The Raphinha saga appears to be nearing its end. After weeks of seeemingly endless updates, multiple links to London-based clubs, and conflicting reports, it appears Raphael Dias Belloli will be moving to Barcelona for a fee of about €75M and we can finally move on from talk of Barca’s financial woes and “levers” and talk about actual football.
Profile
In a market where quality right wingers are extremely scarce, Raphinha might be one of the most well-rounded players in his position. While he fits into the mould of the playmaking inverted winger à la Ziyech and Mahrez, Raphinha’s more expansive skillset and top-tier defensive workrate makes him an extremely scalable player which allows him to thrive whether he’s being utilized as a team’s primary creator or as a more complementary offball weapon.
As shown by the above radar, Raphinha is an extremely well-rounded winger. capable of getting into good goalscoring positions, creating for his teammates, aiding in buildup, and doing more than his fair share of the defensive dirty work. Per fbref, he‘s above the 60th percentile in per 90 metrics amongst attacking midfielders for npxG, xA, shot-creating actions, progressive passes, and virtually every defensive metric over the past 365 days.
But enough with the charts and numbers, nobody wants to look at that while having a hoops convo. How exactly does Raphinha fit in at Xavi’s Barca?
Tactical Overview
Since arriving at Barcelona in late 2021, Xavi has primarily utilized an extremely attacking 4–3–3 which is very reminiscent of Pep’s early years at Manchester City as well as Marcelo Bielsa’s Leeds United, with extremely wide wingers, attacking 8s, and positionally versatile fullbacks capable of inverting into midfield or making more traditional overlapping runs.
Xavi asks his wingers to stay extremely wide both to stretch the pitch to create space between the lines for the midfielders and to operate as an outlet mainly by isolating fullbacks in 1v1 situations.
They may also be asked to drop deeper to aid in buildup by receiving the ball in wider areas and cutting in to play passes to teammates between the lines. This is demonstrated in the clip below where Ferran Torres drops deep to flick the ball into Aubameyang between the lines, allowing Barcelona to play through Sevilla’s high press and resulting in a final 3rd entry by the Catalans.
Defensively, Xavi’s wingers are required to be extremely active due to his desire to press the opposition high and force turnovers. However in a more settled block, they also need to be able and willing to track back into a more compact 4–5–1 where they aid their fullbacks by tracking runners in order to combat wide overloads by the opposition.
Raphinha’s Role
Raphinha would slot in seamlessly as one of the wide attackers in this 4–3–3. As mentioned before, Xavi’s Barcelona are quite similarly stylistically to Bielsa’s Leeds so Raphinha should have very little trouble adapting to the system. While he is best off the right cutting in on his favoured left to playmake and score, he is more than capable of slotting in on the left as a more traditional winger who drives to the byline before crossing the ball into the box. But what exactly does he bring?
Creativity
While he can contribute in a variety of ways on the pitch, Raphinha’s biggest selling point by far is his ability to create for his teammates. He ranked in the 78th percentile and 82nd percentile for xA (0.21 per 90) and shot-creating actions (3.67 per 90) in 2021–22, numbers which actually dropped from the previous season’s tallies of 0.31 (95th percentile) and 4.16 (89th percentile). An extremely gifted playmaker, Raphinha is capable of an extremely wide variety of passes. Clipped balls over the top, low crosses and cutbacks of either foot, inswinging crosses from the right flank, flamboyant trivelas, you name it and he can probably pull it off.
Raphinha’s passing range and versatility coupled with elite decision making and composure in the final 3rd makes it extremely difficult to cut off his creativity completely. Give him space and he’ll cut inside and find a runner at the farpost, cut off his left foot and he’ll drive to the byline and deliver a precise cross into the 6 yard box or to a late runner lurking at the penalty spot. This would allow Xavi to slot him in for Dembélé without losing much in the way of creative output from the right flank, thereby giving them an insurance policy for the injury prone Frenchman.
Offball Movement
While Raphinha is known more for his ability on the ball, he’s also extremely capable of impacting the game without the ball. Although offball movement is extremely difficult to quantify with stats available to the general public, Raphinha’s high number of offsides per 90 over the past two seasons (0.57 and 0.43 in 2020–21 and 21–22 respectively) suggests he is more than willing to make runs into space and this is extremely evident on film.
His combination of searing pace and acceleration, spatial awareness and intense workrate means he’s capable of exploiting higher lines by means of out-to-in runs. This will be particularly valuable for Barcelona where the striker dropping off will create gaps for Raphinha to exploit and with passers like Pedri, Piqué and Busquets, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Raphinha hit a career high goal tally.
However, this offball movement isn’t limited solely to exploiting high lines. Raphinha has shown himself to be extremely adept at making runs to the nearpost and farpost and he’s also capable of creating separation via double movements in and around the box.
Not only do these moves get him into good goalscoring positions, they also create space for his teammates to get shots off themselves. In the clip below, Raphinha’s lung bursting sprint from the left wing drags the Southampton defenders into the box, thereby giving Dallas the time and space to get his shot off.
Finally, Raphinha’s offball movement also aids in his creative ability as he can make runs into space, receive a pass and make a simpler read. In the clip below, he drops deep to receive and lay the ball off before drifting into space behind the opposition’s backline and creating a goal against a completely disheveled Spurs defence.
Linkplay
Raphinha’s ability to contribute in buildup as a winger adds so much value in a possession based system. His primary method of doing so is by means of receiving with his back to goal before cutting infield and playing quick combinations with his teammates in order to progress the ball. In cases where the opposition does not allow him to do so, he’s also extremely capable of playing quick layoffs to underlapping runners or passes around the corner to players between the lines before continuing his run to either make himself available for a return pass or get into the box. His exceptional touch and technique allows him to do so with either foot and on either wing, making him capable of playing out of even the most intense press.
He has even shown himself to be capable of linking play via flick ons with his head(78th percentile among wingers for % of aerial duels won), something Xavi will appreciate as his Barcelona side are more than willing to play more direct passes in buildup.
Defensive Contributions
In 2020/21, Marcelo Bielsa’s Leeds ranked as one of the most aggressive pressing outfits in the Premier League and Raphinha was a massive part of this. An extraordinarily hardworking attacker, he has been one of the best defensive wingers in the top 5 leagues over the past 365 days.
Moreover he’s also a supremely intelligent defender. Rather than running around like the proverbial headless chicken, Raphinha has a keen understanding of his defensive duties as a winger in all defensive phases. In the clip below, he loses the ball with a careless pass. Yet instead of rushing to the player in possession, he realizes immediately that there’s only one passing option available and immediately intercepts the pass and kills off a potential counterattack.
In the next clip, Raphinha is on the edge of the opposition box with very few defenders back as Brighton prepare to counter. Once again rather than diving in rashly, he shows the presence of mind to stunt towards the ball carrier’s main passing option before nicking the ball away with an outstretched leg.
This defensive awareness also shows up when his side defends in a compact block. In the next clip, he steps out to the player in possession and forces a backpass. But instead of switching off after they give the ball up, Raphinha has the presence of mind and the sheer willingness to continue tracking his man all the way into the backline in order to neuter the opposing teams attack by cutting off the third man run.
This workrate and mindset is sure to endear him to coaches, fans and teammates alike and represents a marginal gain in Xavi’s attempt to solidify a defence that has been extremely vulnerable in transition defence over the past few seasons.
Set Piece Delivery
While Leeds United weren’t particularly prolific from set piece situations during Raphinha’s time there, that was not due to a lack of quality on his part.
While he created 0.68 shots per 90 from deadball situations in 2021–22(good for the 93rd percentile amongst wingers in the top 5 leagues), none of them led to goals as Leeds scored the joint fewest goals from deadball situations in the Premier League (tied with Norwich City with 2 goals). In comparison, Barcelona ranked in the middle of the pack in La Liga with 5 goals and you’d assume having Raphinha in conjuction with more aerially competent players such as Piqué and Araujo should result in an increase in set piece goals.
Raphinha’s exquisite ballstriking could also add a weapon on direct free kicks, something they haven’t had since Messi’s departure a year ago.
Conclusion
Barcelona’s wing depth at the moment isn’t great and is especially light on creativity. While they have two extremely talented players in Ansu Fati and Ousmane Dembélé, neither of them are particularly reliable at the moment due to chronic injury issues. Beyond that, their main options are Ferran Torres (a great offball weapon and direct dribbler but not particularly amazing creatively) and Memphis Depay (a player who they seem eager to get rid of and who is really best as more of a creative 9). By acquiring Raphinha, they will be getting a winger who is extremely versatile in various roles on both flanks, capable of playing alongside any of their other attackers and someone who can be relied upon game in game out to contribute in multiple ways as Xavi attempts to build the Catalan giants back up to the status they have held for most of the past decade.
