FC B
Senior Member
We need to rest some players.
Alba, Roberto, Denis should start. Arda and Paco could getbsime minutes too.
Good thing is, Depor played midweek too so they won't be fresh either
+1
+1
serghei
Senior Member
It's not the system that is the problem, it is the type of style that you use, and what priorities do you set. A 3 men midfield can't be better than a 4 man midfield if there is no fluidity and if the players from that 3 men midfield do not work together. A fluid 3 midfield means every player moves according to the position of the ball. If you don't apply that, you'll find that covering the whole width with just 3 players is a major task, close to an impossible one.
Here is a perfect example about how mobile you need to be in order to effectively play with a 3 men midfield. You see Xavi, our RCM, who is now pressuring the area where the ball is played (along with Messi and Pedro). Pedro pressures Di Maria, Messi stops both passing lanes to the CBs here, and Xavi blocks the pass to Benzema. Now watch Busi's position. He is not a DM here. His position is actually the position Xavi usually occupies. So Xavi's movement to the right, is tracked by Busi who now becomes a RCM for this play. But Busi's adjustment, triggers a 2nd positional adjustment from Iniesta. And this sequence of adjustments was an automatism. So you don't see Iniesta staying in his place in the left. He is now playing DM and blocking a pass to Adebayor. If he is not there and Adebayor is free to receive, this is big trouble. So he has moved into a position which is allowing us to block an area that in this moment it is considered more important by Guardiola.
This is why the midfield 3 was working. We always defended in a way which made the opponent pass how we wanted him to pass. For example, one would wonder what the hell is Villa doing there next to Busi, and leaving Ramos open in the yellow circle. The answer is easy. We left that man open because we wanted them to play there. And we wanted them to play there because 1) it's the least dangerous pass that Di Maria can make, and 2) It's a longer pass, and the longer the pass is, the more time we have to close that space (time that the ball is in the air + time it takes for the receiving player to control the ball + time that it takes for him to think about what to do next).
Playing with a midfield 3 means you have to prioritize what spaces you cover no matter what, and what spaces you deem as not as important. Trying to cover as much space with 3 players, as you would with 4 or 5 is a bad tactic. So, bottom line, Barca midfield trio means fluid football, and means constant movement in relation to the ball, not the space. You basically fortify certain zones that you deem essential to control, and you allow your opponent to play where you want him to play. Extremely skilled players were able to find a way out of our pressing traps, but only at times, like Di Maria does here, and with minimal reward. The ball to Ramos here doesn't get you much. Iniesta goes to pressure him, Villa does too, then the movement is basically what you see in the picture, only reversed. A lot of times, from these pressing traps we set up, we won the ball back or forced the opponent into playing a riskier pass.
With Lucho, when one of our 3 players would move, the others would keep their position, resulting in bigger gaps between players which no one had the role to fill. This is one of the reasons for the loss in Paris. PSG midfielders would drag Busi to a side, and then their wing players would win the 1 vs 1 with our players (Gomes/Iniesta/Alba/Roberto) and they would find space right in the middle of the park that nobody closed. But if you play with 4 midfielders, you have a man extra there so there are more chances to close that space quicker.
This is exactly what I'm talking about. Matuidi moves to the position where the ball is, and Busquets follows him. After this happens, Kurzawa here is instructed to attack the space that Matuidi clears for him. How was that possible, you may ask. First, Gomes loses Kurzawa, but this can happen, a 1 vs 1 can always end badly for you, that is why man marking is a dinosaur of defending tactics (and we kind of did some things that looked similar to man marking in Paris). What can't happen though is you letting huge spaces uncovered. In a functional midfield trio when Busi moves to the right, the LCM moves to the center. That's a must and you absolutely need to make sure it always happens. But here it doesn't happen. Busi leaves space, and Iniesta does not position himself to be able to block a possible run in that space. Kurzawa makes the run, nobody stops him, and this picture leads to the 3rd goal by PSG.
But maybe we don't have the legs anymore to play a midfield 3. Maybe Lucho actually told Iniesta to track Busi's movements and close the spaces, but he just can't do it in due anymore, like he used to (first picture). Or maybe Busi following Matuidi is not something that was planned beforehand. Nobody knows exactly. But it does seem that we play in a more rigid way regarding player movement, which results in a stiffer midfield 3, which then leads to problems in the form of big spaces created in vital areas. Zones that, during Pep, were considered first priority when it came to defensive tactics. And for the right reasons.
Here is a perfect example about how mobile you need to be in order to effectively play with a 3 men midfield. You see Xavi, our RCM, who is now pressuring the area where the ball is played (along with Messi and Pedro). Pedro pressures Di Maria, Messi stops both passing lanes to the CBs here, and Xavi blocks the pass to Benzema. Now watch Busi's position. He is not a DM here. His position is actually the position Xavi usually occupies. So Xavi's movement to the right, is tracked by Busi who now becomes a RCM for this play. But Busi's adjustment, triggers a 2nd positional adjustment from Iniesta. And this sequence of adjustments was an automatism. So you don't see Iniesta staying in his place in the left. He is now playing DM and blocking a pass to Adebayor. If he is not there and Adebayor is free to receive, this is big trouble. So he has moved into a position which is allowing us to block an area that in this moment it is considered more important by Guardiola.
This is why the midfield 3 was working. We always defended in a way which made the opponent pass how we wanted him to pass. For example, one would wonder what the hell is Villa doing there next to Busi, and leaving Ramos open in the yellow circle. The answer is easy. We left that man open because we wanted them to play there. And we wanted them to play there because 1) it's the least dangerous pass that Di Maria can make, and 2) It's a longer pass, and the longer the pass is, the more time we have to close that space (time that the ball is in the air + time it takes for the receiving player to control the ball + time that it takes for him to think about what to do next).
Playing with a midfield 3 means you have to prioritize what spaces you cover no matter what, and what spaces you deem as not as important. Trying to cover as much space with 3 players, as you would with 4 or 5 is a bad tactic. So, bottom line, Barca midfield trio means fluid football, and means constant movement in relation to the ball, not the space. You basically fortify certain zones that you deem essential to control, and you allow your opponent to play where you want him to play. Extremely skilled players were able to find a way out of our pressing traps, but only at times, like Di Maria does here, and with minimal reward. The ball to Ramos here doesn't get you much. Iniesta goes to pressure him, Villa does too, then the movement is basically what you see in the picture, only reversed. A lot of times, from these pressing traps we set up, we won the ball back or forced the opponent into playing a riskier pass.
With Lucho, when one of our 3 players would move, the others would keep their position, resulting in bigger gaps between players which no one had the role to fill. This is one of the reasons for the loss in Paris. PSG midfielders would drag Busi to a side, and then their wing players would win the 1 vs 1 with our players (Gomes/Iniesta/Alba/Roberto) and they would find space right in the middle of the park that nobody closed. But if you play with 4 midfielders, you have a man extra there so there are more chances to close that space quicker.
This is exactly what I'm talking about. Matuidi moves to the position where the ball is, and Busquets follows him. After this happens, Kurzawa here is instructed to attack the space that Matuidi clears for him. How was that possible, you may ask. First, Gomes loses Kurzawa, but this can happen, a 1 vs 1 can always end badly for you, that is why man marking is a dinosaur of defending tactics (and we kind of did some things that looked similar to man marking in Paris). What can't happen though is you letting huge spaces uncovered. In a functional midfield trio when Busi moves to the right, the LCM moves to the center. That's a must and you absolutely need to make sure it always happens. But here it doesn't happen. Busi leaves space, and Iniesta does not position himself to be able to block a possible run in that space. Kurzawa makes the run, nobody stops him, and this picture leads to the 3rd goal by PSG.
But maybe we don't have the legs anymore to play a midfield 3. Maybe Lucho actually told Iniesta to track Busi's movements and close the spaces, but he just can't do it in due anymore, like he used to (first picture). Or maybe Busi following Matuidi is not something that was planned beforehand. Nobody knows exactly. But it does seem that we play in a more rigid way regarding player movement, which results in a stiffer midfield 3, which then leads to problems in the form of big spaces created in vital areas. Zones that, during Pep, were considered first priority when it came to defensive tactics. And for the right reasons.
Last edited:
JerseyAddict
Well-known member
Barça must win this one because next round RM goes on ABilbao away game and they could loose there. Then we would be clear away even with their 1 game less.
F
FlaFCB
Guest
[tw]840592890782978048[/tw]
So Neymar has some pain in his left adductor, and Rafinha has gastroenteritis. They're not training today.
I expect a comfortable win tommorrow. The win against PSG gave us a huge moral boost and a lot of confidence on which we should capitalize. Momentum is on our side, Deportivo also played a match midweek so they will be tired. That kind of matches should be routine for us untill the end of the season if we want to win La Liga.
So I hope now :
[formation=barca,6]
Ter Stegen
Mascherano-0-0-Piqué-0-0-Alba
0-0-0-0-0-0-0
0-0-0-Busquets-0-0-0
0-Roberto-0-0-0-Iniesta-0
Denis-0-0-Messi-0-0-Arda
0-0-0-Suarez-0-0-0
0-0-0-0-0-0-0
[/formation]
The Denis-Roberto-Messi trio has some potential. I have few doubts about it !
[formation=barca,6]
Ter Stegen
Mascherano-0-0-Piqué-0-0-Alba
0-0-0-0-0-0-0
0-0-0-Busquets-0-0-0
0-Roberto-0-0-0-Iniesta-0
Denis-0-0-Messi-0-0-Arda
0-0-0-Suarez-0-0-0
0-0-0-0-0-0-0
[/formation]
The Denis-Roberto-Messi trio has some potential. I have few doubts about it !
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