Valverde's Recipes for Disaster not reflected in fortunate result
Leganes vs FC Barcelona - La Liga Match Review
Nov 23, 2019
I am desperately searching for a club called FC Barcelona. Valverde is killing Barca with his inexplicable strategies. His team selection and later, his changes during the Leganes - Barca is what I call a classic example of how to create bedlam. He is going beyond idiotic to crazy when it comes to persisting with recipes of disaster.
The way Barcelona played they made the struggling Leganes look like great champions allowing them the space and time to dictate terms in the first half. As expected Leganes managed to score first and kept the lead intact at half time with their tight defense.
In the 2nd half, understandably, Rakitic and Vidal came in as substitutes for the ineffective Griezmann and Busquets. There was a bit more momentum from Barca with the changes. Pique’s header from a set piece hit the post. Then Suarez levelled the score, by heading home a perfectly placed free kick from Messi.
Leganes were more than happy to sit back and invited Barcelona to attack which finally proved to be their undoing. Vidal, despite being in an offside position, managed to find the net and the fortuitous goal stood because the ball had bounced off a Leganes player, on its way to Vidal.
Later Valverde lost the plot completely with a bizarre substitution - Ansu Fati came in for De jong who was one of the best performers for Barca on the day, while the wayward ones like Dembele continued to play. (Someone give Valverde a brain transplant because the current one inside his head is not working.)
First things first - Busquets, Pique and Dembele are creating more problems for FC Barcelona than the opposition. These guys shouldn't be starting on a regular basis and need to be replaced.
Despite Leganes sitting back or losing the ball many times, Barcelona lacked the speed and coordination to launch quick counters. In fact the 32 year old Messi was the fastest player in the entire team. They were just like Valverde - lifeless and without any clear plan. It was frustrating to watch most players strutting around without any purpose.
There were only 2 bright spots when it came to Barcelona - Messi and De Jong. These two tried to bring some sanity into a game where nothing was working for Barca. Luis Suarez though slowing down was a much better fighter than the rest and was still the best finisher after Messi.
Putting Griezmann, Suarez and Dembele in a 3 pronged attack with Messi lurking behind them would have been a great idea if any of the three guys, upfront, were in good form. Instead it hindered their best player and striker - Messi, as he was only able to provide crosses and did not have a single shot on goal in the first half.
I can totally understand the suspensions and injuries to certain players - but none of them have been in great form anyway. The coach’s inflexible strategy to never give chances to the new players had led to total chaos and awful team displays in the recent past. Cannot blame the likes of Wague, Junior and Umtiti for struggling to fit into the team. It was their lack of play time that was affecting these talented players.
I still cannot say Griezmann is a disaster but its taking more time than expected for him to find his space in the team. But the guy is working hard and cannot be blamed for not trying. Hope he comes good.
Wague seem to be a talented player - but he needs more experience, playing in the team in top clashes. Similarly Firpo needs to be groomed instead of getting thrown in only when circumstances force the coach to do so. Its okay if the youngsters make a few mistakes - but it will prove useful for the team in future.
Despite winning 2–1, Barcelona looked like the team with more problems than solutions. The biggest problem is that Barcelona is bearing the brunt of a bad coach, who is successfully managing to make the likes of Messi and De Jong look ordinary. But the two - Messi & De Jong (and a sadistic fortune) are hell bent on saving Valverde’s ass every time.
Image Credits - Google Images
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