Ernesto Valverde - V1

FCB1987

Banned
Lucho was a bit of a fraud
-started Gomes over Rakitic vs PSG
-Mathieu over Alba vs Juventus
-all signings after his first window were shit
-was hopeless unless he had 3 of the top 4 players in the world all performing
 

FCBfan22

Senior Member
On the topic of Lucho, he wasn't a great tactician, but he was a great man-manager and motivator.

I haven't seen any of those 3 in Valverde yet. Especially the last two are important if you want to win CL.
 

soul24rage

Senior Member
Lucho did have weaknesses and made some very weird decisions but what I liked about him and Pep is that they both had passion and are fiery characters. Calm managers like EV can be great but I don't think they are a great match with the current Barca who the majority of the players are calm and collected except for the likes of Suarez and Alba. Hopefully for our next manager, we can appoint someone who has intensity and has great decision making skills.
 

jairzinho

Senior Member
I don't see any thing wrong with people critiquing EV or calling him out when he needs to be called out, as long as it's within reason. That's how it goes. Not just online but in general.

On the topic of Lucho, he wasn't a great tactician, but he was a great man-manager and motivator.

I haven't seen any of those 3 in Valverde yet. Especially the last two are important if you want to win CL.

Lucho's personality was different. Among other things, he had balls and guile. EV is more safety first cautious and ultra pragmatic. He's not going to rock the boat. Insipid would be the best word. Also, he doesn't have the ingenuity of other managers and it shows in his approach to the game. His philosophy and approach seems more in line with guys like Mourinho and Simeone. The problem is applying that philosophy with players who may not be inclined to play that way naturally.
 

xXKonan

Senior Member
Lucho had a number of flaws. He wasn't the greatest on a tactical aspect and can be a bit of a dick at times and his habit of rotating at the wrong time and weird obsession of playing Mathieu at LB. But if there's a couple of things I liked was he had the mentality of a Champion and a guy who demanded respect.

Valverde I see a good coach but a guy who's play it safe attitude is hurting him big time and he lacks the IDGAF mentality of Lucho as well. With Lucho he at least attempted to make changes to the Starting Gala at times. The biggest ones being Rakitic for Xavi, Umtiti for Mascherano. And he trusted Bob to be our starting RB even if we had to switch to a 3-4-3 later on in the season.

I think he also wanted to make Gomes a full blown starter considering the amount of trust he had in him even if he wasn't good enough. That's one of the things I really want Valverde to do is actually rebuild the XI and take the best of the old and add in the best of the new.

I mean it can be done but it's up to Valverde to actually go through with it and instead of just adding Dembele and Coutinho and calling it a day.
 

Barcilliant

Senior Member
It's hilarious how we spend over 300 million on two great offensive talents in ONE season and Valverde can only adopt a safety first approach. No other Barca manager has had so many good signings in such a short period.

He lacks the personality for this big job. Pep and Lucho have their flaws but they have character. This clown lacks character.
 

Total-Football

Senior Member
if i had to choose between Enrique and Varverde i would decline both.. if they insist i would go with varverde.. Enrique is one of the worst managers around.. he doesnt have `flaws`, he himself is a flaw in any system.
 

RMU ReBorn

New member
When did you start watching football? Serious question
2002 -Japan &Korea world cup . Started following Barca during 2005-06 Cl . Ronaldinho was the major attraction . Didn't knew anything about Figo saga , La Masia , Messi during that time . It was after Messi's goal vs Getafe that he caught my attention though he was a major sensation and highly popular during 2006 world cup due to massive Argentina fan base in my country ( i wasn't one of them though) . People were abusing Pekerman back then for not subbing in Messi against Germany . La liga didn't had telecast in India till late 2000 . So only way to follow Barca was to watch CL ties and highlights of La liga . Became a regular watcher since 2010
 
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RMU ReBorn

New member
When did you start watching football? Serious question
2002 -Japan &Korea world cup . Started following Barca during 2005-06 Cl . Ronaldinho was the major attraction . Didn't knew anything about Figo saga , La Masia , Messi during that time . It was after Messi's goal vs Getafe that he caught my attention though he was a major sensation and highly popular during 2006 world cup due to massive Argentina fan base in my country ( i wasn't one of them though) . People were abusing Pekerman back then for not subbing in Messi against Germany . La liga didn't had telecast in India till late 2000 . So only way to follow Barca was to watch CL ties and highlights of La liga . Became a regular watcher since 2010
 

Barcilliant

Senior Member
Valverde is essentially torn between his natural default which is more defensive football and the clubs tradition of attacking football. The result is some shitty hybrid that is slow as fuck and tedious to watch.

People place too much emphasis on tactics. Look at Zidane. Tactically he was limited. However he stuck to the basics, motivated the players and gave them the freedom to express themselves. He also ensured there was a good balance in attack and defense. The physical condition of the Rm players was also top notch.
Now look at our team. A fat and slow Suarez as our striker. Slow and weak Busquets, slowing Pique and a less then mobile Messi. Why can't Valverde try something different? Like dropping Suarez, playing an attacking trio of Coutinho, Messi and Dembele with maybe Malcom upfront?

Suarez is not even taken seriously by the opposition nowadays. They know he will either be offside or miss.

If Valverde wants to play a counter attacking style he should buy the players for it or adapt the current squad to his requirements. He seems to lack the character to make big decisions and in the cl that is fatal.
 

Aryagorn

Improvin' Perfection!!
Lucho is a bit under-rated here - He is far from a fraud.

His substitutions usually helped the team perform better - Not to mention the tactical tweaks he sometimes came up with, Roberto playing RM in Bernabeu for example. Even Rakitic covering the space left behind by Leo. It's not like we were exposed quite a bit by that!

Even when we lost to Juventus, it's not like we didn't create chances or anything like that - It's the stupid wastefulness of the forwards in Turin that cost us the tie!

And he definitely did not let the team lose their motivation.

The losing out on the league in his final season was a direct result of the stupidity of Arda Turan too!
 
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