1 - Victor Valdes

[raedkuwait]

WTF man when will u come out for any of those corners bfffff

 

[impeh]

oh how ive missed the feeling of dread everytime we give away a set piece anywhere near the goal

.. not necessarily blaming him, just in general

 

[PacoBJuarez]

oh how ive missed the feeling of dread everytime we give away a set piece anywhere near the goal

.. not necessarily blaming him, just in general

Yeah, we have two big problems with set pieces:

1. Lack of height/aggressiveness in the air
2. Valdes playing conservatively and not quickly attempting to reach many corners into the box

One of the two, on their own, wouldn't be as big of an issue. If you had a short, weak in the air defense but an aggressive keeper that punched more of those crosses, it would compensate a bit. Same with the opposite, if you had a conservative keeper a strong in the air back line could compensate. Unfortunately, these two combined have been a recipe for disaster. I'm not saying that Valdes is awful or any of that stuff, or that the back line is shit and blah blah blah, but there is a serious lack of height and aerial defense on this team and it would appear to me, at least, that there is nothing being done tactically (i.e. Valdes charging more crosses/corners) to try and counteract it.

EDIT: I think I take issue more with the coaching staff than anything else. I can't hate on the players for their height, it's not like they chose it, and I can't hate on Valdes for doing what he coached to do (presumably)... so I guess I just want the coaching staff to make it more of a priority.

 

[xaviniesta]

forever alone

 

[messi_xavi_iniesta]

WTF man when will u come out for any of those corners bfffff

x2

 

[FCBarca]

 

[evilhita666]

Solid performance! Two great saves in the second half and a clean sheet...

 

[Jaguar]

That was a close one when he received a pass back and just got a toe to it otherwise it could have ended up in the back of the net, commentators were reacting as if it was his fault, I seen a replay and it bounced awkwardly off some uneven turf, bad pitch conditions. Otherwise a great performance.

 

[ricknattery]

That was a close one when he received a pass back and just got a toe to it otherwise it could have ended up in the back of the net, commentators were reacting as if it was his fault, I seen a replay and it bounced awkwardly off some uneven turf, bad pitch conditions. Otherwise a great performance.

yeah, the ball took a weird acceleration, definitely not his fault. Hope the clean sheet gives him a boost of confidence. You can see the tension in his face on every attack. His problem since last season has been mainly a confidence one

 

[mitkoa7x]

Just keep doing what you did last night ffs.

 

[Deco 20]

Yeah, we have two big problems with set pieces:

1. Lack of height/aggressiveness in the air
2. Valdes playing conservatively and not quickly attempting to reach many corners into the box

One of the two, on their own, wouldn't be as big of an issue. If you had a short, weak in the air defense but an aggressive keeper that punched more of those crosses, it would compensate a bit. Same with the opposite, if you had a conservative keeper a strong in the air back line could compensate. Unfortunately, these two combined have been a recipe for disaster. I'm not saying that Valdes is awful or any of that stuff, or that the back line is shit and blah blah blah, but there is a serious lack of height and aerial defense on this team and it would appear to me, at least, that there is nothing being done tactically (i.e. Valdes charging more crosses/corners) to try and counteract it.

EDIT: I think I take issue more with the coaching staff than anything else. I can't hate on the players for their height, it's not like they chose it, and I can't hate on Valdes for doing what he coached to do (presumably)... so I guess I just want the coaching staff to make it more of a priority.

The reason he decides to stay in goal is that he's short, and that's why he has a hard time dealing with crosses. Just like Casillas, who's a bit more inclined to trying to punch them away which often leads to him missing the ball.

 

[Xtroverto]

This post is full of baseless rant

I may get criticized for saying this but I don't think Valdes is even top 5 in the world. Perhaps not even top 10. He is definitely a pretty good goalkeeper when he is in form but he has never been and never will be a truly world class goalkeeper. He has made some great saves that have saved our asses but I feel that some people give him far too much credit. There are a couple commonly believed misconceptions.

1. Valdes is the only keeper that suits Barcelona's style and nobody else could play for Barça.

This is bullshit. He is definitely one of the best keepers as far as being comfortable on the ball and playing out of the back which has been a key tactic BUT it is extremely disrespectful to say that other keepers wouldn't be able to do that. Do you guys really think that Neuer, Casillas, Buffon, etc. are completely incapable of controlling the ball and passing it on the ground? It's not like Valdes is taking it up to midfield and serving up some amazing throughballs. A goalkeeper is supposed to make saves. That is the number one attribute. If you guys don't think so then let's just put Cesc or Xavi at goalkeeper so they can distribute the ball everywhere.

You see this from the wrong end of the problem, in Barcelona the keeper's main concern is not to control the ball but to distribute it. In fact, Valdes is one of the most important players in Barcelona regarding maintaining the possession. You can point to any goalkeeper you like and say, he is so much better, but when you put him in the shoes of Valdes, he will struggle to keep the ball moving fast without risking the team strategy.

I2. Valdes is world class because of all the Zamora's he has won.

The ONLY reason Valdes has won several Zamora's is because Barcelona always have between 60 and 75% possession and Valdes is a good one on one keeper so the occasional chances by lesser teams are usually stopped by him. Also, our defense has been pretty good up until this year. Now that our defense is shit, Valdes is getting exposed. He will never have a ridiculous performance like Neuer vs Man U.


Don't get me wrong. I don't think we need to go get a new keeper(unless it's Neuer) but Valdes is not really all that great. However, he is usually better than he has been this year. How many damn times has he been beaten at the near post recently?

The possession has nothing to do with goals conceded, in 1997-98 we conceded 56 goals with possession in most of the games between 60% and 70%. Barcelona has played possession styled football for all of the last 20 years, maybe not so much under Robson but generally always with the intention to dominate the opposition. During this time there have been periods were the team has had absolutely pathetic records regarding the defensive side of the game. Keeping the ball for 75-80% of the match does not reduce the opposing teams desire to score, without a stellar GK you will still concede 50-60 goals a season as in the case of Barcelona the years before Valdés appeared.

 

[Raed]

When your policiy is to play a midfielder in defense, and then play two midfielders in defense, Valdes shouldn't be your first concern.

Has it occured to any of you that the absence of any sort of leadership in that clown line up of defense is crucial? Puyol absorbs much of the ruckus that happens in the back, is the medium of communication, and even if past it still a good defender. Valdes has lost both Puyi and Abidal, left with a clown, a makeshift defender, an Arsenal stadium finance minister, a lab rat. Valdes isn't a captain, too hot headed to be one and he needs the same sort of leadership Pique needs from Puyi.

His lack of concentration is because he just can't handle too many things at once, because when he is focused he is unreal. His praises and ackowledgments speak for themselves. Add to that, he hates goal keeping.

 

[La Furia]

When your policiy is to play a midfielder in defense, and then play two midfielders in defense, Valdes shouldn't be your first concern.

Has it occured to any of you that the absence of any sort of leadership in that clown line up of defense is crucial? Puyol absorbs much of the ruckus that happens in the back, is the medium of communication, and even if past it still a good defender. Valdes has lost both Puyi and Abidal, left with a clown, a makeshift defender, an Arsenal stadium finance minister, a lab rat. Valdes isn't a captain, too hot headed to be one and he needs the same sort of leadership Pique needs from Puyi.

His lack of concentration is because he just can't handle too many things at once, because when he is focused he is unreal. His praises and ackowledgments speak for themselves. Add to that, he hates goal keeping.

I love how we reached the point where Madridistas are fairer on Valdes than cules.

 

[estranged]

Madridista's are fairer on VV only if you're selectively sampling 1 Madridista in particular along with small minority of cules. Numerous people have alreay said that Barca's worst defense Since 2007 and VV seemingly letting in easy goals in no coincidence. Kinda sad that a few choose to overlook those posts in favour of a few emotional and illogical ones so they can generalise a whole set of fans, guess it makes them feel important.

This post is full of baseless rant



You see this from the wrong end of the problem, in Barcelona the keeper's main concern is not to control the ball but to distribute it. In fact, Valdes is one of the most important players in Barcelona regarding maintaining the possession. You can point to any goalkeeper you like and say, he is so much better, but when you put him in the shoes of Valdes, he will struggle to keep the ball moving fast without risking the team strategy.



The possession has nothing to do with goals conceded, in 1997-98 we conceded 56 goals with possession in most of the games between 60% and 70%. Barcelona has played possession styled football for all of the last 20 years, maybe not so much under Robson but generally always with the intention to dominate the opposition. During this time there have been periods were the team has had absolutely pathetic records regarding the defensive side of the game. Keeping the ball for 75-80% of the match does not reduce the opposing teams desire to score, without a stellar GK you will still concede 50-60 goals a season as in the case of Barcelona the years before Valdés appeared.

:beer2: