Ivan Rakitić

xXKonan said:

You know the difference between those two vs Rakitic right?

Two of them are Barca Legends who were key players in winning two trebles and a boat load titles on Spain and both were key players for Spain that won the WC and the Euros. While it's true that Pique and Busi haven't been doing well but in the clubs eyes I could see why they gave them extensions.

Rakitic is a good player no doubt but compared to the likes or Pique and Busi he's pretty much a supporting player and not much else. He's a guy that is willing to play second/third fiddle when paired up with the likes of Iniesta/Xavi/Busi and with Dani and Messi stealing the show on the right side. Yeah he's that guy and he did the job he's suppose to do.

Busi was the main reason our Midfield has held up in terms of control and build up in the past couple of seasons now. Rakitic did his own thing but wasn't that influential in that regard and you can argue can be replaceable if you found someone who not only match his workrate and intelligence but also being much better at the ball as well.

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Again same old topic . I am not interested in that . Busquets did fuck all last season and Rakitic was better in La liga and both sucked in CL . Anyway let's leave that since it's a matter of opinion .

Busi and pique being a Barca legend is irrelevant if they can't do a shit to help us win a cl . They sulked without doubt and has been under performing for the past two seasons . Same happened with Rooney . Him being a club legend got him better contract and he sucked the shit out of Utd with his shit display in his last 3 seasons . same is gonna happen here too unless we show some balls to deny these players better contract like Perez did with Ronaldo . it's not about a comparison with Rakitic . Atm none deserves a pay rise except Messi , Stegan and Umtiti which they already got last season

So, some basics for some guys who are commenting in this topic.

What Barca's central midfielder should posses?
On an individual level, attacking terms:
1. Barca's DNA passes
2. Barca's DNA technique
3. Barca's DNA movement
4. it would help to score some goals here and there

Defensive terms:
1. defending well, not only in terms of tackles and interceptions, but covering large areas well, closing down, running like crazy, stamina.
2. workrate
3. In this area some physical skills help also. Pace, stamina, some muscles, some height, arial duels after here and there and after corners

Mental/other skills:
1. experience always helps
2. mental strength helps also
3. in big CL matches, not being a schoolboy pussy pushover also helps

Not only these 9 skills, there are some additional factors, on a team level, where you need some additional maths:
1. if your forwards don't defend, you need someone to cover for them
2. if your other midfielders are lighter (Iniesta), you need someone alongside him who will cover for him also. And bring some fight, muscles and hardwork. Not against Getafe though, but against bigger teams. Against Getafe we are fine with Frenkie/Alena/Arthur, insert any random fan favorite.
3. if your Cdm is not too fast and not being able to cover too much in defense, you need someone like Rakitic/Vidal AGAINST BIG BOYS, not against Getafe, to cover for him
4. also, there are things, if too many midfielders are physically light like Barca's DNA players, Iniesta, Busi, Alena, Frenkie, Puig, you will need at least one guy with actual muscles against big teams. Not against Getafe, though.

Now, when you want to get rid of Rakitic, and we already lost Paulinho, it is true that Rakitic is not excellent in attacking area since he is not Barca's DNA type of a player.
But then, he is better in defensive area than: Coutinho, Arthur, Iniesta, Rafinha, Samper, Alena, Puig, Frenkie.
Vidal is on his level in defense.
On a mental level, kids again don't have world class experience and we already have enough of pussy schoolboys in midfield. We need more of Rakitic/Vidal/Paulinho in the future. So, he is again better than all Barca's DNA guys in that area.
Mental strength, he is on top level there among our midfielders.
On a team level, where you need balance, again: you can't sell Rakitic and play, let's say: Coutinho-Frenkie-Busi lol, or Coutinho-Arthur-Busi, lol, or any similar combination.

So, I am not sure if some guys in these topics are trolling or they seriously don't see much farther from: but he has soooo good passes, he will solve all our problems in a CL.

Someone mentioned above how CL ties are won with good control in midfield.
Well, yes, in attacking terms.
To have control in midfield in 2018, you need some physical skills besides pure passes.
And further, once you lose the ball, you need a lot of defending, workrate and physical skills in 2018.

So, sorry, guys, but please wake up: a midfield of Frenkie-Alena/Arthur/Puig won't win CL titles past 2012 in real life.
On manager games or off Fifa, maybe.

Also, for all of you who wonder why are we after Rabiot.
= because we have 10 similar young midfielders: technical and physically light. Not too aggressive in mental terms.
It is extremely unlikely that such a profile of midfielders will win CL titles post 2012' and without prime Messi-Xavi-Iniesta in their team.

I would like to see a short term injury or something for both Rakitic and Vidal, so that we could play with 3 light midfielders in a CL and in La liga against Real and Atletico post 2012'.
Maybe some guys will once for all understand why you need guys like Rakitic/Vidal/Casemiro in your team in 2018'.

So, if you guys want to sell Raki, then offer some new options for midfield.
You can't seriously sell Raki and offer Alena, Arthur, Frenkie, Puig and similar as combative/defensive/somewhat aggressive options, lol.

Waiting for usual Barca's DNA posters with lessons how all mentioned above is shit and how our bright future lies in Frenkie-Arthur-Oriol light and technical midfield
I mean, they are technical, they will "control" the midfield till death.
I mean, at least I'll read something for laughs before going to sleep.

Zidane82 said:

That's laughable to be honest ... I really worry his we are ever going to replace Busqs when the time comes ..he's unique .

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Rakitic has been better than Busi since 2016

FCB1987 said:

Rakitic has been better than Busi since 2016

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At what ?

We allready lost Iniesta this year. I hope we do the only right thing in this situation.

We let PSG believe they can buy him, but in the end we give Raki a fair raise for him and the club. Hopefully PSG will be out of time to find a alternative. We should not help a direct rival in CL, espcially not PSG..

The money is good, but we are not a poor club. Such a transfer might backfire badly

vinni said:

We allready lost Iniesta this year. I hope we do the only right thing in this situation.

We let PSG believe they can buy him, but in the end we give Raki a fair raise for him and the club. Hopefully PSG will be out of time to find a alternative. We should not help a direct rival in CL, espcially not PSG..

The money is good, but we are not a poor club. Such a transfer might backfire badly

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Good evening.

Rakitic got a raise last year, if I'm not mistaken. It'd be an error to give him another now. If he wants to go for more money, I say let him. But for his full clause, 125m. Never negotiate with PSG.

Ivan is very much replaceable. I have the belief the midfield would improve without him, but I think I'm in the minority.

Raki is 30 years old and just came from a successful World Cup performance. The aftermath of accomplishing such a high profile objective may not be as we expect. People shouldn't be surprised if his performance drops considerably this season. Not only the club's objectives might feel boring, but also he is probably burned out. He might be more motivated by a new challenge or money.

Trickykid said:

Has Willian been sold for 72M? It's a pointless comparison.

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We made a bid for 72 mil euros and it was rejected by Chelsea. 100 mil is not much for Rakitic if teams are not even selling Willians of the world for 72 million.

Sidewinder said:

Good evening.

Rakitic got a raise last year, if I'm not mistaken. It'd be an error to give him another now. If he wants to go for more money, I say let him. But for his full clause, 125m. Never negotiate with PSG.

Ivan is very much replaceable. I have the belief the midfield would improve without him, but I think I'm in the minority.

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Good morning.

I dont know. I think its fair to give him a raise if other clubs want to buy him. He played well last season, last match and had an amazing world cup. I agree though about the release clause. If it must happen, i need to be the full 125 million.

I just worry he could add alot to PSG, and i hate to see them get usefull players from us concidering they are basically cheating their way to the top with their endless funds.

You might be right that our midfield will improve without Raki. Its hard to tell. I would like to play it safe though. We just lost Iniesta. Loosing Raki could become a problem. If Arthur and Vidal fail, we are f.....

FinBarcelonafan said:

We made a bid for 72 mil euros and it was rejected by Chelsea. 100 mil is not much for Rakitic if teams are not even selling Willians of the world for 72 million.

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That 72m bid was pure media speculation/fabrication.
And besides, different clubs and different players spell different needs and levels of wants and needs, which is why you can't just go ahead and make such a simplified comparison.

As we don't have a replacement I wouldn't sell him for anything unless they pay the release clause. But please no extension.

A bare minimum of 100 for me, especially after his WC. And absolutely no swaps for Rabiot...

I’m not the biggest fan of him here but he’s easily one of the best CMs in Europe and if we were to sell him, we should be justly compensated for him.

It’s always good to have depth tho, he has certain qualities that make him a great situational CM for us and his attitude has always been excellent so there are definitely reasons to keep him.

xXKonan said:

I mean it's a good move since by the time 2021 rolls around he will be 33 years old.

Should be the same deal Alba IMO he's another one we shouldn't give a long term deal to unless he can prove that he can be useful in his 30s.

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Agreed but personally I'd rather keep Raki into his mid 30s than Alba. Not as unquestionable starter (unless he'd prove to deserve that every season) but as a squad player he could still be useful. When Alba will lose his speed over the next 2-3 years he won't have anything special to his game anymore, Raki will still have football IQ and workrate even if he'll decline physically further.

That said, Alba will most likely be here longer than Raki but hopefully we'll find someone to get Alba more competition and eventually replace him in the first XI when his decline will happen.

There's no PSG offer, there will be no move. It's just his agent trying to capitalize on his World Cup performances to get his a raise, fairly standard stuff.

Give Raki an extra 20k a week and be done with it.

He is smarter than Modric for sure. I mean Modric linked himself to poverty club like Inter to demand a salary raise, Perez isn't a fool to believe it. Raki at least chooses a rich club to be linked with. However, he had a raise at the end of last season, so cashing on external tournament performance like the WC not linked to Barcelona to demand a salary raise is ridiculous.