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There is no doubt that Barcelona have had a wonderful start to this season, as the Catalans are yet to be defeated in any of the 3 competitions. The Spanish giants have enhanced their team and they seem to click together collectively once again, after a disastrous last season, but they are not flawless either.
Valverde has done well to embellish this Barça squad, but the former Athletic Bilbao manager has made some blunders too. Here are the 5 ways that Valverde could have perfected Barcelona's season so far.
#5 Give Iniesta sufficient rest
Andres Iniesta still has plenty of football left in him and it's reasonable that Valverde would want to make the most of someone like him, but if there is anything that the Barça coach needs to be cautious about, it would be Iniesta's fitness and to make sure that he is available in the prominent games that Barça will play in the second half of the season.
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Iniesta has started in 11 of the 12 matches that he has played this season, whereas, at this point of the last campaign, the 33-year-old featured in only 5 Liga games under Luis Enrique.
The midfielder is not having an injury-free season either, having injured his thigh against Real Madrid in the first leg of Spanish Super Cup. Iniesta injured himself once again after playing the first 45 minutes against Las Palmas.
The 33 year old suffered an injury for the 3rd time this season after he pulled one of his thigh muscles last month which saw him missing out against Athletic Bilbao and Olympiakos.
It goes without saying that Iniesta is still an incredibly influential player for Barcelona, but at the age of 33, Valverde would certainly want one of his best players to be free from injuries and that can only happen if he is given enough rest.
#4 Play Nelson Semedo at right-back over Sergi Roberto
After the horrendous last season under Luis Enrique, one thing that became clearly evident was that Sergi Roberto is not capable enough to play as a right-back.
The 25-year-old Spaniard has frequently demonstrated his excellence in midfield, be it in the 4-0 thumping of Real Madrid in 2015, or in the historic comeback against PSG last season, Sergi Roberto has stood out as a midfielder. However, with his recurring clangers and weak defence, he was bootless as a right-back last season.
The arrival of Nelson Semedo probably meant Roberto will finally switch to midfield for good, but it seems like Valverde has other plans, as he has constantly rotated the Portuguese and the Spaniard at the right-back position, despite the presence of a full-time natural right-back in Semedo.
Aleix Vidal has also been very disappointing at his position and Valverde had no other option but to push him forward and utilize the Spaniard on the wings, where he has performed relatively better.
Sergi Roberto is still more of a utility player in Barcelona without any fixed role and the Catalan giants may find it difficult to keep him at the club if he is not recognized as a full-time midfielder in future.
Sergi Roberto is no Xavi Hernandez, you wouldn't expect him to make defence-splitting passes and dictate the play like Xavi did, but the 25-year-old Spaniard will be much more effective if Valverde uses his traits from the midfield, which is where he truly belongs.
Meanwhile, Nelson Semedo, who happens to be a natural right-back, should be made a permanent feature in the right-back role.
#3 Stop overvaluing Ivan Rakitic
Ivan Rakitic has been inconsistent for over a year now, and the Croatian is certainly not the same player that he was a couple of seasons ago. In the absence of Dani Alves last season, his flaws were brought to light as Sergi Roberto failed to offer what the former Barcelona full-back did.
The duo of Alves and Messi embarked upon the creative duty on the right flank, which meant Rakitic didn't really have to flaunt his creativity to survive in the team, in fact, it was his work-rate which mattered the most.
The 29-year-old did a fine job as long as Barçelona's problem at the right-back position was exposed last season, and since then, the midfielder has only been next to ordinary. No doubt, Rakitic has been impressive when it comes to his technical skills and has played a prominent role in some matches this season, but it is the inconsistency which hurts the 29-year-old.
His relentless back passing and inadequate vision have nixed a lot of creative moves, plus his inability of holding onto the ball and finding a teammate with an accurate pass when opponents create pressure, often results in dispossession.
There is no way we can deny Rakitic's class, he is a good player, but his contribution to the team this season has been insignificant. Rakitic has enjoyed well over 1000 minutes this season and it is about time Valverde puts his faith in a younger midfielder.
#2 Bench a struggling Luis Suarez
The Uruguayan international is having an atrocious season with the Blaugrana, and the sudden slump in his form has brought a string of disappointing performances from the striker. Suarez has played 14 games so far, and has managed to score only 3 goals with an awful shot conversion of 15%.
The 30-year-old is going through a rough phase, and you would normally expect any coach to drop the most ineffective player in his squad, but Valverde seems to offer incessant chances to the Uruguayan.
Suarez is much more than just about scoring goals and providing assists, he is incredibly essential when it comes to his off the ball movements and his impressive work-rate is something which will never go unnoticed, but when the main striker of your team isn't decisive enough in front of the goal, things are likely to become worse.
Suarez was performing consistently well for the past few years and he is possibly in the worst decline of his career at the moment. It seems like nothing is going right for the 30-year-old, who has lost his precision, alertness, flair and the ability to convert chances into goals.
Paco Alcacer was influential in Barça's 2-1 victory over Sevilla earlier this month, and the Spaniard must start ahead of Luis Suarez to strengthen Barcelona's attack.
#1 Stop ignoring Denis Suarez
The 23-year-old possesses every attribute to gleam into a team like Barcelona, but the Spanish midfielder hasn't been given enough chances to prove his worth ever since he joined Barcelona. Denis Suarez never made into the good books of Luis Enrique and it seems like Valverde hasn't recognized his talent either.
Denis Suarez has managed to start in only 2 Liga games this season, and completely changed the course of the match every time he came off the bench.
In Barcelona's jammed midfield, the chances of Denis Suarez to appear in the starting eleven were always low, but the fact that he has played only 262 minutes reflects Valverde's lack of confidence in the youngster.
The Barça boss hasn't discarded him like Arda Turan yet, but he can at least use the 23-year-old to replace Iniesta after 60 minutes into the game.
When Denis Suarez was at Villarreal, the midfielder exhibited his prowess on the wings where he was momentous for the Yellow Submarines.
His impressive first touch and the ability to dribble around players in compact areas result in a dazzling connection between him and Lionel Messi. We have seen the midfielder linking up beautifully well with the little Argentine on numerous occasions, and the 23-year-old will certainly help generate that spark in Barça's attack, if he is given a chance.
