Copa semis: Villarreal-Barca 1-3 (2-6 agg.)
- Thread starter Barcaman
- Start date
Pepe Silvia
Active member
Looking forward to this match. At this stage nothing can be taken for granted so I expect to see a strong lineup and tough football. Can't wait.
Well, Atletico and the City against which we played last time are certainly not the kind of teams that ould give us the problems that Bayern or Real would give us.
If you wnt my opinion on the Classico , I believe that Barca was holding its own until Xavi and Suarez got subbed off. Rakitic gave the impression that he was lost in there.
I would deifinitely let him start against teams such as Dortmund, Atletico or Porto in the CL.
My midfield against Villareal :
---------------Busquets-----------------
-------Xavi-------------------Iniesta---
We won 3-1 against Villareal, do you really believe that Xavi and Iniesta are that bad together to make us lose 2-0 or more?
70th minute : Rafinha in for Xavi
80th minute : Rakitic in for Iniesta
Well in the Classico we were holding our own and when Rakitic came in it turned out to be worse.
Xavi didn't play against Malaga and I highly doubt that Rakitic would have had the accuracy and leadership to help the team. He came in and didn't bring anythin special.
If you watch the PSG game we won 3-1, when Xavi came in he brought the game into a whole different level, and he only played 20 mins! ( He was at the origin of BArca third goal) There are plenty of other examples like that.
I don't want to be controversial but to me the potential problem is neither Xavi nor Rakitic but rather Iniesta. His overall performances this season are concerning...
And to those saying that we need to counter-attack Villareal : if we truly are Barcelona, we shouldn't play counter-attacks against Villareal. Our players are skilled enough to totally outplay them.
Ball possession will be key in my opinion. Xavi hardly loses any ball under pressure. If Villareal comes out all guns blazing as some say, they will leave big spaces.
Please, watch this wonderful analysis from Gary Neville, I believe we should play similar to this under pressure :
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x...en-barcelona-real-madrid-on-dec-10-2011_sport
Xavi didn't play against Malaga and I highly doubt that Rakitic would have had the accuracy and leadership to help the team. He came in and didn't bring anythin special.
If you watch the PSG game we won 3-1, when Xavi came in he brought the game into a whole different level, and he only played 20 mins! ( He was at the origin of BArca third goal) There are plenty of other examples like that.
I don't want to be controversial but to me the potential problem is neither Xavi nor Rakitic but rather Iniesta. His overall performances this season are concerning...
And to those saying that we need to counter-attack Villareal : if we truly are Barcelona, we shouldn't play counter-attacks against Villareal. Our players are skilled enough to totally outplay them.
Ball possession will be key in my opinion. Xavi hardly loses any ball under pressure. If Villareal comes out all guns blazing as some say, they will leave big spaces.
Please, watch this wonderful analysis from Gary Neville, I believe we should play similar to this under pressure :
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x...en-barcelona-real-madrid-on-dec-10-2011_sport
KingLeo10
Senior Member
go and watch some footage from 08-09. they won the sextuple because they played whatever style was necessary to win games. only myopic fans equate possession football to barcelona. i equate barcelona to success.
xXKonan
Senior Member
I understand what you're Getting at, But the days of Xavi-Busi-Iniesta are Long gone. Xavi is 35 and his legs are Gone, to even Remotely Defend or Track back and slows the Game way down. Iniesta Is not the same dude he was During the Peak years. And Busi would Be Left exposed to The Xavi-Iniesta Partnership, from Counter attacking teams and I'm Pretty sure Villarreal is not going to sit back and Park the Bus this Game. The Times we played Xavi-Busi-Iniesta resulted in Failure, against Teams that just Parked it and Vs Real who at the time played Fast counter attacks. Peps Possession System+Old Man Xavi and a Declined Iniesta, will Not work anymore against Teams that Sit in their Own Half.
yes but they can always be a pain in the ass and I expect them to be, all of our players will have to be at their best, if they are not we will suffer. Remember that time they parked the bus and we had trouble scoring if not for a deflection from a villareal player? It was at the beginning of the season when we played against them if I remember correctly.
Point is if they find the right balance on when to attack/defend, and if our players arent at their best, we will suffer till the end.
That's why we have to bring the best out of them through tactical adjustments. To me, our ideal midfied would be Rakitic---Busquets----Xavi --> Rakitic can cover up Xavi.
If we play in our "classic" system that rose Barca to glory, it is indeed true that we will encounter the difficulties that you mentioned... without tactical adjustments. Let me give you an example :
Imagine Iniesta has the ball and we are in our opponent's half :
Enrique's system would look like ( IMO) :
----------Pique----------Mascherano--------
-----------------------------------------------
---------------Busquets----------------------
-Alves----------------------Iniesta(b)---Alba--
-----Messi----Xavi-----------------------------
-----------------------Suarez---Neymar------
Here we would clearly have difficulties with counter-attacks
Here are, I believe, the tactical adjustments we could make, given the exact same situation ( Iniesta with the ball at approx. 35-45 meters from our opponent's goal) in order to bring out the best of this midfield :
----------Piqué----------------------Mascherano----
-----------------------Busquets----------------------
------------Alves-------------------------------------
------Xavi------------------------------Alba---------
-----------------------------------Iniesta(b)----------
--Messi------------------------------------Neymar---
----------------------Suarez-------------------------
Now unfortunately I haven't got any app or software to show you the way the players should/ might move but do you get what I mean?
- This system is less vertical but it allows to stretch widely the opponent's defense --> Messi and Neymar are excellent at breaking down defenses like that when they penetrate our opponent's block from the sides.
- Alves and Alba playing a more central role would increase our dominance and avoid har counter-attacks ( Guardiola does the same at Bayern with a very awkward 3-4-3/ 3-5-2 system).
- Iniesta could alway play a diagonal pass towards Xavi to revive the game in case of saturation ( this would imply that Xavi and Iniesta would have the same tasks to deliver) or Busquets can, of course, assist him in transmitting the ball to Xavi.
But here are the ideas that I wanted to point out :
- Villareal's central midfield would be wiiiiide open if they wanted to go out " all guns blazing" --> if we play with those adjusments they MUST park the bus.
- Villareal would be unable to counter from the centre
- This system, contrary to the previous one, is symetrical and doesn't leave any balance issues ( Enrique has been talking about "BALANCING THE ATTACK").
Of course the hardest part of this system would be to switch on the attacks going from backwards but there is no other better player than Xavi and Iniesta at creating space and building the play.
Don't get me wrong, Enrique is an excellent trainer and tactian, in my opinion, and I do support him. But he seems to have written of Xavi's importance. (Xavi was, to me, our best midfielder from October 2014 and January 2015)
I would have LOVED to show it to you with the movements etc... if any of you knows a specific app/software please share it!
Last edited:
beogatts
New member
u may b rite on xavi but we saw RM culdnt beat villareal at home. thts wat im worried abt. to minimize risk, we r hoping for fit players to start. Xavi is an experienced player but less fit IMO due to less stamina. he can move n run but not fast n far enuf.well let us see lucho's strategy for this match then. cant wait.
well let us see lucho's strategy for this match then. cant wait.
Real Madrid has been playing terrible football most of the time. We are not Real Madrid, we Are Barcelona! And I am sur Enrique knows it.
Xavi is certainly not the youngest anymore, but I still remain skeptical about the fact that he decreased that much.
Vilarrubi
New member
IMO Rakitic brings more to the team than Xavi. Xavi brings more possession but that sometimes does us more harm than good.
Xavi is pretty bad at defending.Rakitić on the other hand is great defending,that's the main reason.Xavi days are near end but he can still help the team alot.For me today is a "easy" game.3-1 is good result and i just can't see villarreal doing anything besides some pressure at the begining.
We just need to score first. Lose the first goal and it's a tough night.
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