This proves absolutely nothing and is senseless for the most part.
You make it sound like him being placed in the RB position was some sort pity placement from Lucho. When in fact it was his highly unique versatility, that no other player in our squad has, that made Lucho place him in a position that we had minimal to zero depth in over the past two years.
His breakout season was 2015-2016 and Lucho played him in 7 different positions. And he performed very well in most of them.
Most people on here simply see a player who has made incredible improvements over two years and has proved himself on the biggest of stages against the toughest of opposition but is playing out of natural position. And no, that isn't just two moments of magic...he's been very good for the most part of his breakthrough. Proved everyone wrong it and continues to deliver. He's earned the right top play in his natural position and he's certainly made a lot of people convincingly believe in his ability. Because Lucho used him due to his versatility doesn't discredit his potential as a CM.
BTW I don't think you have the right to call people blinded when you are the one plugging players into your self-derived hypothetical models and trends and making it sound like they provide some sort of concrete theoretical output.
Fine.
I just don't see how he improved (as a Cm) when he didn't play as a Cm for the last 18 Months, more or less, except in a 343 lately (where he was a good workhorse and a hybrid Cm in attack and a Rb in defense).
And his last 18 Months were mostly below average considering he played as a Rb and played poor there.
Of course he improved compared to himself 2-3 years, since majority of players improve over time and with more playing time.
But imo, majority of you are under the influence of positive emotions now and are expecting probably too much from him as a Cm.
The last when he played as a Cm in 433, majority of people agreed that he is nowhere near Barca's level and that he is way better as a Cdm.
But again, in 2-3 Months, we will probably test him again in a preseason, and we'll get the answers whether things have changed.
Cheating Cristiano.
