We are much more direct when opponents play a pressing game. This is very obvious to me. Instead of trying to retain possession Tito is trying to make use of the extra spaces which teams leave behind when they press high up the pitch immediately. Instead of cooling things down in midfield and stringing 20 passes together as under Pep the ball now goes immediately to the forwards (who then lose it much quicker). Tito is even implementing counter-attacking mechanisms. The counterattacking move started by Pique in the 91th minute against Athletic is something that didn't exist under Pep. Normally we would rather allow the opponent to regroup and start a new attacking move. Slowing the game down deliberately. If you don't notice this, rewatch the games. It's obvious that we have much more "end-to-end" games under Tito IMO. Osasuna, Rayo, Betis ...
In theory this has a lot of advantages. But in practise we can't play like that (maybe it will improve with time). These players need possession and control of the game at all times. If we try to play a transition game we suck. It only leads to unnecessary giveaways which puts our defense under pressure.
We are NOT scoring more goals this season. That's simply wrong. Last season at this point after 15 games we were on 51:8 goal difference. This season it is 50:17. We aren't even scoring much more goals than back in 2008 / 2009, despite Messi more or less doubling his goal tally since then. 2008 / 2009: 46:9. There is only 1 noticeable difference and it's a worse defense (as a whole, not the backline) and luck which we lacked last season (playing in a swamp in Bilbao is very unlucky tbh, nevermind all the ridiculous refereeing decisions).
What the ...?! That was obviously a sarcastic comment for people who think they are tactical geniuses when they point out Pedro's and Alexis' "workrate" and justify a starting spot even when they put in 10 meter high crosses and don't score for 19 games in a row as forwards for Barcelona. I just wonder where Pedro's famous workrate was when Ruben Castro needed 5 seconds to take a shot and Pedro was still nowhere to be seen tracking back on that flank. Remember who was in our penalty box winning the ball back when Rio Ferdinand claimed "hand ball" in the CL final towards the 90 minute mark? It was David Villa. But hey. Pedro = workrate, waving around with his arms. Villa = 31 year old striker who doesn't have the legs anymore to play football.
I don't think counterfact has any place in football debates. You saying that our style has changed and then saying we suck with that style is horribly counterfact. It is counterfact to statistics, and it is counterfact to results.
That being said, your arguments that a more direct style leads to more end-to-end stuff is partially true, but what must also be accounted for is the position of the turnovers of the ball. When we are playing more balls in a vertical direction, we generally lose the ball higher up, in a place with lower risk. The reason for the amount of goals not being higher is the number of goals we have scored at home, against parked busses. Generally, opponents press us more when we play away, which is exactly when we have played more direct and we have scored 29 goals in 8 away games.
Your last lines are a bit pompous. "who think they are tactical geniuses". Relax and argue your point. Pedro has a tremendous work rate. This has nothing to do with his arms waving around, as you so degradingly put it. There are nuances and shades of grey in football. It doesn't have to be either/or. Saying Pedro has a better workrate/energy/defends better/however you like to put it does not mean that Villa doesn't "have the legs anymore to play football". It doesn't mean that Villa isn't willing to work, isn't able to work or anything like that. It just means he is not as good at meeting the requirements of the defensive and transitional phases of Barcelona. This is my opinion and likely Tito's opinion. If you want to argue against that stance, fine - but don't doubt that Tito is playing Pedro and Alexis over Villa on the basis of a footballing and tactical opinion, rather than on the basis of some Villa-hating conspiracy.
