Very impressed by his offensive quality. He's doing everything Suarez should be doing with the good linkups with Messi, physical holdup play vs CB's, and clinical finishing.
It should be observed that Paulinho is, for the most part, an off the ball player. He had only 8 passes in the 1st half playing as a midfielder, and though the numbers rose in the 2nd half a vast majority of those passes were 1 touch back to the man or to an adjacent man. He spends very little time on the ball ever, and mostly plays supporting roles and attacks as an outlet player. As long as he stays effective at what he's doing, that's a valuable option to have to change the pace of the game and introduce verticality as BrazilBrazilBrazil says. Those weapons are great for a midfield sub to change tempo, and IMO also as an option for striker. He's doing what Suarez should be doing and those actions were in the areas of the pitch that Suarez would generally operate in. I genuinely think he can and should play there to rest Suarez or bench him if he stays off form, moreso than Paco.
The downside is that Paulinho is limited in the role that he can take. For starting midfielders in big games, they need to be primary ball handlers who spread the play and dictate the game. If our main option CM's were as bypassed as Paulinho was in that first half, we would get absolutely MURDERED by the likes of RM's midfield. But later in a game to change tempo and adapt to the end-to-end evolution of a football match, subbing Paulinho would probably be a significant change. So much so that he's made to be an awesome sub (if he plays his role well) because he's an X factor and allows us to change our play at will rather than sub someone in who's the same as our other midfielders only worse.
All in all, I'm very happy with what he's turning out to be. He's exactly the kind of useful squad player you should have. Versatile, hardworking, and brings a different approach to the table that truly changes your game and keeps opponents guessing.
