Kovacic's quality is very obvious.
But if you think that he did very well in this game you don't understand Pep ball.
His lack of positional awareness and rhythm are the main reason why the attacking was out of order in the first half.
He contributed a lot in defense but his movement is not quick enough to close the gap. Again I am not blaming him. But after watching this game, I guess we will definitely buy Paquetá because Kovacic's profile does not fit in the attacking midfielder role, especially the left eight role in our current system.