Scout Report: Rafinha Alcântara - The Brazilian La Masia graduate

Along with this the Brazilian has a keen eye for goal, 11 shots in 21 games, with eight of these on target and three hitting the back of the net. This may seem low, but you have to consider the role that he plays with Celta which is either a deep central midfielder or out wide. Even with all the statistics in the world though you can’t measure a player’s effectiveness on the game, this is something you have to watch to measure.

http://youtu.be/9deMLnPiB9c

In the above video he shows his skills for the Brazil U20 national team, using his attributes to play as a deep lying playmaker. This is someone who takes the ball from the defence and plays it to the attacking midfielders and forwards, linking all the play together, many argue this is the heart of a team as everything starts through them, in this case Rafinha. You need to be comfortable on the ball to play in this position, have good awareness and boast a strong passing range something Rafinha possesses, as the above graph shows.

His weaknesses though are that his disciplinary record is quite high, six yellow cards in 21 games is a lot and this can put the player and the team in a tricky situation. For example if a player gets a yellow card early on in the game it means that he will have to be careful for the rest of the game, this means he has to take less risks ultimately tackling less. He also cannot afford to get a red card as then the team has to play with 10 players, therefor Rafinha needs to add maturity to his game.

This is especially important for when he re-joins Blaugrana, the players there have to be very disciplined as to where they concede their fouls. This is due to the height of the team and how well they deal with set-pieces which so far this season isn’t good. Out of the 16 goals they have conceded in La Liga this season 6 (38%) have been headed goals. Rafinha therefore needs to think about the team more when he goes back to Barça, I believe he will though, that is why he’s on loan in the first place, to mature as a player and take on more responsibility within the team.

One things certain though, Rafinha isn’t at one of the most prestigious clubs in the world for no reason, the people that saw special something in Messi, Iniesta and Xavi see something in Rafinha too, that’s the highest compliment you can pay him.

Expert Talk

“While its clear what we have here is an exceptional footballer, it is wrong to describe Rafinha in the traditional sense of a La Masia born midfielder. This is a player with undoubted ability on the ball, with an engine that never seems to stop, versatility that would make the finest of footballers envious, with a keen sense of finding a pass and showing up at the right areas at the right time. But what he’s not, and this might sound ironic for a player coming from La Masia, is a possession based midfielder.

This is a player with a massive future at Barcelona, but not as a replacement for Xavi, Iniesta or Cesc. Instead he will introduce the Camp Nou to a completely new style of midfielders, one they have not seen the likes of before, and they’re going to love this special kind of midfielder. ( @YoungCules )

This piece was a guest article by Matthew Buck. Follow him on twitter @footballTIKA.