Blaugrana Bull
HiiiPoWeR
Busi is our second best player.
Sergio Busquets
- Thread starter Evil
- Start date
Andrew M
New member
I don't think so honestly. I think we have one amazing player and the rest.
Barcilliant
Senior Member
At his peak with Xaviesta he was briliant. However he cannot carry a midfield the way Iniesta can. In the CL he has become a liability. If we get an outstanding cm he can continue otherwise we have to look for a replacement.
what I find a bit interesting is this:
Busquets? All Barca fans think he is GOAT dm and just behind Messi in importance
Rakitic? Everyone suggesting replacing him on r/barca gets tons of downvotes
Coutinho? Almost every Barca fan rates him
Yet there are always complaints about how poor our midfield is, especially in discussions surrounding Messi/Ronaldo. Assuming that Griezmann signs, the above three players will be our midfield, so it's interesting how there are so many comments about how our midfield needs to improve yet nobody wants any of our current starting mids replaced.
Busquets? All Barca fans think he is GOAT dm and just behind Messi in importance
Rakitic? Everyone suggesting replacing him on r/barca gets tons of downvotes
Coutinho? Almost every Barca fan rates him
Yet there are always complaints about how poor our midfield is, especially in discussions surrounding Messi/Ronaldo. Assuming that Griezmann signs, the above three players will be our midfield, so it's interesting how there are so many comments about how our midfield needs to improve yet nobody wants any of our current starting mids replaced.
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M
MessiCam
Guest
Coutinho is no midfielder and Rakitic is a stellar player only in the defensive phase. In Valverde’s system, with Iniesta playing wider, Busquets was the only link to the forwards in the centre of the park and played much higher as a result. Even with all this he was still a country mile better than any other midfielder we have both in terms of stats and just by watching him.
So yes, after Messi, he is the most pivotal.
DonAndres
Wild Man of Borneo
r/Barca is optimistic to the point that its delusional. Problems that have been noticed here for several months now only just started getting recognized as legitimate in that subreddit, before that they were heavily disagreed with and condemned. Other problems they still deny. Their running belief on Rakitic is that he's been one of the very best CM's in the world and criminally underrated akin to Busi in the past. At some points I even saw comments comparing him favorably over Modric/Kroos; shitting on how Modric and RM underperformed in La Liga and that Rakitic was far more consistent and underappreciated for being "less flashy" or whatever and that, while they have different roles, their value to the team is similar. And here Modric is dishing out his 3rd consecutive 9/10 performance in a CL final winning it all for his club
while Rakitic hasn't had a notably decent CL game in god knows how long.I feel like sports fans, and reddit in particular, suffer from insane levels of confirmation bias. Literally no problems with EV's approach or his Barca team could be acknowledged because "well we're undefeated, how could you possibly say we have any problems??" even though the writing was on the wall the entire time. Conversely, the same has been true about RM with notions that "how could they possibly be lucky/cheaters?? They won 3 CL's in a row, you can't do that by being lucky" as if the accomplishment washes away all the extremely questionable steps that got them there.
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If Griezmann signs, then surely Coutinho will play in midfield though?
M
MessiCam
Guest
That appears to be the plan but I don’t think it’s a good idea.
On one hand it would be lazy not to try him in midfield and on the other I think it would be a futile exercise.
I’m hoping Griezmann means Suárez gets put to pasture.
serghei
Senior Member
Coutinho can play in midfield but as an AM in the mold of Deco, or Ozil, when Madrid had Khedira and Alonso next to him. So, you actually need 2 defensively good midfielders to partner him with. And by defensively good I don't mean semi-useless at playmaking, like Rakitic, but a midfielder that would be very good both with the ball and without it. I have high hopes in Arthur, he can be that player for us.
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Vilarrubi
New member
I just can’t see them giving Arthur a starting spot.. at least not instead of Rakitic.. which is annoying.
serghei
Senior Member
If he'll play very well he'll get in, but it will take more time than with a manager who encourages young players.
M
MessiCam
Guest
Your Deco comparison is interesting because many Barça fans (those I watched games with and spoke to at the time were sceptical about his ability to play in a 3 man midfield). But what made him a good CM for us was his passing and willingness to run and work off the ball. Coutinho is not that type of player. He likes to drive and run at defenders, cut in and shoot. He is in my opinion perfect for the LW.
Ozil played in a double pivot... So if Coutinho is going to play that role then Messi would have to move to the wing and that is just not happening.
serghei
Senior Member
Jury's very much out regarding how much work and running off the ball is Coutinho willing to do. Might surprise a few people. I'd agree that at LW he is a better fit because he is fast, skillful and has a thunderous shot. Anything you need for a winger-attacking mid hybrid. Looks a bit similar to Ribery and Pires in terms of skill set.
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MessiCam
Guest
Nobody is saying he doesn't run, but tracking back as winger and a CM are very different things. CM's work rates are much higher.
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