Maybe he has in his mind something like the 2011 trio from Pep's days. That trio looked extremely different than the 2009 trio. Villa and Pedro weren't wingers, they played more inside and cleared the wings so that fullbacks can make runs in space, behind the defence (check Alves' goal vs Shakhtar on Camp Nou). They were more like forwards, often activating very close to the box like in a 2 striker system. This resulted in a more central game from us, as opposed to the style from 2008-09 when we built more on the wings and looked quite similar to Lucho's 14-15 Barca (with Eto'o as Suarez, and Henry as Neymar).
Valverde could have in mind something like this, which can work great imo if used properly.
It's a 4-3-1-2, with Messi in a role similar to the false 9 role under Pep. Playing between the attacking line, and the midfield line, looking for openings. Neymar and Suarez playing as wide forwards, not wingers. The empty space resulted on the wings, as the opponent closes down our wide forwards, is claimed by our fullbacks, who either stand in space (often in the same line with our forwards), or make runs into it from midfield positions.
