Ernesto Valverde - V1

[Lelouch vi Britannia]

That side probably had the highest results-to-performance ratio of any Barca team ever

I mean, it was bad enough to lose 7-0 to Bayern on aggregate yet got 100 points in La Liga

Arguably the worst Barca side since 2009 (definitely down there with 14 and worse than 17 imo) but had the highest points total

 

[MessiCam]

Overall I thought the game was very well managed apart from the role Messi played in the first half, but I can see why Valverde did it. He wanted that extra body in midfield.

Again, the double pivot didn't work because it was easy for Valencia to counter (as against Alaves) in the first half. When the wide men lose the ball the opposition get to play in 1 vs 1 or 3 vs 2 in this case. I thought there was much better control when we switched to a 3 man midfield in the second half with Iniesta moving more centrally and Rakitic playing RCM in the box to box role. My only reservation about Iniesta in a 3 man midfield is that the more central position is going to be taxing for him due to increased defensive duties.

Why was Paulinho brought on for Iniesta though? He just allowed Valencia more attacking space through his positional ill-discipline. This is where a Gomes would have been of better use, not as wide player in a double pivot.

 

[henias]

Why was Paulinho brought on for Iniesta though? He just allowed Valencia more attacking space through his positional ill-discipline. This is where a Gomes would have been of better use, not as wide player in a double pivot.

Possibly for Coutinho to take Iniesta's place and Paulinho as a RM or as a second striker behind Suarez and Messi.

But the double pivot was very static, literally passing from end to end without any penetration. Iniesta looks dead tired in my opinion.

 

[FCBfan22]

Happy birthday to Ernesto. May we win everything.

 

[MessiCam]

Possibly for Coutinho to take Iniesta's place and Paulinho as a RM or as a second striker behind Suarez and Messi.

But the double pivot was very static, literally passing from end to end without any penetration. Iniesta looks dead tired in my opinion.

But that is not what happened. Paulinho played as LCM with Coutinho upfront with Messi and Suarez.

Edit: Talking of side to side. It's nice to see that Valverde has incorporated some JDP into our play though. Dembélé can benefit greatly from it.

 

[MagIX]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY !!

 

[Barcaman]

Happy birthday Ernesto and may you celebrate many more in Barcelona

 

[Zincubus]

I remember under Tito we got a huge lead in the league and then got embarrased in the CL. I still remember how shocked I was at how bad we were against Milan

Doubt it'll happen this time though. That season the signs were there if you actually watched games instead of just looking at the La Liga table. Even mid table La Liga teams were able to tear our defense apart with ease, Messi just outscored them

I see the same happening this time as well ... I'm certainly not expecting Chelsea to be a pushover even though they're in turmoil ..
...

 

[Aryagorn]

I see the same happening this time as well ... I'm certainly not expecting Chelsea to be a pushover even though they're in turmoil ..
...

Locked. We will see

 

[Windhook]

Happy Birthday!

 

[Gaudi]

While big challenges are still ahead I like that we look thougher, difficult to beat. With Lucho we could play a magical hour, win 6-1 but we could lose 4:0, 3:0 etc. Big team, like us, can't have this black hole matches. Ernesto knows how to control the game, even if things don't go your way we need to keep result in perspective. Chelsea will be a big test for that, even if don't play well in London I want 0:0, 1:1 or similar. If Ernesto brings that, with the team we have we can win everything again.

 

[Alik]

While big challenges are still ahead I like that we look thougher, difficult to beat. With Lucho we could play a magical hour, win 6-1 but we could lose 4:0, 3:0 etc. Big team, like us, can't have this black hole matches. Ernesto knows how to control the game, even if things don't go your way we need to keep result in perspective. Chelsea will be a big test for that, even if don't play well in London I want 0:0, 1:1 or similar. If Ernesto brings that, with the team we have we can win everything again.

[MENTION=20218]Origami[/MENTION]

 

[Stoichkov1]

I remember under Tito we got a huge lead in the league and then got embarrased in the CL. I still remember how shocked I was at how bad we were against Milan

Doubt it'll happen this time though. That season the signs were there if you actually watched games instead of just looking at the La Liga table. Even mid table La Liga teams were able to tear our defense apart with ease, Messi just outscored them

True, in 2013 the defence was so bad it was embarassing, while this year we have the best defensive record of the last decade. In 2013 after 22 matches we conceded 25 goals in the league, this year 11.

Against top sides in 2013 we looked completely clueless. We should have lost 7/8-1 the return leg in the supercup against real and we should have lost the league match we drew 2-2 in Camp Nou too. The only shots on target we had were Messi's goals

This year we trashed Real and Juve 3-0 and we drew 0-0 in Turin. We are a typical Italian team now, if we lose in CL it will be by 1/2 goals, no one will trash us like Bayern did in 2013 or PSG and Juve did last year.

 

[Ghostmaster]

"Tired of winning yet?" - Ernesto Valverde

That's why people don't go to Camp Nou anymore they are bored from all the winning, I say lose 4-0 to Chelsea on purpose and then we'll see Camp Nou packed for remontada 2.0

 

[Mido]

Games against Chelsea shall tell us more about the value of Valverde's Barca.

At the moment, on may see the glass as half full or half empty, but I'd rather be optimistic as Valverde seems to have clear ideas. He just shouldn't fall into mental traps such as overthinking or being too conservative. The middle path is the best path.