Ousmane Dembélé
Banned
[tw]948588222619246595[/tw]
Looks like we'll be sticking with the 4-4-2 even with Dembele at full strength.
Looks like we'll be sticking with the 4-4-2 even with Dembele at full strength.
serghei
Senior Member
I don't get this message. We played 4-3-3 with Dembele vs Juventus and won 3-0. Played 4-3-3 and won 5-0 vs Espanyol. We can play a lot of systems well, but a well oiled 4-3-3 is hard to match going forward.
At home I think we'll play 4-3-3 more often than not.
i_bleed_blaugrana
Senior Member
It makes sense to play both a double pivot and a 4-3-3. Double for away ties, tiki-taka 4-3-3 at home. Tactically EV is an interesting hybrid of our last three (not counting Tito/Roura) managers: Pep, Tata and Lucho. We have Pep’s pressing and organization, Lucho’s directness and Tata’s shape (with how often Iniesta & Cesc started under Tata, we were essentially playing a 4-4-2 back then just more in a diamond than the flat 4-4-2 we see now).
I think what EV has brought that is central to our success however is organization. Tata’s Barça was a mess and after Lucho’s first season (essentially when Messi went central instead of as a RW), we were even more of a mess organizationally. To reiterate, even since Pep’s days, any counter for the other team was accompanied with a sense of dread because of how open we were at the back. Every aerial ball, every odd man break was a heart attack waiting to happen. EV took that fear away. Essentially teams beat us in the past by riding their luck on counters and set pieces and EV’s Barça force teams to break us down with good football. Perfect example is this sort of goal:
[youtube]gcHY8qTYhnA[/youtube]
EV has made it sooo much harder for teams to do that to us now. It’s not Pep’s “brovado football” but with Messi who can create or score a goal out of nothing, we almost don’t need an overtly offensive style at this point in time with the squad we do have. I doubt EV’s tactics will last beyond his tenure here but he has shown shrewd resourcefulness. Brilliantly pragmatic.
Lastly, his comments regarding Dembele indicate more “we aren’t going back to the three free forwards of Lucho’s era,” rather than “I’m sticking to a 4-4-2.”
Serghei, I wasn’t happy about the double pivot initially as well but you have to concede that A) it was the best formation sans Dembele and B) for away ties (particularly in the CL), it’s a great system for us to have a lead during the 2nd leg at home.
I think what EV has brought that is central to our success however is organization. Tata’s Barça was a mess and after Lucho’s first season (essentially when Messi went central instead of as a RW), we were even more of a mess organizationally. To reiterate, even since Pep’s days, any counter for the other team was accompanied with a sense of dread because of how open we were at the back. Every aerial ball, every odd man break was a heart attack waiting to happen. EV took that fear away. Essentially teams beat us in the past by riding their luck on counters and set pieces and EV’s Barça force teams to break us down with good football. Perfect example is this sort of goal:
[youtube]gcHY8qTYhnA[/youtube]
EV has made it sooo much harder for teams to do that to us now. It’s not Pep’s “brovado football” but with Messi who can create or score a goal out of nothing, we almost don’t need an overtly offensive style at this point in time with the squad we do have. I doubt EV’s tactics will last beyond his tenure here but he has shown shrewd resourcefulness. Brilliantly pragmatic.
Lastly, his comments regarding Dembele indicate more “we aren’t going back to the three free forwards of Lucho’s era,” rather than “I’m sticking to a 4-4-2.”
Serghei, I wasn’t happy about the double pivot initially as well but you have to concede that A) it was the best formation sans Dembele and B) for away ties (particularly in the CL), it’s a great system for us to have a lead during the 2nd leg at home.
khaled_a_d
Senior Member
The message is that he need to defend and play within the system, or that is the way I see it.
Dembele can't expect to come and act too fancy and cool to do his defensive duty which has been integral part of every EV system so far, even Deulofeu had to learn how to defend with us
BarçaBarça
New member
Made all the right choices with the cup game today, and with a bit of luck for Busquets or Arnaiz (or if Denis had feet at the end of his legs) we would have won.
He really seems to be getting most of his decisions right!
He really seems to be getting most of his decisions right!
xXKonan
Senior Member
You know I feel more comfortable about him fielding a B team for rotations than I did with Lucho.
Like today against a Celta side who fielded their strongest XI they had at their home Balaídos, a place we struggled mightily in the last several seasons even if we fielded a strong team. despite all that and some of the mistakes we did well enough that we could have even won that game if we had more composure in front of the goal.
Under Lucho, I just didn't have that confidence like we have under Valverde that we can go to a stadium like Balaidos and play for a draw/win.
Like today against a Celta side who fielded their strongest XI they had at their home Balaídos, a place we struggled mightily in the last several seasons even if we fielded a strong team. despite all that and some of the mistakes we did well enough that we could have even won that game if we had more composure in front of the goal.
Under Lucho, I just didn't have that confidence like we have under Valverde that we can go to a stadium like Balaidos and play for a draw/win.
Was surprised to see Celta that weak but credit is due to Barca as well. Can't be a coincidence anymore that this team looks so solid defensively. People talk how Denis, Pique, Vidal, Digne were poor but fail to see the good sides. We pressed and defended well and created more chances than Celta.
vinni
Member
When i saw the lineup yesterday, i thought Valverde was insane. Fielding our B team at Balaídos seems like madness to me. I assumed he would use our A team players away, and more B team players in home match next week. It went fairly well so i can't complain, but i wonder why he did it.
My (bad) theories:
- The club decided we dont care about Copa this year. This seems highly unlikely. We allways want to win everything.
- Valverde assumed Unzue expected a strong lineup so he fielded the B team to suprise Celta. This seems risky concidering the difference between our starters and our bench.
- He saved our A team players. This dosent make much sense since we are playing Levante home this weekend, but maybe Valverde think we can win against Levante in first gear, get the A team going, and trash Celta at home next week. I'm not convinced about this. We are going to Anoeta to play Real Socidad after the second leg against Celta Vigo.
Do anyone else have a good explanation for our line up yesterday?
My (bad) theories:
- The club decided we dont care about Copa this year. This seems highly unlikely. We allways want to win everything.
- Valverde assumed Unzue expected a strong lineup so he fielded the B team to suprise Celta. This seems risky concidering the difference between our starters and our bench.
- He saved our A team players. This dosent make much sense since we are playing Levante home this weekend, but maybe Valverde think we can win against Levante in first gear, get the A team going, and trash Celta at home next week. I'm not convinced about this. We are going to Anoeta to play Real Socidad after the second leg against Celta Vigo.
Do anyone else have a good explanation for our line up yesterday?
henias
New member
He probably doesnt rate Copa as highly as La Liga. We could be against Levante or Las Palmas but he's still gonna field his best 11 even if we are 9 points ahead. That's how highly he rates La Liga.
JamDav1982
Senior Member
From the videos today could have almost picked any formation and set up and claim it is happening with a freeze frame.
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