max tactic one and the Milner sort of Stevie G one you can do.

[00:10:20] So I actually didn't realize you can combine them yesterday.

[00:10:22] So I ended up doing squad battles for a few, but now you can combine them.

[00:10:26] It's fine.

[00:10:27] And in our discord, Adam's put up some tactics that he's been using.

[00:10:31] So I've been kind of playing around with them and it's been really enjoyable.

[00:10:34] Actually, it's kind of made the game mode a lot better.

[00:10:36] It's fine.

[00:10:37] It's nice.

[00:10:37] It's good to be able to try things with a bit of chill.

[00:10:40] You know, some people play golden goal.

[00:10:41] Some people don't.

[00:10:42] It's no hassle either way, to be honest.

[00:10:44] It's nice that they have opened that up a bit.

[00:10:46] And like you say, some of the packs back are really good.

[00:10:48] There's some really good packs in there.

[00:10:50] So that is definitely a positive.

[00:10:52] You know, some part of me is like, I like the fact it's like, is it 20 times 75 plus

[00:10:58] or something like that?

[00:10:59] But there's not really any, like you say, common goals in those packs or they kind of haven't

[00:11:03] brought out a complete way.

[00:11:05] So maybe I'm being a bit greedy.

[00:11:06] You know, Black Friday was very good and we knew it would kind of lull back down, I bet.

[00:11:10] But it'd be nice to see a little bit more variation.

[00:11:12] And, you know, please, please, please open that pack weight up a little bit.

[00:11:16] I'm not saying give me Mbappes and whatever all the time, but 85s, 86s, 87s.

[00:11:21] You know, I think Endless is the only 88 I ever seem to see.

[00:11:25] And I get her now sort of very often.

[00:11:28] But you can only obviously put one in per SBC.

[00:11:30] So unless you were allowed to put three of the same players into SBCs, then please just

[00:11:34] sort of lighten the load on us.

[00:11:37] Shaq, the game feels in a bit of a weird place to me.

[00:11:40] And look, I play, I'm in Division 3 and Division 2.

[00:11:43] I'm bouncing between the two over in Europe where there's a big player base.

[00:11:47] You know, I'm doing weekend league most, well, every weekend.

[00:11:50] I think I've done weekend league now.

[00:11:52] But I'm facing just lots of really stacked teams.

[00:11:55] Lots of teams with Vinny.

[00:11:56] Lots of teams with Cruyff.

[00:11:58] Lots of teams with good tier icons and heroes.

[00:12:01] And so people have obviously been opening hero packs, icon packs.

[00:12:06] They've been getting the grind.

[00:12:08] Do you think that there is a gap is opening up?

[00:12:11] Do you think that it's just a more smaller, dedicated player base?

[00:12:14] I mean, how do you kind of explain?

[00:12:17] You know, we sit here talking about why it's hard to get fodder.

[00:12:19] But at the same time, people seem to have loads of great teams.

[00:12:22] So where is it coming from?

[00:12:24] I think the answer is pretty clear.

[00:12:26] I've been, as I mentioned today, I've engaged with literally every piece of content where

[00:12:30] I've got my 34 points of rivals.

[00:12:32] I've got eight wins in champs.

[00:12:34] I've done squad battles up to gold too.

[00:12:36] And I haven't really ended up with enough fodder to complete an 88 segment of Vinicius

[00:12:41] Jr.

[00:12:41] After completing lots of league SPCs, as well as the Argentine SPC, still haven't been able

[00:12:46] to have one squad done.

[00:12:47] So then you look at all these squads that have done mega SPCs and you wonder how on earth

[00:12:51] they've completed that.

[00:12:52] And I shared a picture today of the store today where there's a pack that contains 10

[00:12:59] 85 plus players.

[00:13:00] Along with that, it contains 1500 SP.

[00:13:03] Along with that, it contains some loans.

[00:13:05] So there we go.

[00:13:06] That's how people are actually getting the fodder to complete whatever they have to complete.

[00:13:10] And then they're getting some of the SP because, again, as you, we've spoken about this before,

[00:13:15] SP seems to be hidden behind so many walls and now it's been hidden behind a paywall as

[00:13:19] well.

[00:13:19] So yeah, the store is the answer.

[00:13:22] Yeah, Nate, I think, I mean, the store is certainly one explanation.

[00:13:26] I mean, look, you're someone that doesn't really hit up the store.

[00:13:28] You've done a lot of these.

[00:13:29] So it's, you know, it is possible.

[00:13:31] And I did Saka.

[00:13:32] I talked about this last week.

[00:13:33] I did Saka without buying a single player.

[00:13:35] I just built up loads of players from the league SPC.

[00:13:38] But I don't know.

[00:13:40] I think one of the things that left a bit of a sour taste in my mouth this week, and I

[00:13:44] know you and John spoke about it in the short yesterday, is the whole Ronaldinho compensation

[00:13:47] gate.

[00:13:49] We just seem to be rolling into that system again.

[00:13:51] And you're always left with a really bittersweet feeling when you see these packs come out because

[00:13:55] I knew about this and I could have exploited it.

[00:13:57] But I think the pack was, what, 425,000 coins to do in the first place.

[00:14:02] Let's get this.

[00:14:03] Sorry, this is for the 91 plus.

[00:14:05] There's two things we need to talk about.

[00:14:07] You talked about the Ronaldinho's yesterday, but the compensation was also handed out from

[00:14:11] the bad, you know, mislabeled Spanish icon pack.

[00:14:15] So those people were getting 91 plus.

[00:14:17] I saw Orzio got a R9.

[00:14:19] Lots of Barrezis, it must be said, but there were some really good pulls there.

[00:14:22] And then, of course, we've had this player pick that was giving out a lot of Ronaldinho's.

[00:14:26] And I just wonder the effect, Nathan, that has on people that don't take advantage of

[00:14:33] these either because they don't want to spend the coins or they don't want to spend the

[00:14:36] FIFA points.

[00:14:37] Just as someone from the outside, it really demotivates me to play the game when I see

[00:14:42] people getting really good cards by, I don't know, almost by default or by accident.

[00:14:47] Yeah, like they, we spoke about on the shorts yesterday, like you said, the R10 Ronaldinho

[00:14:53] one, to be fair, I had the pop.

[00:14:55] I didn't get him.

[00:14:56] So part of me doesn't feel as frustrated because at least I tried.

[00:15:00] The icon one, the fact that I didn't realize it until they took it down.

[00:15:03] Same with Messygate last year.

[00:15:05] That's where I get really annoyed because you're like, people know it's a clear mistake.

[00:15:08] EA know it's a mistake, but they only allow it for certain people that are kind of quick

[00:15:13] onto it, which in a way is good that they take it down.

[00:15:15] But at the same time, they then compensate them with these ridiculous packs where everyone

[00:15:19] gets a free Messi within the first 15 minutes.

[00:15:22] That's what demoralizes me a little bit because, you know, I'm not on the web app all the time.

[00:15:27] Six o'clock is usually sort of dinner time for the wee one.

[00:15:29] So I'm busy, you know, making tea or bath and bedtime for her.

[00:15:32] So that frustrates me.

[00:15:35] Ronaldinho doesn't because I had my chance.

[00:15:37] My look wasn't in.

[00:15:39] It's annoying, but I've actually not faced him at all yesterday or today so far.

[00:15:42] So although you see it online, a lot of people got him.

[00:15:45] I don't know how many people really got him in terms of like where I am at the game.

[00:15:51] So again, that doesn't bother me.

[00:15:53] But we've mentioned it in the past.

[00:15:54] Are they mistakes?

[00:15:56] You know, when it happens, FC 25 trends, you know, everyone's talking about it.

[00:16:01] It kind of makes fairly big news, especially within like the niche of, you know, video games.

[00:16:06] So is it a calculated error?

[00:16:08] Is it intentional?

[00:16:10] Is it just pure incompetency?

[00:16:12] I don't know.

[00:16:13] But it does, you know, getting two icons.

[00:16:15] I probably would have done that icon if I didn't notice because, you know, my coin balance is fairly healthy.

[00:16:20] It's probably worth a shot.

[00:16:21] You know, we said yesterday you've got to buy a ticket to be in the raffle.

[00:16:24] Probably would have done it.

[00:16:25] And, you know, my pack luck means I probably would have got two berazis or, you know, exactly the same thing.

[00:16:30] But, yeah, it does get really frustrating.

[00:16:32] And then we pay, was it £90, say, at the start of the game for this game.

[00:16:37] It wasn't finished at first.

[00:16:39] We can admit that.

[00:16:40] I'm actually not too unhappy with the gameplay compared to what other people are feeling.

[00:16:45] But you do think that, you know, if people pay that, then they pay the points for packs, whatever.

[00:16:50] You do need that little bit of consistency across the board.

[00:16:52] And everyone should have a chance within their own sort of skill setting of getting certain things.

[00:16:57] Yeah, what I will say on the EA doing it on purpose.

[00:17:00] I think, look, if they were ever found to be doing this on purpose, they would be in a whole heap of legal trouble.

[00:17:06] And that is the reason, you know, why they have to compensate.

[00:17:09] They're not compensating because, you know, out of the goodness of their hearts, they're compensating because if someone is miss sold, and that's the important thing here, these are things that people buy.

[00:17:18] It's not like, that's why they don't, you'll often say they won't compensate properly for like things like SBCs, because people aren't actually paying proper money for them.

[00:17:26] But look, if it's found that EA are deliberately messing up things to, you know, deceive customers and encourage extra buys, they'd be in a whole host of trouble.

[00:17:35] So that's not to say that it's not a possibility.

[00:17:38] However, you would like to think that they wouldn't be, you know, taking those kind of legal risks.

[00:17:44] It is just more likely, you know, as we've seen in throughout my entire time host's podcast, there is no quality control.

[00:17:52] So I just think it's down to that.

[00:17:54] But as you're right, Nathan, this ultimately benefits EA because the hype goes up and more people go and open these store packs.

[00:18:00] So it's a, it's a win-win from EA's point of view.

[00:18:04] They've cocked up, but they've actually succeeded, you know, they benefit from making a mistake, whether it's intentional or not.

[00:18:12] So, I mean, Shaq, your overall thoughts on this?

[00:18:15] I think I'm with Nathan with regards to the Ronaldinho one where it's everyone got a chance that it didn't really expire until you tried and had a go.

[00:18:24] I had a go.

[00:18:25] I lost to 25,000 coins.

[00:18:27] It didn't bother me.

[00:18:27] I was like, it is what it is.

[00:18:29] However, I think today there was an issue with the Chinese pack.

[00:18:32] There was a 425,000, 3,500 or 3,000 FIFA point Chinese pack.

[00:18:39] Well, in the Chinese store.

[00:18:40] And if you're putting in FIFA points to open that pack and to gain compensation, it's literally like EA is winning their way to the bank.

[00:18:48] That's my, that's my biggest concern.

[00:18:50] But as soon as you see this mistake, that's it.

[00:18:52] People just jump in and try to gain.

[00:18:56] They think they're gaining an advantage by paying EA's other coin or through or FIFA points.

[00:19:00] And that's just, that's just not on.

[00:19:01] It defeats the whole purpose, in my opinion.

[00:19:04] Yeah.

[00:19:05] And like you say, when you end up facing and I don't think this is in any way.

[00:19:08] People were saying, oh, this is like Messi.

[00:19:10] It's not Messi.

[00:19:11] No.

[00:19:11] And we all did.

[00:19:12] I did two.

[00:19:13] I didn't.

[00:19:14] I got Pajor twice and cut my losses.

[00:19:16] Will I do the third?

[00:19:17] Who knows?

[00:19:17] Probably.

[00:19:18] Do it live on air, to be honest.

[00:19:19] Just do it now.

[00:19:20] Live on air.

[00:19:21] Live on air.

[00:19:21] Well, I'm looking to buy a new cam.

[00:19:23] So I don't think I can.

[00:19:23] Again, this is the point.

[00:19:26] Ace got 3 million.

[00:19:28] I've got less than a million.

[00:19:30] I've got less than that even.

[00:19:32] Yeah.

[00:19:32] But when you, you know, our 10, sorry, is about 6 million just now.

[00:19:35] So think of the benefits.

[00:19:36] The benefits of it.

[00:19:37] So I think, I think at the end of this pod, Dan, you must do this player pick.

[00:19:42] Well, yeah.

[00:19:43] Okay.

[00:19:43] Perhaps we'll see how it goes.

[00:19:46] Let's talk about, let's, let's get dive into the mailbag.

[00:19:49] Nathan, I know we've had a couple of questions in.

[00:19:51] Yes, we do.

[00:19:52] Hold on.

[00:19:52] I'm on the wrong tab on my computer, Bill, with me.

[00:19:54] Podcast questions.

[00:19:55] I think there's one, there is one on the Dino situation from Adam.

[00:19:58] I think it's probably.

[00:19:59] There is.

[00:19:59] We'll start with that one just now.

[00:20:00] So Adam's messaged in on our wonderful discord saying, was the Dino situation actually a mistake if they haven't acknowledged it on Monday?

[00:20:08] Or do you reckon they're just ignoring it since it was a weekend?

[00:20:10] And then he's gone on to say things have packed and may still be up.

[00:20:13] So Dan, you know, we'll start with you seeing as you usually host, but I'll go through you first.

[00:20:18] Do you think it was a mistake?

[00:20:19] Or do you think it was a calculated kind of, we'll say a calculated risk that they have taken?

[00:20:25] I don't, I don't think it was a mistake.

[00:20:26] I just, I just think that there are actually quite a small number of players that fit this pool.

[00:20:31] I think netfoot accountant was talking about, has been talking about this pack through most of the year.

[00:20:36] It has been handing out.

[00:20:37] I think people on our discord have got people like Theo Hernandez and other stuff from this pack over the year.

[00:20:41] I just think it's just one of those where actually your odds are better.

[00:20:44] And I think, I think the odds were something like at one point, I think there were about 4% to get an icon, which doesn't sound a lot.

[00:20:51] But, but if you think of the, you know, the, based on the odds, if 10,000 people opened that pack, the 400 of them would be ending up with a Dino.

[00:21:01] And that's why you will see, you know, you extrapolate that by, you know, to a hundred to a million, say a million people open that pack, you would end up with 4,000.

[00:21:10] Do my math.

[00:21:11] There's a 40,000 Dinos.

[00:21:13] And that's why you will see so many or 40,000 icons.

[00:21:17] Should I say not all of them are going to be Dino, but that's why visually on social media,

[00:21:21] it looks like this is going to be a broken pack.

[00:21:23] But again, you go to our discord and I think what, two or three people got it?

[00:21:26] Two people.

[00:21:27] Two people got it.

[00:21:28] And at least, at least a dozen, probably close to 20 people opened it.

[00:21:33] So again, that kind of fits in with the odds.

[00:21:35] I just think it was just a, you just have better odds.

[00:21:38] I don't think this was a mistake at all.

[00:21:40] But again, I think it's a, as I just said, it's a very happy accident.

[00:21:44] If anything for EA, because it increases the buzz, people go out and a lot of them will buy FC points to get it.

[00:21:49] So I just think for them, it's a win-win because not everybody's getting it.

[00:21:53] It's not breaking the game in the same way that Messi did.

[00:21:55] But yeah, and they make some coins.

[00:21:57] Shaq, what do you think?

[00:21:58] Are you, coinage?

[00:21:59] Shaq, are you kind of along those lines or do you think it's a little bit more sinister or just?

[00:22:04] No, not with the Dino.

[00:22:06] I think it's just a happy accident for EA.

[00:22:08] It's a win-win situation where not everyone gets it.

[00:22:10] But I think just the buzz was so high at that point in time that a few people popped up.

[00:22:14] I mean, a card like Ronaldinho doesn't really pop up usually.

[00:22:17] So when it started popping up once, twice, thrice, a lot of people tried.

[00:22:20] And I mean, yeah, some people spent their coins.

[00:22:22] Some people actually spent their money and gave some money to EA.

[00:22:24] And at least we all got a shot.

[00:22:27] So I'm not really that fussed.

[00:22:28] I tried.

[00:22:29] I didn't get anything.

[00:22:30] It genuinely didn't bother me as much as Messi.

[00:22:33] Yeah, no, that makes sense.

[00:22:34] Shall we sail on the mailbag while we're in it, Dan?

[00:22:37] Yeah, let's go for it.

[00:22:38] Yeah.

[00:22:38] Cool.

[00:22:39] So Envy's also messaged in, our wonderful Friday host.

[00:22:43] Why do you think EA are so slow with updating lifeguards?

[00:22:46] It's the same every year.

[00:22:47] Sometimes the upgrade is fast.

[00:22:49] Most of the time they're taking too long, in his opinion.

[00:22:51] I'd wish for them to be updated within 24 hours of the match that gave them an upgrade to finish.

[00:22:56] If in a weekend league, the update should be on a Monday around content time.

[00:22:59] Jack, what's your thoughts on that?

[00:23:00] Completely agree.

[00:23:01] I think the only reason they've actually delayed the upgrade for the Thunderstruck cards is because I'm hoping the FC Pro cards also get upgraded.

[00:23:08] So maybe they wanted to do the upgrade batch in one shot.

[00:23:12] Probably that's the only explanation that I can think of.

[00:23:14] Otherwise, it doesn't make sense why they would delay these upgrades for such a long time.

[00:23:18] Especially because we knew over the weekend what was happening with the upgrades.

[00:23:23] And I can't remember when it was, but they actually promised upgrades within a couple of days.

[00:23:28] I think it was towards the end of the FC 24 cycle, if I'm not mistaken, where we started getting upgrades pretty regularly.

[00:23:34] But as of now, it's very ad hoc.

[00:23:36] The other thing that bothers me as well is with the Thunderstruck cards, they promised some sort of upgrades with regards to play styles, the Cilo play styles and the Roll Pluses.

[00:23:48] And we have no idea on what those changes will be.

[00:23:52] And that's sort of, it's a bit annoying for me because there are some cards that I would like to try out.

[00:23:58] I don't want to buy them now.

[00:23:59] I don't know what's going to happen with them, what play styles will be receiving.

[00:24:03] But yeah, it's just, we just have to wait and watch, I see.

[00:24:06] Yeah, Dan, I mean, I think, was it last week or the week before the FC Live cards, or the Pro cards, sorry, got updated?

[00:24:12] I'm sure it was the same night.

[00:24:13] I think the event ended, say, 10pm UK time.

[00:24:17] And by the time I woke up in the morning, those Pro cards already had their upgrades.

[00:24:21] I mean, what do you think's going on?

[00:24:22] What's the method to the madness there?

[00:24:25] I don't think there is one.

[00:24:26] And this is the thing.

[00:24:27] And this is why I have a hard time believing in, you know, the conspiracies around the languages on packs and stuff like that.

[00:24:34] I just think that there's just a lack of quality control.

[00:24:38] EA could solve this very easily by just announcing at the start of the promo, cards will be upgraded every Wednesday.

[00:24:44] I think, I think your previous years, we've had cards like European cards and stuff.

[00:24:48] And we knew they would always upgrade on a Wednesday night, Thursday morning.

[00:24:52] But they don't do that.

[00:24:54] Why?

[00:24:54] I have absolutely no idea.

[00:24:56] It's a multi-billion dollar company.

[00:24:58] And they can't afford to employ one or two extra people to quality check this stuff and to communicate it.

[00:25:05] And look, I said at the top of the show, and this will segue us way out of the mailbag.

[00:25:09] There are positives.

[00:25:10] I liked what they did with the latest of these winter patch notes saying, look, here's what we're going to be working on next.

[00:25:16] Massive step forward.

[00:25:17] That is great.

[00:25:18] That is exactly the kind of communication that we've been talking about all year and beyond of just talk to us more.

[00:25:24] Treat us with a bit more respect.

[00:25:26] Be open and honest with us and you'll get better feedback.

[00:25:29] So that keeps us going.

[00:25:31] But yeah, with things like this and the Dino and everything like that, it just goes back to the same old issues,

[00:25:35] the same old problems of lack of quality control, lack of whether that's a lack of care or lack of resource.

[00:25:42] I don't know.

[00:25:43] I would be more than happy to have EA Sports on this podcast to defend themselves and defend their position.

[00:25:48] And this is nothing against individuals there either.

[00:25:50] I'm sure there are people working damn hard to get stuff right.

[00:25:54] Everyone, all of us, all three of us are here have made mistakes at work.

[00:25:59] So it happens.

[00:26:00] But anyway, let's move away from the mailbag.

[00:26:04] Thank you again.

[00:26:04] Again, if you want to join the Discord, it's absolutely free.

[00:26:06] It's in the pitch notes.

[00:26:08] Pitch notes?

[00:26:09] Our pitch notes.

[00:26:09] Our show notes.

[00:26:10] The link is in there as well.

[00:26:12] Great place to be.

[00:26:14] You know, it's all about all facets of the game.

[00:26:16] As Nath said, we're talking about tactics, talking about player reviews, community team of the week, all of this jazz.

[00:26:23] And it's absolutely free to do so.

[00:26:24] But if you want to go the extra mile for this Christmas, patreon.com forward slash foot in review.

[00:26:28] That gets you the really good stuff and the really good place in our heart as well,

[00:26:32] because we love you that little bit more for putting your hand in your pocket and supporting the show.

[00:26:36] You get benefits as well.

[00:26:37] Custom tactics.

[00:26:38] Access to shows like the Art of Foot, which I think is the best show that we put out.

[00:26:42] And I'm saying that as a host of one of them.

[00:26:44] It's fascinating tactical insight and really sort of measured analysis from John and Art.

[00:26:49] And that's what we do best and why we're powered by foot coaching.

[00:26:52] Because, you know, we like to sit here and have a bit of a pop at things like pack weight and things like this.

[00:26:58] When I think deep down, all three of us will sit here.

[00:27:02] Certainly me and Shaq, because he's smiling away, know that actually we probably just need to get on the training pitch, so to speak.

[00:27:07] And that will help us get over the fact we've not got Dino.

[00:27:10] But yeah, again, foot coaching.com as well.

[00:27:12] If you do want a training session, great idea to give someone for Christmas as well.

[00:27:15] If you've got a mate or a family member that is, you know, really in and you see them struggling, just give them a session and see how they like it.

[00:27:23] So foot coaching.com for all of that.

[00:27:27] Shaq, anything else you want to bring up on today's show?

[00:27:31] He's muted.

[00:27:38] I've had a foray into champs after a long break, and I finally got into champs, and I really wanted to share my experience.

[00:27:44] I went zero and four in the first four games, and I couldn't believe how out of depth I felt.

[00:27:50] And I just thought this game is just beyond me.

[00:27:53] And then all I can say to any, all those warriors out there, just give it your all, and it'll be okay.

[00:27:59] Don't expect any good rewards.

[00:28:00] But the gameplay, well, I started to realize that I wasn't as bad as I thought.

[00:28:05] Ended up with eight wins, which is pretty good for my show.

[00:28:09] I did pretty well.

[00:28:10] I was pretty comfortable towards the end.

[00:28:12] But some of the things I was noticing was the way that people actually have perfected some of the, I think, the first four games that I lost,

[00:28:20] I could see that these people literally were preying on me to do one thing wrong and just tackle the ball off me and go on counter.

[00:28:26] And it's like, it was really calculated.

[00:28:28] And I thought, I was really impressed with how effective it was.

[00:28:31] I don't know, Dan, I have sheer respect for you.

[00:28:35] Every single week in league, you just go in like a champion, get it through, get the job done.

[00:28:38] Hat after you.

[00:28:40] Takes years off my life, my friend.

[00:28:42] Takes years off my life.

[00:28:43] I actually had probably my second best weekend league showing of the year.

[00:28:47] I got, at one point, I was nine and three.

[00:28:50] But the second session, I'd ended my first session six and two.

[00:28:53] I came back on Sunday night and got to nine and three.

[00:28:56] But the three wins I'd got, I'd had to go to extra time in all of them.

[00:28:59] In fact, I think I won two of them on pens.

[00:29:01] So mentally, I was absolutely fried.

[00:29:03] And so, and being at that high, I couldn't get another win.

[00:29:07] So I finished nine and six.

[00:29:09] Rewards beyond garbage.

[00:29:10] And that kind of feeds into the whole, great, you know, I've sweated through a whole weekend

[00:29:15] league and I've got less than someone that's opened a 75k pack in the store.

[00:29:20] But yeah, it's hard because I'm just not, and I apologize to those people who might sit

[00:29:25] there and say, oh, these guys on the Tuesday club, they just sit there and moan.

[00:29:29] I can only be honest with how we're feeling about the game.

[00:29:31] And at the moment, I'm playing this game more out of habit than pure enjoyment.

[00:29:35] There are things I'm getting enjoyment out of, but a lot of the time I sit there and I

[00:29:40] think it's just a condition of, I don't know, again, being smug, being quite good, being

[00:29:44] quite good, but not really good at this game is that you find yourself in like div three

[00:29:49] of rifles and you're just, you're not getting easy games in there.

[00:29:52] You're just not, you have to fight and win hard for it.

[00:29:55] So yeah, that's my, that's, that's my, my kind of champs experience over the weekend.

[00:29:59] And we'll, we'll get into player in review in a minute, but Nathan, anything that you

[00:30:03] want to add on sort of gameplay or just general feelings before we hit our player in review?

[00:30:08] Well, I think we spoke last week about how I was playing a formation.

[00:30:11] I was working and we tweaked and we changed, like I said, Adam's put one in and for the

[00:30:16] setup that I've got, it gets the best out of the wingers.

[00:30:18] I would basically just recommend, you know, taking ideas off other people as well.

[00:30:23] And I'm not saying copy like for like, cause you can go on YouTube and anyone can

[00:30:26] type in, you know, FC 25 custom tactics.

[00:30:29] And some of these players definitely don't play the way that you do or I do, or anyone

[00:30:33] does, you know, the tactics are each of their own.

[00:30:36] But thinking about like, like I said last week, I did Saka and his finesse shot is wild.

[00:30:41] I was playing a four, two, three, one wide.

[00:30:44] And I wasn't getting the best out of him.

[00:30:46] You know, he was really good to start with and then he just dropped out of my game.

[00:30:49] So playing a four, two, one, three now.

[00:30:51] So my wingers are really high.

[00:30:53] I've got just base Finney and then Saka on my wings.

[00:30:56] Finney's pace boost being that little bit higher causes absolute mayhem.

[00:30:59] Saka on inside forward is a right wing guys.

[00:31:02] Perfect for your finesse shot.

[00:31:04] So things like that, sitting down thinking about what can I do to get what I want out of the

[00:31:09] game and out of the players.

[00:31:10] You know, it's really fun.

[00:31:11] I've only done it in friendlies.

[00:31:12] That's the only thing.

[00:31:13] I'm a bit scared to take it into rivals because it's very open.

[00:31:16] You've got both fullbacks, I think, pushing on.

[00:31:17] So, but it's kind of made me enjoy it again.

[00:31:21] Not as against the gameplay as others, you know, being on PC is probably a smoother ride.

[00:31:26] I get that.

[00:31:27] But, you know, changing things up a little bit has actually been so much fun and I feel a

[00:31:32] lot better for it.

[00:31:33] And I'll go back into friendlies after this so I can try and, you know, get these objectives

[00:31:37] done.

[00:31:37] But definitely makes that enjoyment factors better with a more fun formation, whether you're

[00:31:42] you don't really sweat out a win as much when it's like that.

[00:31:44] It's more fun, more clinical.

[00:31:46] Are either of you two really focused on it?

[00:31:48] It's weird.

[00:31:49] Usually when there's a swaps program out, we'll be really focused on it.

[00:31:53] But, you know, it's taken 30 odd minutes of this show to even mention swaps.

[00:31:56] Are either of you two sort of really keeping an eye on that or is it just going to kind

[00:31:59] of be, well, I'll see how many tokens I end up with and then I'll start to make a decision

[00:32:03] at the end of it.

[00:32:03] Nath?

[00:32:04] Absolutely.

[00:32:04] That one.

[00:32:05] I mean, I don't even, I asked you guys in our chat earlier when, I don't even know

[00:32:08] when these swaps are kind of done, like when the squad battle swaps and I don't

[00:32:11] know if it was a two week thing, if it's finished, you know, if we're not getting any more

[00:32:14] squad battle swaps or anything.

[00:32:15] So I don't know how many swaps I've got.

[00:32:18] I'll get some on Thursday, I'm sure, from Div 2 upgraded rivals.

[00:32:23] But apart from that, I'll just wait and see when it's kind of the time flames coming

[00:32:26] and I'll probably go for the most fodder pack that I could find.

[00:32:31] Yeah, I think it's just to the end of the season, isn't it?

[00:32:34] A few weeks left then.

[00:32:36] Yeah, I think, what, I think another maybe two, three reward cycles, Shaq?

[00:32:40] Three, three reward cycles.

[00:32:42] Yeah.

[00:32:43] It's got 21 days, I think.

[00:32:44] 20 days.

[00:32:45] And right at the end of, you know, when we had all the cards over the Thunderstruck

[00:32:50] and Black Friday week, I did open, I spent three tokens on the 83 by 30.

[00:32:54] Got some decent fodder and some lower end Thunderstruck cards, but didn't get anything

[00:32:59] amazing out of it.

[00:33:00] I think I'm going to kind of work towards the 85 by 30 and then just pick a time to open

[00:33:05] it, whether that's winter wildcards or whether I take the ultimate gamble and wait for team

[00:33:09] of the year.

[00:33:11] I'm not sure.

[00:33:12] So I'll have to think, but look, I like the fact that this is kind of going on in the

[00:33:15] background and I am just slowly picking up the odd tokens.

[00:33:17] I think, again, I'm already up to like four or five.

[00:33:20] So it's quite nice to have sort of a background option.

[00:33:23] I know Nick Run the Foot Market was sort of saying that's his main reason to play this

[00:33:26] game at the moment.

[00:33:27] He's sort of getting through his objectives, you know, his squad battles, his rivals, his

[00:33:32] champs, just to get these kind of tokens and, you know, fill the gap between it.

[00:33:36] But let's move on to, you know, what is undoubtedly our favorite part of this week.

[00:33:44] Let's get on to...

[00:33:46] Player in Review.

[00:33:51] Anybody you would like to highlight for Player in Review?

[00:33:53] My player in Review is slightly on the expensive side, but I think I've really enjoyed a different

[00:33:59] style of striker than I'm used to.

[00:34:02] And my shout out goes to Victor Gjokeres.

[00:34:05] And I packed him during the Thunderstrike promo.

[00:34:07] I tried to play with him, but he was very different to how I'm used to playing with my nimble

[00:34:11] strikers.

[00:34:11] So I just switched to a formation with one striker up top and just put him up as Poacher

[00:34:18] plus.

[00:34:18] He's got a Poacher plus plus role.

[00:34:20] And he's a menace.

[00:34:22] He's really strong, really good in the air.

[00:34:24] He can put...

[00:34:25] He's got a five-star weak foot.

[00:34:26] So just imagine a Haaland with a five-star weak foot that's got four-star skills that's

[00:34:31] really, really good on the ball and can dribble a little bit much better than Haaland.

[00:34:36] And he hits them straight.

[00:34:37] There are times where his finishing is slightly inconsistent.

[00:34:40] I just hope that it slightly gets slightly improved.

[00:34:43] But I think clearly an 8.5 out of 10, even 9 out of 10.

[00:34:47] He's a brilliant striker.

[00:34:48] I really enjoyed using him.

[00:34:49] He's got the right role, the right size, the right pace.

[00:34:52] And it's easier than I thought to actually put him into the squad.

[00:34:56] Facing him reminded me of my favorite card from last year, that Evo, Peter Crouch.

[00:35:01] Yeah.

[00:35:02] That really nimble, big man kind of role that is...

[00:35:05] And, you know, the Haaland comparison is absolutely...

[00:35:07] One player I played, it just absolutely destroyed me with him.

[00:35:11] And he's got like four or five goals.

[00:35:13] So you think about the price point he's at of what, about 600k?

[00:35:18] Yeah.

[00:35:18] If he had Premier League links, you're talking easily over a million.

[00:35:22] Easy.

[00:35:22] Hey, I appreciate that.

[00:35:24] Easy, easier over a million.

[00:35:26] Yeah.

[00:35:26] Yeah.

[00:35:26] Nath, who's your...

[00:35:28] Or any players for in-review?

[00:35:31] Yeah.

[00:35:31] So I've got a couple.

[00:35:32] We've got the Bon Matty SPC player of the month.

[00:35:37] But I'm actually going to go for another very expensive one.

[00:35:42] And it's Wayne Rooney.

[00:35:44] I've gone for his Thunderstruck.

[00:35:46] You know, I got pressured into spending some of my coins, which, you know, I'm checking

[00:35:51] about 40 times a day if he's peaked again.

[00:35:53] But, you know, he's kind of...

[00:35:55] He's dropped 100k or something.

[00:35:57] So I'm holding this for this upgrade.

[00:35:58] But he's brilliant.

[00:35:59] I'm playing him as a striker.

[00:36:01] He's been a sole striker for me.

[00:36:02] He's got that Power Shot Plus, which is deadly.

[00:36:05] He's got, you know, 90 pace, which is lovely.

[00:36:08] Finishing is tremendous.

[00:36:09] The Power Shot's amazing.

[00:36:10] But one of the other things I really like is his passing's pretty solid as well.

[00:36:14] It only says 84.

[00:36:16] But, you know, he's high 80s for his short passing, his long passing, which is really,

[00:36:20] you know, for me, that's important as a sole striker to be able to bounce balls off him

[00:36:24] and thread it through.

[00:36:25] So, you know, he is on the expensive end and it's given me the absolute shaking sweats

[00:36:29] having a 1.3 mil striker.

[00:36:33] However, I'm quite enjoying the fact that it's Wayne Rooney and he scores goals for fun

[00:36:36] and he's just won.

[00:36:38] I'm very proud of you for getting through to that because we joked in this show last week

[00:36:42] that you would have sold him already.

[00:36:44] So I'm glad that you've managed to hold off those instincts.

[00:36:49] Who shall I pick out?

[00:36:51] So I'm going to talk about Wrighton, the Chelsea left midfielder.

[00:36:56] Very, very nice all-round card.

[00:36:59] I'd be fascinated to see what she's like with the upgrades.

[00:37:02] I've just literally sold her this morning.

[00:37:06] Just because for me, it's a card that is just a very good jack of all trades, but kind

[00:37:11] of master of none.

[00:37:13] She's agile, but she's not the best dribbler.

[00:37:15] She's got a decent crossing, but she's not, you know, in that Hemp Kelly category from

[00:37:19] last year.

[00:37:20] She's a decent finisher and got good finesse, but not a demon like someone like a Mo Salaries

[00:37:25] or Hyunmin Son.

[00:37:27] So, and the strength just not fully there, but I think this is why the card is priced around

[00:37:32] 200,000 coins.

[00:37:34] I think it is a really good price point to try.

[00:37:36] And again, that little nudge up with a plus one and the extra play styles might sort of

[00:37:41] tip her into that, you know, a card that should be worth close to sort of,

[00:37:45] 300,000, 400,000.

[00:37:46] So definitely a card that encouraged people to try it.

[00:37:49] They are finding kind of the left midfield or left.

[00:37:51] I had an inside forward with that plus plus roll.

[00:37:55] Again, just didn't find she was quite what I wanted.

[00:37:58] I'm very much a troglodyte, a Luddite English football fan that likes the get the ball out

[00:38:07] wide and bomb down the touchline and get across into the box.

[00:38:10] And she just wasn't quite doing that for me, but definitely not a bad card at all.

[00:38:16] And I think if there was one of the card I want to bring up, and I'm sure Nath will fight

[00:38:20] me on this.

[00:38:21] I'm not the biggest fan of Bakaya Saka.

[00:38:22] I put 900,000 K worth of fodder into this card, and I still think that the gold Chloe Kelly

[00:38:30] that I was using for the first three months of this game is every bit as good.

[00:38:35] For everything except finesses, Saka did score two or three fantastic finesses.

[00:38:40] But yeah, as an out and out winger slash inside forward, I wasn't sold, Nath.

[00:38:46] I'm sorry.

[00:38:46] No, to be fair, to be fair, it depends how you use them.

[00:38:50] I know Chloe Kelly's kind of more an out and out winger in terms of getting wide, getting

[00:38:54] deliveries in.

[00:38:56] Saka was erratic.

[00:38:58] I started off loving him, fell out.

[00:39:00] But like I say, since he's kind of gone to a winger rather than a right mid, he has been

[00:39:05] phenomenal.

[00:39:06] So I'm going to persevere, even if it's not the 4-2-1-3 that Adam gave me.

[00:39:11] I will persevere with maybe a front three and have him as a winger to see because he's

[00:39:15] just deadly.

[00:39:16] And having 4-star weak foot as well, I know it's not 5-star, but the 4-star really helps.

[00:39:19] He's very well-rounded, I think.

[00:39:21] And with a hunter, he's rapid.

[00:39:23] So yeah, it's each their own, but it depends completely on your play style, I think, and

[00:39:27] your tactical setup.

[00:39:29] I think what this kind of reinforces to me and my ethos about where I should be spending

[00:39:34] out on big SBCs, and I think John articulated this really well.

[00:39:38] He was like, if you're slightly unsure about someone, you probably shouldn't be doing them.

[00:39:42] And also, I just think that the big SBCs, you should be focusing on that spine of your

[00:39:47] team.

[00:39:47] To me, it has to be a centre-back, a centre-midfield, or a striker to make that real difference.

[00:39:53] Because to me, it just feels like full-backs and wingers, Shaq, are just so interchangeable.

[00:39:58] And they can all drift in and out of the games as much as one another.

[00:40:02] Yeah, 100% agree.

[00:40:03] I think, just with Nathan here, this year, more than any other year, I felt a huge difference

[00:40:08] between playing a player in the RM spot, as opposed to playing them in the right winger

[00:40:13] spot.

[00:40:13] It's a huge difference, and I don't think we're familiar, or at least I'm not familiar with

[00:40:17] that huge difference.

[00:40:18] And I've noticed that whenever I've changed the formation, the user player in a wing position,

[00:40:23] and for example, Jarsinho, he's great as an RM, but he's incredible as a right winger within

[00:40:28] inside forward plus plus.

[00:40:29] It's just, he's a different player altogether.

[00:40:31] So I think Saka, are you playing him in a wing position or a midfielder position?

[00:40:35] Right mid, inside forward.

[00:40:36] There we go.

[00:40:37] There we go.

[00:40:38] I think there is a slight distinction in there.

[00:40:40] I think just change him to a winger, win a 4-2-1-3, those kind of formations, and you'll certainly,

[00:40:44] you see Salah, some people are not able to use Salah to the most extent that he could

[00:40:50] be used, and some people absolutely nail it with you with Salah.

[00:40:54] That's because they start using him in the RW formation, and he's unplayable.

[00:40:58] As an inside forward, the RW, Salah's unplayable sometimes.

[00:41:02] Yeah.

[00:41:02] Yeah.

[00:41:02] I think last year as well, I think the change, like you said, the role plus plus is a big

[00:41:06] thing, but last year a lot of people played them on like right wing come back.

[00:41:10] So it kind of, you know, the gap shortens, whereas now you can, I don't even know if

[00:41:15] you can have a defensive right winger anymore.

[00:41:17] So I think the way the new sort of, was it FCA IQ?

[00:41:23] FCA IQ.

[00:41:24] FCA IQ, sorry.

[00:41:25] Yeah.

[00:41:25] I think that's made a big difference.

[00:41:26] So I'm not saying that, you know, he's going to be perfect for the next six months, but

[00:41:30] actually he's got, he's due an upgrade, I think anyway, and he'll probably get his other

[00:41:34] upgrade as well.

[00:41:36] So I think, like we said at the time, the 700K or whatever it was you put into it is

[00:41:41] upgrade potential as well.

[00:41:43] So I, you know, with the upgrades, if they give them the right extra play style could be

[00:41:47] unreal.

[00:41:48] If they boost certain stats could be unreal.

[00:41:51] So I see what you're saying, but again, if you try them in a different formation and,

[00:41:54] you know, Dan, go into those friendly modes.

[00:41:56] I know you're not the biggest friendly fan, but have a wee play around, go and see like

[00:42:00] how it works.

[00:42:01] And you could actually sort of fall in love with him.

[00:42:03] Plus, you know, he does have a wonderful effort normally anyway.

[00:42:07] Yeah.

[00:42:08] And I will do, I have been dipping into those friendly, just getting the objectives done,

[00:42:12] but it's just, I think one of those phases of the game where I've had a couple of tough

[00:42:16] arrival sessions and that is the biggest issue.

[00:42:20] I think we've all had, I say all projecting onto YouTube, but it's, you never quite know

[00:42:24] how good the person you're playing is.

[00:42:26] You never know if you're getting a run of just really good players or if you're getting,

[00:42:31] because under the old system of where everybody had just kind of a universal skill rating, you

[00:42:35] kind of knew roughly the quality of the player you're playing against.

[00:42:39] But I know we talked about this in terms of matchmaking and local matchmaking and cross

[00:42:42] play and things like that.

[00:42:44] This game has the ability, like Shaq talks about with his weekend league, to hand you up

[00:42:48] three or four really tough opponents in a row.

[00:42:50] And to make you sit there and doubt everything, but your own ability, your team's ability,

[00:42:55] your formation, your players, and then you'll just get on a run and everything will click.

[00:42:59] Like I was loving my team at the weekend when I'm nine and three.

[00:43:02] Now I'm sitting there and I'm selling everybody left, right and center.

[00:43:06] Such is the absolute joys of playing FC 25.

[00:43:09] To be fair, it doesn't even have to be in a different game modes.

[00:43:11] Yesterday I was on the brink of the one promotion, did really well.

[00:43:15] And then by the end of my 35 points, I was hanging on to Dev2's status.

[00:43:20] I almost got relegated.

[00:43:22] So I brought in Van Dijk just to shore up my defense.

[00:43:25] He's probably going to get sold now anyway, because he's up a little bit.

[00:43:27] But it is.

[00:43:28] It's mental how the game ebbs and flows.

[00:43:32] I don't know whether it's me.

[00:43:33] If you play a lot of games, you can get that fatigue.

[00:43:35] Whether you match him with different players, it's wild.

[00:43:37] But I quite enjoy that at the same time.

[00:43:38] I don't enjoy losing.

[00:43:39] But I do like the fact that you kind of have to be on your toes a little bit.

[00:43:43] That's, you know, guard against complacency and all those things.

[00:43:46] Yeah.

[00:43:47] And ultimately, we're playing a game that is a one versus one experience.

[00:43:50] And the whole idea is to get you to a position where you're basically winning one, losing one,

[00:43:55] winning one, losing one, or thereabouts.

[00:43:57] If this skill-based matchmaking is doing its job, you should eventually find a point where you're like that.

[00:44:03] I have the most amount of respect for anybody who gets above Division III.

[00:44:07] I do not know how people plow on to Elite.

[00:44:09] If you get to Elite this year, and I will say that EA have got it right.

[00:44:13] This year in terms of making Elite and Div 1 special.

[00:44:17] Because you've got to be damn good to get there, and especially to stay there with the relegation structure.

[00:44:22] So my hat's off to everybody.

[00:44:24] But I think that just about wraps up the show.

[00:44:25] Shaq, anything else to add before we go?

[00:44:27] No, that's pretty much it.

[00:44:28] Thank you.

[00:44:29] Nath?

[00:44:30] No, let's just pray that the Packweight gods smile favorably on us all.

[00:44:33] And we return to Black Friday levels of Pack pulls, especially in our Discord channel.

[00:44:39] You know, it'd be nice to see a few more cracking pulls.

[00:44:42] And if they can send that my way, I'll be even more happy for everyone if I get the good pulls.

[00:44:46] Yeah, absolutely.

[00:44:47] And look, Shaq, we do know, you know, we talked about last week, do we know what the next promo is?

[00:44:51] EA have explicitly told us what the next promo is, haven't they?

[00:44:56] Or has this passed you by?

[00:44:57] I've put you on the spot here.

[00:44:59] It's completely passed me by.

[00:45:01] I don't even know what the current promo technically is.

[00:45:03] I know what it is.

[00:45:04] But if you ask me to name five players, I have no clue because they're that rare.

[00:45:09] Ultimate Succession is the current promo.

[00:45:12] However, the next one is Globetrotters.

[00:45:16] And we know this because the Tagliafico card that you can get as part of the Argentinian version of the League SBC is an Ultimate Globetrotters card.

[00:45:26] And they've told us it's basically it's a reskin of, and we talked about this, it's a reskin of Radioactive, Nath.

[00:45:33] So these are cards that are going to give you extra chemistry for plugging them into the team.

[00:45:37] So, yeah, we're getting our, it looks like RIP, Lime, Neon, Green cards, but a very similar promo to fill that gap between Winter World cards.

[00:45:47] Yeah, it'll be interesting to see if anyone, you know, writes these down and see how many of these you can remember when they're all in packs and Team of the Seasons stage.

[00:45:53] I think Radioactive is possibly, last year anyway, was possibly the least eventful, least rememberable type promo ever.

[00:46:02] So hopefully they change it this time.

[00:46:04] You know, I'm always positive that something good is just around the corner.

[00:46:07] So let's hope that that comes.

[00:46:10] It's probably the same person that's naming these promo packs.

[00:46:13] While we're at it, can you guys actually name five players that are in packs right now without using any?

[00:46:21] Only the icons.

[00:46:23] No, absolutely not.

[00:46:24] Maldini, Ronaldinho, Kaka.

[00:46:27] Yep, regular cards.

[00:46:29] Anyone?

[00:46:31] This is the thing.

[00:46:32] This is the thing.

[00:46:33] There's so many cards in packs and I don't even know of one promo from the next.

[00:46:38] We'll know about all the footies.

[00:46:40] I have packed one and I've got no idea.

[00:46:42] I think he's Argentinian from some league, but I think it's like an MLS one, but no idea.

[00:46:47] No idea.

[00:46:47] Yeah, it's right.

[00:46:49] So should I do this 75k player pick to finish?

[00:46:52] Yes.

[00:46:52] On the show.

[00:46:53] Live.

[00:46:54] If you get our 10, it's going to be a mic drop and Dan's gone.

[00:46:57] I'll open this player pick.

[00:46:58] The take a crack player pick with coins, by the way.

[00:47:01] This is with coins, 75,000 coins.

[00:47:04] Before I deliver some bad news or possibly good news to the rest of the audience, depending on what it is.

[00:47:10] I've already failed.

[00:47:11] Thanks, guys.

[00:47:14] It is a Harry Kane, a Team of the Week Alvarez or a Catoto.

[00:47:19] I already have Alvarez.

[00:47:20] This is high rated though.

[00:47:21] Most of mine were 84 rated.

[00:47:23] I mean, a 90 rated card is what?

[00:47:25] About 35, 40k?

[00:47:27] Yeah.

[00:47:27] So on that basis, I've only lost about 30k.

[00:47:31] So could be worse.

[00:47:33] Never mind.

[00:47:34] Never mind.

[00:47:35] As it said, it was a take a crack player pick.

[00:47:37] So there we go.

[00:47:38] That's it.

[00:47:38] Look, the bad news, unfortunately, for those of you who do enjoy what we do on the Tuesday Club, it is coming to a temporary end due to some changes in my working schedule after Christmas.

[00:47:51] We are going to take a break as a podcast in general at the end of the year.

[00:47:54] However, I will now not have the ability to record.

[00:47:58] We record this around lunchtime.

[00:47:59] This is a great time for Shaq, me and Naysa all meet up.

[00:48:02] But unfortunately, I'm going to be working regular hours and working every Tuesday over the three months after Christmas.

[00:48:09] So until we get to around April, the Tuesday Club, as it stands, will not be in session.

[00:48:16] As mentioned, Nath finds evenings quite hard to record.

[00:48:19] And most of the time Shaq is asleep in a regular evening slot.

[00:48:23] So look, I'm hoping that there might be times where I can either chat to Nath or chat to Shaq.

[00:48:28] My voice will probably still be on the Foot and Review airways.

[00:48:32] I might take over a couple of the shorts from John.

[00:48:34] I might do the odd Friday show.

[00:48:36] But yeah, unfortunately, you two are going to be left on your own.

[00:48:41] Now, that's not to say that the Tuesday Club might not return.

[00:48:44] The two of you, as have you done in the past, the good news is that you might see some Nath and Shaq shows pop up on a Tuesday.

[00:48:51] Yeah, I think, well, it sounds like we might do a wee hybrid of everything because, you know, I think everyone would miss your lovely voice if it's not on regularly.

[00:48:59] Me and Shaq will certainly jump on on a few Tuesdays.

[00:49:02] Unfortunately, though, remember after you're back, I'll probably be out of action for about nine months with having the baby come in as well.

[00:49:08] So, you know, this could actually be, it could be a year hiatus for the Tuesday Club as we know it.

[00:49:13] Yeah, well, we will figure it out.

[00:49:16] But look, don't fear for the 3% of you that do fear.

[00:49:23] We've got 100 listeners and it's the three of us.

[00:49:26] 0.7% in messy terms.

[00:49:29] Hey, we get hurt in 52 countries, all right?

[00:49:33] So there's a lot of people around the world that might be, I won't say missing us, but listening to us.

[00:49:41] Absolutely.

[00:49:42] And look, we will be back next Tuesday for our final show pre-Christmas and we'll try and have a bit of fun on that show.

[00:49:49] I've wanted to do a FIFA fact and fiction show for months with you guys.

[00:49:54] So maybe we'll do that where we give our opinions on longstanding FIFA myths and things like that.

[00:49:59] So maybe, or we might just sit here and moan about Pacweight again.

[00:50:02] Who knows?

[00:50:03] Who knows?

[00:50:05] You never know what you're going to get.

[00:50:06] In the meantime, thank you.

[00:50:07] Again, please join the Discord.

[00:50:08] It's absolutely free.

[00:50:09] Subscribe to Patreon, patreon.com forward slash foot and review.

[00:50:13] Remember, footcoaching.com available if you do want to get better at this game and give yourself far less of a reason to bemoan Pacluck.

[00:50:20] I'm a massive hypocrite in that regard.

[00:50:22] I need to have more training, but never mind.

[00:50:24] Thank you to everyone who's listening.

[00:50:25] We will be back with a show on Friday.

[00:50:27] Again, joining the crew for what I said.

[00:50:29] It looks like Globetrotters coming along.

[00:50:32] So stay tuned for that.

[00:50:34] Until then, gents, only one thing left to do.

[00:50:37] Drop it.

[00:50:38] Drop it.

[00:50:38] We're going to drop it.

[00:50:41] Drop it.

[00:50:42] You.

[00:50:45] You.