Arthur

[JamDav1982]

Arthur didnt look remotely slow or passing it 'backwards' too much.

BBZ seems angry that Barca bought a short player that had a great first match.

Simple as that.

 

[Andrew M]

I'm not defending BBZ, but I feel he was trying to play devil's advocate to bring some balance over the euphoria of Arthur's debut

 

[Pepe Silvia]

He's never going to be a speed demon. He's never going to be a physical monster. His undoubted and rare talents at seeing the field and play develop, and tempo control, are there for all to see.

 

[TitoTata]

Lmao BBZ shits on Arthur for backpassing and shits on FDJ for forward passing, and every other possible tiny nitpick out there in the world under the eye of intense scrutiny. Only person I've ever seen complain about how accurate forward passes are a bad thing.

Funnily enough though, when it comes to Rakitic or Paulinho being totally frozen under pressure and being extremely limited in every way on the ball, the blind eye gets turned every time. Then, the caviat of "muscles" and "height" and "workhorseness" totally negates any and all technical weaknesses.

Half of the backpasses you're whining about were in the context of 1-2's where Arthur is playing the ball as quickly as he gets it to the immediate man he's facing. That's pretty much the foundation of tiki taka play. He plays the pass and keeps moving for the next pass and the one after that. Even if Arthur's passes are backwards/sideways the ball moves forward in the end as a result of the play. That's the whole point, and it doesn't matter if backpasses were used to achieve this. He keeps the ball moving in the areas it needs to go, in whatever way possible. Even Xavi passed the ball backwards ALL the time to the same effect of progressing the play. But I wouldn't expect you to understand this.

Sideways/backpassing is only a problem when it's done by players like Rakitic or Mascherano. Slow to receive, slow to turn, ponderous as fuck on the ball, just wasting time by even being on the ball, and then not making the right movement after playing the pass. Rakitic especially just passes it and then barely moves at all, keeping the play as static as possible. Those sideways/backpasses achieve nothing and are only done because they are limited in playing through pressure. There's a difference between passing with purpose and passing without.

Also, lmfao at "slow". If Arthur is slow, what is Rakitic? But tbh I'm not even gonna entertain that argument from a guy that said Modric is slow. Imagine actually believing that.

Absolutely fantastic post !

 

[Gnidrologist]

Does anyone even remember good playmaker that was also a speed merchant? Zidane, Baggio, Pirlo, Rui Costa, Guardiola etc etc. Those players would actually suffer from being runners. They are slow on top speed maybe, because they never develop that sort of athleticism as their priority, but they are usually very agile and aware and they mainly control the situation by simply being several steps ahead of their direct foes all the time. The same way as Maradona and Messi does in direct attacking.

 

[Joan]

I'm not defending BBZ, but I feel he was trying to play devil's advocate to bring some balance over the euphoria of Arthur's debut

That's undoubtedly true. But he's overdoing it. Judging his stamina based on a half or claiming he's as slow as a turtle. Should be (BBZ ) given some credit, though. Point nobody addressed still stand.

1. He does keep the ball for too long here and there. But it's not related (only) to the amount of time he gets in Europe. Had the same kind of problem in Brazil. Can be seen in a tactical analysis done by Nouman. I added time, but if not there it starts at 3:02.

Recommend the whole video. Don't doubt one second he'll improve that.

2. He's also right about him being too defensive, but I'd take that as a positive. He's taking things slow and keep it tidy. Good defense can make him a stable part of the midfield. Regarding backpasses, only up to a point. It's a way to open the match, keep the flow. Important bit is that he starts moving after the pass, just like he should. What I'm not sure about are his playmaking skills, eye to catch open space and see opportunities nobody else does. What I'm talking about are, in short, line-breaking passes. Shall wait and see.

I'd say Arthur had a great debut. With or without the goal.

 

[xXKonan]

Well the defensive part is he's use to playing in a two man Midfield in Brazil, where he had to cover a lot of ground.

But that is a plus in Valverde's eyes.

 

[Joan]

Well the defensive part is he's use to playing in a two man Midfield in Brazil, where he had to cover a lot of ground.

But that is a plus in Valverde's eyes.

Knows how to impress the manager.

Intelligence right there. Plus in my books.

 

[Laplacian]

BBZ: too short and too technical, sell. preferably swap with fellaini.

 

[BBZ8800]

I'm not defending BBZ, but I feel he was trying to play devil's advocate to bring some balance over the euphoria of Arthur's debut

Thanks, I have even said it a few times over years.

When everybody jump on a hype train too soon, I get some kind of an urge to spoil the party and to bring some balance

At the end of the day, every single player (even Messi) has lots of flaws.
And since everyone is writing only "omg" posts, I need to throw a few cons, since, iirc, NOT A SINGLE con has been written about him after the match in 20-30 posts in a row.

About Arthur, for example, I have way more hope than in Dembele.
Arthur has skills, Arthur is brave, he seems to have winning and confident personality, he seems to fit well into our tactics from the day 1.
So, he is very good.
But posts like: EV won't have balls to play him right away, he will play Rakitic, are slightly too much.

About pace and stamina, he did look somewhat slow and tired to me after the 30th minute, unlike Roberto, Semedo and some other guys.
But hey, it was the first match.
We'll have a larger sample, with both pros and cons (again, ALL players have lots of pros and cons) in 24 hours.

 

[Vilarrubi]

Kroos is slow as hell, Modric average.. Casemero average. And that’s the best midfield in world football currently. Their pace contributes little to the way they play or how good they are too.

 

[Jombi]

Thanks, I have even said it a few times over years.

When everybody jump on a hype train too soon, I get some kind of an urge to spoil the party and to bring some balance

At the end of the day, every single player (even Messi) has lots of flaws.
And since everyone is writing only "omg" posts, I need to throw a few cons, since, iirc, NOT A SINGLE con has been written about him after the match in 20-30 posts in a row.

About Arthur, for example, I have way more hope than in Dembele.
Arthur has skills, Arthur is brave, he seems to have winning and confident personality, he seems to fit well into our tactics from the day 1.
So, he is very good.
But posts like: EV won't have balls to play him right away, he will play Rakitic, are slightly too much.

About pace and stamina, he did look somewhat slow and tired to me after the 30th minute, unlike Roberto, Semedo and some other guys.
But hey, it was the first match.
We'll have a larger sample, with both pros and cons (again, ALL players have lots of pros and cons) in 24 hours.

But you are trying way too hard. It just becomes silly when you constantly are against players you have never seen just because some forumer call that player a New Pele. You cant fault the player for what some forumer says. Just try to judge a player after you've seen him with neutral eyes, and forget what some forumer says about that player.

 

[DonAK]

I cannot be the only one that noticed how much of a positive outlook BBZ had when we were linked to and signed Paulinho, and were linked heavily to Willian this summer.

Why is anyone surprised he's either clutching at straws or straight up BSing?

Arthur is a 1.74m, 22 year old player coming from the Brazilian League. Had he only been 10 cm taller you would have seen BBZ making up his percentages about how successful he would be and how we'll win the CL this upcoming season just like he was sure the 4-4-2 and Paulinho was the missing piece last season

People here might be overly optimistic and there might be a sense of euphoria when it comes to Arthur right now, especially based on one pre-season game, but you must be one hell of a miserable person to always point out the negatives in life.

 

[God Serena]

I cannot be the only one that noticed how much of a positive outlook BBZ had when we were linked to and signed Paulinho, and were linked heavily to Willian this summer.

Why is anyone surprised he's either clutching at straws or straight up BSing?

Arthur is a 1.74m, 22 year old player coming from the Brazilian League. Had he only been 10 cm taller you would have seen BBZ making up his percentages about how successful he would be and how we'll win the CL this upcoming season just like he was sure the 4-4-2 and Paulinho was the missing piece last season

People here might be overly optimistic and there might be a sense of euphoria when it comes to Arthur right now, especially based on one pre-season game, but you must be one hell of a miserable person to always point out the negatives in life.

Pointing out negatives is fun. Doesn't make one miserable.

 

[xXKonan]

Really not sure why people nitpick so much about height in general when it comes to Midfielders. You don't need to be a fucking giant in order to be a good player or vice versa.

The best midfield partnership we have ever had was Xavi being 5'7 and Iniesta being 5'7 himself as well being anchored by a 6'2 Busquets and Yaya Toure in 2008/9 and onwards. Height shouldn't matter all that much, it all depends on they can bring on the technical side of things and other attributes.

I mean can you blame people for being excited by the likes of Arthur? our Midfield has been a issue for quite sometime now. It has lacked the Mobility, Pace, Energy and technical ability for quite some time. I mean look past Rakitic,Iniesta and Busi and see how poor our other options were for awhile now. It was full of failed gambles and players who ended up not having the skill set we required or players being totally different to what we need.

One preseason game or not I'm just happy we have what appears to be a real CM that fits what we need to go along with the likes of Busi,Rakitic,Coutinho etc.