FanPost

On Puig

This is just a copy-paste of a comment I made on an... interesting article on this site.

I will say that Puig really should've went on loan. However I understand why he doesn't want to, our loan record is pretty garbage. That being said, we are with a new president so maybe that'll change. Koeman has proven that he is as stubborn as a mule and will let personal grudges hinder the development of Puig. Now I'm not saying Puig should start over Pedri, he definitely shouldn't, but the minutes he's received is laughable. There is no reason for Koeman to bring on Roberto or Moriba over Puig when we're chasing a goal and need that creativity. Also, what the heck is up with this article? Did the writer forget about what Puig did post-lockdown? And Valverde not playing a 20 year old Puig hardly says anything about his ability, we know that Valverde had his untouchables and at the time we had Busquets, Arthur, De Jong, Rakitic, Vidal, and Alena in midfield. Youngsters like Puig and Alena were cast out when our midfield was screaming for creativity and was made up of 3 defensive midfielders... There is no doubt that Puig needs to improve in his defensive work(which is why I've always said that I fully understand why he doesn't start), and his passes can be risky and lead to turnovers, but all of this can be fixed with game time. Maybe in January(if Koeman lasts that long), we can loan him out to a team that plays possession based, attacking football.

Now, our midfield options are this: Busquets, De Jong, Pedri, Roberto, Coutinho, Gavi, Nico, Demir(free 8), Pjanic, and Puig. Pjanic might be the only player in midfield that Koeman will use less than Riqui. It seems likely that Puig could get even less minutes this season under Koeman.

<em>This does not represent the views of Barca Blaugranes or SBNation</em>