u/Zealousideal_Reason7

Cristiano Ronaldo: Due to licensing issues, Konami can't release younger versions of CR7. So they do provide some buff to the ones they release. This card was in fact released after an overwhelming vote in a survey conducted by Konami during the Euros.

Personally, I am a casual spender and only purchase during sales, but I couldn't afford to let him pass, knowing that any of his cards could be the last one. With no coins saved, I was lucky enough to pack him and Vitinha in around 4000 coins.

Coming to the build, the versatility this card offers is immense. You can build him as a ground tank like Haaland, a better version of Batistuta that can actually hold and distribute the ball, or my personal favourite, as an aerial pivot. He can easily achieve 99 Jump after allotment of some points to GK1, and along with 87 Physical, you do get to see Cristiano Airlines in all its glory during the corners and crosses. The combination of Bullet header and Phenomenal finishing is quite apt and replicates his IRL performance. His passes are quite reliable and screamers and low screamers are something you'll see every other match when you play him.

The recent buff to Chop turn has breathed a fresh air in the dribbling capabilities of this card, and it feels lore accurate as well. Personally, I find no benefit in allocation of much points to his dribbling, stiff players like him and Haaland do not really get that smooth feel even at 90 dribbling. I prefer to rather focus on a player's strength, rather than custom building every player to the same stats and killing their individuality. The best build for him would be the ones that focus on his awareness and aerial presence, and if the crosses do get nerfed, you can always reallocate those points to Speed or Awareness. Some builds do exist where he reaches 95 speed, and that boosts his KP to 100 as well, although I have yet to try such builds. Even an year later he ranks among the best strikers in eFootball, although with the increase in the baseline of Physical contact of strikers, that is one area where improvement feels most needed, specially when paired with the new Naruto Bale.

Gareth Bale: I did regret not getting the first Big time Bale, but a 250 box can be tricky. He did come in a 150 box later but I only managed to pull Sheva. This Bale, along with Marcelo, in a 150 pack was a no brainer for a Madrid fan like me. I was lucky to pull them both and escape Auba in 62 pulls.

Naruto Bale is build keeping every requirement of the current Meta in mind, the PC, awareness, acceleration as well as the stats required for Blitz, and the OP Magnetic feet skill. I do lack experience in playing no style CFs, have found little success with 08 Messi earlier. However, when Bale shines, which is about every third match, he outshines every other player on the pitch by quite a margin. So currently, I find him either scoring a Brace or Hattrick, or ghosting the whole match. His Blitz is quite reliable, as reliable as a Blitz is in this game.

However his lack of playstyle does bother me ngl, and I play him as a super sub to Tsubasa Rummi in competitive matches. The best way to use him would be as a CF, using manual runs along with a minimum of 90 OA, imho. I may learn to utilise him to his full potential reliably with time.

I got Marcelo recently and well, it was one of my targets being a Madrid fan. I already had Carlos so it was not exactly a requirement.

But gameplay wise he is inferior to Carlos in every way except dribbling, in my opinion. The speed and physicality of Carlos allow him to quickly dash past the opposition as well as recover in time. Marcelo can't do that, he relies on his dribbling to advance, which is often inviable in online matches. Plus he has negligible contribution in defence, and oddly has a tendency to deviate medially, as pointed out by others, leaving the flank unguarded.

Now coming to Amadeusz, I don't understand how he ranks Marcelo above Carlos based on just on the ball feel. Carlos is better in offense as well due to his Speed. Both have 90 crossing with Edge crossing skill, plus Carlos is pretty solid defensively, I never even have to worry about the 110 Messi with him. And if Marcelo is higher ranked due to offensive capacity then why is Cafu below Zanetti? Being an offensive fullback, Edged crossing is a must have skill, Zanetti can be better as a rounded player but using the logic that was used to place Marcelo higher, Cafu definitely goes above Zanetti.

PS: I have all these cards so there is no conflict of opinion.

I still rotate based on form though.