Barcilliant
Senior Member
Nobody is saying they are invincible. However they have structure, Pep rotates and there is a hunger and desire transmitted to the team by Pep.
Contrast this with Valverde.
Contrast this with Valverde.
Ustari
Mou, res!
But, but he was a Valencia manager in 2012
Tbh that rarely happens.
My memory might be foggy, but the last time I remember seeing this was before Pep left when Messi scored vs Espanyol.
Messigician
Senior Member
he's not bald!!
George_Costanza
Active member
for 6 months and he was out because he sucked! He even got fired by Villarreal after 6 months too.
clemente
New member
Jeez, that midfield 5 players in the same line... At least make it 2 pivots and someone in front of them, now Arthur and Rakitic literally almost behind Busquets, this looks so bad, do we really need to go on a massive losing streak for these idiots up there to notice that our system is absolutely horrible? Now Messi will be back, we will keep winning against every low team by 1 goal and someone above that will draw/scrape a win and EV job will continue being safe...
Beating top teams has never really been Valverde's issue because he fields his gala XI and it usually does the job if fully fit.
His weakness lies in managing a squad.
He has players with different qualities but he doesn't utilize that.
He showed some glimpses of this the last couple of games though.
George_Costanza
Active member
Didn't we thrash stronger Real 3-0 (Zidane/CR7) and Juventus 3-0, Sevilla 5-0 last season just to embarrassingly crash out of UCL QF to fucking Roma?
I have this nostalgic Nietzsche vibe, he spoke of an eternal recurrence theory were the same events will continue to recur. I just hope Nietzche is wrong on this.
Well yeah, but not in consecutive games without Messi in 2.5 of them. He has also brought Arthur into the first 11 during this stint which I am sure we all did not expect.
Regarding the CL, we could very well bomb again. But we also have the pieces for Valverde to utilise that he didn't have (or didn't use) last season. Coutinho to start, Dembele injury-less, Vidal to close games instead of Andre Gomes. Infact, I would go as far as saying that if we had Vidal to bring on instead of Gomes last year in Rome, we might not have got knocked out with the added fight and drive he would bring.
Let's see what happens tonight, but bar Malcom's integration and to an extent Alena, Valverde has atleast earned something these past few weeks.
George_Costanza
Active member
You have already answered yourself of how we won without Messi. We have much stronger team + other teams weaken considerably this season. Second, the introduction of Arthur was a pure chance/roll the dice knowing how EV don't trust youngsters. After losing so many points he probably said what the heck, play him and you know what, it worked. Even then, he wasn't convinced and subbed him every game until both the media and fans lashed and booed him. The treatment of Alena, Malcom, Semedo, and Dembele all confirms our suspension so not gonna quit criticize him until we have a proper attacking system/philosophy, play youngsters and deliver in UCL.
henias
New member
The way EV sees the squad is rather one dimensional. He was only forced to change because of the circumstances thrown at him; he doesn't consider the player's abilities or try to make the best out of most of them.
At the start of the season, he used Dembele on the left which I felt was not his natural position at all and plays too deep with confined space (not his strengths at all). But EV ended up being sticking with that setup for the first 6 games regardless because it got him the result he wants.
After that when shit hits the fan, he took off Dembele, (easy decision for him since he doesn't know how to utilize him), Coutinho back to the wings like late last season. It then leaves a empty position which was previously Iniesta's. Yeah, he took a gamble with Arthur and again, he got the results he want. But, don't forget he hardly rated Arthur at the start of the season and was left on the bench. If Tottenham manage to beat us, I can guarantee Arthur will be back warming the bench. Of course, Arthur's quality is immense which contributed much against Tottenham, Madrid, Inter.
After Messi's injury, and was forced to make another change. He tried Rafinha against Inter, fair enough. But to continually start him with the exact same lineup for the next 4 games? Just because of a win against Inter, he honestly think Rafinha is a starter material in the winger position? And then again if he doesnt like Dembele, there's always Malcom as a winger option. Ultimately, too afraid to try.
Finally, came the Rayo game, the team was struggling badly and Rafinha was having another bad game. Took him long enough to realise that. Finally had no choice but to sub Dembele in. But then as usual, took off Arthur and subbed in Munir. Brilliant.
While this may seem like the work of a "genius" behind the team, it honestly isn't. He's basically just doing trial and error with the gaps left behind by the unbenchables and is too afraid to make a change until we are losing.
Semedo warming the bench again. Probably will be forced to take off Rafinha and try Dembele against Inter now, but I wouldnt be too surprised if Dembele would somehow find his way back in the bench again.
While all these are happening, remember, the unbenchables never had any rests.
Honestly, I would be surprised if this senseless management can last us through the whole season.
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