Ivan Rakitić

[DonAndres]

Vidal should 100% be ahead of Busi or Rakitic. He's old but so are they and his cardio is still better than those 2 put together. Also FDJ plays freely in his best position as the base of the front 6. Vidal also benefits greatly with Arthur and FDJ taking control of the midfield and letting him be an outlet player who helps make runs offensively and presses everywhere on the pitch.

Rakitic still has 0 tackles, interceptions, goals, assists, key passes, and 1 dribble in all of his appearances so far this season. Obviously he hasn't played all that much but he has offered exactly 0 reason to believe that he has productive performances left in him and that he should be anywhere near the top of the pecking order.

As far as the pecking order does go it should be:

1. Arthur/FDJ
2. Vidal
3. Busquets
.
4. Rakitic/Aleña

I'd trust Raki over Aleña for big games and CL games, but in general there's no reason for one to have way more minutes than the other in La Liga. We don't have any notable rise in win % force feeding more minutes to Rakitic just because of seniority or because he cries about being disrespected.

 

[evilhita666]

Vidal should 100% be ahead of Busi or Rakitic. He's old but so are they and his cardio is still better than those 2 put together. Also FDJ plays freely in his best position as the base of the front 6. Vidal also benefits greatly with Arthur and FDJ taking control of the midfield and letting him be an outlet player who helps make runs offensively and presses everywhere on the pitch.

Rakitic still has 0 tackles, interceptions, goals, assists, key passes, and 1 dribble in all of his appearances so far this season. Obviously he hasn't played all that much but he has offered exactly 0 reason to believe that he has productive performances left in him and that he should be anywhere near the top of the pecking order.

As far as the pecking order does go it should be:

1. Arthur/FDJ
2. Vidal
3. Busquets
.
4. Rakitic/Aleña

I'd trust Raki over Aleña for big games and CL games, but in general there's no reason for one to have way more minutes than the other in La Liga. We don't have any notable rise in win % force feeding more minutes to Rakitic just because of seniority or because he cries about being disrespected.

Don't forget we need Roberto's dynamism in midfield

 

[jamrock]

Barcelona's flavor of the week, they will all turn on him soon

 

[Messi983]

Should have left in the summer, but he was too arrogant and believed he had his spot secured. Even said so in an interview which makes it all worse

He said he wanted to stay at the start of the summer. He was willing to go at the end of August after he knew his situation has changed. He rejected going to PSG in Neymar deal (but even if he would agree that deal wouldn't go through because of Dembele) but he was open to move to Juve but they only wanted a swap deal with the likes of Can or Bernardeschi (with us paying additional 20M) involved. So in the end it was the club's decision to not accept those deals and I don't blame them. I prefer to keep Raki for another 6/12 months than get another average midfielder or pay for an average winger and give them longterm contracts and then we would try to get rid off them in a year or two.

 

[EdmondDantes]

Has anybody seen Rakitic's presser?


I've just come across some badly translated quotes along the lines of:

- Ronaldo called me to join Juve, but Barca wanted 50 mil


- I didn't join the national team last time around because I was having a bad time at my club


- Barcelona are a great club, there's no better place to be, but I don't wanna walk around the beach, and I still have 2 years left on my contract. I don't just wanna be part of the team, I wanna play.


Something like that. It seems like he, above anything, wants to stay but is angry at not playing (by default like he has been for the past 2 seasons).

 

[khaled_a_d]

Should have left in the summer, but he was too arrogant and believed he had his spot secured. Even said so in an interview which makes it all worse

Apparently he just said he accepted Juve offer after CR7 contacted him. Club wanted 50M for him and that broke the deal.
It was also reported he accepted to be part of PSG deal at the end, but it never materialized.
This is really on the club, not on him. If 31 years old player -who is on high wage, just 2 year left on his contract- isn't on your plans then don't play hardball and just accept the best offer you can get.

 

[JerseyAddict]

Has anybody seen Rakitic's presser?

Yes...
I will skip that "croatian NT stuff" and go to Barcelona stuff...

Q: Koji je razlog ove situacije u Barceloni?
Q: What is the reason for this situation in Barcelona?
''To bih i ja volio znati. U nogometu se ponekad događaju stvari koje ne možeš razumjeti. Meni je jako neugodno, teško, navikao sam da igram. Sad se to malo promijenilo. Znam kakva je situacija. Da budem iskren, ne mogu to razumjeti. Jedva čekam vratiti se na teren. Sretan sam što imam fantastičnu obitelj, kada dođem kući prijeđem preko svega. Želim igrati nogomet, bacati se, isprljati se… Želim biti dio svoje reprezentacije. Duga je sezona, nadam se da ću se izboriti u Barceloni. Nadam se da će mi izbornik dati šansu u ove dvije utakmice.''

'' That's what I'd like to know. In football sometimes things happen that you cannot understand. I'm very uncomfortable, difficult, I'm used to playing. Now that has changed a bit. I know the situation. To be honest, I can't understand it. I can't wait to get back on the field. I'm happy to have a fantastic family, so when I get home I go over everything. I want to play football, to throw all on the pitch, to get dirty ... I want to be part of my NT team. It's a long season, I hope to fight in Barcelona.Hopefully the NT selector will give me a chance in these two games. ''


Q: Vidiš li se još u dresu Barcelone?
Q: Do you still see yourself in the Barcelona jersey?
''E, to ne znam. Situacija je takva kakva je. Želim igrati, a ne samo da budem dio momčadi. Dat ću sve od sebe, pokušat ću promijeniti situaciju. Nema boljeg kluba od Barcelone, igraš u najvećem klubu, s najboljim igračem možda i svih vremena. Želim igrati u Barceloni, ali moramo sjesti i vidjeti što je najbolje za mene.''

'' I don't know that. The situation is as it is. I want to play and not just be part of the team. I will do my best, I will try to change the situation. There is no better club than Barcelona, ​​you play in the biggest club, with the best player of all time. I want to play in Barcelona, ​​but we have to sit down and see what's best for me. ''


Q: Jesi li razgovarao s čelnicima Barcelone oko prijelaza u novi klub?
Q: Have you talked to the Barcelona leaders about moving to a new club?
''Moguće je da jesam. Situacija se razvila kako nisam očekivao. Želim igrati, ne želim plandovati u Barceloni. Moramo sjesti i analizirati situaciju. To smo i napravili. Na kraju sam ostao. Poštivanje prema klubu je maksimalno, borit ću se. Želim da vide da sam spreman kad uđem. Hvala publici kako me je dočekala ovacijama za vikend. Pet sam godina u klubu, imam skoro tristo utakmica. Ako ne ide, želim sjesti i vidjeti što ću.“

'' I may have been talking to them. The situation developed as I had not expected. I want to play, I don't want to "dance/around/enjoy causy life" in Barcelona. We need to sit down and analyze the situation. That's what we did. In the end, I stayed. Respect for the club is maximal, I will fight. I want them to see that I'm ready when I come in. Thanks to the audience for greeting me with a standing ovation for the weekend. I've been in the club for five years, I have almost three hundred games. If it's not going, I want to sit down and see what I do. "

 

[EdmondDantes]

So he didn't say anything about Juve and Ronaldo?

 

[JerseyAddict]

So he didn't say anything about Juve and Ronaldo?

No.
He said that there was a lot of situations and things he discussed with the Barça leadership and that they concluded he is to stay so he is now somewhat suprised what has changed since then and that he will see what he will do if he stays on the bench. Because he wants to play, he wants to train, he wants to be the part of the Barça team but in the same time he doesn't want to walk around, enjoy the sun and the sea and pick up the cash. That he is not like that and he will fight for the spot in the team but if things don't change he will talk with the board members.

This is roughly out of the head after listening the press conference.

 

[Havesaks]

Haha so cringe if Ronaldo called Rakitic, because then it's in his contract to call potential transfer tagets. Guy has become a image puppet not a football player

 

[behindbrowneyes]

Sooner or later he'll have to accept/acknowledge that Arthur and Frenkie are the future and already offer more than he does. Don't have anything against Raki. He is good to have in the squad but the only way for him to start is when one of Busi, Frenkie or Arthur gets injured or needs rest. Vidal is still ahead in the pecking order though.

He should leave and become happy somewhere else. He still can offer something but not in that Barcelona team. He is too slow, can't cover for Messi anymore and all in all offers too little for a CM. Looks like Valverde learned this from Anfield.

I understand Raki. He was undisputed starter and one of the most used players in the squad. Now he is just 5th option. That's a hard pill to take. These things happen. Barcelona missed to rejuvenate the midfield early enough (or players just didn't perform like Gomes or Denis) so Raki was longer a starter as he should've been. Now the midfield is rebuilt and he either accepts that he is a bench player or leaves for good.

 

[clemente]

Victim Andy

 

[PhilS]

Valuable sub for the rest of this season, especially when defense is needed. Too bad for him that Vidal has to be preferred to him as of now, he is #5 for the 3 midfield spots.

 

[Rory]

Moaning as if his life is hard, millions of people around the world would spend years in prison to have 1 minute on the pitch at the camp nou with barca. By the end of the season (unless he leaves in january) he'd have played probably 30-50% of available minutes due to injuries/rotations which isn't bad for a 31 year old at the biggest club in the world. Needs a reality check big time.

 

[Horatio]

Easy life in Switzerland made him a spoiled self-entitled &€*%.