[MENTION=16942]BBZ8800[/MENTION]
so you rather we sign a technically limited troublesome midfielder with high wages instead of giving a promising (note: promising, never said next Xaviesta) home grown la masia product the chance to prove himself?
our current midfield of: Vidal, Busi, Rakitic, Alena, Arthur and possibly Frankie. bar Alena, who exactly does Rabiot bench? imo Vidal, Raki and Busi are easily superior and Frankie/Arthur have alot more potential.
you can point of Rabiots national team experience but as of 2019, hes nowhere near starting for them and its not only down to his poor attitude. this smells like an opportunity 'too good to pass up' on a free but this will end up with Alena and co leaving and the la masia exodus/draught will continue. would EV of given a young Xavi/Iniesta the play time? i doubt it sadly. we took risks in the past and they paid off, we gave youth a chance and from that we got a golden generation. 2019 and we have a safety first manager, barely any faith in youth and shit playstyle that sends most fans to sleep
fwiw i hope Rabiot proves us wrong, matures and becomes a key player but i just don't see it, maybe this current EV-style Barca but i have hopes we ditch him in the summer
You are biased again.
Look at your sentence:
1. technically limited
2. troublesome midfielder
3. high wages
So, when you mentioned Rabiot, you mentioned 3 flaws in one sentence.
While for these 3 you mentioned only:
1. promising players
Why not saying, equally as you said in Rabiot's case:
Alena:
1. already 21 and only 13 senior matches
2. a player without a clear position in our team
3. a player without clear strengths and virtues
4. a player with a questionable first touch
Puig:
1. a player with an insanely questionable physique for the highest level of football
2. a player not recognized by any youth NT coach which is quite weird
The point of my post, majority of you guys are always leaning towards players who have way smaller chances to make it (let's say 10-15%, this is pulled from my ass, but you get the point, based on our La Masia history in the last 30 years) compared to a guy who has already made it on the highest level.
What is worse, some guys are saying: we are "set for the future".
Ok, I will not say that chances for these 3 of making here are 0%, since everything is possible in life.
But chances are close to 0%.
Even that 2 out of these 3 (Alena, Puig, Oriol) will become Barca's level of players are probably extremely close to 0%.
Further, I have wrote youth NT teams and senior matches so that you guys can compare their current level with the level of Xavi, Iniesta and Cesc/Thiago/Rabiot in their age.
Let's say that we won't compare players with Xavi-Iniesta since they were one of a kind.
But still, Alena-Puig-Oriol are miles, miles, miles behind in their development even behind guys Fabregas, Thiago, Rabiot compared to their age 20 and 21.
Just try to remove Barca's glasses, and imagine that RM has one Riki Puig in their team.
And that you are reading about him, and you see stats: 0 youth NT matches, extremely weak physique, playing in a 2nd division, 0 matches for A team.
Would you be scared of that new RM's prospect?
Lol, of course not.
You would say: meh. Just another talent with whom probably absolutely nothing will happen.
I have wrote a lot of times, it is NOT about particular players.
Our fans have the human need to ALWAYS have 1-2 young players who will create sweet dreams and hopes.
So: if there is really the next Xavi at La Masia=people will say: HE is the next Xavi!
But also, if there is absolutely NO ONE at La Masia currently, people will again find 1 guy, who looks the best in this moment and say again: HE could be the next Xavi!
Just imagine that Alena/Puig/Oriol disappear tomorrow and that aliens take them.
Do you know what would happen?
Our fans would find "the new gem" in a space of 1 Month.
They would just move their attention/love/hopes towards the next best guy (or currently, the 4th best La Masia midfielder).
And they would say: we don't need Rabiot/insert any new player, we need to give chances to THIS, 4th guy from La Masia.
Let's be honest, this is exactly what would happen...
For years, we have been reading Alena this, Alena that.
And when we have seen him playing a few times this year and when we have seen that he is quite meh for now, people just turned their attention to Puig immediately.
Isn't it weird?
If Puig will play badly, do you know what people will do? They will just say: ok Alena is meh, ok Puig didn't make it, but we have a guy who is better than all of them: Oriol! This guy is way different, he is a true real deal!
Imo, you just have to realize that skills and potential of Alena/Puig/Oriol/Insert every future La Masia kid are overhyped by probably 200-300%.
This is why I don't like posts: we shouldn't sign AN ACTUAL player so that we could develop players who are extremely questionable and overhyped (and yet, who's current development don't look nowhere near as shiny).
So, this is not about Rabiot, this is about any ACTUAL proven midfielder.
Should we buy Rabiot and maybe screw chances for Alena/Puig? Of course.
Should we buy Frenkie and screw chances for Alena/Puig? Of course.
Should we buy Ndombele and screw chances for Alena/Puig? Of course.
Should we buy some 4th or 5th guy of similar ACTUAL skills and screw chances for Alena/Puig? Of course.
Just imagine if we didn't buy Neymar, Suarez, Coutinho, Dembele, Paco and other guys in the last and we had waited for Munir, Sandro, Adama, Dongou for 5 years.
We wouldn't win a CL in 2015 and we wouldn't win any La Liga in the last 4-5 years.
Imagine if we had said no to Neymar, because we had an amazing potential in Adama.
And Neymar's arrival could have killed Adama's chances.
In the end, Neymar didn't kill Adama's chances.
Adama would have never made it here, no matter what.
Or imagine if we hadn't bought Suarez to develop Sandro and Munir as CFs.
To be totally objective, the most realistic chance is that both:
1. Rabiot
2. Alena
3. Puig
4. Oriol
= will all fail here
But, instead of putting all eggs in one basket, it is better to have 3-4-5-6 guys and hope that 1 of them will make it.
But the idea: let's not buy players and let's "stop" the development of our club since we need to wait what will happen with Alena/Puig is beyond crazy for my taste.
If Alena will set the world on fire, we will soon sell Raki, Vidal, and Busi will be gone.
His only opponents in our team will be Arthur, Frenkie and Rabiot.
And again, as always, 1 or 2 out of Rabiot/Arthur/Frenkie will fail. It is highly unlikely that all 3 will make it and stay here for 5 years.
So, even if Alena will make it, we will have only 4 young midfielders.
And in reality, 1 or 2 out of Frenkie/Arthur/Rabiot will fail and be sold in 2 years.
2019: Rabiot, Frenkie
2018: Arthur, Vidal, Coutinho
2017:
2016: Gomes, Denis
2015: Arda
2014: Rakitic
That is 9 midfielders bought in the last 5 years.
Now, look at Rakitic, Arda, Gomes, Denis, Coutinho, Arthur, Vidal:
= 7 players
= 0 reached Godlike level of Xavi, Iniesta, Busi
= 1 turned into a starter (Rakitic)
= 2 are between being a starter and a squad player currently (Vidal and Arthur)
So, out of 7 midfield signings, we hit the "jackpot" and found a starter in only 1 player Rakitic.
And we found two squad players Vidal&Arthur for now.
So, in the last 5 years:
1. a chance that the next midfield signing will be a starter: 1/7=14%
2. a chance that the next midfield signing will be a starter or a squad player (a success to some extent): 3/7=43%
3. a chance that the next midfield signing will be a total failure: 4/7=57%
Now, let's go back to Frenkie.
Do you think that he is a sure thing? Fine, numbers from the last 5 years say that only 14% of midfielders turned into starters.
But let's say that Frenkie is different and that he is "a sure thing" even though such things don't exist in football.
Let's move to Rabiot then. His chances are probably similar to these numbers from above.
He probably won't be a starter, and he probably has 30:70 chances to end as a sub or as a failure.
But also, you need to look at Alena/Puig/Oriol with the same eyes.
Do you know how low are their chances of making it here?
So, once again, we should buy A LOT of available players and and buy as many "lottery tickets" as we can.
And then, out of Arthur/Rabiot/Frenkie/Alena/Puig/Oriol, 1 or 2 will turn into starters, 1-2 will be squad players, 2-3-4 will fail and turn horrible.
This is Barca, 99% of players are nowhere near as good for Barca.
Let's not stop our development as a club for single players who's chances for making it here are extremely low, just because people are emotional and biased towards those La Masia kids.