He's bossing the midfield.
Ivan Rakitic has been nothing but awesome in his early Barcelona career. We saw traces of it in the pre-season, but since the games got serious, the Croatian has absolutely bossed the midfield, taking over the Xavi role and doing it beautifully.
In fact, the 26-year-old currently leads La Liga in total passes, with 226 in only two matches -- by the way, Barça has the top four passers in the league right now. Rakitic, Alves (219), Alba (197) and Busquets (182). That's an average of 113 per game for Ivan, pretty much the same as Xavi in his top years. His accuracy rate is incredible, up to 94%. It's a small sample, sure, but if you consider Barça will never change its style no matter what the match is, he's likely to mantain those numbers on a permanent basis, providing a solid, constant presence in the midfield.
Rakitic has also provided a new defensive spark for Barça in the right side of the midfield. Because of Luis Enrique's scheme, it's asked of Ivan to protect the right side once the full-back goes up. And both matches have showed he does that job masterfully.
In essence, Rakitic is the perfect fit for Barcelona, and even if it's so early in the campaign, he is already showing why he's one of the best Barça signings in recent memory.
from Barca Blaugranes - All Posts http://ift.tt/1tvOLjn
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