Paulinho

JamDav1982 said:

It is nothing like that and he had a good game. Which seems to piss you off.

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DonAndres said:

Lol. This is like if a CB were to go out on a weekly basis, get absolutely demolished defensively and have no defensive IQ, but score 20-25 goals in a season and get massive praise for it.

People here severely underestimate how important it is for a player in a position to actually have the skillset for that position. And being a midfielder at Barca that's literally incapable of being a productive force in buildup or ball circulation is a very critical flaw. Any game with a tough midfield contest and we'd get murdered essentially having 1 CM in play. People (including myself) shit on Rakitic for not being creative or useful on the ball but he is literally leagues ahead of Paulinho in this regard who had an atrocious 1:2 forward passing ratio and 4 turnovers. RM's midfield would demolish him if he started next week and we would have terrible control of the midfield.

Basketball teams don't play with Centers that can't defend the rim. NFL teams don't generally play with a QB that can't pass. I feel like this is a basic aspect of not only football but every sport out there.

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DonAndres said:

Lol. This is like if a CB were to go out on a weekly basis, get absolutely demolished defensively and have no defensive IQ, but score 20-25 goals in a season and get massive praise for it.

People here severely underestimate how important it is for a player in a position to actually have the skillset for that position. And being a midfielder at Barca that's literally incapable of being a productive force in buildup or ball circulation is a very critical flaw. Any game with a tough midfield contest and we'd get murdered essentially having 1 CM in play. People (including myself) shit on Rakitic for not being creative or useful on the ball but he is literally leagues ahead of Paulinho in this regard who had an atrocious 1:2 forward passing ratio and 4 turnovers. RM's midfield would demolish him if he started next week and we would have terrible control of the midfield.

Basketball teams don't play with Centers that can't defend the rim. NFL teams don't generally play with a QB that can't pass. I feel like this is a basic aspect of not only football but every sport out there.

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abiabi said:

The guy defends well, gives us that extra grit and scores like crazy.

If he had Kroos-like link up play, he would cost 500m and be one of the best midfielders in recent history.

So shut up about his link up play already..

Its like complaining Messi isn't entering the box and heading the ball after every game.

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ASordidGod said:

I don't mind him at all as a squad player, an option off the bench, but as even a medium to long term starter? No thanks.

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DonAndres said:

Fucking wow lol. "If he had Kroos like linkup play" as if that's just some minor addition to his play. That would literally make him an entirely different player. He completely lacks the most important and core skills of a CM, more specifically a Barca CM. Legitimately among the worst in La Liga as far as initiating play and helping control the midfield. But DAT EXTRA GRIT DOE.

And it's nothing like complaining about Messi not scoring headers. Nothing at all. You're making some of the strangest mental connections I've seen.

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Potroh said:

I more or less agree with on this but what an interesting phenomena happens here, when Paco scores an important goal (and two other against a 3rd class opponent), folks triumphantly start talking about him as he were indeed a Barca material forward, whereas when poor old Paulinho scores, the best case, the same folks only want to see him coming from the bench.
I do agree he can be more dangerous coming from the bench, but there is a serious chaos and discrimination in people's minds about goal-scoring...

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DonAndres said:

Fucking wow lol. "If he had Kroos like linkup play" as if that's just some minor addition to his play. That would literally make him an entirely different player. He completely lacks the most important and core skills of a CM, more specifically a Barca CM. Legitimately among the worst in La Liga as far as initiating play and helping control the midfield. But DAT EXTRA GRIT DOE.

And it's nothing like complaining about Messi not scoring headers. Nothing at all. You're making some of the strangest mental connections I've seen.

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ASordidGod said:

Agree with most of this. Okay so he scored two tap ins, but even today his all round game wasn't anywhere near good enough. He's worse than Rakitic for taking the safe option on the ball. I don't mind him at all as a squad player, an option off the bench, but as even a medium to long term starter? No thanks.

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JamDav1982 said:

His all round game was one of the best on the park.
Involved attacking wise and defensively.
Never going to be all that fluid on the ball but he used it well and played well. Particularly in second half and was involved in the build up to a number of the chances created.

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