Ernesto Valverde - V1

[serghei]

Good, controlled game. This is how we always played away in Italy even in Barca's prime. Not too many chances upfront but that's expected with these players.

Yea, remember a 0-0 at Milan in Pep's days, and a 3-1 at home in the return leg. Exactly like that. It's a good approach in CL away games, but it can go sour very fast if you're sloppy or not focused. Remember the 0-2 at Milan in 2013, a 0-0 type of game which ended badly because of stupid errors.

I like that we're signaling that if you want to score against Barca you need to do a bit more than just sit back and wait for errors from us. Teams have gotten used to receiving many gifts from us. It's good that we don't seem to share as many gifts so far under Valverde. But the unknown part is how we'll handle real pressure put by attacking teams who can just outplay their opponent.

 

[MessiCam]

Exactly - the last point is spot on: No-one wants to see us playing bad, but what were our expectations before this season? We are leading the league by 10 points and topped the CL-group!
Valverde has been handed an out-of-form and badly balanced squad, and yet he is smashed for being pragmatic. I bet he counts the days until January and the transfer-window opens more than anyone, because the team has obvious needs. But until then he really should have free hands to manage exactly the way he wants, and if he gets the players he wants in January, then we can begin to set expectation the the playing-style as well.

Some of you just don’t get it. Valverde himself is responsible for the horrible balance of this side. Consistently playing Suarez, no wings, Paulinho as attacking midfield tonight but luckily Rakitic has seen his form take a turn for the better so I can’t really complain about that much any longer. Way too many long balls... Since when are we a spray and pray team?

It’s getting worse as the season progresses too.

 

[Ousmane Dembélé]

This post just further highlights how much of an ungrateful cunt you are. Imbeciles like yourself missing and/or ignoring the context and choosing to rag on our coach who is doing the best he can with what he has at his disposal. I suppose you'd prefer Barca to play "entertaining" at the cost of not being defensively sound or winning right?
"Why can't we do both?". Well. We can't because of the current context. Which I assume you're well aware of.
I prefer to support our coach and wait till we get our marquee winning back as well as other reinforcements, and then one can make a proper evaluation in terms of maximizing talent available, entertaining football and the ability to win. For now, given the context, I prefer the latter. Ungrateful and impatient fools like yourself need to fuck off.

He's not doing the best he can with our current squad. We have decent players and he hasn't gotten the team to play well at all. Nobody is asking him to play tiki-taka football like we did with Pep. I'd have no problem with us playing a less entertaining brand of football if we still played in manner that is sustainable. The way this team is playing right now is an extremely rigid system with minimal links between the defense, midfield and attack. We're also relying on a ton of luck, immense goalkeeping and unclinical opposition to grind out slim victories.

Forget about the entertainment value, this team is playing quite bad and these results are extremely unsustainable, we will collapse sooner or later. Wait until Ter Stegen has a stretch where he is merely average, or the own goals and rebounds start going against us and the other teams learn how to take their chances, because it's coming.

Valverde has no plan, no vision, no play style. Short-term thinking coach that has the team playing horribly. His tactics are baffling and rely on the individual brilliance of Messi, Umtiti and Ter Stegen to carry us to victories.

 

[MessiCam]

This post just further highlights how much of an ungrateful cunt you are. Imbeciles like yourself missing and/or ignoring the context and choosing to rag on our coach who is doing the best he can with what he has at his disposal. I suppose you'd prefer Barca to play "entertaining" at the cost of not being defensively sound or winning right?
"Why can't we do both?". Well. We can't because of the current context. Which I assume you're well aware of.
I prefer to support our coach and wait till we get our marquee signing back as well as other reinforcements, and then one can make a proper evaluation in terms of maximizing talent available, entertaining football and the ability to win. For now, given the context, I prefer the latter. Ungrateful and impatient fools like yourself need to fuck off.

Marquee signing... Tell me where Dembele fits in if we persist with Suarez? As seen tonight playing a Suarez in decline as your sole striker in a 4-2-3-1 is foolhardy.

Most of our problems in attack evaporate just by dropping Suarez and some of us have been saying it for months.

 

[BBZ8800]

Some of you just don’t get it. Valverde himself is responsible for the horrible balance of this side. Consistently playing Suarez, no wings, Paulinho as attacking midfield tonight but luckily Rakitic has seen his form take a turn for the better so I can’t really complain about that much any longer. Way too many long balls... Since when are we a spray and pray team?

It’s getting worse as the season progresses too.

Or you don't get it.
If you play 433 with wings, with current players, we have no midfield and european teams are having a field day against us.

Remember Atletico, Atletico, Psg and Juve from the last 2-3 years.
Wings didn't help.

Well, they did.
But to our opponents to do whatever they want through our middle.

Sadly, we can't play with 12 players so we'll have to choose: either defensive balance or wings.

 

[JamDav1982]

Duelofeu clearly played on the wing for most of the match.

But 'no wings'.

 

[xXKonan]

Some say this game was boring but honestly we did a great job controlling the game despite Messi not playing the first half. Juve fielded a strong XI yet did fuck all for the most part. Last season Juve away we got torn apart due to how exposed the team looked. this time we looked much better from a tactical setup even if we didn't score or create as much we wanted.

 

[BBZ8800]

we will collapse sooner or later

You and MessiCam are repeating this thing over and over.
We will lose eventually.
Oh, no...

We will get knocked out in a CL probably?
Oh, no...

Who cares?
We won only 1 CL in the last 6 years even with prime Messi, Iniesta, Xavi and Busi.

If we failed with those guys over and over, yes, we will probably lose eventually this season.
CL is not "ours" anymore.
We are one out of 5-6 candidates to win it and that's it. We have some chances.

Also, again and again and again:
THIS SET OF PLAYERS CAN'T play BOTH:
1. beautiful
2. and efficient

Also, 433 WITHOUT prime Messi-Xavi-Iniesta is usually:
1. good enough for La liga
2. suck against European teams (Atletico, Atletico, Psg, Juventus)

A current 442, on the other hand (imo) is way stronger and more balanced for European opponents than 433 (except prime 433 with Xavi-Iniesta).
So, NO, currently there aren't too many better options in Europe than 442.

If you'll reply that we shouldn't play 442 in La Liga, I could agree.
But then again, we are +10 points infront of Real.
Also, for replies: we aren't on top because we are good but because Real is bad.
Lol. Real is playing their average La Liga season, like majority of times in the last 10-15 years.
Only 1-2 years they played insanely good in La liga.
In all other years, they played like this season.

So, once for all, pick an option, a current team:
1. playing with Denis, Deulo and wingers, playing more beautiful but results will surely suck in La liga, and especially in Europe
2. playing ugly 442, being +10 points infront of Real, and having some chances in a CL (which we won't have with Denis and Deulo)

About formations, the same:
1. if you want 433 and our classic play, we'll suck in midfield due to our current players. We will be better in attack, and worse in defense.
2. or we could play uglier 442 without wings, with a stonewall defense and a very strong midfield (not flashy and beautiful), and we won't be outrun by any European team

Some of you are constantly mentioning: big teams will expose us.
In the last 5 years, we were exposed by: Real, Atletico, Bayern, Juve, Psg, even Man City.
So, more or less, those teams were exposing us always, except in Pep's era.

Some of you are beyond strange.

This is the worst Barca's rooster since 2004 and you are whining.
A realistic position for this team would have been: 3rd place in La liga and figting for the 2nd place in a CL group in the last match.

Yet, we have conceded 4 (or 5?) goals in the whole season and we are +10 points on top of the table WITHOUT Dembele (injured), Coutinho (Liverpool), Neymar (a traitor), Suarez (stopped playing a professional football).

Some say this game was boring but honestly we did a great job controlling the game despite Messi not playing the first half. Juve fielded a strong XI yet did fuck all for the most part. Last season Juve away we got torn apart due to how exposed the team looked. this time we looked much better from a tactical setup even if we didn't score or create as much we wanted.

A perfect scenario would probably be:
1. 433 in La liga against weaker teams
2. 442 in La liga against better teams
3. 442 in Europe

Whiners would whine less then.

 

[MessiCam]

Or you don't get it.
If you play 433 with wings, with current players, we have no midfield and european teams are having a field day against us.

Remember Atletico, Atletico, Psg and Juve from the last 2-3 years.
Wings didn't help.

Well, they did.
But to our opponents to do whatever they want through our middle.

Sadly, we can't play with 12 players so we'll have to choose: either defensive balance or wings.

You’ve lost your mind... Our previous problems defensively in terms of midfield were directly related to Messi drifting centrally and a midfielder, historically Rakitic, having to cover for him. Come on man. You can do better than this...

And he played with wings tonight in a 4-2-3-1 with Iniesta left, Deulofeu right and yet there was nothing wrong in terms of defensive structure with guess what only 2 in central midfield. Paulinho played as an attacking midfielder which was a weird option.

 

[BarcaOG]

we'll never win the CL playing like this. the league is ours to lose given real's form, especially if we beat valencia this weekend. but we are very far away from playing like proper CL contenders.

 

[Stoichkov1]

I agree with BBZ.

 

[KingLeo10]

Yet, we have conceded 4 (or 5?) goals in the whole season and we are +10 points on top of the table WITHOUT Dembele (injured), Coutinho (Liverpool), Neymar (a traitor), Suarez (stopped playing a professional football).

.

had a hearty chuckle at the neymar and suarez bits.

 

[Barcilliant]

We are looking more and more like añ Italian side.

To say we are boring is an understatement

 

[DonAndres]

In a vacuum a game like this is a decent performance and result. But that isn't the case, and this is further demonstration of Suarez's decline and our overall shortcomings going forward. We will need to rely on luck to keep progressing the more the team relies on this sort of conservative system, few clear chances and goals, and needing Messi to control things from start to finish to have any coherent attacks.

Again tho, coaches can be very flattered by a great squad at their disposal. If we had great personnel then problems like EV playing Rakitic or not knowing which strikers, wingers, or midfielders are even our best starters wouldn't exist. With a great team, developing a great tactical system that fits the players actually becomes an easy common-sense task rather than a frigging rocket science equation.

EV isn't doing a good job with what he's given but I think he'd do a much better job with a top tier squad. But we'll see if anything changes on that front. Hard to see this squad succeeding in Europe even if we had a good system.

 

[Chainsaw]

we'll never win the CL playing like this.

Many teams played like this (and worse!) and won the CL.