FUT Birthday Icon Shearer - Spend or Swerve

POSITIVES & NEGATIVES

Positives

• Shearer has great finishing, inside the box he finished pretty much everything which was on his strong foot, he is extremely clinical

• He is great in the air, he has high jumping and heading accuracy attributes as well as the Power Header trait

• I found him to be very strong on the ball, this is due to his body type and his high strength attribute

• He has the Outside Foot Shot and Finesse Shot trait which is good to have as it allows versatility in shooting angles

• 5* Skill Moves on Shearer was a bit strange to start with but a lot of fun, it added a new dynamic to his attack

• He has icon links which means he gets full chemistry no matter what team he is placed in and he gives +2 notches to English chemistry

• (New Gen Only) He can be changed to a Lengthy AcceleRATE with a number of attacking chemistry styles

Negatives

• Shearer only has 80 Agility and 80 Balance which is quite low, so you have to be aware when using him he will not turn like the smaller more agile players

• I found his weak foot finishing let me down every now and then, I am not sure if it was just a bit of bad luck but he missed a few chances on his left foot

• 20 tokens is a lot to commit to a player who I would consider more of a ‘fun card’ than a ‘meta card’

TEAM AND IN GAME POSITION

Team Used

In Game Formation

Position Played: ST

Chemistry Style Used: Engine

Recommended Position: ST

Recommended Chemistry Style: New Gen: Hawk, Old Gen: Engine

PLAYER COMPARISONS – IS HE BETTER THAN? (5* SM 4* WF Icon Strikers)

Prime Icon Eric Cantona – 1.72m

• Cantona is slightly better than Shearer in most areas, with Shearer just coming out ahead in the Shooting department. Shearer is more of a ‘cheap Cantona’

• Who would I choose, and why?

  • I would choose Cantona as he is slightly better in most areas

Prime Icon Roberto Baggio – 225K

• A slightly unfair comparison as Baggio is more of a CAM, but overall Shearer is superior in all the areas you need as a Striker

• Who would I choose, and why?

  • I would choose Shearer, as he is far superior as a striker

FUT Birthday Icon Wayne Rooney – 1.34m

• Rooney is quicker and has better dribbling, whereas Shearer is more suited to the target man role

• Who would I choose, and why?

  • I would choose Rooney as he is a little better in most areas, although Shearer is more suited to be a target man

FUT Birthday Icon Ian Rush – 118K

• Rush seems to be a slightly worse version of Shearer as Shearer is better in pretty much most areas, you could say rush is a ‘cheap Shearer, despite Shearer technically being free

• Who would I choose, and why?

  • I would choose Shearer, he is simply better in pretty much all areas

RATINGS

VERDICT

Shearer 100% falls into the ‘fun card’ category, he isn’t what I would consider a ‘meta’ card and I don’t see him pushing out the meta cards from peoples teams.

However, not every card needs to be a meta card to have fun on the game. I took Shearer into FUT Champs and had a lot of fun with him, he scored a lot of goals, assisted a few and overall was a really enjoyable card to use.

It was nice being able to use a Shearer card and feel like he could compete against the meta defenders and teams that I came up against. I scored some really nice goals with him, utilising his 5* skill moves too which was a nice feeling.

His main strength is definitely his finishing and as he has high composure he just feels very clinical, his main weakness is his low balance and agility which limits his dribbling ability.

What I will say is that if you play to his strengths and don’t try and do too much with him dribbling wise he is actually very good, and will definitely score a lot of goals.

So, the big questions is he worth 20 tokens? Yes and No!

I know that doesn’t help but hear me out, if you have zero emotional connection to Shearer and are looking for new striker for you team, there is a high chance this isn’t the card for you, as I said previously he is what I would consider a fun card, not a meta card.

However, if you have a connection with Shearer (England/Newcastle/Blackburn/Southampton fan etc) and you are looking for a fun card to use then 100% go for Shearer, he is a lot of fun to use and I am glad I completed him

I know people will want to know if it is a Spend or a Swerve so I will say it is a Spend, but with the above caveat, so this one really is up to you and your personal feelings on this one.

SPEND OR SWERVE

FUNNY AND INTERESTING FACTS

A little bit of bonus content for you all here are some funny and interesting facts about Alan Shearer…

• Shearer is the all-time top scorer in the history of Newcastle United, having scored 206 goals in all competitions during his time at the club.

• During the 1995-96 season, Shearer won the Premier League Golden Boot for the second year running, scoring a total of 31 goals for Blackburn Rovers.

• Shearer also represented the England national team on 63 occasions, scoring 30 goals and captaining the team for several years.

• In 1996, Shearer played a key role in England’s run to the semi-finals of the European Championships, scoring five goals in the tournament and winning the Golden Boot award.

• Shearer was part of the Blackburn Rovers team that won the Premier League title in the 1994-95 season, which remains the only top-flight title the club has ever won.

• Shearer was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame in 2004 in recognition of his achievements as a player.

• Shearer is FUTWIZ Dan’s favourite English player