Ernesto Valverde - V1

Mido said:

I am not saying Valverde is the best manager of the decade but it's always easy to find one sole responsible for the situation.

I simply think that Barca doesn't have the means in midfield it once had to play the elite football it played a few years ago. A tactical and stylistical readjustment, while still maintaining the same football principles,seems to be compelling.

Artur has talent and very good intentions when trying to emulate Xavi-Iniesta but in my humble opinion : this might very well work against smaller teams but if he doesn't master this art and way of playing he might get schooled big time in high intensity elite-level games. I really really hope I am wrong but I think he needs several months if not years of practice to start being compared to Xavi and Iniesta. Artur is an excellent sub that could make some impact if brought in the last 30 minutes against big teams.

Vidal is a temporary solution but he didn't prove yet that he is "gala 11" material if there is a gala 11.

To cut a (very) long story short, I would suggest we should, for the remaining games of this season, evolve around and offensive 4-4-2 that could switch to a 4-3-3 and bank on experience :

-----Suarez---------Messi--------
-Coutinho---------------Dembélé
---------Rakitic-----Busquets----
-Alba----------------------Roberto
-------Lenglet---------Piqué------
---------------Ter Stegen---------

I like the Busquets-Dembele-Messi and Suarez-Coutinho-Rakitic triangles

Triangle BDM
Busquets : tactically brilliant, excellent technique, elite passing game
Dembele : speed, intensity, driblling
Messi : simply Messi

Triangle RCS

Rakitic : disciplined, vertically oriented can play simple and well, matches up well with high quality dribblers
Coutniho : excellent dribbling, intensity, has huge potential in my opinion but needs to work on being more disciplined tactically. I do believe that he could become one of the best if not the best central midfielder in the world. But does he wanna play there ?
Suarez : excellent striker, speed , intensity

I personally find these trios match up well.

Artur, Semedo should, at the current moment, be our luxury subs and be slowly but surely be given the opportunity to fight for a starting place, especially Semedo.

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Mido said:

I am not saying Valverde is the best manager of the decade but it's always easy to find one sole responsible for the situation.

I simply think that Barca doesn't have the means in midfield it once had to play the elite football it played a few years ago. A tactical and stylistical readjustment, while still maintaining the same football principles,seems to be compelling.

Artur has talent and very good intentions when trying to emulate Xavi-Iniesta but in my humble opinion : this might very well work against smaller teams but if he doesn't master this art and way of playing he might get schooled big time in high intensity elite-level games. I really really hope I am wrong but I think he needs several months if not years of practice to start being compared to Xavi and Iniesta. Artur is an excellent sub that could make some impact if brought in the last 30 minutes against big teams.

Vidal is a temporary solution but he didn't prove yet that he is "gala 11" material if there is a gala 11.

To cut a (very) long story short, I would suggest we should, for the remaining games of this season, evolve around and offensive 4-4-2 that could switch to a 4-3-3 and bank on experience :

-----Suarez---------Messi--------
-Coutinho---------------Dembélé
---------Rakitic-----Busquets----
-Alba----------------------Roberto
-------Lenglet---------Piqué------
---------------Ter Stegen---------

I like the Busquets-Dembele-Messi and Suarez-Coutinho-Rakitic triangles

Triangle BDM
Busquets : tactically brilliant, excellent technique, elite passing game
Dembele : speed, intensity, driblling
Messi : simply Messi

Triangle RCS

Rakitic : disciplined, vertically oriented can play simple and well, matches up well with high quality dribblers
Coutniho : excellent dribbling, intensity, has huge potential in my opinion but needs to work on being more disciplined tactically. I do believe that he could become one of the best if not the best central midfielder in the world. But does he wanna play there ?
Suarez : excellent striker, speed , intensity

I personally find these trios match up well.

Artur, Semedo should, at the current moment, be our luxury subs and be slowly but surely be given the opportunity to fight for a starting place, especially Semedo.

Click to expand...

FCBfan22 said:

Arthur is by far our best midfielder, and that was shown in the games before his injury. Putting him on the bench would be incredibly stupid as we haven't shown that we can control the midfield without him on the pitch.

Put Busquets on the left and Arthur on the right and bench Rakitić. Then we can talk.

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Mido said:

I don't think we need much of control simply because Xavi and Iniesta are not there anymore. What we need is efficiency according to our means. And if we do not consider Coutinho a central midfielder, and I do believe he can become one of the best there potentially, our meany are quite limited.

For this reason we should bank more on a defensively stable midfield that would allow Barca a more intense and vertical play. Busquets on the left near Coutinho might get too unbalanced , especially when Coutinho seems to need more tactical discipline. It would more look like this in offensive phases :

----------Suarez---------------------
------------------Messi---------Dembele
---Coutinho------------------------------
-----------Rakitic------------------------
-Alba------------------Busquets--Roberto

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George_Costanza said:

Do you even watch Barcelona playing?

Raki over Arthur?! Roberto over Semedo?! No wonder you like Valverde, mediocre minds think alike!

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Xaviniesta said:

the type of lineup where we go down 1-0 in 5 mins at the Allianz

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Mido said:

I do not always understand his choices, but the task he has, considering the players he has in central midfield, is not easy. And the results are there... for the moment...

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Mido said:

I don't think we need much of control simply because Xavi and Iniesta are not there anymore.

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Cule4life said:

They're easy to understand when you get it through your head (shocking that you haven't managed to do that by now) that the seniors are running the show.

Again with "muh results"? Guess you missed the Roma match.

Again with the Rakitic being a powerful workhorse narrative? Guess you missed the numerous times he has given the ball away even without being under pressure.

Again with "duh Bob's experience"? Guess you missed how Semedo played with his inexperience in the clasico and how Bob has been playing with his experience all season.

And anyone who leaves out Arthur from the lineup can't be taken seriously. Even BBZ gave up trying to put him down. You should too.

I'm starting to think there's a pattern to you missing so much. You have the telltale signs of being a Valverdista.

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FCBfan22 said:

Well, then teach our entire team how to defend. Especially Messi and Suarez.

Our midfield needs to be press resistant and able to control the game, since we are defending with 8 players and those will die of fatigue, if we can't control the game. Neither Rakitić nor Busquets are able to control the game.

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Mido said:

Look, I don't think I will be continuing to answer some childish remarks nourished by the nostalgia of a spoiled Barca supporter. I will put it simply : Iniesta has left, do you believe Arthur can lace his shoes ?

Who is more befitting to replace Iniesta exactly where he played with the same tactical instructions ?

The only player that can come close to it, at the moment, is Coutinho when he is on fire.

For this simple reason, I would prefer a slight readjustment banking on the senior experienced players in a 4-4-2 where, to my humble opinion, Rakitic fits better than Arthur. And still then, Arthur has the capabilities to hold his ground against Rakitic in this department.

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Mido said:

I could see how giving Arthur this huge task could get us through the quarter finals, but after this, dont be surprised if we get properly lit up by, seemingly, tactically more disciplined and phyically more intense teams , at the moment, such as City or Liverpool.

Once again, I would not shy away form being proven wrong, at the current moment , a Arthur-Busquets-Rakitic midfield against the big players might get Barca in heated battles.

The challenge , to me, is being able to put Dembele and Coutinho in the same lineup, to have Dembele's intensity and Coutinho's technicity.

The only midfield I can see, personally, roasting other opponents, would be Coutinho-Busquets-Rakitic. but this takes practice, and it needs to mature. I don't know if Coutinho is ready to really give up on playing as a winger.

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