Barca's Wonderful Era Is Not Over..

There is no way to make this sound better, the truth is that the past seven days have been a nightmare for all FC Barcelona fans. 

Losing the championship title to their eternal rivals Real Madrid in the Nou Camp; a Champions League exit at home to a team that sits in sixth position of the English Premier League; and the saddest news of all: that their most successful coach of all time and mastermind of their brilliant football, Pep Guardiola, has resigned after four years due to the stress of coaching a club that expects and demands success. Furthermore Barca fans have had to endure the commentary that perhaps this is the beginning of the end of the Barcelona era. An era that has included winning 13 titles in 4 years with some of the most breathtaking football the world has ever seen.

The only good news (and this of course remains to be proven!) is that at least the man taking over from club legend Guardiola is his assistant Tito Villanova, who is steeped in the club's traditions and style. Although his playing profile is not one to write home about it has been confirmed by all within the club, including Guardiola, that his coaching contribution to the recent success of Barcelona has been immense and that he has the necessary skills to more than adequately perform the job. 

This however is not enough reason to expect that Barcelona will continue to dominate. Instead there are other factors that are just as important that point to Barcelona remaining a force to be reckoned with for a few more years. 

 

AGE:

If you look at the great Ajax, Bayern, Milan teams that have defined great eras in the past their winning cycles have come to an end due to the age of the playing group nearing the 30’s or when they have been forced to sell star players, as occurred to Ajax when they sold Johan Cruyff to Barcelona. 

 

This Barcelona team however will not be hampered by this for the  following two reasons: as far as the transfer merry-go-round goes Barcelona could be seen as top of the food chain and their players are still at the peak of their powers.  Messi is still only 24 years old and the likes of Fabregas, Busquets, , Iniesta, Pedro, Sanchez, Pique, Adriano and Valdes are at a similar age whilst Alves, Villa and maybe Puyol still have two more years at least at the top.

 

Further to this and keeping with the clubs traditions, Guardiola has given significant playing opportunities to young La Masia Academy graduates this season (Thiago, Cuenca, Tello, Fontas, Montoya, Muniesa, Bartra) and although they may have not set the world alight this season, have gained valuable playing experience and made their transition to the first team seamlessly. In contrast to this, their great rivals Real Madrid has not unearthed any new players this season with the exception of Callejon, and Mourinho has mostly stuck with the same starting XI. 

 

FORMATIONS:

One of the things that made Barcelona so successful last season was the consistency of being able to play 4-3-3 all season long. Consistency leads to familiarity and therefore even more flowing football. Unfortunately this season due to injuries to key men like Pique/Puyol/Abidal at the back Guardiola had to experiment with only three at the back. Another reason he may have had to do this is partly because he didn’t want his team to become too predictable. So this season he may have taken a few risks that resulted in dropped points, however the team has become more flexible tactically than ever before and able to play 4-3-3, 3-4-3 and 3-3-4. This can only hold them in better stead for next season.

 

DEFENCE:

What was clearly evident in the 2 key games of the past seven days is that Barcelona’s defence desperately missed the likes of Pique and Abidal, and Puyol was missed at the start of the season which had a significant impact on the team. In addition the youngster Fontas, who has great potential was also out for most of the season. Whilst last summer the club added to their attacking strength with the additions of Fabregas and Sanchez, there is no doubt that this summer they will add one if not two defenders to the squad. If Pique and Puyol can avoid injury next season then the club will not have to rely on Mascherano or Busquets, converted midfielders, to hold the fort at the back.

 

ATTACK:

There is so much talk at the moment about Plan B being required after their failure to break down Madrid’s and Chelsea’s defences but it’s more a case of missing pure finishers like Villa and Pedro to injuries and more adventure required to take shots outside the box, as was done in last season's Champions League final against Manchester United.  The fact is that Barca created so many chances in these last 3 games that had they converted them we could have been talking about an astonishing 6 trophies this season, alas it was not meant to be. But hopefully next season Villa and Pedro will return in top form and with Sanchez and Fabregas fully integrated into the team's pattern of play the attack should be more formidable than ever. Particularly if Messi repeats the form shown this season.  

 

PRESSING:

Apart from their 'tiki-taka' football, Barca is known and respected for their immense pressing tactics that put so much heat on opponents they are forced to make mistakes and result in Barcelona regaining possession. 

This season the players have had to play more high pressure games than any other club. Pre-season games in USA, won the Spanish Supercup after a tough and violent two-legged tie against Real Madrid, won the European Super Cup, won the World Club Cup, and is in the final of the Spanish Cup after knocking out Real Madrid in another two-legged tie  in January. They have also been involved in an immense tussle with Madrid for the league, with every opponent wanting to knock off the greatest team on the planet. With such a heavy workload its no surprise that Barca’s players are suffering from fatigue. In particular to play the high pressing tactic that they specialise in for a 70 game season is almost impossible. Unfortunately it appears that fatigue set in at the worst time of the season, in the crunch games of last week. Without a distracting European Super Cup and World Club Cup to play for next season, avoiding Real Madrid in the Spanish Cup until the final, and even more depth in the playing squad then this season, fatigue shouldn't be a problem next year.  

Taking into consideration the factors above there is no reason why Barcelona cannot remain at the top for a couple more more years yet, maybe in time for Guardiola to return from his sabbatical! 

 

Barcelona's Formula for Success!

It took me a while to think about what should be the first thing I write about in my football blog but in the end the decision was easy-my favourite team Barcelona!- who I had the privilege of seeing live at the Nou Camp this season.

I wanted to write as to why they are so successful, not only about their great players but their tactical style. Any coach/fan or journalist will tell you that they play 4-3-3 but what are the intricacies of the system that makes the perform so well compared to other teams that try and copy the style and formation? For the sake of the article i have broken it into formation, defence, midfield and attack.

FORMATION:

By consistently playing the 4-3-3 system the Barca players are so in tune with it that it often looks like they could play it with their eyes closed. Whilst the thinking of modern coaches is to continually change systems and personnel dependent on the opposition, this tinkering sometimes tends to break up the rhythm of the players, who suffer from lack of familiarity to each other and the changing systems. However Barca only play one way, always looking to attack mostly with a 4-3-3, and although this may make it predictable in some ways it is too difficult to stop due to the level it is played at and the expertise of the players with the system.

Having said that it is notable that Guardiola has changed and chopped the formation this season, mostly due to injuries and also due to the long period of playing 4-3-3. He recognises that his players are tactically intelligent enough to play a variety of systems so as to always keep the opponent guessing. Therefore he has utilised the flexibility of Alves/Iniesta/Adriano/Fabregas to play 3-4-3 or 3-3-4 this season.

DEFENCE: Alves, Puyol, Pique, Abidal
or; Montoya, Mascherano, Fontas, Adriano

Barcelona plays with a zonal defence and their defenders have very quick recovery powers when the opponent is countering. They are extremely intelligent with their distribution, thereby putting themselves under pressure a lot less than other teams who turnover the ball more often.

What makes the centre-back pairing of Puyol and Pique special though is their ability to play the ball out comfortably under any circumstances, the fact that Pique was at one stage the third most successful passer in the 2010 Champions League is astounding! The two are always there as back up to the midfielders to receive the ball back if they are under pressure, with the midfielders knowing that they can rely on them to keep possession. They also complement each other perfectly, Puyol/Mascherano the more abrasive and aggressive of the two and the leader of the defence, Pique the quieter one but with the more effective distribution. Barcelona's insistence to build from the back is also the key factor in maintaining possession.

At the right back position Dani Alves is as an attacking right back as anyone in the world. Not only is he fast which enables him to recover and seldom be out of position when the opponent is counter attacking but his dribbling and the timing of his runs is excellent. So often he ends up on the blind side of the defence, unmarked, and able to receive a pass whilst the opponent is focusing on Barca’s 'tiki-taka' football in the middle or the opposite wing.

Abidal at left back is extremely athletic and versatile, more of a defender than Alves and also able to double up as a centre back, however like his colleague on the right flank, his runs forward are timed exceptionally well. When under pressure they are also comforted that they can play back to a ball playing keeper in Victor Valdes, much like Ajax used to do in the 90’s but not used as often thankfully.

Valdes is a commanding keeper and excellent shot stopper who has saved his team on countless occasions when the opponent has countered, especially in 1 v 1 situations. However, like most non-British keepers he can be weak at crosses at times. His ability with the ball at his feet however is second to none.

Of course the last thing to mention is the collective pressure that Barca puts on the opponent when not in possession, the beauty of it being that it all starts with the attackers and therefore allowing the team to defend high up the park.

When they lose possession the team's clever positional sense and work rate allows the team to press the opposition high up the park, much like the great AC Milan team of the early 90's would do. They hunt in packs and leave the other side of the park free, thereby creating 2 v 1 situations in the immediate vicinity of the ball. By retrieving the ball quickly they can then work on their wonderful possession game again.

MIDFIELD: Xavi, Busquets, Iniesta
or; Thiago, Keita, Afellay

The midfield for Barca is unique in that it has essentially two playmakers. Whereas the trend in world football is to have two defensive midfield screeners with little playmaking ability, Barca has only one: Busquets. And his distribution is in fact immaculate. His covering in front of the defence allows Xavi and Iniesta, two midfielders as skilful and visionary as can be, to roam the pitch and be available not only for passes out of defence but also to link up with the three forwards.

Defensively Xavi will play predominantly on the right and Iniesta to the left but once Barca gets possession they can be found almost anywhere. Xavi's consistent passes to the attacking trio are always a threat, and Iniesta's creativity in the middle adds the decisive and necessary flair in the middle of the park which keeps teams on the back foot, especially when he runs at them. The false No.9, whether its Messi or Fabregas drops into the midfield to mesmerise the opponent with exquisite wall passes and dangerous balls to overlapping full backs or wingers on the run. The smart positioning skills of these players makes it impossible for the opponent to dominate the midfield, hence the vast possession stats of Barca.

Furthermore if you watch the midfielders and forwards closely they are very comfortable with playing a wall pass and making another angle for another pass, thereby creating space and/or allowing the ball to be switched to another attacker or players making the 3rd man run.

ATTACK: Villa, Messi, Pedro
or; Sanchez, Cesc, Cuenca

Barca is unique also in attack and that they actually play with three true forwards. Whereas a lot of teams play 4-5-1 and claim that they do in fact play with 3 forwards when in possession Barca’s wingers play as out and out forwards. The forwards are also versatile to be able to play on either wing or through the centre, which means they can switch during a game to make it had for the opposition to mark them. This is something that was perfected by Johann Cruyff's Dream Team of the 90's, and Guardiola his disciple has carried on the tradition.

In addition to this Barca has perfected movement of the forwards around the penalty box, particularly when the wingers are cutting inside to one of Xavi’s or Iniesta’s through balls. These diagonal runs make it extremely hard for defenders to keep all three strikers marked at all times.

The 'No.9s' role for Barca is not only a finishing one but one that also has to contribute to the link up play. Of course it would be wrong to not mention that Barcelona have the world's greatest player Leo Messi to perform that role. It is worth noting that Barca really became a superpower when Guardiola had the smarts to deploy Messi in this role in the Champions League final of 2009 against Manchester United, thereby throwing off United's centre backs who expected the typical No.9 Eto'o to play there. With Messi dropping into the midfield hole this leaves no one for the centre-backs to mark, whereby they push up and leave the space behind them exposed to a diagonal run from the wingers or a forward run into space from the midfielder.

So in summary, Barcelona is a team with quick recovery skills and work rate in defence, and a flexible, creative team who's excellent sense of positioning and passing skills allows the team to make this great game look wonderfully easy.

VIVA BARCA!