Arturo Vidal

[Barcilliant]

I would imagine Vidal easily being one of Lucho's favorite players as well. He just fits what Lucho would want out of a Midfielder.

Exactly!

 

[khaled_a_d]

in hindsight, we should have bought him instead of turan back in the summer 2015

He would never have accepted it after losing to us in CL with transfer ban while Pep are offering him a spot in another big club.
PS: the 2015 summer was shit anyway and we should have stayed put in the transfer market or at least wait until hiring a real sporting director

 

[soul24rage]

He would never have accepted it after losing to us in CL with transfer ban while Pep are offering him a spot in another big club.
PS: the 2015 summer was shit anyway and we should have stayed put in the transfer market or at least wait until hiring a real sporting director

I wonder if we did bid for him. With Bravo here at the time, maybe he could have helped tried to convince him.

 

[DonAK]

He wouldn't sit on the bench for 6 months.

In a way it's commendable that both Arda and Aleix Vidal sat out 6 months to play for us. Too bad both sucked.

 

[Barcaman]

Since he started in 3 last La Liga matches for us, Barca have kept a clean sheet. Coincidence?

 

[BBZ8800]

Since he started in 3 last La Liga matches for us, Barca have kept a clean sheet. Coincidence?

You are right.
But there is also another interesting pattern:
In the last 4 matches when Vidal-Rakitic-Busi were a midfield trio, we won:
Levante 5:0
Espanyol 4:0
Villareal 2:0
Psv 2:1

How I like to call them: our physically strongest and tallest midfield conceded 1 goal in the last 360 minutes.

Another interesting stat is that Roberto hasn't played in any of those matches.
Till now, I was against Semedo, but in these last few matches, it seems that a more physical combo Rakitic-Busi-Vidal-Semedo is the strongest defensive combination.

Upfront, attacking wise, Dembele-Suarez-Messi is the way to go statistically, in this moment.

 

[CatalinR10]

You are right.
But there is also another interesting pattern:
In the last 4 matches when Vidal-Rakitic-Busi were a midfield trio, we won:
Levante 5:0
Espanyol 4:0
Villareal 2:0
Psv 2:1

How I like to call them: our physically strongest and tallest midfield conceded 1 goal in the last 360 minutes.

Another interesting stat is that Roberto hasn't played in any of those matches.
Till now, I was against Semedo, but in these last few matches, it seems that a more physical combo Rakitic-Busi-Vidal-Semedo is the strongest defensive combination.

Upfront, attacking wise, Dembele-Suarez-Messi is the way to go statistically, in this moment.

only strong and physical one of them is Vidal . Exchange him with a tall dude like Rabiot and everyone would walk on us .

 

[FinBarcelonafan]

You are right.
But there is also another interesting pattern:
In the last 4 matches when Vidal-Rakitic-Busi were a midfield trio, we won:
Levante 5:0
Espanyol 4:0
Villareal 2:0
Psv 2:1

How I like to call them: our physically strongest and tallest midfield conceded 1 goal in the last 360 minutes.

Another interesting stat is that Roberto hasn't played in any of those matches.
Till now, I was against Semedo, but in these last few matches, it seems that a more physical combo Rakitic-Busi-Vidal-Semedo is the strongest defensive combination.

Upfront, attacking wise, Dembele-Suarez-Messi is the way to go statistically, in this moment.

PSV game was very weak from us. Lucky to win 2-1.

 

[BBZ8800]

only strong and physical one of them is Vidal . Exchange him with a tall dude like Rabiot and everyone would walk on us .

Rakitic is like Hercules compared to some of our classical midfielders.

PSV game was very weak from us. Lucky to win 2-1.

Do you remember classical excuses when some youngster or a favorite player is not playing well, like:
1. he is young and has potential
2. or he can't play well right away, he needs some consistency, chemistry with teammates etc

Let's use that one.
So, Vidal, Raki and Busi needed some time to click and to learn how to work together.

More interesting stats.
Our last La liga matches BEFORE Vidal-Rakitic-Busi trio (plus Semedo):
Betis 3:4
Rayo 3:2
Real 5:1
Sevilla 4:2
Valencia 1:1
Bilbao 1:1
Leganes 1:2
Girona 2:2
Sociedad 2:1
Huesca 8:2

Before this trio, we conceded in 10 La Liga matches in a row.
We conceded 18 goals, which is 1,8 goals per match.

With this trio, we have 270 minutes in La liga without a goal conceded.
Teams from above would have conceded 5,4 goals in that time, statistically.

But, people will get angry on this stats because:
1. if this is true and if this will continue, Arthur won't play
2. also, Coutinho won't play as a midfielder
3. Arthur and Coutinho won't play together
4. one or both out of Busquets&Rakitic won't be dropped

This trio has 11:0 score in the last 3 La liga matches.
For now, this lineup is getting awesome results.
I mean, midfield's from previous matches managed to concede:
20th placed Huesca: 2 goals
19th placed Rayo: 2 goals
18th placed Bilbao: 1 goal
16th placed Leganes: 2 goals
15th placed Sociedad: 1 goal
14th placed Valencia: 1 goal

Also, remember an interesting coincidence from the last season, when EV's team had 10-20 clean sheets in the first part of a season when we played Busi-Rakitic-Paulinho-Iniesta.
Let's say 3 stronger guys (ok, Busi is not that strong, but you get the point).
When Coutinho came into our midfield, we started to concede 2-3-4 goals at the end of a season and everything fell apart defensively.
And continued with that trend this season.
Now, without Coutinho (and lately without injured Arthur), we are conceding way less suddenly.

So, maybe this isn't just a small sample.
Let's see how this trio will work results wise on larger samples.
Btw, Arthur is welcomed as a sub.
Coutinho as a midfielder, probably not.
Arthur and Coutinho as a pair, probably not.

 

[Jombi]

Hasnt Coutinho been dropped for the first time as well in these matches? So is that the reason we havent conceded and not Ter Stegens good play (Levante had 20 shots to our 15 yesterday...extraordinary considering the result)

 

[Jombi]

BBZ8800: you claimed when you desperately wanted us to sign Coutinho that Coutinho couldnt possibly flop like Cesc because Cesc was a loser from a loser team like Arsenal unlike Coutinho. Now you try to spin this as proof you were right, because of his physique. Sounds very disingenuous.

 

[Luftstalag14]

At this point I just want Vidal to stay healthy. If he manages to churn out a few more years for us it is a big win for us.

 

[BBZ8800]

BBZ8800: you claimed when you desperately wanted us to sign Coutinho that Coutinho couldnt possibly flop like Cesc because Cesc was a loser from a loser team like Arsenal unlike Coutinho. Now you try to spin this as proof you were right, because of his physique. Sounds very disingenuous.

I had a lot of faith in Coutinho.

1 year later it seems:
1. that he can't fit into any position here (Iniesta's position or a LW)
2. he is very weak physically and quite slow
3. he hasn't showed till now: f*** you all, I'll prove you wrong attitude. Vidal has shown that attitude till now and even Dembele in the last few weeks. We are still waiting to see Coutinho's balls and anger. Maybe we'll never see them :/

I thought that he will be a perfect new Iniesta.
For now, he is closer to a perfect new Fabregas, sadly.

So, I have changed my mind about him since he has proven me wrong, sadly.
What am I supposed to do now? Defend him even though he is playing like a crap this season?

I don't like Dembele, but Dembele is miles infront of Coutinho as a LW in this moment.
Regarding Coutinho as a CM, then 2 out of Rakitic/Busi/Arthur/Vidal need to be benched. And all 4 guys showed way more as a CM than Coutinho. Cou hasn't earned his place in this moment, not even close.
Also, I won't even comment on the ideas about a possible Cou-Arthur duo, with Dembele-Suarez-Messi upfront.

In this moment, our strongest lineup and EV's first choice is probably:
Busi, Raki, Vidal (Arthur as a 1st sub) or Arthur in, Vidal the 1st sub. But I think that Vidal is leading currently. Dembele-Suarez-Messi (Coutinho as a 1st sub).

 

[Jombi]

I had a lot of faith in Coutinho.

1 year later it seems:
1. that he can't fit into any position here (Iniesta's position or a LW)
2. he is very weak physically and quite slow
3. he hasn't showed till now: f*** you all, I'll prove you wrong attitude. Vidal has shown that attitude till now and even Dembele in the last few weeks. We are still waiting to see Coutinho's balls and anger. Maybe we'll never see them :/

I thought that he will be a perfect new Iniesta.
For now, he is closer to a perfect new Fabregas, sadly.

So, I have changed my mind about him since he has proven me wrong, sadly.

So, I have changed my mind about him since he has proven me wrong, sadly.
What am I supposed to do now? Defend him even though he is playing like a crap this season?

You laughed at the idea of signing anyone other than the "instant impact" experienced and proven superstar Coutinho for 160m. You constantly brag about how much better you are at judging players than other people on the forum. You hate the idea of signing younger players. Perhaps being more humble is a good strategy going forward? Liverpool look better than ever these days, with 45m signing Fabinho who you mocked just a few days ago absolutely bossing it in their midfield yesterday against Man U.

We risk both bankruptcy and years of sporting failure if we fail miserably on the transfer market with big transfers. Especially if they are old with little sell-on value. Luckily, Coutinho can still get us a lot of money in a potential sale if he fails, but if he had been a couple of years older, we would have been in serious trouble.

 

[FinBarcelonafan]

Coutinho looked better last season with us. Not sure what's going on with him.