We are crating very little as it is forward. Double pivot would mean even less.
Should give Samper more time, hes the only youngster decent enough. Our CM and AM positions are very troubling though.
Iniesta/raki/halilovich. For CM we have..Xavi. We shoulda taken a change on Gündogan. Noone knows if hell be 100% again but wouldnt have costed us more then Vermaelen, and its a playertype we need.
We have perplexing problems at CM position right now, the young CMs we have show a lot of promise but they need roughly 2-3 seasons right now to sharpen up and transition to the world class level. I personally think people are a bit too harsh on Rafinha here, I think he shows glimpses here and there of being what we need, he just needs a bit of confidence. If we are patient with him, I think he could make it here. He is very inventive, has good vision and awareness and overall he usually tries to make the right decision on the ball.
I don't get the Roberto obsession with the club right now though. Samper can offer everything Roberto does now and is more inventive than Roberto so I think he is pretty expendable.
Halilovic and Denis Suarez are intriguing though, both are very young still but both are very dynamic on the ball. I think Halilovic will initially develop more into an attacker since he plays so much like Messi but Denis Suarez has a lot of potential in the more forward midfield role in our system (in the Iniesta position, essentially). He is quick, an excellent dribbler and he is more physical and stronger on the ball than Iniesta, so its important to keep him in the picture as well.
I am unsure about Rakitic's long term future at the club. He doesn't have the dribbling ability to weave through tight spaces in the Iniesta role and he can't control games enough to warrant him in the Xavi role yet his unique qualities can still be very useful. Long term, I think moving him into the DM role is where he could really lock down a long term role in this club. Obviously this means either a) Busquets gets dropped or b) we change the midfield shape and since a isn't a likely scenario, it would have to be B but we need a coach with more tactical nous than Lucho to make a change of shape work for us, which is why I wonder if he will stay any longer than Lucho does.
What would be idyllic for me and what I would do with this squad is pair the young CMs together to see which players complement each other. For example, I think a midfield of either Rafinha-Busi-Samper or Suarez-Busi-Samper would be the closest evolution we could get from Xaviniesta. Samper started as a DM but I think with a player of his quickness, passing range and vision he would be better in the Xavi role. For me, he is too frail to be a holding midfielder but has everything required to excel in the Xavi role.
Lastly, if we had to go into the market for a CM, the player we should go after is Oliver Torres. He is on loan at Porto from Atletico and he is exceptionally gifted on the ball. He is younger than Gundogan, wouldn't cost nearly as much as him either and wouldn't be as injury prone either. Gundogan is exceptional and I wouldn't mind him here but I think Oliver Torres has more potential. I think he could be better than Samper and Denis Suarez and don't be surprised if you start hearing bigger clubs linked to him soon or if Atletico tries to bring him up in their ranks.
