Barcilliant
Senior Member
You see, my "problem" lately with posters here is that people are starting to create a myth that Pep's Barca=equals Barca.
And that everything what Pep was doing is the same as what Barca has always been doing.
Nut that is a nonsense.
For example:
1. Barca always played a possession football, true.
But, let's say that in the past it was a 70% possession football and 30% of other styles.
While with Pep, he went into extremes and turned us into a 99% possession based team.
2. further, Barca always had technical midfielders and 1-2 brilliant individuals in attack.
But, before Pep, we always had a mixture of workhorses/taller&stronger guys and some Xavi-Iniesta type of players.
While with Pep, he turned our team into a team filled with 172 cm tall players, as the only possible way of playing.
So, no, 172 cm tall players were not ALWAYS Barca's style. That's Pep's crazy invention.
So, you see, my problem is that people are lately selling a story how extreme possession was always our way and how that is "Barca's DNA" which is not true.
That is "Pep's DNA", not "Barca's DNA".
Also, players like Arthur are Pep's DNA, not necessarily Barca's DNA.
About what Rabiot brings, I will post a few good old players from our team who looked and played way different than "Pep's DNA" players.
Micahel Laudrup, a brain of Cruijff's Dream team.
183 cm tall player. Extremely smart and technical.
But I have a feeling that today, our posters would reply: Noooo, he is not our type of player. He is too tall and doesn't fit into our Tiki-Taka play. We need someone shorter, like David Silva, Arthur etc.
Edmilson, our Cdm in Rijkaard's glory days.
186 cm tall Brasilian.
People today would probably reply: noo, he doesn't fit "our style", let's rather develop Oriol Busquets, Arthur or someone shorter, with better passing abilities.
Philip Cocu, 185 cm tall, Dutch versatile player, mostly used as a workhorse and a player for dirty jobs at Barca.
With Dani Alves, a foreign player who played the highest amount of matches for Barca. 205 caps for a player without too much Barca's DNA.
Imagine if we wanted Cocu today. Our forum would whine for years. Why do we need Cocu? We need Arthur, Alena, Oriol, we need to go back to "Barca's DNA", lol
Or in the first Rijkaard's season, a coach was on a verge of getting sacked. We were 1 point from the relegation zone in the middle of a season, lol.
Rijkaard then brought Davids from Juventus, and Davids brought some muscles and aggression to our team full of too nice schoolboys.
What happened? Davids and Ronaldinho almost won a title in the end when we had 10+ la liga matches winning streak in the last rounds.
Imagine if we were linked with Davids as our midfielder today, ouch.
People would say: Davids? What about Alena, Arthur, Oriol, Barca's DNA players?
You see, you can't play only with short schoolboys, you need some stronger and aggressive players.
Pep is the only coach in the world who has ever played with an army of schoolboys.
Or Thiago Motta (187 cm tall CDM-CM) from early 2000s, back in the days when La Masia talents weren't only 170 cm tall midfielders:
So, I am tired of this newly created urban myth how Xavi-Iniesta is a way how we have ALWAYS played.
We played that way ONLY when we had Xavi and Iniesta.
Never before that, and I hope, NEVER after that, because it worked only for a short period and because we had Xavi-Messi-Iniesta on their prime.
So, what Rabiot and similar guys could bring?
Well, something different than Denis, Samper, Rafinha, Alena, Coutinho, Busi, Oriol, Arthur and similar.
We don't need the same type of a player replicated 18 times.
Rabiot is OK. Would take Kante over him though.
It's time we get a thuggish, physical midfielder though.
