wisconsincule
Senior Member
This dude needs to stop playing every single minute. Seriously it needs to stop. If he’s fit he is playing no ifs ands or buts.
Ivan Rakitić
- Thread starter Barcaman
- Start date
soul24rage
Senior Member
I think it's more to do with Rakitic wanting to play everytime and the manager not having the cojones to reject his requests
BBZ8800
Senior Member
How would we know about Alena on this level if he never plays?
You really telling me Alena would be worse than the whatever version of Rakitic was on display today?
If Alena can't be trusted against the mighty PSV over a zombie Rakitic wtf is he doing at our club?
Your hate for young players is something else. Why do you support Barca anyway? Go watch someone like PSG who spent billions on fully developed players.
From what I have seen from Alena (in this moment), I wasn't impressed and even though I was hyped about him 2-3 years ago, I am not anymore.
Regarding why is he here: well, we are not sure whether to keep him, sell him or loan him.
Staff is still deciding what to do, based on his Bteam matches, training and their assessments.
You will now reply: he needs to play so that we can assess him.
Kaptoum didn't need to play, or 100s of others.
And we didn't make a mistake.
For others who are commenting why is Rakitic playing every game, maybe EV considers him as a the only truly defensive guy in midfield.
Busi is not a good defender lately.
Vidal is not holding his position and babysitting for attackers. One guy posted a map yesterday, Vidal is running from box to box all the time.
Which is good to some extent, but bad in other areas (he will often venture in attack and leave his position exposed for counters).
Denis is not a babysitter, neither Rafinha, Alena, Samper.
The only semi-babysitter could be Arthur and he was not playing.
I mean, some reports said that EV don't like Dembele because he is not defending from an attacking positions.
If EV is asking for so much defending from attackers, then you can assume that he is asking even more from his midfielders.
Since Rakitic is the best in that area from our midfielders, no wonder that he loves him that much.
Regarding reports that EV is playing Rakitic due to a clause in his contract.
Well, Rakitic was the most played midfielder even under Lucho and last season under EV, 4 seasons in a row (5 with a current one), when there was no clauses.
Also, Croatain NT coaches are playing him for years in every single official and unofficial match.
He has no clauses in NT teams and it is unlikely that he has nudes of every single coach.
Maybe he had tricky nudes from 2-3 different coaches, but to have nudes from 5-6 different coaches is highly unlikely.
Regarding Alena, what would be your lineup yesterday:
Busi=can't defend
Vidal=ventures to attack and leaves gaps behind him
Alena=too attacking, not a good defender
Dembele=doesn't defend
Coutinho=can't defend, since his physique is only a slight improvement over Denis Suarez'
Messi=let's not talk about defending and Messi in the same sentence
So, EV might be dumb, but your lineup also isn't much better.
At least you have made me laugh early in the morning with Alena paired with Dembele, Coutinho and Messi.
The least defending attacking quartet in a modern football history.
Thanks
You guys need to change your basic views on Barca.
Defending is coming more important (together with classical technical skills).
And EV is surely a fan of these new ideas.
When you look at his decisions in that way, they are not that weird and unpredictable.
If you are watching his decisions from a classical Barca's DNA attacking views, then he looks crazy, true.
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Cule4life
The Culest
What game did you watch yesterday? Cos whatever Rakitic did on the pitch yesterday, it sure as shit wasn't defending
The guy was giving away the ball left right and center creating pressure on our defense
Vidal did the most defending yesterday but since you only see heat maps and don't watch actual game you wouldn't know that
Dembele does more defending than Messi and Suarez. Why aren't the same standards applied to them if Valverde is so particular about defending.
So if Rakitic and Busi both are not defending why is Valverde afraid to bench them?
So Alena is so shit in your eyes that he isn't even better than a zombie Rakitic who couldn't even do one thing that you eulogize him for (defending)
So we were right in not playing Kaptoum so we must be right in not playing Alena. That logic
Did your Dad hate you as youngster? Cos that would probably explain your attitude towards younger players
Again a tip: Watch PSG/City as they buy established players. Barca is not the right club for you.
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FCBfan22
Senior Member
Ok EV played Rakitic to improve defending, but he kept giving away the ball in dangerous positions, because he was rushed back to play. Great.
Yesterday we saw what happens when you have a midfield with 0 creativity and control. Ernie played a DM who is tired and in bad form, a box to box midfielder and a defensive specialist who just returned from an injury. All of the attacking threat came from Leo or Ousmane, while our midfield was unable to keep the ball let alone create something.
We need one of Cou or Arthur in midfield all of the time. Period. Not both, but one of them. You can pair him up with Raki, Busi, Vidal... But do not play those 3 together anymore.
Yesterday we saw what happens when you have a midfield with 0 creativity and control. Ernie played a DM who is tired and in bad form, a box to box midfielder and a defensive specialist who just returned from an injury. All of the attacking threat came from Leo or Ousmane, while our midfield was unable to keep the ball let alone create something.
We need one of Cou or Arthur in midfield all of the time. Period. Not both, but one of them. You can pair him up with Raki, Busi, Vidal... But do not play those 3 together anymore.
Kul_z
Senior Member
From what I have seen from Alena (in this moment), I wasn't impressed and even though I was hyped about him 2-3 years ago, I am not anymore.
Regarding why is he here: well, we are not sure whether to keep him, sell him or loan him.
Staff is still deciding what to do, based on his Bteam matches, training and their assessments.
You will now reply: he needs to play so that we can assess him.
Kaptoum didn't need to play, or 100s of others.
And we didn't make a mistake.
For others who are commenting why is Rakitic playing every game, maybe EV considers him as a the only truly defensive guy in midfield.
Busi is not a good defender lately.
Vidal is not holding his position and babysitting for attackers. One guy posted a map yesterday, Vidal is running from box to box all the time.
Which is good to some extent, but bad in other areas (he will often venture in attack and leave his position exposed for counters).
Denis is not a babysitter, neither Rafinha, Alena, Samper.
The only semi-babysitter could be Arthur and he was not playing.
I mean, some reports said that EV don't like Dembele because he is not defending from an attacking positions.
If EV is asking for so much defending from attackers, then you can assume that he is asking even more from his midfielders.
Since Rakitic is the best in that area from our midfielders, no wonder that he loves him that much.
Regarding reports that EV is playing Rakitic due to a clause in his contract.
Well, Rakitic was the most played midfielder even under Lucho and last season under EV, 4 seasons in a row (5 with a current one), when there was no clauses.
Also, Croatain NT coaches are playing him for years in every single official and unofficial match.
He has no clauses in NT teams and it is unlikely that he has nudes of every single coach.
Maybe he had tricky nudes from 2-3 different coaches, but to have nudes from 5-6 different coaches is highly unlikely.
Regarding Alena, what would be your lineup yesterday:
Busi=can't defend
Vidal=ventures to attack and leaves gaps behind him
Alena=too attacking, not a good defender
Dembele=doesn't defend
Coutinho=can't defend, since his physique is only a slight improvement over Denis Suarez'
Messi=let's not talk about defending and Messi in the same sentence
So, EV might be dumb, but your lineup also isn't much better.
At least you have made me laugh early in the morning with Alena paired with Dembele, Coutinho and Messi.
The least defending attacking quartet in a modern football history.
Thanks
You guys need to change your basic views on Barca.
Defending is coming more important (together with classical technical skills).
And EV is surely a fan of these new ideas.
When you look at his decisions in that way, they are not that weird and unpredictable.
If you are watching his decisions from a classical Barca's DNA attacking views, then he looks crazy, true.
Its not about barca dna attacking, its about attacking and defending, and we suck at both department, like seriously suck. Semedo is doing a decent job, cb pair are not that terrible, alba is playing his best football in career and ter stegen is one of the best goalkeepers in the world. Middlefield is obvious problem, and you just cant pair three 30 years olds in there, and one of them just came back from the injury. We are constantly overruned in that area, because they cant cover shit. We didnt play with am, and with this fucker i cant see that happening in near future at all. You have three workhorses and none of them agile and creative enough to do something with the ball. As far as i know, we still are superior in posession but we dont have enough creativity besides messi and dembele in final third to do something with that ball. Its frustrating and if you like what you see, go cheer for atletico madrid. There are tons of ways to play attacking football, not only barca dna way..
Raketa10
Senior Member
From what I have seen from Alena (in this moment), I wasn't impressed and even though I was hyped about him 2-3 years ago, I am not anymore.
Regarding why is he here: well, we are not sure whether to keep him, sell him or loan him.
Staff is still deciding what to do, based on his Bteam matches, training and their assessments.
You will now reply: he needs to play so that we can assess him.
Kaptoum didn't need to play, or 100s of others.
And we didn't make a mistake.
For others who are commenting why is Rakitic playing every game, maybe EV considers him as a the only truly defensive guy in midfield.
Busi is not a good defender lately.
Vidal is not holding his position and babysitting for attackers. One guy posted a map yesterday, Vidal is running from box to box all the time.
Which is good to some extent, but bad in other areas (he will often venture in attack and leave his position exposed for counters).
Denis is not a babysitter, neither Rafinha, Alena, Samper.
The only semi-babysitter could be Arthur and he was not playing.
I mean, some reports said that EV don't like Dembele because he is not defending from an attacking positions.
If EV is asking for so much defending from attackers, then you can assume that he is asking even more from his midfielders.
Since Rakitic is the best in that area from our midfielders, no wonder that he loves him that much.
Regarding reports that EV is playing Rakitic due to a clause in his contract.
Well, Rakitic was the most played midfielder even under Lucho and last season under EV, 4 seasons in a row (5 with a current one), when there was no clauses.
Also, Croatain NT coaches are playing him for years in every single official and unofficial match.
He has no clauses in NT teams and it is unlikely that he has nudes of every single coach.
Maybe he had tricky nudes from 2-3 different coaches, but to have nudes from 5-6 different coaches is highly unlikely.
Regarding Alena, what would be your lineup yesterday:
Busi=can't defend
Vidal=ventures to attack and leaves gaps behind him
Alena=too attacking, not a good defender
Dembele=doesn't defend
Coutinho=can't defend, since his physique is only a slight improvement over Denis Suarez'
Messi=let's not talk about defending and Messi in the same sentence
So, EV might be dumb, but your lineup also isn't much better.
At least you have made me laugh early in the morning with Alena paired with Dembele, Coutinho and Messi.
The least defending attacking quartet in a modern football history.
Thanks
You guys need to change your basic views on Barca.
Defending is coming more important (together with classical technical skills).
And EV is surely a fan of these new ideas.
When you look at his decisions in that way, they are not that weird and unpredictable.
If you are watching his decisions from a classical Barca's DNA attacking views, then he looks crazy, true.
Based on our games this year we don't know how to defend at all.
I can't remember when was the last time we didn't concede. IMHO problem lies in our midfield and wingers and not defense. If entire midfield doesn't defend together with wingers defenders alone can't compensate regardless of how good they are. That being said I don't think that playing Alena would be a major problem. He for sure isn't the worst defender of our midfielders, and he could maybe provide more control than Vidal and for sure more than Denis!!! Vidal was never good in defense and like you said Busi also isn't defending genius. I also wouldn't say that Arthur is good in defense, he is good in CONTROL and CONTROL = less need for defending.To be fair Barca never knew how to defend that's why we always tried to dominate ball possession. I would say that lack of control in midfield and attack is our main problem not defending skills since we actually never had them. Just imagine what would have happened if Xavi and Iniesta were forced to play like this? They were bad in defending but what Pep did? He forced them to run and press and keep the ball as much as possible. That was our way of defending. I am not saying Rakitic or Vidal are capable of playing like that but we are playing like f... ATM at the moment and we seriously suck at that!
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Kul_z
Senior Member
Basically, my opinion too, but i didnt want to mention xavi and iniesta because bbz would say that thats once in a lifetime mid duo and bla bla, i agree, but that doesnt mean that we should play defensive stuff now that they're gone. Ffs, under this valverde fucker we are looking at defensive stats of dembele, malcom, coutinho.. I dont want to look at their defensive qualities, we bought them because of attacking contributions not defending. 250 m for defensive duty's, just fuck off valverde.Based on our games this year we don't know how to defend at all.
To be fair Barca never knew how to defend that's why we always tried to dominate in ball possession. I would say that lack of control in midfield and attack is our main problem not defending skills since we actually never had them. Just imagine what would have happened if Xavi and Iniesta were forced to play like this? They were bad in defending but what Pep did? He forced them to run and press and keep the ball as much as possible. That was our way of defending. I am not saying Rakitic or Vidal are capable of playing like that but we are playing like f... ATM at the moment and we seriously suck at that!
George_Costanza
Active member
We are not a team that defended well, never been. We won the treble purely based on our offense which made opponents busy defending, our defense more relaxed and less prone to errors.
Rakitic and busquets are one of the worst midfield duo. Both slow cant defend and cant contribute up front. Even when we won cl this midfield never worked and only msn was the reason why we won cl. These days both are loosing possesion for fun and that in some really dangerous situations.
Cant believe that we still try this midfield to work after all these years and they still fail. What we need is an overhaul here. Bench them both and give someone else a chance with arhur.
Cant believe that we still try this midfield to work after all these years and they still fail. What we need is an overhaul here. Bench them both and give someone else a chance with arhur.
xXKonan
Senior Member
The Iniesta-Busi-Rakitic, Midfield had its uses but you can say it's been on a downward spiral since at least 2016. Iniesta left, so Arthur would eventually replace him. I think yesterday's game you could see how much Arthur papered over the cracks in the Midfield when he wasn't there.
Busi and Rakitic weren't perfect before when he was there but fuck me, man, without a proper CM distributor/press resistant player there those two play so much worse. It's really time to start looking at replacing both of them at this point. Or at least start using Arthur-Vidal together as a CM pair with Rakitic and Busi in the DM spot.
Busi and Rakitic weren't perfect before when he was there but fuck me, man, without a proper CM distributor/press resistant player there those two play so much worse. It's really time to start looking at replacing both of them at this point. Or at least start using Arthur-Vidal together as a CM pair with Rakitic and Busi in the DM spot.
There's no way to verify if this is true or not since it's a random comment on YouTube, but if this was agreed upon to prevent Rakitic from going to PSG for close to fucking 100m then there's some serious issues that need to be addressed at this club.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AY5IrbbzDNA
If this is true, who the fuck does this guy think he is? And what kind of small club mentality is this that Barca possesses if they allowed him to put such a clause in? This would NEVER happen at Madrid
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AY5IrbbzDNA
If this is true, who the fuck does this guy think he is? And what kind of small club mentality is this that Barca possesses if they allowed him to put such a clause in? This would NEVER happen at Madrid
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