Francesc "Tito" Vilanova

[Paganinisrvnge]

Neymar, Messi, and Alexis are all very fast. Pedro is fast. Alba and Tello are superb fast. Cesc has killer through balls. There's no reason why we shouldn't have one of the best counter attacks in the world in addition to our possession game.

 

[Cule4life]

Neymar, Messi, and Alexis are all very fast. Pedro is fast. Alba and Tello are superb fast. Cesc has killer through balls. There's no reason why we shouldn't have one of the best counter attacks in the world in addition to our possession game.

Yeah. It boggles me why we keep clinging to pure Tiki Taka when the majority of our players strengths lie elsewhere. Its the Xavi influence i guess

 

[Flavia]

Barça was leading for a while as the team with most counter attack goals. So it did happen this season.

 

[footyfan]

I would also like to add that Martino did not face a better Madrid side than Tito. The first time Martino beat them Ancelotti didn't even know what formation to use (Ramos in midfield, Bale unfit). The second time he tried to take the game to Barca and attack which gave Messi oceans of space between the lines. Only the 3th time did he do what Mourinho did all the time against Barca: sit back and counter. And guess what? We lost. Ancelotti has his tactics figured out now against possession teams. Soaking up pressure and counterattacking exactly like against Bayern and in the CdR. Can Martino beat that? Given that it is the same template Atletico Madrid are using and he hasn't beaten Atletico in 5 attempts, I have my reservations.

This. Mourinho's Madrid was built to beat Barca, while Ancelotti was goofing around for much of the first half of the season.
I don't look too much into Tata's positive record vs Madrid. Ultimately when they decided to play a counter-attack game, Martino's team promptly lost the match (to a Ronaldo-less Madrid). Ronaldo would've scored atleast 2-3 of the chances Benzema, Di Maria and Bale missed and the scoreline would've been pretty embarrassing.

 

[Cule4life]

This. Mourinho's Madrid was built to beat Barca, while Ancelotti was goofing around for much of the first half of the season.
I don't look too much into Tata's positive record vs Madrid. Ultimately when they decided to play a counter-attack game, Martino's team promptly lost the match (to a Ronaldo-less Madrid). Ronaldo would've scored atleast 2-3 of the chances Benzema, Di Maria and Bale missed and the scoreline would've been pretty embarrassing.

By the time of second league meeting and the copa final Tata's tactics were discarded long ago. We played "Tiki Taka" not "Tata Taka" against Madrid and lost. Benzema's "chances" wouldnt have been "chances" against any decent defense. Some ppl will say anything to criticise Tata and defend the players and Tiki Taka

"Ronaldo less Madrid"-Madrid play better without Ronaldo as a team

 

[footyfan]

By the time of second league meeting and the copa final Tata's tactics were discarded long ago. We played "Tiki Taka" not "Tata Taka" against Madrid and lost. Benzema's "chances" wouldnt have been "chances" against any decent defense. Some ppl will say anything to criticise Tata and defend the players and Tiki Taka

"Ronaldo less Madrid"-Madrid play better without Ronaldo as a team

As evidenced by the 5-0 thrashing handed out to Bayern.

Also, what is this about Tata's tactics being discarded away a long time ago? Had you ever seen Barca cross as much as they have been doing recently? I suppose Xavi also decided to play Neymar on the right and Iniesta on the left. Even if that were true, would you actually want a pushover coaching your team, especially at this time?

 

[Paganinisrvnge]

Barça was leading for a while as the team with most counter attack goals. So it did happen this season.

Up until January. I wonder why the change.

 

[Cule4life]

As evidenced by the 5-0 thrashing handed out to Bayern.

Also, what is this about Tata's tactics being discarded away a long time ago? Had you ever seen Barca cross as much as they have been doing recently? I suppose Xavi also decided to play Neymar on the right and Iniesta on the left. Even if that were true, would you actually want a pushover coaching your team, especially at this time?

I want Tata out but not because he's clueless but because he hasn't got the cojones to face Xavi and the media.
Just compare how we were playing in the first half of the season compared to now. Our team just looks like a bunch of individuals on the pitch trying different things. Doubt Tata gives them any specific instructions at this point. And the crossing is due to Alves being his usual self plus the team getting frustrated as they can't unlock defenses with Tiki Taka

 

[darthvader7888]

Tata disconfigured the team completely in the 2nd half of the season, whatever was the reason. Tito made Thiago leave. Neither was a brilliant coach, anyway. Lots of problems with both tenures.

Agreed.

 

[Alarcón]

"Tiki-taka" doesn't work because we don't play it properly anymore. Tempo variations, one-twos, probing and moving the ball quickly from side to side to provoke a gap and tire the opponent out, choreographed combinations through the center, high pressure. None of that is there. We've only seen glimpses against Atletico Madrid in Camp Nou after Cesc went off. That was old school Barca. Nowadays Xavi gets the ball, plays a long diagonal to Neymar who then tries to dribble his way into the box. Alternative: Ball goes wide to Alves who crosses it into the box. Rinse-repeat.

Thank you for this post

 

[BerkeleyBernie]

"Tiki-taka" doesn't work because we don't play it properly anymore. Tempo variations, one-twos, probing and moving the ball quickly from side to side to provoke a gap and tire the opponent out, choreographed combinations through the center, high pressure. None of that is there. We've only seen glimpses against Atletico Madrid in Camp Nou after Cesc went off. That was old school Barca. Nowadays Xavi gets the ball, plays a long diagonal to Neymar who then tries to dribble his way into the box. Alternative: Ball goes wide to Alves who crosses it into the box. Rinse-repeat.

Yup. It's actually picked up in the last two games, as Messi has become more mobile. I have to think Messi's low work rate this season is related to his vomiting condition. We aren't being given the full story, but one can't believe it's just being lazy. But that big hole in the middle, along with the Alves/Neymar wing play, has limited real classic tiki-taka this season.

We can see what happens when 1) Messi is mobile in the middle and 2) Alves plays on the ground- it resulted in Messi's goal vs Getafe. Despite the poor result against Getafe, I've enjoyed the past two games more than most this season. Now that Messi is moving again, we're seeing more short passing in between the lines.

 

[footyfan]

Yup. It's actually picked up in the last two games, as Messi has become more mobile. I have to think Messi's low work rate this season is related to his vomiting condition. We aren't being given the full story, but one can't believe it's just being lazy. But that big hole in the middle, along with the Alves/Neymar wing play, has limited real classic tiki-taka this season.

We can see what happens when 1) Messi is mobile in the middle and 2) Alves plays on the ground- it resulted in Messi's goal vs Getafe. Despite the poor result against Getafe, I've enjoyed the past two games more than most this season. Now that Messi is moving again, we're seeing more short passing in between the lines.

Don't think the vomiting has anything to do with his low work rate. He has been doing it for the past 5 years and I've seen it live as early as in 2009.

 

[BerkeleyBernie]

Don't think the vomiting has anything to do with his low work rate. He has been doing it for the past 5 years and I've seen it live as early as in 2009.

It's hard for us on the outside to say. Of course, Barça is not going to disclose exact facts to opponents. Even if he's had some symptoms earlier, it's quite possible their intensity and/or duration has increased, or has a greater effect when he is regaining fitness after injury.

 

[Galning]

The fact that people keep referring to our current system as tiki taka shows that they either don't know what tiki taka is or simply forgot what it looks like.

 

[ebieymjunior]

The fact that people keep referring to our current system as tiki taka shows that they either don't know what tiki taka is or simply forgot what it looks like.

This