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For Barcelona, their midfield has always been the most critical aspect of the team. The Catalan club have always relied on their midfield to keep the ball and impose their ideology onto the game.
So, when Andres Iniesta left in the summer, it was a bit of a watershed moment for the team. Sergio Busquets is now the last man remaining of the otherworldly midfield that dominated the game during the Pep Guardiola’s years. That midfield, one which included Xavi, the aforementioned Busquets and Iniesta constantly kept the ball moving and away from the opposition, probing for gaps in their defense.
And all three in that midfield had a constant role that they fulfilled to make the team tick. Busquets was the base of the midfield, Iniesta was the ball carrier and Xavi, was the metronome of the team, keeping the ball in perpetual motion.
However, ever since Xavi left, the Catalans have always lacked that metronome that keeps the ball moving, probing for spaces and connecting with wingers. Busquets has tried his best to that, but his defensive duties limit what he can do for the team offensively. So, they relied on Iniesta and his intuitive ability to carry the ball and find space, while leaning even more on Leo Messi as a passer and a chance creator than as a finisher.
Messi has had to evolve into something of a hybrid player, someone who can do everything literally for the team offensively as Barcelona replaced the guile of Xavi with the lung-busting abilities of Ivan Rakitic. The Croatian is a midfielder in a slightly different mold, better suited to being a player that could support Busquets rather than someone who could inherit Xavi’s role. And while he has been nothing but fantastic in the position he has played for this team, there was a sense that the ball movement that had once made the Catalans and their ideology famous the world over had somewhat stagnated.
And, as they were replacing the departing Iniesta with Phillipe Coutinho, the Catalans might have just stumbled onto their next great metronome.
When Barcelona signed Arthur from Gremio, they knew exactly what they were getting. Despite having played only 50 minutes in the first leg of the Copa Libertadores final vs. Lanus, he produced a virtuoso midfield display, showcasing his talent for the rest of the world to see.
And he has been nothing short of a revelation for Barcelona.
Having scored a goal on his debut against Spurs in the pre-season, Arthur looked like someone Barcelona had pegged for the long run. South American players crossing the pond to play straight away in Catalunya has not always been a successful experiment, as Douglas and Yerry Mina might attest. Even Neymar, being the generational talent that he is, took almost an entire season before he looked completely at home in Barcelona’s style of play.
However, with Ernesto Valverde looking for answers for answers following a disappointing run of results, that included a defeat at Leganes, Arthur was thrown into the deep end, starting with the Champions League tie at Wembley against Tottenham.
The 22-year-old responded with a magnificent performance in which he provided the base for Barcelona’s attack all evening. His familiarity with the intricate system the Blaugrana use surprised many observers and so did his virtuoso performance.
And he has been on a roll ever since. Against Valencia, the Brazilian passed the ball 142 times, completing a 131 of those passes and nearly matching Xavi’s record for most passes in an away game. Against Inter at the Camp Nou, he had 101 touches as the Barcelona midfield completely overran their Italian counterparts, while in the Classico he provided the patience in midfield as Real threatened to come back in the second half.
Arthur has added a dimension to Barcelona’s midfield that many thought the Catalans had lacked for a while. While he is calm on the ball, his uncanny ability to find space and take the ball and the game to the opposition have benefited his team much. It is too early to say, but comparisons are entirely justified. The way he plays the game, Arthur almost exactly fits into Xavi huge boots.
As the game moves to fast-paced style with counter-attacks more relevant than ever, finding a midfield player in their former captain's mold was getting harder for Barcelona, but in signing Arthur from Gremio, they might just have stumbled onto their new midfield metronome.
