Sergi Roberto

The hype about Sergi R mostly revolved around him playing yet another new position satisfactorily. His versatility has greatly served the team, but he shouldn't be the long term plan for RB.
 

PhilS

Active member
His defensive positioning costs goals. He squeezes in to the CB central area way too much. Alves covered all the way over to the corner flag, as does Alba. Sergi leaves huge areas open to his right, almost all the time. He should not be starting RB every game for Barca.

p
 

DonAK

President of FC Barcelona
He had a good start, but he got found out rather quickly due to his lack of attacking instincts and quality(he's a CM/DM so yeah) that would have been fine if we had a full fledged RW.....but we don't. Our right side is completely useless. Every team just loads their defenders in the middle and on the left. Even with the space available he's not able to take an advantage of it and it seems like Messi has given up on linking up with him too as he plays it way too safe for him.

And now he's been very shaky defensively lately too.
 
Last edited:

BerkeleyBernie

Senior Member
No Xavi, no partay.

Don't underestimate the immense contribution Xavi's movement gave to the right side. Xavi-Messi-Alves is one of the best right sides of all time.
 

Aryagorn

Improvin' Perfection!!
No Xavi, no partay.

Don't underestimate the immense contribution Xavi's movement gave to the right side. Xavi-Messi-Alves is one of the best right sides of all time.
Just one of the best? That combination has the GOAT, the best mid fielder of all time and the best RB of the modern times! And it's not like they are just the best on paper (ala that English team in 2000s), they have been an integral part of two treble winning squads!

It is the best right side combination ever!
 

Messi983

Senior Member
Why even compare Roberto to Alves? We all know Sergi is not on Dani's level and will probably never be but that was expected. Not every team needs to have a worldclass player at every position to be successfull. We've won CL with Oleguer as our starting RB, FFS.

I still think Roberto is good enough to be starting RB in a functional team. We are dysfunctional now and that influence negatively on Roberto as well as most of other players. Lucho (or whoever will be our coach next season) needs to fix this first before we can fairly evaluate whether Roberto can make it as RB or not. He most likely won't be our indisputed starter anymore next season if we'll really buy Cancelo but I still believe he's good enough to be that.
 

Neymessi

Active member
Yes, it is. A huge one too. Insane people already forgot how Alves played in his prime. Roberto has never performed remotely close to that.

It was maybe 4 or 5 games but in those games he was insanely good. Obviously can't compare just 5 of his best games to alves prime years but he surprised every one back then with those performances. If he gives us anywhere near those that he did back then there would be no need to look at Rbs anywhere for us. I put this avatar back then and as soon as I did he went from great to just fine very quickly and has been there for some time.

When Alves was motivated he had peak Cristina in his pocket all game long...

Even a non peak alves did this.

817740384.gif
 
Last edited:
F

FlaFCB

Guest
It was maybe 4 or 5 games but in those games he was insanely good. Obviously can't compare just 5 of his best games to alves prime years but he surprised every one back then with those performances. If he gives us anywhere near those that he did back then there would be no need to look at Rbs anywhere for us. I put this avatar back then and as soon as I did he went from great to just fine very quickly and has been there for some time.

"insanely good". You guys really overrate some players.
 

Neymessi

Active member
"insanely good". You guys really overrate some players.

Ok maybe not insanely good if you want to hang to words but he was really really good. What made him look even better was that he was a nobody before that and played so well suddenly. I don't know if you remember this but this was for a very short amount of time that he gave such a great performance. No exaggeration when I say our RB problem is solved if he plays anywhere like that. Again no exaggeration when I say if he played like that consistently he would be top 3 RBs currently easily.

Whats there to overrate? You say as if I call him the best RB ever. Whats a big deal if i feel he was really good in those few matches back then?
 
F

FlaFCB

Guest
Ok maybe not insanely good if you want to hang to words but he was really really good. What made him look even better was that he was a nobody before that and played so well suddenly. I don't know if you remember this but this was for a very short amount of time that he gave such a great performance. No exaggeration when I say our RB problem is solved if he plays anywhere like that. Again no exaggeration when I say if he played like that consistently he would be top 3 RBs currently easily.

Whats there to overrate? You say as if I call him the best RB ever. Whats a big deal if i feel he was really good in those few matches back then?

He was good, but not "insanely". I still think he'd be better as a cm/dm, with a proper rb. Instead of buying Gomes, that's what should had been done. And he wasn't a nobody. He already had better games as a dm/cm to me than he did at rb.
 

DonAndres

Wild Man of Borneo
Roberto is still gonna get the rest of this season to show if he can improve at RB. I did like his promise early on and I think he'd have an easier time in a well functioning system where he isn't entirely alone on his flank.

However, if it proves that he's not a long term solution at RB, then I think he could be a very key player in our midfield. I find Arda and Gomes to be completely dispensable and hope they're out this summer. I like Rafinha's aggression but I don't rate him highly as a playmaker, he could probably function as a sub for the front 3 though. Rakitic too is potentially on the move this summer depending on what happens with his situation. Since we can't depend on Arda/Gomes and Rakitic might leave, Roberto could fill a big hole in our midfield options. He'd give the same workrate and defensive security of Rakitic with better technical skills and potential to improve even further.

Personally, I like the sound of Iniesta/Denis/Roberto since I believe in their abilities to function in our midfield. Denis is raw but he has great creative potential and is improving in the other aspects of his play. The faith that Xavi placed in him gives me more confidence too. I'd also reject the idea of loaning Aleña and have him grow as a 4th or 5th option. He's a talent with all the right abilities and he's coming up at the exact right time to compete and break into the team. It's time we placed trust in high potential youth instead of sending him off on loan.

The problem with all of this is that we don't know what the landscape will be 4-5 months from now. It's doubtful that Lucho is staying and, as of now, we have no idea who's going to be the one to replace him. On top of that we don't know which players will want to stay/leave and what will happen in the renovation of our current midfield. Would the new manager even acknowledge the failing investment in Gomes or would he just try to forcibly keep him on? Would he keep Roberto at RB or buy a new player? And if so, who would that even be? Lot of uncertainty right now and I don't know if we'll take the steps in the right direction to fix the glaring problems in our squad.
 

Potroh

New member
However, if it proves that he's not a long term solution at RB, then I think he could be a very key player in our midfield. I find Arda and Gomes to be completely dispensable and hope they're out this summer. I like Rafinha's aggression but I don't rate him highly as a playmaker, he could probably function as a sub for the front 3 though.

Completely agreed...
 

Home of Barca Fans

Top