FIFA 14 - Mario Gomez Review

'Looking for Mario Gomez ... the header, it's in the net!' - Martin Tyler. This quote is just a sneak preview of what you'll get if you use Mario Gomez, better known as "Mr. Zuverlässig" ("Mr. Reliable"), in a proper way. As I'm writing this, Gomez has scored 109 goals for me, gave 36 assists and this only in 98 matches. These matches were mostly in division 4, 3, 2 and 1. And he's had 6 consecutive hattricks in the last 6 matches I played with him. Ok, that's not entirely true, in two of those games he did not make 3 goals, he made 4. I have Gomez equipped with the 'Finisher' chemistry style. Before I'll go into Gomez' stats, I want to emphasize Gomez is not the kind of striker you want to use as a creator. So if you're one of the dozens of players that are looking for 'pace, pace, pace', Gomez is definitely not your guy as he has 'only' 79 pace on his card.

So, before you actually get him you will have to buy this guy. With a chemistry style, 'Finisher' for me, he'll cost you about 2.000 coins on Xbox, 2.500 coins on PS3 and about 2.200 coins on PC. I am still truly shocked by how cheap this amazing striker is. After you bought him you will need to put him into a team. Personally I would recommend a system like a 4-2-3-1, as I'm using for him, or any formation that has good crossing potential. Think of a 4-3-3 variant, a 3-4-3, basically whatever you like. But I would definitely not recommend you to use this guy in combination with another striker. To reach his full potential you will need to play with 2 'wingers' and Gomez in the middle. He plays in the Serie A, so you could use something like my squad (see above for the link), or you could link him up with German players. Players like Reus and Ozil around this guy. I think I just gave myself some ideas.

To start off the stats, Gomez has, as been said before, 79 pace on his card. He is pretty slow at start, 71 acceleration, but when he's on speed to his max of 84 sprint speed it's easier to get the old Charlie Sheen out of a liquor store than it is getting Gomez off the ball, partly because of his 88(!) strength. Because of that, when Gomez is on full speed it feels like Gomez has more speed than the 79 he has on his card. Still I wouldn't recommend accelerating with him when he's on the ball when there's a defender nearby. In the acceleration he will get caught up easily. Try to launch him when he's already on speed, that is much more effective.

Now the second best part of Gomez: the shooting. In the box, the only way I can describe Gomez is with Miley Cyrus' song: I came in like a wrecking ball! No seriously, Gomez's 88 strength makes it unbelievebly hard for defenders to push him off the ball. Combine that with a 87 finishing, 4 star weak foot, 90 positioning, 86 shot power, 86 reactions and then realize all these stats get a major upgrade when you use the 'Finisher' chemistry style. In my opinion, Gomez is one of the best in-box strikers in FIFA 14. Oh and he has 87 volleys, as if he wasn't good enough already.

Most people would laugh at 60 passing, but Gomez doesn't even come close to 60. If you play with him, you will understand what I'm saying. The guy has 70 short passing, 63 vision and even 40 long passing. Still, he manages to give amazing through balls from time to time, which could happen every now and then due to his medium/medium workrates. No, that is not something to worry about, Gomez is in time in the box almost always. And when Gomez in the box, you will love him. But we'll get to the singin.. wait, heading part later.

71 dribbling, 77 ball control, 64 agility, 65 balance: no, Gomez is not made to dribble past 3 defenders and I would definitely not recommend you to use him that way. Though, when you're 1 on 1 with a defender that is not very strong, you could always just push him out of the way. Definitely worth trying if there's no passing option.

Defending..? What? Asking a striker to defend is like asking Barney Stinson NOT to be awesome. Still, the 80 aggression is pretty useful when you're trying to shove a defender away.

Alright. Now. Tell your parents you're sorry they're going to hear the Mario Gomez song (for those of you under a rock, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0llFo922O4&hd=1) so often. This guy is an unstoppable force in the air. Really, I've come across all kinds of defenders, pacey defenders like David Luiz, Felipe Santana, hybrid defenders like Giorgio Chiellini, Mehdi Benatia and pure rocks as Nemanja Vidic. Mario Gomez simply does NOT care who it is. You cross - he heads - you sing the Mario Gomez song. That's the simple equation. 1 meter 89, 88 strength, 87 heading accuracy, 90 positioning, and all these stats, except for the length of course, get a major boost when you're using, yes, the 'Finisher' chemistry style. I can simply not emphasize enough how godly Mario Gomez is in the air. Corners, crosses, clearances, whatever. When the ball is up in the air your opponent has, well, only in theory a chance of winning from Gomez. Cross to him a lot, your throat will hurt from the Mario Gomez song and you will love him more than you loved Gabriel Agbonlahor when he kicked Louis Tomlinson (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-a6YufTa9ow&hd=1).

Some things we haven't gone over yet: 37 free kick accuracy. Uhm, yeah, simply don't. Just don't. And I guess every team will have someone better for the penalty's than Gomez, as his 76 penalty's is not a lot.Oh and if he wasn't near godlike already, he has 3 star skills so he's able to do small tricks to get space for a shot if you're into that kind of thing.

As a conclusion, Gomez gets a well-deserved 9 from me. His heading, or even his scoring ability in general is simply breathtaking. Combine that with a good physique and well, what more do you need? Why not a 10? Simply because nothing is perfect.

For the future, if this guy ever gets an in-form, he'll be even more godlike than he already is. Morgan Freeman should watch out.

I hope you liked the review. Gomez is probably the best striker I've been playing with so far in all of my FIFA's and I hope you have the same kind of joy, singing when he scores.. again.

I loved that review. It was actually a fantastic read. 10/10 for the review. Give him bonus points!

Nice review. Maybe add those little things Brochacho pointed out if you want. I'll add this in to the Player Reviews section now & add the 25k SF Points.

Neymar wrote:Nice review. Maybe add those little things Brochacho pointed out if you want. I'll add this in to the Player Reviews section now & add the 25k SF Points.

As you can see in FaiNt87's reply, everyone has his/her own style. Some people like reviews with a lot of words explaining things, including me, some don't. If you would read it you would come to the conclusion it is structured, just not with headlines as Brochacho's template.

DaRoderick wrote:

Neymar wrote:Nice review. Maybe add those little things Brochacho pointed out if you want. I'll add this in to the Player Reviews section now & add the 25k SF Points.

As you can see in FaiNt87's reply, everyone has his/her own style. Some people like reviews with a lot of words explaining things, including me, some don't. If you would read it you would come to the conclusion it is structured, just not with headlines as Brochacho's template.

Honestly, I read it twice. It's not that structured. We are telling these to help you. I never said you have to use the template, it was just there if you wanted to use it.

DaRoderick wrote:

Neymar wrote:Nice review. Maybe add those little things Brochacho pointed out if you want. I'll add this in to the Player Reviews section now & add the 25k SF Points.

As you can see in FaiNt87's reply, everyone has his/her own style. Some people like reviews with a lot of words explaining things, including me, some don't. If you would read it you would come to the conclusion it is structured, just not with headlines as Brochacho's template.

The key word was "maybe" if you read my post. Everyone has different styles. It's a good review. The little suggestions are just there if you want to make use of them. They obviously won't be forced on anyone, if they were all the reviews would be the same.

Sounds like a great striker, nice review. I simply cannot get used of teams with 1 striker, even though occasionnally I used a 4-3-3 with Falcao as the header, I prefer having 2 strikers and there Gomez do not fit.. as said by DaRoderick!

FabrYs wrote:Sounds like a great striker, nice review. I simply cannot get used of teams with 1 striker, even though occasionnally I used a 4-3-3 with Falcao as the header, I prefer having 2 strikers and there Gomez do not fit.. as said by DaRoderick!

It's not like he doesn't fit in 2-striker-systems. Hell I'd use him with 1,2,3 or 4 strikers. Even 5. He just shines if you put 2 wingers around him and let him be the target man.

DaRoderick wrote:

FabrYs wrote:Sounds like a great striker, nice review. I simply cannot get used of teams with 1 striker, even though occasionnally I used a 4-3-3 with Falcao as the header, I prefer having 2 strikers and there Gomez do not fit.. as said by DaRoderick!

It's not like he doesn't fit in 2-striker-systems. Hell I'd use him with 1,2,3 or 4 strikers. Even 5. He just shines if you put 2 wingers around him and let him be the target man.

he fit quite good in 2 striker formations i have him and balotelli in a 352 formation and him and balo they score many goals together

Yes, my bad, his profile seems to fit better in such a system, and I'm not happy with the system, whatever the players are, I just dont like to use wingers...

i have used mario gomez as well... he was a bit slow for me...he is only good for finishing the ball if opportunity comes...