Barcelona, They say that what the public wants is

sacrosanct, and the Camp Nou made clear exactly what they want

during the clash with Inter: they want Arthur in the starting line-up. It’s

as simple as that, the MARCA said.

In the 77th minute of play Ernesto Valverde elected to substitute the

Brazilian for Arturo Vidal and the supporters responded with whistles.

Valverde has spent almost a season and a half looking to fill the

gap left by Neymar and then Andres Iniesta. At the time of his arrival he

resolved the issue of the Brazilian’s departure by using a flat 4-4-2

formation with Paulinho’s arrival greatly aiding that endeavour. He also

tried Ousmane Dembele when possible and there seemed to be a lot

of experiments which simply didn’t succeed. This was made

abundantly clear in Rome as record signing, Philippe Coutinho, was

forced to watch as he was ineligible to play in the Champions League.

This season, Coutinho has been readily available in all

competitions, however Iniesta has not been. As such it’s the former

Liverpool midfielder who has played in the Spaniard’s position. His

style isn’t comparable with the great Iniesta though. Valverde’s starting

line-up seemed clear with Coutinho and Dembele playing most

matches, until the French winger showed that he still lacks the

consistency one would associate with a more experienced individual,

the MARCA added.

In these matches, the Spanish coach gave Arthur the chance to

play and light at the end of the tunnel appeared. Barcelona were once

again in control of matches, their midfield dominated proceedings and

these performances moved away from the lack of consistency the

Blaugrana have recently showed in which their shortcomings have

been highlighted.

Arthur was born to play for Barcelona. At times, in conjunction with

Sergio Busquets, if it’s not too audacious to say, the Brazilian looked

like Xavi. His touch is fast but sensible, he overcomes defensive lines

and pulls opposing players this way and that.

Source: Oman News Agency