Luis Enrique

[linetty]

Luis Enrique would want Barcelona to sign, besides ter Stegen, a more experienced goalkeeper. Levante's Keylor Navas (27) is an option. [sd]

 

[linetty]

Burdisso (Genoa, ex-Roma): "Luis Enrique got the best out of us. He's a born winner. We trained for two hours, you were exhausted." [cope]

 

[Behrox]

Luis Enrique would want Barcelona to sign, besides ter Stegen, a more experienced goalkeeper. Levante's Keylor Navas (27) is an option. [sd]

Navas wont come to warm the bench for Barca he is too good. For experience we should try someone in their mid 30s

 

[serghei]

They were discussing Lucho on Revista the other day. They said he has his own visions about evolving tika taka which has been trying a bit at Celta.

- he wants to have a different type of no 9 for Messi to play off

- a more physical midfield (hence the interest in Pogba)

- defenders that are actually defenders

- full backs that get up and down the pitch


In terms of his managerial style/personality, Balague described him as a mixture between Pep and Mourinho. His ideas and style are from the Pep school but he has the ruthless authoritative personality of Mourinho.


A lot of this is simplistic and probably bullshit but its interesting to hear anyway.

If that's true, he's exactly what we need. Big if though.

 

[Jadentheman]

They were discussing Lucho on Revista the other day. They said he has his own visions about evolving tika taka which has been trying a bit at Celta.

- he wants to have a different type of no 9 for Messi to play off

- a more physical midfield (hence the interest in Pogba)

- defenders that are actually defenders

- full backs that get up and down the pitch


In terms of his managerial style/personality, Balague described him as a mixture between Pep and Mourinho. His ideas and style are from the Pep school but he has the ruthless authoritative personality of Mourinho.


A lot of this is simplistic and probably bullshit but its interesting to hear anyway.

Sounds good to me. Exactly like a imagined a tiki taka with some counter threat. And it also seems like he wants set pieces to become important for Barca again. So corners and freekicks will be more emphasized I guess.

I always thought both Messi and Neymar should play behind a No. 9 for both of their sakes.

So it would be more like 4-3-2-1

 

[Egert]

Burdisso (Genoa, ex-Roma): "Luis Enrique got the best out of us. He's a born winner. We trained for two hours, you were exhausted." [cope]

Everyone saying he is a great motivator and has a winning mentality. Let's hope he can produce it here.

 

[Alex-kun]

is our next coach, I hope nevertheless decides to do a good market

 

[DonAndres]

If that's true, he's exactly what we need. Big if though.

Well it's an inflated and romanticized version of the truth.

Lucho's base is in passing and ground play, but he's more pragmatic than the 100% romanticist that is Pep. At Celta his side is very, very balanced even if not that high in quality (balance which is the foil to Pep's "control"). The midfield doesn't have great individual quality aside from Rafinha but the back line is very stable and disciplined in how fullbacks move up the pitch one side at a time. It's flexible football with an identity rather than teams that are completely committed to how they play like Dortmund, Villarreal, Atletico, and of course prime Barca. In laymen's terms, a poor man's Athletic Bilbao under Valverde (more than reasonable considering the budget and players).

He keeps a consistent transition so that there isn't any moments where they're just sitting in front of the opposition box and passing forever like Barca has often. It's always a decently paced movement up the pitch with the intention to create a chance at the end of it. They always attempt for a chance and if it doesn't lead to anything substantial, they recover the ball and start the transition all over again. I like that unlike that our stale possession as we'll maintain a good tempo and play with purpose. He also trains with intensity and really does control his players, but that authority hasn't come under trial since he has only managed midtable sides.

The only issue is his ability to execute this at Barca. If he can get his ideals to gel really well with the players then there won't be any fallout like there was with Tata (who also had ideas to bring in, just couldn't execute them well and eventually gave in to the demands of 'total control' football). He needs good surroundings and the mental fortitude to have authority of the team, otherwise his "qualities" mean nothing. That's the thing that we have yet to see and that we'll need a big squad reboot to achieve.

 

[Kohe321]

Well it's an inflated and romanticized version of the truth.

Lucho's base is in passing and ground play, but he's more pragmatic than the 100% romanticist that is Pep. At Celta his side is very, very balanced even if not that high in quality (balance which is the foil to Pep's "control"). The midfield doesn't have great individual quality aside from Rafinha but the back line is very stable and disciplined in how fullbacks move up the pitch one side at a time. It's flexible football with an identity rather than teams that are completely committed to how they play like Dortmund, Villarreal, Atletico, and of course prime Barca. In laymen's terms, a poor man's Athletic Bilbao under Valverde (more than reasonable considering the budget and players).

He keeps a consistent transition so that there isn't any moments where they're just sitting in front of the opposition box and passing forever like Barca has often. It's always a decently paced movement up the pitch with the intention to create a chance at the end of it. They always attempt for a chance and if it doesn't lead to anything substantial, they recover the ball and start the transition all over again. I like that unlike that our stale possession as we'll maintain a good tempo and play with purpose. He also trains with intensity and really does control his players, but that authority hasn't come under trial since he has only managed midtable sides.

The only issue is his ability to execute this at Barca. If he can get his ideals to gel really well with the players then there won't be any fallout like there was with Tata (who also had ideas to bring in, just couldn't execute them well and eventually gave in to the demands of 'total control' football). He needs good surroundings and the mental fortitude to have authority of the team, otherwise his "qualities" mean nothing. That's the thing that we have yet to see and that we'll need a big squad reboot to achieve.

Great post DonAndres! I really, really like what you have to say about his managing style, having not followed any of his teams closely, what you describe here sounds like just what we need. The only thing that worried me, and you adressed it in your post just when it hit me, was whether or not he will be given (or take!) the authority to actually make this happen in Barcelona. I really hope that the players and everyone around the club with influence and power can open their minds and welcome the changes he wants to implement. Given that he seems to be a natural authoritative leader, has tons of respect from players and fans based on his history within the club, and his base-style is already in accord with our philosophy (as opposed to Tatas), I'm very hopefull that he'll succeed. :barca scarf:

 

[BarcaJack]

Navas wont come to warm the bench for Barca he is too good. For experience we should try someone in their mid 30s

He may come for trophies or higher salary. A club may also sell players due to financial reasons.
And who can say for sure that Ter Stegen is THAT good for us?

 

[i_bleed_blaugrana]

Lucho's base is in passing and ground play, but he's more pragmatic than the 100% romanticist that is Pep. At Celta his side is very, very balanced even if not that high in quality (balance which is the foil to Pep's "control"). The midfield doesn't have great individual quality aside from Rafinha but the back line is very stable and disciplined in how fullbacks move up the pitch one side at a time. It's flexible football with an identity rather than teams that are completely committed to how they play like Dortmund, Villarreal, Atletico, and of course prime Barca.

He keeps a consistent transition so that there isn't any moments where they're just sitting in front of the opposition box and passing forever like Barca has often. It's always a decently paced movement up the pitch with the intention to create a chance at the end of it.

He also trains with intensity and really does control his players, but that authority hasn't come under trial since he has only managed midtable sides...The only issue is his ability to execute this at Barca.

If all of what you say is true then its pretty hard to see him not succeeding here next season. The things you emphasized are things that are woefully lacking with this team since Tito. I've said it before and I'll say it again, our biggest problem on the pitch is the lack of cohesion and organization in how we transition with the flow of the game. There are times when our shape is incredibly hard to decipher and there is no order in our formation. Too many players doing their own thing, not playing as a team. A key part of how we used to play.

While everybody is going overboard about buying a bunch of players this summer since our transfer ban looms, there is a lot of good talent coming up through the ranks in Barca B and in 2-3 years times, our next generation might be able to carry the torch of the past generation. Adama, El Haddadi, Denis Suarez, Halilovic, Edgar Ie, these players have a lot of potential to be world-class and I am hoping Lucho doesn't overlook them. All of those players, including Alexis, Messi and Neymar in the first team will benefit from playing a higher tempo, aggressive style.

As long as our players are willing to work, check their ego's at the door and play as a team again, everything you described about Lucho indicates that he should be a good fit for us.

On paper Tata was always a risk and if you look at the big picture, he was always kinda destined to fail here. Any coach was in that situation. The fact that we still have an outside chance of winning a trophy (albeit with a lot of luck) shows that the quality is still there, it just needs the right guidance. Tata, not knowing the club culture, not knowing European tactics, and not knowing the youth talent, has done considerably well considering the challenges and at a club that hadn't just had the success we've had, he probably would have been a success. Any other coach making the jump from SA football to European football and especially at a club like Barca, probably would have done a lot worse than he did and Tata deserves credit for that.

If anything, Lucho is the exact opposite of Tata and as long as he can command the respect of the team (which as long as he is fair, I think he easily can. Especially with this guy around), I think he can be a great fit for us.

 

[Behrox]

Well it's an inflated and romanticized version of the truth.

Lucho's base is in passing and ground play, but he's more pragmatic than the 100% romanticist that is Pep. At Celta his side is very, very balanced even if not that high in quality (balance which is the foil to Pep's "control"). The midfield doesn't have great individual quality aside from Rafinha but the back line is very stable and disciplined in how fullbacks move up the pitch one side at a time. It's flexible football with an identity rather than teams that are completely committed to how they play like Dortmund, Villarreal, Atletico, and of course prime Barca. In laymen's terms, a poor man's Athletic Bilbao under Valverde (more than reasonable considering the budget and players).

He keeps a consistent transition so that there isn't any moments where they're just sitting in front of the opposition box and passing forever like Barca has often. It's always a decently paced movement up the pitch with the intention to create a chance at the end of it. They always attempt for a chance and if it doesn't lead to anything substantial, they recover the ball and start the transition all over again. I like that unlike that our stale possession as we'll maintain a good tempo and play with purpose. He also trains with intensity and really does control his players, but that authority hasn't come under trial since he has only managed midtable sides.

The only issue is his ability to execute this at Barca. If he can get his ideals to gel really well with the players then there won't be any fallout like there was with Tata (who also had ideas to bring in, just couldn't execute them well and eventually gave in to the demands of 'total control' football). He needs good surroundings and the mental fortitude to have authority of the team, otherwise his "qualities" mean nothing. That's the thing that we have yet to see and that we'll need a big squad reboot to achieve.

I just hope for our sake that he delivers what you wrote

 

[DonAndres]

, I'm very hopefull that he'll succeed. :barca scarf:

If all of what you say is true then its pretty hard to see him not succeeding here next season.

I just hope for our sake that he delivers what you wrote

For the record, I personally am going to reserve opinionated judgement until an entire season passes and I believe everyone should do the same. No need to jump the gun on a guy who hasn't even shown what he's got here.

I'd like to reiterate that what I've said indicates Lucho's potentialities. These are traits evidently seen in his Celta side. Execution and Mental fortitude are still wild cards at the moment, we can't be sure how he'd fare in the difficult part of the season against the most elite teams (where we've collapsed for the past 2 seasons). If the squad can submit to him and stop trying to control themselves (Messi, Alves, Xavi) AND he can take advantage of that and maintain his full level of managerial devotion and composure then I think his qualities as I described before will show positively.

This is an "if" scenario though, it requires a lot of conditionals. A good squad overhaul, a good staff behind him to support (board and coaches), players being disciplined and listening to him, and him being confident and driven. That level of desire and motivation as well as tactical purpose is something we haven't seen with coaches in the past 2 years. Everywhere Lucho has managed before, the players say that he brings it. The question is whether he can do it here. I believe his history and legend status at the club will make a difference but we can't rely on that until we've seen it here. I truly, truly hope he can bring what we need.

 

[Barcilliant]

Sounds good to me. Exactly like a imagined a tiki taka with some counter threat. And it also seems like he wants set pieces to become important for Barca again. So corners and freekicks will be more emphasized I guess.

I always thought both Messi and Neymar should play behind a No. 9 for both of their sakes.

So it would be more like 4-3-2-1

I agree. Messi & Neymar should have freedom to roam behind a proper number 9 like Higuain.

 

[Barcilliant]

There seems to be a lot of love for Lucho at the moment BUT has he REALLY achieved anything substantial. LOVED him as a player (in fact we could do with an all action type player like he was) but as a manager he hasn't really been a success.

All these things mentioned would be great but he seems a prickly sort of character and if things don't go his way he seems likely to lose his rag and just walk away.

He is a gamble, a risk for sure.

Suppose if we win La Liga this season and Lucho wins nothing next season??????

Do we hire a new manager AGAIN???????????????