Lliga | Round 28: Malaga - FC Barcelona 0-2

[LeeRomeno]

Possibly. But I don't think Paulinho's level was ever that good in the first place. With Suarez he is clearly a proven world class player. Paulinho's only been good for forcing a few goals and a couple of them have really helped us but other than that his contribution as a midfielder has always been abysmal. If he does get back his level he'll still be competing with Gomes for worst player on the team, so I don't see why Valverde would be trying that tactic.

Well you have your opinion, I think he was good in first half of season and adapted well and found instant link-up with Messi. If anything, the difference between the Paulinho in February and the one in autumn should be visible for anyone.

[God Serena]

Well you have your opinion, I think he was good in first half of season and adapted well and found instant link-up with Messi. If anything, the difference between the Paulinho in February and the one in autumn should be visible for anyone.

I'll definitely recognize he was playing much better in the first half of the season, although Messi is Messi. Linking up with him well isn't something particularly special. Denis, Tello, Cuenca, and even Arda found themselves linking up well with Messi at various points in their time here. Aside from that Messi connection his only contribution was forcing some goals in and while I do admit he's helped us a lot by scoring those, I've always said his usefulness will vanish when the goals do, as his midfield performance has always been abysmal. Ironically I would say this game against Malaga is by far the best he's ever played for us and he didn't even score or even make himself a threat.

[LeeRomeno]

I'll definitely recognize he was playing much better in the first half of the season, although Messi is Messi. Linking up with him well isn't something particularly special. Denis, Tello, Cuenca, and even Arda found themselves linking up well with Messi at various points in their time here. Aside from that Messi connection his only contribution was forcing some goals in and while I do admit he's helped us a lot by scoring those, I've always said his usefulness will vanish when the goals do, as his midfield performance has always been abysmal. Ironically I would say this game against Malaga is by far the best he's ever played for us and he didn't even score or even make himself a threat.

Sure he is not the most elegant midfielder out there, but he has qualities we havent had in a midfielder in a long time. Should he be a starter? No, but he can definitely be of use to give rest to startetrs vs mid-table La Liga teams and come in as impact sub if we are missing goal vs stronger opponents as well. Only reason he is starting is because due to Dembeles injury and lack of quality from other wingers, we had to start playing 442 and he just fits there better than our other options. He will have hard time finding as much gametime once Coutinho and Dembele have established themselves as starters.