\n<\/p>\n
The overall numbers back up Flick’s statement. Raphinha has 11 goals to his name already this term, which is a record no other Barca player in the last 60 years can match. Lionel Messi notched 10 in his first seven appearances of the 2012-13 campaign, and reached nine by the same stage on two other occasions, while Ronaldo matched that feat in 1996-97.<\/span><\/p>\n Raphinha’s instant adaptation to this new role is the main reason Barca have reached another level. Lewandowski was an expert with his back to goal, and Torres offered a unique threat with his clever runs in behind, but Raphinha is the <\/span>perfect<\/em><\/i> figurehead for Flick’s fluid system.<\/span><\/p>\n The 29-year-old floats freely between the lines, using his explosive speed and technical wizardry to drag opponents out of position and link the play. This helps to create more space for Yamal and Anthony Gordon out wide, while Raphinha is master of exploiting openings himself, always a step ahead of the defenders in front of him.<\/span><\/p>\n That much was evident again on Wednesday, as he hit a hat-trick in the 7-2 demolition of Racing Santander in La Liga. The first and last of his goals came from the penalty spot, but the second was all about his spatial awareness. With Olmo again the architect, Raphinha ghosted in between Racing’s centre-backs and waited for the pass; when it came, he took one touch before steering a half-volley into the corner.<\/span><\/p>\n He makes everything look easy on the ball, and works harder than anyone else off it. Barca’s high press starts with Raphinha, who constantly forces mistakes because he never stops chasing at full pelt.<\/span><\/p>\n Bringing the pure intensity and dynamism that Flick craves, along with a clinical edge, the manager must privately be glad that the Alvarez deal never came to fruition. The frontline is purring, and Barca can put money into bolstering other areas of the pitch instead in next couple of transfer windows.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The overall numbers back up Flick’s statement. Raphinha has 11 goals to his name already…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25562,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25561","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sport"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25561","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=25561"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25561\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/25562"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=25561"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=25561"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=25561"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}