Windhook
Well-known member
I like Valverde's rotation of the squad which has been so far succesful in the first month of the season. Almost every player on the team had considerable playing time. Of course not counting two players who were heavily involved last season in Lucho's plans - Andre Gomes and Arda Turan.
CatalinR10
Senior Member
not constantly playing trash like gomes every game for a start
Neeraj
Senior Member
While I agree with that, I don't see a massive change in playing style either, tbh. Sure, you can say pressing has improved a bit, and certain players are playing better, but that generally happens when a new coach joins. There's a few months of juice that any new coach generally gets out of a team before things settle down and the tactics really have to come to the fore.
I think it's still early, and the good start has obviously bought him time; I think this is a wait and watch space, the Valverde thread!
Ursegor
World Champion
If our pressing has improved why do teams like Eibar, Girona or Getafe manage more shots towards our goal than we do on theirs?
Seems like an obligatory thing to say about Barca whenever a new manager comes in: "Wow, they are pressing again." Was immediately claimed unter Tata, Lucho and now Valverde.
Too early to judgle conclusively, but so far we're serving up some uninspiring football.
Neeraj
Senior Member
That's what I meant - I don't think our pressing has improved dramatically. It's just the new coach syndrome, where you always find pressing to be a bit more energetic (not to mention it's the start of the season).
I was never a big fan of the football under treble MSN either tbh; it was just a game based on sporadic actions of brilliance from 3 players, which created some individual wow moments, but never truly captivated you like Pep's Barca. I get that it's an era gone by and we probably won't see that level of dominance ever, but I haven't truly seen a captivating style yet since Pep. Not under Lucho, Tito, Tata, etc.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying we haven't played some WOW games, I just mean our overall pattern and style of play still seems caught somewhere between the glory days of Pep and the reality of trying to replicate that without the same personnel obviously. Just hoping Valverde has a clear vision of what he hopes this team should become, and not just a 'whatever it takes to get results' sort of approach.
ini4ever
Member
Do we play any actual football ? I doubt we will do anything against serious teams this year and Valverde seems is not brave enough to bench the likes of Rakitic who playing awful.
Edit : Why he didn't play Denis too, we barely created any chance, the kid needs to play consistency if want him to get improved.
Edit : Why he didn't play Denis too, we barely created any chance, the kid needs to play consistency if want him to get improved.
Last edited:
Ousmane Dembélé
Banned
A timid man with no balls whatsoever, we cannot afford to have a manager like him on an already complacent team.
DonAndres
Wild Man of Borneo
Said it in the Messi thread, but the writing on the wall is VERY clear with this false 9 system. I see 2012 problems hitting us bad very soon against big teams and in the key CL stages. We are overly dependent on Messi with an arguably even worse supporting cast than we did in 2012 and if he's lazy/doesn't drop deep then the team gets fucked and we can't manage good attacks whatsoever.
Sporting were better than us today and we didn't deserve to win. Own goals are our 2nd top scorer more than a month into the season and have literally decided fixtures for us. If Valverde doesn't fix this issue and stop playing Messi as such an advanced false 9 (only playing near the goal) it will bite us in the ass and we will fail. It's sad but IMO we should expect it if things keep going this way.
Sporting were better than us today and we didn't deserve to win. Own goals are our 2nd top scorer more than a month into the season and have literally decided fixtures for us. If Valverde doesn't fix this issue and stop playing Messi as such an advanced false 9 (only playing near the goal) it will bite us in the ass and we will fail. It's sad but IMO we should expect it if things keep going this way.
Home of Barca Fans
