Paulinho

[wisconsincule]

Does he get a start this weekend with Raki out?

No. My guess is Sergi R with maybe Paulihno starting against Juve

 

[Barcilliant]

You need some muscle in the team. Pep was a fantastic manager but he went extreme with his short player obsession. We had a pretty balanced squad when he came but he left us with a team very short on physical quality.

If Iniesta, Xavi and Messi weren't such fantastic players he wouldn't have been able to implement his vision.

 

[BBZ8800]

Congratulations...
According to your lengthy essays facing back a year or so, Barca's main problem was the MSN and particularly Neymar.
Now that Neymar is gone, you should be the happiest camper in the forum as probably you are the only one being utterly satisfied about what the transfer window brought.

But it seems, instead of being happy, you created a new mania. Hordes of folks (including myself) tried to tell you that last season the team's problem was the midfield and not MSN, which you had never ever reacted upon, just keeping the then prominent mania of looking at Neymar as the weakest link of the chain.
But now, you suddenly turn to the problems of the midfield, that you ignored for that long, and find the problem in a newish factor, namely physicality and size.

I guess you would have been very dissatisfied if Barca got Veratti, Coutinho or Seri this summer, as all of them are short...
I congratulate you for this, just because we can rarely see such an over-simplification...

Neymar was one problem because his style is a bad fit for our general style.
Playing with short, technical turtles in midfield is another problem.

Neymar wouldn't fit well even with prime Xavi-Iniesta-Busi with his retarded style of play, aka ballhogging, dribbling backwards and killing every team action with solo attempts.

 

[Ritchie]

What`s the catch with this guy. I haven`t seen him play, but it`s a weird story.

He flops hard in Tottenham and after that he plays in China and gains a transfer to a top3 club in the world and becomes a captain of a strong Brazil side. All that at 29 years of age.

He just has a manager in Tite that gets the best out of him with Corinthians and Brazil. With this board you can't trust he's been bought for the right reasons.

 

[DonAK]

It's nice to have physicality, but please tell me how physical Modric, Kroos, Isco and Kovacic are? How physical is Marcelo?

 

[JamDav1982]

It's nice to have physicality, but please tell me how physical Modric, Kroos, Isco and Kovacic are? How physical is Marcelo?

Casimero brings physicality and pace not Modric or Kroos.

 

[DonAK]

Casimero brings physicality and pace not Modric or Kroos.

Yes, but some people seem to have bought into the idea that we need several physical players.

I think Real Madrid are fully capable of winning major trophies even without Casemiro.

What we need is superior technical players like those mentioned above. Difference makers.

 

[JamDav1982]

Yes, but some people seem to have bought into the idea that we need several physical players.

I think Real Madrid and fully capable of winning major trophies even without Casemiro.

Their midfield has been far better since added Casimero though and he does the dirty work.

Busi, Xavi, Iniesta is a one off even Pep realises that and has more power in his midfield at Bayern and Man City.

The Barca midield gets bullied too easily for me. Whether Paulinho is good enough is another issue.

 

[DonAK]

Their midfield has been far better since added Casimero though and he does the dirty work.

Busi, Xavi, Iniesta is a one off even Pep realises that and has more power in his midfield at Bayern and Man City.

The Barca midield gets bullied too easily for me. Whether Paulinho is good enough is another issue.

You can have one physical player, but technical, creative, agile players are the ones going to make the difference for you and that's exactly what we're lacking having to rely so much on Messi and partly on Neymar last year to create something.

 

[JamDav1982]

You can have one physical player, but technical, creative, agile players are the ones going to make the difference for you and that's exactly what we're lacking having to rely so much on Messi and partly on Neymar last year to create something.

I agree there is clearly a lack of technical players as well.

 

[Barcilliant]

You can have one physical player, but technical, creative, agile players are the ones going to make the difference for you and that's exactly what we're lacking having to rely so much on Messi and partly on Neymar last year to create something.

Yes, that is why we were so shit last season and maybe this season too. The midfield is neither physical nor creative. Just a bunch of mediocre journeymen who shouldn't be at the club. Busquets is great when he has good players around him, Iniesta s aging...the rest are crap.

 

[Barcilliant]

Their midfield has been far better since added Casimero though and he does the dirty work.

Busi, Xavi, Iniesta is a one off even Pep realises that and has more power in his midfield at Bayern and Man City.

The Barca midield gets bullied too easily for me. Whether Paulinho is good enough is another issue.

Casemiro has made a huge difference. He's physical and has improved his skill level. Take Casemiro out and Real would lack balance.

 

[El Flaco]

Casemiro has made a huge difference. He's physical and has improved his skill level. Take Casemiro out and Real would lack balance.

That used to be true last season when Real Madrid didn't had a DM back-up for Casemiro.

Now they've Marcos Llorente who also can provide balance and is even more skillful on ball than the Brazilian.

And even Kovačić proved during pre-season that he can handle DM role in Casemiro's absence.

 

[Lelouch vi Britannia]

Casemiro has made a huge difference. He's physical and has improved his skill level. Take Casemiro out and Real would lack balance.

It's true. Most of their midfielders are AMs or CMs. Their midfield was very imbalanced and sorely lacking defensively before Casemiro became a starter.

 

[Ritchie]

It's true. Most of their midfielders are AMs or CMs. Their midfield was very imbalanced and sorely lacking defensively before Casemiro became a starter.

Because of his defensive contribution. Zidane remembered what happened as a player when Makelele was sold.

Paulinho is hardly a Kante type or Casmeiro that will win the ball back all game. He is however at least quicker than a snail which makes him a novelty in our midfield.