Arsenal legend Thierry Henry says he disagrees with EA Sports’ decision to hand Liverpool forward Mo Salah an 88 rating for dribbling in FC 24.
Speaking to the Bleacher Report‘s YouTube channel, Henry said that Salah and former Chelsea winger Eden Hazard are the two players he rates the highest for dribbling ability, mainly because they are fixated on ensuring that their runs on the ball result in goals:
“Only [88]? I like people that go to the goal. I like players that dribble and pass someone, which is in the title, you’re dribbling someone, right? A lot of people do a lot of stuff that I call nonsense. Are you going to the goal or not? And Mo Salah, when he takes the ball, he goes!”
“I can always remember one guy that I used to love watching in the Premier League is Eden Hazard. That’s what I call dribbling. You go to goal. He didn’t showboat, he was going to goal. Eden, you could kick him, you could do whatever, he used to spin on people and go to goal. That’s for me what a dribbler is. I think that’s a bit low for Mo Salah, but primetime, I would’ve been there too.”
Salah deserves more credit for his dribbling
You do feel that the Egyptian international warrants more praise for his dribbling. Back in the 2021/22 season, Salah scored two outstanding individual goals against Manchester City and Watford, using his outstanding close ball control.
Very few players in the modern-day possess the ability to get past multiple defenders and have the composure to score.
EA FC’s rating system is rather poor
Too many fans and even some players take the ratings from the game way too seriously. A lot of the scores are very arbitrary and are decided by people who are not experts on football.
In contrast, a video game such as Football Manager does provide a better gauge of a player’s ability. They have hundreds of scouts judging players across the world to come up with their ratings, and even some football clubs use it as a scouting tool.
Watch a Liverpool and Everton Q&A about the Reds’ possible title challenge on Shots! TV
