I will say a couple of comments. Yes I'm a fan, yes he's been awful, but I think ignoring context is a silly excuse to create a scapegoat.
1. As Bojan said, every time Rafa played, we have conceded. This isn't entirely his fault, but it still says something about his failings and well, the last game he started is self explanatory.
2. Injuries have always have a habit of making his concentration worse. This is the story of his career and I think it's safe to say his fragility made him never live up to his potential.
3. He has not played a lot this season. I believe he started 2 games and only played 1 full game - it was a disaster of a game, but it's not as if he's been doing it since day one. He started the season injured after all.
4. The goal conceded today probably would not have been conceded if Pique was playing instead of him, but it wasn't as if we are going to lose the game at that point. Goal difference hardly matters in La Liga and that was an indifferent effort from Rafa, Chyg, Valdes and Xavi that lead to a goal.
5. There was no tactical reason for Rafa being subbed on. What this reminded me of was "garbage time" in Basketball when the game is basically over and the coach puts bench players on just to stretch them out. It's obvious neither Rafa or Bojan was brought into the game to improve our performance.
6. Rafa and Chyg is a CB pairing of nightmares. While a lot of us were wrong about Pique and Rafa being too slow to play together, Ukranian Jesus lacks Pique's athleticism and until he proves otherwise needs Pique or Puyol playing with him.
So is Rafa the weakest link right now? Yes, he is. Should his contract be renewed? I wouldn't rush on making that decision. Is he finished? The sample size is too small for a definitive answer. I don't yet see what's so great about the Ukranian Jesus, but the kid obviously needs to get his chances before he proves anything one way or another. Right now I'm going to trust the coaching staff when it comes to Marquez, because they are the ones watching him in practice and communicating with him. But let's be real, we can't sell him because his contract is expiring, so unless you want to cut him and make our defensive depth even more thin, all we can do is wait and see if he can contribute this season. Feel free to call him a "fucking idiot" all you want, because that's really going to achieve a lot.
Sadly for him, this wasn't the only debatable action from him.
He can easily stay for me but he has to step it up again. Otherwise i think he can go with Henry this season.
You see, when I'm defending him, this is where I stand. Like Henry, he's likely past his best and if he doesn't contribute notably it's clear we should let him go, but unless you want to buy him out just to prove a point, shouldn't we be hoping that his form improves instead of writing him off completely?