Ernesto Valverde - V1

Gaudi

Senior Member
I think he knows we can't control match completly with this setup...yes we would like some different thinks but it can't be just luck, he is pragmatic coach.
We need to understand that we can't control games against City, Psg, RM teams...we simply lack midfield quality. Just remember golden era of Xavi, Iniesta and Busi and look one small (but huge) detail: they always recieved ball with head up, and already knowing their surrounding, of course they could pass quickly and deadly...our current mids are fighting to control the ball first. That's not something Valverde can change, that's quality.
But there is optimistic side, with one class midfielder, one potential (hopefully Alena like many here claim), Dembele back, maybe even adding Griezman we become 2 times stronger that moment.
And we are still winning even now!
 

FC433

New member
Excellent performance. I criticized him when the team did not play well, but proved me wrong. Congratulations.
 

Behrox

Vice President of FC Barcelona
Tactically brilliant. He's doing wonderful with the roster available. The defense has been great, Alba is actually winning headers right now which is unbelievable. Also his faith in Suarez and Rakitic is paying off, they've been great in the past couple of games
 

Givenchy

Senior Member
thats 4 big games now we've got results in. 3-0 Juve, 1-1 Atleti, 0-0 Juve, 3-0 Madrid. the guy deserves massive credit, not a big fan of the 442 but massive respect to Ernesto. can't wait to see how Dempele fits in
 

vlad

New member
Valverde just pull best of squad he have, you cant expect that barca with that midfield can keep the ball vs madrid


With dembele, coutinho or griezmann things will look better on the pitch for sure

Im glad comments like "fraudverde" are gone :)
 

FCBfan22

Senior Member
Quite poor first half, but he saw the problems, talked to the players and the result was an amazing 2nd half. Props to him. From what I've seen so far, his biggest strength is adjusting the tactics mid-game, which is polar opposite to Lucho, who would just throw some subs on and hope we score.

I don't know what he told the players during the break, but it worked.
 

Windhook

Well-known member
Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde contained his euphoria at the end of Saturday's Clasico, despite Barcelona's 3-0 win leaving Real Madrid's title hopes in tatters.

The Basque coach maintained his cautious approach, saying that the result "is a lesson for everyone, in preseason they played really well and were better. Today, it was our turn. Football changes a lot."

Valverde was coherent in his analysis before the said that "I don't think we have one hand on La Liga, I don't know, we’re not even half way through the season yet. There’s still a long way to go. We’re at the top and we have a good lead, but that doesn’t mean anything because nothing is decided in December."

His explanation for the first half problems was that "[Madrid] pressed us high at start and reinforced in the centre of park, where it was practically man to man. We could not play as we are used to, we had to get past their first line of pressure, and from there play. In the second half we were able to get past their first line of pressure. It was more difficult in the first half."

Despite the win, Valverde said he never felt the game was won until full time, even after Dani Carvajal was sent off: "At 2-0 we didn’t think the game was won, we never wrote Madrid off. We didn’t stop going forward, while Madrid created more chances with 10 men than with 11."

He is class!
 

xXKonan

Senior Member
I only caught the last 5 mins of the match but, I read we weren't great in the first. To be fair to Valverde, this team is pretty slow at getting going at times especially in Recent Classicos. But He anticipated Real would go gung ho in the first half with Real hoping they can snatch a early goal and sit back.

Valverde then adjusted his tactics at HT and from there we gotten even better. It's so hard these days to dominate Real at the Bernabeu, especially with the players they have. Kudos to Valverde big time as he outplayed Zidane when it counted.
 

Sultan

Nosce te ipsum
One of my main concerns in the 1st half was actually the sun. It was clear that it was effecting our buildup from the back. My two hopes were that we go into the break without conceding and that the sun remains so it can effect them also.
 

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