Ivan Rakitić

Messi983

Senior Member
So, basically, we overpay our veterans so much compared with what they are worth, that no teams are able to even come close to match that, so we end up selling them for nothing, and we're actually happy to just get 0 euros as transfer fee only so we can get rid of their contract.

Who the flying fuck gave them the contracts in the first place? Why do you give inflated contracts to players who aren't worth anywhere near those salaries. My fucking god.

We'll get nothing for the veterans. Nothing for Suarez, probably nothing for Vidal, not even Messi is going to bring us much in terms of transfer fee with the humongous salary he has.

I agree in general that high wages are our main obstacle when trying to offload players but in Raki's case I think it was more about him (or his wife) only wanting to return to Sevilla. We could get more if we'd sell him to EPL or Serie A but in the end you can't push a player to go to a club he doesn't want to join. (It's either we let him go where he wanted to go or we'd have to pay his high wages for another season and people would complain every time he'd play, lol.) And it's also not worth it for just a few millions imo. It's not like we could get 20 or 30m from a club like Tottenham (with Mou liking Raki) so we would have more motivation convincing him going there instead. I doubt we actually had any serious offers from other clubs anyway since Raki/his agent probably let everyone know the only club he'll leave Barca for is Sevilla.

I think it's also more important to keep our good relationship with Sevilla where we bought a lot of good players from in the past and surely will more in future than try to squeeze a few more millions out of them for a player who has given us some good years but who we don't need/want anymore.
 

God Serena

New member
I truly never thought I'd see the day. I guess now I don't have to worry about Koeman starting Rakitic in big games expecting different results than the last 3 managers who did it and got nothing but garbage.
 

Mistyoptic

New member
4 years too late, don't care

This. Amazing first season, okay second, then horrific. The media narrative around Rakitic really is astonishing - it?s like they didnt watch Barca for 4 years. ?So underappreciated, so underrated?...no he?s just been on a jolly for most of his time here, earning big bucks whilst doing nothing to deserve them. Rarely have I seen a player start almost every week for 4 straight seasons and just offer absolutely nothing at all. No press, no energy, poor distribution, slow, lethargic, lazy.

The Croatian John O Shea.
 

BBZ8800

Senior Member
I truly never thought I'd see the day. I guess now I don't have to worry about Koeman starting Rakitic in big games expecting different results than the last 3 managers who did it and got nothing but garbage.

Not to mention that he didn't even play against Bayern and the result was as equally as bad, or way worse.

This. Amazing first season, okay second, then horrific. The media narrative around Rakitic really is astonishing - it?s like they didnt watch Barca for 4 years. ?So underappreciated, so underrated?...no he?s just been on a jolly for most of his time here, earning big bucks whilst doing nothing to deserve them. Rarely have I seen a player start almost every week for 4 straight seasons and just offer absolutely nothing at all. No press, no energy, poor distribution, slow, lethargic, lazy.

The Croatian John O Shea.

A random question: do you rate Arthur?
 

Mistyoptic

New member
A random question: do you rate Arthur?

Not particularly, but I think that in general it's really hard to judge/give a fair assessment of players who came in under Valverde because he did such a crap job coaching them. Even when they did play well one week it was meaningless because they just lost their spot/were replaced by a senior the very next game without any rhyme or reason. For example, Malcom showed potential, played his ass off vs Real Madrid and was rewarded for that performance by being on the bench for 7/8 games following. Arthur is a young player who needs direction, and he certainly wasn't going to get that from Ernie. The same with Dembele - bad habits but still ultimately coachable if the coach has the personality to work with him.

I'm just going off rumours here, but it seems like Arthur has some bad habits in terms of being lazy off the pitch and having a good time. He came in under Valverde who gave the team multiple days off and had soft training sessions. So right from the start he's being "brought up" so to speak in an environment which only furthers and encourages those problems. Basically, I think Arthur has potential, but his personality and the fact he was coached so poorly/joined a lazy and unprofessional group of players, where performance-based rewards were non-existent, has somewhat handicapped him. It's not the start you want or need when you're coming in from a new country to play, or getting your first big break.

Rakitic was here for 6 years and for 4 of them he showed absolutely nothing. He's also a senior player (not young or still developing) who tried his ass off for Croatia. I was legitimately fuming watching his performance at the World Cup knowing that he clearly was still capable of it, but just could not be arsed to do it anymore at Barca.
 
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behindbrowneyes

Well-known member
118651212_2655336078053857_4260758905395036996_n.jpg
 

JohnN

Senior Member
Nice pic.

Great to see this legend leaving the club through the front doors.

We have stripped our 3rd goal scorer, A.K.A. Suarez, from the Legend tag, only to give it to Rakitic now?

Raki played amazingly in the WC. That's the weird thing. When he came back here he was 2 levels below that again.
 

Mistyoptic

New member
We have stripped our 3rd goal scorer, A.K.A. Suarez, from the Legend tag, only to give it to Rakitic now?

Raki played amazingly in the WC. That's the weird thing. When he came back here he was 2 levels below that again.

It's not weird, he's just a lazy ***** who doesnt give a toss about playing for Barca. It's true that at WC he wasn't sitting alongside Busquets, but at the same time he showed energy, enthusiasm, the ability to play killer balls and control games, literally none of which we'd seen since halfway through his second season. After criticising him to my non-Barca friends for years, I was made to look like an idiot when he showed up and played amazing!

Like other people said, he clearly just lost his drive after the first 1 or 2 years but quickly realised that he could get away with doing the absolute minimum and still get paid/start every game, whilst living the comfy life his wife wants in Barcelona. To add to this, his ego has grown massively, making statements like 'De Jong isn't a threat to my position'.

The literal definition of parasite is something that feeds off another organism, whilst offering nothing in return. That's Rakitic since 2016.
 
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