1 CL in 3 years with MSN and signing whoever he wanted. Fraud. Should had left last summer. Now it'll take a few years to recover from all the damage this pos is leaving behind.
People will jump on Lucho.
I have wrote on chat a few times how much I am starting to hate our 433.
And a few things to consider:
1. having prime Xavi+Iniesta in our team
2. having prime Messi to save our asses in our team
3. teams not knowing how to defend against 433 in the early years
During 2009 and 2011, our 433 was new and fresh (or our system), and teams SURELY didn't learn yet how to neutralize it, like today.
So, yes, we have weaker players today than back then, but still, even with prime Xavi+Iniesta+Messi+Alves, imo, our classic version of 433 would struggle against physically strong teams who knows how to park 2 buses infront of their box and we don't have an answer then.
What happened with 433 after early years in 2009 and 2011?
2012: Chelsea and bad luck
2013. Bayern, 0:7. 433 absolutely neutralized and unable to create any chances.
2014: Atletico, 1:2. We scored 1 goal in 180 minutes. We were neutralized and had zero ideas how to score.
2015: we won a CL, due to MSN's individual brilliance and insane momentum of our team.
2016: Atletico again. 2:3 on aggregate. We scored both goals against a 10-men Atletico. In 11 vs 11, we didn't have any ideas how to get past 2 buses infront of their goal.
2017: Juventus, 0:3 on aggregate. More or less, it felt like watching the same match (2010 Inter, 2013 Bayern, 2014 Atletico, 2016 Atletico over again).
I don't know how others feel, but for me personally, I am really having a horrible deja vu, and whenever we go out, we go out in an exactly the same way, without the ability to create clear chances (even today we didn't create more than 1-2 clear chances) and we look clueless. We can't break down teams through the middle, we aren't dangerous through flanks anymore and when we cross, there is no one to head the ball into a net since we play with short players.
Also, Pique going in attack, again a deja vu of 2010.
7 years have passed and our formation/tactics/system/whatever/plan B evolved by 0%.
I hear people talking on chat and here on forums how 433 is the best thing and the best thing in a history of football.
And how this is not formation's fault, but fault of Lucho or our poor RB and midfielders.
But once again:
2012, 2013, 2014, 2016: in majority of these years:
1. we had Xavi+Iniesta
2. we had prime Messi
3. we had RB Alves
= and yet 433 failed in majority of matches against any physical team who knows how to play defense.
So, when people say that we only need better players and that GOAT 433 (lel) will work again, please, can someone explain me HOW?
1. even if we buy Verratti and any player in the world, what then?
What with Messi?
He won't play as a RW.
We can't play 433 since he will drift in the middle.
Messi as a CAM also won't work, a formation won't be balanced.
So, what is the option? 433 can work only if we remove Messi (which is insane).
Further, if prime 433 with Messi+Iniesta+Xavi+Alves managed to win only 1 CL in the last 6 years, HOW ON EARTH will a new 433 without Xavi/Iniesta/Alves and one day without Messi work against physically strong teams?
I have heard replies that 433 gave us all glory in the last 10 years.
Again, we had prime Xavi+Iniesta+Alves+Messi.
Currently we have only Messi. Xavi is gone, Iniesta is not a guy whom he used to be, Alves is gone.
433 gave us all the glory, but we had prime Messi to save our asses each time.
Prime Messi would possibly turn any formation into a godlike formation.
So, it is still hard to tell whether 433 was that godlike, or it was just good and Messi alone turned it into a godlike.
Also, was 433 ever tested without Xavi+Iniesta+Messi?
I know that 451 is quite similar to 433, but we will (imo) need something new.
Either 343 (but without Alba in any combination), or 442 or 451.
With the current 433, we just seem as if we play with 10 men and as if we don't have midfield. (I know, people will say that we have poor midfielders and that we don't have Alves. But then again, since we will never again have Xavi+Iniesta and since La Masia is dry, how do you think that we will get even close to a prime 433, which already DIDN'T work against physical teams, even with prime Xavi+Iniesta+Alves+Messi once our opponents figured our how to neutralize BARCA's version of 433).
Some replied on a chat that most of big teams play 433 (Real for example).
But their 433 isn't actually great at all.
They score like 30% of goals from corners, penalties and crosses which have nothing to do with "a classic idea of a 433".
Plus, they are helped by Refs in La liga and in a CL.
So, to some extent, a pure footballing version of Real's 433 really isn't working too well, when you remove ref's help and headers after corners.
Anyway, I am extremely pissed at 433 lately.
It SURELY isn't working with our current team.
But still, I don't see it working anymore even if we buy Verratti and Bellerin.
Times have changed, teams defend differently.
We will need to move some players differently.
Plus, we will need a plan B and a different plan in building a team.
Era of buying 170 cm tall players is gone.
It worked in 2009 and 2011, but even Pep, a father of TikiTaka, never won a CL trophy later in his career WITHOUT Messi+Xavi+Iniesta.
So, in my eyes, it is still hard to tell whether 433 was that great or 433 worked perfectly ONLY when Barca and Spain had Xavi (probably the most perfect player in a history of football, to play in a 433) and without prime Messi who raised 433 (and any formation) to a whole new level.
So, in a world without Xavi, Iniesta, Alves, prime Messi and in a world where opponents learned how to neutralize Barca's version of 433, our 433 is not and imo it won't work anymore. (Or it WILL work, but in this way: good enough to beat Arsenal, City, Psg and similar teams, but will fail over and over against Bayern, Juve, Atletico and physical teams).
In the last 5 years (without a winning year 2015), 433 managed to score 1 goal in 8 matches of knockout rounds against physically tougher teams, even with Alves, Xavi and Iniesta:
2013: Bayern 0:3, 0:4
2014: Atletico 1:1, 0:1
2016: Atletico 2:1 (10men Atletico), 0:2
2017: Juventus 0:3, 0:0
That means that our beloved 433 managed to score 1 goal in roughly 670-680 minutes against physically tougher teams.
433's lovers, please think a little about it.
And remember that our team can only be worse in terms of quality than back then and that opponents will only know even better how to defend against our 433.
pulling the strings
