Paulinho

[xXKonan]

His positioning in the first half was all over the place, he was in the DM spot at times with Busi, Pushed up in the CM spot and even positioned himself as a #9 on a lot of occasions.

But in the second half he was a lot more confident and looked more stable from my point of view and he went balls out in his runs and connection with Messi etc. He might not be as useful if we want to retain the ball and hold possession at the moment, but his movement and runs into the box and even his linkup play provides this X-Factor option we have been missing in the squad. and this is coming from a guy who had serious doubts about him.

He's different, he's not the creative/controller CM we need but he's interesting tactical option to have off the bench or starting in different types of games when needed.

 

[Ousmane Dembélé]

 

[Zincubus]

Already did more for us so far than the turtles Gomes and Rakitic did combined for us last season.

Gomes is the 8th fastest in the squad for what it's worth ....Rakitic was shown to be THE slowest of all - in those stats released a couple of weeks ago .

 

[Zincubus]

His positioning in the first half was all over the place, he was in the DM spot at times with Busi, Pushed up in the CM spot and even positioned himself as a #9 on a lot of occasions.

But in the second half he was a lot more confident and looked more stable from my point of view and he went balls out in his runs and connection with Messi etc. He might not be as useful if we want to retain the ball and hold possession at the moment, but his movement and runs into the box and even his linkup play provides this X-Factor option we have been missing in the squad. and this is coming from a guy who had serious doubts about him.

He's different, he's not the creative/controller CM we need but he's interesting tactical option to have off the bench or starting in different types of games when needed.

His stats for the game were amazing .... 100% tackles won , 97% successful pass rate etc

Add to that he scored a great goal , made arguably the best pass of the evening and THAT dummy was simply sublime .

I'm warming to him fast .

 

[Xaviniesta]

RISE

 

[Devils]

Best thing to come out of China since lo mein.

 

[behindbrowneyes]

This is ten percent luck, twenty percent skill.
Fifteen percent concentrated power of will.
Five percent pleasure, fifty percent pain
and a hundred percent reason to remember the name.

 

[Barcaman]

@Windhook was bang on when he made the smiley

 

[BBZ8800]

His stats for the game were amazing .... 100% tackles won , 97% successful pass rate etc

Add to that he scored a great goal , made arguably the best pass of the evening and THAT dummy was simply sublime .

I'm warming to him fast .

Yes.
In some matches, I will trade Xaviesque control, Xaviesque passes and sterile possession for more vertical play, more direct passes and a crazy midfielder who can score, assist and make crazy dummy moves.
(I mean, we are so good that we can usually dominate and have lots of control and possession even with 10+1 players who can play a possession game.)

In 90+30 minutes, PaulinhGOD made more attacking final product contribution than Iniesta, Rakitic and Busquets together in 5 matches.
So, yes, he is not the new Xavi, but he can offer interesting things in home matches against parked buses or in away matches (like in the last round).

And who knows, maybe he willl be good even against bigger teams.
Brasilian guys from this forum say that he is awesome in big matches in NT team.
(I know, we will lack some control and possession with him, but who knows, maybe it will even out in other areas).

 

[Keikoku]

Good start in early season, wish he can keep his form or even better to maintenance it to higher level.

 

[Hamzah]

He will get a standing ovation at bernabeu

 

[Jcar]

Guys, he is still trying to adapt to Barcelona's style of playing... You guys know that, right? He is training for how long? Let him understand the teamwork, the way his companios like to receive a ball, how the players stand in the field... Before, you said too soon that he was a joke. Now, you guys are saying that he is useless as a CM? Maybe he can suffer to control the midfield, like i said myself, he is different of a typical barcelona's CM, but he may not be as bad at it as WE (me included) think, he can adapt, who knows?

Let the time take care of everything, at least i know for sure that Paulinho will give his best.

 

[Lelouch vi Britannia]

Guys, he is still trying to adapt to Barcelona's style of playing... You guys know that, right? He is training for how long? Let him understand the teamwork, the way his companios like to receive a ball, how the players stand in the field... Before, you said too soon that he was a joke. Now, you guys are saying that he is useless as a CM? Maybe he can suffer to control the midfield, like i said myself, he is different of a typical barcelona's CM, but he may not be as bad at it as WE (me included) think, he can adapt, who knows?

Let the time take care of everything, at least i know for sure that Paulinho will give his best.

Umm... this post is about 10 pages too late. Everyone here is praising him to the moon right now. The thread title is only semi ironic.

Anyway, I dont think it was wrong of us to doubt him. He flopped massively at Spurs and we bought him from a retirement league. All signs pointed to this being a disaster. It's on him to prove us wrong and so far he's doing that, which I'm very happy about.

 

[Albo]

Umm... this post is about 10 pages too late. Everyone here is praising him to the moon right now. The thread title is only semi ironic.

Anyway, I dont think it was wrong of us to doubt him. He flopped massively at Spurs and we bought him from a retirement league. All signs pointed to this being a disaster. It's on him to prove us wrong and so far he's doing that, which I'm very happy about.

Doubt is always okay and in this case justified but when the transfer happened it wasn't doubt. It was hate, bashing & ridiculing Paulinho.

 

[Lelouch vi Britannia]

Doubt is always okay and in this case justified but when the transfer happened it wasn't doubt. It was hate, bashing & ridiculing Paulinho.

It did look like the worst deal we've ever made. It's his responsibility to answer us on the pitch and I'm glad he's doing so.