Rakitic is still twice the player Alena will ever be.
Despite his decline he offers a profile useful to the squad. He has also been benched the last two matches so the Valverde-Rakitic romance accusations are quite baffling.
Alena on the other hand is a one-footed dunce with tunnel vision to the left side of the pitch. Nothing more than a midtable level player that is in the first squad solely because he came through the academy.
He is young, a La Masia product, supposedly "technical" etc. so I expect nothing less than for him to be defended to the death, but some of you lot need to get a grip.
Rakitic this, Rakitic that. If the gaffer hates youth so much then why has he chosen a 16 year old Juvenil A player in the squad?
Maybe it's not that Valverde hates youth, but Alena is quite shite.