Now that Rakitic has firmly established himself as the best Croatian midfielder in the world what's next for this long-haired beaut?

One of most improved players in last year.
Mediocre CAM in Schalke , fantastic midfielder in La Liga and in .. Barca.

should be added that he was something like 20 when he played for Schalke.

And that he was playing for Schalke.

Exactly.

Was expecting more from this long over due "appreciation" thread but I wouldn't get into technicalities.

Doc wrote:Was expecting more from this long over due "appreciation" thread but I wouldn't get into technicalities.

Pls go. My entire concentration is channeled to the upcoming Vermaelen appreciation thread.

Fußball wrote:

Doc wrote:Was expecting more from this long over due "appreciation" thread but I wouldn't get into technicalities.

Pls go. My entire concentration is channeled to the upcoming Vermaelen appreciation thread.

Yeah don't worry about that, Perez already paid the RFEF in full. Best start preparing for 2017/2018 season.

There is always hope uncle Flo was too cheap with the tip which gives Barca slight hope.

Manchester City is next if Croatian media can be believed.

Not in the Barca squad tonight.

horrible this year.

thought he was doing well at Barca, off to City?

Yesss, make it happen

Better than Modric and Kroos they said

barca definitely signed the wrong Croatian AM

It's like some of you still don't understand. Rakitic is still a great player. Put Kroos or Modric in his role and they won't make that much of a difference. In fact Kroos would be far worse because Rakitic isn't functioning as a central midfielder. He is some pseudo winger/fb and spends a lot of the game occupying the channels so he can cover for Messi and when Roberto goes past.

I've said it so many times I'm almost blue in the face, Barcelona have a structural problem not a personnel problem and the heart of the problem is Messi's positioning and perhaps Enriques "coaching"

Meh if Messi goes central then Rakitic should go to the wing to cover the void left there like ADM did when he played LCM for us. Messi not being glued to the wing is nothing new. I wouldn't expect anything else. All playmaking inverted winger like to go central because it's easier to pick passes when they roam centrally as opposed to when they are put on the wings strictly and asked to be glued to the touchline in order to not "mess up the shape" blaming Messi is just taking the easy way out.

At least he moves centrally, there are other teams whose wingers basically play as number 9s and the CM on that side still manages to play well. Maybe Lucho is not getting the best out of Rakitic but apart from tracking back and a few long shots there's nothing he brings to the table that someone like Suarez can't do imo

omg what a midfield x - yu would have - Pjanic, Modric, Rakitic, Brozovic

Matic, Tito and Arkan are better than Brozovic imo

halamadrid2 wrote:Meh if Messi goes central then Rakitic should go to the wing to cover the void left there like ADM did when he played LCM for us. Messi not being glued to the wing is nothing new. I wouldn't expect anything else. All playmaking inverted winger like to go central because it's easier to pick passes when they roam centrally as opposed to when they are put on the wings strictly and asked to be glued to the touchline in order to not "mess up the shape" blaming Messi is just taking the easy way out.

At least he moves centrally, there are other teams whose wingers basically play as number 9s and the CM on that side still manages to play well. Maybe Lucho is not getting the best out of Rakitic but apart from tracking back and a few long shots there's nothing he brings to the table that someone like Suarez can't do imo

Except Messi doesn't press and so the Barcelona mf is always outnumbered which is why they are so easy to counter attack. Even when teams pack the centre and free the flanks, Messi still comes central instead of staying wide to create one vs ones. In LE treble season, Messi stayed wide a lot more, especially in that Bayern game. He gets one vs ones outside a lot but he wants to touch the ball all the timr.

He did it under Pep at the start and killed Barcelona in a lot of games. Rakitic and ADM do different roles. You are posting like ou have never seen Rakitic play. ADM played in a counter attacking team and he could go outside and cross and was good in one vs ones. Rakitic isn't a good one vs one dribbler so he is just wasted as some water carrier. He doesn't even get in positions to use long shots. The team has no structure and has no game plan.

Messi wandering around and destablises their pressing game and so they cant counter press effectively either.

Although you might want Messi to press that option is just not realistic. There is always at least one player in every top team that is excused from pressing and Messi is that guy for Barca. Messi might be a good dribbler but I have rarely if ever seen him go 1v1 with the RB. It has always been Alves up there against the RB on his own and Messi central just besides him. Messi going central might gave contributed to Rakitic' undefined role in the team but it's while in possession Rakitic is useless. That side does not have as much problems defensively as the other side. Rakitic and Roberto are just bang average passers and that's the problem the right flank has. Never seen Rakitic make an ambitious pass that penetrates the line of defence. His passes are the most obvious passes in the sense that he only passes to the guy next to him. He is a very limited player whose only use has been covering for Messi

Rakitic was very good with Sevilla and the first season at Barca. He'll probably be very useful still for a more orthodox team than Barca. Many teams could use him.

Rakitic played closer to goal for Sevilla and does it for Croatia. That isn't an option for Barca. Perhaps he too is affected by the formation but has tried to be versatile for the sake of making it at the club

I know he still lurks like the rat bastard he is so I hope Futbol reads that his poverty appreciation thread is still poverty. And clearly did not stand the test of time. Of one and a half years.

DeviAngel wrote:omg what a midfield x - yu would have - Pjanic, Modric, Rakitic, Brozovic

specially when you know Kovacic is better than 3 of the names you mentioned lol

He is not better than any of those names.

Hope Barca wont sell Rakitic midway through the season to City. He will instantly improve their midfield. Whatever his current level is, he is definitely better than what all they have.