Rivaldo: 'I haven't seen any improvement from Barça under Setién''
The Brazilian questioned the club's direction under the current regime and gave his thoughts on El Clasico
Rivaldo has never been one to bite his tongue and the Betfair ambassador gave his thoughts on the current goings-on at FC Barcelona.
The 1999 Balon d'Or winner is worried about Barça's style of football going into El Clasico against Real Madrid on Sunday. "Honestly, after seeing the last few Barcelona matches, I haven't seen any improvement since they sacked Valverde and brought in Setien," he admitted.
''BARÇA CAN PLAY A LOT BETTER"
''With the great players available, the team can play a lot better," continued Rivaldo. "With Setien in charge they play out from the back and take risks, just like Real Madrid or Manchester City do. But the most worrying thing about FC Barcelona is the lack of people who dare to shoot from outside the area and surprise teams. The team is only trying to score goals from inside the box."
'MESSIDEPENDENCIA' AND POOR PLANNING
Another factor which Rivaldo is concerned about is how the team, more than ever, depends on Lionel Messi. "Of course his importance has increased. Now the dependence the team has on his talent is gigantic. You realise this because teams focus on stopping him and when he doesn't play well, the team stops and doesn't stamp their authority on the game."
There's a simple reason for this according to Rivaldo: "All of this is a result of poor planning from the club, which was made even worse in January. They let some players leave and didn't really replace them."
“BARÇA ARE FAVOURITES FOR EL CLASICO''
Rivaldo feels that the absence of Luis Suarez is a bigger miss to Barça than Eden Hazard's for Real Madrid. "First, because there's no natural replacement for Suarez in the squad. In the case of Hazard, I don't think Madrid will miss him because he hasn't fully adapted yet."
Despite his concerns, Rivaldo still feels the Camp Nou side are favourites for the clash. "Barcelona are coming into the game in better form and are more relaxed than Real Madrid. They will still be hurt after losing to Manchester City."
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