Ivan Rakitić

[jamrock]

yeah, go box to box type of player and we need one like that in our team, the kroos like player can wait a season. unless xavi leaves

 

[footyfan]

Buying him makes no sense unless we really want to move away from the Xavi role. He will stick out just like Cesc does and Cesc is a much better player. His dribbling is better and he has a bit more space but he also loses the ball under pressure easily. FFS imagine Cesc having all that space in the Sevilla midfield.

I'd rather stick with Cesc (or) go for a top class box to box like Gundogan and change our style (or) get Kroos.

 

[GoobiePls]

He had a good half against Real and now you already want to buy him? He's completely inferior to Cesc in every way imaginable

 

[Sumlit]

Buying him makes no sense unless we really want to move away from the Xavi role. He will stick out just like Cesc does and Cesc is a much better player. His dribbling is better and he has a bit more space but he also loses the ball under pressure easily. FFS imagine Cesc having all that space in the Sevilla midfield.

I'd rather stick with Cesc (or) go for a top class box to box like Gundogan and change our style (or) get Kroos.

Right now, you're not going to find another Xavi no matter how hard you look. So by that alone, the team will need to find a different player and adapt. Fabregas might be a better overall player, but Fabregas is still ill suited for a deep midfielder role. He lacks mobility, lacks awareness and lacks defensive contribution. He is also lacking at dictating and controlling the game. Also, perhaps you haven't noticed, but Fabregas is himself prone to losing balls and making poor passes under pressure.

Rakitic has played well in the midfield and has the defensive contribution and mobility that Cesc lacks. He has plenty of vision too, and IMO he has enough technical ability. He's not the best choice out there, but he is still a very good one nonetheless.

Btw, the way things are looking, the midfield will start running through Iniesta now and after Xavi departs. The team just needs a midfielder who can cover and support Iniesta, Cesc is not that type of player.

 

[AnfieldEd]

We were interested last summer and in January and one suspects we'll be interested this summer too. Fantastic player.

 

[linetty]

He had a good half against Real and now you already want to buy him? He's completely inferior to Cesc in every way imaginable

You're massively underrating Rakitić here, but I agree Cesc is better.

Having a player like Rakitic would open a way to a lot of possibilities though.

 

[Alarcón]

He is a great player but not in the slightest suited to replace Xavi. Completely different playing styles.

 

[ebieymjunior]

I think that in the next 5+ years, Barcelona will buy 0 CMs.

 

[khaled_a_d]

He is a great player but not in the slightest suited to replace Xavi. Completely different playing styles.

Xavi style is unique ,It will be hard to find a player who can control the game the way he does
We have to realise that each player has different things to offer,whoever replaces Xavi will be different and we will need to adjust

 

[Kinlejus]

He had a good half against Real and now you already want to buy him? He's completely inferior to Cesc in every way imaginable

It seems that almost everyone is capable of schooling RM, right?

 

[footyfan]

Right now, you're not going to find another Xavi no matter how hard you look. So by that alone, the team will need to find a different player and adapt. Fabregas might be a better overall player, but Fabregas is still ill suited for a deep midfielder role. He lacks mobility, lacks awareness and lacks defensive contribution. He is also lacking at dictating and controlling the game. Also, perhaps you haven't noticed, but Fabregas is himself prone to losing balls and making poor passes under pressure.

Rakitic has played well in the midfield and has the defensive contribution and mobility that Cesc lacks. He has plenty of vision too, and IMO he has enough technical ability. He's not the best choice out there, but he is still a very good one nonetheless.

Btw, the way things are looking, the midfield will start running through Iniesta now and after Xavi departs. The team just needs a midfielder who can cover and support Iniesta, Cesc is not that type of player.

We'll have to disagree here. Fabregas is much more suited for a deeper role than Rakitic at Barcelona. Don't be misled by the tackles+interceptions stats, obviously Rakitic is gonna have a much higher rate because Fabregas plays for a team that keeps 70-75% possession. If you check Fabregas' defensive stats at Arsenal, they rival Rakitic's despite Arsenal also being a very possession-oriented team.

In a strict position based Barcelona system, Rakitic would not provide any significant mobility advantage to Fabregas. Modric? Yeah maybe. Maybe you didn't understand my "Rakitic loses the ball" reference - it's to say he's not any better than Cesc in this regard. And as for the skill most associated with that position - passing - Fabregas is a lot better than Rakitic. Awareness? You can never tell. Fabregas never made the kind of silly-looking mistakes at Arsenal, because he was never put under that kind of pressure. I think it would be the same with Rakitic.

In short, Rakitic would not offer any significant advantage in comparison to Cesc that would justify spending a bunch of money on him and possibly selling a midfielder who has already taken 3 years of bedding-in experience. If we're really going to change our RCM's responsibilities, I'd much rather invest in the best - Gundogan who is probably the best fit as he has Xavi-like qualities in addition to being very good defensively (or) Vidal - than Rakitic. I'd prefer keeping a Xavi-like player in the team though, so if not Gundogan, then Kroos. I don't think the games will start running through Iniesta like you imagine.

Don't get me wrong, Rakitic has possibly been the best midfielder in La Liga this season, but so was Cesc in the Premier League.

 

[Sumlit]

We'll have to disagree here. Fabregas is much more suited for a deeper role than Rakitic at Barcelona. Don't be misled by the tackles+interceptions stats, obviously Rakitic is gonna have a much higher rate because Fabregas plays for a team that keeps 70-75% possession. If you check Fabregas' defensive stats at Arsenal, they rival Rakitic's despite Arsenal also being a very possession-oriented team.

In a strict position based Barcelona system, Rakitic would not provide any significant mobility advantage to Fabregas. Modric? Yeah maybe. Maybe you didn't understand my "Rakitic loses the ball" reference - it's to say he's not any better than Cesc in this regard. And as for the skill most associated with that position - passing - Fabregas is a lot better than Rakitic. Awareness? You can never tell. Fabregas never made the kind of silly-looking mistakes at Arsenal, because he was never put under that kind of pressure. I think it would be the same with Rakitic.

In short, Rakitic would not offer any significant advantage in comparison to Cesc that would justify spending a bunch of money on him and possibly selling a midfielder who has already taken 3 years of bedding-in experience. If we're really going to change our RCM's responsibilities, I'd much rather invest in the best - Gundogan who is probably the best fit as he has Xavi-like qualities in addition to being very good defensively (or) Vidal - than Rakitic. I'd prefer keeping a Xavi-like player in the team though, so if not Gundogan, then Kroos. I don't think the games will start running through Iniesta like you imagine.

Don't get me wrong, Rakitic has possibly been the best midfielder in La Liga this season, but so was Cesc in the Premier League.

Well then, we disagree. The Fabregas at Arsenal and the Fabregas now are two totally different player. He was much more mobile and much more agile while at Arsenal. Maybe age and/or injury have sapped his agility and speed, but he is simply not the same quick and agile player he used to be. The difference is more noticeable as the season goes on and Cesc's body becomes taxed. The second half of his seasons show a noticeable decrease in his effectiveness. Meanwhile, he is still plenty capable of making poor decisions and prone to losing balls and bad passing. Last game, for example, he gave away a lot of passes in dangerous situations.

Rakitic right now vs Cesc right now, is definitely an upgrade in mobility, work rate and defensive production. Cesc still has world class vision and is great at providing scoring incisive passing, but that skillset is more useful for the attacking midfield role, and Iniesta is simply a superior player. There is a trade-off in skillset, but IMO one that is beneficial to the team.

I agree that Gundogan is the superior choice.

 

[jamrock]

as it relates to this matter, sumlit is right and anyone who disagrees with him is wrong.

but we won't sell cesc though and he has no where to go really.

in a ideal work, we would get him and rafa and sell cesc,song and loan roberto

 

[Catorce]

Let's hope Atleti can go on and strengthen their squad when Costa leaves. Ivan Rakitic would be a great addition to that squad, coupled to a new striker (Or will they gamble and let Villa do it all on his own?)

 

[Antimilan]

Let's hope Atleti can go on and strengthen their squad when Costa leaves. Ivan Rakitic would be a great addition to that squad, coupled to a new striker (Or will they gamble and let Villa do it all on his own?)

Rakitic is a very good player... he plays well and helps the squad a lot. After all, he is Sevilla's captain this season and I admire him, his character and skills, especially his long balls, corner kicks and free kicks (crosses in the box, as he rarely shoots from a free kick). Nevertheless, I can't imagine him replacing Gabi at Atletico. Gabi doesn't seem multi-dimensional and a talented player, or at least he doesn't give one an impression as such. However, Rakitic will never ever in his career even come close to Gabi's work rate during a match. Gabi's pressure, running, marking and fight could not be compared to Rak's, and that is what Rakitic's role actually is most of the time, the DM-CM thing... but he just doesn't do it. He has his sparks, like against Madrid, putting Pepe in shame, but I guess you have seen his first half performance = disastrous. That is Rakitic in most of the matches, in both halves of the game, slow and lazy, but still has those sparks. Would that be enough in Atletico's powerful and winner's machinery ? Probably not.

I fear that if Captain Rak would sign for Atletico, he will not be more than a sub... unless they change their playing style and somehow make way for Rak to slide into the first team. I doubt that very much, considering that Koke and/or Suarez, Thiago are also needed. The only way Rak could play as a first-teamer in Atletico is if they would feature both him and Gabi at the same time, which could happen, but I still doubt since they more or less have the same role. It would mean for one of them to be forced to play more deep or more forward upfront, and that would possibly not turn out to be effective.