Ricard "Riqui" Puig



Date of birth: 13 August 1999 (age 18)
Place of birth: Matadepera, Spain
Height: 1.69 m (5 ft 6 1⁄2 in)
Playing position: Midfielder

Impressive performances from the 18 year old. He needs to add some weight to himself physically to be able to complete but the intelligence is there. Something that is quite rare.

Barcelona have fans have a rough gem to be excited about in the upcoming seasons.

danyjr wrote:Never wanted someone fail so badly as I want this fraud to fail and gets his ass handed over to him.

^A bit harsh this, don't you think?

I mean I agree nothing will come off with him, new Sergi Samper at best, but still it's just a kid we're talking about

Stop fake quoting me from other threads pls

Gennaro Gattuso wrote:Riqui is a spectacle, to see boys who still have a child's face and how they treat the ball is something that amazes me, they feel football inside and it's something like poetry, I've heard them talking about him for some time, it's something you can't cut and paste into another club. They don't base themselves on a tactical model, but a common idea, I am a bit jealous of their school.

Daniele Massaro wrote:The appearance of players like Riqui Puig show that the job started by [Johan] Cruyff is being continued. Barça always look for quality youngsters and build them up day by day until they are ready to shine in the first team. I loved Riqui. He plays with so much personality, always with his head up. We could be looking at the new [Andrés] Iniesta!”

Too early to say, but he reminded me more of Kroos with a hint of Xavi than Iniesta. We'll see how this player develops, but he is already a more exciting talent than anything who's come from La Masia since Sergi Roberto. The vision and technique are way too good for his age.

The problem is not the talent with our youngsters. It's the inability of the first team coaches to transition them to the first team. Its a very tricky step up and you need a coach who trusts youngsters and believes in them. Since Pep, we have not had a coach who has done that.
Puig looks a really good talent as does Alena. But it all means nothing when the coach prefers players like Paulinho, Gomes, Vidal etc over genuine young talents.

Pep started Phoden who is younger in the Shield and our genius of a coach says he wont take Puig as he wants to win the Super Cup. Nobody cares about the freaking Super Cup. Why the hell cant he reward Puig for a brilliant pre season by playing him?

You're spot on about the lack of opportunities given by the managers to the youth team but even Guardiola became more and more hesitant to field La Masia players in his subsequent years. I think the pressure to win games and trophies makes you reluctant to do so. Also Guardiola managed Barcelona B so he had a very good idea of the players in the B team and their capabilities whereas the subsequent coaches didn't.

But yeah absolutely no excuses if you field Gomes instead of Rafinha or Aleñá.

Xavi: "I am very happy because when I see him playing, we can see that La Masia still works, Riqui just has it."

"I hope Ernesto can give him opportunities this season. I think he's already quite prepared, I'd say he's very prepared, to play in the first team of Barça."

Pig looked decent against us, bear in mind it was a friendly and it was against us , doesn't take much to school our midfielders

This guy looks good. I'm impressed by him.

Catalonia debut

This guy is a gem.

Inb4 he gets ruined by Ernie.

Sergi Roberto in midfeild lmao, ah shit here we go again

Rakitic needs to be offloaded too, donkey

His physique is a concern. He should have added a few pounds gradually last season. If he can fill out a bit like David Silva, then I think he can become a good player.
Still think his passing needs work.

Looked quality today.

Would be great to see him get some game time this season..

Looks good to me.Lets see.

He has played very well in this first half against a good Arsenal team, who are just a week away from their first game. Hope Puig plays the second half as well.

Predictably Puig gets benched

alexjanosik wrote:Predictably Puig gets benched

To be fair the players need to get some match fitness so the squad was going to be rotated.

Riqui needs to go out on loan. He is too good for the 3rd division. Both Riqui and Alena need to go out on loan. They wont get minutes in an overcrowded midfield. Ideally 2 out of Busquets, Vidal and Rakitic should have been sold. All 3 are staying and Valverde clearly values experience. So Riqui and Alena both should go on loan and play 30 plus matches.

Your 30+ year old "experienced" players have no value if you are caught sleeping at a corner kick against a 19 year old Alexander-Arnold and 23 year old Origi on Champions League semifinal tbh.

Arthur-Puig
--De Jong--


this should be our midfield going into the season

Rakitic and Busquets are useless

chasing Neymar all window when midfield is in dire need of reinforcements

Future star.

I saw a chunk of the game. Was he really that good? I didnt get that impression

For a 20 year old just being promoted to the first team playing against Atlético, yes. He exceeded all expectations for me.

I like many things about him. His attitude, awareness, speed, intensity, passing range. He was up against Partey twice his size and held his own.

He played a better match than the best Coutinho played in 18 months.

Its all and well, but maybe Im expecting too much, I hardly ever seen him make any sort of creative or key pass. So unless he starts doing that he will just become another average disappointment, instead of WC which we need.