Past few years we've seen Barca managers turn would-be common sense choices into completely unnecessary mistakes. Why are we re-inventing the wheel with our wingers??
EV shoved Coutinho to be a RM for way too long. Never gave Dembele a chance on the right, shoved him at LW. Insisted on shoving Griezmann to the LW as well. Now with Setien, Griezmann remains as LW and Ansu is now flipped to RW which is completely unnatural for him.
Did we just up and forget the lesson of inverted wingers? Which is maybe THE most popular idea to take hold since the 2000's? Most teams are not out here having grand scientific debates about where to deploy their star wingers, and then going to end up with stupid decisions like Salah LW, Neymar RW, Robben LW, Hazard RW, etc. That is something basic, should be known, and shouldn't have to become a matter of uncertainty or concern. Yet for us, it is, for whatever reason.
We intentionally hamstring Griezmann and Ansu every single game by making it so they can only ever play up to 50% of their level at best, just by sticking them in the wrong spots for no reason. Ansu is CLEARLY way more comfortable and has way more options with the ball at LW, unlike RW where he can only really cross it or pass it back. Griezmann literally has no impact until he cheats his position and comes somewhat inside more to the 9/false 9 area, where he has made plays and scored goals.
Going from 4-3-3 to 3-4-3 has also been an even bigger anchor to our offensive play. Our buildup looks gridlocked, crowded, no motion and no space. Every team worth a damn in Europe plays with 2 wide overlapping fullbacks that generate spacing and allow you to bring the ball forward and then deliver it into a less congested central midfield area. It's way more fluid and the few times we had that width today, we actually penetrated their defense.
Yet here we are with Roberto as RCB, and he's not even taking the throw-ins on that side half the time. Leaving Ansu on an island with the LB to do what? Burn him and put in a cross? Never been his A game, much less at RW.
This team can automatically jump up a level or two just by rectifying those glaring mistakes. Go back to 4-3-3, put Griez at 9 and Ansu at LW. Or Dembele at LW and Griez at RW if we are to try Messi false 9. Vidal should also be starting right now with his form, probably over Arthur. And I'd bench Roberto too but if we go back to 4-3-3 at least he isn't being misused as badly as playing at CB.