Ernesto Valverde - V1

[serghei]

This team being the worst is such a myth.

Stegen - top 3 GKs in the world
Semedo - one of the best young RBs in the world
Alba - top 2 LBs in the world with Marcelo as the best
Pique - top 5 CBs in the world
Umtiti - top 5 CBs in the world
Busquets - best DM in the world
Rakitic - top 10 CM in the world
Suarez - top 3 ST in the world
Messi - best player in the world
Coutinho - top 5 AM in the world.
Dembele - top 3 young winger-forwards in the world (with Sane and Mbappe as best 2).



Nobody bar Real has a better collection of players than what's written above. People act as if Valverde is a genius for being close to a La Liga and challenging for CL. I personally said at the start of the season that my expectations this season are title win in La Liga and going deep in CL and we're on course of reaching that. Everyone had a meltdown after we lost Neymar and we lost the supercup. We lost the supercup 4-0 vs Bilbao in the season we made the double. So far Valverde is meeting my expectations, but is not blowing them out of the water, except if he pulls off something great in CL. This team is bloody great and I expect La Liga and Copa when Madrid are not strong enough to compete for that, as we're the only huge club except for them in Spain.

Thing is Barca fans are the most likely to have a meltdown and go full doom and gloom and start to underrate their players big time. Almost all positions are filled with world class players (or close) except for CM and RB, and even at CM Rakitic is not far being a very good player on his own right. But Valverde's preparation for CL is a letdown so far for me, I don't think we can win it if we continue like this. Team is not showing to be fresh enough to win against the big sides. This could change if Valverde stops this nonsense and starts to treat that competition as the priority, as the Liga is almost done and Champions League really is the big dream this season considering our past showings. So it is frustrating to be close to a treble but to see key players being overplayed in La Liga just before CL big CL ties.

A treble for Barca would be a huge blow for Madrid. This is the dream this season. Not the invincibles or some shit like that. Valverde has no idea what he is doing. He'll get embarassed in CL against a top team, and even Roma is not an easy tie considering our shape atm.

 

[JamDav1982]

This squad being the worst is such a myth.

Stegen - top 3 GKs in the world
Semedo - one of the best young RBs in the world
Alba - top 2 LBs in the world with Marcelo as the best
Pique - top 5 CBs in the world
Umtiti - top 5 CBs in the world
Busquets - best DM in the world
Rakitic - top 10 CM in the world
Suarez - top 3 ST in the world
Messi - best player in the world
Coutinho - top 5 AM in the world.



Nobody bar Real has a better collection of players than what's written above.

In comparison to other Barca squads it is the worst in ten years but not as bad as folk made out at start of season.

Dont agree that only Real have better.

Semedo is not young or one of best RBs in world.

Nor is Raki anywhere near one of top ten CMs in world.

 

[Ghostmaster]

This team being the worst is such a myth.

Stegen - top 3 GKs in the world
Semedo - one of the best young RBs in the world
Alba - top 2 LBs in the world with Marcelo as the best
Pique - top 5 CBs in the world
Umtiti - top 5 CBs in the world
Busquets - best DM in the world
Rakitic - top 10 CM in the world
Suarez - top 3 ST in the world
Messi - best player in the world
Coutinho - top 5 AM in the world.
Dembele - top 3 young winger-forwards in the world (with Sane and Mbappe as best 2).



Nobody bar Real has a better collection of players than what's written above. People act as if Valverde is a genius for being close to a La Liga and challenging for CL. I personally said at the start of the season that my expectations this season are title win in La Liga and going deep in CL and we're on course of reaching that. Everyone had a meltdown after we lost Neymar and we lost the supercup. We lost the supercup 4-0 vs Bilbao in the season we made the double. So far Valverde is meeting my expectations, but is not blowing them out of the water, except if he pulls off something great in CL. This team is bloody great and I expect La Liga and Copa when Madrid are not strong enough to compete for that, as we're the only huge club except for them in Spain.

Thing is Barca fans are the most likely to have a meltdown and go full doom and gloom and start to underrate their players big time. Almost all positions are filled with world class players (or close) except for CM and RB, and even at CM Rakitic is not far being a very good player on his own right. Valverde's preparation for CL is a letdown so far for me. Team is not showing to be fresh enough to win against the big sides. This could change if Valverde stops this nonsense and starts to treat that competition as the priority as the Liga is almost done.

Neither Coutinho or Dembele were contributing when we were building that lead in La Liga, it was Deulofeu, Paulinho, Gomes who were playing out wide. Also Suarez and Rakitic weren't in any top 20 in the first half of the season.

 

[JamDav1982]

Neither Coutinho or Dembele were contributing when we were building that lead in La Liga, it was Deulofeu, Paulinho, Gomes who were playing out wide. Also Suarez and Rakitic weren't in any top 20 in the first half of the season.

Yeah Suarez all round game he is not in top three strikers in the world now.

Still getting some goals but his link up play, hold up play and work rate have all dropped. Not the constant presence he was in biggest games either the past couple seasons.

Sane and Mbappe are miles ahead of what Dembele is showing just now.

 

[serghei]

Neither Coutinho or Dembele were contributing when we were building that lead in La Liga, it was Deulofeu, Paulinho, Gomes who were playing out wide. Also Suarez and Rakitic weren't in any top 20 in the first half of the season.

Barca even without Coutinho and Dembele is the 2nd best team and 2nd best squad in La Liga by a mile and one of the best 4 teams in CL easily. Easily. When Madrid are shit in La Liga and we don't draw a better team in CL the expectations should be domestic double and CL semis.

 

[JamDav1982]

Barca even without Coutinho and Dembele is the 2nd best team and 2nd best squad in La Liga by a mile and one of the best 4 teams in CL easily. Easily. When Madrid are shit in La Liga and we don't draw a better team in CL the expectations should be domestic double and CL semis.

Barca contributed to 'Real being shit'.

You keep up this lame argument time and again as if domestic double is nothing more than expected time and again.

Now have Raki as a 'top ten CM in world' when wanted him binned a few months ago.

Barcelonas options out wide and CM are nowhere near the other top sides at moment. Coutinho will make a difference but is still settling and cant play CL.

 

[serghei]

Barca contributed to 'Real being shit'.

You keep up this lame argument time and again as if domestic double is nothing more than expected time and again.

Barca contributed to Real being poor. What a crock of shit.

Madrid lost points vs small teams because they got complacent after last season. Madrid's La Liga record is poor in the last decade because they aren't consistent enough. When they won the CL in 2014, they finished behind Tata's Barcelona.

They have problems in how they approach La Liga campaigns. They don't show the same fighting spirit as they do in CL, because it's easier to get motivated for big CL nights than for every week games in La Liga that are anything but flashy.

 

[JamDav1982]

Barca contributed to Real being poor. What a crock of shit.

Madrid lost points vs small teams because they got complacent after last season. Madrid's La Liga record is poor in the last decade because they aren't consistent enough. When they won the CL in 2014, they finished behind Tata's Barcelona.

Nope not a crock of shit. Barca beat them away when a win takes them right back in it and Barca winning week in week out increased pressure on them.

Your talking a crock of shit in desperate attempt to find any angle to down play Barcas season.

Quick to make excuses for the great Real though eh?

 

[Neymessi]

Barca contributed to 'Real being shit'.

You keep up this lame argument time and again as if domestic double is nothing more than expected time and again.

Now have Raki as a 'top ten CM in world' when wanted him binned a few months ago.

Barcelonas options out wide and CM are nowhere near the other top sides at moment. Coutinho will make a difference but is still settling and cant play CL.

Sorry thats utter bollocks. Now we are crediting EV for madrid shitting the bed in la liga. Sure being unbeaten is good but winning la liga with worst RM of ages and an atletico that is so crap its playing europa it really isn't a big deal winning the league. We have played dire in a LOT of games but got lucky and managed to not lose case in point chelsea which many here have convinced themselves that it was Ev's plan all along and that atletico match also comes to mind off the top of my head.

He was horrible from lineups to tactics yesterday but again you find some way to defend him.

 

[JamDav1982]

Sorry thats utter bollocks. Now we are crediting EV for madrid shitting the bed in la liga. Sure being unbeaten is good but winning la liga with worst RM of ages and an atletico that is so crap its playing europa it really isn't a big deal winning the league. We have played dire in a LOT of games but got lucky and managed to not lose case in point chelsea which many here have convinced themselves that it was Ev's plan all along and that atletico match also comes to mind off the top of my head.

He was horrible from lineups to tactics yesterday but again you find some way to defend him.

No you are talking utter bollock..... Barca contributed to Real being poor in La Liga. That is a fact and beat them away and virtually ended any chance they had in league.

Barca were not lucky to beat Chelsea so awful 'case in point'.

 

[Cruyff-Total Football]

In comparison to other Barca squads it is the worst in ten years but not as bad as folk made out at start of season.

Dont agree that only Real have better.

Semedo is not young or one of best RBs in world.

Nor is Raki anywhere near one of top ten CMs in world.

Real Madrid has the best squad in the world. No team in the last six years had a squad so good as Real Madrid.

Rakitic plays the role of a CDM more than CM. And he's certainly one of the best in the role. Defensively he is better than Modric but offensively far worse than him.

 

[Neymessi]

No you are talking utter bollock..... Barca contributed to Real being poor in La Liga. That is a fact and beat them away and virtually ended any chance they had in league.

Barca were not lucky to beat Chelsea so awful 'case in point'.

RM were shitting the bed in the league well before barca faced them. And even if we defeated them there was longgggg way to go and they could have kept their shit together. ITs not like they had no chance in the league at all. Sure we kept winning after defeating them but a few casual draws here and there and they would have been back into the game. In fact they were shitting the bed in league the most before we faced them iirc. Can't believe I am having this debate that we are the reason RM are so bad in league.

And this is what I am talking about. We were most definitely lucky against chelsea but you have convinced yourself otherwise to fit the narrative that its just EV's style where we defend more and shit. But its just false. We were incredibly lucky to win the tie as a whole and we were lucky in both matches seperately.

Edit: I am going to assume that that statement you made about us being the reason RM performing so crap was more of an impulsive reaction from you and I am going to give you a pass for that.

 

[serghei]

Nope not a crock of shit. Barca beat them away when a win takes them right back in it and Barca winning week in week out increased pressure on them.

Your talking a crock of shit in desperate attempt to find any angle to down play Barcas season.

Seriously? So me saying I expect Barca to win the double when Madrid have a shit season in La Liga, is according to you 'playing down Barca's season'? It is a reality dude, based on the expectations from both teams. A big reason for why we almost won the league in march is because Madrid was missing.

Frankly, for me, considering my expectations for this season:

- We're on track to win the title which I expected it could happen for sure (Madrid's consistency in La Liga is highly questionable, and we've been one game close to win 5 in a row since Tito)
- We have more points than I expected
- We are playing less attractive football than I expected
- We're on course to make the CL semis, which is what I expected if we got a good draw in QF (which it finally happened).

So for me, we're going in the way I expected. Not to brag about anything, but I never believed Madrid could pull off those lucky wins they had last season for long. And turns out they didn't. Also lost 3 key squad players like Pepe, James and Morata. And because we were, at our worst under Lucho, one game away from being La Liga champions vs the best Madrid I've seen, chances of us winning the title this season were far bigger at the start of the season than the doom & gloom brigade was preaching.

 

[JamDav1982]

RM were shitting the bed in the league well before barca faced them. And even if we defeated them there was longgggg way to go and they could have kept their shit together. ITs not like they had no chance in the league at all. Sure we kept winning after defeating them but a few casual draws here and there and they would have been back into the game. In fact they were shitting the bed in league the most before we faced them iirc. Can't believe I am having this debate that we are the reason RM are so bad in league.

And this is what I am talking about. We were most definitely lucky against chelsea but you have convinced yourself otherwise to fit the narrative that its just EV's style where we defend more and shit. But its just false. We were incredibly lucky to win the tie as a whole and we were lucky in both matches seperately.

Barca contributed to Reals poor season and beat them when a win for Real takes them right back in it.

They were not 'shitting the bed' whatever the fuck you are even implying with that cliche.

Barca winning every week keeps pressure on them.

No Barca were not 'lucky' against Chelsea.

Seriously? So me saying I expect Barca to win the double when Madrid have a shit season in La Liga, is according to you 'playing down Barca's season'? It is a reality dude, based on the expectations from both teams. A big reason for why we almost won the league in march is because Madrid was missing.

Frankly, for me, considering my expectations for this season:

- We're on track to win the title which I expected it could happen for sure (Madrid's consistency in La Liga is highly questionable, and we've been one game close to win 5 in a row since Tito)
- We have more points than I expected
- We are playing less attractive football than I expected
- We're on course to make the CL semis, which is what I expected if we got a good draw in QF (which it finally happened).

So for me, we're going in the way I expected. Not to brag about anything, but I never believed Madrid could pull off those lucky wins they had last season for long. And turns out they didn't. Also lost 3 key squad players like Pepe, James and Morata. And because we were, at our worst under Lucho, one game away from being La Liga champions vs the best Madrid I've seen, chances of us winning the title this season were far bigger at the start of the season than the doom & gloom brigade was preaching.

Haha when 'going way you expected'. Ok.

You actually expect Barca to struggle v Roma you said yesterday.

Real as CL and league winners show how hard it is to win week in week out in the league. That is credit to EV that Barca have managed to do that when Real have not.

 

[Neymessi]

Barca contributed to Reals poor season and beat them when a win for Real takes them right back in it.

They were not 'shitting the bed' whatever the fuck you are even implying with that cliche.

Barca winning every week keeps pressure on them.

No Barca were not 'lucky' against Chelsea.

Take barca out of the equation and compare reals league performance to the one in the past and they are worst than they have been in the league for quite some time.

Yes barca were lucky as fuck. First leg we did not create a single chance. And we never looked like coming close to scoring even while they hit 2 posts and scored and then it took a defensive mistake from them for us to draw.

Second leg all 3 goals were credit to courtois horrible goalkeeping. Sure messi was godly in that match but luck was more important than messi in the second leg they had so many great chances being created left right and centre but thankfully none converted. Hit a shitload of posts in the second leg too. Easily the better side in that match too. Ok maybe not easily but still the better side. Oh fuck off who am i kidding they were easily the better side fucking hell.