Ernesto Valverde - V1

[El Gato]

Iniesta is gone and we'll have a problem with Coutinho. Like playing Özil as a CM. Too offensive, too erratic with his ball retention abilities, only great in the final third. Together with Busquets a desaster waiting to happen. Busquets can only dominate with possession-oriented central midfield partners. With Kroos and Modric he would dominate, with Paulinho, Rakitic, Coutinho, Gomes he is wasted.

Very good description, this. Dude is more like James, Ribery or Robben than like Isco, Modrić or Iniesta.

Valverde needs to go for someone like Thiago. And really go for it.

Yet you bitch about invincible domestic double and expect treble with beautiful football. Hold on for a minute. Take a deep breath. Look at the squad. Then get real.

Yep. Right on.

 

[serghei]

Very good description, this. Dude is more like James, Ribery or Robben than like Isco, Modrić or Iniesta.

Valverde needs to go for someone like Thiago. And really go for it.



Yep. Right on.

Isco is more like James than Modric too. But I agree. We need a new CM

 

[serghei]

You guys don't realize how shit and limited this squad is I'm afraid.

Our wingbacks are very limited.

Pique 1 on 1 against any bottom level La Liga no name striker and he turns like a truck. With age he gets more and more inconsistent, too. If he hit the gym instead of WhatsApp bantering with Ramos he wouldn't get outmuscled by Dzeko.

Playing a high line with Busquets and he is too slow to track back, playing deep with Busquets and he is not capable enough for physical battles. Offensively he is too short pass centric with no variations. There can be acres of space behind the opponent's backline on the break but 9 out of 10 times he won't play the ball over the top like Pirlo would but stop the play or make a side pass.

Iniesta is gone and we'll have a problem with Coutinho. Like playing Özil as a CM. Too offensive, too erratic with his ball retention abilities, only great in the final third. Together with Busquets a desaster waiting to happen. Busquets can only dominate with possession-oriented central midfield partners. With Kroos and Modric he would dominate, with Paulinho, Rakitic, Coutinho, Gomes he is wasted.

MAtS, Umtiti, Messi, Suarez are the only good things in this squad. With Busquets it depends who you pair him up with. The rest of the team you could exchange with Chelsea or Tottenham players and it would make no difference, we'd possibly improve.

Yet you bitch about invincible domestic double and expect treble with beautiful football. Hold on for a minute. Take a deep breath. Look at the squad. Then get real.

There are clearly issues, but not nearly as bad as you make it sound.

I suppose you think Spain are fucked at the World Cup, considering at the minimum Pique, Alba, Busi and Iniesta will start for them. The manager has a huge role in this. Benitez managed to make this Madrid team look like shit. Zidane came and turned things around.

 

[Joan]

I don't get the attitude that the invincibles season "doesn't matter", "is not important"... how many invincibles team you know? That will be a historic achievement in the toughest league in Europe. RM play their CL final, Atleti are in the EL final - and we might be invincibles!!! Wow, that's historic. One day we'll (hopefully) look back at this season and proudly remember not losing a single game of the season!!!

Dembele starting from the bench for one game (started 6 out of 8 last matches, if I'm not mistaken) is completely irrelevant and won't influence his career.

Many frustrations aimed towards EV come from one match, we all know which one. I'm the first one to whine about it, but give credit where it's due.

 

[El Gato]

[MENTION=15262]serghei[/MENTION]
Isco is miles ahead with vertical flexibility and being able to drop back to play out of the back. Seedorf blueprint is natural for him. It's what he did for RM for 2 months this season in autumn.

I suppose you think Spain are fucked at the World Cup, considering at the minimum Pique, Alba, Busi and Iniesta will start for them. The manager has a huge role in this. Benitez managed to make this Madrid team look like shit.

I for one wouldn't say "fucked", but against certain teams they are defo going to struggle with that core and wrong personal choices at given times i.e. playing Silva ahead of Isco in some matchups and playing Costa ahead of Aspas. And only certain matchups will matter, because if you pitch them again France, Colombia, hell, even England who are useless chokers but on their day they can nab a goal and sit back.. it could get a frustrating in the final stages of the tournament.

 

[Ursegor]

There are clearly issues, but not nearly as bad as you make it sound.

I suppose you think Spain are fucked at the World Cup, considering at the minimum Pique, Alba, Busi and Iniesta will start for them. The manager has a huge role in this. Benitez managed to make this Madrid team look like shit.

I don't recall Spain's road to the final but I'm certain the first big team Spain will face will do them like the last 2 tournaments. No one to score goals. Costa does not fit and can't rely on Isco to score braces or hattricks like in friendlies in a WC semifinal.

Doesn't have much to do with us though as Spain have Thiago, Isco, Carvajal, Silva in important positions and intl. football in general is worse than club football.

I will give you that we can do with an above average backline so "it's not that bad" but above average backline with 0 dominant fullbacks and a midfield that is neither creative or at least physical enough for fast counterattacking football with 2 great but ageing forwards with no speed? That's a lot of problems to say the least.

Our players don't fit together either. How do you combine:

Walking Messi
+
Coutinho
+
Dembélé
+
Busquets
+ Roberto and Alba as fullbacks
?

Do tell me who keeps the ball in this team and who defends at a great level when the ball is lost?

 

[BBZ8800]

I have no idea whether this is EV's thing or just Barca's thing in the last few years, but our play is so predictable.
I talked to 2 of my friends after Roma and they laughed how they watched Roma:Barca game and 5 seconds before every pass, you could tell where the ball will end eventually.

If we have a ball at the right flank around the box, our players will try to do everything to try to get the ball back EXACTLY at the centre of the edge of the box and try a shot ONLY from that position.
If we can't shot EXACTLY from that position, we will pass the ball left and right for another 5 minutes and wait for a shooting attempt ONLY from that specific position.

If the ball goes to the left, repeat the same scenario: Alba to Iniesta, Iniesta to Luis or Busi. Those two to Messi and he will try to shoot only from that specific position.
If not, he will pass to Raki, Raki to Roberto, he will run with the ball a few meters, then instead of crossing, he will stop, pass the ball back to Raki, Raki to Messi, Messi is marked by 3 guys, he passes to Iniesta, Iniesta to Alba, Alba to Iniesta, Iniesta to Messi. Messi to Raki, Raki to Roberto. Then he will run and stop again and repeat this shit for 2000 times per match.

And EVERY SINGLE bigger team team is just parking 8-10 players at the edge of the box, aka at the only position from which we will try to shoot.
And then Messi gets marked by 3-4 guys and that's it.
Other guys aren't attempting shots and nobody is trying any crosses or anything.

So, imo, it is not a problem of 433 vs 442 or Dembele playing or not.
Our gameplan is extremely simple and predictable.
The only thing is that Getafe and other teams are so poor that they can't stop us even if they know our gameplan.
But when we meet Juve, AM, Psg, Chelsea, Roma, any bigger team who knows how to properly defend and close down space around the box=we are screwed.
And what happens?
Psg 0:4
Juve 0:3
Roma 0:3
Atletico 0:2
Atletico 0:1
Bayern 0:4
Chelsea 0:1 etc

This is why I have wrote here when we scored the first goal: is it possible that Roberto actually crossed and didn't pass the ball back to Raki-Messi-Iniesta-Alba and repeat that for 200 times.
You can put 10 Dembeles and Coutinhos on the field, nothing will happen if your gameplan will be: pass the ball every single time to the edge of the box and shoot ONLY from that specific position.
Btw, Messi scored tonight again ONLY from that specific position.

In the past, pre-Pep, opponent's 4men defenses were stretched, because the opponents were marking wingers and attackers.
So, it was easier to break through the middle because there was a lot of space between a fullback and a CB and between two CBs.
Then Pep created his thing through the middle and in the beginning there was tons of space for our players to do whatever they want through the middle.
But then, the opponents figured us out and started to play closer to eachother (fullbacks defending closer to the box and further from a touchline) and suddenly: there is no more space through the middle.
On the other hand, this is why Real is attacking through wings and crossing.
Since there is tons of free space there.

Also, if we'll just put Dembele in and if he will just pass to Messi every time, nothing will change.
We need players on wings who will stretch the opponents but also we need some crosses to force the opponents to defend in a different way and we need to start shooting from different places and not only from a perfect position exactly on the edge of a box.

It is insane how predictable our play is for the highest level.

 

[FinBarcelonafan]

Rakitic is the man who runs and fights to get the ball back.

 

[FinBarcelonafan]

I have no idea whether this is EV's thing or just Barca's thing in the last few years, but our play is so predictable.
I talked to 2 of my friends after Roma and they laughed how they watched Roma:Barca game and 5 seconds before every pass, you could tell where the ball will end eventually.

If we have a ball at the right flank around the box, our players will try to do everything to try to get the ball back EXACTLY at the centre of the edge of the box and try a shot ONLY from that position.
If we can't shot EXACTLY from that position, we will pass the ball left and right for another 5 minutes and wait for a shooting attempt ONLY from that specific position.

If the ball goes to the left, repeat the same scenario: Alba to Iniesta, Iniesta to Luis or Busi. Those two to Messi and he will try to shoot only from that specific position.
If not, he will pass to Raki, Raki to Roberto, he will run with the ball a few meters, then instead of crossing, he will stop, pass the ball back to Raki, Raki to Messi, Messi is marked by 3 guys, he passes to Iniesta, Iniesta to Alba, Alba to Iniesta, Iniesta to Messi. Messi to Raki, Raki to Roberto. Then he will run and stop again and repeat this shit for 2000 times per match.

And EVERY SINGLE bigger team team is just parking 8-10 players at the edge of the box, aka at the only position from which we will try to shoot.
And then Messi gets marked by 3-4 guys and that's it.
Other guys aren't attempting shots and nobody is trying any crosses or anything.

So, imo, it is not a problem of 433 vs 442 or Dembele playing or not.
Our gameplan is extremely simple and predictable.
The only thing is that Getafe and other teams are so poor that they can't stop us even if they know our gameplan.
But when we meet Juve, AM, Psg, Chelsea, Roma, any bigger team who knows how to properly defend and close down space around the box=we are screwed.
And what happens?
Psg 0:4
Juve 0:3
Roma 0:3
Atletico 0:2
Atletico 0:1
Bayern 0:4
Chelsea 0:1 etc

This is why I have wrote here when we scored the first goal: is it possible that Roberto actually crossed and didn't pass the ball back to Raki-Messi-Iniesta-Alba and repeat that for 200 times.
You can put 10 Dembeles and Coutinhos on the field, nothing will happen if your gameplan will be: pass the ball every single time to the edge of the box and shoot ONLY from that specific position.
Btw, Messi scored tonight again ONLY from that specific position.

In the past, pre-Pep, opponent's 4men defenses were stretched, because the opponents were marking wingers and attackers.
So, it was easier to break through the middle because there was a lot of space between a fullback and a CB and between two CBs.
Then Pep created his thing through the middle and in the beginning there was tons of space for our players to do whatever they want through the middle.
But then, the opponents figured us out and started to play closer to eachother (fullbacks defending closer to the box and further from a touchline) and suddenly: there is no more space through the middle.
On the other hand, this is why Real is attacking through wings and crossing.
Since there is tons of free space there.

Also, if we'll just put Dembele in and if he will just pass to Messi every time, nothing will change.
We need players on wings who will stretch the opponents but also we need some crosses to force the opponents to defend in a different way and we need to start shooting from different places and not only from a perfect position exactly on the edge of a box.

It is insane how predictable our play is for the highest level.

Well said and I agree, we are too predictable
We need new game plan or more options for scoring. Paulinho and Coutinho helps us in this aspect. I think they have noticed this weakness.

 

[Joan]

We need players on wings who will stretch the opponents but also we need some crosses to force the opponents to defend in a different way and we need to start shooting from different places and not only from a perfect position exactly on the edge of a box.

It is insane how predictable our play is for the highest level.

Good post.

I wouldn't say that crossing itself is the problem. This team can cross, Coutinho, Dembele, they can cross and Raki is one of the best in that regard but it's pointless when you have Messi and Suarez in the middle.

It's so much simpler to create that way, score 'easy' goals... Paulinho (in form) helps that but IMO we need at least one tall, strong, physical striker. Not necessarily as a starter.

 

[Barcilliant]

Good post.

I wouldn't say that crossing itself is the problem. This team can cross, Coutinho, Dembele, they can cross and Raki is one of the best in that regard but it's pointless when you have Messi and Suarez in the middle.

It's so much simpler to create that way, score 'easy' goals... Paulinho (in form) helps that but IMO we need at least one tall, strong, physical striker. Not necessarily as a starter.

Lmao. Don't suggest this to other Barca fans or they will complain that we are turning into Burnley, Stoke... Take your pick.

We do need a physical, strong striker. How many times has it been mentioned before.

 

[jamrock]

Good job

 

[Givenchy]

unpopular opinion but we really fucked up buying both Coutinho AND Dembele.

its like there was no planning involved, actually fitting these players into a team seems like it was a mere afterthought. we made a big statement signing one of the most promising players in Dembele and world class Coutinho yet we have no idea how we fit everyone in the team. it only gets worse knowing Griezmann is likely inbound with Suarez going nowhere. add to all that a pragmatic manager who opts for safety first, its a recipe for disaster.

imo it should of been Dembele OR Coutinho and a world class midfielder, now were left shoehorning players in.

 

[Barcilliant]

unpopular opinion but we really fucked up buying both Coutinho AND Dembele.

its like there was no planning involved, actually fitting these players into a team seems like it was a mere afterthought. we made a big statement signing one of the most promising players in Dembele and world class Coutinho yet we have no idea how we fit everyone in the team. it only gets worse knowing Griezmann is likely inbound with Suarez going nowhere. add to all that a pragmatic manager who opts for safety first, its a recipe for disaster.

imo it should of been Dembele OR Coutinho and a world class midfielder, now were left shoehorning players in.

Bench Suarez. Coutinho on the left, Messi central and Dembele on the right. Coutinho is not a central midfielder. He's an attacking midfielder or forward.

 

[MagIX]

unpopular opinion but we really fucked up buying both Coutinho AND Dembele.

its like there was no planning involved, actually fitting these players into a team seems like it was a mere afterthought. we made a big statement signing one of the most promising players in Dembele and world class Coutinho yet we have no idea how we fit everyone in the team. it only gets worse knowing Griezmann is likely inbound with Suarez going nowhere. add to all that a pragmatic manager who opts for safety first, its a recipe for disaster.

imo it should of been Dembele OR Coutinho and a world class midfielder, now were left shoehorning players in.

We have a plan: we try the same scheme, the same tactics every year, a replica of the last 10 years, without noticing that our opponents know us and that soccer has changed, has evolved. It's incredible how stubborn we are and we don't have the courage to change.
No Iniesta ? ok no problem, Coutinho in, same tactics. No Neymar ? ok, no problem, Dembele in, same tactics, and so on......
We have to stop looking dreamy at the golden era that was.

Couthino, Dembele, Messi, Suarez, maybe Griezmann........ no idea how EV (or other coach) will fitt these playser in the team, even with the 10 years old tactic.
For instance imo we need a tower as center forward.
And 11 players, 1 unit: everyone runs, bleeds, fights like warriors. If I look at Roma, Liverpool, even RM,...... we look like lambs with the speed of snails.