Ivan Rakitić

P

PhilS

Active member
From what I have seen to far, the Barca defense should be better this year, mainly because of Rakitic. The way he plays the entire field, it's like having an additional DM out there. He's going to take a lot of pressure off the full-time defenders, that will make them look a lot better.
 
DonAndres

DonAndres

Wild Man of Borneo
Had the most touches of any player on the field today I believe. Always knows where to move in space, how to support his teammates in attack (Messi, Alves), and spreads passes very nicely away from the high-traffic areas so that we aren't just stuck playing behind a wall of opposition players. He's still teasing us with those long range belters of his, one of these days it'll go in beautifully. His presence and workrate in defense was awesome too, pretty much nullifying the negative consequences of Alves roaming in as the extra midfielder. And we can't forget his set pieces can we?

A truly complete midfielder. Something we've lacked ever since Xavi declined. Iniesta is all about linkup, Fabregas provided no support play whatsoever, and Xavi faded after a certain amount of time and left us vulnerable defensively.
 
H

Hephaestus

New member
DonAndres said:
And we can't forget his set pieces can we?
Click to expand...

We could try but it would be very difficult. His delivery of that one freekick, the one where Alves volleyed a penalty kick wide, was just perfect. It also seems that his passing range is practically speaking unlimited. A bit like Pirlo in that way.
 
darthvader7888

darthvader7888

Banned
If he keeps playing like this, 18m euros for him will be a steal.

Thank God we got him. Imagine the soon to be 35 year old Xavi starting in 60 games like in the last 2 seasons.
 
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Androutsos

Androutsos

Senior Member
The best thing about him is, as the games get busier and tougher, and the team has to work harder, he will rise to it and be comfortable running the show.
 
BerkeleyBernie

BerkeleyBernie

Senior Member
PhilS said:
From what I have seen to far, the Barca defense should be better this year, mainly because of Rakitic. The way he plays the entire field, it's like having an additional DM out there. He's going to take a lot of pressure off the full-time defenders, that will make them look a lot better.
Click to expand...

Agree. A bit more like having a traditional box-to-box midfielder, something that neither Xavi nor Iniesta offer, Given that Barça are most often hurt on counters and set plays, his tackling upfield could play an important role in saving/winning games.
 
Egert

Egert

Estonian Culé
I feel so great to have him in our team. Just a beast, he was everywhere, he defended, he attacked and he even made Dani almost score.
 
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