11 - Raphinha

[Horatio]

@Horatio apologize he can play RW lol

when doesnt need to cut inside and shoot yes.

But point is he heavily prefers left side. Became an issue under Xavi.

But with more freedom given by Flick it matters a bit less.

 

[JamDav1982]

He cant play touchline RW is the point.

Biggets numpty claim is he should play CF.

When freedom to run onto ball is what he is all about.

 

[jamrock]

when doesnt need to cut inside and shoot yes.

But point is he prefers left side. Became an issue under Xavi.

That much we know.

Xavi played him at LW btw, but not getting into that, just messing around

 

[JamDav1982]

Xavi barely played him LW and Raphinha himself wanted to leave due to Xavi.

 

[Barcaman]

He's back! Could have been a 2nd half hattrick too

 

[Horatio]

He's back! Could have been a 2nd half hattrick too

Yes. That was why he was so eager for the 3rd

 

[JamDav1982]

Roony didnt harm himself either but isnt the late runner into box either the way Raph is.

 

[CatalinR10]

Just in time for Newcastle

 

[Fati_Future_BallonDor]

Now, according to RAC1, Raphinha was supposed to be included in the starting lineup for Barcelona vs Valencia.

However, he was benched by Flick as a punishment for being late to a pre-match activation session.

 

[BusiTheKing]

He is concentrating his workrate more this season, which seems good. Beginning of last season guy was sprinting all over the pitch for 90 minutes. Looked seriously fatigued around march/april/may as a result. Need to learn from that.

 

[serghei]

Not terrible, but also not his best game. Improved in the 2nd half as most of the team did.

 

[jamrock]

The entire attack bar rashford was below bar.

 

[Maradona37]

The entire attack bar rashford was below bar.

Yeah pedri, De Jong, the goalkeeper and the defence were the main protagonists last night (and of course Rashford with the two goals). Wasn't impressed by Raphinha and especially Robert. I noticed Raph took a lot of poor touches too and was falling over the ball at times. Moves were breaking down with him. He didn't look on it at all.

It would be unfair to expect him to replicate last season, but there's a big chasm between how well he did in most games last year and what he served up against Newcastle. Let's hope he comes on to a game.

 

[FinBarcelonafan]

The entire attack bar rashford was below bar.

We need Yamal obv. Nobody else has his aura and ability to dribble and occupy the opponent. This is a key to Barcas game.

Yamal leaves Raphinha open for runs. Lewy with less attention. It all starts from Yamal.

 

[Maradona37]

We need Yamal obv. Nobody else has his aura and ability to dribble and occupy the opponent. This is a key to Barcas game.

Yeah he has the consistent game breaking dribbling ability and thinking outside the box to break down stubborn defences on a regular basis.

His movement in between lines and pockets he picks up to then go on the half turn and dribble against defenders is very intelligent, especially for such a young kid. Also obviously the cutting in and shooting is always a massive plus and he can score with those at any point. The boy is really too young to play as much as he is, but it says a lot about how good he is that Barca already rely on him.

Rashy did well last night, but on another night he's tightly marked for that header, it stays 0-0 and the game peters out and ends in a draw. Yamal is the only attacker I feel who can consistently be trusted to break those deep defences.