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What's the story?
Chelsea faced Arsenal in a pre-season game in the Premier League Asia Cup and defeated Arsene Wenger's men by a 3-0 margin thanks to goals from Willian and a brace from Michy Batshuayi. Both of the Belgian's goals came from weaker foot finishes and this saw the striker tweet to EA Sports for a FIFA 18 "Weaker Foot" rating upgrade.
In case you didn't know...
The Belgian striker is a right footed player but both his goals against Arsenal were admirable finishes from the edge of the box. Batshuayi is also reputed for having a hilariously strong twitter game and this tweet just strengthened this reputation.
For those who are wondering what the Belgian is going on about in his tweet; the FIFA series rates all the players present in the roster as per their specific attributes. The ratings are usually from 1-99 for various attributes which include shooting, tackling and other skills needed to play the game. The "Weaker Foot" rating describes the quality of the players weaker foot in terms of stars with a maximum rating of 5 stars.
The heart of the matter
Although the Belgian is a right footed player, his goals against Arsenal show why he wants his weaker foot rating raised. Both goals were deft finishes from the edge of the box with his weaker left foot. The first one was a wonderfully executed side foot finish and the second goal was a deftly finished first time shot from Marcos Alonso's lay off that flew into David Ospina's top right corner.
Batshuayi's weaker foot, in FIFA 17, was given a four-star rating and on evidence of the two goals against Arsenal two goals, the 23-year old clearly feels that his left foot deserves more credit.
What's next?
FIFA 18 is scheduled to release in the last week of September and that is when Batshuayi will finally know if his request has been granted by EA Sports or not. FIFA followers will also know that this is not the first time Batshuayi has called out FIFA on twitter. He had previously called out the gaming giants over his passing rating announced in jest that he would be switching to PES after being dissatisfied with his discussions with EA.
Author's take
Executing such finishes in pre-season workouts is a completely different ball game from making the same impact in the hustle and bustle of the Premier League. While these two goals do suggest that the Belgian has a stellar weaker foot, it may not have the same effect in the Premier League, where the Belgian scored all of 5 goals last season.
EA should wait for some concrete performances before increasing the Belgian's weaker foot rating.
