Ernesto Valverde

[bismp]

Let's wait and see.It is quite possible he is going to bench Arthur or FDJ for the love of his life(Rakitic).

Beating Valencia coached by a newly-appointed guy,while having players like Griezmann,FDJ,Arthur,Suarez,Pique etc is not a big accomplishment.Let's see if we can consistently play good football all year long.

A man can dream,but this is probably the last chance we are going to get for the CL while Messi is here.We've basically become Galacticos 2.0 right now:

MAtS->top 3 GK in the world
Alba->top 3-5 LB in the world
Pique,Busquets->old but still good when everything is clicking
FDJ,Arthur->Both among the best midfielders in the world
Griezmann->top 3 hybrid 10/striker player in the world
Messi->getting old,but still the BEST in the world


If it hadn't been for the last two years' fiascos,we should be automatic favorites for the CL right now with any decent coach.Unfortunately though,we'll probably lose to Liverpool,City,Atleti,Juve etc

Let's hope that the players can finally take things into their own hands.

 

[serghei]

He could have pushed for Coutinho to stay, or let Rafinha stay and play with him and Roberto on wings, or played with 4 midfielder, or played Alena as an attacker.
Nevermind he could have gone for other youth players, like Abil Ruiz for example rather than going for Perez and Fati, the later who didn't even play for Barca B.
He had alternatives, but he choose the right one, despite one of them being very surprising to say at least.
He clearly had an eye on those 2 as 5th and 6th options from the beginning tbh. Regardless of our opinion on him as a coach but he should take credit for that.

I give him credit that in recent games, he made the right moves in terms of first 11 selection. We still have serious tactical issues which makes us far less effective in possession than in the past. If he improves his squad management skills and continues to make the right decisions (for example Fati has proven he can deal with the pressure of playing games for the first team even at 17, there is no reason for him to disappear once Messi and Dembele recover from injuries), and if he finds a way to fix tactical problems that are present, maybe he can have a decent final season here, and leave with another La Liga title in his resume. And people would maybe forget about his calamitous defeats in Europe and remember him as a medium manager in terms of success here.

 

[khaled_a_d]

for example Fati has proven he can deal with the pressure of playing games for the first team even at 17, there is no reason for him to disappear once Messi and Dembele recover from injuries

Regarding this point, I am a bit skeptical here.
The only Barca player who got consistent minutes aged 17 was Bojan (and even him was few months older) and only other teenager that made it to rotation was Messi (and suffered good deal of injuries early on because he couldn't handle the physicality he was facing as a super young phenomena).
Fati looks great, and I think he is EV favorite and see him on the same lense like Inake (and possibly even way better) but looking at history I would prefer his main development this season will be between Juvenil A's CL and Barca B.
That doesn't mean he should be buried away from 1st team, but take it easy and don't push things.


Regarding EV, this year he is trying to shake things up. I think he really intends to start rebuilding midfield and may be attack.
But this will take time IMO, and we will have some growing pains, especially with our defense (I like Pique/Lenglet individually but hate their partnership for CB) and judging by how fans reacting people won't have the patience for that. For me I fear he might panic and go for more older options to secure the league if the board put pressure on him.
One thing I am really interested to see is how we react with Messi, as great of a player he is he changes the whole dynamics. Him and Griezmann is something I am curious to see how they connect too.

 

[serghei]

Regarding this point, I am a bit skeptical here.
The only Barca player who got consistent minutes aged 17 was Bojan (and even him was few months older) and only other teenager that made it to rotation was Messi (and suffered good deal of injuries early on because he couldn't handle the physicality he was facing as a super young phenomena).
Fati looks great, and I think he is EV favorite and see him on the same lense like Inake (and possibly even way better) but looking at history I would prefer his main development this season will be between Juvenil A's CL and Barca B.
That doesn't mean he should be buried away from 1st team, but take it easy and don't push things.


Regarding EV, this year he is trying to shake things up. I think he really intends to start rebuilding midfield and may be attack.
But this will take time IMO, and we will have some growing pains, especially with our defense (I like Pique/Lenglet individually but hate their partnership for CB) and judging by how fans reacting people won't have the patience for that. For me I fear he might panic and go for more older options to secure the league if the board put pressure on him.
One thing I am really interested to see is how we react with Messi, as great of a player he is he changes the whole dynamics. Him and Griezmann is something I am curious to see how they connect too.

Sure, his main development should not be at senior level yet, but he should still continue to get the occasional call at the first team. There is no reason why Fati should not continue to get a game here and there, since he pretty much destroyed Valencia, who are actually a CL team in Spain. I think he will completely shine again if say we play Valladolid on Camp Nou, or Eibar. So, the best option with Fati is to get his consistent minutes at the youth level still, but with regular appearences for the first team too. We may be dealing with a legit precocious talent here, somebody who even at 17-18 could be a difference maker at senior level. Not giving talents like that a chance early could be just as wrong as rushing it. There are no guarantees in any direction as each player is different.

As for EV, Liverpool tie did him in the mind of most fans, me included. People accepted the Roma game as an accident, but doing it again next year in an even worse fashion, with an even bigger lead, that was it for him. He can end his tenure on a positive note if he wins the title this year, but he will never be remembered as a top Barcelona manager like Rijkaard, Guardiola, or even Luis Enrique. The way he failed in Europe was too painful. To put it this way, the memories of his failures will be more intense for the Barca fans than the memories of the good things he did.

The only way Ernie turns the tables and completely washes his image is if he defeats his Nemesis. And that would mean winning the Champions League. He is not good enough to do it. A similar defeat in Europe this year will completely ruin him as a manager in Europe at a certain level. So Valverde is in a tough spot.

 

[xXKonan]

Hmmm.

 

[serghei]

As expected. The tactical issues aren't magically fixed just because Arthur and Frenkie both started. The team is still bypassing the midfield way way too much. Look at those lines from Lenglet to Alba and to Fati. That's called taking the easy way forward.

As long as Valverde is the manager you will see those lines being the thickest. The problem for him is that a big team will easily block Alba, like Liverpool did, and then what?

Most passes: Alba
Most XGChain (whatever that is): Alba
Most progressive passing: Alba
Most progressive carrying: Alba.

That is called bypassing the midfield.

From our midfielders having the most touches, now our fullbacks have the most touches. Tells you what you need to know.

 

[xXKonan]

As expected. The tactical issues aren't magically fixed just because Arthur and Frenkie both started. The team is still bypassing the midfield way way too much. Look at those lines from Lenglet to Alba and to Fati. That's called taking the easy way forward.

As long as Valverde is the manager you will see those lines being the thickest. The problem for him is that a big team will easily block Alba, like Liverpool did, and then what?

Most passes: Alba
Most XGChain (whatever that is): Alba
Most progressive passing: Alba
Most progressive carrying: Alba.

That is called bypassing the midfield.

From our midfielders having the most touches, now our fullbacks have the most touches. Tells you what you need to know.

It's also leaving our left side vulnerable as well as more teams are going to keep exploiting the space behind Alba leaving Lenglet out to dry exposing his flaws.

I wouldn't be surprised if the majority of our conceded goals this season is going to be due to that reason. Alba needs to be chained back a bit and let the other players handle the Build up and instead of blindly letting Alba have all of it.

 

[EdmondDantes]

That pass from the full-back to the winger is the type of pass Dani Alves said Pep hates, isn't it?

-

I was curious and checked Alba's SofaScore stats to see how many passes he completed. 93 total.

 

[Havesaks]

People do underrate Valverde way too much. He is head and shoulders above the likes of Tito and Tata who basically just played the Pep-system and didnt contribute to develop the squad at the time. Valverde did manage around losing the second best player in the world even after he was assured he would stay and build his tactics around him. Did manage to implement Lenglet as a solid piece in our backline after our prodigy Umtiti got broken. Managed to make Alba best LB in the world. Now that we actually have young talent worth fielding, he does field them: Arthur, fati, perez, de Jong.

Won 2 out of 2 La Liga titles. And on top of that 1 Copa Del Rey.

The squad he had in 16/17 wasnt well-rounded at all, hence he changed to 4-4-2 securing leuage title already before christmas. People complain about Arthur not fielding enoughtæ, but Thing is, he needed time to adapt to European tempo and style, and was in the past often injurie-prone. Other major complains Are playing style, fielding rakitic etc etc bla bla bla. We had an old squad and we could ofc not play like dortmund, city, liverpool. Now we have ypunger fresh players and wupti we play way more fresh, attacking, inspired and barcalike.

Reality is valverde didnt do much wrong and all tho he cant be tottaly unblamed for rome and liverpool, i still think our squad wasnt champions leauge-winning worthy, hence i dont mind not winning it. The fashion we went out on is also totally media hyped, both times we lost by 1 goal, which isnt embarresing at all.

 

[Horatio]

. Managed to make Alba best LB in the world. Now that we actually have Young talent worth fielding, he does field them: Arthur, fati, perez, de Jong.

I always said I would reserve judgment on Valverde until he has the quality material to play the football we all want to see. So far it seems he favours de Jong and the other young talents. He obviously wants to play the kidfield we all want to see play. We played two solid games at home now without Messi and the team still has to find one another.
Now let’s hope we continue this line of progress.

 

[Horatio]

So after 3 seasons it's still about the transitional period, sounds about right.

Doesn’t matter whether we are passed the transitional period or not. He was there when it happened. Wether he stayed on one more season beyond it, that will be a thing he will be remembered for probably. That’s how these things go.

 

[Richard.H]

One good game and the fanboys come out Let's wait until March/April. Will you still be here? I'll make sure to check!

 

[Horatio]

One good game and the fanboys come out Let's wait until March/April. Will you still be here? I'll make sure to check!

I actually never left. Just post less because I post from my phone nowadays, which can be a pain.

 

[JohnN]

People do underrate Valverde way too much. He is head and shoulders above the likes of Tito and Tata who basically just played the Pep-system and didnt contribute to develop the squad at the time. Valverde did manage around losing the second best player in the world even after he was assured he would stay and build his tactics around him. Did manage to implement Lenglet as a solid piece in our backline after our prodigy Umtiti got broken. Managed to make Alba best LB in the world. Now that we actually have young talent worth fielding, he does field them: Arthur, fati, perez, de Jong.

Won 2 out of 2 La Liga titles. And on top of that 1 Copa Del Rey.

The squad he had in 16/17 wasnt well-rounded at all, hence he changed to 4-4-2 securing leuage title already before christmas. People complain about Arthur not fielding enoughtæ, but Thing is, he needed time to adapt to European tempo and style, and was in the past often injurie-prone. Other major complains Are playing style, fielding rakitic etc etc bla bla bla. We had an old squad and we could ofc not play like dortmund, city, liverpool. Now we have ypunger fresh players and wupti we play way more fresh, attacking, inspired and barcalike.

Reality is valverde didnt do much wrong and all tho he cant be tottaly unblamed for rome and liverpool, i still think our squad wasnt champions leauge-winning worthy, hence i dont mind not winning it. The fashion we went out on is also totally media hyped, both times we lost by 1 goal, which isnt embarresing at all.

Media hyped? Not embarrassing?? I can't remember the last time I was so close to depression.
Our squad maybe wasn't "champions leauge-winning material", but we were so close and the meltdown was unreal.
You could argue some of the EV critics go too far, blaming everything on him, etc.. but you are out of touch with reality.. exonerating him of any blame whatsoever and diminishing on of the most embarrassing nights for any Barca fan to a mere "one goal defeat", just to accomplish that.
Is he your relative?

 

[serghei]

I actually never left. Just post less because I post from my phone nowadays, which can be a pain.

So you identify yourself as a Valverde fanboy?