Ivan Rakitić

[Antimilan]

I'm reading interesting comments here. The truth is, since I've watched every Sevilla match at least that Rakitic was featured in (maybe missed 1-2 somehow), he sucks at defensive duties and that is a fact. That is why he always performed better when featured as an AM and not in DM. Sometimes he works hard in the field and sometimes or better yet, mostly, not ! He will not run a lot and the truth is since a lot is being speculated about his speed, one advantage of him, or disadvantages it all depends on how a team uses Rak, he has the same speed when with the ball as without the ball, average not fast and not slow. I'm not sure whether he is faster than Fabregas though, I think Fabregas is a bit faster. Nevertheless, he can do a good job if featured as AM, or somehow replacing Fabregas's role, however, a manager should NEVER EVER try to play Rakitic deep... as a DM let's say, since that would be a match suicide.

Oh and he is also quite inconsistent, performing great in a match and average to poor in a couple of others, but he can be key in important matches, not always though. Sometimes he can slow the game pace, and whether that is a good thing or not depends on the game, but I've seen Sevilla play more freely and more pacy = exciting without Rakitic.

One thing to take a note on since some of you are saying that he is a better addition than Koke... first off the roles are quite different, but I would personally still prefer Koke more on my team. High work-rate is what is needed in modern day football, and believe me if it wasn't for Mbia's crazy amount of work in the field and his heroism, Sevilla would never ever do anything in Europa League, if it was all up to Rakitic, so please do not think of attributing the trophy to him since that is an offense for a Sevilla fan.

 

[zanela]

I'm reading interesting comments here. The truth is, since I've watched every Sevilla match at least that Rakitic was featured in (maybe missed 1-2 somehow), he sucks at defensive duties and that is a fact. That is why he always performed better when featured as an AM and not in DM. Sometimes he works hard in the field and sometimes or better yet, mostly, not ! He will not run a lot and the truth is since a lot is being speculated about his speed, one advantage of him, or disadvantages it all depends on how a team uses Rak, he has the same speed when with the ball as without the ball, average not fast and not slow. I'm not sure whether he is faster than Fabregas though, I think Fabregas is a bit faster. Nevertheless, he can do a good job if featured as AM, or somehow replacing Fabregas's role, however, a manager should NEVER EVER try to play Rakitic deep... as a DM let's say, since that would be a match suicide.

Oh and he is also quite inconsistent, performing great in a match and average to poor in a couple of others, but he can be key in important matches, not always though. Sometimes he can slow the game pace, and whether that is a good thing or not depends on the game, but I've seen Sevilla play more freely and more pacy = exciting without Rakitic.

One thing to take a note on since some of you are saying that he is a better addition than Koke... first off the roles are quite different, but I would personally still prefer Koke more on my team. High work-rate is what is needed in modern day football, and believe me if it wasn't for Mbia's crazy amount of work in the field and his heroism, Sevilla would never ever do anything in Europa League, if it was all up to Rakitic, so please do not think of attributing the trophy to him since that is an offense for a Sevilla fan.

Thanks for your input, Am. You've followed the player more than any of us, some of whom are basing their opinions on Ytube clips. I trust your player assessment over that of others. Personally, I've watched Rakitic, but most of it from the season before, and never did he come across as anything special. I'm sceptical about his suitability and how it will all turn out in the Barca context.

 

[linetty]

Prosinecki (ex-Barcelona -Madrid): "Rakitic is a real pro, a hard worker with great technique. I'm sure he'd do great at Barça." [cope]

 

[Ursegor]

Thanks for your input, Am. You've followed the player more than any of us, some of whom are basing their opinions on Ytube clips. I trust your player assessment over that of others. Personally, I've watched Rakitic, but most of it from the season before, and never did he come across as anything special. I'm sceptical about his suitability and how it will all turn out in the Barca context.

lol Nothing against Antimilan as a Sevilla fan but I have to question his vision if he thinks Fabregas is slightly quicker than Rakitic, even if he watches him week in week out. That's an insane judgement tbh and you don't need to watch 50+ games of Rakitic to realize that. If Cesc isn't the slowest player in the world I don't know who is. Pepe is one of the fastest CBs in the world and Rakitic grilled him with ball at feet. Cesc got outpaced by Varane in a 10 yard sprint with a 3 yard headstart without ball at feet. But not only in terms of pure pace is Cesc slow; he lacks a certain sharpness and intelligence to his game which makes him look like a lost lamb at times. Busquets is also slow physically but it very rarely is an issue because he is sharp in his movements and intelligent in his positioning.

Antimilan also judges Rakitic's defensive capabilities as a DM and even compared him with Gabi who sits infront of the defense in a double pivot in another thread. Which matters squat all for our purposes. We want to use Rakitic as a #8 infront of Busquets, not as part of the pivot. His defensive abilities, mobility and workrate for our purposes in 4-3-3 are 9/10. And he will press consistently like everyone else in the collective under Lucho unless he has huge ego problems and thinks he will be the king at Barca. In which case he'd be insane so I doubt it. We don't plan to use him as part of the "2" in a 4-2-3-1 like Sevilla's system where obviously he would be better off as a #10 further forward which is probably where Antimilan's judgement is coming from.

 

[te amo barca]

Rakitic's 6 games as a DM averaged in 7.94 rating (whoscored)
as a sub 7 games 6.51
as a CM 10 games 7.64
as an AM 25 games 7.61

 

[Behrox]

Rakitic's 6 games as a DM averaged in 7.94 rating (whoscored)
as a sub 7 games 6.51
as a CM 10 games 7.64
as an AM 25 games 7.61

arty1:

 

[linetty]

Great post, Ursegor

 

[Behrox]

lol Nothing against Antimilan as a Sevilla fan but I have to question his vision if he thinks Fabregas is slightly quicker than Rakitic, even if he watches him week in week out. That's an insane judgement tbh and you don't need to watch 50+ games of Rakitic to realize that. If Cesc isn't the slowest player in the world I don't know who is. Pepe is one of the fastest CBs in the world and Rakitic grilled him with ball at feet. Cesc got outpaced by Varane in a 10 yard sprint with a 3 yard headstart without ball at feet. But not only in terms of pure pace is Cesc slow; he lacks a certain sharpness and intelligence to his game which makes him look like a lost lamb at times. Busquets is also slow physically but it very rarely is an issue because he is sharp in his movements and intelligent in his positioning.

Antimilan also judges Rakitic's defensive capabilities as a DM and even compared him with Gabi who sits infront of the defense in a double pivot in another thread. Which matters squat all for our purposes. We want to use Rakitic as a #8 infront of Busquets, not as part of the pivot. His defensive abilities, mobility and workrate for our purposes in 4-3-3 are 9/10. And he will press consistently like everyone else in the collective under Lucho unless he has huge ego problems and thinks he will be the king at Barca. In which case he'd be insane so I doubt it. We don't plan to use him as part of the "2" in a 4-2-3-1 like Sevilla's system where obviously he would be better off as a #10 further forward which is probably where Antimilan's judgement is coming from.

+1 #CescOut

 

[footyfan]

lol Nothing against Antimilan as a Sevilla fan but I have to question his vision if he thinks Fabregas is slightly quicker than Rakitic, even if he watches him week in week out. That's an insane judgement tbh and you don't need to watch 50+ games of Rakitic to realize that. If Cesc isn't the slowest player in the world I don't know who is. Pepe is one of the fastest CBs in the world and Rakitic grilled him with ball at feet. Cesc got outpaced by Varane in a 10 yard sprint with a 3 yard headstart without ball at feet. But not only in terms of pure pace is Cesc slow; he lacks a certain sharpness and intelligence to his game which makes him look like a lost lamb at times. Busquets is also slow physically but it very rarely is an issue because he is sharp in his movements and intelligent in his positioning.

Antimilan also judges Rakitic's defensive capabilities as a DM and even compared him with Gabi who sits infront of the defense in a double pivot in another thread. Which matters squat all for our purposes. We want to use Rakitic as a #8 infront of Busquets, not as part of the pivot. His defensive abilities, mobility and workrate for our purposes in 4-3-3 are 9/10. And he will press consistently like everyone else in the collective under Lucho unless he has huge ego problems and thinks he will be the king at Barca. In which case he'd be insane so I doubt it. We don't plan to use him as part of the "2" in a 4-2-3-1 like Sevilla's system where obviously he would be better off as a #10 further forward which is probably where Antimilan's judgement is coming from.

What do you mean by mobility? Fabregas is a very mobile midfielder who covers a lot of ground per game. Maybe the word you're looking for is awareness. And his workrate is certainly not worse than Rakitic's. If he had stayed under Lucho's regime and played in Xavi's position, he will press consistently too. He is slower than Rakitic but not significantly so and his dribbling is definitely worse. What you're going to lose is a great understanding with the likes of Messi and Alexis and a source of piercing through balls (not really Rakitic's specialty). For 15M+ profit, it's a great swap.

The hyperbole around Rakitic by some has been annoying though.

 

[Behrox]

What do you mean by mobility? Fabregas is a very mobile midfielder who covers a lot of ground per game. Maybe the word you're looking for is awareness. And his workrate is certainly not worse than Rakitic's. If he had stayed under Lucho's regime and played in Xavi's position, he will press consistently too. He is slower than Rakitic but not significantly so and his dribbling is definitely worse. What you're going to lose is a great understanding with the likes of Messi and Alexis and a source of piercing through balls (not really Rakitic's specialty). For 15M+ profit, it's a great swap.

The hyperbole around Rakitic by some has been annoying though.

Mobility in the footballing sense is not just moving around aimlessly covering ground thats called being a headless chicken. By mobility we mean getting into strategic and tactical positions so as to open up new passing lanes and always being an option for a pass. This requires awareness which Cesc desperatley lacks

 

[footyfan]

Mobility in the footballing sense is not just moving around aimlessly covering ground thats called being a headless chicken. By mobility we mean getting into strategic and tactical positions so as to open up new passing lanes and always being an option for a pass. This requires awareness which Cesc desperatley lacks

Maybe the word you're looking for is awareness.

...

 

[linetty]

What do you mean by mobility? Fabregas is a very mobile midfielder who covers a lot of ground per game. Maybe the word you're looking for is awareness. And his workrate is certainly not worse than Rakitic's. If he had stayed under Lucho's regime and played in Xavi's position, he will press consistently too. He is slower than Rakitic but not significantly so and his dribbling is definitely worse. What you're going to lose is a great understanding with the likes of Messi and Alexis and a source of piercing through balls (not really Rakitic's specialty). For 15M+ profit, it's a great swap.

The hyperbole around Rakitic by some has been annoying though.

Wrong. Troughballs are one of his specialities/strengths, same as key passes.

Hyperbole? Reading trough the forum since we are linked to Rakitic, there is only whining and pointing out in how many ways he will not fit in.

 

[hardyboy]

People here have been overrating Rakitic so much so that they will end up getting dissappointed next season. Mark my words.

 

[Behrox]

People here have been overrating Rakitic so much so that they will end up getting dissappointed next season. Mark my words.

Admit it you just want to keep Cesc because of his gf

 

[Raed]

The very fact that for three seasons straight, Cesc hasn't performed for more than half a season, already makes him useless for me. Rakitic has been key in big games for Seville, has the work rate, the touch, the strength and can provide Barcelona with options.