Ernesto Valverde: "Andres Iniesta is irreplaceable"

Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde said in a press conference before the game against Deportivo La Coruna that Andres Iniesta's departure will hit the team hard on a sporting level.

The coach did not reveal his conversations with Iniesta because "they are internal issues" but he admitted that "Iniesta is irreplaceable. You can play with another player, but given his characteristics it's difficult to think of anyone who can do something similar at this level."

From now, Valverde will start working on a plan without Iniesta for next season and he said he will search for "different balances in the team, different ways to play, knowing that the style of Barça is already defined and what it should be. Iniesta gives you what no other player does, but this is a game of balance, and that's what we'll look to find."

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The coach admitted it was "hard to imagine Iniesta in another league" but said he did not try and convince the player to stay by playing him in more games.

"I played Iniesta a lot, not to convince him of anything but because I thought it was the best thing for the team. When you make a starting 11 you don't think about whether a player will leave, that has no impact on your decisions. I just thought about the best interests of Barça."

Valverde said he had benefitted a lot on a personal level from his one year with Iniesta.

"Coaches always learn things from players, you can have an idea, a tactic, but players condition everything. Players like Andres teach you things. They see things more easily than you do."

Valverde also said he has been struck by "the decisions Andres takes before he gets the ball, how he positions himself when a teammate has it. In the videos you can see how the play develops and where he puts himself. He makes it look so easy that we run the risk of thinking that everyone can do the same. But they cannot."