Amazing prospect!
Unpredictable close to the final 3rd, which
is a blessing after 4 years of being forced to watch Roberto who always back-side passes when he is close to the final 3rd
This. It made me scream... Just drop it in the box ffs. Don't backpass. Roberto and Dest. What an comparisson.
Semedo was the back pass merchant.
Roberto was far more progressive in final third than he was. Just wasnt a 'winger' who could take players on the way Dest can but when gaps opened up from deep he would drive into them most of the time.
Dest clearly looks better than both of them for what Barca need but Roberto was not some overly safe back pass merchant.
Semedi could dribble but passing and shooting held him back. Also lack of right winger front of him.
JamDav please.. we know you hate Semedo,
This is not a reason to whitewash Roberto ...
He is a disaster for any team that wants to play attacking football. Absolutely back-pass and side-pass merchant!
Apart from a few cases of crosses after receiving the ball with tons of space when countering, he was unable to commit any substantial offensive act in set play when receiving the ball close to the final 3rd. If you have not seen that after 4 years you were probably biased-sighted
It's not just Dest being better than Roberto, he also has more help and is not isolated to do something on his own.
It seems that with lot of these players it is a confidence problem, especially at Barca. Roberto was patient, but certainly not brave midfielder, when he first appeared in Barca first team. Don't remember his exact age, when he was played sporadically in our mid, but i'm certain he was older than Pedri and maybe even Puig and he rarely did any penetrative passes or movements. It's just not in his blood. He's very safe, conservative, some would say, cowardly player, who would rather rely on his teammates and serve as a cog in the machine of ball; retention, nothing else. With players like Dest, Pedri and Puig you see that chutzpah to do thing their own way. The bravery to decide to take on their player or make a risky pass that has high probability to fail. That's what i like this new crop of our young players. And Dest has ability to do it successfully above all. His dribbling sometimes is near Alves like and his crosses are actually better. Not as aggressive and dominating as Dani though, but the later is one of the best fullbacks ever.