Ivan Rakitić

[EdmondDantes]

Rakitic was one of the worse players against Liverpool and Valencia. His best days are behind him and it’s time to leave.

Pairing him and Busquets together should never happen again hopefully. Both are considerably slow, anyone could outmuscle or outrun them.

That’s why we got cut open like a chicken at Anfield. Milner, Fabinho and Henderson made these guys look like shit.

He was the worst, no question.

Klopp has turned Fabinho into an absolute monster after that initial bedding in period. He's so technical and so elegant on the ball - he can turn and pass under pressure, drive past players, ping long diagonals in to switch play, cross, the lot. Defensively there's no running away from those lanky legs, he's got world-class tackling ability, covers every blade of grass despite being somewhat slow, fantastic header of the ball, stamina to run for days.

He's been the best DM in world football this season, no doubt. To watch Fabinho play and read BBZ saying Rakitic must always be on the pitch because he's a 'work horse' that's vital for us is beyond laughable. If anything, Rakitic has managed to be even more useless without the ball than he has been on the ball this season. Especially in big games, where he just hides.

 

[kilian]

Arthur averaged the same amount of tackles/90 as Rakitic in Liga while having 2x as many in the CL. Clearances is a nonsense stat, basically rewarding Rakitic for hoofing the ball up and being too incompetent to play it out of the back. Rakitic has a block 1 time every 5 games, and wins 1 aerial duel per game. That is a garbage metric for acting like he has some huge defensive impact.

Arthur is also ahead of him in key passes, xG Buildup/90, far superior as a dribbler and ball carrier, etc. In terms of consistent impact in elevating our offense over 90 minutes, Rakitic isn't in the same fucking stratosphere as Arthur, tippy tappy goals/assists be damned.

The idea that Arthur only plays it safe is hilarious. He is actually willing to hold and carry the ball forward through pressure every time he's on it, whereas Rakitic is petrified in fear and plays hot potato with the football just dumping it off to the nearest guy the moment he gets it. If there's pressure in our own half, HE WON'T EVEN BE VISIBLE WITHIN THE SCREEN FRAME. He's that much of a coward. Won't get anywhere near the play when it's tough and congested. His defense is also insanely overrated as he mostly does not press hard but rather clean up after another player who did the pressing for him and get the interception after the offensive player was pressed into an error.

Although I mostly agree with the Rakitic part I have to say that Arthur is crap ever since his injuries started. He was really good at the start of the season, but everything after that was pretty bad. Offensive contribution zero, defensive similar, ball carrying ending up in clashes with opposition players or spinning around himself. He can become a great player for us, but let`s be real and say things like they really are, he didn`t produce a top football display for a long time.
I hope that he`ll recover completely from the shit that`s bugging him and we`ll see that Xaviesque play from him again, coupled with FDJ. Of course, that`s if the squinty cunt gets the boot. If not, we`ll see another shit show season.

 

[Tekkers]

at least coutinho is willing to accept the reality of his situation. this guy on the other hand smh

 

[EdmondDantes]

It seems Valverde is gone; which shield is he going to hide behind next?

 

[Barcilliant]

His godfather Shitverde is getting the axe. Hopefully Rakitic is booted out too. Surely some epl side will pay 45 million for him.

 

[MTL_Barca]

Probably shivering with fear because of the reports of Ernie getting sacked

 

[Zidane82]

Probably shivering with fear because of the reports of Ernie getting sacked

I bet he’s sat there endlessly refreshing Google News ...

Someone should leave a set of cheap suitcases outside his house and hope he takes the hint ..

 

[jairzinho]

His wage demand is a problem for most clubs.

 

[Zidane82]

His wage demand is a problem for most clubs.

We will probably end up paying half his future wages just to get him out

 

[cro-man]

Thank god those clown didnt give him a new contract The only thing that stopped them from renewing his contract is saddly our high wage bill and not because he is crap. Busquets got lucky with his one. He didnt deserve one also.... I fear this guy and many other wont leave and will stop us from rebuilding our new team because of lack of money and our high wage bill.

 

[Arizona Scott]

Donandreas often blurs to the extremes. No, over the course of the season none of arthur, Busi, arturo nor rakitic shined all that more than the other, nor failed more drammatically than the others. The simple truth--(balanced) eye tests and stats evaluations and those watched not emotionally charged fans pro/against certain ones show this. It is why their estimated values (driven by skill, aptitude, age--and not having shitty baggage) are commeserats
__reflect estimated market worth. A good way to identify if someone is using stats to inform/modify an opinion vs selectively choosen to advocate for thier personal narrative is the degree isolated individual stats are selectively emphasized instead of using total per minute adjusted composite ratings based on a large portion of matches. Only then go to where playerx seems to good at this stat and bad at this stat relative to another. That is the secondary or exploratory part of a stistical analyses, not the primary.

Thank god if valverde is gone. Yes we dominated the league but we need a more visionary, dynamic (will adjust persons and tactics) and creative manager to match the game preparation of klopp. Pep, pooch, zz, etc.

 

[Porque]

Rakitic is starting to decline. But let's not forget that he has gone 2 seasons of playing almost every minute plus hardly no summer break having reached the world cup final- also playing almost every game.

If Valverde (sigh) is planning to phase Rakitic minutes down while not being a key midfield role then it is not too bad to keep him in the squad. With a proper pre-season rest I think Rakitic can have a good season next year.

Although I would definitely prefer for another club to see what I see and put in an 50m offer.

The problem we are starting to see is that in big games Messi is putting 7-8km/90 minutes meaning that to accommodate Messi's majesty (and decline) the midfield and support attack have all got to be putting in even more effort off the ball. That can't happen when we pair Rakitic, Busquets have Suarez and Coutinho upfront.

It is a systematic breakdown of the teams core that we are seeing, which is not just on Rakitic.

 

[jairzinho]

Whether you like it or not, Rakitic and Busquets will be starters next season. Mark my words.

One thing Valgreen has been consistent with is his predictability.

 

[Givenchy]

Whether you like it or not, Rakitic and Busquets will be starters next season. Mark my words.

One thing Valgreen has been consistent with is his predictability.

we cant even get rid of these fuckers.. nobody is stupid enough to pay the money needed for Raki, Busi, Suarez or Coutinho

 

[Arizona Scott]

[MENTION=23089]Arizona Scott[/MENTION] and [MENTION=16942]BBZ8800[/MENTION] are mind numbingly off the mark claiming that any stats have Rakitic as the #1 or #2 midfielder in the squad. Fuck your sofascore or Whoscored ratings lol. Do you believe that Adnan Januzaj is better than Modric? Or the likes of Rochina/Marc Roca/etc. are better than Arturo Vidal?
.

DosAndrea you tool. Honestly are the ban worthy buffoon who cherry picks stats instead of the whole picture from metrics, and of course watching. Go re watch the world cup and watch Busi, watch Rakitic, and get yourself an informed opinion. Bottom line is both should go, along with Valverde and some others, the former are worth more in proceeds than what they are worth to the team. Vidal doesn't have the transfer value and probably should stay.