FC Barcelona Tactics

[yusuf]

love the analysis irv but i would go with gabi at CB ahead of marquez and go with a midfield of yaya-xavi-pedro mid with henry messi and ibra up front, we need all our guns up for the match and pedro is good enought with possession to play the mid

 

[Ryan_Cule]

v Inter. I was going to put this in the FCB v Inter thread, but f**k me if the dummies don't rule that roost.

this is going to be a horribly tough game. I have no idea what Mourinho will do, but this match will show his genius. If all goes according his intelligent plans, he will earn victory and cement a multi-million, multi-year contract offer from Liverpool and Real Madrid. obviously he will think about parking a bus in the 18 yard box, but I feel that he will press us and use the tireless Eto'o to force the defense in to punting the ball upfield. I wouldn't be surprised if he tried to use Cheslea's tactics in the first leg of last year's semi where they shut us down and created two/three chances. Much like the tactics he employed to success vs us when he was manager. I'm sure Mourinho use a combination of players to mark Xavi and limit his passing options. I don't trust Keita to be able to fill that role to help Xavi. I would much prefer Toure and Busquets in the midfield with Xavi. I've been trying to figure out how Pep could use Pedro and Thierry (maybe put Pedro in the midfield) ... thought about something like:

----------------------- VV
-- Alves ---- Rafa --------- Pique ---- Abidal
--------------------- Toure
------- Xavi --------------------- UHHH*
--- Messi --------------------------- Pedro
--------------------- Ibrah

UHHHH = Maxwell ... or Toure and then replace Toure @ DM with Busquets? or ...

----------------------- VV
-- Alves ---- Rafa --------- Pique ---- Abidal
--------- Toure ----------------- Maxwell
---------------------- Xavi
----- Pedro -------------------------- Ibrah
--------------------- Messi

I feel as though Leo would be better leading the line because his pace will allow him to run at defenders, beat the offside trap and fill holes for Maxwell, Ibrah, Pedro or Xavi to infiltrate. It also allows two outlets for the defenders when Inter pressure. If need be, Pep can switch to a 4-3-3 with Maxwell off and Thierry on and Pedro switching to Maxwell's position. I'm actually horrified at our lack of attacking options from midfield. Aside from Iniesta we have Keita (who hasn't impressed as an attacking option since the first few weeks of the season), and the unproven youngsters who I'm sure that Pep will not trust (and please, no comments about buying Cesc. You can quote this post and put it in the Cesc thread and talk about how badly we could have used him, but not here). Anyway ... based on form and function, I think we should go with the 4-2-3-1 and Leo leading the front line. If the Ghostfaced Killah were healthy I'd advocate our tried and true 4-3-3. But since we have no one to support Xavi, I think Pep should adjust and go with the functional 4-2-3-1.

anyway ... I'm confident that we can overcome the tie, but I feel that the only way possible is 2-0. We need a goal before or right after HT. I would prefer one post-HT so that Mourinho will have to re-adjust his tactics on the fly and counter-act whatever memorable and insightful HT speech he would have given. Then we need to crack the Inter-safe. The longer this match goes 0-0 the more confident Inter will grow, the more resolute their defense, the more likely they will win. Our team needs to weather the early storm, stay composed at the back, and pass pass pass.

Absolutely spot on write up Irv . Good that you posted it here & I hope they neglect this thred & won`t spoil the fun here .

I would go with the second line up with the mixture of this formation -

---------------------- VV
-- Alves ---- Rafa --------- Pique ---- Abidal
--------------------- Toure
------- Xavi --------------------- Maxwell
--- Pedro --------------------------- Ibra
--------------------- Messi

-
I am sure Jose will play offside trap. Every away team plays to secure their own ass. We did it @ San Siro & we did good for the quite a few time until....... well anyways , Messi should be given his space , with Ibra upfront its impossible. And how much Ibra can pull against the offside trap is doubtable !

I would still like a

----pedro ----------------------- bojan

----------------Messi Start up & we can bring in Ibra later on. But then again , Inter defenders are physical & they will be up against us & would be violent and we all know a little bit push & Bojan can`t hold it off. We need a big devil figure like of Ibra`s .So considering this , Ibra will start for sure.

There shouldn`t be any doubt about Abidal & Toure. Both must start.

And for the game`s sake, we must use our flanks as much as we can , Inter plays more centralized way. Jose will rely on One golden technique ! He will say to his players , RUN RUN RUN , behind the ball + maximum 3 players no matter where ever the ball is & that is numerical superiority , if they can do it rightly , it would make things very tough for us considering we will try to play a same game like that of.....To confuse them , we have to switch areas , Xavi is the Brain .... he must throw the game to every corner of the pitch .....I am expecting an early goal & then things will be dirty ...

but we can hope ...............

 

[lenuam]

Why would you want to see Maxwell playing in midfield? Although he hasn't done a bad job, he wasn't too convincing either, in my opinion.
I'd prefer to have Busquets in midfield instead of Maxwell.
And what about Marquez? I'd definitely prefer seeing Milito next to Piqué...

 

[IrvDizzle]

Why would you want to see Maxwell playing in midfield? Although he hasn't done a bad job, he wasn't too convincing either, in my opinion.
I'd prefer to have Busquets in midfield instead of Maxwell.
And what about Marquez? I'd definitely prefer seeing Milito next to Piqué...

Well I don't think that Sergi is what we need to crack the Inter defense. We need someone who will make runs in to the defense and try to draw defenders away from Leo/Ibrah/Pedro/Xavi/Henry. Abidal can do that, but there is no telling how he will play, and I'd rather his pace on the flank to cover Maicon.

As for the Rafa v Milito debate, I still believe that Rafa is a better compliment to Pique compared to Milito. Although if Milito starts I'd have no reservations. I'd feel that Rafa and Pique would work better together because they've played so well together and so often over the past 2 seasons.

 

[House of Flies]

Tactics wise... It was a game for Barcelona however the crossing was a major let down. Mourinho's team was completely satisfied with the game going on to the flanks because nothing came out of it. Our long shots were a disaster. Tactically, we limited Inter in attack but sadly, they didnt need to attack.

Kudos Mourinho for teaching your men to defend like that.

 

[IrvDizzle]

OK ... so ... I've had some time to think about this.

First; Pep's subs: Bojan, Pedro, and Maxwell. Really, who else could he have subbed in? There was no central midfielder to play. If Hleb doesn't have his hissy fit after the CL game last year, I guarantee you he is playing for us consistently down the stretch. He probably would have started for us today. This failure today came down to the failure of the offseason. Blew most of our cash on Ibrah, wasted money on CNote, and that was it. No LW, no CM/AM. Pep has done what he could do throughout the year, but this squad is incomplete. Today it showed.

Second; the tactics: Mourinho studied our team inside out and deployed his men to counter. with the limited resources/injuries we had, today's result was always going to be more difficult than it should have been. While I lauded Pep for experimenting with the formation (something I still believe will help FCB in the future) he didn't really adjust the style of attack. I never thought about how our team did not overlap on the wings. And I just thought of something.

What if this season was a grand experiment? Pep switching formations and starting players out of position/role. What if all of that was so that Pep would be able to gauge what our team needs in the offseason, and give Rossell & Co a clear understanding of he needs and what type of player could fill that position?

Ok back on topic: This was a master-class from Mourinho. Sun Tzu always said to 'know thy enemy' and Mourinho surely did today. Pep almost got the 2-0 result he needed, but alas it was not meant to be. You know what, if Pep is using this season as a grand experiment to make this team even stronger than last season in the long run, then I'll take this loss gladly. Bring on the Yellow Submarine.

 

[Pepe Silvia]

OK ... so ... I've had some time to think about this.

First; Pep's subs: Bojan, Pedro, and Maxwell. Really, who else could he have subbed in? There was no central midfielder to play. If Hleb doesn't have his hissy fit after the CL game last year, I guarantee you he is playing for us consistently down the stretch. He probably would have started for us today. This failure today came down to the failure of the offseason. Blew most of our cash on Ibrah, wasted money on CNote, and that was it. No LW, no CM/AM. Pep has done what he could do throughout the year, but this squad is incomplete. Today it showed.

Second; the tactics: Mourinho studied our team inside out and deployed his men to counter. with the limited resources/injuries we had, today's result was always going to be more difficult than it should have been. While I lauded Pep for experimenting with the formation (something I still believe will help FCB in the future) he didn't really adjust the style of attack. I never thought about how our team did not overlap on the wings. And I just thought of something.

What if this season was a grand experiment? Pep switching formations and starting players out of position/role. What if all of that was so that Pep would be able to gauge what our team needs in the offseason, and give Rossell & Co a clear understanding of he needs and what type of player could fill that position?

Ok back on topic: This was a master-class from Mourinho. Sun Tzu always said to 'know thy enemy' and Mourinho surely did today. Pep almost got the 2-0 result he needed, but alas it was not meant to be. You know what, if Pep is using this season as a grand experiment to make this team even stronger than last season in the long run, then I'll take this loss gladly. Bring on the Yellow Submarine.

I don't know Irv. Messi in the midfield is a disaster unless he's charging from the wing. And against Inter's defensive wall? Yaya was up way to high. Ibra did his best but without Iniesta to supply the through ball on the left, Pedro was forced to try and create when he's clearly more apt at finishing. Bojan is great in his own right but he was getting thrown around and we don't have "Henry" available to muscle his way around in the box and open up space. They clogged the box so much that we were forced in the fading minutes to pass outside the box with no clear long range shooter in site. Really bad tactically by Pep. Should have stuck to our original formation for this one. I love Pep but it was his undoing tonight mentally that caused our lack of explosive fire power to become clear.

 

[wadm]

But Ibra was playing perfectly fine for the first half of the season. What has happened since then? Has he run out of gas?

And I agree with Beast that he should play on the left. When he plays in the middle it becomes way too static and is often faced the wrong way. Don't know if you guys know what I mean

well u r right, but if ibra plays in left, we lose his scoring 2, ibra got great long kicks, but he is better in front of ball, maybe, they would hav 2 open spaces so he can play and not only touch the ball

 

[BigChill]

Possible tactic for El Barca ??

Congratulation for Spain and this is a victory for El Barca due to majority players in Spaniard were from Barcelona precisely from La Masia ( Is Villa a La Masia too ?? ). Considering the Spaniard's achievement in WC 2010 using the 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3 formation, this is a question for me 'cause it's different from the usual Barca's formation. I think it makes sense after what had happened to UCL semifinals against Inter. They did good job like stopping Messi and the other player's movement. So I don't think either that this 4-3-3 is useless or questioning Pep's capability to make some tactic for breaking the opponent's ultra defensive formation.
So this is my opinion. I'll use 4-2-3-1 or extremely 4-1-4-1 with all AMs. To this formation, I'll put Xavi in the middle and Iniesta aside. The other AMs must be skillful as them.But it's too risky due to having the only DM so Xavi can also defend against the opponent's attack and the other AM must do the same way as him.The result is two defending AMs in the center,and the other pure AMs in the left right side.

 

[Hamzah]

with 4-2-3-1 pedro won't fit in the team

 

[BigChill]

I just want to continue my words. This 4-1-4-1 or 4-2-3-1 formation may be not suitable for Barca but Spain.OK !That's not problem but I want to make sure that the coach must change playing tactic even though 4-3-3 formation was still good for me. It must be done if they have to face the ultra defensive team just like Inter.

 

[Trequartista]

I am sure that we will swicth between our classic 4-3-3 and the 4-2-3-1/4-4-2/4-2-4 formation we played before Iniesta's injury
1-4-3-3:No Problem with our attack or our midfield,the main question now is out attack,Playing Messi on the right wing may restrict Messi's qualities,Messi at a false number nine will mean more goals from him but not being involved up.David Villa is a centre forward but didnt score a single goal playing centrally and scored five playing as a Henry-esque winger,Zlatan Ibrahimovis will play only centrally but he should be given more freedom to drop deeper creating space for Villa,Messi,Bojan can play anywhere in attack,Pedro can play on both flans,we have the best attacking line in the world.The first choice will be a Messi-Zlatan-Villa,the second one Pedro-Messi-Villa and so on.
2-The 4-2-4/4-2-3-1/4-4-2 formation,This Formation is the best formation we can use but unfortunately it can work only against weak teams because against a strong team having one less player in midfield will mean less possesion,Iniesta will shine as a left midfielder,Pedro will play as a more attacker but will have more defensive duties,Xavi-Busquetes partenership will be a great one,We can get the best out of Messi as a second striker/classic no 10,Villa and Ibra can be great in this formation as both are not the best as an out and out striker and having Messi beside them will give them more freedom to move rather than being isolated as a CF,If Messi is out,Zlatan can do his role,Bojan also can play a lot.

 

[JCCR_FCB]

Well, it's better wait that Pep have all players plus new signs... and then he might have a solid base to discuss tactics...

 

[Trequartista]

Well, it's better wait that Pep have all players plus new signs... and then he might have a solid base to discuss tactics...

We will not sign players who will disturb our tactics,Its highly likely that we will sign a direct deplacement for Yaya and another CB.

 

[tk_TommyKim]

We're obviously going to play a 4-3-3 like how we've always had done for the past howmany years....