According to Rafa Hernandez, the main problem of the team is the fact that Barça are unfit under Valverde:
Kovac said Coutinho arrived from Barça unfit. Says it all about Valverde’s methods.
Firmino came back from Copa América, played 415 minutes for Liverpool. Jesus 170 minutes, Casemiro 180 minutes for Madrid. In comparison: Arthur, Coutinho unfit, Messi injured, Suarez out.
No excuses of Copa América playing time and missing pre-season.
Valverde turned the Barcelona squad into comfortable softies. They are lacking edge and pressure to deliver results, so yes, when Kovac says Coutinho isn’t match fit, it’s just another symptom of the disease.
It’s easy to come here and point out that I am needlessly hating on Valverde, but the warning signs are there for all to see. The match vs Athletic Bilbao was a disaster, we’re right to be worried about the Betis match, especially without Messi.
Of course I hope things click better, Barça thrash Betis and go on to win La Liga, but when you have Valverde nagging Griezmann in his conferences with nonsense, his tactics have been an absolute mess, what is there to look forward to?
2019 wasn’t the best under Valverde
Dembele went to Senegal after the loss vs Athletic and Suarez went to Morocco. Both injured and out for weeks. Irresponsible, both of them. The players are off the rails, doing whatever they want, there’s no leadership at the club anymore, no respect for the coach.
Outrageous. I have been defending him since the start but this is it for me.
I have never wished for my club to lose a football match, but it’s being hard not to, because we might throw the entire season if it keeps going like this. There’s a deep need of a complete meltdown with half a dozen losses to get him out immediately.
In 2019 alone:
-Arthur went to Neymar’s birthday party against the club’s wishes.
-Umtiti refused to have surgery on his knee.
-Rakitic went partying in a fair at Sevilla in the day after the 4-0 at Anfield.
-Alba said the players deserve more respect for what they did… after suffering the worst humiliation in the club’s history.
-Suárez, Messi and other players came out and not only endorsed Valverde, but pressed the club to keep him.
What a disgrace. The players are out of control, there’s no authority at the club anymore.
