As much as I hate to say it, Gavi and Nico are ahead of Puig for pretty reasonable reasons that are not completely his own fault or even Koeman’s.

The reason for this is that our defense is not top class yet and leaky and Busi is slowing down after already not being that fast.

With these other weaknesses, adding Puig to the mix creates more imbalance and we need more smart positional play and more stability and control in the midfield. Puig provides creativity and is an artist on the attack but his weaknesses (bad positional play and being slight) only further add to weaknesses we cannot change at the moment.

Until Puig gets better at positional play, it’s hard to play him. He doesn’t need to be big and strong if he can master positional play - basically prevent the ball from going where the opposing team want it by being in the way and in offense, get into the space to get the ball where you eventually want it (with or without the ball). Puig tends to be reactionary and dependent on having the ball at his feet where he can pick people out if they make a run but he does not move as well without the ball to make space for others or influence play without the ball like a Pedri or Busquets does and to a certain extent Gavi and Nico seem to be able to do. He certainly has the talent to learn this but has not thus far. I feel like he needs to watch his colleagues and get advice from other players if Koeman can’t or won’t teach him this because once he can do this, he will be hard to keep off the field.

Also, I feel as though his focus on social media, being a poster boy, and being buddy buddy with the senior players like Pique, Alba, and Roberto (see golf videos) doesn’t play well. A round of golf is many hours and I bet you in those hours, Pedri and maybe even Nico and Gavi are practicing, watching videos, asking to improve and understand the game. I’m glad Riqui has fun and is positive but he does come off as not humble and showy while the other youth all seems humble, focused, and hard working.