RE: Mistakes That Barcelona Should Learn From To Become Better
I know of Valverde's work through his tenure at Olympiakos and I have to say I thought Barcelona missed an opportunity to became a true contender for the Champions League when they appointed him. I expect him to complete the domestic double but he just doesn't have the know-how to win a challenging knock-out style tournament like the Champions League.
Twice as the Olympiakos coach he dominated domestically in Europe and set high expectations for European success. Both times he made it to the knock-out stages of the Uefa Cup/Europa League and then proceeded to under-perform catastrophically in crucial moments. The first time we were down 0-2 at home to St Etienne after the first half of the first leg (final result 1-3) and then gave up in the second leg. The second time we won away 0-1 at Metalist in the first leg, were up 1-0 after 80 minutes in the second leg and yet still were knocked out after two Metalist goals in 6 minutes.
After those two times, just last year he was eliminated as Athletic Bilbao coach by Apoel Nicosia, which was heralded as a historic result for the Cypriot team.
Valverde is who he is, he will not improve and he will not win any European trophies with Barcelona!
Yes, I do agree that Valverde lacks the big game mentality for encounters such as the Champions League and as you mentioned the Europa League during his time at Olympiakos. Still, if he brings in a domestic double for Barcelona, it will still be a massive achievement for him.
It will be a massive achievement, but for how much longer will Barcelona be satisfied with just domestic honours? Also, Iniesta, Messi, Suarez have only so many more years left at the top of their game so Valverde's era might be seen as a missed opportunity in retrospect.
It definitely seems like Barcelona has no fresh talent as of now that could take over the mantle of the old guard. The next transfer window should see an influx of new blood if Barcelona hope to win the Champions League. Valverde might then have another chance to prove himself.
I read today that media was reporting a confrontation between Messi, Pique and Valverde. We'll see if he lasts more than one season...