EA FC Tactical Beta Icon Claude Makélélé. Analysis.

6 min readMay 2, 2024

Greetings coaches and welcome to the analysis of the Icon version of the excellent defensive midfielder that the French national team had: Claude Makélélé

Stats Analysis:

As you can see, Makélélé has an excellent tackle with 16k and an acceptable interception with 14k, remembering that Makélélé can only go up to level 80, so his defensive stats are well distributed to fulfill the role of ball recoverer in the position of CDM or CM.

On the other hand, the offensive stats are decent for a CDM, with 13k passing and 12k dribbling, he is surely not the best passer in the game, but for the role he will play on the field they are more than acceptable.

Thanks to this distribution of stats that Makélélé has, they make him a very good CDM or even CM, since his stats focused on tackling and interception, forgetting about blocking, which is good since in the positions that Makélélé plays he rarely goes to use the block.

Recommended positions:

Makélélé is a versatile player, as he has the possibility of playing in the midfield as CDM or CM, but also has the possibility of playing on the sides as RM.

Personally, I consider that his best position is that of CDM or CM, because observing the player’s stats, he is more focused on defending than on the attack, and the RM position is focused on the attack, since the players in that position are for go up the sides of the field and make crosses to the allied forwards, which is why I recommend placing Makélélé in the central positions of the field.

Evolution points recommendation:

If you will be using Makélélé on the sides as RM, I recommend the following distribution of the player’s 16 available evolution points:

4 Points to Dribbling (+900).
4 Points to Passing (+900).
2 Points to Intercept (+550).
3 Points to Speed (+750).
3 Points to Technique (+750).

If you will be using Makélélé in the midfield as CDM or CM, I recommend the following distribution of the player’s 16 available evolution points:

3 Points to Passing (+750).
4 Points to Tackling (+900).
4 Points to Intercept (+900).
2 Points to Speed (+550).
3 Points to Technique (+750).

Recommended skill moves:

Makélélé comes with S rank tackle, A rank interception and A rank pass.

To complete Makélélé skill move kit, I recommend placing: A One-Two and a dribble, that way he will have all the attack options available with a skill move.

I also recommend placing an S rank interception on him, since the A rank interceptor he brings may not be enough to stop the best passes, and it is also advisable to replace the A rank pass he brings with one of S rank.

Trait analysis and recommendations:

Makélélé traits are the following:

Makélélé main S-rank trait is decent, since it increases our player invincibility period when winning a duel in attack or defense, for the player’s ball recovery role this trait is not very useful, since this trait is best used in the RM position, which is not the player best position.

On the other hand, the main A-rank trait is more useful for the ball recovery role, since it increases Makélélé’s stats if we correctly guess the opponent’s command, a very good trait for players focused on defense.

The traits that I recommend are the following:

In the CDM or CM position, Midfield King is an excellent trait for the player since that area of the field is where he will almost always be in the match.

FW or MF Hunter are also useful for Makélélé, as players in those positions will be the most common to face.

Interception Master is good to make a better interceptor for Makélélé and Challengers Impact combines well with the main A-rank trait that the player brings, so it is a good option if you do not have the previous traits.

On the other hand, in the RM position, Wing King is a very good trait since it will increase Makélélé’s stats if he is on the sides.

While Pass Master and Dribble Master come in handy, since RM position is focused on attack and with these traits we will make our player a better passer and dribbler.

Finally, Challengers Impact is also a good option, since it increases the player’s stats if he guesses the opponent’s command, both in attack and defense.

Strengths:

Excellent tackling stats and good interception stats.
Type advantage against red CMs widely used in ranked matches (Lampard, Gullit, etc.)
Blue type CDM or CM, which are currently not common in the game.

Weaknesses:

Only 4 stars are available and not 5 like S+ players.
His dribbling stats are a bit low to play him in the RM position.

Conclusion:

Makélélé is one of the best 4-star Icon players in the game, due to his good distribution of stats for the player main role (Ball recovery).

Thanks to his good distribution of stats he can stop many dribblers in the game and have the possibility of intercepting rival passes, even his passing stats are decent in case he has to take an offensive action.

But unfortunately, Makélélé does not have the possibility of reaching 5 stars, so in the future he will fall behind compared to players who do have the possibility of reaching 5 stars and obtaining higher stats.

Finally, highlight the type of Makélélé (Blue), since currently in the game blue CDMs or CMs are few, so it can be very useful to counteract red CMs, which are more common.