FC 24 TOTS MOMENTS ALEJANDRO GARNACHO PLAYER REVIEW

“Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more.”  There are only a few Weekend Leagues that quite reach the level of sweat as the Premier League Team of the Season.  The search for those near impossible to pack cards can lead to some wild behavior as the loan infused squads come pouring into battle, in search of bigger and better rewards.

With the drop of essentially three full squads worth of TOTS cards this weekend, there was always going to be selection overload when it came time to pick.  In some cases the price tags have already reached ridiculously low levels that you might as well just give a test yourself… Or remain at a level that seems impossibly out of grasp.  However, with Alejandro Garnacho’s TOTS Moments card we did think we found the sweet spot and set out on the wild journey through yet another Weekend League war.

The 4-2-2-2 had all but taken over for me moving forward in FC24… but a turn of bad form recently led me crawling back to the 4-3-2-1… Reminding me how balanced and OP the formation feels in full swing… And so I am back.  In the case of Garnacho this worked perfectly as the Manchester winger was able to slot in at the RW position… The Shooting and Physical boosts of the MARKSMAN Chemistry Style jumped out as the best option for enhancing the Argentine… And into the matches we went.

Garnacho came ready to contribute to the cause all weekend long in the following squad:

Overall 

Rating: 8.5/10

Honestly a bit disappointed with how this review played out in the end.  Garnacho has just about everything to be an insane card but fell just short in areas that I thought would lead to a crazy Weekend League performance.  The 9 goals and 3 assists in 5 matches is definitely a solid return, but it is worth noting in two of those matches (the more difficult opponents) Garnacho essentially went missing and did not contribute on a level you would expect. 

Main Statistics – Pace and Dribbling

Pace Rating: 9/10

Dribbling Rating: 10/10

Skills: ★★★★★

PlayStyles: Quick Step Plus, Technical, Flair, Trickster, First Touch

Oddly enough this is the area that both makes and breaks this card in the end.  From a dribbling perspective Garnacho has literally everything and felt that way in game.  The 98 AGILITY & 99 BALANCE feel solid and responsive in game, while the MARKSMAN brings the BALL CONTROL & DRIBBLING into the 99 categories as well, creating an extremely balanced card (pun intended).

The 97 ACCELERATION & 95 SPRINT SPEED on a MOSTLY EXPLOSIVE AcceleRATE card with a LEAN Body Type… It was safe to say Garnacho would be quick and rapid, causing my opponents headaches on the wings all weekend long… Until he didn’t.  With the QUICK STEP Plus this card has an amazing first few steps and can create space… But for some reason the sprint speed on this card felt awful all weekend.  Awful is of course based on the fact I expected the sprint speed to maintain the gaps created by the QUICK STEP & FIRST TOUCH combination, but it simply doesn’t.  Defender after defender easily caught up to Garnacho and in many cases quality goal scoring opportunities were squandered in those moments.  Honestly, the lack of any RAPID PlayStyle does seem to be the thing that Garnacho lacks and is keeping this card from a 9/10 overall for me.

Value/Coins

Value/Coins: 4/5

One of the easier Value for Coins sections I have completed in that just last weekend we took a look at TOTS Live Raphinha who has since dropped to 700k.  Garnacho is of course 100k cheaper and could drop over the coming days and I would be tempted to say 5/5 value closer to 400k should that happen.  There are simply key areas in Pace and Physical that Raphinha trumps Garnacho and nothing outside of the FINESSE SHOT Plus that really makes an argument for going with the Argentine.

Good vs. Bad 

Good vs Bad Rating: 5/5

Just because he isn’t the best value does not mean there are not some fantastic statistics and attributes that you can benefit from should you buy Garnacho regardless. 

+ Not many Premier League TOTS cards were given the 5 STAR/5 STAR combination and Garnacho was no different.  The 4 STAR WEAK FOOT was okay, both missing some chances and scoring a couple of fantastic goals from distance and with the FINESSE SHOT Plus.  The 99 SHOT POWER after the MARKSMAN application was probably my favorite part as he absolutely smashes every shot he hits.

+ The Passing is similar to a lot of what we are saying with this card.  Garnacho has a lot of high tier statistics and the 91 SHORT PASSING & 92 CROSSING delivered quality in game.  The 77 LONG PASSING is not the best, especially if you like finding diagonals between strikers.

Was not sure where to discuss this last issue, but I am calling it a Physical problem for lack of a better category.

- I could live with the Pace being explosive but not rapid.  I could live with a few missed passes and even a missed chance or two was not the end of the world.  However, what really bothered me about this card was the complete lack of “jammy” play in and around the box.  While some strikers have the knack of always coming up with the ball or being difficult to dispossess… Garnacho was the complete opposite.  I mentioned the grind this weekend would be and unfortunately Garncho was not up for that level of challenge.

Closing Words

All in all I wouldn’t be upset if this card came to me in an untradeable fashion and I was able to add the Manchester winger to my squad.  As a super sub I could see the lack of top end sprint speed being less important and if the final shot of a match fell to his feet I would expect Garnacho to score it.  The biggest thing is that I would not want to be paying coins to add Garnacho to my squad and certainly wouldn’t replace Raphinha if given the chance to swap.  Solid card, but we need more than that at this stage.           

Hoping you are well.  Cheers for reading