Why Ernesto Valverde needs to leave Barcelona
It has happened again. Another year, another UCL debacle.
Barcelona has yet again been knocked out of the UEFA Champions League after taking a resounding lead in the first leg. Last year, it was Roma. This year, it's Liverpool. Take nothing away from both of these opponents, as they both played spectacularly.
Barcelona under Valverde has become complacent very easily, and their pessimistic play has cost them dearly for the second successive year.
Why this has been happening under Valverde
There are multiple reasons why Barcelona under Valverde bottles it. Firstly, their approach to big games. Valverde, unlike the Barcelona tradition, usually goes for more of a defensive approach in big games, and heavily relies on Lionel Messi to weave his magic and save the day for the team.
While this usually works, thanks to Messi's unerring consistency, he is also human (at least as per reports), and when the opposition defends in numbers against the man, Barcelona simply doesn't have a reply, because they just aren't used to playing without Messi leading the charge. For example, in yesterday's Liverpool win, Valverde once again chose to be defensive and eventually suffered.
Secondly, his late substitutions. On countless occasions across Valverde's two-year tenure, he has made substitutions too late, in spite of having exciting options in Malcom and Dembele on the bench.
By the time he makes the changes, the damage has already been done and Barcelona usually loses. Again, taking an example from yesterday's Liverpool match, Barcelona clearly needed someone like Malcom to stretch Liverpool's defence when they were 3-0 up, but Valverde introduced him only after they conceded the fourth goal. While the Catalans did play better after his arrival, it was once again too late.
Lastly, there was a lack of adequate rotation. One of the prevalent drawbacks of Valverde is that he rotates little, which ultimately fatigues the players and costs them in big games. While he did improve on his rotation policy this season, players like Jordi Alba, Gerard Pique, and Luis Suarez were still overworked.
Last year, one of the reasons why Barcelona was knocked out by Roma was that that the players were tired and fatigued, as they had just played a game three days prior.
Why Valverde needs to go
Simple - he has taken Barcelona as far as he possibly can. Sure Barcelona is on course to another domestic double, but in spite of having a better squad than last season's, an even more prolific Lionel Messi, and less competition, the Cules once again failed to succeed in the Champions League.
Stagnancy has now hit the Camp Nou outfit under Valverde, and it's in the best interest for both the club and the manager to part ways.