Objectives
Squad Battles
English 
français / French 
Español / Spanish 
中文 / Chinese 
العربية / Arabic 
Deutsch / German 
Dansk / Danish 
Dutch / Nederlands 
Italiano / Italian 
עברית / Hebrew 
Português / Portuguese 
Россия / Russian 
Česká / Czech 
日本語 / Japanese 
Türkçe / Turkish 
Norge / Norwegian 
POLSKA / Polish 
Sverige / Swedish 
TOTS Live 
Fantasy 
RTTF 
Thunderstruck 
FC Pro live 
RTTK 
Player Review
86 - SIF
Having packed the 84 version in an untradeable Team of the Week pack, I thought it would be churlish to at least not give him a shot in my Bundesliga side and boy was I rewarded. I've now upgraded to this version of the card, and it's certainly worth the coins. Raffael is very usable in a dual striker formation, with powerful finishing and neat dribbling. The Brazilian can shoot with either foot, and can certainly cause problems if given space outside the box. Raffael's attacking positioning is fantastic and he is so often there to finish off moves while also having good enough composure to win games that perhaps otherwise would be tight. Raffael's pace, whilst not quite electric, is certainly usable and defenders do have problems keeping tabs on him especially with 97 acceleration. Even if he doesn't get in behind, the danger isn't over for the opposition as he can bang them from outside the box as well as inside. If you play with a dual striker formation, with an even faster partner alongside him, he will often provide the assists with a fantastic passing range and vision.
Defensively, he'll work hard enough thanks to his high/medium work-rates but I would not expect him to win too much back by himself in a game unlike, say, Jamie Vardy. His strength isn't fantastic, although I personally rarely find this a real issue with the style that I attempt to play. I wouldn't expect him to win many headers either; at 5'8", he is made to feel rather small by most defenders in the game and if the opponent presses hard, especially from goal-kicks, this often means that the ball comes right back at you after clearing long. As for his stamina, I never noticed him flagging particularly and he often comes up with big, game-winning goals. In my opinion, outside of Lewandowski, there isn't anyone like Raffael in the Bundesliga. Of players that I've used this year, I would say that he is similar to SIF Mauro Icardi in a lot of respects, but more nimble and definitely less likely to pop up with headed goals.
To summarise, Raffael is an outrageously cheap card who will finish 85% of his chances. He is slightly lightweight physically but he is always in the right place for chances.
- Fantastic finishing, even on the weaker foot
- Can shoot from pretty much anywhere inside 25 yards and you can expect it to be on target at the very least
- Dribbling and first touch are usually exemplary, can beat defenders without using skill moves.
- Works hard defensively for a forward.
- Sets up quite a large number of goals as well as scoring himself - more than capable of picking some very nice passes.
- Good stamina and often scores crucial goals in tight games.
- Attacking positioning, whether in the box or on the run in behind, is a joy.
- Does need a pace upgrade through his Chem Style - even with a hunter his actual sprint speed isn't incredible but is certainly usable.
- I feel he needs a second striker alongside him to dovetail with as a striker (although I am personally yet to try him in a one-striker role)
- Not especially tall at 5'8" and doesn't win many headers, if any.
- Physically dominated by some of the most commonly seen defenders.
