11 - Raphinha

[khaled_a_d]

Heads up for those who missed most of last season:
we play 3-box-3 on the ball since last January, and that will be Xavi's 1st choice system this season as well.

So all this talk about a front 3 is off-topic. There will be no Fati/Abde as starters with the exception of games against LL fodder, and there will be no Dembele on the LW.
These things were settled after so many months of trial and error by Xavi from Sept to January

Our system requires 4 midfielders to start, two of which should be able to play the advanced roles (number 8)
Currently we have only 3 mds (Pedri Gavi Gundo) able to play that role.
Having Bernardo there is a necessity if you wanna fight on all fronts, given Pedri's injury-proneness as well
We also know how hard Xavi is on him

PS: Raphina could possibly be a starter for City given that Bernardo will be gone.
It will be between him and Foden for the RW spot.

This!

Swap a player we don't need and won't be a starter over Dembele for Xavi's wet dream that will take our md to the next level

Bernardo here takes the Gavi role but on the right side, not Pedri's. He will be 4th midfielder/winger in that system. Essentially he will push Dembele to the left side and Gavi to the bench.

He is Barca wet dream of no 10 / wide winger hybrid, something we have an obsession with, but make no mistake, he always moves to the right side, that is his comfort area.

Bernardo, despite being world class, isn't a need and is a luxury signing that will put financial stress on the club in the next few years. He is also 29 whose motivation is to leave the city of Manchester to better city. Sort of like Coutinho or Arda, that is really risky IMO.

I'm not against selling Raphinha, but getting Bernardo is massive risk and it isn't worth it.

 

[Co0ter]

Give us Silva + 20M and we good!

Not sure why people want Silva. WC player, but he's going to struggle just like Raphinha did if Xavi sticks him against the sideline isolated all game. The famous Xavi be alone diddlling your own asshole strat.

 

[vuji_31]

Keep Rapinha.

60mil plus Bernardo if they want him.

They fucked us with Ferret so hard.

 

[Birdy]

Bernardo here takes the Gavi role but on the right side, not Pedri's. He will be 4th midfielder/winger in that system. Essentially he will push Dembele to the left side and Gavi to the bench.

Not at all
We play with an out and out winger and a 4th midfielder that comes in centrally during attacking play.
This has always been on the left, because Balde takes up the width
On the contrary, on the right you have Kounde tucking in and forming a back three

This is all settled since last January.
One can fantacize many different things that ain't going to happen.
Dembele will be starting RW and there will be no winger on the left, but a midfielder be it Gavi Pedri or Gundogan

He is Barca wet dream of no 10 / wide winger hybrid, something we have an obsession with, but make no mistake, he always moves to the right side, that is his comfort area.

Bernardo, despite being world class, isn't a need and is a luxury signing that will put financial stress on the club in the next few years. He is also 29 whose motivation is to leave the city of Manchester to better city. Sort of like Coutinho or Arda, that is really risky IMO.

I'm not against selling Raphinha, but getting Bernardo is massive risk and it isn't worth it.

He can play RAM, AM and LAM as he has played for City the past 4 seasons.
This season he played RW, as that was the position Pep had for him to accommodate everyone.

He is ideal in that right AM role that Pedri played last season. And that is the position XAvi had always in mind about him. Look up the leaks about it.

The comparison with Coutinho and Arda is hubris. He has won everything with the best team and the best coach in the world. He has no confidence issues and nothing to prove.
Let alone his WC mentality in deciding big games, as we saw yet again in CL last season.

Far from risky, we are getting experience and a WC 2-3 years out of him.
Giving more room and taking off less pressure to players like Pedri

Raphinia has always been a misfit, as he can't dribble and play the attacking game our winger is needed to play in Xavi's system.

A swap is a win-win for everyone involved

 

[Porque]

A swap is a win-win for everyone involved

Good post. One question though. Given your opinion on Raphinha, how does Pep win with this transfer?

 

[Birdy]

Good post. One question though. Given your opinion on Raphinha, how does Pep win with this transfer?

It's a win for Pep only given that Bernardo wants to leave anyway. So, they need to replace him.
It will be obviously a downgrade on both Bernardo and Mahrez after many years of them having internalized Pep's philosophy.

But he will teach him stuff, so after 1-2 seasons he can be much better.
His associative capacity can get to the next level under Pep.
He will not learn how to dribble, but I guess that will not be needed in how Pep plays nowadays.
Totally different to Xavi's system which requires a monster 1-1 isolation winger,
and to Xavi's ability to teach. I doubt Raphinia can develop his associative skills under Xavi

 

[Don Juan Laporta Estruch]

If Pep can turn Raph into world class then it will be a bigger achievement than his recent treble. I only see an average player, unfortunately.

Snap anyone's hands off who offer anything near 70m.

 

[FC B]

Would sell asap but looks to me they won't want to sell him in the frist place.

 

[JamDav1982]

The same folk arguing about how much better Raphinha is than Dembele are the same folk who pointed to Dembele injury v Man Utd etc as a blow when Raphinha had to play in his place. But then it was all about ‘poor Xavi’ with the injuries.
The argument changes depending on subject from same folk as per usual.

 

[mc_lovin]

Who exactly said that Raphina is better? Just that he had more impact, which is fair given Dembele missed a large chunk of the season... again.

 

[serghei]

Not much between Raphinha and Dembele, both are good players short of top-class level. The difference between them is purely in terms of style. If I had to pick just one of them, I'd pick Raphinha.

Both are comfortably among the best 5-6 players of the current Barca team and by far the best wingers we have.

 

[ajnotkeith]

The same folk arguing about how much better Raphinha is than Dembele are the same folk who pointed to Dembele injury v Man Utd etc as a blow when Raphinha had to play in his place. But then it was all about ‘poor Xavi’ with the injuries.
The argument changes depending on subject from same folk as per usual.

Not much between Raphinha and Dembele, both are good players short of top-class level. The difference between them is purely in terms of style. If I had to pick just one of them, I'd pick Raphinha.

Both are comfortably among the best 5-6 players of the current Barca team and by far the best wingers we have.

 

[serghei]

Am I supposed "to get" something from this juxtaposition of old posts? Please...

The most times I'm criticizing Dembele is when foolish posters call him world-class. Or trash. Not my problem that people seem to believe players can only be either shit or world-class on this forum. There are plenty of in-betweens.

Dembele is not world-class, but Barca can still miss him because they don't have any world-class players atm. What kind of moron do you have to be to not see that these two statements can perfectly align and form a coherent and logical thought process?

 

[serghei]

I'm getting old, running out of time to post, and running out of patience for dumb, silly arguments, and retarded forum games that seem to be the bread and butter for most around here.

 

[Rory]

Would only choose Raphinha based on availability, Dembele being injured for half the season means even if he was prime Messi it would be annoying as fuck.

Dembele when fit is twice the winger Raphinha is in the system we want to play though.