Ernesto Valverde - V1

[RIZALDINHO]

After thinking a while about Paulinho I'm not that negative anymore. If they believe we need a player that we can sub in and that gives us stability and they think Paulinho can give us that I'm ok with it as long as they don't plan with him as a regular starter. If we can get Paulinho and sell Arda and this costs us max. 5M I'm sure it would improve us. There is pretty much speculation behind it though because I don't think that we'd get much for Arda. I'm not even sure if we can get rid of him.

On the "backside". We must be the first club that signs a player from that league for a higher fee than they bought him for.

so signing a player who flopped at spurs is going to improve us and give stability and win us all major trophies. seriously. i don't think so it only mean we have another rubbish midfielder in the team

 

[gasgas]

Paulinho, the Iniesta replacement

 

[Messi983]

Not even the same position

I smell sarcasm

If not, then sorry, but you're okay with mediocrity so don't go around telling people they overreact.

I know they are not the same position, I was just saying that I'd rather have Paulinho than Bellerin. He's the lesser of two evils IMO. In other words, I hate Bellerin (not him personally but him as an Arsenal player) just like I hated all crap we've signed from them. I like all our players (even those that most people don't) but I've never liked anyone we brought from them initially and in all those times only Gio and Henry convinced me.

I'm not ok with mediocrity but I'm just willing to give players more time than most people. I haven't given up on any player that we've signed last summer yet and will still support them this season. I will always give a chance to any player we'll buy unless they are from that London club. They have to convince me before I'll ever believe in any of them. And well, most of them failed to do that. That's why I never want us to buy from them again. Maybe when Wenger will leave/retire and they'll become a serious (winning) club again but for now he's just ruining their mentality so even IF they had "Barça DNA" 5 or 7 years ago they don't have it anymore.

And I'm not telling people they overreact, I'm laughing when they jump at every single stupid rumour in media and when they see the world black (everything that we do) and white (everything that RM, Bayern and other clubs are doing). Those are overreactions that I can't wait to read every time a player like Paulinho is linked to us.

so signing a player who flopped at spurs is going to improve us and give stability and win us all major trophies. seriously. i don't think so it only mean we have another rubbish midfielder in the team

Di Maria has flopped in United, Falcao has flopped in United and Chelsea and there were tens or hundreds of other players that have flopped in one club/league but have played well in another club/league. I'm not saying we should buy Paulinho but at the same time it's stupid to assume he wouldn't be good for us just because he failed at Tottenham.

 

[behindbrowneyes]

I doubt that a 29 years old 40M signing, Brasilian NT player, Neymar's friend, a guy whom Valverde requested, our savior, Verratti's sub, the new Xavi, future BallonDOr, is coming here to be a squad player.

In 4231, starters will be Busi+Raki or Busi+lord Paulinho.
Iniesta is out, Roberto is a squad player.

For 433, again, I can see him as the 1st, 2nd or in the worst case, 3rd choice for 2 Cm spots.

So, we are not buying a plan B, or a different option in Paulinho.
We are buying a starter, a new leader, a key man for our new system around whom we will build a team.

I am exaggerating, but you get the point.
We surely aren't buying 29 years old granny for 40M to play Rakitic and Roberto as Cms.

When Lucho came, he bought "his guy" Rakitic and Rakitic became a starter from the day 1, even though we had Xavi and Iniesta.
Paulinho is Valverde's guy.

Be prepared to watch him as a starter in majority of games in the next season.

If this turns out to be true then we are officially fucked.

I have nothing against a swap Paulinho for Arda as a squad player for a reasonable amount of money, but Paulinho starting for us in the big games would be a tough thing to live with.

 

[Devils]

Di Maria has flopped in United, Falcao has flopped in United and Chelsea and there were tens or hundreds of other players that have flopped in one club/league but have played well in another club/league. I'm not saying we should buy Paulinho but at the same time it's stupid to assume he wouldn't be good for us just because he failed at Tottenham.

Except both those players, prior their transfers, proved themselves at a world class level.

What has Paulinho done?

We don't need another midfield player who can be good for us, we already have plenty of those in the squad, we need a midfield player who can be world class for us and Paulinho is miles away from that.

 

[BBZ8800]

If this turns out to be true then we are officially fucked.

I have nothing against a swap Paulinho for Arda as a squad player for a reasonable amount of money, but Paulinho starting for us in the big games would be a tough thing to live with.

People here have suddenly developed an idea that Roberto is our Cm and that we will count a lot on him.
Everything is possible, but he didn't play even 20 matches as a Cm for Barca in the last 3 seasons.
And when he played as a midfielder last season, it was in 343 as a hybrid Rb-Rcm.

I personally don't think that coaches will consider him being even close to a starter. He is an awesome squad player useful as a cover Rb, Cdm, Cm in 433, Cm in 4231, Rw in 4231. But not as a starter.

If we remove Roberto from maths, for 433 we have ageing Iniesta, old Raki and a poor fit Gomes.
For 4231, we have Busi and Raki/Paulinho/Gomes.

So, imo, if he comes, Valverde will rate him as our 1st, 2nd or, in the worst case, 3rd Cm choice for 4231 and 433.

He is not a sub for Arda. We have Samper, Rafinha, Alena already.
I am not trolling now, imo if we buy Paulinho, coaching stuff will rate him as one of our key midfielders for a new system.

 

[behindbrowneyes]

People here have suddenly developed an idea that Roberto is our Cm and that we will count a lot on him.
Everything is possible, but he didn't play even 20 matches as a Cm for Barca in the last 3 seasons.
And when he played as a midfielder last season, it was in 343 as a hybrid Rb-Rcm.

I personally don't think that coaches will consider him being even close to a starter. He is an awesome squad player useful as a cover Rb, Cdm, Cm in 433, Cm in 4231, Rw in 4231. But not as a starter.

If we remove Roberto from maths, for 433 we have ageing Iniesta, old Raki and a poor fit Gomes.
For 4231, we have Busi and Raki/Paulinho/Gomes.

So, imo, if he comes, Valverde will rate him as our 1st, 2nd or, in the worst case, 3rd Cm choice for 4231 and 433.

He is not a sub for Arda. We have Samper, Rafinha, Alena already.
I am not trolling now, imo if we buy Paulinho, coaching stuff will rate him as one of our key midfielders for a new system.

Roberto as CM is a surprise bag for me. I remember some decent CM performances in 15/16 season when he was a nobody in the squad. I like this kid, I hope he can make it here, but I haven't seen a reasonable amount of games as CM of him as evidence to say he can be a decent starter vs Madrid, Juve, ... All I can say is that he has gained lots of confidence last season and if you pair this with his 15/16 performances in midfield he COULD be a decent starter for us. I'm pretty sure Valverde will make him better too, but as I said before it is a risk to put too much trust in him to make it there.

The same does apply with Vidal for me. Many say he played great in those 5, 6 games before he got injured and he had many assists and some goals. Sure, he did well, but it was vs Bilbao, Eibar and so on. The question is if he still can do it vs teams that put more pressure on us offensively, not the ones we are superior to. We all know that he has his issues defensively due to his natural position but we can't predict if he does well vs the likes of Madrid, Bayern. We just can anticipate that he would struggle. All in all I have more trust in Roberto to become a starter as CM than Vidal as our RB though.

I see your point with Paulinho. Coaches have wishes and trust in these players when they sign them. I'm pretty sure Herrera would've been Valverde's first choice but he is not for sale so we have to move on. Thing is Paulinho is not even close to the class of Herrera. This is the reason why I refuse to see Paulinho as a starter but you are right that the future doesn't look very bright with the players we have by now.

I know that you can't compare Arda to Paulinho as it was always a stupid idea to try Arda in our CM. He is a winger although he is very slow. It's his best position in our game. However, I wouldn't mind to have Paulinho in our squad instead of Arda, that's what I originally meant.

 

[serghei]

Old Rakitic? The man isn't even 30 years old. Back in the day 28 years old was the peak age of a footballer. Now barely being 29 is considered old? Why the hell is Modric beasting it at almost 32 years of age?

Our midfield is not elite class anymore, but it's still pretty damn good.

 

[dakt]

Looks really involved.

 

[xXKonan]

The impressions by Current and former Bilbao players, say one of his specialities is working and being involved with his players so it's not surprising he's involved in the video.

 

[JamDav1982]

More read comments from ex and current players, read about him and see him in action the more a lot of pre conceived ideas about him were wrong.

I always thought he looked drab, no charisma and not engaging at all but he seems the opposite.

Not saying he will succeed but was guilty of thinking more about him than really did.

 

[serghei]

One thing's for sure. He brings a new air to the team, that was much need after this turbulent year. If we will be motivated and the tactics will be well thought out, that's more than half the job done. I don't believe this fairytale that our team has poor players for a second. They are the best or some of the best on almost every position.

 

[xXKonan]

[tw]886558535068270592[/tw]

 

[Icarium]

So Valverde and Robert will hold a press conference tomorrow. I wonder what it is about. Probably just the pre tour nonsense.

 

[xXKonan]

So Valverde and Robert will hold a press conference tomorrow. I wonder what it is about. Probably just the pre tour nonsense.

MD thinks it could be about Paulinho and Verratti.