Ivan Rakitić

[BBZ8800]

The pinnacle of the first half was probably Messi showing him to move forward.

No hope for him. If team is not dominating he's almost useless.

I "liked" those passes when Mats passed him the ball (from a free kick) and he played it back to him immidiately.

2 times.

Then Mats passed the ball back to him again, lol.

 

[mark1nhu]

What a fraud of a player.

 

[vueling]

Scored

 

[CatalinR10]

oh well at least he scored

 

[Dan1983]

Scored but was still terrible.

 

[Barcaman]

Not many players looked great tbf. and he, at least, scored.

 

[RIZALDINHO]

Rakitić is terrible and useless. roberto should start instead of him

 

[gatsu]

Calamity performance.

 

[dakt]

Again, looked better when he had some space and the game was more open for faster transitions.
At this point we shouldn't be deceived by any good performance he'll output in the near future against la liga teams.

We need creative midfielder badly.

 

[serghei]

He wasn't that bad. It's just that he is sometimes scared to control the ball and move up when the space is more congested. Paulinho did the same thing after he came in. Made some safety passes when a better, more creative option was available.

 

[DonAK]

He wasn't that bad. It's just that he is sometimes scared to control the ball and move up when the space is more congested. Paulinho did the same thing after he came in. Made some safety passes when a better, more creative option was available.

Paulinho did it with a 3-0 lead though tbf.

I don't know what's wrong with Rakitic. He can easily make more of those forward passes, but decides not to. If that's not bad enough, he seem focused most of the time on playing it on the left side even if Semedo/Dembele were in a better position with space.

I didn't think he was as bad as people are saying he was though so agree with that, but unless he improves in those areas, his time at Barca will be over by the end of this season.

 

[serghei]

Paulinho did it with a 3-0 lead though tbf.

I don't know what's wrong with Rakitic. He can easily make more of those forward passes, but decides not to. If that's not bad enough, he seem focused most of the time on playing it on the left side even if Semedo/Dembele were in a better position with space.

I didn't think he was as bad as people are saying he was though so agree with that, but unless he improves in those areas, his time at Barca will be over by the end of this season.

He often doesn't get informed or doesn't sense the amount of space he has around him, or where the opponents are in relation to him. To be able to receive under pressure and move forward with the ball very often, you need to know at all times where you are in space and how many touches you can make before an opponent is in touching distance. Then you can make the call if there is space to turn and pass/move up, or you need to tap it back/sideways (what basically is considered a safety pass). Rakitic, Paulinho (so far), Gomes, all are making safety passes in positions and in situation where they can claim available space and gain speed with he ball.

Players like Rakitic, sadly, make Juventus' job easier. He basically lets them get away with whatever mistakes they make in their pressing. And they do make mistakes, in the sense that they sometimes arrive late to block the receiver. But if the receiver doesn't make them pay, their mistakes get unpunished.

 

[-_- RandomUser -_-]

When he makes a pass forward, i take a tequila shot. Bottle is still full.

 

[Messi983]

Rakitic is still average...I bet Gomes could offer more creativity than him right now

His primary job is not to create but to bring defensive stability and work to the team. He's doing exactly that.

 

[dakt]

His primary job is not to create but to bring defensive stability and work to the team. He's doing exactly that.

I'm pretty sure his major task is to connect the game.