Sometimes I forget he played for us for a season.
Raphinha | Barca player
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik and Imran hold a long overdue conversation about United's awful league form with 1 win in 7. They discuss a disappointing draw at Bournemouth, a not so disappointing draw against Liverpool and a crushing defeat at Chelsea - Is time nearly over for Erik Ten Hag?
Then in a special second half of the pod, Nik welcomes Natalie ( https://twitter.com/natalie_17) to discuss the fortunes of Manchester United Women as they booked a place in the FA Cup Final after a historic first ever win vs. Chelsea.
What’s the verdict on him at Barca so far? Still seems like he’s incredibly wasteful and erratic. Dangerous and energetic but ultimately it doesn’t seem like he’s consistent enough to hold down a place long-term in a team as good as Barca.
50/50 so far. Some of his passing is good, his work rate also but his shooting and dribbling especially is very disappointing. I didn't watch much of him at Leeds so not sure of his actual level, in that Bayern game he looked nervous and totally out of his depth, hopefully he can make the step up now he's at a big club.
He has suffered from Xaviball tbf. Being deployed on the LW where he's ineffective and then being used more to keep the width as opposed to making things happen and given freedom, his game is shackled at times - the same thing happened/is happening to Ferran last season.
Also doesn't help that he and Dembele both prefer RW and the Frenchman is the better player. I think he'll be solid back up/competition for Dembele if we manage to sign a starting LW next summer.
A lever man's Antony
I didn't rate him before and he certainly did nothing to change my mind in this WC. Why is he starting ahead of Antony will remain a mystery.
Antony's not exactly been great either, to be honest.
Antony was way more threatening and dynamic than Raphinha for Brazil when he came on.
In the game yesterday? Yes, but both had underwhelming tournaments.
Antony barely played!
He's been poor for Barca too, and was another who was ridiculously overrated on here.
I can only judge him when he was on the pitch, and what I saw from him was underwhelming. That's not to say he's poor, I just feel, as I said before, both he and Raphinha were great.
Fantastic planning by Barca as usual. Say they sell him, what price might they get? 30m if that?
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Another hype job. Had a decent spell at Leeds and Barca took the bait yet again. He was garbage at the WC yet seemed to start every game.
What happened? Are they planning to let him go?
I never understood the hype with him tbh. But hes okay as a squad option.
Sorry thought I posted link, edited in now
Mediocre player at that level.
Difficult personality?
And he wasn't particularly brilliant when you guys used him. Myth of the high demanding Premier League level debunked
I get Grealish/Zaha vibes from him. He is a big fish in a little pond type of guy and will be better suited at a smaller club where he can dominate and be the man compared to a huge club. not saying they cannot do a good job for a top team, but they will never be the star or main focus of those teams.
We should be all over him if it's true. Raphinha and Antony as our right wingers would be something else after not having a proper RW for a decade or so.
Ya I honestly would have never thought he would get to the level he reached, I thought 25M for him was a good sale at the timeAnd he wasn't particularly brilliant when you guys used him. Myth of the high demanding Premier League level debunked
After this summer do you really want to be in another transfer saga with Barca?
I honestly think it was. There are not many players that can handle playing against park the bus tactics, and when you play in a top 3 Portuguese team you face this tactics almost every week, which means the player needs a lot of concentration and resilience.
Far far too loose on the ball to be an option for a serious side. Fernandes gets stick for his high risk stuff and typical brain fart short pass moments, but someone like Raphinha makes Bruno look like the king of ball retention.
If they are willing to sell, I don't see a problem
In theory they SHOULD be willing to sell, but we all know they will find another rabbit hole to allow them to splash more cash they don't have.
They were "willing" to sell de Jong but messed about with his wages/ back pay. With another 3 years to run on Raphinias contract I would not be surprised to see something similar. I am not sure it is worth the hassle.
Why waste money on Raphinha, much rather stick with Amad
these sound like the sort of discussions that should have happened before signing him……..
Should have gone to Chelsea if he doesn't want to play anywhere else but RW. He wasn't displacing Dembele or Saka as a starter. Hopefully he gets paid his full salary at least
It's different. There aren't any deferred wages involved this time. If the club is willing to sell and the player is willing to come, a deal could be completed quickly. If Barca start complicating things again (somehow), then we can instantly walk away since we don't need the guy as much as FDJ anyway.
I like Amad, but he might not even be ready next season...or ever. He's clearly talented, but you never know if he'll make it here or not. If we can get Raphinha on a reasonable fee, we should be all over him. Left footed right wingers that are elite level are very, very hard to find. Raphinha would be perfect for us. Gives us a completely different option to Antony too.
he’s not elite level
I actually do rate him but I was very indifferent to losing out on him. He's not really a talent that moves the needle in any serious way for any team at the top.Should have gone to Chelsea if he doesn't want to play anywhere else but RW. He wasn't displacing Dembele or Saka as a starter. Hopefully he gets paid his full salary at least
Funny this story is emerging after Barcelona put out some PR story saying how careful they were when they chose to sign Raphinha over Antony. Whoops!
And his end product is very pathetic too tbh.
On a funny note Bruno and Raphinha played together one season at Sporting and they had a good relation, maybe that stuff people don't like come from that era.
Now seriously, Raphinha think it's one of those cases where he raised his level under Bielsa, cannot say how consistent he was or not for Leeds because I didn't watched them a lot, but Barcelona is a more demanding level.
The one thing I know is that his performances for Brazil at the WC weren't good enough and I doubt he will remain as a starter for them in 2026.
But Raphinha is pretty crap as it is. Why put him in the way of a talent.
That's where you're wrong.
Barcelona trying to kick him out within 6 months suggests I’m not
Only good thing he has going for him is that he's Brazilian.