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