Despite guiding Barcelona to a domestic double this season, it hasn’t been enough for Ernesto Valverde to avoid receiving criticism from the club’s supporters.
It came after the Catalan giants saw their bid to go the entire La Liga campaign unbeaten come to a crashing halt as they lost 5-4 in a thrilling game against Levante.
Although the league title is secured along with the Copa del Rey, many supporters seemingly have their doubts about Valverde, as seen in the tweets below.
Having opted to rest Lionel Messi and leave him out of the squad, that led to many asking the question as to whether the Spanish tactician is simply too reliant on the Argentine forward.
Given he’s scored 45 goals and provided 18 assists in 53 appearances this season, that may well be a good point and they’ve been made to eventually pay for that having fallen short of making history by losing in the 37th game of the season.
Coupled with the humbling at Roma in the Champions League, there are some major red marks against Valverde in his first season in charge despite delivering silverware.
It’s unlikely that the Barcelona hierarchy will feel the same as these fans and they’ll arguably show more faith in Valverde to keep him in the job. However, there is certainly no hiding the disappointment and frustration felt by these supporters after a poor night and it was surely more than a coincidence that it came with Messi absent.
Still, evidently work needs to be done on the defence at the Nou Camp too…
Embarrassing. Utterly embarrassing. Barça should’ve had a pen but don’t let it distract you from the fact Valverde is nothing without Messi, and the board gave up the streak for a friendly.
— #14 (@HuegoPuro) May 13, 2018
Ernesto Valverde is losing a match 5-1 with players such as Stegen, Busquets, Iniesta, Coutinho, Suarez and Dembele.
Yet twitter think it’s the players’ fault.
— Lucas R. ? (@lucasammr) May 13, 2018
Valverde needs to be sacked for this game
— ? (@Barzaboy) May 13, 2018
Under Valverde, we are more dependant on Messi than we have EVER been before. Not even a question now.
— TalkFCB (@FCBNewsRoom) May 13, 2018
Valverde bottled the Champions League by not resting players for this shit.
— Messi World (@MessiWorId) May 13, 2018
Messi rests and Valverde shows the world his true capability as a coach.
— Lucas R. ? (@lucasammr) May 13, 2018
Just a reminder that Valverde prioritized the unbeaten streak in La Liga over the Champions League only to concede 5 goals against Levante.
— Juan (@socraticjuan) May 13, 2018
Swear if it wasn’t for Messi, then Valverde would’ve lost his job by like matchday 10, lol.
— J. (@Messilizer) May 13, 2018
Ernesto Valverde logic –
Didn’t rest players when it mattered to to stay unbeaten in La Liga and as a result puts the worst performance to get eliminated from Champions League. And then loses 5-4 in the second last match in La Liga.— Messi World (@MessiWorId) May 13, 2018
I can’t handle Valverde for another season.
— Half Depressed Barça fan (@PlQUECHU) May 13, 2018