Rafinha Alcantara
- Thread starter Plip
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DonAK
President of FC Barcelona
He has improved. He was very good at Celta and was voted as La Liga's Breakthrough Player of 2013/14
So he has showed he can do it at top La Liga level. I think people perhaps expected too much of him early on. He usually also played with Iniesta so it became unbalanced with two AMs on the field. I don't know if he'll be a starter or not, but I am very confident that Rafinha has a future at Barca, especially if he keep improving as he has. It's always stupid to write off young prospects because they usually need time to find their feet and their role. You cannot expect them to light up the World from the first minute.
So he has showed he can do it at top La Liga level. I think people perhaps expected too much of him early on. He usually also played with Iniesta so it became unbalanced with two AMs on the field. I don't know if he'll be a starter or not, but I am very confident that Rafinha has a future at Barca, especially if he keep improving as he has. It's always stupid to write off young prospects because they usually need time to find their feet and their role. You cannot expect them to light up the World from the first minute.
KingMessi
SiempreBlaugrana
How old is he anyway? 23? 24? Over 23 is no longer a "youngster" IMO.
But most players under 28-30 have room to improve.
Bran the Greenseer
Well-known member
Unless you're Bartra and you've already proven yourself but still don't get the respect you deserve. 
Bran the Greenseer
Well-known member
I don't really see it as being inconsistent and more he's building up. If I were too look at his performances on a trend chart i'd say he's consistently trending upwards. He played well against bayern but that can't really count as it was garbage mins but he'll get there.
DonAndres
Wild Man of Borneo
I go back and forth when it comes to Rafinha. I want to like him, but it's hard to do so when his profile as a player is so visibly defined by his limitations. He's an incredibly one-sided player. He only balances himself so that he can have the ball on his left foot to carry inside. It's always those identical tiptoe dribbles cutting in as well that can easily be shackled under the right pressure. Add to that his fairly obvious lack of vision (generally avoids passes that cut through markers, short or long) and it makes his playing style predictable and only good for certain scenarios. It's like he has one very small and specific set of actions that he does in a match, outside of which he makes little to no contribution.
That lack of options would be alright if he was a right winger (he'd have to be better at his few tricks tho) but in midfield a player is responsible for a field of vision that extends in all directions. Rakitic may not be a technical wizard that excels at all aspects of midfield play but at least he's not a one-trick pony midfielder, same goes for Roberto. They are support outlets in a system and do the many duties required of that role on and off the ball.
Rafa is still growing as a player and he obviously deserves a chance to show his abilities in a larger sample set than one season but I've personally kind of gotten accommodated to the idea of having Samper groomed as a central midfielder while Roberto is groomed for the utility/rotation role. They both have roles in the squad that they can fulfill and grow into, whereas Rafinha really doesn't have one. He doesn't have a versatile enough skillset to become a reliable utility squad player in midfield or the special 'talent' to grow into a role where the team would be built around him. That's why I want as many of the rotation minutes as possible to go to Samper and Roberto, because in the 2nd half of the season there'll be less rotation and possibly an extra midfielder (transfer) to compete with.
That lack of options would be alright if he was a right winger (he'd have to be better at his few tricks tho) but in midfield a player is responsible for a field of vision that extends in all directions. Rakitic may not be a technical wizard that excels at all aspects of midfield play but at least he's not a one-trick pony midfielder, same goes for Roberto. They are support outlets in a system and do the many duties required of that role on and off the ball.
Rafa is still growing as a player and he obviously deserves a chance to show his abilities in a larger sample set than one season but I've personally kind of gotten accommodated to the idea of having Samper groomed as a central midfielder while Roberto is groomed for the utility/rotation role. They both have roles in the squad that they can fulfill and grow into, whereas Rafinha really doesn't have one. He doesn't have a versatile enough skillset to become a reliable utility squad player in midfield or the special 'talent' to grow into a role where the team would be built around him. That's why I want as many of the rotation minutes as possible to go to Samper and Roberto, because in the 2nd half of the season there'll be less rotation and possibly an extra midfielder (transfer) to compete with.
Stric
New member
I share some of your concerns about him, but I always try to remember that even guys like Xavi and Iniesta, who later turned out to be some of the best midfielders ever, weren't considered to be some extraordinary incredible talents early on, like some other youngsters were. Both of them became what we know them to be when they were well into their 20s, even past their mid 20s. I'm not saying Rafinha is as good as Xavi and Iniesta were before they breakout points, but I hope that the same pattern will happen with him.
No. Both Xavi and Iniesta were considered to be extraordinary talented from the time they were just kids. Iniesta was brought to Barcelona from Albacete because he was a star in some big tournament when he was 12 years old. By the time they both had reached 18, they were no longer playing for the B team, and by the time they had reached 22 years old (Rafinha's age) they probably had close to 100 games each for the first team. Even though Iniesta wasnt a fixed starter yet (because of certain Ronaldinho and Deco), he was always the 12th man of the team. They were both world class players by their early 20s, no doubt about it. Of course, not all players are as talented as they were at an early age, and some players take longer to truly shine, and then just explode, like Busquets, who no one knew anything about before he suddenly "came from nowhere" and cemented a starting place for Barcelona.
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Stric
New member
If you put it that way, my mistake then. But I know Xavi was underrated and barely appreciated among the general football public until well into his senior career. What the club thought within their ranks is a different story. But for the sake of argument, you mentioned Busquets as an alternative example, so I'll accept it.
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