Read on Twitter
I was looking at some numbers on our pressing game under Setien. Only really looked at the attackers. Of course, Messi and Suarez have some liberties, but Messi's numbers aren't that terrible. 8.6 pressures p90. Sterling has 10.6 for comparison. +
In the bigger games however, Messi is still a handful for the opponent defenders. Against the top 8 in La Liga and CL teams, he made 12.1 pressures p90. That should tell you something about how he should be managed. But is the whole pressing problem at Barca a myth then? +
Oh, no no. Here's the real problem. Under Valverde, Suarez made 11.1 pressure p90. Respectable enough considering it's mostly mid and final third pressing. Under Setien, that went down to 4.8 pressure p90. What happened between Valverde and Setien? I'll tell you that +
Suarez had his knee surgery. It's really sad that his body declined so much, but perhaps it's no coincidence that our season football fell apart when suddenly it wasn't Messi's pressing that needed to be compensated for, but rather it was Suarez's.