Ernesto Valverde - V1

vlad

New member
Still not convinced by Valverde. From top to bottom, on and off the field we are a mess. There is no real plan and now we have another manager who keeps tinkering.

A big part of the problem is that alot of these managers are trying to recreate Pep's Barca but we don't have the players for it. So we keep ending up with this weird hybrid of slow possession and counter attack with a clueless midfield.

I wish Valverde had a solid blueprint and style. At the moment we look mediocre and when we face a decent team we will be exposed yet again.

Its still early, season just started, he does not have many choices when it comes to picking players, rakitic? Gomes? Paulinho? Arda? Old iniesta? All those are midfielders, you cant really play strong posession football with them against strong teams, in CL these days successfor barca is playinh in semis, it will be worse when messi willbe older
 

Gnidrologist

Senior Member
Expected negativity knowing how fickle and emotional most this forum is, but what i see is that even with arguably mediocre midfield and creativity of our current squad, Valverde is actually doing very good job of masking it, by implementing sound systemic gameplay that we haven't seen for years. High pressing, tight passing lanes, everyone knows where and how to move off the ball. That is certainly a progress, when comparing to Lucho's non-system, where everything hinged on getting the ball to MSN and see what happens. The way we are playing right now is much more composed. Lack of creativity isn't V's fault at all. He has laid down pretty good framework, where creativity can take place, but it takes some individual effort from players to benefit from this system. Currently the most basic problem is lack of a archetypal central mid, who *knows* when/where to pass the ball, with courage and intelligence to both risk or hesitate according to context. No one in our squad has even an inch of that sort of profile. Roberto, despite all his strengths that are undeniable, is not THAT sort of player. Neither is Rakitic or aging Iniesta. We've been basically using Busquets in two roles for some time, both his own and Xavi substitute. That is our biggest weakness, which is why with all due positives of Demebele joining, we'll not be that much better overall before the issue of good playmaker is resolved.
 

Ghostmaster

Danger Ahead
I liked the way we played the last two games. We have Paco, Vidal, Deulofeu, ageing Iniesta, declining Rakitic starting games and we still manage to win and keep a clean sheets.
 

GoodKid

New member
Still not convinced by Valverde. From top to bottom, on and off the field we are a mess. There is no real plan and now we have another manager who keeps tinkering.

A big part of the problem is that alot of these managers are trying to recreate Pep's Barca but we don't have the players for it. So we keep ending up with this weird hybrid of slow possession and counter attack with a clueless midfield.

I wish Valverde had a solid blueprint and style. At the moment we look mediocre and when we face a decent team we will be exposed yet again.

No real plan? Did you even watch our games? IMO he's getting the best out of our squad atm. Our pressing is improved, our gegenpressing is improved, our compactness is improved, our structure in build up play is improved etc. Already tried various different formations both with and without possession. I can analyze these things more deeply if you are interested.

I think Valverde is doing a great job so far and these first two games have made me much more optimistic for this season. We still have a lack of quality midfielders and our squad is very badly put together by our shitty board but with the arrival of Semedo, Dembele and Valverde, i think it is safe to say that we are better than last season. Just imagine how we would have played last season without Neymar and Suarez. Also, I really like this new system with Messi as a false 9.
 

JamDav1982

Senior Member
Barca have played well in the first two games and can clearly see Valverdes plan of how he wants to play.

Totally dominated the game yesterday and could have won by more and did it with posession and pressing.

Only Betis and Alaves maybe but there has been a lot of pressure on Barca to start season well with what is an understrength side and have won and dominated both.
 

Barcaman

Administrator
Staff member
Valverde on Alaves match:

"It was very difficult for us and we needed a lot of patience. They were very tightly-packed, they closed all the channels and it was difficult to reach their area."

"It may have looked like we were close to scoring, but it was hard for us. It was a matter of maturing and continuing to push. With the goal, it became a bit easier."

"It was a difficult test for us, their fans put up a lot of atmosphere. We overcame the moments of difficulty and we have six points. We also did it last week. Overall, we're happy. The possession that counts is the one that leads to chances."
 

xXKonan

Senior Member
Like I said in the match thread you can clearly see what Valverde is trying to do.

-Hold onto possession better.

-Stay more compact

-Organized pressing

It's all a work in progress. He's trying to rebuilt proper structure to this team on the field. Under Lucho, especially last season we were a mess on the field structurally, with the Midfielders being so far out wide, and we couldn't build out the back for shit and we relied so much on MSN, especially messi to bail us out.

It's going to take time obviously considering the team has been playing under such a chaotic system for so long.
 

Devils

Senior Member
I actually thought we played well in the league games so far but just lack quality in our squad.

That should change once we get Saurez, OD and a good midfielder added.
 

JamDav1982

Senior Member
The problem will be against better sides that can hit Barca on the break.

Against the Real the midfield was pathetically slow and poor defensively.

All they did was drive through the middle of the park and sucked in the slow and non physical Barca mid and then ping ball out wide behind full backs far up the park.

Paulinho most likely be shite but need more pace and physicality to play likes of Real I think.

Peps teams got round it by keeping ball in a way wont see again and teams had adapted a bit anyway.
 

i_bleed_blaugrana

Senior Member
Curious if people think a return to the false 9 is a good idea.

I know people will expect Dembele in Neymar's position but I have a feeling he will be on the right while Luis (when he comes back) will drift to the left more now. Just naturally due to how these players play and what foot they use, I think the front line will look like this more often that not: Suarez-Messi-Dembele

Will this work long term though? Largely due to Suarez's lack of pace, I am a bit skeptical. False 9 systems need pacey wingers to stretch back lines, get in behind and open up space for Messi/false 9 to operate inside of. Again, unconvinced if Luis will succeed in this system. Assuming we get Coutinho, I still don't think he's ideal in that role. Stylelistically speaking, Deulofeu is really the best player we will have for that position but his end product isn't at the level required yet. So I could see some problems with this down the road from now.

Overall though, I've really liked what EV has done to this squad. Much more in place with our sporting ideals: high pressing, triangulation, better movement off the ball to open up passing options. It's certainly stronger and more sustainable than Lucho's system. What is missing is the quickness of the passing (key aspect of Pep's success, we ticked the ball extremely quickly back then) and penetrative passes to the forward line from deep in MF. Xavi was the key to the latter and for these reasons, I think it's imperative we work Aleña into the first team more. Him and Coutinho would keep the ball circulating quickly.

So overall EV definitely has us on the right track; we just don't have the personnel atm in MF and that's not his fault. We have been missing this in the squad since Xavi left. Coutinho for Iniesta will be solid but we still need a deep-lying playmaker in MF; Raki just doesn't have the touch or vision to be that player for us, Bob is in the same boat despite his other qualities. So even with Coutinho, I think we will still be a MF player away from the squad being complete. We still need a Thiago/Verratti which again, is on the board. They let Thiago leave and they should have demanded Verratti be involved in the Neymar transfer.
 

serghei

Senior Member
Overall, I kind of get what he is trying to play, much more than under Lucho. Some of the problems under Lucho last season have been improved, but some have not. We still have a slow buildup, and we still seem to be using possession a lot more negatively than in our best years.

We need to play more aggresively, to pass the ball faster, and to move more without the ball, at least the players that are close enough to be able to receive the ball. We aren't doing any of those things. I hope it's a matter of time before we start to see them, because otherwise things could get tricky.
 

DonAK

President of FC Barcelona
I think we'll be better if he plays Semedo, has Suarez back and Dembele ready, AND get better midfielders, more creative midfielders.

The club really failed him this transfer window with regards to the latter. You can tell he's not satisfied with what he got when he says the team need more firepower offensively. He's not talking about more strikers or wingers, but more creativity, players creating chances, making good plays.
 

serghei

Senior Member
We are dumb to make this a Coutinho or no one affair. Plenty of other playmakers like Coutinho we could sign. The problem with Suarez is that he is very hit and miss in combinations. For a player of his class, he makes a lot of bad passes and has many bad touches. He is under all of Lewandowski, Benzema and Griezmann as far as combinative play is concerned.
 
We are dumb to make this a Coutinho or no one affair. Plenty of other playmakers like Coutinho we could sign. The problem with Suarez is that he is very hit and miss in combinations. For a player of his class, he makes a lot of bad passes and has many bad touches. He is under all of Lewandowski, Benzema and Griezmann as far as combinative play is concerned.

But in my opinion, the only attacking midfielder in the world who is better than Coutinho is David Silva. I might have missed anyone. But of all the attacking midfielders that comes to my mind no one is so impressive as Coutinho bar David Silva.
 

Home of Barca Fans

Top