Arthur

[MessiCam]

Since when did Busquets thrived like that ? He always had Alonso as a double pivot in spanish team . After Alonso retired they are conceding plenty and in Barca he had the composure of Xavi . After he left Busquets was never the player he was . If Rakitic wasn't covering for him ,he will get slaughtered in counters because of his lack of pace . If there is any player who is important to our current team after Messi and Ter stegan it's Ivan Rakitic . Yeah a tough pill to swallow for you... Busquets was getting slaughtered with Gomes and 33 year old Iniesta in last season when Rakitic had to cover for Messi

You’re talking out of your ass. Are you really going to sit at your keyboard and say Rakitic makes Busquets better? GTFOH... Lol. Busquets is beyond reproach in this Barça squad.

Truth is Busquets struggled to no end in Spain’s double pivot much like Pep as a player as well.

And yes, Busquets was getting slaughtered last year when Rakitic had to cover for Messi but you’re very mistaken if you think Lucho played with 4 midfielders. Gomes, Iniesta, Busquets and Rakitic never played in the same 11. NEVER!

What you’re describing is exactly why Rakitic is a limited player... He is only good in the defensive phases. What has he done in attack? When he was deployed in a 4-3-3 earlier in the season he was atrocious. Couldn’t move the ball forward, was late with his passing...

If you think this side should be built around Rakitic’s defensive capabilities, as has been happening this season, then you might as well go and hold Valverde’s hand and sing Kumbaya together.

Arthur is WAAAAYYYYY better all round midfielder than Rakitic.

I can’t believe you just implied that Rakitic is making Busquets look good.

 

[RMU ReBorn]

You’re talking out of your ass. Are you really going to sit at your keyboard and say Rakitic makes Busquets better? GTFOH... Lol. Busquets is beyond reproach in this Barça squad.

Truth is Busquets struggled to no end in Spain’s double pivot much like Pep as a player as well.

And yes, Busquets was getting slaughtered last year when Rakitic had to cover for Messi but you’re very mistaken if you think Lucho played with 4 midfielders. Gomes, Iniesta, Busquets and Rakitic never played in the same 11. NEVER!

What you’re describing is exactly why Rakitic is a limited player... He is only good in the defensive phases. What has he done in attack? When he was deployed in a 4-3-3 earlier in the season he was atrocious. Couldn’t move the ball forward, was late with his passing...

If you think this side should be built around Rakitic’s defensive capabilities, as has been happening this season, then you might as well go and hold Valverde’s hand and sing Kumbaya together.

yes Rakitic made Busquers better this season. No second thoughts about that . If there is one player who will get benched by Arthur it will he Busquets . If there is a proper Rb Raki can thrive on right side ( Lucho's first season ) and if he is asked to play as a Dm he can do that as well . Busuqets is limited to one job only and he is getting slaughtered there if he plays in 433 without Xavi .

 

[vlad]

You’re talking out of your ass. Are you really going to sit at your keyboard and say Rakitic makes Busquets better? GTFOH... Lol. Busquets is beyond reproach in this Barça squad.

Truth is Busquets struggled to no end in Spain’s double pivot much like Pep as a player as well.

And yes, Busquets was getting slaughtered last year when Rakitic had to cover for Messi but you’re very mistaken if you think Lucho played with 4 midfielders. Gomes, Iniesta, Busquets and Rakitic never played in the same 11. NEVER!

What you’re describing is exactly why Rakitic is a limited player... He is only good in the defensive phases. What has he done in attack? When he was deployed in a 4-3-3 earlier in the season he was atrocious. Couldn’t move the ball forward, was late with his passing...

If you think this side should be built around Rakitic’s defensive capabilities, as has been happening this season, then you might as well go and hold Valverde’s hand and sing Kumbaya together.

Arthur is WAAAAYYYYY better all round midfielder than Rakitic.

I can’t believe you just implied that Rakitic is making Busquets look good.

im just interested how did you get to conclusion that arthur is "way better" all round midfielder then rakitic? you probably watched you tube compilation, even if you watched whole match when arthur plays, its brasil league. Rakitic at sevilla had more freedom then at barca and he looked great, main reason why barca bought him, arthur can turn into flop easily, and he will not take rakitic place in next season be sure about that

 

[Porque]

Arthur will be playing for Gremio against Internacional at 9pm CET tonight.

 

[BBZ8800]

Here's what Edu Polo had to say and He's reliable as well.
De Jong , Aleñá and Arthur are the future of Barca midfield.

If he meant:
1. "future", as if: these 3 will BE in our club and we'll see what will happen, then fine
2. "future", as if: we will build our future around 3 guys, then I would personally just stop reading his comments, lol.

His post is a 13-years old ultraromantic Barca-glasses level.

One kid plays in a Barca B and struggled till now every time when he played as a midfielder in A team.
The other kid played only in a Brasilian league till now.
The third kid had 15 (FIFTEEN) matches in total for Ajax.

His post is on a level of:
Barca will have 11 La Masia players in a CL final (posts from a few years ago).
Or, we are set in attack for the next 10 years. We have Munir, Sandro, Adama, Dongou, Halil, Lee.
Fast forward 5 years, we have none of those 6 guys, lol.

Anyway, it is nice to plan a future and have some hopes, but to say that our future are 3 guys with total of 5 matches for Barca's A team, and with a total of 20 matches in Europe is beyond crazy.

Edu Polo, tier of objectivity level 20, after a post like this one.

** We will buy 10 new midfielders in the next 10 years and only 2-3 of them will be playable.
Feel free to quote me for I told you so thread.

Buying players for Barca's level is a never ending hit and miss game.
We won't magically hit a jackpot with 3 random kids.

 

[MessiCam]

yes Rakitic made Busquers better this season. No second thoughts about that . If there is one player who will get benched by Arthur it will he Busquets . If there is a proper Rb Raki can thrive on right side ( Lucho's first season ) and if he is asked to play as a Dm he can do that as well . Busuqets is limited to one job only and he is getting slaughtered there if he plays in 433 without Xavi .

Lol. Coming from the guy that said Busquets is comfortable in a double pivot and that Lucho played with 4 midfielders. Both factually incorrect.

You’re all kinds of crazy to think Rakitic is a better player than Busquets.

 

[RMU ReBorn]

Lol. Coming from the guy that said Busquets is comfortable in a double pivot and that Lucho played with 4 midfielders. Both factually incorrect.

You’re all kinds of crazy to think Rakitic is a better player than Busquets.

Rakitic isn't a better player than Busquets . At this age , a player like Rakitic is hiding the flaws of Busquets . Rakitic's work rate is immense in helping Busquets to thrive for 90 minutes these days . Arthur has to prove that he is fit enough to provide the minutes that Rakitic is giving us relentlessly without getting injured . Rakitic is the player that has played most minutes for Barca in last 3 seasons. If Busquets keeps on getting slow , he will be the one who will get benched by Arthur

 

[MessiCam]

im just interested how did you get to conclusion that arthur is "way better" all round midfielder then rakitic? you probably watched you tube compilation, even if you watched whole match when arthur plays, its brasil league. Rakitic at sevilla had more freedom then at barca and he looked great, main reason why barca bought him, arthur can turn into flop easily, and he will not take rakitic place in next season be sure about that

Because I watch his games. Not YouTube compilations like some on here. He is very good in all phases... Defense, attack and holding.

And yes, if Arthur is given a fair shake he will bench Rakitic. Easily.

He is that good.

Rakitic at Sevilla... We’ll, he played in a double pivot. Little wonder he excelled there. Defensive phase is his forté and he is very good at it but that is where it stops.

People on here thinking Rakitic makes Busquets look good and that he is some kind of midfield maestro. I’m befuddled.

 

[MessiCam]

Rakitic isn't a better player than Busquets . At this age , a player like Rakitic is hiding the flaws of Busquets . Rakitic's work rate is immense in helping Busquets to thrive for 90 minutes these days . Arthur has to prove that he is fit enough to provide the minutes that Rakitic is giving us relentlessly without getting injured . Rakitic is the player that has played most minutes for Barca in last 3 seasons. If Busquets keeps on getting slow , he will be the one who will get benched by Arthur

Busquets was never fast. He is a positional maestro...

He is the best DM in the world and it’s not even close. Watch him against Villarreal with no Rakitic...

You’re using Rakitic’s workrate as a foil for Busquets when it’s this bum of a coach that thought it’s a good idea to play with only 2 CM’s.

 

[RMU ReBorn]

Busquets was never fast. He is a positional maestro...

He is the best DM in the world and it’s not even close. Watch him against Villarreal with no Rakitic...

You’re using Rakitic’s workrate as a foil for Busquets when it’s this bum of a coach that thought it’s a good idea to play with only 2 CM’s.

Raktic alone destroyed Villareal when he came one . You don't need Busquets to destroy villareal at home . Messi in camp Nou is enough to destroy 90% of opponents . Busquets was slow but not as bad as he was in last two seasons . This season he isn't getting slaughtered because Raki is covering for him

 

[Porque]

Rakitic has been great this season. Pivotal in Valverde's setup.

Busquets is the best defensive midfielder in the world. Obviously a performing midfield lessons the burden of his lack of pace. Not sure why it is Raktic vs Busquets vs Arthur. Pretty sure the trio need to play together for Arthur to truly intergrate.

As for Rakitic, he is Valverde go to go in midfield for big games this season and maintains the teams central balance.

 

[BBZ8800]

Because I watch his games. Not YouTube compilations like some on here. He is very good in all phases... Defense, attack and holding.

Wasn't Mina the best South American CB or something?
And then in Europe, he is having huge problems with positioning and some simple stuff?

My point is:
When someone is playing in a weaker competition and he is good there, it is hard to judge whether a player:
1. is good ONLY because the competition is really weak
2. or because the player is a truly elite player

From what we have currently seen from Arthur or any player from outside Europe, his skills could end in 2 ways when he starts to play in Europe:
1. he could turn into an insanely good midfielder
2. he could turn into a level of Rayo Vallecano's and Malaga's midfielder

There are tons of footballers who played in a Portuguese league, which is quite strong and technically quite similar to Spain's and yet, when they came to Spain, it seemed as if they were playing a different sport now and players were totally lost.
So, slow down, all we know till now about Arthur and similar guys, is that he was good in South America.
We bought him.
Now wait at least 10-20 matches to see how will he perform in a world where the opponents are way faster, stronger, taller, defend better, defend smarter, the game is faster and more physical, you have way less space and time to think about every pas etc.

He may end as 10x times better than Rakitic.
Or as 10x worse than Rakitic.

You can't know till now, based only on his SA games.

 

[MessiCam]

Wasn't Mina the best South American CB or something?
And then in Europe, he is having huge problems with positioning and some simple stuff?

My point is:
When someone is playing in a weaker competition and he is good there, it is hard to judge whether a player:
1. is good ONLY because the competition is really weak
2. or because the player is a truly elite player

From what we have currently seen from Arthur or any player from outside Europe, his skills could end in 2 ways when he starts to play in Europe:
1. he could turn into an insanely good midfielder
2. he could turn into a level of Rayo Vallecano's and Malaga's midfielder

There are tons of footballers who played in a Portuguese league, which is quite strong and technically quite similar to Spain's and yet, when they came to Spain, it seemed as if they were playing a different sport now and players were totally lost.
So, slow down, all we know till now about Arthur and similar guys, is that he was good in South America.
We bought him.
Now wait at least 10-20 matches to see how will he perform in a world where the opponents are way faster, stronger, taller, defend better, defend smarter, the game is faster and more physical, you have way less space and time to think about every pas etc.

He may end as 10x times better than Rakitic.
Or as 10x worse than Rakitic.

You can't know till now, based only on his SA games.

Unlike you. I look at players individually and not on some averages fabricated out of thin air. Further Arthur already plays in a possession based system.

And in my opinion, as young as he is, he is already better than Rakitic in many ways. Rakitic is a limited player and I’ve been saying it for years and even stressed it when I joined this forum.

 

[Andrew M]

Unlike you. I look at players individually and not on some averages fabricated out of thin air. Further Arthur already plays in a possession based system.

And in my opinion, as young as he is, he is already better than Rakitic in many ways. Rakitic is a limited player and I’ve been saying it for years and even stressed it when I joined this forum.

Why do you keep saying that Rakitic is a limited player? Can Busquets play as a number 10? No, so i guess he is limited too.

 

[MessiCam]

Why do you keep saying that Rakitic is a limited player? Can Busquets play as a number 10? No, so i guess he is limited too.

You’ve just said in the Busquets thread that Rakitic has been the better player this season which is clearly not the case so this post doesn’t surprise me at all.

I’ve already explained why Rakitic is limited. MANY TIMES... But I’ll repeat it again just for fun.

He can’t set tempo, can’t turn into or away from pressure (too many touches), he is late with his passes and struggles to move the ball forward.

He only excels in the defensive phase. That’s where he is in his element.

Answer me this... Has Rakitic played as a 10 for Barcelona? If the answer is no then your argument is moot.