Ivan Rakitić

[xXKonan]

If this is true, his coaching our players in the same vein as the board is leading the club: making shady deals.

It sounds dumb but considering how much Rakitic has played and how Valverde refused to sub him which led him to get that Red card and even injury there might be some truth to it.

But the idea of the Pact still sounds dumb when considering Rakitic didn't have much if not any leverage at all in this fight. He still has a deal until 2021, and a release clause of 125 Million euros and he's 30 years old. PSG couldn't spend 125 million on Rakitic because they were busy selling off players to avoid their intial FFP problems. And he was already a key player for Valverde.

If Valverde did, in fact, make this dumb pact he is a lot dumber than I realize. Not even Barto would have made a pact like this and he pretty much laughed at Rakitic's feeble attempts at begging for a contract renewal.

 

[serghei]

Yep, totally sounds like the type of dumbfuckery Valverde is capable off. I'm debating whether to replace my scientific experiment theory with this explanation instead.

 

[Zidane82]

The pact is to play him every game

So frustrating to learn that we could have offloaded him and presumably got a decent chunk of cash for him

 

[Joan]

So frustrating to learn that we could have offloaded him and presumably got a decent chunk of cash for him

We could've had Willian in his place.

 

[Zidane82]

We could've had Willian in his place.

Now you're talking

 

[Joan]

The pact guaranteeing one of our most used players a spot? Are you kidding me? Wanna be a journo one day.

 

[El Flaco]

[tw]1063401371033092097[/tw]

 

[God Serena]

What's crazy is we didn't even miss him a little bit playing without him. Whether he's there to be the workhorse in our midfield or not we still get overrun and his forward creativity is so low already that we don't lose anything from him there, either.

Rakitic's role at this point is to literally just be a body out there. Not quite playing with 10 men but I can't for the life of me figure out what he's good for.

 

[xXKonan]

What's crazy is we didn't even miss him a little bit playing without him. Whether he's there to be the workhorse in our midfield or not we still get overrun and his forward creativity is so low already that we don't lose anything from him there, either.

Rakitic's role at this point is to literally just be a body out there. Not quite playing with 10 men but I can't for the life of me figure out what he's good for.

Valverde uses him as a Defensive CM/Controller. with the occasional attacking contribution.

The funny thing is he's not a real Regista(Controller) yeah he's improved since he came here but he still isn't a real one in the vein of guys like Xavi and Arthur. Which baffles me every time I have seen people comment about him being a "Controller" on other forums.

Iniesta and Busi shouldered the controlling work while Rakitic brought legs into the Midfield.

 

[te amo barca]

Of course he is not on Xavi’s level. He is more of a box to box midfielder with great controlling ability, granted he has to stay at the back at Barca more than he does for Croatia.

 

[Zidane82]

Of course he is not on Xavi’s level. He is more of a box to box midfielder with great controlling ability, granted he has to stay at the back at Barca more than he does for Croatia.

Box to box !?!

He's officially the slowest player in the whole squad - including the three goalkeepers !!

 

[te amo barca]

Box to box !?!

He's officially the slowest player in the whole squad - including the three goalkeepers !!

Box to box is not about speed but about stamina and ability to cover ground a lot, which Rakitic showcases often enough. Pretty sure he always registers one of the highest km ran indexes in a game among our players.

 

[defyqa]

It's not hard to run a lot at his pace.

 

[JerseyAddict]

[tw]1066427892496777223[/tw]

 

[clemente]

Should go to Madrid, I don't think he likes it here.