El Barcelona
Active member
Hahahaha 'gem'
Thiago Alcantara
- Thread starter IraqiCulé
- Start date
Vilarrubi
New member
Regarding football radars... Found this gem.
This was the season before we signed him...
In the few times i saw him for Valencia and Portugal he wasn’t too good.
Definitely didn’t suit our style especially against parked buses.
Whoever decided to get him needs to hang their head in shame
FinBarcelonafan
Well-known member
Regarding football radars... Found this gem.
This was the season before we signed him...
Wow and why did we think he had a lot of potential? Looks so vanilla even here. He can't do anything well.
God Serena
New member
Apparently he was some kind of god for Valencia even though most people barely knew who he was...
BBZ8800
Senior Member
You asked me for a different option than Thiago as a controller.
This is why I said Pjanic.
But I wouldn't buy any of them... AS LONG as we have Busquets and Coutinho.
If you are looking only at a player vs player comparison, then Thiago/Pjanic are a better 1 vs 1 player than Rakitic.
But if you are looking at it 3 vs 3 (whole midfield), then Rakitic is better because he is bringing some defense and muscles to our physically weak and slow midfield (Busquets, Coutinho).
The same as how Griezmann alone 1 vs 1 is a better player than a current Suarez, BUT Griezmann at Barca vs Suarez at Barca is a different question.
With Griezmann, we are losing a man in the box, we are getting another forward-playmaker that play far away from a goal. And we are getting another short and technical player, to even deepen our onedimensional (short and technical players only) woes.
1. so: who is a better option than Thiago as a controller=imo, Pjanic
2. would I buy any of them with our current set of players? No
Barca has a lot of problems, not only 1.
For example, in midfield:
1. we lack creativity
2. we lack muscles
3. we lack pace
4. we lack some aggression and thugs
If you change Rakitic for Thiago:
1. you get more creativity.
But you get way less defending.
2. you are losing muscles from a team which already severly is lacking muscles
3. you didn't do too much in terms of pace
4. you didn't get too much in terms of thugs
So, you are "solving" one problem only to cause 2-3 new problems.
Thiago (imo) COULD work with a Cdm like Casemiro/Edmilson.
Casemiro-Thiago-Coutinho COULD work.
You have some muscles (Casemiro).
You have 1 thug (Casemiro).
You have some pace.
You have a lot of creativity (Thiago and Coutinho).
But imo, with Busquets-Thiago-Coutinho, instead of EV's 1:0 and 2:0 matches, we will go back to:
5:1 Camp Nou La liga matches
And 3:3, 2:3, 1:3 on every away match to Celta, Deportivo, Betis, Sociedad.
Busquets, Thiago, Coutinho midfield will be eaten alive in terms of aggression, defending, muscles on every away match.
Not to mention, imagine Juve:Barca away in a CL.
Or Atletico: Barca away in a CL.
And our "kids" Coutinho and Thiago looking like Denis Suarez vs big boys when they have to defend against thugs.
So, it's not that simple: just pick Thiago.
KingMessi
SiempreBlaugrana
He was really only good in the 14/15 season. The season after, Valencia imploded and everyone on that squad was playing shit.
M
MessiCam
Guest
[MENTION=16942]BBZ8800[/MENTION], Thiago is a magnificent player defensively too. He makes way more tackles and interceptions than Rakitic. He is just a better midfielder all round.
I don’t know why this is even being debated.
I don’t know why this is even being debated.
YodaMaster
Member
[MENTION=16942]BBZ8800[/MENTION] knows that perfectly well because he's been told about it many times. But he'll just continue to ignore that fact because it doesn't match with his fake stories.
Thiago has better defensive stats than Rakitic while playing higher on the pitch in a more attacking team playing a more possession based football than EV's Barça. Which means he has less opportunities than Raki to show his defensive skills. How about that ?
It's like 2 keepers; one (A) has 10 1vs1 with the opposing team's striker; the other (B) has 5 1vs1 with the opposing team's striker. (A) wins 3 1vs1 and loses 7; (B) wins 4 1vs1 and loses just 1. If we translate that to Thiago/Rakitic case, Rakitic is (A) and Thiago (B). [MENTION=16942]BBZ8800[/MENTION] is basically coming on this forum and telling us (A) is doing better job than (B). And he hopes we believe this...
The only problem with Thiago is his injuries, but as we all know he's far from being the only injury prone Bayern player. So I'm not sure who's the biggest problem there: Thiago's body or Bayern's doctors. Besides that, he's by far the best midfielder we can get on the current transfer market. But we probably won't get him because Segura is an impostor who'll prefer someone like Bakayoko instead.
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JamDav1982
Senior Member
Those defensive stats dont really point to him being stronger defensively than Rakitic.
If he is playing higher up the park and pressing earlier would almost expect that.
Not comparing players in like positions.
Would prefer Thiago to Rakitic but unfair comparison there.
If he is playing higher up the park and pressing earlier would almost expect that.
Not comparing players in like positions.
Would prefer Thiago to Rakitic but unfair comparison there.
M
MessiCam
Guest
They’ve both played as pivots for the majority of the season.
Thiago doesn’t get the necessary credit for his defensive work. He is fantastic.
JamDav1982
Senior Member
From what have seen it seemed like Thiago was allowed to get forward more. Would need to check.
Thiago is just much more of a risk taker and Rakitic will hold position more. With and without ball.
Dont agree Thiago is some fantastic defensive player even if he has improved on it.
YodaMaster
Member
Yeah but who started to compare the 2 players' defensive work ? BBZ. Stats say Thiago is better but [MENTION=16942]BBZ8800[/MENTION] claims that Rakitic is a better defensive player and take it as an established fact. Stats say Thiago is better but I'm not a stats fan I prefer to watch the whole 90 minutes performance. And when I watch these 2 (Thiago and Raki) play, there's no way Rakitic is a better defensive player. Thiago brings more than the Croatian in all the areas !
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JamDav1982
Senior Member
Stats dont tell you they are different players playing different roles either though.
One sits in position more and will try to plug gaps while other seems to be given more freedom to get forward and press more.
Thiago is not a fantastic defensive player if you are comparing him as a player that has a role to sit deeper and defend.
Raki is not great either and too slow with likes of Busi and Iniesta though.
M
MessiCam
Guest
You don’t even have to go back far. Just watch the Spain be Switzerland game.
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