Valverde: "What's important is the style, not the formation"

Ernesto Valverde repeated on Saturday in the press conference before the Spanish Super Cup game against Real Madrid that his first job as Barça manager is “to adapt to the players I have” and above all to keep the style that has made Barcelona a big club.

“What’s important is the style, more so than the formation: we have to be able to maintain this style of play, whether we play with three, four or five defenders,” he said.

In the same vein, before his first match in charge at the Camp Nou, Valverde promised a daring and brave Barcelona, “a team that entertains the public, that is fluent and that controls the game, without as well as with the ball”.

He added that he wants the “public to be excited by our football, we will try to make it so that people identify with our game, with the way we face up to defeats and victories, what we want to transmit is that we will give everything for the team to win”.

Valverde did not think that the last meeting with Real Madrid means anything for today’s game, “now we are playing for a title and things are a lot more serious, more important; they want to win the title just like us and we will have to play our best to win”.

On Messi, the Barça manager said that he is “very well, very focussed from every point of view” and working very well. “We expect to see his best” he admitted.

Valverde was coy when asked about today’s opponents. He praised the players the Madrid club has and their squad strength but when asked if he thought the BBC would play or not, he said “I’m not going to say what I prefer, so as to not give hints to the rival manager. Madrid are coming to win the Super Cup by playing well, but I’m worried about us”.

He did however admit that the absence of Modric was a big blow for Real Madrid but pointed out that Madrid still have players like Kovacic and Isco available to them “who break the lines with the ball and link up well in attack”.