Back in August, it looked as if it would be a long season for Barcelona football Club.
Neymar’s shock desire to depart the Camp Nou and move to Paris Saint-Germain left a huge cloud over the club and the fans. To add insult to injury, their season curtain raiser against Real Madrid in the Spanish Super Cup ended in defeat which did not bode well for their season.
New coach Ernesto Valverde inherited many of the problems vacated by former coach Luis Enrique, but fast forward two months and already things are looking up for Barcelona – most especially on the pitch.
Barcelona’s latest victory – a 2-0 win over Athletico Bilbao was their ninth win in 10 games. 8 points in front of El Clasico rivals Real Madrid at the top of the La Liga table, with 28 goals scored and just three conceded. Since those Spanish cup defeats to Real Madrid, the club have mustered up 13 wins from 14 games in all competitions, and the optimism and belief around the Nou Camp seem to be increasing every week.
Most of that optimism and belief certainly have arisen through the fresh ideas and philosophy from Ernesto Valverde. The former Bilbao coach certainly had his critics when he joined the club, questions had even been asked as to how he would cope with the numerous issues surrounding the club. Although its too early to judge Valverde, he should be given the credit for steadying the ship at the Camp Nou.
The purchase of former Borussia Dortmund winger Ousmane Dembele was a breath of fresh air, a player capable of becoming just as good as Neymar. However, his progress has been halted through injury which will see him out of action until the new year. A big blow. His electric pace and dribbling ability would have reduced the responsibility on Messi’s shoulders and also allow Suarez to continue to flourish as the club’s main no.9. But, Barcelona have coped significantly in the Frenchman’s absence.
Without a doubt, one of the questions that would have been thrown in Valverde’s direction would have been how he would get the best out of Messi for another season. On this recent evidence, Valverde has successfully addressed those doubts with consummate ease.
His use of Lionel Messi has been Barcelona’s most significant factor. The Argentinian superstar has been given a more central role and it has clearly paid off. Racing ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo in the scoring charts – already targeting the Pichichi trophy – hitting 12 goals already in La Liga and 16 goals in all competitions.
With the club targeting Philippe Coutinho and Ousmane Dembele, this is certainly not what Valverde had planned, initially wanting to the lighten the load on Lionel Messi. They got the Frenchman but have lost him to injury until the new year, after losing out to Coutinho through Liverpool’s resistance on selling their most prized asset. An enormous amount of talent to have access too. Especially when it is talent you most definitely needed after losing its second best player in Neymar. Without those players, it is difficult for Valverde to utilise the traditional 4-3-3 that has been so accustomed to the club since Johan Cruyff’s total football philosophy.
So Valverde has adjusted, despite having Gerard Deulofeu on the bench, a player capable of flourishing in that formation. The wingers have been pulled back to a 4-4-2 which has meant he can utilise players such as Ivan Rakitic and Andre Gomes in those wide areas. This may be out of the ordinary but, both players have been diligently doing their jobs both offensively and defensively, as a result Barcelona have never looked more assured at the back than in recent seasons under Luis Enrique. It is definitely down to the tactical astuteness of Valverde. Andre Gomes looks a baffling choice out wide but in the victory over Bilbao in San Mames, he turned in a solid and stable performance making decent runs and working hard defensively. This allows Lionel Messi and Suarez the licence to do their own thing up front.
Messi in particular, has flourished.
Having dropped deeper and deeper under Luis Enrique, Messi is now playing closer to the opposition box which is allowing him to take up more dangerous positions more frequently than ever. A number of times over the weekend, Messi was given so much room to run at the opposition defence – his goal a perfect example, simply majestic. Playing a genius ball to Paulinho, got a return then stroked a wonderfully weighted pass to Jordi Alba before receiving it back and slotting under the keeper with such unerring precision.
The Argentinian has been utterly electric in Valverde’s system, elevating the team to a stratospheric new level flying high at the top of the pile in La Liga. If he carries on at this rate, Messi could be course for his most prolific campaign to date, and his brilliant form has ensured that Luis Suarez’s struggles have not been costly. With Messi moving into the centre of the pitch playing without out-and-out wingers, the Uruguayan has found the pitch too congested through the middle which means defenders find it easy to surround him, denying the space to flourish, he has only scored three goals all season so far.
Fortunately for Barcelona, however, there have been valuable contributions from other members of the squad – much like Real Madrid’s success last season where they had players on the bench capable of making an impact week-in-week-out. A lack of depth was a common issue for Luis Enrique last season but this year the players further down the pecking order are stepping up. New signing Paulinho has silenced his doubters with some solid displays, even scoring three goals in the process. Deulofeu has chipped with a few contributions, so have Denis Suarez and Sergi Roberto too.
Barca’s playing style under Enrique went against Club traditions for many supporters. It hinged on bypassing the midfield to get the ball to the front free of Messi, Suarez and Neymar as quickly as possible with no plan B if things went pear shaped. So far, Valverde has changed that, even if without Neymar. The 4-3-3 formation is now a 4-4-2 and Barcelona’s midfield has become the focal point of the team once again. Yes, the wonderful flowing football hasn’t arrived just yet but the new system has them controlling games in the way you’d expect from a Barcelona side, attacking and defending as a defensive unit.
The stats show Valverde’s impact and how he has adjusted the playing style. Barcelona are making much more passes from open play than last season reflecting in the change of their build-up. Patient, probing and decisive. Instead of getting the ball quickly to the forwards and asking them to do the rest, Barcelona are demonstrating much more patience with the ball, probing for openings and pulling teams apart of accurate passing. Take Messi’s open goal miss against Athletico, the play between himself, Paulinho and Luis Suarez was absolutely devastating, cutting through the defence like a double-edged sword with intricate one-two passing. It was simply a thing of delight.
Out of possession, they are well organised and hard working. Valverde has got Barcelona defending from the front, working as a collective, pressing their opponents high up the pitch the second they lose the ball. The players have clearly bought into Valverde’s ideas and that is shown in the fact that they have only conceded just three La Liga goals all season so far.
Barcelona will certainly need to keep it up as they prepare for more tough games to come, both domestically and in Europe, but they have a little breathing space in La Liga plus a safe passage to the Knockout round of the Champions League looks all but secured. If Barcelona can carry on this sort of form and spirit, Valverde could be in for a very successful first season in the hotseat.
Two months into the season and things are looking much brighter than anybody would have expected in August. How fortunes can change in a couple of months.
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