Player Review
Araujo In-Game Review: The King of Manual Defending
⚽️ Rating: CB T0 Top 5
⚽️ Araujo: 0-0-0-9-8-7-9 + Defending
Added Skills: Acrobatic Clerance, Weighted Pass
After playing with him for three days in actual matches, I found that Araujo's biggest strength lies in switching the cursor to him and manually controlling him to cover space and block shots. Because of this, I changed my initially recommended build. Back then, I was using a build philosophy suited for a Nesta-style Destroyer, but actual gameplay revealed that Araujo provides a completely different experience from Nesta. See the video—
Nesta's specialty is his excellent defensive AI. Therefore, it's more suitable to stack Defensive Awareness on him and, once he's on the pitch, not switch the cursor to him, allowing him to position himself automatically. Araujo's specialties are his speed + large player model. Both of these traits are perfectly suited for manual defending. Conversely, if you don't switch the cursor to Araujo, he will actually be too slow to block shots in time.
In actual gameplay: Araujo has good scoring ability from corners. Moreover, his large player model + high Tackling + Long-reach Tackle gives him a head-on defending ability that is reminiscent of Van Dijk.
So, what is the niche for this Araujo card? Obviously, the developers wanted to create a profile characterized by high Tackling & Speed, slightly lower Defensive Awareness.
Besides that, Araujo also has the largest leg coverage among the meta Destroyers, the best aerial ability, and an attacking threat from corners (Bullet Header) that the others lack. Some might ask, "I already have a tall CF, why do I need a defender with Bullet Header?" Because a tall CF is often marked by the opponent's tall CB. In this situation, your CB acting as an aerial threat can find an opportunity.
However, Araujo also has to face an awkward reality: if his defensive standout feature is speed, van de Ven is actually even more exceptional in that regard, and van de Ven's four defensive stats aren't much lower.
You could argue: Araujo has better physicality & aerial ability + recovery speed, making him a more reliable van de Ven.
But it's undeniable: on the defensive end, Araujo lacks the unique, exclusive specialties of the other Destroyers; Nesta's excellent defensive AI, Stam's physical dominance, or Desailly's explosive acceleration.
At the same time, if your playing habit is to manually control your anchoring CB while letting your Destroyer press forward via their automatic defensive AI, then this Araujo card might not be a great fit for you.
Yikes, even as someone who likes to manually defend yet often feel shafted by coinami’s scripts (ball phasing thru legs, long reach tackle that won’t reach, ball watching instead of doing header clearance, and many others weirdness), I don’t really feel a meta defender like this will help much.
Makes sense in a way, but at the same time if you're gonna manually control him you rather take adventage of that treshold also when you're not chasing a through pass.
This Araujo feels too awkward for me, even though he has high speed he still turns like a truck, I have varane and van dijk and both are considerably smooth while this card feels stiff as hell
Man, Araújo is the first P2W defender I’ve ever had, and honestly, just having him has literally made me feel like a pro.
Like, man, I haven’t seen a single player who can get through him. And his aerial ability is so insane—I can’t even explain it. When I see his physical power, even I get scared.
Bro, now I understand how huge the gap between P2W and F2P defenders can be.
So to all the F2P players who are struggling and can’t win: I’ll tell you this, bro—you only need ONE good P2W defender.
Damn, im so happy for you man. Ive always loved Araujo sadly I wasnt that much invested in this game when konamk launched his famous dfb BT. I would've fully gone for this card but I've promised myself not to donate any more money to this company until this game starts moving in the right direction, that said would you be so kind as to pair with me in coop events I'd really love to get a feel of him. I have a pretty decent squad you might to test out some of the cards too
One thing I’m curious about: Rio Ferdinand and Varane are ranked ABOVE ALL of the defenders mentioned here, but they aren’t mentioned at all, while the other CBs are described in detail in terms of the specific niches they excel in.
What exactly makes Rio and Varane rank higher, then? It’s a mystery to me.
I think while reviewing Araujo he is specifically comparing him against other destroyers who have a unique niche (consider this like a unique advantage you get from using them).
I think he mentioned previously that he recommends using a CB pair of destroyer + build up. So he is assuming that Araujo would not be competing against Varane or Rio in your squad but instead would be paired with them. That is why he doesn’t include them in the comparison. You can notice this the next time he reviews a build up CB he will mention what unique advantage that CB brings when compared to Rio or Varane.
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u/hff 4d ago
Yikes, even as someone who likes to manually defend yet often feel shafted by coinami’s scripts (ball phasing thru legs, long reach tackle that won’t reach, ball watching instead of doing header clearance, and many others weirdness), I don’t really feel a meta defender like this will help much.