DonAndres's Barca

[DonAndres]

For the sweeper to work it can't just be him taking out every attack. Fulllbacks will have to mark the wingers, forward will be marked by the front CB, Busquets marks the #10, Thiago and Iniesta must put pressure on the other midfielders, and wingers will have to mark/press the opposition fullbacks.

In a counterattacking situation the only real applicable ones will be fullbacks marking wingers, CB marking forward, Busi marking the #10, and the sweeper covering the space behind the defense.

 

[jamrock]

For a fomation like that to work the team has to play a perfect game every time

Busquets is in a no mans land the opposing team Am will be in the position that Martinez takes up and the moment he releases his forwards (which he will eventually) the entire team will be of the back foot with pique alone there to defend

2) cant be playing two wing backs that high up and not have a three man defense its a basic of football (its why we played better with abidal who made a back three with pique and puyol when dani went forward) it will leave two much space for two cb to cover, its basically what we have today, except in this case its one, since Martinez is a defacto dm.

If you want to play wingbacks up the pitch, a 352 or 343 could work, its that or you have a team full of usain bolts that are robots and program to make zero mistakes, it that system almost every mistake would be punished by the opposing team

I would say its a good FM formation but even in FM that would get eaten alive.

 

[DonAndres]

They're not going to be playing in the exact same spots for the entire game obviously. If we are defending, Martinez and Pique will drop much deeper and Busquets will be covering/cutting off space for the #10 to play in along with Thiago/Iniesta marking other midfielders. As I said before the system is based on zonal/man marking and if we have to play an offside trap, then the defense can shift to 4 men.

I probably put the fullbacks too high up in the image but in reality Montoya would be playing as a defensive Abidal style fullback and even Alba will be more disciplined in his role so he remains a defender first. If we go for outflanking the opposition in the middle of the game then we'd be pushing Alba up the pitch and making a 3 man back line of Montoya-Pique-Martinez with Busquets covering in front.

 

[BibB]

I like how you've addressed the defence problem through tactics rather than personnel as I agree that tactics are the problem. One question though, do you have faith in Pique as the sweeper? seems like a lot of responsibility for someone who tends to lose focus.

 

[mitkoa7x]

Pique sweeper?

 

[DonAndres]

I do have faith in Pique for the sweeper role. Being back there in all that space in a new role that requires him to be isolated will ask more of him and he will be forced to focus and observe the game while positioning himself continuously. He'd thrive in a role like this and work harder to impress more.

Also, if Pique fails or is rested, we still have Bartra for that role. He has a similar on the ball style and has good positioning to cut out attacking options.

 

[evilhita666]

I think using Mascherano instead of Martinez would be a massive success... Masch has the pace, tenacity and skills to fulfill that role perfectly, not to mention that placing him further away from our goal would solve his positioning issues and would make his ball distribution more effective...

Masch would be collecting the trash right between the CB and the DM, making him a hybrid between those two positions, which I believe is the perfect job for him...

 

[DonAndres]

I think using Mascherano instead of Martinez would be a massive success... Masch has the pace, tenacity and skills to fulfill that role perfectly, not to mention that placing him further away from our goal would solve his positioning issues and would make his ball distribution more effective...

Masch would be collecting the trash right between the CB and the DM, making him a hybrid between those two positions, which I believe is the perfect job for him...

That's actually one of the things that I was thinking about in concern to our defenders various abilities. Since Puyol isn't considered an option for the future, I'd bid Martinez to be starter CB with Masch as backup and Pique to be starting SW with Bartra as backup. I'd give Martinez the starting position over Masch because he has more aerial ability, pace, and youth is on his side so he can develop much more into the role required of him. And honestly considering Martinez's versatility, he can play as a SW too while putting Marquinhos in the CB role. The system forces opposition error as they can't find a way behind our defense.

 

[Gilberto]

Now that we have Neymar, how will your 'Don Andres's Barca' change? Or will neymar take Reus' position and nothing else?

 

[DonAndres]

Now that we have Neymar, how will your 'Don Andres's Barca' change? Or will neymar take Reus' position and nothing else?

It'd just be a change between Reus and Neymar

 

[Hamzah]

Nice idea but wouldn't wrk in reality. If you want a sweeper then play a three man defence with two stopper cb. The massive gaps between centre backs and sweepers would be exploited.

 

[DonAndres]

Nice idea but wouldn't wrk in reality. If you want a sweeper then play a three man defence with two stopper cb. The massive gaps between centre backs and sweepers would be exploited.

Our defenders aren't organized enough and football has changed too much to play the 3 man backline with one sweeper and only two stoppers. That's why you stick one more stopper in front of the sweeper to close down space and the sweeper can take out advanced attacks from a more withdrawn position. If they try too much to exploit the space between stoppers and sweepers by sticking one or two forwards in between, then the sweeper can easily push up to create an orthodox 4 man backline and catch them offside.