Ivan Rakitić

[El Barcelona]

They can have him for 125mil, everybody has a price..

 

[DonAndres]

You can assume as much as you want . Sorry to say it's as stupid as most of your posts . He gave two through balls to Messi, of which one of them were wrongly called offsides and all his ariel balls were forward passes and helped us to take the ball from our half to the attacking third depsite Busquets slowing the attack umpteen times . We were facing Alaves not Real Madrid for Rakitic to attempt 26 duels . Better luck next time

This is just false. Why does a pass get glorified just because it's chipped/long? They are still a VAST majority just switched from fullback to fullback, tediously.

That is save for those lob throughs which are definitely no routine part of his game, because when's the last time he's done something like that against a team that wasn't Alaves? They were playing scared and refusing to press us but also having way too high of a line for a "parked bus".

Arthur played 13 minutes.
I can pull a few crazy estimations also why we played better in the last 13 minutes.
It works both ways, you won't like it.
Here we go:

1. We played better in the last 13 minutes because there was no Semedo.
We didn't play with a man less in creation.
2. We played better in the last 13 minutes because Dembele was finally out. It is a no coincidence that our best 13 minutes of play came when he was finally off the field.
3. We played good because BOTH guys who struggle the most with Tiki-Taka, Dembele and Semedo were out
4. We played better because we had more Cms and less wingers on a field:
Roberto as a Rb
Busi, Arthur, Rakitic, Coutinho.
So, when we fielded 4-5 cms in the same time (two wingers Dembele and Semedo out), we were better in fluidity, movement and chemistry.
So, we should go back to 442.
5. Busi was out, so we were even better

Note: I don't quite believe in all of these things mentioned above.
But you created a theory out of the last 13 minutes. I can do the same.
As said, the simplest one is:
Arthur was in
Dembele was finally out

As always, instead of just a single factor and a single player, way more factors were responsible for some outcomes, even in the last 13 minutes.

Lol, difference is I didn't pull the observation out of thin air and just randomly assign it to players. Arthur was engaging in associative play around the box in the middle. He literally assisted Coutinho's goal by setting up a central attack rather than just spreading it perpetually to the wings. It wasn't just the assist but also his one-two with Suarez that led to that comically shit bicycle. He was playing comfortably at the perimeter of the area pressing the center defense with his buildup, like Iniesta used to do. He also is just faster with his decision making and doesn't encourage a defense to get settled the way Rakitic/Busquets do.

Barca isn't RM where passing it to the fullback is the answer 9/10 times the way Rakitic does. And there is NOTHING you can actually come up with a reason to explain why "we were better with Dembele off". We were better with Semedo off going forward but not because Bob became some crucial addition to our creation. Busi was off for a grand total of like 5 mins, prior to which we already scored the 2nd and were looking better. So yeah great logic there.

See what you're doing with that whole list? You're just making shit up, assigning 0 reason at all, and then trying to equate it to my claim as if you've proven anything. Arthur had a REAL impact on the pitch, unlike your imaginary "Dembele held us back" or whatever.

And Rakitic did have a solid game, but he is not new age Pirlo with long balls just like he's not the new Schweinsteiger "covering every inch of grass carrying our defense". That shit gets thrown around like he's some perfect all round midfielder. Seems like we'd have been destroying the CL year after year if this was the case, but it is clearly anything but that. His defensive shortcomings are just as high as Busi's, only you fail to notice how often he gets totally burned 1v1 and is just chasing his man. Or how he was losing possession with dangerous mistakes like Roberto in the first half.

Busquets has become the forum's new target while Rakitic is all so perfect in every which way these days. Busi at least can still be excellent in the CL from time to time. He was superb in both legs against Chelsea, unlike Rakitic who might as well have been Paulinho. And then vs. Roma both were terrible but Rakitic redefined terrible in that game moreso than any of the others.

 

[RMU ReBorn]

This is just false. Why does a pass get glorified just because it's chipped/long? They are still a VAST majority just switched from fullback to fullback, tediously.

That is save for those lob throughs which are definitely no routine part of his game, because when's the last time he's done something like that against a team that wasn't Alaves? They were playing scared and refusing to press us but also having way too high of a line for a "parked bus".



Lol, difference is I didn't pull the observation out of thin air and just randomly assign it to players. Arthur was engaging in associative play around the box in the middle. He literally assisted Coutinho's goal by setting up a central attack rather than just spreading it perpetually to the wings. It wasn't just the assist but also his one-two with Suarez that led to that comically shit bicycle. He was playing comfortably at the perimeter of the area pressing the center defense with his buildup, like Iniesta used to do. He also is just faster with his decision making and doesn't encourage a defense to get settled the way Rakitic/Busquets do.

Barca isn't RM where passing it to the fullback is the answer 9/10 times the way Rakitic does. And there is NOTHING you can actually come up with a reason to explain why "we were better with Dembele off". We were better with Semedo off going forward but not because Bob became some crucial addition to our creation. Busi was off for a grand total of like 5 mins, prior to which we already scored the 2nd and were looking better. So yeah great logic there.

See what you're doing with that whole list? You're just making shit up, assigning 0 reason at all, and then trying to equate it to my claim as if you've proven anything. Arthur had a REAL impact on the pitch, unlike your imaginary "Dembele held us back" or whatever.

And Rakitic did have a solid game, but he is not new age Pirlo with long balls just like he's not the new Schweinsteiger "covering every inch of grass carrying our defense". That shit gets thrown around like he's some perfect all round midfielder. Seems like we'd have been destroying the CL year after year if this was the case, but it is clearly anything but that. His defensive shortcomings are just as high as Busi's, only you fail to notice how often he gets totally burned 1v1 and is just chasing his man. Or how he was losing possession with dangerous mistakes like Roberto in the first half.

Busquets has become the forum's new target while Rakitic is all so perfect in every which way these days. Busi at least can still be excellent in the CL from time to time. He was superb in both legs against Chelsea, unlike Rakitic who might as well have been Paulinho. And then vs. Roma both were terrible but Rakitic redefined terrible in that game moreso than any of the others.

Busquets had worse game than Rakitic against Roma unless you were watching a different match . Secondly if there is one player who gets slaughtered more than Rakitic in this forum it's Gomes .

Busquets new target ? Dude is untouchable in this forum even if he plays shit . Same old La masia scentiments . And about Busquets being good in Cl ;he is one of the players who is slowing us done were as Rakitic can at least defend and can cover for the players depsite being slow. Busquets was a sitting duck against Willian when he squared him off for chelsea's first goal .

Rakitic had better contribution in attack and defense last season in Our domestic double win but i get that you Won't be accepting facts by using weird theorys and analogys . Stats and eyes won't lie however . This forums darling is now crying for a pay rise despite playing shit for past few seasons were as the guy you despise plays out of his position doing solid job without any complaints. You and your agenda of 'Busi being new scape goat'

 

[FCB1987]

The bias against Rakitic and in favor of Dembele is strong on this forum

 

[RMU ReBorn]

I get that Rakitic is getting more and more heat from few fellas here after he destroyed Argentina's attacks one after another in world cup . Some lunatics were even abusing him in his facebook page

 

[Raketa10]

Would drive him to Paris if we got €60m+ for him

Thank God you are not in charge.

 

[GOAT_SUAREZ]

Would drive him to Paris if we got €60m+ for him

Unreal hate towards Rakitic.

 

[George_Costanza]

only sell Raki if we are planning to buy Pogba

 

[Horatio]

The bias against Rakitic and in favor of Dembele is strong on this forum

It is an age thing mostly. People will justify a lot of stuff for Dembele because he is young and have the hope things will improve with time.

 

[RMU ReBorn]

The bias against Rakitic and in favor of Dembele is strong on this forum

If you post stats of last season these people will bring all the tiki taka nonsense and how Rakitic is a misfit in our team depsite Lucho and Ev playing him more than any other player . He had a solid 2017-18 season and was one of the reason why we kept our unbeaten record till second last match. I would say our third best player in La liga behind Messi and Mats only .

Still look at the way people despise his contribution by comparing him with Basti's and Pirlo's as if anyone claimed anything like that . Even BBZ hasn't said anything like that .

 

[DonAK]

Down to their level

Says the poster guy for outright Rakitic hate. How come that hatefull profile picture disappeard?

Typical millennial hypocrisy.

No interest taking part in this discussion, but unless you're older than 38 years old you're a millennial too you know?

I see people in their late 20s and early 30s always use *millennial* to put down people as if they're supposed to be retarded or lacking in IQ and it always amuses me as they seem to be unaware of the fact that they are millennials themselves.

 

[DonAndres]

Busquets had worse game than Rakitic against Roma unless you were watching a different match . Secondly if there is one player who gets slaughtered more than Rakitic in this forum it's Gomes .

Busquets new target ? Dude is untouchable in this forum even if he plays shit . Same old La masia scentiments . And about Busquets being good in Cl ;he is one of the players who is slowing us done were as Rakitic can at least defend and can cover for the players depsite being slow. Busquets was a sitting duck against Willian when he squared him off for chelsea's first goal .

Rakitic had better contribution in attack and defense last season in Our domestic double win but i get that you Won't be accepting facts by using weird theorys and analogys . Stats and eyes won't lie however . This forums darling is now crying for a pay rise despite playing shit for past few seasons were as the guy you despise plays out of his position doing solid job without any complaints. You and your agenda of 'Busi being new scape goat'

Go read through Busi's thread for the past few months if you don't believe me that he is now the ugly duckling of this forum (aside from Suarez who thoroughly deserves it rn).

You actually think Rakitic was better than Busquets against Chelsea??? I am convinced over half this forum doesn't actually watch football, or doesn't remember games at all.

In that first leg Busquets made 6 tackles and was everywhere, don't even begin to say shit about "but Willian's goal" because Busquets on that day did twice as much as Rakitic and Paulinho combined on defense. His forward passing was on point and one of the very few that was able to consistently find Messi. I can pull out a match comp if you want because it is clear as day that Busquets was on another level to Raki/Paulinho. Rakitic was so sterile in midfield that day that he might as well have been Paulinho, pretty much no forward passing at all and those two were the sole reasons Chelsea were so easily able to set up their bus.

In the 2nd leg Busquets was far better as well, but then EV decided to go full Mourinho mode and sub on Paulinho for Iniesta and Gomes for Busi a little more than halfway through the game just to save the lead.

Both were shocking against Roma, but Rakitic was actually physically incapable of playing through pressure out the back. One of the worst individual performances from a Barca player ever, like Aleix Vidal vs RM level bad.

Stats and eyes don't lie? The same stats that say Rakitic doesn't even make as many defensive actions as Modric let alone Busquets? Hahaha. Funny how I'm the one that makes arguments "in theory" or "analogies". Yet Raki is now hailed as the backbone of our defense even tho he is only slightly above average in that regard.

 

[RMU ReBorn]

Go read through Busi's thread for the past few months if you don't believe me that he is now the ugly duckling of this forum (aside from Suarez who thoroughly deserves it rn).

You actually think Rakitic was better than Busquets against Chelsea??? I am convinced over half this forum doesn't actually watch football, or doesn't remember games at all.

In that first leg Busquets made 6 tackles and was everywhere, don't even begin to say shit about "but Willian's goal" because Busquets on that day did twice as much as Rakitic and Paulinho combined on defense. His forward passing was on point and one of the very few that was able to consistently find Messi. I can pull out a match comp if you want because it is clear as day that Busquets was on another level to Raki/Paulinho. Rakitic was so sterile in midfield that day that he might as well have been Paulinho, pretty much no forward passing at all and those two were the sole reasons Chelsea were so easily able to set up their bus.

In the 2nd leg Busquets was far better as well, but then EV decided to go full Mourinho mode and sub on Paulinho for Iniesta and Gomes for Busi a little more than halfway through the game just to save the lead.

Both were shocking against Roma, but Rakitic was actually physically incapable of playing through pressure out the back. One of the worst individual performances from a Barca player ever, like Aleix Vidal vs RM level bad.

Stats and eyes don't lie? The same stats that say Rakitic doesn't even make as many defensive actions as Modric let alone Busquets? Hahaha. Funny how I'm the one that makes arguments "in theory" or "analogies". Yet Raki is now hailed as the backbone of our defense even tho he is only slightly above average in that regard.

90% of your post is about how Busquets was better than Rakitic against Chelsea . How does that refute my argument that Rakitic had a better season overall . Keep on bragging about Busquets being able to outperform Rakitic against Chelsea to defend your narrative that Busquets was better last season . I didn't said that Rakitic had a better game against Chelsea . For me both were average and Busquets was slightly better .That's it . And about Roma game , Busquets was our worst player . Let's agree to disagree on that . Talking about forward passes in Chelsea tie , Rakitic created more chances , key passes and had more forward passes in La liga last season compared to Pirlo Illuminati of Barca . Oh but i get that you wanna prove that Busi is still better by using one chelsea tie .

Regarding Busquets being the scapegoat here . All the comments and posts you mentioned are nothing compared to the abuses and hate that Rakitic gets from this forum whenever he under performs .Oh boy but Busi is a La Masia guy and is untouchable even if he plays till 50, were as Rakitic is being compared with paulinho for playing out of his position multiple times without crying for payrise or anything like that and producing a season better than that of Busquets

And what's the stat you are talking about ? . Defensively he was immense for Croatia . As much as Modric . Both were pivotal as partners . And the comparison with Busquets , well he covers more ground , won more interceptions and had better defensive contribution than busquets last season in La liga . Both weren't that good in CL . But yeah Chelsea game is all what we need to assume that Busquets is still prime 'pirlo' and Rakitic is paulinho in disguise . Keep going i wanna see those stats were Busi was better than Raki in defense last season.. Bring it out , Andres

 

[DonAndres]

90% of your post is about how Busquets was better than Rakitic against Chelsea . How doea that refute my argument that Rakitic had a better season overall . Keep on bragging about the Busquets being able to outperform Rakitic against Chelsea to defend your narrative that Busquets was better last season . I didn't said that Rakitic had a better game against Chelsea . For me both were average and Busquets was slightly better .That's it . And about Roma game , for me Busquets was our worst player . Let's agree to disagree on that . Talking about forward passes in Chelsea tie , Rakitic created more chances , key passes and had more forward passes in La liga last season compared to Pirlo Illuminati of Barca . Oh but i get that you wanna prove that Busi is still better by using one chelsea tie .

Regarding Busquets being the scapegoat here . All the comments and posts you mentioned are nothing compared to the abuses and hate that Rakitic gets from this forum whenever he underperoforms which was far less compared to Busi last season . Oh boy but Busi is a La Masia guy and is untouchable even if he plays till 50 were as Rakitic is being compared with paulinho for playing out of his position multiple times without crying for payrise or anything like that

And what's the stat you are talking about ? . Defensively he was immense for Croatia . As much as Modric was worse . Both were pivotal as partners . And the comparison with Busquets , well he covers more ground , wins more interceptions and had better defensive contribution than busquets last season in La liga . Both weren't that good in CL . But yeah Chelsea game is all what we need to assume that Busquets is still prime 'pirlo' and Rakitic is paulinho in disguise . Keep going i wanna see those stats were Busi was better than Raki in defense last season.. Bring it out , Andres

Why do you bring up defensive stats as if it's the smoking gun in your argument? You do realize that Rakitic hasn't had even 1 competition in 1 season in his career where he was higher than Busquets in tackles per game + interceptions per game. Not for Barca, not for Croatia. Not UCL or La Liga. Hell he barely even scrapes up to Modric's defensive stats as I said before, being lower than Modric in multiple competitions for tackles+interceptions. He's not even close to Thiago in those stats either. And Rakitic isn't even at his personal best defensively speaking, he was better in 15/16 but people want to all of a sudden act like he's prime Schweinsteiger now at the age of 30 when his mobility is at its lowest.

And I brought up Chelsea because you said Rakitic has been better than Busi in the CL which is veritably false. Rakitic hasn't been even ok in the CL for 2-3 years now, let alone good. Busquets has had plenty of bad games but his fair share of standout performances far beyond Rakitic. No comparison at all.

So yeah, where exactly is your ace in the hole? You kept goading me about defensive stats as if Rakitic is Kante, but I don't see you actually bringing them up. Are you gonna flip the tables now and say that Rakitic's defensive work is "beyond what stats show" eh? That Raki is this cerebral super high defensive IQ genius that blocks passing lanes while all Busi does is tackles+interceptions? Hahaha. He's not better than Busi for stats or for IQ.

 

[RMU ReBorn]

Why do you bring up defensive stats as if it's the smoking gun in your argument? You do realize that Rakitic hasn't had even 1 competition in 1 season in his career where he was higher than Busquets in tackles per game + interceptions per game. Not for Barca, not for Croatia. Not UCL or La Liga. Hell he barely even scrapes up to Modric's defensive stats as I said before, being lower than Modric in multiple competitions for tackles+interceptions. He's not even close to Thiago in those stats either. And Rakitic isn't even at his personal best defensively speaking, he was better in 15/16 but people want to all of a sudden act like he's prime Schweinsteiger now at the age of 30 when his mobility is at its lowest.

And I brought up Chelsea because you said Rakitic has been better than Busi in the CL which is veritably false. Rakitic hasn't been even ok in the CL for 2-3 years now, let alone good. Busquets has had plenty of bad games but his fair share of standout performances far beyond Rakitic. No comparison at all.

So yeah, where exactly is your ace in the hole? You kept goading me about defensive stats as if Rakitic is Kante, but I don't see you actually bringing them up. Are you gonna flip the tables now and say that Rakitic's defensive work is "beyond what stats show" eh? That Raki is this cerebral super high defensive IQ genius that blocks passing lanes while all Busi does is tackles+interceptions? Hahaha. He's not better than Busi for stats or for IQ.

So being defensively better is about having more tackles +interceptions . Nice narrative to suit your argument as usual Nobody said that he is prime basti or anything like that . But it's evident that he defends better than all other midfielders in Barca squad . Why am i bringing defensive ability ? . If you compare offensive contribution last season ,Rakitic shits all over Busi again . Not even close . But then you will bring in filters like 'Rakitic didn't even had a season were he didn't gave 4-5 cute passes or the typical turns of Busi' . I won't be surprised if you use that as narrative to show that Busi was better in offense last season . My dear don andres being better in defense is not just about having better tackles +interceptions . Yeah cutting out the passing lanes , covering more ground , duels won, ariel battles , blocks ,errors leading to goals everything matters . I like the way you are using tackles +interception data so that Busi gets the adavntage because Rakitic had more interceptions , duels wons , take ons last season . But i get that tackles + interception matters

In Cl Busquets was as bad as Rakitic was or as average as Rakitic was . He doesn't add anything more than what Rakitic offers in CL . He was important player in Pep's system . But at the moment i would pick Rakitic over him in a heartbeat looking at his form last season . Rakitic isn't kante defensively but Busquets being worse in that aspect makes Rakitic prime Seedorf in Barcelona