Exclusive: Ernesto Valverde will not betray the Barcelona style

Ernesto Valverde needed few days to make it clear to the squad that Barcelona's winning and admired style from the last few decades will remain in place during his time at the club.

In little more than seven training sessions, only three with more or less the whole squad, he started to put in place a style guide, one which is more reminiscent of Pep Guardiola than Luis Enrique, according to dressing room sources.

Those who feared a deviation from the new coach, remembering that Valverde likes a 4-2-3-1, have realised that the coach values the situation more than the positioning. Which is to say, the important thing is not where you put yourself on the pitch, but the attitude with which you occupy the space, leaving the players free to take decisions and avoiding rule by the tactics. 

Another factor that suggests Valverde will open a new path back to the roots, as it were, is the priority set on working with the ball. It;s true that the strong point of his predecessor, Luis Enrique, was his methodology in training. The Asturian ensured the players were 100 per cent focused, breaking up the routine with fun activities to keep conventration high.

However Lucho had an obsession with physical training and the numbers, which sometimes meant he lost the plot and forogt that the ball is the principle weapon with which players win games.

In Valverde's sessions, ball-work is central, although in the first phase there is also emphasis on physical work as the players get back to fitness. Concepts like having the ball at your feet, rapid circulation, pressing, order, closing the lines and playing looking at the opposition's goal have been worked on. 

It's evident that it's still early and Valverde has not even finished the first page of his style guide, but everything suggests some concepts that were lost under Luis Enrique will return. Importantly, Messi looks happy.