Arthur

[Sorin]

The fact that he doesn't really make the final pass all that often is one thing, what bugs me more is that he still dwells too much on the ball after 2 years in his Barca tenure already. Even if there's a 5 meter pass to be made, he always takes an extra second to do it, as if he'll attempt some risky through ball, doesn't even come close to attampt it, still ends taking the first option which was the obvious 5 meter pass. This slows our attack even more than it already is.

I wouldn't do a swap for the likes of Pjanic but if there one team out there offering around 60m for him, I would let him go.

 

[DonAK]

If Barca are to continue playing a 4-3-3 long-term I'd ideally want:

B2B MF - FdJ - Creative MF

As our starting trio. Which means we need two new starting midfielders. I don't think it's a controversial opinion at all.

 

[Riordon]

If Barca are to continue playing a 4-3-3 long-term I'd ideally want:

B2B MF - FdJ - Creative MF

As our starting trio. Which means we need two new starting midfielders. I don't think it's a controversial opinion at all.

Frenkie said he feels he is best at the CM position, not defensive or advanced. Depending on the B2B willingness to build for the back and stay back he can be involved in play further up the pitch despite playing as a DM.

That we need two midfielders is also clear for me as the old guys must leave and I have come to the conclusion Arthur wont reach the level required.

 

[Richard.H]

Puig looked way more effective than him, which is embarrassing

 

[Nello]

Arthur and FdJ do not do it because they are that kind of a player. Arthur does not do it for Brazil, did not for Gremio. Same case with de Jong for Netherlands and Ajax

Not sure if that's true for De Jong. I even recall BBZ complaining about De Jong making too many long passes or something along those lines based on a highlights video from youtube.

 

[DonAndres]

The problem with FDJ is that his greatest strength is as a face up player and he's being forced to play with his back to goal most of the time. He rarely ever has the space to drive the ball forward and then follow up on his passes which is what he excelled at both in Ajax and the Dutch NT.

Setien's setup has it that basically only Busquets and the CB's dominate the ball circulation and we end up in a clogged half-court setup where all 22 players are in the opposing half for long periods of time and there's no space to operate in.

 

[abiabi]

People are so silly any team would struggle with a team as compact as leganes at home specially. This isnt the disnleyland football of Bundesliga.

About 'long passes', this is also a silly notion because in the shape the 2 teams were in, that was the job of the center backs. Arthur was between the lines most of the time, with back to goal sandwiched and was doing 1 touch passing for the people who faced the opposing goal

Also "Puig outperformed him lol" well Puig came in at 2-0 with Leganes playing completely different and much more stretched ; desperate than they were.

 

[JamDav1982]

People are so silly any team would struggle with a team as compact as leganes at home specially. This isnt the disnleyland football of Bundesliga.

About 'long passes', this is also a silly notion because in the shape the 2 teams were in, that was the job of the center backs. Arthur was between the lines most of the time, with back to goal sandwiched and was doing 1 touch passing for the people who faced the opposing goal

Also "Puig outperformed him lol" well Puig came in at 2-0 with Leganes playing completely different and much more stretched ; desperate than they were.

Arthur picked up the ball deep plenty and more often than not takes a couple touches then passes it to first open player he sees.

If he is being expected to play in the lines and develop game with passing then that is even worse as he comes nowhere close to it.

 

[Eshez]

I just don't see it in Arthur. There are more interesting midfielder options likely to move soon

 

[tacticvarium]

One of the most overrated Barca player in history.

 

[BBZ8800]

The fact that he doesn't really make the final pass all that often is one thing, what bugs me more is that he still dwells too much on the ball after 2 years in his Barca tenure already. Even if there's a 5 meter pass to be made, he always takes an extra second to do it, as if he'll attempt some risky through ball, doesn't even come close to attampt it, still ends taking the first option which was the obvious 5 meter pass. This slows our attack even more than it already is.

I wouldn't do a swap for the likes of Pjanic but if there one team out there offering around 60m for him, I would let him go.

Yes.
He has "Neymar's move" in him.

Do you know that moment when Neymar drops deep and then he literally stops with the ball, making tricks and inviting the opponents to foul him?
In those moments you have a feeling that Neymar didn't want to pass.
He literally WANTED to be fouled in that action.

Arthur does that 2-3 times per match.
He doesn't know what to do with the ball, then he dwells on the ball for far too long, he is not releasing it and then he is falling on the ground on the slightest touch.

Till now, refs haven't figured out his cheating yet, but over time refs will stop signalling a foul in those situations and he will start losing the ball.

Anyway, it is nice to see that after two years, majority of fans are starting to accept that Arthut is bad in attack because he doesn't have those attacking instincts in himself.

I was writing all the time that his natural instinct when he gets the ball:
1. Is not to play it forward
2. But to NOT lose it
He is playing a never ending game if rondos in his head. As if the only purpose of football is not losing the ball, even if you just have a sterile possession for 90 minutes.
He is not even looking forward when he receives the pass.
Look at his body language.
His first reflex when he gets the ball is to look back to see who is unmarked.
Xavi used to look forward all the time and he was able to predict 4-5 moves in the future.

Arthur can make a good pass here and there.
But even then it is forced and he goes against his natural instincts.

Apart from Marquez and Mascherano as pivots (who were Cbs) I have never seen Barca's midfielder with a weaker creative skills in terms of forward passes.

And if you know some basics of psychology, I don't see how Arthur could improve in that area.
Because it goes against his natural instincts.

Our fans got tricked by him because he has 1 skill which resembles on Xavi = press resistance.
And then applied a Halo effect on other areas of his game even though he is bad to average in majority of other areas.

 

[mc_lovin]

I have to be the only one to be pleased with his (and the teams) performance. We were playing handball, and I was never in doubt that we would win. He had two really bad passes, but apart from that he was fine.

 

[Kul_z]

People are so silly any team would struggle with a team as compact as leganes at home specially. This isnt the disnleyland football of Bundesliga.

Every other top eu team that has proper wingers and doesnt attack so narrow like we do would hammer them easily

 

[ronniecro]

finally i see more people saying how unnecessarily hogs the ball so many times,just remember how many times he must to dive for a foul because he's in danger to lose possesion. as the time goes i'm less and less impressed by him

 

[fergus90]

I do like Arthur and he can be capable of playing the through ball, it just doesn't happen nearly enough and it's true he dwells on the ball way too long and then has no other choice but to wait for the foul. Honestly, I don't see his game changing or improving that drastically from here on out.

Considering his relatively low price tag and the fact he came from Gremio with zero European footballing experience , is that such a disaster, probably not. If we did sell him we'll be making a sizeable profit on him as his stock has definitely risen since arriving here. The only thing that worries me, is who this board would spend the money on as a replacement.