Ivan Rakitic Proving to Be All That Barcelona Wanted

When Barcelona signed Ivan Rakitic this summer, there were plenty of questions about how he would fit into the team. But the Croatian midfielder has done very well in answering them so far.

The interaction between the player and the fans said it all. Taken off with just over 30 minutes to go in a game against Granada, after Barca had already secured a big win, he looked like a man who is thoroughly enjoying what he's doing, savouring the well-earned ovation from the Camp Nou crowd.

He may still be new to the Cules, but they already love him. And make no mistake, he sure does love them back.

“I always wanted to join Barcelona. It was my desire,” Rakitic told Croatia’s daily newspaper Sportske novosti (via Football Espana, original article in Croatian here). For him, this is a dream come true.

During his time with Sevilla, Rakitic mainly acted as a more direct type of playmaker. He thrived in space, running with the ball and taking on players, crossing and making key passes all the time, while also shooting very often. Last season in La Liga, he averaged 51.2 passes per game, with a less-than-impressive 79.7 per cent accuracy, which meant he was prone to riskier attempts and turning over the ball.

Understandably, some people were worried that his style would not be suitable for Barcelona, where keeping possession is an absolute priority. As it turns out, they might have underestimated Rakitic’s adaptability and tactical intelligence, because the most striking difference in his stats this season are related to his passing.

Rakitic plays tiki-taka like nobody’s business, as if he was born and raised within a mile of Camp Nou and not some 650 miles to the north east, in Switzerland.

Now he’s topping La Liga charts in passes per game, averaging 87 of them (a 44 per cent increase from last season). Of course, a lot of it is simply due to playing in a team with a different philosophy and with better teammates, but if nobody in Spain’s top division is passing more often than Rakitic—who is also in the top 10 in pass success, 91 per cent on average—then it’s safe to say he has proven he can operate in the “classic” Barca mode.

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However, that only begins to tell the story.

Although it’s still very early days, Barcelona look particularly promising at the moment. Luis Enrique has tightened them up defensively—they are yet to concede a goal this season, after six league games in which they scored 17—and he has also made Lionel Messi adopt a slightly different role than before.

The Argentine is now dropping deeper into midfield, building from there almost like a “true” No. 10 and involving his teammates more. He has already made six assists in the league, while scoring five goals—one fewer than Neymar, actually. Placing Messi further away from the central striking position may be part of the strategy to integrate Luis Suarez into the lineup “once his four-month ban is over,” as Francesc Tomas argued over at ESPNFC.

Ivan Rakitic also has an important part to play in Luis Enrique’s vision.

Now that he seems fully integrated into Barca’s philosophy, expect Rakitic to start mixing it up a bit—to switch between the tiki-taka and a more direct playmaking approach every now and then; to try his long passes that slice open the defence and his shot more often. In short, he will apply some of his Sevilla experiences and provide a different option when the team gets stuck in sterile possession, like they did at times before.

He is not Xavi, but Luis Enrique plays him in the seminal pass-master’s position. Even as he fielded them together against Granada, Rakitic got to keep his right central-midfielder position, a clear sign of a new pecking order.

His performances so far have been nothing short of impressive: He connects the lines, quickly moves the ball, runs back and forth like a modern-day, industrious version of a box-to-box midfielder. Against Levante on 21 September, he made a goal-saving tackle and scored a wonderful goal from outside the area within half an hour. And against Granada a week later, he headed a Messi cross into the net with the skill of a top striker.

On top of everything, he appears very comfortable and happy at the club, quickly rising in status to one of the crowd’s favourites and new team leaders. Barcelona could have hardly wished for more.

Statistics courtesy of WhoScored.com.

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