Rafinha Alcantara

[DonAndres]

Not a naturally good central midfielder. His field of vision is terrible, his sense of positioning is off... I hope we don't rely on him much, now I'm just counting the minutes till Arda can be our go-to midfield rotator.

 

[Barcaman]

I thought he was generally bad since the start of pre-season bar one game so can't say I'm surprised at this showing.

 

[dakt]

Just horrible. I'll admit, I was impressed by him in the beginning of the last season, but now, given our ambitions, he's not up for the task.

 

[Ghostmaster]

He is better winger than midfielder, he can dribble and score goals, in midfield he looks very poor.

 

[Sumlit]

Rafinha is not a CM people, certainly not now, perhaps never. Been saying it for months, even getting criticized. He might have something to offer as an attacker, like we saw vs Sevilla, but he simply is not good at CM, not one bit.

 

[Icarium]

He can be a good player but just not doing well as barca CM. We won't have much choice, he will get chances in midfield at least until arda can play. So lets hope he puts in a decent shift whenever called upon.

 

[serghei]

I think the reason why some of us have been speaking positively about him is just his technique. Other than the occasional fancy dribble, his similarity with his brother begins and ends with the family name. Thiago is much much more cerebral, a different player really.

 

[10Rivaldo]

I dunno, he's played well in the midfield before, against decent opposition. The 3-2 game against Villarreal last season comes to mind. He's always just been inconsistent, hopefully he gets better with age.

 

[Darko]

Tbh he played the Sevilla game and had a knock if I recall correctly. Still a really bad game from Rafinha, the clock is ticking for him.

 

[KyletheMuslim]

Not as good as his brother, it showed today.

 

[khaled_a_d]

I think the reason why some of us have been speaking positively about him is just his technique. Other than the occasional fancy dribble, his similarity with his brother begins and ends with the family name. Thiago is much much more cerebral, a different player really.

The comparison is there only b/c of the family name in 1st place.people has put some expectations based on their names actually
I rate Rafinha highly .I think he has the upside to be our go to sub in midfield at least.not sure if he will be able to reach that potential quickly though

 

[Antimadridista1]

If there's one of the "youngsters" that I would be happy about if we sold him it is definitely Rafinha.

 

[Stric]

When Thiago was here, he was mostly seen and used as a CM, despite showing on every single occasion that he excels when attacking. During those times, any time you'd put him in Iniesta's LM position, next to a CM, he'd have a great game, visibly better than his games as CM. That's not to say that he can't play CM, but AM or any other attacking midfield position suits him much better. The same thing is even more true of Rafinha. He's even less of a CM, and even more of an attacker. And especially now that even Iniesta's role has changed and been pulled back under Enrique, the same problems are evident when Rafinha plays LM, too. The roles we've gotten used to with Xavi and Iniesta have changed and are more adapted to supporting the attacking trio and covering for the fullbacks. We barely have any room for attacking midfielders any more. Real CMs are a dying breed, and sadly, it seems like any attacking midfielder who shows even the slightest trace of being able to play in that central position is bound to be used there, in shortage of an actual CM. It has to be done, but eventually it will hurt the team, and it will make the player seem worse than he really is. It's a shame.

I know we're short on midfielders so don't take this as criticism of Lucho for playing him that way. Or of other coaches for playing Thiago as CM. I know players are used to fill the blank, and not necessarily to play in the position that suits them best. All I am saying is that, categorically, Rafinha himself would probably benefit most from a RW / RAM position of some kind.

 

[jamrock]

pep played him at false 9 for a reason

 

[Cruijffista]

Appeared way too lightweight to command a midfield in a big game like this. Lucho really had to go with him because of the war of attrition the midfield was put through against Sevilla Tuesday but I have no faith in Rafinha unless he's paired up with either Rakitic or Iniesta. He can't be called upon to the be the guy. Don't get me started on Roberto, who played even worse.