Messi is sublime but Valverde opts for caution in Barcelona win over Alaves

VALVERDE PLAYS IT SAFE 

Sometimes it appears that Valverde just can’t help himself.

The experienced coach arrived at Barcelona last summer from Athletic Bilbao with a reputation as a well-organised and astute but rather cautious and pragmatic tactician, and that reputation stayed intact during his first season at the Camp Nou which resulted in a league triumph based on defensive solidity and the attacking spark of Messi.

This summer Valverde’s attacking ranks have been bolstered with the addition of exciting winger Malcom and the return of creative midfielder Rafinha, creating pre-season speculation that the coach was ready to direct a more attacking, open approach.

But just when we started to think Valverde might have been ready to flirt with a touch of tactical recklessness, his first teamsheet of the league season dampened those expectations: no Malcom, no Rafinha, and not even Philippe Coutinho.

Instead, there was a solid but decidedly one-paced midfield trio of Ivan Rakitic, Sergio Busquets and Sergi Roberto, with the consequence that his team’s first half performance had plenty of control, but not enough spark.

He rectified things with the half-time introduction of Coutinho, and hopefully the additional attacking edge shown by his team as a result – including a well-taken goal by the Brazilian – will convince him to make such decisions 45 minutes earlier in the future.

SUAREZ STILL STRUGGLING

Another excessively cautious element of Valverde’s game management in this opener was the fact that he didn’t name either of his back-up strikers, Paco Alcacer or Munir El-Haddadi, in the matchday squad.

That left just one centre forward, Luis Suarez, who is looking well below his best at the start of the season and produced several heavy touches and loose passes.

The Uruguay striker’s struggles were made plain with just over 15 minutes remaining, when a defensive mistake gave him a direct route clean through on goal. It was the kind of chance that an in-form Suarez would have ruthlessly gobbled up without any trouble, but on this occasion he could only prod a tentative left-footed strike which visiting goalkeeper Fernando Pacheco saved with ease.

Suarez remains a world-class striker and he will soon come good, that is surely not in doubt. In the meantime, though, having him as the only striker in the squad – never mind the team – is a strange decision from Valverde, especially when he preferred to have five midfielders on the bench instead.

If Munir or Alcacer don’t play now they probably never will, and surely Barca can’t get through the whole season with only one striker, especially one who is 31 years old?

MESSI DOES IT AGAIN

With Valverde playing it overly safe, Suarez struggling and Ousmane Dembele continuing to be promising but erratic, Barca needed something else to overcome Alaves on Saturday night. And that something, very predictably, was Lionel Messi, who provided the key contribution by scoring a brilliant free-kick to break the resistance of the visitors.

By the time Messi cleverly rifled a low second-half free-kick under the leaping defensive wall, he had already hit the bar with another set-piece in the opening period, and created the game’s best chance from open play which Dembele could only fire too close to Pacheco.

He then went on to hit the post with a curled shot before finishing the game in an appropriate manner by casually stroking home his second goal with the last kick of the game.

And that contribution, once again, was more than enough to help Barca escape with a victory which could easily have only been a draw without his inspiration. With so much uncertainty around him – Suarez’s form, Coutinho’s status, Dembele’s unreliability – at least Messi provides one stable element which can always be relied upon.

Without any doubt, he made the difference again on this occasion and Messi’s presence is the only reason his team can be considered favourites for the title.