BBZ8800
Senior Member
Sport says that EV will return to 433 with Coutinho in attack.
That means Dembele as a sub.
Busi-Rakitic-xx as midfielders.
The 3rd midfielder will be Arthur/Rabiot/De Jong/Rafinha/good old Gomes and similar.
They say that we will speed up our passing game with either Rabiot or De Jong...
https://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?depth=1&hl=en&prev=search&rurl=translate.google.hr&sl=es&sp=nmt4&u=https://www.sport.es/es/noticias/barca/revolucionario-planteamiento-barcelona-valverde-para-temporada-2018-19-6947134&xid=17259,1500002,15700019,15700124,15700149,15700168,15700186,15700191,15700201,15700208&usg=ALkJrhhmU8E5fPqWuMzLB-nVhKTd697a9A
That means Dembele as a sub.
Busi-Rakitic-xx as midfielders.
The 3rd midfielder will be Arthur/Rabiot/De Jong/Rafinha/good old Gomes and similar.
They say that we will speed up our passing game with either Rabiot or De Jong...
https://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?depth=1&hl=en&prev=search&rurl=translate.google.hr&sl=es&sp=nmt4&u=https://www.sport.es/es/noticias/barca/revolucionario-planteamiento-barcelona-valverde-para-temporada-2018-19-6947134&xid=17259,1500002,15700019,15700124,15700149,15700168,15700186,15700191,15700201,15700208&usg=ALkJrhhmU8E5fPqWuMzLB-nVhKTd697a9A
FCBfan22
Senior Member
So Suarez on the right wing? Exposing our RB's even more.
BBZ8800
Senior Member
No.
Messi in the middle, as a false-roaming defensive midfielder-central midfielder-attacking midfielder-false 9
Luis in the box as a Cf.
Coutinho as a LW.
Rakitic and Roberto babysitting for a lack of a Rw.
Good old Barca
A lot of guys here want Messi as a Cf with Luis benched.
That will NEVER happen.
France, Croatia, Belgium, England, ALL played with a true Cf in the box, creating space for other players.
Giroud, Mandzukic, Lukaku, Kane.
Suarez is our copy of those players, to some extent.
We won't play without a stronger-target man in the box.
Last edited:
FCBfan22
Senior Member
No.
Messi in the middle, as a false-roaming defensive midfielder-central midfielder-attacking midfielder-false 9
Luis in the box as a Cf.
Coutinho as a LW.
Rakitic and Roberto babysitting for a lack of a Rw.
Good old Barca
So, 4-WT-F formation.
FCBfan22
Senior Member
That's just stupid. We had problems on our right side, but Valverde wants to make them bigger, it seems.
BBZ8800
Senior Member
We can't play differently WITH Messi.
Only 2 options are:
1. 433 with Messi as a roaming Cdm, Suarez+Coutinho/Dembele
2. the other, Barcaforum's option, is to play Messi as a false 9, Cou on the left and Dembele on the right.
The problem with that formation is that we wouldn't have a man in the box, which all CL, Euros and World cups winning teams lately have in Benzema, Giroud, Mandzukic, Lukaku and similar.
On paper it seems as if Messi would be banging goals like during Pep.
In reality, Messi would drop to a Cdm, sulk and walk, and we would have Coutinho (NOT a true attacker) somewhere in between Lcm and a Lw (with no one in the box), waiting to try a longshot, and Dembele, who is a not a Cf, hogging a touchline and most often don't have a clue what a team is doing around him.
So, basically, we would play 451 with Coutinho in attack, and Messi hitting a wall of 4-5 players whenever he would come close to a box.
Imo, a huge: NO THANKS for a system without a Cf in 2018, and where an older, walking Messi is the only attacking option.
We need to evolve and move from Messipendencia to have 2-3-4 attacking options, NOT named Messi waiting for the ball at the edge of a box in every single action (while being surrounded by 5 defenders).
FCBfan22
Senior Member
Well the thing is that if this is our plan, we should've sold Dembele and gotten Eriksen, so we could play:
---------Busquets----------
-------------------Rakitić--
---Eriksen-----------------
------------Messi----------
----Suarez----Coutinho---
Still, I don't like this system one bit, because Messi and Suarez will walk again and our midfield will be dead in our few months. If we have Messi in the team, we should really get a CF that defends.
Also, what is the point of Suarez in CL, if he scores one goal in a season there.
BBZ8800
Senior Member
Well, I have said that our team has several different problems on 100s levels.
People live in a dreamland that a controller like Thiago will magically turn us into a great side again.
Look at our defending:
1. Messi don't defend.
Suarez don't defend too much.
Dembele, no comment.
Coutinho, he tries, but his physique is only slightly better than of Denis.
Rakitic defends, but is slower.
Busi defends, but is slower and not that mobile either.
Roberto is not a defender, Semedo is lost.
Pique is prone to mistakes.
Can one player like Thiago solve all these problems which WEREN'T here during Pep, since:
Young Messi defended.
Villa, Henry, Pedro defended.
Xavi-Iniesta-Young Busi defended.
We had Alves, not Roberto.
In attack:
Cou slow and his main weapon are longshots.
Messi will play a false CDM far from a goal.
Dembele is lost in our style for now.
Suarez has a touch of a pub player lately.
Our only option for a header is Suarez, he also isn't too good at it.
Counters:
Old Messi.
Slow Cou.
Slow Luis.
Slow Raki.
Slow Busi.
Insert a 3rd Cm: Turtle slow Arthur, slow Rafinha, not too fast Rabiot.
Can a controller like Thiago solve all of our problems, lol?
Not even close.
About Dembele, the board won't sell him after only 1 season.
But if EV won't like him and if he'll play similar like in this season, then in the next summer, his exit is quite possible.
FCBfan22
Senior Member
I agree, with the points. But if we had 9 outfield players who defend, it would be much much easier on the midfield and the slowness of Busquets and Rakitić and Coutinho's lack of physicality won't be such a factor if they have some help, don't you think?
GOAT_SUAREZ
New member
How do we even want to lineup in a 4-3-3?
Suarez LW, Coutinho RW?
Does EV want to get fired by October?
Suarez LW, Coutinho RW?
Does EV want to get fired by October?
BusiTheKing
Senior Member
The most fucked up thing is that we're most likely looking at yet another season filled with constant line-up changes and experimentation. Besides the general lack of triangles, I'd say the biggest issue with last season was the non-existent learning curve.
Take the Alba-Messi connection with the low cross for Messi's delayed run for example. It was so clear that as soon as we found some little link-up that was actually working, we desperately clinged on to it. It was like we literally didn't know any other way to attack. We had no other established passing sequences because we never got the chance to develop trust and comfort with each other. No chemistry.
No matter what the system is called, in the end, its success will depend on deeper things like running patterns, passing patterns, distribution of defensive duties and so on. It's not like these things will magically slot into place if we figure out just the right way to place our pieces in relation to each other. We need continuity.
Take the Alba-Messi connection with the low cross for Messi's delayed run for example. It was so clear that as soon as we found some little link-up that was actually working, we desperately clinged on to it. It was like we literally didn't know any other way to attack. We had no other established passing sequences because we never got the chance to develop trust and comfort with each other. No chemistry.
No matter what the system is called, in the end, its success will depend on deeper things like running patterns, passing patterns, distribution of defensive duties and so on. It's not like these things will magically slot into place if we figure out just the right way to place our pieces in relation to each other. We need continuity.
Home of Barca Fans
