Ivan Rakitić

BusiTheKing said:

so the criticism consensus has been that he'll be good enough for La Liga matches we dominate anyway but that he crumbles in tough fixtures, and people are using a game against Mallorca at Camp Nou to refute that??

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When the whole team crumbles each individual player do the same, and bar Messi they were all Shit including MATS.

Why focus on Raki ?? even if he has proven when the team works well he can be a very good addition for us.

He sure is not the kind of player who will lift the spirits by some outstanding performance, but to be honest NO OTHER player in our squad is except Messi & FDJ.

Also he was stable all this years in term of injuries & professionalism unlike Dembélé / Arthur / Neymar.

People should make a difference between : Raki no more good/ Raki is not a very good player under EV / it's not because of RAKI we lost to Liverpool & Roma / we didn't made outstanding purchases lately !!!

Nazario1985 said:

When the whole team crumbles each individual player do the same, and bar Messi they were all Shit including MATS.

Why focus on Raki ??

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Because when we're under pressure, he actively makes that pressure worse for everyone else on the pitch. Everyone is absorbing their part and helping out others. He takes his part of the pressure and adds it on to the next guy's load. He's the opposite of what we need.

BBZ8800 said:

MD wrote that they won together 43 balls in the last 3 matches, which hasn't seen in years for Barca.
Each of them won 20 balls in 3 matches, while Arthur needed 13-14 matches for the same numbers.
Frenkie is a beast who can run like crazy.
Raki knows the system and has tons of experience, plus he is also quite good in winning balls and babysitting for Messi and even Roberto.
Busi covers everything behind their backs.

Here is an original article from MD.
** But caution for fans who think that Rakitic is the worst player in the world and that he isn't contributing to anything at Barca, you better skip this article and continue to leave in your own bubble:
https://www.mundodeportivo.com/futbol/fc-barcelona/20191208/472113592988/fc-barcelona-barca-rakitic-de-jong-dupla-estadisticas-pases-buenos.html

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Rakitic and Busquets could both score 10 goals EACH in every La Liga game from now on and I'll still give 0 fucks about them. They were the core of the biggest humiliations back to back in our club history. I still have some respect for Busquets because he was a god at one point in his carreer but Rakitic can go fuck himself and do x interceptions at a different club.


Why would I even care about recovered balls and tackles against some pleb teams in the first place lmao ? Rakitic can have 100 of those for all I care. Arthur is a different class above Rakitic and his job isn't to tackle or recover the ball x times per game. His job is to not lose the ball , especially in high pressing moments , which he is a GOD at and Rakitic is an amateur. He'll receive the ball and imediatelly get rid of it without being aware what's going on around him , putting more pressure on the player he delivers the ball to.

And we all know you're talking about tackles and interceptions now compared to last season when you talked about goals and assists because Rakitic is trash now in that department and Arthur is better.

How does it feel when you went on and on that Rakitic had x amount of goals or assists or that he is more dangerous attacking than Arthur when now he has the same number of assists as our goalkeeper lmao ?

This is why you're considered a troll btw or a person who doesn't know too much about football. You'll get your opinion approved by 1 or 2 persons who are valverde asslickers and probably have sado-maso fetishes but that's it.

I think around 90% of what you said about football was proven to be wrong by facts , especially last season.

Arthur battling some fitness problems and an STD is still a better Midfielder than Rakitic is these days.

Nazario1985 said:

Why focus on Raki ?

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because it is the raki thread here

with 31 his future is limited, or do you see him as someone who runs like a greyhound, fights like a bull, or is strategically gifted like Inesta, assist machine ? No, none if all these ... but we need such midfielder, because Busi (nickname: stick-insect) is also slow and aged ..... (I still like him, but with him and the likes, classico will be difficult to win/ CL no chance)

Rakitic is so great in high pressure situations and games there's a compilation of Messi getting frustrated and mad at him.

@BBZ8800 want to keep playing Rakitic because he once upon a time proved he can play vs. elite competition. For him those last few humiliating losses where Rakitic was downright garbage doesn't exist.

The same Bob who will keep trashing other players when we flop in the CL and call all of our players for mediocre or awful keep defending this guy for his awful performances because he did well in 2015.

Keep going Bob.

BusiTheKing said:

so the criticism consensus has been that he'll be good enough for La Liga matches we dominate anyway but that he crumbles in tough fixtures, and people are using a game against Mallorca at Camp Nou to refute that??

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just rakitic fanboy things

Xaviniesta said:

just rakitic fanboy things

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Then they'll be fast to slander Busquets for the same kind of performances or even better than the one Rakitic just had. They're both past it against the top level teams, praising them after good matches against the likes of Mallorca scream of desperation.

Rakitic and Bob are two players who are Barca's red herring players these days

Guys who will get into decent-good form and you have Catalan and any other journalists talking about how both are crucial to this team. But like others such as Busi, Pique, Alba, those two shit the bed when it matters and we go back to complaining how we need a new RB and another CM.

The same shit the past 3 seasons. People need to realize both aren't good enough to be starters and stop trying to use the purple patch they go through every season as an excuse to keep them around.

devo901 said:

I do not agree - I have seen games, were I had way better opinion of arthur then raki. Average raki this fall, never reached the level of avg. Arthur.
A. is able to maintain possessesion under pressure + runs more (my feeling). MAYBE raki has more touch when it comes to passing, also last pass.

But the amount of balls lost of raki was not even funny anymore, he panics and ball gets lost...(though in the last 2 games it got better). I really like him and wish that he finds back to his 2016 form but right now, no.

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Things that rakitic has better then arthur is positioning and responsibility, better long passes and better shooting from distance. cant argue with that. But all other things go arthur way. Its up to ev to decide where and when to use one or the other, because im sure as hell that both are not the class of busi and de jong, yet. I like arthur a lot, but as time goes by he's not showing that class that is expected from him, im not saying that he needs to show xavi, pirlo, modric level right away, but i just cant see what attributes of his game he can upgrade to reach that level.
I hope im wrong.

The argument that Raki-Busi should be back as starters, because they are good enough to beat mallorcas on the home soil, is garbage, because our sole goal in current year should be make everything possible to develop team that is not a r3pe doll for any formidable european team. It's only possible by forming chemistry between our newcomers and hope they improve and succeed. There is 100% guarantee that Rakitic/Busquets will get assfucked again so wanting them be anything other than squad players at this point is sadomasochism. Frenkie alone will not bail them out from another humiliation.

mc_lovin said:

The problem is your extremist viewpoint. Try a more balanced approach.

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Ok.
But I will give you a million dollars if you help me.

Mc Lovin is hired as a coach of Barca tonight.
You have current players in your rooster.

Can you tell me which 3 players would you play on any away La Liga game?
And now try to FIELD a team with Frenkie-Arthur together, where a team won't be flawed BOTH in defending and attacking?

Again:
=at Barca you have to look for RIGHT NOW. A lot of money from fans, Tv, sponsors is invested. We need titles RIGHT NOW as a NO1 priority. A future is a secondary problem.

Now, in a current team where Messi will play at least THIS and 1-2 more years, you need 1 guy who will babysit for him.
So, even without Messi in a team, you still need a midfield which has a balance of defending, possession and attacking.
But when you have Messi in a team, you need to strengthen your defensive area of midfield to compensate for him.

A problem no2:
Not only that you need to compensate for Messi, you also need to compensate for Suarez.
So, midfield needs to defend even more to cover for these 2.
Messi will be here for 2-3 more years.
Suarez will be here at least till summer of 2020'.

A problem no3:
Sergi Roberto is good in attack and meh in defending.
So, a midfield, especially a right side has to cover: for Messi, somewhat for Suarez, and for Sergi Roberto.

Now, the option 1 is to play Semedo.
Then you are getting more defense behind Messi, but we suck in attack (with not having Roberto).
So, if you play Semedo instead of Roberto, then you need an extra attacking midfielder behind Messi to offer support which you lost due to a loss of Roberto.
And then you have Frenkie-Arthur who are horrible in attack.
And then, when you play Frenkie-Arthur plus Semedo around Messi=Messi is not as good as now, isn't it?
His passes are not as good and he is always man marked by 2-3 players.
Yet, when you field Roberto who is drawing away players on right and with Raki overlapping with Messi, then Messi suddenly has more room to dribble and shoto or to give deadly passes to Suarez and Friezz, who are also marked less heavily since 2 defenders are at Rakitic and Roberto.

So, an option with Arthur-Frenkie-Semedo is still not too great in defense because Frenkie-Arthur are funky positionally in defense.
And our attack is quite poor and sterile in that lineup.

So, we have to go back to Roberto in La Liga matches since he offers way more to Messi.
And then, if you have Messi and Roberto, we are again back to a point no1: where a right sided midfielder and midfield in general need to cover for Suarez, Messi and Roberto.

And then you have Arthur with:
14 tackles, 5 interceptions, 4 clearances, 0 blocks in the whole season (920 minutes).
And Rakitic in the last 3 matches in 240 minutes:
3 tackles, 6 interceptions, 4 clearances, 2 blocks.
23 vs 15 won balls.

Rakitic will catch in 300-ish minutes Arthur's defensive achievement from this season.

Also, remember the old rule: it is hard to play more than 1 newbie per line (defense, midfield, attack).
Frenkie is a new guy and it is easier for him when he plays around guys who know everything about our tactics and movement.
If you pair Frenkie, a new guy, with Arthur who was benched for half of the last season (in the start and in spring), you are basically playing two rookies together.

Now, please, reply honestly:
You are a new coach and the board told you that you don't have a lot of credits.
You will get a few matches to turn a team around, and they will keep you ONLY if you will win majority of matches.
If not, they will sack you after 3-4 matches and hire Gallardo.

And now, you don't have too much coins or credits, and you are playing a key CL group game against Dortmund.
Or you play away at Calderon.
Honestly, what will you pick?
1. a safe Busi-Raki-Frenkie, Roberto, Messi-Suarez option
2. or will you risk with fans favorites and unknown lineups with RB Semedo, CM duo Frenkie-Arthur (or even worse, please don't play another rookie Alena/Puig with them)?

Also, if someone will reply: but but but Xavi and Iniesta...
Xavi started to play in 1999.
He was a senior for 5-6 seasons when Iniesta started to play with him.
And when Busi came, his teachers were Xavi who played for 10 years as a starter and Iniesta who was in a team for 4 years.
When Raki started, he was in a trio with Iniesta who was here for 10 years and with Busi who was here for 7 years.

Now, again: do you think that Frenkie will learn easier with two veterans or with another rookie Arthur?
Also, don't forget my main question: in a team with Messi, Suarez and RB Roberto, how will you strengthen a defense in midfield with any combination of Arthur-Frenkie?

Look, in some other time with some different teammates, Frenkie-Arthur might have worked better.
But: it is what it is at Barca.
We have Messi/Suarez and someone needs to compensate for them RIGHT NOW.

For me, it is not a coincidence that our team was a total mess in this season on away matches when we benched babysitter Raki and even Busi in some matches.
We went too attacking and too-possession based and no one was able to win the ball back in midfield.
Plus, there was zero chemistry and cohesion in midfield.
Frenkie is chaotic and ventures around too much.
Arthur presses the opponents too high and leaves a hole behind his back.
Yet, Rakitic is mostly always "on his position" at a right side of midfield, covering for Messi and helping to Busi and Roberto.

Now, can you offer some ideas for RIGHT NOW?
How would you win La Liga this season with Arthur-Frenkie-Messi-Suarez this season?
Since, remember, that combination got us into a worst league start in the last 15 years and we were on a verge of a CL KO in group stage, until EV reverted back to safe, proven Raki-Busi-Roberto option.

BBZ8800 said:

[...]

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We are just going in circles if you havent noticed. You say Arthur+Frenkie cant work and use a ridiculously small sample size to make that claim. Again: we havent seen Arthur+Frenkie with the rest of the team in decent form. For example the Dortmund away game: you say we sucked, which is true, but our midifeld was still by far the best part about that game.

My point is: just be open minded. Rakitic, Arthur, De Jong and Busquets should be our 4 main midfielders this season. Busquets and Rakitic together will probably kill us sooner or later in CL, so make sure Arthur is well integrated (if hes professional). Thats all. And pretty reasonable on my part.

mc_lovin said:

We are just going in circles if you havent noticed. You say Arthur+Frenkie cant work and use a ridiculously small sample size to make that claim. Again: we havent seen Arthur+Frenkie with the rest of the team in decent form. For example the Dortmund away game: you say we sucked, which is true, but our midifeld was still by far the best part about that game.

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Not mentioning that Messi was out of form and played like only 30 mins vs Dortmund due to his injuries.

catalinutzR80 said:

And we all know you're talking about tackles and interceptions now compared to last season when you talked about goals and assists because Rakitic is trash now in that department and Arthur is better.

How does it feel when you went on and on that Rakitic had x amount of goals or assists or that he is more dangerous attacking than Arthur when now he has the same number of assists as our goalkeeper lmao ?

This is why you're considered a troll btw or a person who doesn't know too much about football. You'll get your opinion approved by 1 or 2 persons who are valverde asslickers and probably have sado-maso fetishes but that's it.

I think around 90% of what you said about football was proven to be wrong by facts , especially last season.

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Sorry, haven't see this.
Thanks, you amde me laugh about Arthur and attack

I haven't see more sterile player than Arthur in Barca's midfield in the last 20 years.
In his whole career he scored 4 goals and made 7 assists.
At the start of this season, it is quite predictable what happened in a psychological point of view: he was benched last season and fell to a 5th pick under EV and got mad.
He said in the interviews during Copa America some remarks about being benched.
And when he returned from Copa, he was 120% motivated to prove to EV that he was wrong.
And then, he was flying all over the field in the first few matches, when he scored 2 goals and 2 assists.
And then media and fans started to glorify him and he disappeared again, just in his last season.

You should ask yourself a few questions:
1. if a player is never scoring in his whole career and then has 1 short, good period.
Which is more likely?
That he improved permanently of that was just a short period where he was either lucky, in form or motivated as hell?

Look at this, after Sevilla (2 months ago) since when Arthur's form went MIA again:
Arthur 474 minutes: 0 goals, 1 assist, 2 key passes, 1 shot
Rakitic 343 minutes: 0 goals, 2 assists, 2 key passes, 7 shots
Defense:
Arthur 474 minutes: 4 tackles, 3 interceptions, 1 clearances, 0 blocks=8 in total
Rakitic 343 minutes: 4 tackles, 7 interception, 4 clearances, 4 blocks=19 in total

In attack, Rakitic is again better in this period (in less minutes played).
He has 2 assists vs 1 from Arthur.
And Lamparditic tried a shot 7 times in the last 343 minutes, which is roughly 2 shooting attempts till now.
He hasn't scored till now, but he will soon.
Arthur's attacking game has disappeared in the last 2 Months.
Do you know why?
Because he is not 120% motivated anymore.
And because his stamina is gone again.
And when his stamina is gone, he don't have the energy to run up and down as in the early matches, so both his attacking and defensive game suffers.
So, Lamparditic is slowly again more dangerous player in terms of shooting, passing and everything in the attacking 3rd.
Do you know why?
Because Lamparditic was actually a CAM-CF in his early 20s and playing around the box, running into the box and shooting is natural for him.
Arthur on the other hand is possession orientated player in his DNA and when he has to play in attack, it seems unnatural and forced, even though he will score goals here and there.

So, Arthur's attacking advantage is gone.
And defense, do I even need to talk about these numbers?
Look at them: 19 vs 8 balls won in 340 minutes versus 470 minutes.

On larger samples, even a 31 years old Rakitic will again probably end a season: with more assists, more goals and far better defensive stats than Arthur.
Just wait and give them an equal amount of minutes.

Arthur is a goat at press resistance and in recycling possession.
But don't invent his skills in other areas where they don't exist.
A hint: attacking play and defending.