Quique Setién faced his first defeat as the Barcelona Manager and if things don't improve, may not be the last one. He has some tough questions to solve to fix this team.
FC Barcelona were handed a footballing masterclass by Valencia in being efficient and finding the chinks in the opponent's armor. This was done despite Barcelona hogging more than 70% of possession, the only positive from the match at the Mestalla.
Some may argue that what is the purpose of having so much possession if you are not going to make any changes. These so-called, fans aka Valeverde fan boys don't have a clue about how bad Barcelona have become. It will take an almighty effort for Setiénto fix this and there will be early hickups.
Setién opts for the Strongest Line-Up on Paper
Setién opted for the strongest line-up on paper possible for this match. This was the first real chance for him to test his wards and how much they have understood his philosophy and the way he wanted to play. Post-match, he himself was clear that there is work to be done, but unlike Barca's former coach he clearly expressed his displeasure at Barcelona's first-half performance.
Quique Setién: "There are some things that the players still do not interpret well or we may not explain them well. Nobody likes what we've seen today. We have a lot of things to do. Positionally there are things to correct because we have given many meaningless passes."
— barcacentre (@barcacentre) January 25, 2020
The line-up had Ter Stegan, Roberto, Pique, Umtiti, Alba, De Jong, Busquets, Arthur, Messi, Griezmann and Ansu Fati. The strongest possible line-up! But from the word start, we could feel there was something missing with the side. We dominated the early possession, clocking above 90% in the initial part. But in the 13th minute against the run of play, Pique gifted Valencia with a penalty.
Despite Ter Stegan saving that penalty, it affected our defense mentally. Against Granada, they remained solid and discipline, here they were running to who was having the ball. The fact that Ansu Fati wasn't tracking down also played a huge role, having trouble on that right-wing.
But what affected Barcelona most was the presence of Arthur instead of Vidal. Arthur rarely pushed forward and was too slow for initiating high press. That means that there was not much of systematic pressure applied on the Valencia backline on the counter. Suddenly without the pressing, Alba playing higher up became a liability.
Vidal's entry came to a tad too late. I would have liked him being introduced at half time. By the time he came to Barcelona was a goal behind. Vidal's playing style was in sync with what Setién wanted, and immediately his presence in the box meant Messi was getting more space. But the Messi was having seriously an off day.
Last night match shows why it will take Setién sometime before his players fully understand the way he wanted them to play. He also needs to decide which all players fit his philosophy and who don't. He will have some tough decisions to take in the coming days.
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