Rafinha

[Adriano@10]

Yeah, but is it really that we need to pay 35m€ for a player who needs equally leveled players around him to be worth that money? Because I think we can do better in the market. We simply need to do better. Rafinha is raising the level of this team but sometimes it's not enough. I really have mixed feelings about him almost after every game. He has skill, he moves a lot, he can pass. But is that enough?

Extending the loan would be a gift from Barcelona, so I'm sure they won't accept it. However if we make it to CL, I think we can push it to 2019 summer with obligation to buy clause.

Well there are not many players who could bring us to the next level on their own. And the few that are out there wont be tempted to join us and we most probably cant afford them!!
Also i hate to say it but your right on brozo yet i d still sell him if a good offer comes and get sombody less moody and more consistent in his position.
Anyway one thing is clear wee need better passers and more technical midfielders no matter what!

Btw i m blaming mancini that our midfield is depleted of technical players with passing skills!

 

[Harpsabu]

Well there are not many players who could bring us to the next level on their own. And the few that are out there wont be tempted to join us and we most probably cant afford them!!
Also i hate to say it but your right on brozo yet i d still sell him if a good offer comes and get sombody less moody and more consistent in his position.
Anyway one thing is clear wee need better passers and more technical midfielders no matter what!

Btw i m blaming mancini that our midfield is depleted of technical players with passing skills!

Our midfield was like that before Mancini too. Only one was likely Kovacic.

 

[Adriano@10]

Our midfield was like that before Mancini too. Only one was likely Kovacic.

Did he not also buy and sell ljajic? Anyways i know its not only mancinis fault i just like to blame him but i think he s the one who left us with 0 technical midfielders with passing ability while bevore him we usually had atleast one. The dude thought melo as dpl would solve our problems which is beyond ridiculose!

 

[Conan the Barbarian]

0 goal and 0 assist at 11 games as an attacking midfielder. And some of us think he worths 35 millon.

Oh dear lord ,give me strength !

 

[Wallace]

Our midfield was like that before Mancini too. Only one was likely Kovacic.

Got rid of Hernanes and Guarin as well as Kovacic, brought in Kondogbia only. The first two might not have played the best football, but they are more offensively capable and technically superior than what we were left with for what it's worth, i.e. Medel, Kdog, Melo.

I guess we did get wide forwards and trequartista with Ljajic and Jovetic, but those two were simply used to replace the likes of Podolski and Shaqiri. It was simply insufficient to rely transitional play entirely on the likes of Kondogbia and Medel.

I have said many times Mancini did a good job getting us Ljajic and Jovetic, but he simply did not know how to use the players he bought for himself. And that's another story I'm leaving for another day.

 

[Harpsabu]

Got rid of Hernanes and Guarin as well as Kovacic, brought in Kondogbia only. The first two might not have played the best football, but they are more offensively capable and technically superior than what we were left with for what it's worth, i.e. Medel, Kdog, Melo.

I guess we did get wide forwards and trequartista with Ljajic and Jovetic, but those two were simply used to replace the likes of Podolski and Shaqiri. It was simply insufficient to rely transitional play entirely on the likes of Kondogbia and Medel.

I have said many times Mancini did a good job getting us Ljajic and Jovetic, but he simply did not know how to use the players he bought for himself. And that's another story I'm leaving for another day.

I see the point your making but at the time none of us were upset getting rid of Hernanes and Guarin.

 

[Wallace]

Our members' emotional reflection on the deals has no correspondence to the offensive quantity of players.

The problem here wasn't selling them, the problem here was insufficiently replacing our technical quantity of players. This obliterates any options we have when we want to increase the passing throughput from a Kondogbia and Medel midfield, and also limits us the option to replace any existing underperforming technical players like Brozovic, who was pretty much the only technically appropriate player we had to rely on making a decent pass up field.

 

[El Matador]

0 goal and 0 assist at 11 games as an attacking midfielder. And some of us think he worths 35 millon.

Oh dear lord ,give me strength !

Hardly the story. He has only started 6 times and he's been subbed in 5 times, there was also his debut where he played a whooping 2 minutes. He does have one assist to his name though. But that's not what i'm arguing. The guy has just returned from a very long injury and he still needs to settle into a completely new league with a team that plays a polar opposite type of football of what he's used to. I'd say he's done well so far but I do agree that he hasn't proved he's worth 35 million YET. However, I do think he should be given time and patience because it's unfair to judge him now.

 

[forzainter257]

he played 11 games with an average of 49 minutes per match

 

[Irequis]

0 goal and 0 assist at 11 games as an attacking midfielder. And some of us think he worths 35 millon.

Oh dear lord ,give me strength !

For your information, Modric produced 0 goals and 0 assist in his 2 seasons in Tottenham. I forget the exact figure, but Modric was Tottenham's best player although his statistic was shit.
Rafinha is some levels below Modric, but if he can improve us and Spalletti needs him, I don't see any reason to splash 35 million on someone important.

 

[junior55]

For your information, Modric produced 0 goals and 0 assist in his 2 seasons in Tottenham. I forget the exact figure, but Modric was Tottenham's best player although his statistic was shit.
Rafinha is some levels below Modric, but if he can improve us and Spalletti needs him, I don't see any reason to splash 35 million on someone important.

I think we are somehow getting used to mediocrity around here and this is very very worrying .
We see a couple of dribbling and we get excited , we see a fucking midfielder have a good 1st touch and we think Messi.

I am not saying Rafinha is bad or smth ,for sure he elevates the level of our midfield but this is because we are comparing him with gagliardini , borja and vecino.

Guys fucking wake up , we lack a player who can score the ball other than Icardi.
Its not fucking normal that our starting right winger has 0 goals all season.
Its not fucking normal that our starting AM have 0 goals in all the minutes they have played in that position being that Borja/Rafinha/Joao Mario.

So don't say to me that stats are not important because scoring goals is all what matters in this game or else Cristiano Ronaldo wouldn't have 5 golden balls. He has them because he scores whenever needed.

So if our budget for next season has room to spend 35M on Rafinha and also get someone who can be a threat on goals than great.
If not then unfortunately we have to discard him. Players with good passing ability and control on ball are important in the new Brozo position. If you play in the attacking part of the midifeld you need to be a goal scoring threat and there a lot of ways how. You can have a great long shot (think naingolan) , you can have great off ball movement (think hamsik) or be great in free kicks (snejder). Either way you need to be some kind of threat for the opposition

 

[ADRossi]

I think people have been skewed by what the value of 40 million Euros is due to our own incompetence. They compare Joao Mario to Rafinha, conclude one is clearly better than the other, and therefore he is worth the price.

 

[capitano92]

Build up play is fantastic and reliable. Take him out and a lot of other players start to seem like their static, unwilling selves. Must be redeemed 35 mil isn't that expensive in todays market.

 

[JJM]

that assist to Icardi was totally what he meant to do tho

 

[Bluenine]

Stats don't really tell the whole picture, you gotta watch what a player does on the pitch. If I compare the 35m rated Rafinha with the player he replaced at Inter who cost us 45m, Joao Mario had played roughly the same amount of time with Inter this season and has more assists. Everyone talks about how talented he is, but I still don't know what he does apart from aimlessly running around the pitch and passing the ball around like its a practice session. His touches aren't very good, his passing lacks purpose and his shooting is poor. But with Rafinha its different - pretty much everytime he gets the ball, he does something exciting with it or at least tries to. His touch is great, his passing is purposeful, and while we haven't seen much of his shooting he is getting closer to a goal with every game.

We must understand that Rafinha is still rehabilitating from a long term injury and regaining full fitness, while also adjusting to a new league. Today he lasted the whole game, got an assist and almost scored a goal (good save by the keeper).

My view on Rafinha hasn't changed from January. At the end of the season we should test his fitness and if we are reasonably sure he has made full recovery, we should sign him. €35m for a player of his caliber is a good deal in today's market.

 

[magnesium]

As long we win and play good football, i don't care stats.
Rafinha is attacking midfielder we need he, had good vision, and technique.

Brozo - Gags - Rafi is a must, i don't care how much we must pay for Rafinha.

It takes me so long time to watch beautiful football at Inter, and now someone talk we must give up

 

[Demokritos]

If he ever catch 2-3 chances (he had goal scoring opportunities every game actually, i think he is just unlucky), if he could be fully fitted and caught some goal scoring chances next season, he could be a 50M player.

player with his technique and moves is cheap for 35M.

 

[syrus]

1 assist now ...
His flick to icardi was intentional abeit luck played a vital part

Still an assist ....

 

[thoriq_r9]

He's a bit unlucky to not have a couple of goals under his name. Off the top of my head, I can recall three attempts that he made a great shot, in power and accuracy, but the keeper did really well to keep the ball out: The last game where he shot towards the bottom corner from a difficult angle, another one during Sampdoria game in which his backheel from close range was saved then led to an Icardi goal, and the Bologna game IIRC where he curled a ball towards the far post that the keeper narrowly tipped over.
He doesn't possess a rocket of a shot, but he has a pretty good shooting technique. I think it's just a matter of time before he scores his first goal for us.

 

[Sassuolu]

We have a lack of composure in front of goal, it's a general problem in the team and it's disappointing that Rafinha hasn't score and assisted more.