People are making it out to seem that Rakitic was an absolutely amazing player that was underrated and scapegoated for 2 years and is only just now declined. In reality, he was never actually as good as most people claimed and he got credit for doing way more than he actually did, and now people are catching up and realizing it. Something about his playstyle is so absurdly deceptive that it lulls people into believing passenger/absentee performances are "good".
It was hilarious how much of a defensive beast he was made out to be. If we're going just by duel-winning stats (which I maintain is a shallow level of critique) then Vidal is far and away the best defensive midfielder we've had in the past few years. It's clear he's great in this aspect, so the eye tests back up the stats.
Busquets has been criticized as a slow, statuesque turnstile who is years off his prime and a liability. This is a criticism that is fair and it is clear Busi is nowhere near what he once was. Yet, in the same breath, people made Rakitic out to be this prime workhorse and well rounded machine who had no weaknesses and high level competency everywhere on the pitch despite:
-Busquets completely dwarfing Rakitic in duel winning stats every single year (tackles, interceptions, aerial duels, etc.)
-Busquets having equal or better distance covered stats per game in BOTH the CL and the World Cup
-Rakitic consistently being well below average in distance covered stats in the CL for Barca
-Rakitic being outperformed in the WC in distance covered by most other key players (Modric, Mandzukic, Perisic, Rebic)
-Rakitic being thoroughly outperformed in defensive duel-winning stats by most other Croatia players including fucking attackers like Mandzu, Rebic, Perisic, etc.
Where exactly was he so elite and superior on a consistent basis that he warranted such a reputation? A handful of wild, disorganized Clasicos? 2 games against Argentina and England? A few penalties in shootouts? In offense it is even more clear how little value he has. Let's ignore goals and assists because BBZ and co. seem to think that Arthur scoring/assisting a lot now is some kind of anomaly, and others have argued that Rakitic's goals/assists have not had ANY significant impact towards Barca's success in many years.
Rakitic plays football as if he is just going through the motions in a passing warmup drill with no defenders. Almost never makes the run into space to receive the pass, he pretty much always just asks for the ball at his feet in static positions away from defenders. When he is on the ball, he absolutely never makes a run with it as he's completely paralyzed with fear at the thought of confronting a defender. When he does pass it off, he never makes a followup run afterwards to keep transitioning the play with XYZ purpose. He just dumps it off to the fullback and waits again for his turn to keep the ball moving merrily along in safe areas with little to no objective.
There's no change in momentum that occurs from before Rakitic gets the ball to after he passes it away. No change in pace of the play. No improvement in our position with the ball to attack defenses from a better angle. Most of the time, not even any forward progression of the ball. What exactly is gained by Rakitic's input in our possession play? Nothing, pretty much a zero-sum.
Contrast that with Arthur or FDJ. They are constantly active in either checking in to receive the ball when the carrier is under pressure, or making a run into a pocket of space where they can receive the ball and keep the play moving dynamically. After they make the pass, they are always on the lookout for a followup run to keep things moving. They don't just stand there idly twiddling their thumbs and waiting for the other player to do something, they make supporting plays and runs.
When they are on the ball, they are confident in their dribbling abilities and constantly drag defenders out of positions with their ball carrying which opens up space for other players to run into. Effective play ON the ball is critical in opening up space for other players to make effective runs OFF the ball. They also spend this time on the ball scanning for 3-4 different options they can play it to and judging which one is the most valuable play, unlike Rakitic who pretty much immediately dumps the ball to the first outlet he sees and the most convenient one (including his long balls, which are always just lazy switches).
Consider it in the case of Messi. FDJ recently said:
"Playing with Leo is easier, he does everything well. When he gives you the ball it's as if it has instructions with it and you have to do it."
I think this is an exceptional quote from FDJ. It's uncanny how every time you see Messi cut in and beat that first defender, there is immediately a clear path to goal from Messi's feet and Alba/Suarez/Vidal/whoever are already making runs into clear channels where Leo can hit a dagger pass. Part of it is how much they've drilled those specific plays, but it's also because once Messi has disrupted the defense and created that space it becomes OBVIOUS where the runs should be made and where the dangerous positions are for players to run into.
No one can effectively make runs off the ball when the possession is sterile and static, but once someone like Messi drags defenders out with the dribble the situation becomes dynamic and suddenly 3 or 4 players can make runs that create effective paths to the goal. Messi creates motion when the sterile Barca offense of the past 2 seasons was thoroughly lacking in it.
FDJ and Arthur are obviously nowhere near as brutally effective as Messi, but their elite ball carrying in our possession play creates MOTION offense instead of STATIC offense. Rakitic is a champion of the latter, and there are maybe a handful of times over multiple entire seasons where he has demonstrated an ability to turn static plays into motion ones.
