661: Grassroot Greats Starts Out PERFECT!

[00:00:02] Hello, foodies, and welcome back to FUT IN REVIEW, episode 661. My name is John and I'll be your host today. And joining me is the one, the only Mr. Tactics special. It is... Arshom! Hey, Art. How you doing, buddy? Hey, John. How are you? Second week in a row, huh? Two weeks in a row, yeah. It's crazy.

[00:00:30] Yeah. And second week in a row, you're on my show. It is your show, yeah. I have to admit that this is his show. My show is on Wednesday, it's our show. Definitely. Talk about your show. Next week, all people will be able to watch the last art of FUT on your YouTube channel. I've heard it's ready to go to your site. Yeah, it's cool. I mean, I hope you, all guys who are subscribed to my channel, like

[00:00:58] outside the Discord or even those who are in Discord, you guys enjoy and you will see what we do on my show. Definitely. Lots of feedback on the last one. Cool formations, cool setup. People were going nuts about your tips about the trickster. Which of course, we're not spoiling now. So check out that bonus show. If you are a Patreon, of course, patreon.com for us for a review or wait until next week, till it comes publicly available on Arshom's channel. Although that is three weeks later than we originally launched it. Arshom! Yeah.

[00:01:28] We start the Friday always with another topic. We always start this Friday with Daniel saying it is time for... This week in Football Ultimate Team. This week in Football Ultimate Team. How do you rate this week in FUT for you? A one being really poor, a ten being terrific. And what has been either your highlight or your nightmare this week, Arshom?

[00:01:54] Well, John, this week was another one of like slow weeks for me. And the reason why, because there's the Future Star promo wasn't, as we spoke last week, as big of the promos that we expected. But I said that last week, I liked it. I needed that break from grinding the team of the year. And the second week also was good for me that we didn't have too much

[00:02:22] to do as to not fall behind if you are doing any objectives or any other stuff. So I did my Rivals. I did my Weekend League. I got the second time in a row, Rank 2. So it was pretty good. So if you want me to grade it, I would say like solid seven, six. Yeah. Between six and seven. That sounds decent. My weakest foot has been quiet. I usually take a little bit off the team of the year.

[00:02:52] Like I said last week, did that this week. Played a couple of matches, of course, used from Persi. Pretty cool. I used Pirlo. Not pretty cool. Just absolutely brilliant. If you've not done him. Is he still available? I actually don't know. He is. He is. Just do him. He's so fun. His corners, his kick, his curve. It's tremendous. And he just looks terrific in game as well, of course. So I love that card. I've heard only good stuff about this card. Only good stuff so far.

[00:03:19] Yeah. We said last week, maybe it's must do. I actually did it five minutes after he got released. I think same with from Persi. Of course, from Persi, honestly, isn't the top-notch striker at this stage of the game. Nevertheless, I do quite enjoy using him up front. So yeah. What is he like? Dribbling, shooting? What is wrong with the card? There's nothing really wrong with it. But he isn't like super fast. Okay.

[00:03:49] He isn't like super strong. You're definitely noticing the stamina in the end. He's got really poor stamina. I think 79, 76, something like that. So overall. Yeah, it's yeah. But that's, I honestly also don't mind it. I play him and I play, that's a weird one. The Brazilian striker, the SBC, which is a must do. Oh, Mario's gonna kill me. For a cow, he's called the hurricane.

[00:04:21] I've got, I completely blanking out of the name. That doesn't really matter though. But Brazilian striker. Yeah. Socrates, of course. Sure. Okay. Socrates. Yes. Which normally plays, we recognize him as a cam, right? I think that's where my mind is blank. But he's quite good. Yeah. But at the end, that payload card, that's quite enjoyed it. I packed Cafu this week, which is pretty

[00:04:45] nice. The basic version? The basic version. Yeah. The 91 on top of my mind. Yeah. 91 right back. Still was 600k or something, which really surprised me. I think he's still one of the more solid right backs that we have in the game. So yeah, nothing wrong with that card, except I do have Lucy Bronze team right back as well. Okay. And Frimpong. So I got a lot of options on my, on the right side so far. I think he's a different type of right back. Like he's more physical.

[00:05:14] So, so you have like right now options to choose from. Yes. It kind of depends. I like Lucy Bronze go like full attacking. That's what I'm saying. If you want a full attacking that you, you probably want to go with more agile right back then. And Cafu is like more defending guy who is like really solid when it comes like staying back. Let's say with old instructions, staying back full back. And gives good options for chemistry, of course, as well. So now, yeah, quite, quite

[00:05:43] decent. I would, I would rate it a six, nothing wrong, nothing special this week because I took it easy. However, it's great. Like we got the 83, 10, uh, repeatedly three times a day, which I didn't have any goals left for. So I did one. Yeah. So, so not, I don't, I don't recall any SBCs that we, you like, you must do from this week. Uh, so, so it was like slow week, uh, but I don't mind, like, honestly, I don't mind. I'm still

[00:06:13] recharging my batteries after team of the year. It, it, maybe it sounds like we already, what, three weeks behind that, but still, uh, it, it, the grind was crazy because not only because of the, uh, games that I played, but also the, of course, the, that huge SBC repeatable 82 20. So that's, that was like, you know, I was doing that five, six hours a day just to get a team of the year. It

[00:06:38] was the, I mean, we never had a chance before. I don't recall any previous FIFA that we had a chance with a such SBC to do and, and just get it, get a chance to get a team of the year. That was always premium upgrades, right? Which I had to do. Yeah. But you know, the, the premium upgrades is like, I mean, you still have to get lucky with the, even with the 82 20, because so many people did. And they, I know they did, they haven't packed

[00:07:03] anyone, but like looking at the teams right now, I, most of us at least got one team of the year, if it was the team of the year icon of team of the year player, but still at least one card, most of us got it. And else you could have made your own icon, which, or team of the year player, I should say. So that's pretty cool. Exactly. Uh, talk about pretty cool. Um, then Bailey got a player of the month card this week. Yep. Um, anything to highlight there?

[00:07:29] You think just, uh, you know, we, we got the evil, uh, during the team of the year, team of the year evil for 500k. I think it was, and so many people did, uh, evolution for exactly for Dembele at that time. Uh, and I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm pretty positive that now they're not going to look for this, uh, player of the month because he's definitely has lower stats

[00:07:53] than the one given with the evil. Uh, I don't know if you guys want to go for it. I'm a little bit scared. Dembele is Dembele. It's like five, five. It's always going to be in a, in a EFC game, uh, uh, something that you, you can, you can use and take advantage of, but I'm scared about the

[00:08:16] positioning and finishing a little bit. Uh, we are already in mid February and 86 and 78 finishing. That's easy. It doesn't do for me because for, with this card, basically, if you apply, you have to apply finishing finisher. Yes. Maybe that I, but not, but finisher has to be finished. It still doesn't like solve all the areas that I wanted to solve with this card. Uh,

[00:08:42] I mentioned last week that I like strikers with aggression 58, uh, not quite doing for me. And, uh, well, no, you have a low finishing and no, basically, uh, play style for shooting. I know Trivella, but let's, let's be honest. You can even score Trivella without a silver play style. So he's going to be quick. He's always quick. He's going to be rapid. He's going to have good

[00:09:13] dribbling dribbling. Sure. He has a silver trickster. It's still, he's going to have the specific animations, but still I'm not quite. I mean, if you, if you want to go for the PSG links, friends links, go for it. I know just, you know what? I wish they gave him one place time and I'll, I'll elaborate why.

[00:09:35] Uh, that would be easier for him to get to next evolution. For example, you know what I mean? They gave him with pass and rapid right now. And that's until we get to the stage of the game, where we're going to have a chance to have evil players with a two place type pluses. It's going to take a while. Um, yeah, I think you, you basically summed it up. I think, uh, what I do,

[00:10:02] uh, a couple of compliments here, five star, five star for the melee, of course, always, but around 360 K it's a really good price for the player of the month. Right? Exactly. Yeah. I don't mind about the price. It's, I think they could a little bit boost his stats a little bit more. Yeah. We said that before, but I think for example, I have, um, um, Salah player of the month on the right side still. I wish I had to play with a year, but team of the year, but, uh, as the player of the

[00:10:29] month, but he can finish. So you actually come some little, you can't have a striker with 78 finishing or a winger with 78 finishing. I agree with that. The biggest issue for me actually is also the 75 stamina with that. So he's on the, like from Paris, he has a problem with the stamina, but he's on top. This player actually runs with far more. Um, and I think that's a little bit of a shame, but nevertheless, the price, I think they probably with these cards display of the month, it's probably it's most of the time

[00:10:58] it's a miss, right? Start a year, players can make a difference later on. They either have to value them really high and Mbappé, uh, and then they're really good or they value them decent, but the cards are that as well. Just decent. I don't think we'll see him too many times. I don't think so either. Uh, we also had a second player of the month, right? From Bundesliga.

[00:11:23] Yes. One of the best players. And I'm just going to say it in the world. I've seen this guy play in real life now three times. What a player, if he doesn't win a goal, like a ball on door in the next couple of years, I don't know who will. Well, that has to come. I think what you're talking about, it has to come a little bit with a team success also, you know, because to be for him to be noticed, like more than while, you know what I mean?

[00:11:50] People have noticed. I've seen him also, uh, and I've seen him in a, in a national German team. He's doing great job. And actually they, they both with Musiala, they're doing a great job for national German team. So, so, uh, what age he is just like for curiosity. Uh, he's 21, 21, 21. That's what I'm saying. Like there's still 10 to 13, 14 years for him to play. He's still not

[00:12:20] to that level that he can achieve like in a four or five years, he's still learning. He's still getting the experience that he needs how to move on the pitch. But what we see already, you are absolutely right. He's a material for like to become one of the greatest. If of course, let's he's be going to be saved by from any injuries, because this is like the main problem right now with a, with a, with a young players, right? True. True. Although he's not much injured and,

[00:12:49] uh, Bayern does play a game very fast, very high up high stamina. Talk about high stamina, 93 stamina. Uh, he comes in at 90,000. He's a five star week food, four star skill move player. Good, uh, play styles, incisive pass and first touch financials, well, regular things. I think this is a really, really, really good SPC, really, really good player. What do you think?

[00:13:16] I mean, if you are running Bundesliga team, there's no doubt in my mind that you have to do this card. First of all, you are playing, uh, Hunter because this is like perfect, perfect. I think, uh, uh, uh, this is the only thing that suits him the best. I, I think the dribbling is good on this card. The passing is decent. I'm saying decent, but you know, we're like in the nineties already, but it's

[00:13:44] a good passing and he has all available play style, uh, roles basically for camp. Yeah. And you can play false nine on striker as well. And first touch, incisive, fight finesse, technical flair to Vela. Maybe a little bit missing more for passing play styles, but with the stats, I think you can work it out. Yeah. And it's like 90 K right. As we said.

[00:14:12] Yeah. Yeah. I think it's wonderful. And, uh, I know Bundesliga is the most, like not the most watched league in the world, but see this guy play in real life. It was like really impressive. So, and I know that like for so many people, the, uh, the play style first touch plus, uh, they're saying it's a wasted. I don't know why they're saying, I mean, I love that play style.

[00:14:40] Uh, for that evolution that I did, see my honor. I told you for the youngsters that we get to evolve in evil, evil to icon. Yes. I use the first touch and it's changed drastically to how the card receives the ball that like, and controls the ball and how he dribbles right after receiving the pass. I'm like losing the defenders right away with it. If you of course control the ball in right direction,

[00:15:09] right. But I mean, for me, the first touch is a great place now. No, I totally agree on you, uh, with you. Arshul, it's been one heck of a week. If you look at socials, um, of course, the return of Diego Maradona was already teased, already announced. Uh, um, Nathan and Shaq talked about it this Tuesday. The question was, is he going to be free?

[00:15:36] Is he going to be a 15 million player? Is he, what's going on here? Do you need a club member? Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. Turned out. It's all of them sort of, it's all of those options. Um, we have a 15 million player. Yeah. Or at least. Actually extinct, right? So 96 rated Maradona. Extinct, not on the market. Um, I'll tell you what's wrong with this card.

[00:16:05] And that's it. Just a perfect card. If you ever be able to get them, that's awesome. And that's what I said. If they announced it, it should be in a 15 million player. It's probably perfect. Um, lower stamina, but that's it, mate. Um, not much to say about that card specifically, but we also got a free Maradona, everyone. Yeah. Yes. This one, I sort of saw coming, but I did not see coming that they would make this card. And I'll put it on

[00:16:32] screen. If you're watching the YouTube or Spotify version that they would have made it and 77 rated card. Well, the whole week was a little bit like surprise each day, right? First of all, as you said, complaining about giving a free Maradona as well, by the way, which John, I mean, we, I don't think the EA can satisfy everyone. So I understand everybody has their point of view. So I'm not

[00:16:58] going to discuss what they like, what they don't, but getting them Maradona, uh, let, let me just for those people who are complaining about getting free card, uh, how many of you are going to use the 96 one that they drop in the packs? I mean, 1%, maybe not even make that's what I'm saying. Right. I don't know how big the, the pool is of the gamers in the AFC, but that's what I'm saying.

[00:17:24] It's, it can be lower even than the 1%, right? So now we have a 77 rated card that we can even even of him for him and get to 89. We have three paths. I mean, this is like the whole week we were waiting for Friday to just see the Maradona, not even the promo cards that they dropped with a new pro promo, just the Maradona. Right. And for me that even 77 card, like this is the craziest 77

[00:17:49] rated card ever. I mean, come on, uh, you have to agree with that. We, we know like we were so hyped for Maradona because we were missing him for what? Five years. I don't know. I don't remember when they, they, it's been a while. Yeah. I don't know exactly. Yeah. So, so there's so many good memories from old FIFA's when we were using this card. I mean, I'm talking about the lucky people who,

[00:18:16] who actually got him, bought him or packed him that time, but he has that flair in the game. And if you watch him live, you also have this like sentiment, sentimental, uh, emotions to him. You know what I mean? I don't think many of the current players actually watch them live though. Yeah, but in a current area, you can go ahead and just turn, turn to YouTube and watch his highlights, whatever. So, so it's not an issue. Uh, everything is recorded, but you know, for me, it's like,

[00:18:46] I watched him in a, in a Italy, 1990s cup. Uh, so, so one cup at that time and life basically. And I, I enjoy him in real life. So that's why even that 77 card is so bring so much, so many memories from that time. Right? So, but let's just get back to the EAFC. So 77, we have three paths, John, and this is already like the headache, even for me, I don't know which path to choose.

[00:19:14] Yeah. But just, just take it one step back. Okay. We get a free Maradona 77 rated. Yeah. So they go, they can go into a free, he can go into a free evolution. He's free. The evolution is free. Yeah. Right? But it, one of the complaints this week was, you give everyone a Maradona, everyone's going to use a Maradona. It's like same with Zidane. It's going to get boring. Okay. I was like, yeah, maybe, but still you get to use Maradona, which is pretty cool in ultimate team.

[00:19:40] Right? Um, but actually to counter that, the EA said, you know what, let's give everyone three options to evo him. So you have that 77 rated card. You can put them into three different versions, evolutions. I think all the evolutions require the same work, but the outcome of those paths are different. So you have to choose one. That means already that we don't get the same version of Maradona

[00:20:07] um, running around in every match. You say, I find it difficult to choose which one we should select. Yeah. I think that is perfect. And I'm not, I know I get probably hate for saying EA did a great job here, but the fact you have difficulties choosing which one you should be selecting makes this even more awesome. They made all three options viable, good, and it's just up to you. I think this is

[00:20:35] amazing. Like, you know, when we discussed red versus blue, the center defender, was it stones? I think which version should you take? And it was like 95% took the blue one. And like, okay, or the red one. I don't even know. But one of them, because it was so clearly the better option. This one, I'm looking for it in the last half hours. I can't decide either which one I should do. Perfect. You just basically have to look into your team and just see what position you are missing most

[00:21:04] and just go for it. Because it's good that we already have the final look of the card. You know, it's a little bit different than it was before with the icon evolution that we did. So right now, you shouldn't be concerned about what stats he's going to have in the end. The only thing is, what play styles do you want to have on him? What position you want to run the card in your team? And that's the

[00:21:32] only thing. You know what? I just want to go back to what you say about the people who are complaining about we're getting old that Maradona card and everybody's going to use it. Well, I'm playing in higher divisions and 98% of the teams are the same. Yeah. So, I mean, guys, I don't know why you complain. We're getting free card. There are people who are like...

[00:21:58] We're getting only a free card. We're getting a free Maradona card as well. Yeah, exactly. We have a free Zidane. Yeah, yeah. But for people who are playing in lower divisions, believe me, they will never get 15 mil if they're not trading or getting lucky. So, they will never afford 96 Maradona and they want to run this card. Why not? Exactly. Why not? I agree. You know what? We got the free Zidane and I already see in a community that he's not good enough or

[00:22:27] whatever. They already dropped him from his team. You know, it's not like, believe me, not everyone's going to even... Everyone is going to probably Evo him to 89, maybe even for the paid extra Evo to 92, because there is a second path after we've done the free one. Yes. You will probably talk about a bit more in a second. But believe me that even after the final evolution and getting him to the 92, not everyone's going to use their card. It's not going to like

[00:22:56] everyone is going to suit every style of play from the base of people that are playing AFC right now. So you said already we have three paths. All three paths will give you an 89 rated Maradona. The main difference is a couple of play styles, I think, by the looks of it, different play styles. Plus, of course, stats ways are different. But the main difference is one can play right wing, left wing,

[00:23:24] right midfielder. One can play only Cam and I think the other one can play Cam and striker. Yes, I think those are like the three main differences. I don't really need a striker. I could use a Cam, but next to Zidane, that's also a little bit weird. That right winger does look more interesting to me. But once you get an 89 rated, I think you have to play 11 games, but I just quickly

[00:23:53] counted. So if it's one plus or minus, well, sorry about that. I don't think it looks too bad. And you can do it in squad battles. So it's not even, yeah, I don't have to go to your whole style. So, Arjun, then you have the paid evolution. You pay 500,000 coins. And I'm going to say this, or pay 1,000 FIFA points. I know people are very against me saying this, but... And that will give you a 92 rated. The only thing I'm a little bit unsure looking at the pages,

[00:24:22] if I make a right winger and I put in the 500,000 coins, is he still a right winger after that? Yes, he is. As you can see, just move a little bit up. This is... You have to probably go... I don't know if the right wing was... Yes, you are right. I'm sorry. You are great. You got four all positions. So this is one of the best better options, definitely, because you have

[00:24:51] four positions that you can use him. The only problem is that, like for me, myself, I'm missing a striker or like good false nine player. And if I use this path, he doesn't have a striker position or any striker rows. So that's why I have a heading because I think the technical and finesse looks great,

[00:25:15] but I probably will end up going with a power shop. But still, this is like good to have a headache for many options than have a headache with options, right? So it's just a great thing that Maradona dropped and it's free for everyone. I mean, you got lucky, you packed 96, forget about the evolution, right? I didn't just saying because people message me. I did not pack him. If you pack him, you're lucky.

[00:25:43] You're fine. But I did not pack him. Just putting it out there. Just to be sure this one now, Arjo. No, I have almost nothing to complain about this setup. I do, however, have one little nitpick. Okay. I don't like the look of the cards. You don't like the look of the cards? We've had green. We've had winter green. Now we have another green with like bubbles or something.

[00:26:10] I'm tired of the green already. And I think I'd like a white Marl, like not a white Marlman, but like an icon-ish card for Marlman. You know what my issue with this? I don't mind the green, to be honest. All the ethos are green. This is, everything's green this year. Okay. But listen, the grassroot promo that we have right now, he doesn't pop up from the cards,

[00:26:37] from those grassroot cards. I wish they could do something that's like special for him. The heroes that we have are blue because we have a hero's also dropped a couple of heroes with the promo. The icons are white with the green stuff again. But you know, something specific and special for Marlman, after we're done with the whole evolution part, that would be nice.

[00:27:07] Yes. Yeah, that's what I'm saying. Like I get it's not maybe the icon one because you already 96 right on the icon and stuff. I just don't like the green. That's more of a nitpick. But I did the same with the heroes. All the heroes look very different in the next promos they come in. Yeah. Yeah. They should, I feel like he, icons are white cards, right? I think team of the years are blue.

[00:27:32] And I think heroes should be like a color. I don't care. Make pick a color and stick with that and evolve on those. But that's just my little nitpick because honestly, I've not been as hyped for promotion since a long time now. I think team of the year was good. This really makes me excited. It's your place to get like normally, like this is what I like, right? You grind menus and hoping during team of the year, you get something cool. This year,

[00:28:01] during team of the year, you had the hope of actually getting something true. But like 12 games later, you had a Zidane. At least everyone had a Zidane, which is insane if you still think about it. Now it's Friday evening. People are just playing to get the Maradona already. Your own type of Maradona as well. It's no matter if everyone else has it as well. It is still very cool. And you don't have to pay

[00:28:29] 500,000 to make this a great card. And even if you do, it's still good value. I totally agree with the value of it because even that 92 card, believe me guys, would be like probably 1.5 to 2.5 million on a market. So I know it's like you're putting 500k on untradeable card

[00:28:54] that you cannot sell after that. But you have what we discussed before the show, 59 days to complete the evolution. Yeah, 60 days total. If you don't have 500k, because I'm not going to tell you go and spend money on FIFA points, never. But you have two months to collect money from the game, like just grinding the game. And believe me, it's possible.

[00:29:20] Yeah, and everyone can call me crazy, but I'm just going to spend a 10 on fixing it. I mean, it's like if you want to go ahead and spend your money, just do it. I'm not spending it just because I have coins I already traded. But even though I don't like a 12K. But if I wouldn't have it just I know the two months, it's like enough time to earn those 500k.

[00:29:45] Yeah. So, so I mean, you know what? I'm just curious if this promo would be so hyped, if not a Maradona, you know? Well, I do think like Maradona definitely helps hyping this promo up, right? And it brings people to play the game. As you said, we have to right now play 11, 12, maybe even after that again, 11, 12 games to get him to fully done. It's 25 games, 24 games. People are just jumping in, opening the game and playing it.

[00:30:14] And don't have to do it in a weekend day. Yeah. And I mean, if you do the first one... Well, that would be a little bit unfair to do that 77 rated card because it's a great 77 rated card. We never had that before. No, but do that, yeah. It's going to be tough to do in weekend league like you've had to. But that was the rumor as well. Like what are we going to have to do to evolve this? Do you have to be a club member? Do you have to do it in a weekend league? Do they force you in other modes? You can do this in rivals.

[00:30:41] I don't know if you can do it in rush, but you can do it in rivals. You can do it in squad battles. You can do it in champs. And if you get that 89 rated, you just put them in your team. You manage the other one just by playing anyways. Right? I'd get the first upgrade to some squad battles, especially like Friday, Saturday evening, do no squad battles, get some reward for squad battles on Sunday. Meanwhile, you got an 89 free Maradona running around your team. Exactly. I'm hyped.

[00:31:11] I am too. I mean, I just cannot wait to see the final version and how he acts on the pitch. Yes. Of course, after I decide which version to choose. Well, that's the other story. I still don't know which to do for sure. Because no matter how much versatility the right winger has, right? He doesn't have great shooting. He do want to see Maradona score.

[00:31:40] Well, this is the version that like they said, you use to cut inside with a technical pass. Yeah. And he has financial. He has shot outside the box. And Trevella. But, you know. Well, many options. As I said, good to choose from. Like, if you have many options, then none. 100% agree. Let us know in the comments. We also had a good SBC tonight, you know? No, I didn't. I'm not going to do it.

[00:32:11] We do, right? I'm not going to do it. We actually had two SBC players, right? Yes, and not even the... Let's start with our French star, shall we? Because... We're the French player. We're the French legend of basically of EAFC and FIFA game, Kanter, right? Yes, sir. I already have a version of him, honestly. Me too. The 89 rated version. I have... I bought actually the team of the week player.

[00:32:41] I put him on one of the evolutions. And right now, I'm going to probably put him on a second one, and it's going to be better than this SBC card. That's why I'm not going to use... I'm not going to do the SBC card. But, guys, I know you're looking at stats. And not much to be impressed here. Defensive is great. Physicality is good. That attributes like for pace are also decent.

[00:33:11] The passing is not bad at all, as for Kanter, because this is the only issue we all have. 90 short pause, yeah. So... He's passing. The attacking position may worry you, but just remember that this is a card that you use for holding. Mm-hmm. And intercept the ball, basically. And he is such a fun steel card to play. I'm playing the team of the week with the evolution that I did. And... Unbelievable. He plays...

[00:33:40] This... I don't usually say that, but he plays above the C-stats. Yeah. The 89 rated now is 86,000. Yeah. And if you, of course, run any player from Rushney League, if you have a Cancelo SBC done on a right back or left back... From which league? Saudi League. Sorry? Saudi. Saudi League. But why it's called Rushney?

[00:34:08] Yeah, I think that's the sponsor. Okay. Okay. So, I wasn't... Yeah. I almost thought you said Russian, so I was like, let's check that for a second. But if you done the SBC for Cancelo, you have a strong link over there. So many players have an AMAR. We have... I mean, let's be honest. From Saudi League, we have so many right now players that can be used in a first team of EAFC.

[00:34:36] So, the links are not a problem. Like, he's French. So, no matter what, you handle... You will be able to get him to full chemistry if you want to. The price? Well, it could be a little bit lower, in my opinion. Like, for 500k. Something like that. I think the SBCs this year, John, are priced a little bit higher than usually.

[00:35:03] But this is because of the duplicate storage that we have, probably. They added this year. So, they also know what they're doing, right? We all have... Most of us, at least, have 100 cards waiting to put them in SBC from duplicate storage. So... So, but if it would be like around 5, 550 maybe, K. I wouldn't mind that. No. But... Like, I think...

[00:35:33] From Perzi was too expensive. With being around the same price as this one is. Okay. I think 600k is... It's alright. I think it's decent. I mean, but it's not great. You know what I mean? Like, it's not like you have to go and do it. That's what I'm saying. No. That I also agree on. No, I agree.

[00:36:00] I was looking into the fact if I do think that, yes, all these grassroots great items will also have two points in club, league, and nation for chemistry. Okay. So, he also starts on two points. Sorry, I forgot about that. Yeah. That's what I was just checking. Now, he also starts on two. So, even if he don't, like, you have one French here, two French or anything, you're fine. So, you got to freeze it done. I mean... That's what I'm saying. You're good. And you know what?

[00:36:30] If you're looking for a CDM, because there's no many, like, good CDMs actually holding ones. To be honest. Andrich still is one of my favorites. But it's a Bundesliga. You know, that's why I'm saying it, because not many people are running Bundesliga teams. No, no. True. True. But... So, it's not that many options, guys, with the roles that he has on that card. So, if you're looking for a CDM and you're running any formation with two CDMs,

[00:37:00] well, it is one of the options for you. Yes. No, I mean, I agree. There's another SBCO. Yeah. For Icon? You could call it an Icon. Yeah. It's definitely one of the greatest. He is. I mean, the Bojarin striker, Stoichkov. And I'm going to let you talk about him.

[00:37:32] Let me talk about him. Because, you know, I wish they could add, you know, in AFC, one of the players that played with Stoichkov. You probably would know the Brazilian magician that he played in Barcelona with him. No, man. I'm not a big Barca fan, as people know. Romario? I mean, I do know Romario because he also played in AFC. So, I wish, like, I would do the SBCO of Stoichkov if I had Romario right now in AFC. Yeah, fair enough.

[00:38:01] But I mean, but this card, seriously, he's five star, four star. Right? Yeah. So, good. I think I was a big, I was a big, I say it, nerd into looking at the space, the positions plus plus and stuff. But this just covers them all. Right winger, striker, left winger, right midfielder, left midfielder. So, basically, can't play cam, but anywhere else, you just put him in. Unless he works, right?

[00:38:32] Fast power shot plus technical plus, no, we already talked about technical, how good we think it is. He got the regular financial, regular chip shot, regular dead ball. He's got rapid. He's got flare, which I actually don't mind. 94 aggression. Yeah. He's 94 aggression. He lacks a little bit of composure, maybe with 88 on a card like this. But he's got all the stats in all the right places. There is absolutely nothing wrong with this card.

[00:39:00] And I think he's really well priced for an SPC this time. Yeah. Just put it out there. One mil. The price is fair. I think it feels cheap. I'm going to put it out there. I think it feels cheap. Well, not like... For Paris, it was 600. Just to remember that this is not going to be a player that you're going to make

[00:39:30] thousands of circles with your left stick, right? This is not the type of card. So, for people who are just thinking about doing him... 92 dribbling, 91 ball control. He's going to be feeling like a little bit more physical striker than the one that is more agile. But I wouldn't be scared of composure. I think he's going to, in front of the goal, he's going to score basically everything

[00:39:57] with all those shooting play styles that he has. I think usually when I play Stoic Copp, he doesn't feel that. Like clunky? I think he's actually... I'm not saying clunky, but he's going to be more like physical one. You know, I'm not saying he's going to be clunky, right? But because, you know, dribbling is over 90, right? But still, I think this is not... Like, if you want to compare Maradona, you're going to make circles with the left stick with him. Yeah. That's what I'm saying.

[00:40:28] It's like different type of players, right? So it depends on what... It's more like Van Persie player. Yeah, awful. Yeah. Don't know. But the prize, John, is totally fair. Yeah, I think it's actually a really solid option. I know people complain maybe that he has two only play styles. I don't know why. No, I don't think we have Icon with the three play styles yet.

[00:40:51] Even if they, like, he still has financial, the regular chip, chips, the regular dead ball, the regular rapid, next to his already good play styles. So, hmm. And to be honest... And he's 1-7, like, he's 5'10", like, the perfect size for a human being and a striker. Or any football player. I'm a 5'10", as well, by the way. That's why. But I think he's... He, yeah. Like, you put him next to a big striker. Like Socrates, for example.

[00:41:20] I quite like this idea. And then Maradona behind him. Maybe 4-2-2 would be a formation you could play in now, Archer. Well, I wouldn't recommend using him close to Socrates. Like, I don't use two big strikers. If I use, I just... But he's not big. I mean, Socrates and Stagecoff is, like, two similar players. No, Stagecoff is 5'10", mate. He's small. Who is small? Soichkov. 5'10".

[00:41:49] 5'10", it's not small player. Yeah, we are 5'10", I think. That's why you're saying this. But he's no Socrates. Everything higher than 5'7", it's very big for me. Yeah. You're 5'7", white as well. That does help a bit. John, you know, we're, like, far from it. But I also like that he is only 91 rated.

[00:42:16] And because he may be, like, in March, maybe April, due to some evolution too. Yeah, except I don't like rating cards on what could be in the future. Right? Is he worth 1 million now? I think so. I think so. Yeah. Is it fun to have these cards? Think about this. We used to have promotions which gave us big players.

[00:42:44] We didn't even talk about any players in packs yet. I mean, we're not even going to talk about it. But the fact we're talking about players we got for free, which we can just play with, or SBCs. There's two good SBCs out today. Kante and Stoichkov. Both attainable. Both aren't the 25 SBCs puzzle thingies like Mbappe are. Right? Yeah. Everyone could, like, grind these SBCs if they would like to.

[00:43:12] And how long is this card in packs? I honestly don't even. How long is this SBC in? We're using different websites now, so I actually can't see it that easy. But I don't think it's. I'll check it while we're at it, actually. Yeah. He is 27 days. So one month. One month. And the highest is 189 rated squad. Yeah.

[00:43:39] So also very much, I think, very much doable. And if you do compare it with, again, like Torres last week was, like, also decent. This one, I think, is way better. Well, if I had to choose between Torres and this one, I'm going with this one. Exactly. I quite liked Kluivert. I actually considered him last week. But I think, don't put any cards in that, but just try this card out. Right?

[00:44:10] No, I mean, no doubt in my mind. I'm going with Stoichko. Yeah. It's really cool we get these players. And I don't know why. If only the cards weren't just really ugly, this would be, so far, one of my favorite promos, I think. I have to see how this week promotes. But it's been a while that content got me hyped because not only is the content, I said,

[00:44:34] it's not only the content, the cards in packs, but it's like, oh, you can play. You can get a free card. You can play with that card. Oh, you can do an SPC, two SPCs, which are cool. You can also just Evo that card, which is also something people like. Oh, and if you really want to, you want to grab some packs? We actually haven't discussed that as well, but I think this is a big shout out as well. So there's a 10 coin pack in store, which gives you 30 gold or rare bronze cards, which you say, what do I do with that?

[00:45:04] But they also added something, which is an upgrade SPC. Of course, we got the 84 times five today, but I think it's called the grass. Yeah. It's called the grass root grind, where you put in bronze players, bronze cards, and you get back six common gold cards and three rare gold player items. You can do that 45 times. Basically, my club is dry. We talked about it on Tuesday as well with Jack and Nathan with gold cards.

[00:45:35] If you get for 10 coins, then make sure you can at least do this like three times. You get a little bit more gold players, at least in the club. And if you want, for the next couple of days, at least, you can just grind. There's something in this promo so far for everyone, and none of them does seem unfair. Well, that's, as we see, that you just spoke about, it's free. Like, the diamond card. Three times it's free, yeah. Anything.

[00:46:02] So, you want to refill your team with their golds? Because I'm dry, too, after the grinding team of the year. I have no golds at all. So, and guys, don't forget, you're getting nine players for 11 bronze. So, it's basically one-v-one exchange. And you might get lucky and just pack some great cards. But, I mean, why not?

[00:46:28] You're still getting the three rare golds that can include the grassroots promo card, right? Yes. So, I'm not saying like the pocket. You probably won't. You probably won't. Yeah, but still, one of us will have a chance to get it. So, it just like, and cost you nothing. So, do it every day. Three, four upgrades for free. And just wait for another day to first do the bronze upgrade.

[00:46:58] That extra bronze upgrade that they added today. You get 33 bronzes. And do just three times even the grassroots upgrade for those golds players. And you will have enough time to finish to do all those 45, 46 upgrades. And I think it's also repeatable, right? That upgrade. I think every seven days or something. Yeah, I don't know. I haven't checked that exactly. So, I was just, you know, too hyped with the Moradona. Yeah, definitely.

[00:47:27] And I, like, talk quickly about the team. Let's talk about the team, John. Because we totally forget about the players they added. And they added some crazy players. Which is fine, pack sellers. And I think they give us so much options this time around. I mean, I'm sounding like a hype machine now. But they added so much players and things you can get for free. You know, do a grind towards or SBC in. That, sure, put in the 96 Moradona and make it extinct. I don't care.

[00:47:58] If you pack them, it's good. If not, still can be a very good promo. But there are some cards there. I put them on screen. I'm not going to... I don't think it's fair to highlight all, like... We're definitely not going to talk about Dybala. But, like, there's four, five, six, seven million players in there. All right. Go ahead. There's heroes. There's icons. There's regular players into that.

[00:48:26] Anything you want to highlight from all these players? Oh, John. The players that... I'm not going to talk about players that are usually meta players. And I'm talking about Dybala, for example. McAllister looks great, right? Stam, Hamshik. Those are the players, like, they're going to perform great in every team, right? So, the players that I want to highlight, basically. I'm so curious how he's going to perform a player like Icon Wright.

[00:48:54] He's looking great. Still 2.6 million, though. That's what I'm saying. We never had a right that expensive, right? Right. That's what I'm... Like, I'm curious. I mean, I'm probably not going to have a chance to task him. But I'm just curious to see opinions and reviews from people who had a chance to use him. Or maybe I'm going to face him and I will see how he performs on the pitch. Drogba is crazy.

[00:49:25] And I think this is the return of Drogba, like, from EAFC 24. You know, it might be. So, it's going to be tough to defend against this player. It always is. Yes. They boosted Ribery card from previous Icon version. Yes. So, looking good. If you are looking... I mean, if you are looking for 5 mil left wing, yeah. He's looking good.

[00:49:53] The players that I'm interested in, it's... I would like to see how Araujo performs. Mm-hmm. I got that one. Because he looks good. Just, like, really... He has a height. He has a reach. And every stat that I'm looking for, he has it on the card. He's still too expensive for my taste, as of right now. And also, you know what?

[00:50:23] I don't know why the Keen, because the Keen, if you go lower, looks also really good. And he's already less than 100K. Yeah, he's no center defense midfielder, which is weird, I think. He's only center midfielder. That's... We discussed that before the show. That's why I'm saying why I rated the counter SBC so high. Because that's CDM position. Yeah, but if you have this Keen with... We know the people are the 4-2-1-3, right?

[00:50:50] If you have this Keen with center defensive midfield position, with his ball control, but also with his standing tech and defensive stats and the 97 aggression, I would be 100% in the card. I'd try instantly. John, I'm not sure if the CM holding double pass is also another rarity. So... There aren't many of those. No, actually. They are? Okay, cool. No, no, there aren't. There aren't. There aren't. Yeah, that's what I'm saying. It's also rare to have a double plus on holding. So that's what I'm saying.

[00:51:20] Like, less than 100K. I know Keen is not like, you know, the favor of any promos that we have. And people are not choosing this card. But 99 interceptions, addition to that intercept play style. No CDM. Oh, if only he had a CDM. If only he had a CDM. Who else do you want to highlight here? Well, the card I was actually looking at.

[00:51:48] But of course, once I click it, it's always different to when I'm coming back to it. Is a left back. But where is she? I think it's picket. Yeah. Intercept plus. Relentless plus. Long ball with plus. Jockey anticipate. Technical rapid. And quick step. Currently coming in at around 30,000. Of course, somewhat harder to link. But basically has all the positions, all the play styles as well.

[00:52:19] 91 acceleration, 93 spin speed. Really fast. Defensive awareness. 90 with 90 interceptions and 90 slide tackle. And 88 standing tackle. 94 stamina. And 93 curve with 93 crossing. With, of course, like I said, the with pause regular one. We don't have too many left backs that can actually also defend properly. She can do it all.

[00:52:47] So that one stood out for me in my heart. Well, I don't use female cards this year. I don't know why. Boo. Okay. I use Lucy Bronze. I act Hansen, right? Yeah. Oh, you just forgot to casually. Yeah, that's right, man. Just casually. That's right. Yeah. But you know what? I'm probably missing a lot by not using those cards. It's just like, I don't know why.

[00:53:15] But as you mentioned, she has everything on the right spot to be a great left back and attacking left back. Who will probably quickly get to the attacking position and follow back if you lose the ball. But also like first off, you can use her false back plus plus. So she cuts inside. Yep. Wing back plus plus. So you can use a defensive as a proper wing back. But hey, go to attacking wing back and she can cross and she's also attacking wing back plus plus.

[00:53:45] So she's also versatile like how you can use it throughout a match as well if you want. There aren't many like that as well. I think, sure, I'd say chemistry, but she starts on two. Right? So I don't think that's actually an issue. Really cool card, 30k. Yeah. One more card that I want to highlight. Leicester Legend. Worthy. Yes. 99 pace. Also quick step.

[00:54:16] And I'm not surprised that his price right now is close to 2 mil. So shooting is crazy. Perfect, yeah. And you know what? With the max pace, you just can do basically everything with a dribbling, with a shooting. Yeah, but quick step plus with it as well. Can you add the finisher on him? I just want to see how he looks after adding finisher.

[00:54:44] Probably this is what most people will go for. I mean... Yeah, so that's 99 finishing, 99 shot power, 99 volleys, 99 penalties. Reaction, composure, aggression. Everything is there. I mean, I think he's going to be crazy in game. Yeah, I don't think we'll face him too much, luckily. Five star weak foot also. So finishing on both foots, it's just going to be...

[00:55:12] I mean, I think it's going to be a crazy card. Yeah, I agree, I think. But just 2 million, I don't think that's the card we should focus on too long. If you pack him, it's all right. It's the first night, right? So I think that there's a room to drop for those cards. Sure, but it's not like we said, Mordona 500k is definitely a good value. I think this card is just, if you pack him, you're golden. Overall, going after the future star promo to this... What a difference, eh?

[00:55:42] My hype is back, like for playing again, you know? Just, let's say I already recharged my batteries and I'm just going to play again, like grind for the Maradona cards. Maybe I'll get a chance to test any of other great cards that they drop to this promo. And I've heard already from people that they like the pack weight. So it's not like those cards are not obtainable. Ooh.

[00:56:11] So probably the, like, those lower rated cards, but still. Sounds interesting though. Let us know in the Spotify and YouTube comments, of course, if you packed something, who you packed. And if you hard disagree with anything we say. And of course, if you do agree with what we're saying, that's also fine. We like, we don't ask for it, but sometimes a compliment does come a long way.

[00:56:40] Talking about giving compliments. Arshom, something new we'll be doing over the next couple of, well, seasons probably. A shout out new Patreon supporters. So every Friday I'll go to the list with the new Patreon supporters or people that upgraded. Upgraded. And I want to say a little bit thank you to Simon B for upgrading their membership. Welcome to the higher tier. Bert joined as a fan.

[00:57:08] So welcome Bert and Neil H joined as a fan. Welcome Neil. Hope you guys enjoy the extra content we make. So welcome to the Patroners. And we'll be making some new content soon. And of course, there is a certain event which feels so far away, but actually it's just a little over two months from now on. We're getting close. We're getting close. And we have something to announce for the event really soon. You already saw it though, Arshom.

[00:57:38] Is there something you can say about it without spoiling it? No. Worth waiting for it. All right. Awesome. Let's keep it on worth waiting for it. I tried my best to not spoil it. I want to see if you could keep a secret there. Amazing. Amazing. I'm going to, well, I'm probably going to see if I can grind my way up to 94. What is 92 rated Maradona?

[00:58:07] And probably back to 99. Hopefully back to 96 while at it. No. That would be crazy. That would be crazy. But no, my backlog is not in that much this year. I'm going to complain. I think free cards is good. You never know. You never know. What we do know is that we'll be back next week, of course, with episode 662. Recording on Tuesday with Shaq and Nathan. Maybe I'll join. Kind of depends on my schedule. And of course, we'll be back next Friday with episode 663.

[00:58:36] You can find us, of course, on all socials at FootinReview. You can find us, of course, at FootinReview.com. And if you want to support us, join us at Patreon.com slash FootinReview. Artyom, thank you very much for this week. I hope you have a great weekend and you get that Maradona unlocked soon. And who knows, maybe you'll see yourself a Jamie Vardy. Thank you, John, for having me again. It's a pleasure doing business with you, mate.

[00:59:04] I invite you to my show, you know, next time. Next time. We'll be recording soon as well. If you're Patreon, check it out. The Art of Foot is there. Artyom, thank you so much. One thing left for us to do. And that is to drop it. Drop it. Drop it. F-U-T. F-U-T. F-U-T. F-U-T. T. Give it to you. F-U-T.