Ivan Rakitić

[Barcaman]

I don't think his Spanish waitress will allow him to leave Spain. I wouldn't worry.

 

[FlaFCB]

He seems to be starting to give Rakitic the same treatment he gave Vidal and Montoya. I don't like this. And it's not like he's been playing badly as the rb/rcm hybrid licho invented either.

 

[Dado]

You gotta be kidding me .... no way they wanna lower their wages?

http://www.index.hr/sport/clanak/ra...lupi-je-li-ovo-razlog-sto-ne-igra/938863.aspx

Catalan journalists speculate that the problem is not its worse form, but foul play in the background. The Barcelona has problems with contracts, currently stands too much on salaries and can not raise an objection to its greatest star, because then you would not have the other players. But if Messi but does not want to turn down their requests, Barca decided to reduce the demands of other players.


Rakitic is negotiating a new contract with Barca, but the Catalans claim that it holds Enrique on the bench to show him that no one is impossible to replace, with the exception of Leo Messi of course. Therefore, he wants the new contract, will not be able to count on a raise serious and even would be able to reduce the salary,

 

[Luftstalag14]

Luis Enrique needs to stop his hissy fit and give Rakitic the proper respect. If you work hard and play well and get rewarded with sitting on the bench, who gives a damn anymore?

I'd rather see LE out the door than seeing Rakitic leave because of LE's BS like this.

 

[André]

This isn't good. Something is definitely happening.

http://www.mundodeportivo.com/futbo.../412730506346/rakitic-barca-luis-enrique.html

Can someone translate? Shortly

 

[DonAK]

For all the crap Pep got due to the Ibra situation and how he wanted to get rid of Eto'o too, Lucho isn't any better.

I just hope he doesn't start benching Rakitic all the time or worse, leave him out of the squad.

The job Rakitic has done for the team is incredible. He has sacrificed all his attacking instincts and vision to help out the team 110%. Running up and down every game.

Before he had to cover for Messi and Alves and also participate in attack, often running to the box and contributing to important plays there, like the CL final goal.

And now he has to not only help out Roberto in defence, but also cover for the midfielders and all of MSN as the midfield shape is totally out of balance.

I don't get how or why people expect Rakitic to be creating chances, score goals all the time when his job is to run himself to the ground for the team, and then we get comments like he's average or useless. And if Lucho starts totally ignoring him now despite all Rakitic has done for the team, then I'll lose all respect for him as a Barca coach(not as a former player and legend obviously)

Denis and Gomes were put in his position earlier this season and it often resulted in us collapsing defensively with teams easily running past us on counter attacks. I wonder why?

Fix the midfield so there's more balance, and you'll see Rakitic doing better too when he doesn't have to cover for 3-4 players and run all the time, because while other players are moving around, this guy doesn't just move around, he runs from one end to another, from one position to another, for the team.

/rant

I hope the report is rubbish of course

 

[Devils]

Rakitic has played 19 of the 25 games this season. He's playing a lot. He's not playing to the extreme we played him last season, which is good becuause he really burned himself out towards to the end of last season.

It's not so much Lucho benching Rakitic as it is him giving game time to Denis and Gomes, something that has to be expected upon signing these guys.

 

[xXKonan]

I don't think Lucho, will go that far in giving Rakitic the Vidal/Montoya treatment but it's worrying though.

I'm thinking Lucho hasn't been satisfied with Rakitic's performances for quite sometime now. and with us getting Gomes and Denis he's trying to send Rakitic a message that his spot isn't totally safe and he needs to work harder for it.

but what I'm worried about is that this could cause some big issues in the locker room and with the second half of the season starting soon we can't have this.

 

[BBZ8800]

or he doesn`t trust him anymore.

I am somewhat faster in writing off players than majority of posters here, so I'll jump again and say: he is done as a starter for Barca.

Our team is on a downhill since a start of 2016.
And we obviously needed some changes, some new blood, new energy and new ideas.

MSN=you can't bench any of them
Iniesta=it is hard to bench him
Rakitic=...
Busi=it is hard to bench him
Pique=that won't improve our game too much
Roberto=are there any other options at all?
Alba/Digne=there are options
Masch=Umtiti can play
Mats=Cillessen is bad, it seems, plus it won't improve our game at all

So, basically if Lucho and his stuff wanted some changes, there is 0% chances to bench MSN, plus 0-10% chances to bench Iniesta or Busi.
With changing Cbs, you won't improve your flow or midfield game too much, so that idea is dead also.
The only options for some changes and fresh blood currently are: Rakitic's position, a LB and Masch/Umtiti.

Imo again, Lucho probably thought that something is wrong with our team and he wanted and needed some changes.
Since Rakitic is the only player out of 3+3 attackers+midfielders, plus Rakitic played like a crap for more than year, it was the simplest solution.

The other part of Rakitic's problem is:
= he is old-ish, and we have 3 younger options (fresh blood, more energy, new ideas) in Denis, Gomes and Rafinha
Plus, there will be more changes like this one in the future when we'll need an overhaul of a team.
Plus, if someone is going to be sold, in my eyes, Arda, Rakitic, Paco and Masch are no1 options currently to raise some funds for strengthening our team in the future.

Imo, Rakitic will be sold in a summer, or he will stay till 2018, but he won't play at all in 2017/18, and then he'll leave for peanuts, regardless of whether he'll sign an extension or not.
Plus, I believe that his extension is not on a table anymore since we spent too much on MSN's wages, and since how crappy Raki plays lately, plus considering that we have new, younger boys in Denis, Gomes, Rafinha, Alena.

Also, the "bad" thing for Rakitic is:
-- since he is benched, we play much better (even though it is hard to simplify it down only to Rakitic's fault), but still:
Rakitic on a field:
Barca:Real 1:1, we played liked idiots majority of a match
Sociedad:Barca 1:1, we didn't play football at all
Man City:Barca 3:1, the same

Without Raki:
Barca:Mgladbach 4:0, an awesome match, even though it was a semi-friendly match, but still...
Osasuna:Barca 0:3, a lot of chances again, without Raki on a field
Barca:Espanyol 4:1, the same

Majority of people are too emotional about the past success and too attached to players and they will jump on my post and say: But Raki was a vital part of our team in a treble season.
Well, he was.
Thanks for that, Raki.

But, this is 2017 in a few days and it seems that he is not our first choice anymore, it seems that we can play without him, it seems that we play even better without him, plus, he is a guy on whom we can earn a lot of money (and we aren't counting on him anymore).

So... Yes, something is going on.

 

[DonAK]

According to you @BBZ8800, the entire team need to benched/sold and new players brought in for all positions every second year.

Kind of ridiculous.

 

[Dado]

I am somewhat faster in writing off players than majority of posters here, so I'll jump again and say: he is done as a starter for Barca....

I would say the way team performs against PSG will determine who will be the starter.
Even tough for that right midfield spot it really doesnt matter who plays there they are all equaly sterile due to tactical reasons.

 

[Raketa10]

Honestly I do not care if Rakitic is at his best form or not. If he is not, ok he can sit game or two, or you can bring him from the bench, but to give him such treatment and not give him even one single minute for 3 games in a row is just disrespectful.

This is not the way you comunicate with your important players. He gave this team a lot and this treatment just shows how big idiot Lucho is. His social skils are bellow any possible level.

When a good player like Rakitic is out of the form you have to try to bring him up again and all Lucho knows is to bury that player even deeper in the ground.

If you want to lose respect from a player this is the way to do it. I just hope this guy leaves before Rakitic does. He is still 28 he has a lot more to offer.

And honestly I can't understand some guys here, they would actually sell every single player who is at the moment out of form. This is not the way big club like Barca should operate. Imagine if we sold Pique when he was playing like crap for two seasons after Pep left.

 

[gasgas]

3 games only and everybody goes ballistic
He's out of form, burnt out and we have 5 midfielders who need to play too

And we've looked better without him the past few matches, so Lucho is sticking to what is working.

We need to integrate Denis, Gomes, Rafinha, Arda into the team

Rakitic will come back later

 

[FlaFCB]

3 games only and everybody goes ballistic
He's out of form, burnt out and we have 5 midfielders who need to play too

And we've looked better without him the past few matches, so Lucho is sticking to what is working.

We need to integrate Denis, Gomes, Rafinha, Arda into the team

Rakitic will come back later

We looked better because Iniesta is back, not because denis or gomes are playing better than Rakitic. Because they aren't.

 

[Potroh]

We need to integrate Denis, Gomes, ......., Arda into the team

Why? Because some folks insisted on buying them? Is it a MUST to integrate players who proven to be lower standards than the rest of the team?
When you buy a piece of tire but it turns out it's smaller than the other three tires, do you forcefully put it on your car's right forward wheel, just because it can't go "wasted"? No, you wouldn't do that, you'd go back to the market and exchange the wrong size for a proper one.

Rakitic will come back later

Things most definitely do not work like that behind the scene. Once a regular player feels he is dropped, neglected or underestimated, he usually starts having rather serious problems, which will generally be solved by either leaving or by the change of the coach... Rakitic probably hasn't reached that point, but could - relatively soon.