Time for FC Barcelona manager Ernesto Valverde to shape up or ship out
The over-dependency on one player - Lionel Messi is hurting the Barcelona team badly and the clueless managerial tactics of Valverde are making the things even nastier.
The defending La Liga champions - FC Barcelona are going through the worst phase of the club history in the initial part of 2019/20 season. With only 7 points Barcelona are on the seventh position on the La Liga points table.
In the absence of their talisman Lionel Messi, the things are getting worse for the Catalan giants with each passing game. The 32-year-old club legend has been injured since last month and made comeback on the football pitch in the Champions League match against Dortmund from the bench in the second half.
Despite, playing last two games after the second half, Messi didn't look completely fit for the matches and it looked like a desperate move from manager Ernesto Valverde to bring him in the game, despite his low fitness level at the moment.
The current Barcelona team has now become part of some unwanted historic records:
- They are winless in the first three away La Liga games in the season for the first time since 1994-1995
- With only 7 points, they have now the fewest points after five La Liga games since 1994-1995
- Barcelona's away games misery is getting worse after every game; they are winless in the 7 straight away matches for the first time since 2001
The over-dependency on one player - Lionel Messi is hurting the Barcelona team badly and the clueless managerial tactics of Valverde are making the things even nastier. In the previous games, it has been witnessed that Valverde is unable to adapt with the Barcelona's trademark Tika-Taka football style till now but he is not even trying to change things and still sticking to it despite constant failures. It's high time either Valverde to step up and accept his mistakes or to step down from the post.
Reportedly, Valverde is earning approx 24 million annually from his job at Barcelona, while, the Champions League 2018 winning manager Jurgen Kloop is getting 13 million for his services at Liverpool. Valverde is not justifying the amount he is getting paid for the job. From the past two seasons, Barcelona is claiming the La Liga titles but when it comes to Champions League the Catalan giants choked in crucial away games.
The Barcelona club board is also just running away from the problems from quite a few time. After Neymar's departure in 2017, the club bought Philippe Coutinho, Ousmane Dembele and this season- Antoine Griezmann to replace him, but nobody has stepped up for the Catalan giants.
Last season, Valverde constantly put Coutinho at left-wing despite him being a midfield and the outcome was the Brazilian maestro failed at Barcelona and left the club this year to join Bayern Munich on loan.
Ousmane Dembele is a talented young player but Is the hype around him worth it? As he has not been at his level best in Barcelona and constant injuries influenced his game.
Antoine Griezmann is one of the best players in the world, who joined Barcelona this season but his away record for the club is clearly disappointing. In the five away games he played for Barcelona this season, he was unable to shoot the ball onto the target for once.
There is one more player whose dry run is hurting the La Liga Champions - Luis Suarez. The Uruguayan is a beast in front of the goal but his performances on away grounds seem pretty ordinary with a dry spell of goals.
Valverde has no plans for the Barcelona squad as the defence in the past few games looked exposed against the opposition. In the midfield, the manager has still not decided his stable three with Sergio Busquets, Frenkie de Jong, Arthur Melo, Carles Alena and Ivan Rakitic in the ranks, Valverde has not able to capitalize on the talent he possesses in the squad.
If the things remained the same at one of the biggest clubs in Europe, it's not late that after Messi's retirement, Barcelona will be the next AC Milan or Manchester United.