Arthur

[xXKonan]

He's a different kind of beast to the typical Brazilian Midfielders you see these days.

Brazil produces Destroyers,B2B CMs and #10s but very rarely you will see an Arthur. There's a big reason why Tite and a lot of Brazilian fans are so high on him and he showed yesterday a glimpse of what he can do. Heck UOL reported awhile back that Tite had a conversation to pep about Fred and Tite supposdly told pep that Arthur was by far the more talented one which lead to Pep have some skepticism in getting Fred.

But as you can see by the time that happened we already tied down Arthur.

 

[istripador]

Well to be fair to tite, he was originally on the WC squad but got injured at the wrong time and he was forced to make a change to add Fred.

By the time he was fit again it was to late.

no! tite love fred no arthur

 

[Ken_rosseneri]

100% pass success I think.
Its crazy how this performance alone was already better than all Gomes performances.

OMG i was just thinking the same thing.. geez

 

[defyqa]

Also, why is he wearing a jacket? It's very hot in California this time of the year. Strange dude...

He's fat, needs to lose weight. Sweating helps, I guess.

 

[Senador Romario]

Why the heck didn't Brazil start this guy at the World Cup instead of relying on oldies like Fernandinho, Paulihno and Renato Augusto it should of been Arthur time.

He was injured before the last friendlies.

 

[serghei]

Well to be fair to tite, he was originally on the WC squad but got injured at the wrong time and he was forced to make a change to add Fred.

By the time he was fit again it was to late.

Injury wasn't that serious. He wasn't taken because it was a tactical call. Tite wanted some more experienced players. Arthur would've been fit to play before the World Cup started. Some of the players Tite took at the World Cup never even played a single minute.

Seriously bad call. They decided to take some filler players instead of a guy who could've made a real difference. They messed up.

 

[xXKonan]

Injury wasn't that serious. He wasn't taken because it was a tactical call. Tite wanted some more experienced players. Arthur would've been fit to play before the World Cup started. Some of the players Tite took at the World Cup never even played a single minute.

He was but Tite didn't want to change anything despite that.

One of the things I complained about is how little variety Brazil's squad had in terms of Midfield selections. Tite relied to much on Coutinho being the only creative force in the Midfield and the other options being Box to Box CMs and a DM in Casemiro.

 

[serghei]

He was but Tite didn't want to change anything despite that.

One of the things I complained about is how little variety Brazil's squad had in terms of Midfield selections. Tite relied to much on Coutinho being the only creative force in the Midfield and the other options being Box to Box CMs and a DM in Casemiro.

Exactly. And it those conditions taking Arthur was a big mistake. Glad they didn't though. More time for him with the team in preseason and no Ballon d'Or for insufferable Neymar.

 

[RMU ReBorn]

What a golazo. After 10min off play it was already clear that we signed the right guy.

I pitty him . Few bad performance here and there , few matches without 90% pass accuracy , and then our customary Cl meltdown . Boom this thread will be filled with fraud chants . Suddenly Arthur will be that player with ' No Barca DNA ' Tag .

 

[El Barcelona]

I pitty him . Few bad performance here and there , few matches without 90% pass accuracy , and then our customary Cl meltdown . Boom this thread will be filled with fraud chants . Suddenly Arthur will be that player with ' No Barca DNA ' Tag .

Jup he cleary looks like a gomes guy

 

[xXKonan]

Although you can never predict the future from the game we seen he's shown a lot of talent that we have been missing.

I bet Busi and Rakitic would be dying to play with someone like Arthur. While Iniesta helped with the control in the last couple of seasons he has had his fair share of muscle injuries and his legs and Mobility weren't what the use to be.

Arthur will bring the control and mobility, especially the Mobility the Midfield has been missing for quite some time. This will help take a load of pressure off Both Busi and Rakitic and Rakitic will gain more confidence that he has someone else to help secure the Midfield and he can open up a lot more like with in Croatia.

Rakitic never had a younger Mobile CM in vein of Arthur next to him during his time at Barca. He played with Xavi and Iniesta but Xavi was 34-35 and left after the season he came and he played with Iniesta but he was also slowly on the decline as he was getting older. Guys like Gomes,Denis,Arda etc just simply couldn't do what Xavi or Iniesta could in a Midfield three.

 

[DonAndres]

Although you can never predict the future from the game we seen he's shown a lot of talent that we have been missing.

I bet Busi and Rakitic would be dying to play with someone like Arthur. While Iniesta helped with the control in the last couple of seasons he has had his fair share of muscle injuries and his legs and Mobility weren't what the use to be.

Arthur will bring the control and mobility, especially the Mobility the Midfield has been missing for quite some time. This will help take a load of pressure off Both Busi and Rakitic and Rakitic will gain more confidence that he has someone else to help secure the Midfield and he can open up a lot more like with in Croatia.

Rakitic never had a younger Mobile CM in vein of Arthur next to him during his time at Barca. He played with Xavi and Iniesta but Xavi was 34-35 and left after the season he came and he played with Iniesta but he was also slowly on the decline as he was getting older. Guys like Gomes,Denis,Arda etc just simply couldn't do what Xavi or Iniesta could in a Midfield three.

But I think we should be transitioning Coutinho to the midfield as well, and that we need a change in identity in that area.

Arthur seems like a player that is a culture changer in a team. There were several times yesterday that Arthur orchestrating a bunch of 1 touch passing plays between 3-4 players at a time. He was at the center of it all and freed the movement of the ball around the midfield and backline. It isn't just his passing, but his movement that ties all this together and keeps our possessions more open/moving.

We need that to give our midfield some unity and cohesiveness. Too often we've come under gridlock in our buildup play where the entire team is static and can't get things going. Arthur alone moves around so much that he can get several players more involved than they'd usually be and keep the offense playing freely. That can be invaluable when it comes to Messi most of all, but Coutinho and Busi as well. I think Rakitic had a big hand in that gridlock problem last season, namely in the CL. If we can successfully incorporate 2 players in midfield like Arthur/Coutinho that make our offense and possession play almost as formidable as it was in years past, then we should.

Edit: Arthur also changed the passing culture at Gremio. The way they played possession football in Brazil is not a normal thing and Arthur was central to all of that as their best player and heart of the midfield. I think that impact is a big part of what he brings to the table.

 

[BBZ8800]

Catalinutz asked me not to post bad things and let people enjoy.
24 hours are gone, so...

Apart from good things which we have all see, there are some cons in the first Arthur's match:
1. he is slow as a turtle, imo. Busi-Arthur-Coutinho midfield will be the slowest midfield out of all big teams.
2. he seemed tired after 30 minutes. We will see whether that is because of preseason, or will he be one of guys who gets tired easily like Bernardo Silva, Seri and similar.
3. I think that 3-4 times the opponents "caught" him with 2-3 defenders around him due to holding the ball for too long and being slow, so he forced to make a weaker/backpass after that.
If you look at his video again, check this: he was tired after 20-30 minutes, and in the 2nd part of a 1st half, he was "caught" 2-3 times by defenders due to being slow and not releasing the ball fast and he was forced to run with the ball towards our goal and then pass to a GK.
Also, after 25th minute, I think that every single pass he made was a backpass, often to a GK.
So, he started well with running, moving off the ball and playing forwardpasses but after 25-30 minutes turned into: tired, slow, closed down by the opponents easily (less time to "think" than in Brasil) and started to play backpasses.

Whether that was a plan since we were 2:0 up, or due to being tired, we will see in the future.

4. also, imo, he seems quite defensive, like a Cdm.
If Busi and Arthur will play in 433, then the 3rd guy needs to be extremely attacking, like Coutinho.
If Coutinho won't play, other combinations could be too sterile and too defensive in creation.

So, apart from good things, let's see about these cons in upcoming matches also.

** If someone will say: that was just a friendly.
True.
But people are making plans already about Arthur-Oriol-FDJ trio when 3 of them played 45, 0 and 0 minutes for the team.
So, my post is to bring things into a "neutral" zone.

 

[serghei]

But I think we should be transitioning Coutinho to the midfield as well, and that we need a change in identity in that area.

Arthur seems like a player that is a culture changer in a team. There were several times yesterday that Arthur orchestrating a bunch of 1 touch passing plays between 3-4 players at a time. He was at the center of it all and freed the movement of the ball around the midfield and backline. It isn't just his passing, but his movement that ties all this together and keeps our possessions more open/moving.

We need that to give our midfield some unity and cohesiveness. Too often we've come under gridlock in our buildup play where the entire team is static and can't get things going. Arthur alone moves around so much that he can get several players more involved than they'd usually be and keep the offense playing freely. That can be invaluable when it comes to Messi most of all, but Coutinho and Busi as well. I think Rakitic had a big hand in that gridlock problem last season, namely in the CL. If we can successfully incorporate 2 players in midfield like Arthur/Coutinho that make our offense and possession play almost as formidable as it was in years past, then we should.

Edit: Arthur also changed the passing culture at Gremio. The way they played possession football in Brazil is not a normal thing and Arthur was central to all of that as their best player and heart of the midfield. I think that impact is a big part of what he brings to the table.

What you're saying involves changing the whole structure of the midfield, and it's not down to the players only, but also down to the manager. If we are to play with more fluidity it becomes paramount to integrate a pressing and counter pressing component that has to be there almost always. Can we do that? Can we bring that sort of intensity back? Doubt it myself. Suarez and Messi would have to work twice as hard as they did last season, especially in CL.

We can't play like you say and cope with the lazyness of Messi and Suarez. Back in 2011 Messi was running almsot 10km per game in CL. Now he runs 2 km less. Those 2 kms show a lot. There is a big physical component that was there in the times of Guardiola that to this day is still underrated. That team work damn hard to get the ball back. Messi wasn't the hardest worker, but Villa and Pedro were crazy in this area and Messi himself was a lot more passionate about winning.

Catalinutz asked me not to post bad things and let people enjoy.
24 hours are gone, so...

Apart from good things which we have all see, there are some cons in the first Arthur's match:
1. he is slow as a turtle, imo. Busi-Arthur-Coutinho midfield will be the slowest midfield out of all big teams.
2. he seemed tired after 30 minutes. We will see whether that is because of preseason, or will he be one of guys who gets tired easily like Bernardo Silva, Seri and similar.
3. I think that 3-4 times the opponents "caught" him with 2-3 defenders around him due to holding the ball for too long and being slow, so he forced to make a weaker/backpass after that.
If you look at his video again, check this: he was tired after 20-30 minutes, and in the 2nd part of a 1st half, he was "caught" 2-3 times by defenders due to being slow and not releasing the ball fast and he was forced to run with the ball towards our goal and then pass to a GK.
Also, after 25th minute, I think that every single pass he made was a backpass, often to a GK.
So, he started well with running, moving off the ball and playing forwardpasses but after 25-30 minutes turned into: tired, slow, closed down by the opponents easily (less time to "think" than in Brasil) and started to play backpasses.

Whether that was a plan since we were 2:0 up, or due to being tired, we will see in the future.

4. also, imo, he seems quite defensive, like a Cdm.
If Busi and Arthur will play in 433, then the 3rd guy needs to be extremely attacking, like Coutinho.
If Coutinho won't play, other combinations could be too sterile and too defensive in creation.

So, apart from good things, let's see about these cons in upcoming matches also.

** If someone will say: that was just a friendly.
True.
But people are making plans already about Arthur-Oriol-FDJ trio when 3 of them played 45, 0 and 0 minutes for the team.
So, my post is to bring things into a "neutral" zone.

1. How is he slow as a turtle? No one caught him from behind at that counter when he passed to Semedo. He runs fine. Tottenham players are turtles too?
2. All players tire fast in the first game of the preseason tour. It's why you do a preseason tour in the first place. To adjust the fitness level of the players.
3. When 3-4 opponents caught him he passed backwards because the players around him didn't give him a better alternative. He is not a player who is scared to make a pass if one opens up to him. This will be the job of the players around him.

Let me say this:

If you say that 4 opponents caught him, it means 3 Barca players were left unmarked (or were loosely marked at best) as a result of their markers pressuring Arthur. Those unmarked players need to do something to get on the ball. Basically move around and make gestures so they can be spotted by the ball carriers. You always saw the likes of Alves making gestures like that he was open and unmarked. Messi does that too. This is exactly what we want. Opponents crowding our skilled players. It means they leave gaps that can be exploited. It's hard to spot unmarked players if they hide behind opponents, or if they don't make themselves available. From ground level the view must be very different and a lot harder to cope with.

Man, literally, nothing makes sense from what you wrote. You're looking for flaws that aren't there in this game. Wait some more.

 

[Total-Football]

a lot of bullshit in that comment bbz.. although we were agreeing on many things in recent times. arthur is anything but slow (for a midfielder).. everytime he needed to get himself out of pressure he did those mini bursts of acceleration which always put him ahead of opponents.