Valverde won against Sociedad away, rainny day as well.
Setien would lose, 100%.
Ronald Koeman
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Valverde won against Sociedad away, rainny day as well.
Setien would lose, 100%.
Respekt_III
Anti-everything
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FinBarcelonafan
Well-known member
Maybe Valverde would have won but this is probably the best away performance in the past few years.
LeeRomeno
Active member
Rofl, people still talk about Valverde. If roles were changed and we hired Koeman instead of Valverde at the time, when it happened and hired Valverde now, we would most probably praise Valverde as well.
Valverde was tasked by the board to keep the rest of the amigos as happy and content as possible after Neymar loss, as they were at the time super important for our image as well as income, we could not afford another superstar leaving. Valverde soon discovered that the style with least amount of energy put on field works best with aging squad. What failed him was the weak mental strength of key players in those crucial CL ties.
Koeman was brought in to clean up the old squad and rebuild and was given far more freedom from board to remove players he didnt need and add players he wanted. He still has played only 2 games, so no point in jumping into conclusions, but obviously having players in their prime, coupled with some supertalented youngsters and then some experience always works better than playing with 30+ average squad that has won everything and seen everything.
Not gonna talk about Setien, as it is still unclear for me why he was even brought in the first place in the middle of season without given any tools to do what he was suppose to. At some point both squad and himself just gave up and 8-2 was result of that.
Valverde was tasked by the board to keep the rest of the amigos as happy and content as possible after Neymar loss, as they were at the time super important for our image as well as income, we could not afford another superstar leaving. Valverde soon discovered that the style with least amount of energy put on field works best with aging squad. What failed him was the weak mental strength of key players in those crucial CL ties.
Koeman was brought in to clean up the old squad and rebuild and was given far more freedom from board to remove players he didnt need and add players he wanted. He still has played only 2 games, so no point in jumping into conclusions, but obviously having players in their prime, coupled with some supertalented youngsters and then some experience always works better than playing with 30+ average squad that has won everything and seen everything.
Not gonna talk about Setien, as it is still unclear for me why he was even brought in the first place in the middle of season without given any tools to do what he was suppose to. At some point both squad and himself just gave up and 8-2 was result of that.
Gaudi
Senior Member
It's to early to get hyped, even though I didn't see any positive signs before, with QS for example as we do now.
Incredible that I guy came and basically did what everyone on forum here saw, we needed more dynamic, mobility, stamina. We don't even need to match best in that department like Bayern or L'pool but we can run like we have 2 players less. Wee need to stay close and then we have more than enough magic in Messi, Cou, Fati, FDJ and bench.
Yesterday I remebered one action that really made me happy. It was like 77 minute or something, we are player short, we are going in counter attacck and Roberto is sending a cross with 4 bodies in the box. Nothing happened in that action but FINALLY, we attacked the box, couse problems. Quick and easy.
Incredible that I guy came and basically did what everyone on forum here saw, we needed more dynamic, mobility, stamina. We don't even need to match best in that department like Bayern or L'pool but we can run like we have 2 players less. Wee need to stay close and then we have more than enough magic in Messi, Cou, Fati, FDJ and bench.
Yesterday I remebered one action that really made me happy. It was like 77 minute or something, we are player short, we are going in counter attacck and Roberto is sending a cross with 4 bodies in the box. Nothing happened in that action but FINALLY, we attacked the box, couse problems. Quick and easy.
serghei
Senior Member
Not so easy if you don't have enough fitness preparation. That relentless upwards and downwards move, attacking the box with numbers in 10 men, and then going defensive with everyone behind the ball and closing down the spaces between the lines takes a lot of effort. Especially in those conditions.
For me, this proves the main problem was fitness related, not quality related. We are starting to work more, so we put ourselves in the position to make the difference with our superior skill and talent in all positions. Let's hope this will last, and it's not just the early enthusiasm of a new coach. Let's also see our reaction when we will hit a bad patch.
On the plus side, Messi is still playing at 50% of what he can play, missing a lot of passes he doesn't usually miss, and Griezmann is in really bad form. So we are 7-0 after two games with that in mind, and playing 25% of the time in 10 men. That's really great. There's plenty of room for improvement still.
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FinBarcelonafan
Well-known member
I think one goood thing is we have depth. That's why I would rather keep Dembele than loan him. Finally we have competition for the playing roster. That helps too. We will need depth through the season.
behindbrowneyes
Well-known member
Those first 2 games are an ideal starting point for the hard work Koeman is trying to introduce. This way he can also make the last doubters in the squad believers. As a positive side effect, media has nothing negative to write about and the team can work hard in silence and let success make the noise.
I'm sure there is a lot going on behind the scenes with this pending vote of no confidence and hundreds of other issues within the club. Good to see that players do their job and seem to be unfaced.
The bottom line is that there are still quite a few things that can be criticized and have to be improved, but after today's game and in this early phase of the season I will leave that behind and praise the strong collective that bravely resisted for 50 minutes plus stoppage time and even scored more goals after the red card. From Neto at the back to Leo at the front, it was a strong unit in which you could see that everyone worked for everyone.
Due to some sales there is a whole new dynamic in this team and hierarchy changed within the team. This was much needed. Some players were kicked out of their comfort zones and I'm sure they'll realize very soon that this was the right thing to do.
I'm sure there is a lot going on behind the scenes with this pending vote of no confidence and hundreds of other issues within the club. Good to see that players do their job and seem to be unfaced.
The bottom line is that there are still quite a few things that can be criticized and have to be improved, but after today's game and in this early phase of the season I will leave that behind and praise the strong collective that bravely resisted for 50 minutes plus stoppage time and even scored more goals after the red card. From Neto at the back to Leo at the front, it was a strong unit in which you could see that everyone worked for everyone.
Due to some sales there is a whole new dynamic in this team and hierarchy changed within the team. This was much needed. Some players were kicked out of their comfort zones and I'm sure they'll realize very soon that this was the right thing to do.
Pjanic is available. I think Koeman want to rest him this match for Sevilla
FinBarcelonafan
Well-known member
Good point and also needed from all our vets.
Maybe its cause he isn't using all his energy to carry the team now
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