Player Review
88 - Icon
Rijkaard is a fine blend of finesse and athleticism at CB; composed, lanky, and dependable. For a quick background, I mainly play DivRivals in Division 3, and end up around 14-20 wins in weekend league depending on how the wind blows. I.e., I play Fifa a decent amount, but do not put any money into the game. I have a Serie A and Bundesliga team which I use interchangeably, both of which use the 4-4-2 formation and rely on strong CMs, (Delaney and Witsel, and De Rossi, Milinkovic/Boateng). Rijkaard was my first icon, and I chose him mainly to upgrade my 83 Toprak I was still using in the Bundesliga squad. I have paired Rijkaard with Juan Jesus (athletic) and Jonathan Tah (brute strength) and feel like pairing him with another athletic CB is the way to go. PLEASE play him with anchor chemistry, he goes up to a 94 rated CB.
Rijkaard has opened my eyes to how good icons actually are. So basically, highly recommend if you want an Icon CB. Rijkaard is awesome and way more fun than a CB should be. HIghly recommend.
Price- For 450k you can't go too wrong here; there really isn't another icon CB like him, maybe Blanc at 750K, or the GOAT Maldini at 1 million coins.
Speed- Not rapid by any means, but for a CB he can cover ground, and combine this with his interceptions, he is always in the right place and never seems to need to catch up
Defending finesse- This guy isn't a bulldozer, although with anchor he does have 93 strength, instead of bashing his way through attackers he surgically removes the ball with his long legs and speed/positioning. I played 152 games and only had one yellow card with him, which is a testament to this.
Aerial- He's 6'2'' and has 90 jumping with anchor and good strenght, so he'll win all the headers you need him too, except the odd Ronaldo-type header. On offensive corners he will once in a while score a goal, but you can't count on him like an Ibrah or anything.
Ball control/composure- Rijkaard never seems to panic, and is always smooth with distribution. Having a reliable CB to pass to and start attacks is invaluable. His passing seems way better than his actual stats.
Flexibility- If I get a head a goal or two in the second half, I'll often sub in another CB and switch Rijkaard to a CM/CDM. His composure and passing and interceptions are arguably more noticeable in the midfield, although I have solid CMs already so
4 star weak foot- means he won't accidentally dink a bad weak footed pass to the opponent
Shooting- Not too applicable if playing only at CB, but if switching to CM he does get into good positions, but shooting is sorta ho hum. I found best results just using regular shots, no power or finesse timed, just good ole shot button. This seems to let his icon stats do their thing, and some of his shots can swerve and dip more than you'd expect. He isn't a prolific scorer, but I can recall a couple of goals that were clutch as all heck, sealing up important wins in weekend league. And again, this is a CB we are talking about here.
Dribbling- I actually liked how he dribbled, you can use his momentum to easily find space. But you definitely can't weave through a defense. His game is steal the ball, turn upfield into space, and then ping a pass and start the counterattack.
Aggression- He doesn't always attack strongly on the defensive side, but as listed above his defending skills are so good this means he is always in the right position, and doesn't give up penalties.
Playing him as a CB almost seems like a waste of his silky smooth passing and ability to control a game.