Arthur

[defyqa]

Give him #4 permanently.

 

[Icarium]

If we don't sign a midfielder he might get #8.

 

[God Serena]

Probably our best pure midfielder now that Iniesta is gone. Has to be a starter. On another level from what we've seen in our mid in such a very long time. Consider me a believer.

 

[YodaMaster]

As I already said few days ago: with the club having Arthur, Alena + potentially another world class midfielder, y’all Raki lovers will see the huge difference it makes to have a real creative & talented player instead of a guy that can’t play forward. Last 3 years Rakitic is far from being Barca starter material. Now just watch our new guys completely outplay him.

 

[Trickykid]

This guy just oozes class.

 

[DonAK]

[tw]1023454546075508737[/tw]

 

[serghei]

As I already said few days ago: with the club having Arthur, Alena + potentially another world class midfielder, y’all Raki lovers will see the huge difference it makes to have a real creative & talented player instead of a guy that can’t play forward. Last 3 years Rakitic is far from being Barca starter material. Now just watch our new guys completely outplay him.

Rakitic might be one of the guys who will benefit from Arthur too. Having a guy who moves so much around you makes your passes connect more often. Arthur is a midfield dynamo based on what I've seen from him. Premature to compare him to Xavi, but style wise he has the same instincts. 'Just' a matter of perfecting them to even 60% of how Xavi managed to do. And we'll still have a world class CM on our hands.

 

[Raketa10]

This was only a friendly game but I hope he succeeds since we desperately need this type of a player. I am so glad he had a great debut but we still need one more midfielder. Athur will have his ups and downs in his first season for sure.

 

[serghei]

Signing Thiago would basically be sealing the deal as far as the midfield is concerned.

We'd have 6 options of real class players. Busi, Rakitic, Arthur, Thiago, Coutinho and Roberto. Could field 2 different top class midfield trios with those options.

Then in the front we should have Suarez, Messi, Malcom, Dembele and Rafinha. With Coutinho as bonus if needed. Also 2 different top trios. Plus Munir.

One could say it's a bit crowded with quality.

 

[DonAK]

Signing Thiago would basically be sealing the deal as far as the midfield is concerned.

We'd have 6 options of real class players. Busi, Rakitic, Arthur, Thiago, Coutinho and Roberto. Could field 2 different top class midfield trios with those options.

Then in the front we should have Suarez, Messi, Malcom, Dembele and Rafinha. With Coutinho as bonus if needed. Also 2 different top trios. Plus Munir.

One could say it's a bit crowded with quality.

We'll prob be fine as long as Thiago times his injuries well.

 

[serghei]

We'll prob be fine as long as Thiago times his injuries well.

Only problem with signing Thiago is Valverde might have some bad tendencies to sacrifice both wingers to put in his famous 4 midfield formation, maybe diamond 4 with Messi Suarez up top. And that would be very bad news for both Dembele and Malcom.

 

[DonAK]

Only problem with signing Thiago is Valverde might have some bad tendencies to sacrifice a winger to put in his famous 4 midfield formation, maybe diamond 4 with Messi Suarez up top. And that would be very bad news for both Dembele and Malcom.

Well, he played a 4-3-3 tonight so perhaps there's hope.

If Suarez has a slow start I hope he's benched and we go two wingers + Messi as a false 9.

 

[Neeraj]

Damn, missed the game as I wasn't aware it was today. Was at a good time Sunday morning too. Was really looking forward to seeing Arthur, really glad he had a good game! Hope to see him on television a few times before I move to Barcelona just in time for the new season

 

[serghei]

Well, he played a 4-3-3 tonight so perhaps there's hope.

If Suarez has a slow start I hope he's benched and we go two wingers + Messi as a false 9.

If only we should be so lucky. I smell a lot of 4-4-2 in away games from Valverde with Rakitic, Busi, Cutinho and Arthur in the middle. If he has too many quality midfielders he will probably cut the playing time of both Dembele and Malcom short.

Ideally, he should be resting Rakitic and Busi a lot with these new players (and potentially another signing) and keep the midfield 3.

 

[DonAK]

If only we should be so lucky. I smell a lot of 4-4-2 in away games from Valverde with Rakitic, Busi, Cutinho and Arthur in the middle. If he has too many quality midfielders he will probably cut the playing time of both Dembele and Malcom short.

Ideally, he should be resting Rakitic and Busi a lot with these new players (and potentially another signing) and keep the midfield 3.

If we get someone like Thiago or any other good midfielder he'll have a very good squad. Hope he doesn't fuck it up with his rigid style of play.

We should ideally be giving Dembele, Malcom, Arthur and a new midfielder a lot of games and some continuity too. Rakitic has played a shitload of games and is better as a DM these days for Barca at least so should get some games off. I also feel like they're preparing to sell him in 2019 with all the moves they're making.

We can get away with these players in a lot of La Liga games. Keep the starters/best performing players fit for the CL. Don't need them to play every La Liga game and statpad.