(Alert: Rant incoming)
I am angry AF now after having watched that shitshow for 90 min.
And there is only 1 responsible for this, it's not the international break, not bad performances from certain players. It's Xavi...
1) You play against a damn low block of 5-4-1, one which many shitty LL teams use or will use against you, and the whole threat of the team is nullified from min0 to min 93. No big chance created, 1 big chance conceded, Mallorca having MORE SHOTS than you,
and make no mistake: if they had better players they could embarrass us with some 3-1 win or more
2) The simple thing that was evident form min.0' Xavi either couldn't see or was seeing but not reacting to:
we can't get in or through them, our possession was sterile AF, and the only way we could see a chance was a moment of brilliance from certain individuals.
This is NOT the way to go if you wanna win lesser opposition consistently. Valverde-esque to say the least
3) Why couldn't we break them?
Look at the positioning here:
That was our game the whole night. A rigid 4-3-3 with the wingers unable to cope with being double marked, with interiors lost and never touching the ball in between the lines, and with fullbacks and CBs practically wasted -> occupying zones where the oppositions was NOT
No way in a million years such rigidity breaks a good low block
4) Compare it with a possible system with 2 attackers (Lewa and an SS like Ansu or Ferran) wingbacks and 3atb:
See the difference?
In this one, we don't try to play AROUND them anymore, but THROUGH them: our players simple populate AREAS of the pitch that need presence, and were left empty with the rigid 4-3-3.
It also pins Mallorca backline, as they have to worry about 2 people running behind their back, it gives leeway to our wingbacks to play 1v1 since their RM and LM will hesitate to double down and leave interiors free to attack directly their backline
5) You can't fail to see all that and allow the game to simply go on with so many pathogenies in our tactical approach.
But even if you fail to do that:
WHY ON EARTH are you making FIXED subs all the time?
They are SET and STONE no matter the game, not matter the tactics. It's always Pedri or GAvi in for the md that has started instead of them, always RAphinia in for the LW that has started instead of him, and something similar at the back when we play full force.
That's just sad.
A coach should be able to pick the underperforming player EACH and EVERY time, and sub him no matter where he is in the pecking order.
PS: I still have great doubts if Xavi is the man for the new Barca project.
Great in being a leader and an idol for players, great in talking about our philosophy, great in calling in transfer targets and convincing them to join.
But all that could have been done by an SD and not the team's coach. The most important thing is being an astute tactician, and I have serious doubts Xavi is one right now...