How many times we got more than 1-0 wins against an 11 man team in a knock out? How many times we didn't play our game in away games?
That goes up to Chelsea game in 2005, Old Trafford game in 2008, Pep against Chelsea & Inter while failing to win an away knockout game at home. Tito getting humiliated against Milan & Bayern (though he got us humiliated again at home against Bayern) and LE getting beaten up by AM away, having exactly same results EV had with 0-3 & 0-4 defeats.
Even if it is just "missing chances" those are chances we score at home.
Those chances you use as excuse, are the part of the problem, why is the fuck this team isn't half clinical at home as it is away? Why we are inept and slower in away game? for so long.
Those chances missed are huge part of discussion. It isn't "players failing coach" it is a team continuous problem.
As bad as we were against Liverpool, we could have put the game to end in 1st half, we were actually the better team and created many chances and we wasted them. And I would never use those as excuse for the coach btw. But It is the club to find what is happening to our players away from home. Hire a psychologist or something.
And again, that isn't a comparison to the team that was with Pep, or the team that was with EV, nor with the coaches. It is the consistent problem of failing to play our game (including finishing) away from home.
If it hasn't changed during the era of last 5 coaches (3 if you exclude you beloved Pep) then something deeper need to be fixed in the team. That doesn't take the blame away from EV in general btw. As I know you are allergic to such claim
There are multiple parts of the problem.
We now have:
1) Questionable mentality away from home where pressure is higher. Pretty self-explanatory.
This part is on the players mostly, but also down to the manager obviously, since a leader and a fighter usually transmits the vibe to the players. Not the case with Valverde who is as bland and uninspiring as it gets.
2) Terrible tactics, repeating the same mistakes. Defensive formations trying to hold leads instead of applying the hammer blow. Keeping your best most consistent passer and possession player on the bench, and playing an old midfield with an average age of over 30. Parking the bus often when pressured.
This part is almost solely on Valverde, because he is a defensive manager, in charge of a team that is not built to defend like Atletico Madrid. Some mitigating circumstances since some players are harder to fit in a cohesive tactical plan (Messi mainly), but by no means this absolves the manager from having the main responsibility here.
3) Laziness, lack of motivation, and lack of intensity.
This part is on some players, but again also on the manager who never takes any measures as to improve us in this aspect, and let the players know that complacency can't happen at a certain level.
You had Lucho who benched Pique after a period of really bad games where he was out of focus. Did the same thing to Rakitic. Did the same to Jordi Alba when he was unhappy with his performances and decided to try something else. So you have a manager who made squad management decision which ended up in benching some senior players for reasons other than precaution/resting/rotation.
So we have examples of a manager actually taking decisions against the core veteran of this team in the past. Luis Enrique did that. He was not afraid to impose his will. But not this manager. Not Valverde. Because he doesn't have enough authority and courage.
