FC 24 88 End of an Era Rapinoe Player Review

Perhaps one of the most polarizing careers in world football came to an end this weekend as the “yeeted” achilles of Megan Rapinoe rolled up the career of the American centerpiece.  The raining downvotes certainly suggest that the majority of the EAFC community did not shed many tears and while she claims the misfortune shows the absence of God… Others might argue in favor of divine intervention.

Regardless of where you stand on the Rapinoe rating scale we were not interested in a popularity contest with this review and instead were simply hunting for wins.  The card itself boasts some impressive statistics and also provided an opportunity to try the EOAE version of Ali Krieger, who due to Rapinoe’s raucous introduction has quietly flown under the radar as a fantastic looking CDM.

With only Rivals left to play it was certainly going to be straight into the hellfire for Rapinoe and immediately the first obstacle came in the form of where to play the now retired Reign player.  The 4-3-2-1 doesn’t really afford the perfect option for Rapinoe and in the end the choice to try and open up the finesse shots from the left CF position was the best solution I could come up with.  The HUNTER Chemistry Style providing the boost of Pace needed to prosper down the flank.

Rapinoe attempted to prove the haters wrong throughout the Rivals grind in the following squad:

Overall 

Probably going to divide opinions, or maybe defy opinions, and the easy way out would be to say it is a terrible card and not worth the coins… But there were some positive takeaways that cannot be overlooked.  As a side note, the Ali Krieger experiment in the midfield went extremely well, the only real concern being the 81 STAMINA, which had the engine room sputtering out around the 70 - 80th minute mark.

Main Statistics – Shooting

Shooting: 9/10

Weak Foot: ★★★★★

PlayStyles: Finesse Shot Plus

If anything this was the one area where the performance was solid, yet left me disappointed in the overall result.  There is no doubt that 12 goals in 7 matches is a great return… And the FINESSE SHOT PlayStyle does Reign supreme, but still there were quite a few missed chances that could have been the difference. 

With a 5 STAR WEAK FOOT, 96 FINISHING & 90 SHOT POWER, I think I was expecting an automatic feeling to the overall shooting and in the end I got something very close, but not perfect.  The same could be said for the far post finesse shots, where one too many opportunities were saved that I thought should have been destined for the top bins.  Don’t get me wrong, there are still goals aplenty in this card, I just felt with a touch more quality the number of returns could have been insane.

Value/Coins

Value/Coins: 5/5

Coming in at 100k it would be hard to argue that a card with this much upside is anything short of a bargain.  However, with Heung Min Son currently sitting at 27k (which is outrageous in itself) with the same 4★/ 5★, same PlayStyle Plus, and better additional PlayStyles… While the Pace and Dribbling with Rapinoe felt well beyond Sonny, there is an argument to be had that Rapinoe should have been a touch cheaper.  

Good vs. Bad 

Good vs Bad Rating: 4/5

The best part about using Rapinoe, outside of knowing the rage my opponents felt when she scored, was that the statistics she performed well in all lend themselves to creating Shooting opportunities and produced a real offensive threat.

+ The HUNTER Chemistry Style serves the 93 ACCELERATION & 94 SPRINT SPEED well.  The 9/10 coming from the fact that overall sprint speed just wasn’t enough to keep the gap that the fantastic dribbling and burst of acceleration created.

+ The Dribbling is incredibly responsive with Rapinoe and in large part due to her 165cm | 5’5 frame mixing with the 85 AGILITY & 90 DRIBBLING.  The technical dribbling was so effective that you would have sworn the card comes fitted with the PlayStyle as well.

The ultimate downfall in this card can be found in the next categories which took so much away from a quality review.

- Starting with the most obvious and the give and take from what makes Rapinoe feel so slick on the ball.  The smaller size really was the achilles heel for Rapinoe physically and it was too the point that 78 STRENGTH could have been 15 and it really wouldn’t make a difference.

- Passing was perhaps the standout area of this review, mostly because it caught me so off guard just how poor Rapinoe performed in this area.  The 84 VISION, 89 SHORT PASSING & 81 LONG PASSING are not high by any means, but I at least expected a minimum performance… The single assist from 7 matches probably sums it up best. 

Closing Words

With the price of fodder ever so slowly creeping forward, this SBC becomes just that little bit too much for my liking.  The explosiveness in the Pace, responsiveness in the Dribbling, & touch of class in the Shooting just about make up the 100k total… But the feeble strength and helter skelter passing make me just want to lean towards leaving this one and saving fodder for bigger and better things.  Simply can’t recommend this one… which I know breaks a lot of hearts.

Hoping you are well.  Cheers for reading