Lliga: Valencia - FC Barcelona 0-1

[beogatts]

Only problem i saw was late substitute. Lucho's experiment was ok but he took too long to realize tht it wasnt working. after raki rafinha pedro came in, the attack force ws there. Suarez actualy scored but ref's vision wasnt clear on tht offside call. m happy for busi to shoot a last min nice goal wch was really needed. Gud try by neymar too. For me, the the team played well by running alot..compare to b4 sevilla games. Valencia was not an easy opponent anyways.

 

[KyletheMuslim]

Keep on praying, we will need it.

Will do Luft !

 

[barcanuck]

We are way to static with Busquets adding his limp to Xavi's age and Messi's stroll.

Truth! Damn that's alot of slow issues we got going on at once.

 

[RightGuy]

Valencia is Athletico Madrid 2.0
The way they press and counter is breathtaking.I am happy we got the 3 points.

 

[rixxer]

Well, the basic idea with Busi-Masch was for either one to cover for Dani and Alba who rushed forward the entire time. Subsequently, after Lucho dissolved the pseudo double pivot the team was exposed twice over Alba's flank. So the basic idea wasn't that bad; but due to that the team lacked punch and pace going forward resulting in the well known image of running against a brick wall in the final third yet again.

I agree with Danny basically. In theory, it was not may be a bad idea, I could imagine to use it in CL away games, where keeping a clean sheet at back is more important than scoring and actually we created some excellent chances anyway and the goal Suarez scored should have stood anyway. Valencia did not actually threatened that much auntil that bizarre formation was in play, but we got seriously in truoble after subs in some predictable way: use the speed of wing attackers in transition and get a low drive in the middle or shoot. Feghouli is a specialist in that sort of play anyways...
So, I am not blaming Lucho entirely, may be it was not a right game to try it, but we did not concede...and that may be was basically idea- to keep it clean and hope to score due to brilliance of attackers. In that case, it actually paid off relating Suarez goal. Should have not put Mesi on the right still...

 

[raminho]

IMO this was a great game because of the late result. It's a win for god's sake and an important one as well.
It wasn't pretty though, but then again, Suarez's "offside" goal might've changed Valencia's tactics quite a bit.
Yeah Rakitic came in too late and Busquets is basically no use at CM. Still like people have claimed earlier, it was Valencia's good style of play which made it difficult for us. Even Madrid or Bayern don't win all the games easily. So let's not overreact on this game, on most of the other games it's totally fine but this was a good one. Or am I alone with my thoughts here?

I'm hoping we'll get the rhythm we gained in the previous two games back, so that we'd see Lucho might have learned something.

 

[Alik]

I'm happy for the win. Especially with a team that seemed unstoppable like Chelsea dropping points.

Hopefully we go back to the system we used vs Apoel/Sevilla.

 

[kilian]

So we play 2 good games, Messi finds his goalscoring form and everything seems to fit into place and then maestro Lucho decides to fuck things up and completely destroys the midfield with CM Busquets. Busquets, who even we as spectators know can`t play that position because he doesn`t posess neither the physical nor offensive capabilities of a box to box midfielder. I am really starting to wonder what is going on at that club. Amateurism with transfers, amateurism with tactics and man management. This level of incompetence is rarely seen at a football club of this stature.

 

[Howlgrana]

I agree with Danny basically. In theory, it was not may be a bad idea, I could imagine to use it in CL away games, where keeping a clean sheet at back is more important than scoring and actually we created some excellent chances anyway and the goal Suarez scored should have stood anyway. Valencia did not actually threatened that much auntil that bizarre formation was in play, but we got seriously in truoble after subs in some predictable way: use the speed of wing attackers in transition and get a low drive in the middle or shoot. Feghouli is a specialist in that sort of play anyways...
So, I am not blaming Lucho entirely, may be it was not a right game to try it, but we did not concede...and that may be was basically idea- to keep it clean and hope to score due to brilliance of attackers. In that case, it actually paid off relating Suarez goal. Should have not put Mesi on the right still...

Can I just ask, what the hell did you expect from this game, 0-3?

You do realise that Barca traditionally struggle immediately after Champions League matches. Barca just played APOEL AWAY, and then had to face one of the strongest sides in La Liga currently AWAY the next game. I think the result and play was very good.

If Suarez buried that Neymar pull-back like he could have easily in the 1st half, Barca could have been even more convincing. Barca also scored a goal correctly called offside don't forget. So creating these chances without conceding against a tough side is a job well done.

This is the formation I would pick for tough away matches in fact. I have been a critic of Lucho but credit where he gets it right. He seems to be learning from his mistakes (PSG, Real Madrid).

 

[kilian]

This is the formation I would pick for tough away matches in fact. I have been a critic of Lucho but credit where he gets it right. He seems to be learning from his mistakes (PSG, Real Madrid).

You would pick a formation where 2 of 3 of your midfield players are playing out of their position and performing abysmal, because they are lost on the field? Interesting.

 

[Howlgrana]

You would pick a formation where 2 of 3 of your midfield players are playing out of their position and performing abysmal, because they are lost on the field? Interesting.

No-one was lost on the field, please explain who you are talking about?

I assume you mean Xavi and Busquets? Either way, in this formation with Masch in DM, I would take Xavi and Busquets over Rakitic any day. Rakitic still looses the ball too much but I think he can improve in that aspect over time with Barca.

 

[rixxer]

Can I just ask, what the hell did you expect from this game, 0-3?

You do realise that Barca traditionally struggle immediately after Champions League matches. Barca just played APOEL AWAY, and then had to face one of the strongest sides in La Liga currently AWAY the next game. I think the result and play was very good.

If Suarez buried that Neymar pull-back like he could have easily in the 1st half, Barca could have been even more convincing. Barca also scored a goal correctly called offside don't forget. So creating these chances without conceding against a tough side is a job well done.

This is the formation I would pick for tough away matches in fact. I have been a critic of Lucho but credit where he gets it right. He seems to be learning from his mistakes (PSG, Real Madrid).

As you can read, I totally expected a close call in that one. I actually credit Lucho pulling this off. In retroperspect it easy to say that we should have dominated and it was not that barca, but i can easily counter that if we had started with traditional line-up we could have lost it like the game in spring at Camp. There is no better truth than arguments for or againts smth after the game, I assume.
There are still a lot of work to do, but I can make and understand the arguement that we still won this game because of the chosen tactics not despite it. Too easy to bash Enrique for lot of commentators in here...

 

[Howlgrana]

Double post sorry.

 

[Howlgrana]

As you can read, I totally expected a close call in that one. I actually credit Lucho pulling this off. In retroperspect it easy to say that we should have dominated and it was not that barca, but i can easily counter that if we had started with traditional line-up we could have lost it like the game in spring at Camp. There is no better truth than arguments for or againts smth after the game, I assume.
There are still a lot of work to do, but I can make and understand the arguement that we still won this game because of the chosen tactics not despite it. Too easy to bash Enrique for lot of commentators in here...

Oh sorry mate I think I replied to the wrong poster, as I can see you weren't overly criticising Lucho

 

[dakt]

Day after...still think that Luch fuked up. It was hard game never the less, but with "standard" formation with "standard" 11 we could have passed without many of us having heart attacks.