Do people really want rakitic to start over masch regularly as cdm?
I would. At least in home matches, like today.
Hopefully not. He'd be fine against scrub teams though.
On the other hand, I have yet to see what exactly Masch brings as a DMC in Barca, except tackles and energy/pressure in defensive actions.
He is the worst Dmc I have watched in the last 10 years for Barca in terms of supporting/movement/linking up with other midfielders and attackers.
So, imo, this is how our strengths look like with different Dmcs:
Dmc Busi:
-- attack+build up 100%
-- defense 90%
Dmc Masch:
-- defense 100%
-- and our midfield weakened to 50% because he contributes absolutely nothing
-- so, when he plays, defense won't suffer
-- attacks and build up will suffer as if we are playing with 10 men
Dmc Rakitic:
-- defense will be slightly weaker than with Masch, let's say 80%
-- attack won't be as fluid as with Busi (100%), but around 80%
So, again, in matches like today, I would rather play Rakitic.
MAsch can play against City where we are defending 2:1 lead.
Against Real, if we want to play a draw, then Masch is good.
If we are hoping to score some Goals, let's hope that a front three and 2 Mcs will produce something by themselves, without Masch's help.
