Thiago Alcantara
- Thread starter IraqiCulé
- Start date
clemente
New member
Are you sure about that?
We are playing under the least progressive minded manager we had in years but somehow a pivot should have more progressive passes than any of these players? Where is Busquets in that list? Is he not an elite passer then?
DonAK
President of FC Barcelona
Rakitic is not a pivot.
Silas
Member
You were the one that claimed that "he has more forward passes than any RM midfielder", so I just pointed out your mistake.
El Gato
Villarato!
[MENTION=21797]clemente[/MENTION]
Too many variables in how you frame an "elite passer". Busquets isn't on the same shelf as Pirlo, Xavi or Modrić, but has a few different signature knacks that make him an elite pivot. Doesn't make him an elite progressive passer. He can sure send a great pass but it's not his job. His job is to get/recover the ball in or in front of his area and look for Messi at the halfway line, which is usually not a difficult forward pass to make. Look up any highlights with him doing his signature turn. Was never a top assistant and he doesn't even feature in stats of penultimate passes (Rakitić does), these are reserved mostly for wingers and mobile midfielders like Modrić or Vazquez this season.
But anyway, isn't it interesting how people ignore players getting washed up in many aspects of the game and still expect them to do the same job as before? AND then some? Valverde seems to think he can make Busi do 7 jobs at once in a 2-man CM without a reliable CB leader behind him. He's an ageing possession player who is being asked to do the dirty work in non-possession team.
Rakitić fits Valverde's tactics better than Busi anyway. Says a lot about the tactical shift Barca need to take with no elite youngsters breaking through and where the problems actually lie.
Too many variables in how you frame an "elite passer". Busquets isn't on the same shelf as Pirlo, Xavi or Modrić, but has a few different signature knacks that make him an elite pivot. Doesn't make him an elite progressive passer. He can sure send a great pass but it's not his job. His job is to get/recover the ball in or in front of his area and look for Messi at the halfway line, which is usually not a difficult forward pass to make. Look up any highlights with him doing his signature turn. Was never a top assistant and he doesn't even feature in stats of penultimate passes (Rakitić does), these are reserved mostly for wingers and mobile midfielders like Modrić or Vazquez this season.
But anyway, isn't it interesting how people ignore players getting washed up in many aspects of the game and still expect them to do the same job as before? AND then some? Valverde seems to think he can make Busi do 7 jobs at once in a 2-man CM without a reliable CB leader behind him. He's an ageing possession player who is being asked to do the dirty work in non-possession team.
Rakitić fits Valverde's tactics better than Busi anyway. Says a lot about the tactical shift Barca need to take with no elite youngsters breaking through and where the problems actually lie.
clemente
New member
There are forward passes and progressive passes, and I was right lol.
Please tell me what he is then.
YodaMaster
Member
Yeah, and Andreu Gomesh is an elite passer too.
Look at this.
More seriously, you can't just look at statistics because they don't tell all the truth.
Rakitic is a good passer and midfielder when he has kilometers of space which he doesn't have at Barcelona. When put under pressure or in tight spaces, he's not a Barça level midfielder. That's why he's better in the 4-4-2: he's in a less advanced position that offers him more spaces and he doesn't have to deal with big pressure from opposition. Problem with that is that we miss a creative midfielder higher on the pitch.
He'd probably be very good in a team like Liverpool but Barcelona should look for a better and more suited player.
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clemente
New member
If you give him space he will do anything you want with the ball, I'm not arguing about other aspects of his game, he never was Barcelona style of player, but saying that he is a fraud with the ball is beyond stupid. And he would suck at Liverpool, hes not fast or mobile enough to play in Klopp midfield, somewhere like Juve or Atleti makes more sense.
YodaMaster
Member
If you give big spaces to any professional player playing in a top 10 team in any of the top 5 european leagues, he'll do wonders. They're professionnal players. What's your point ? Elite players are elite because they do wonders in difficult circumstances, making it look easy. In "Barcelona midfield" standards, yes Rakitic is a fraud when he receives the ball in not so easy circumstances. Elite passer is supposed to make elite passes in all circumstances. The only elite passes Rakitic does when the opponent is tightened are the ones he does backward to Piqué.
I said he'd do good at Liverpool because that team exploits better than anyone big spaces on the counter. Rakitic had his best season at Sevilla in 2013/2014 when he could run into huge spaces with the ball on the counter. But anyway, Liverpool, Juve or Atleti I don't care. The point is the same: he isn't good enough to be an undisputed starter at Barcelona and he'd be better in an other team playing a different football. The fact that he had his best season at Barça in a season where Barcelona played the less Barça style football is very telling.
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clemente
New member
I am talking about his passing and you're telling me about if he fits our style and which teams should play for. His passing is well rounded and aren't many people in the world that can pass like Rakitic, this is what makes him an elite passer. This forum always hated him for not fitting us and even now when he was one of the most important players this season they just call him fraud. And you don't have to be excellent in tight spaces to be an elite passer, not everyone has to play like Messi or Xavi.
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