PBP: FC Barcelona v Manchester United | UEFA CL - Quarterfinal - 2nd Leg | 16 April 2019 [R]

^^^ This. You watch EPL? I watch. And let me tell you, one time I see there 10, you read that right, there like TEN Liverpool players in the box in the penalty area.

Their attacking/pressing is scary.

But they can't press with that intensity and work rate for the full 90 minutes (no team can), there time they will just have no choice but to slower down. Barca really need to capitalize that.

May the best team win.

 

Liverpool try and usually do play dreamlike football, like we used to , so any comparisons are irrelevant tbh

 

I see Barca and Valverde as two different things tbf

 

I thought for sure the I can't hear you would quiet the crowd down...

Guess not: https://www.sport-english.com/en/ne...rca-fans-after-man-united-celebration-7417062

Maybe just ignore the crowd, give your all for your team, find a run of good form and give your all (all without forcing it, I know that's really hard). Do that for a few months or a few real big goals (let's start with Liverpool, shall we?) and soon they'll be tolerating you in silence. Then we'll work on love and vocal admiration...

 

if Valverde fails, Barca fails.
if Valverde succeeds, Barca succeeds.

 

it'll take more than one goal against a weak and already defeated opponent to quiet the critics. the only way to silence them is with his football, and that hasn't been good enough.

to be fair to him, after the whistles there was also a large group of fans in the stadium who were singing his name in support (i was one of them), so the fans aren't completely against him at this point. but he really needs to do more.

 

But the detractors have it reversed:
If Barca fails, Valverde fails.
If Barca succeeds, Valverde fails because... because... just because. He fails irregardless.

 

He’s had plenty of time to adapt his ideas but he’s too old to change his ways. ... he’d be better off going to manage Chelsea as they’d be happy to get results whilst playing his style of safety first football . He could even take his lovechild Rakitic with him .

 

Your photo isn't showing ... Guessing that's a good thing

 

There was never a doubt just plain ignorance from all 4 refs involved.

 

Anyway, we didn't really need the goal/PK. Since the game was 0-0 at the time, we never would have heard the end of it from EPL fanboys if that was given.

"Once again, when UEFAlona come under some pressure, the referee bails them out; The game could've gone either way until that gift that completely destroyed Man Utd's momentum... "

 

that's really not true though, is it?

during his first pre-season tour, EV started off playing with exactly the same 4-3-3 system Enrique used, leaning on MSN up front.

when Neymar decided he'd be better off somewhere else, he experimented with a 3-5-2 system (in the supercopa) which didn't work well at all. at this point it was looking like we were in for a disaster of a season. LPB were the champs of europe and were looking very strong.

he went back to the 4-3-3 giving Deulofeu a chance to prove himself, and hoping to ease Dembele in slowly. Deulofeu failed to assert himself, Dembele got badly injured in his second appearance, Vidal and Denis were never good enough, and Countinho was still with Liverpool. so EV found himself with a squad without quality wingers and had to come up with a winger-less 4-4-2 system, tightening up the defence and freeing up Messi and Suarez from pressing duties. this change essentially won Barca the league that season, very nearly going undefeated the whole way.

but then watch the Copa final vs Sevilla. he finally had Coutinho and Dembele to work with, and produced a beautiful attacking display, knowing they didn't need to hold anything back for upcoming UCL or Liga matches.

this season he has switched to a flexible 4-3-3 that transitions into a 3-4-3 when attacking and a 4-4-2 when defending. he still has a squad with too many aging players so he tries to conserve energy, especially in stretches where they have to play 3 games a week.

maybe you're the one that's too old to change your ways?

 

I am indeed very old but that aside I see better football played week in week out by Liverpool and even Wolves ..

I want to see exiting , imaginative football played by Barca again .... Is that too much to expect ?

 

if you don't think fighting for a treble is exciting, the problem is you not barca or their coach.

go watch Liverpool and Wolves for all i care.

 

Not sure we have the squad of players to play like Liverpool for the reasons highlighted in @evil_allan 's post, which for some reason you chose to ignore despite quoting it.

We will have to get younger but that takes time. Off to a good start with Arthur. Lenglet seems like a good buy. Dembele... we will see, but he's certainly not boring. De Jong should help. Puig looks promising but its too early to tell. Then hopefully a good replacement for Suarez in the next year or so. We already have dynamic players at full back, goalkeeper and #10. So if the others I listed turn out well, we should be one of, if not the, most exciting teams in the world within a couple of years. But in the meantime we are still winning more trophies than Liverpool (i.e. more than zero).

 

Wolves play beautiful football but struggle against the poor teams who sit back and park the bus ( just as we struggle) but they’ve got one of THE best records against the top 6 teams in the EPL ...

 

Not as good as Valverde's record against the top 6 teams in the EPL.

 

They play like we DID though whilst still winning ..

 

A quick check shows that you might be talking out of your arse.

Wolves had 29.6% possession at home against Arsenal! Doesn't sound at all like the stereotypical "Barca-way". Xavi alone would often have over 100 completed passes in a match, whereas Wolves as a team had 212 v Arsenal.

You might claim I cherry-picked one game but they also had only 42% and 50% possession in their two recent matches at home against Man Utd, while Barca had 66% (despite us getting owned for 2 10 20 minutes)