Ernesto Valverde - V1

[Xaviniesta]

Imagine what he could do with a functioning midfield

 

[dostoevskij]

third win at bernabeu in a row ( in la liga). 0.4, 2.3, 0:3, 11(14) points clear of Madrid, 9 of atletico, unbeaten in liga and Cl, the best barca defense since i watch them so closely.

Thanks ernesto for this christmas Ps: my familys tree is as big this year as our performance

 

[gasgas]

Imagine what he could do with a functioning midfield

You'd be amazed once he gets a functional midfield, the team performance drops markedly

 

[BBZ8800]

Imagine what he could do with a functioning midfield

We would be laying nicer for the eye, we would be better in attack.
.. and we would concede and lose shit ton of matches.

So, it is extremely hard to tell what would happen.
In some aspects we would improve, in some we would lose a lot. A LOT.

More or less, you can't have both, balance&defense and Barca's Tiki-Taka/joga bonita (unless if you have prime Xavi-Iniesta).
So, if you have a team of mortals you can have either this or that.

This setup has brought us +14 points.
Interesting.

I wouldn't change too much actually.

 

[Gaudi]

Depends on who we get, we need to stay balanced.

 

[xXKonan]

While in terms of Barca standards this is one of the weakest squads we have had in recent memory, it's still the best squad Valverde has ever managed. But despite that Valverde is doing something Lucho failed to do last season and that is get the best out of what he has.

This squad isn't perfect by all means and we lost Neymar and our replacement in Dembele got injured early on so we were in a pickle. But Valverde bunkered down and created a system to get the best out of what he has and so far this season it has worked well even if at times we didn't play all that well.

I can't wait to see when Dembele comes back and us adding a couple of CMs and possibly adding Griez can do to this squad.

 

[Horatio]

Called that @*#&. This Barca is severly underrated. Solid defense(helps keeper is amazing), team seems to find eachother easier as ball is kept within the team better(granted Real could have pressed more) and we create solid chances.

Doesn't mean there isn't much room for improvement. Players seem to have chemistry and seem comfortable but doesn't take away that on some positions we could have better individual players.
But Valverde is doing a great job.

Interesting to note: as wasteful as we are with chances we still score when it matters. According to statistics Real has 4x attempts than we but we have like 11 goals more.

 

[Hamzah]

All common sense people could see the good job he was doing with such a dysfunctional squad. He knows the midfield can't dominate possession. It is getting the best out of each individual player and playing with a good setup for the TEAM. He is much better than lucho.

"But we don't have control!!1!1"

Cruyffistas are a strange breed. They actively will players like Paulinho to fail to prove their agenda and are happier to lose with 70% possession than win while giving up control and playing smart football

 

[mssarm]

This man needs some solid reinforcements. He proved that he can be successful with current squad, but give him couple of WC players and Barca will dominate the world again.

 

[Barcaman]

Question is what formation we play with Dembele. 4-4-2 looks solid and Suarez is coming back. Shifting to 4-3-3 and pushing Suarez wide again could cause problems.

 

[serghei]

Question is what formation we play with Dembele. 4-4-2 looks solid and Suarez is coming back. Shifting to 4-3-3 and pushing Suarez wide again could cause problems.

I wouldn't say we play a classic 4-4-2 either. Messi moves all over the field. I'd say we can play every formation as long as we are disciplined like we are, behave like a team, and cover the ground the same way.

 

[serghei]

This man needs some solid reinforcements. He proved that he can be successful with current squad, but give him couple of WC players and Barca will dominate the world again.

2 great players would do. We don't need more. Team is sorted except for 1 option in attack, and 1 AM. We could also do with 1 AM and one CM if we don't get Griezmann for the attack.

Priority would be Coutinho. If we could land both Coutinho and Griezmann we'd have the best team in the world comfortably.

 

[mssarm]

2 great players would do. We don't need more. Team is sorted except for 1 option in attack, and 1 AM. We could also do with 1 AM and one CM if we don't get Griezmann for the attack.

Priority would be Coutinho. If we could land both Coutinho and Griezmann we'd have the best team in the world comfortably.

agree 100%

 

[Gnidrologist]

Wont say that Valverde is tactiacal genius, but he's sure close. I can also understand barca fans that dislike him because we don't play "barca way", but hell if i choose beautiful lose against blancos than 3:0 at Bernaleo. The man know how to get results. My main issue with him is weird choices of roster, not tactical setup. But i start to think that maybe it's my problem an he knows better. That would be a shock.

 

[Barcaman]

I am sure if he had Xavi, or wingers, we would play Barca way. He's a pragmatist, like Lucho. Exciting times ahead with Dembele getting back.