FOOTBALL UPDATES #RESULT VS PHILOSOPHY# FC BARCELONA

Imbalances: Result vs philosophy

Prior to Wednesday’s Champions League clash against FC Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain F.C. had given their supporters plenty of reason to believe that the big-eared Champions League trophy was within striking distance. However, Barça limped their way into a sixth consecutive Champions League semifinal (3-3 on away goals) despite the strong counterattacking performance of PSG. While this defeat is likely to prove a valuable learning experience for them in the future, for Barça, the match threw into sharp relief the pragmatic (albeit slightly bitter) reality of imbalances that exist in the team, as PSG clearly succeeded in disrupting the blaugrana passing game and exposed the limitations of an increasingly fragile Barcelona defense.

PSG’s Formation and Style

Ibrahimovic’s menacing presence allows PSG to play a direct style of football, employing a defensive 4-5-1 formation that often becomes a 4-4-1-1. Compared to Watford and Wimbledon’s direct football of the 1980s, PSG’s reinterpretation is significantly more complex since they incorporate modern elements such as pressing and quick wing play to become a more well-rounded counter-attacking side.
Against Barça, Ibra had the perfect chance to bully his former club’s back four, particularly given Adriano’s unfamiliar position. However, he tended to drop back  into a slightly deeper role, in order to be in a better place to initiate the Parisian counterattack and pass the ball to the PSG wingers. Ancelotti hoped to take advantage of the space left behind the attacking Alves, which eventually led to Pastore’s goal and to a lesser extent wanted Moura to attack Alba in one-on-one situations, as had occurred in the first leg. As a result of Ibra’s positioning, he was often marked by Busquets and not just Piqué and Adriano. When in possession, Busquets had to rush his passes because of Lavezzi’s effective pressing. Without the ball, Busquets had to deal with Ibra’s aerial threat. As a result, Busquets, who is largely responsible for Barcelona’s build-up of play from the back, was overwhelmed and the Barcelona midfield was unrecognizable.

Barcelona’s Struggle

PSG and Barça clearly have contrasting styles of play and the encounter can be rightfully characterized as a battle between Barcelona’s possession and PSG’s counter-attack. However, one of the most interesting statistics of the match (as is often the case with Barça) was possession, with Barcelona holding 61% possession. While it is normal that Barça’s possession is somewhat lower in Champions League games than in La Liga, the return leg showed that the blaugrana are beginning to lose patience in the possession-based philosophy, with several frantic attempts to catch PSG out of position on the break.

Pep often insisted that the players’ belief in the system is almost as important as the system itself. In recent times, Barça have looked unsure as to whether attack or defend. In fact, the Barcelona midfield seems to have reached a turning point:  Should it play more horizontally to try and control the game (at the risk of becoming predictable) or should they pursue a more vertical style of play to allow the forwards more space and opportunity to run at the opposing team’s defense  (even though this means they will have less control of the game and may concede more goals) ?

Re-balancing the Individual and the Collective

Messi may have rescued Barça against PSG but the episode has also highlighted the triumph of the individual over the collective.  As the football romantic Marcelo Bielsa points out:
“Totally mechanized teams are useless, because they get lost when they lose their script. But I also don’t like ones that only rely on the inspiration of their soloists, because when God doesn’t turn them on, they are left totally at the mercy of their opponents.”

Of course, few dare question Pep’s decision of moving Messi into the false 9 position, as this has made him the best player in the world (perhaps of all time). While Messi should obviously play where he is most effective, his role in relation to the rest of the team is unbalanced. The dangerous term ‘Messi-dependence’ is creeping up more frequently than ever before; the shift towards accommodating Messi has become too extreme. Barcelona must redefine Messi’s role within the collective if they are to replicate the brilliant achievements of the Guardiola era, and more importantly, if Barça are to rediscover their beautiful style of play.

Bilardistas and Menottistas: What Direction is Barcelona Going?

The debate between a result-based footballing philosophy and the romantic football ideal is as old as football itself. In Argentina, this division is embodied in the ideas of their two World Cup winning coaches. On one hand are the Bilardistas, named after the results-above-all-costs coach Carlos Salvador Bilardo, who won in 1986. On the other hand are the Menottistas, named after the more romantic Cesar Luis Menotti who won in 1978  in what is considered the last incarnation of “la nuestra”. Uncharacteristically, the blaugrana approach against PSG was more in line with the Bilardista philosophy, though it could be argued that this has been the case for most of this season. Barça was always aware of its defensive weaknesses and injuries, employing a cautious approach that brought them to the brink of elimination.
Throughout Tito’s first season, individual traces of brilliance have masked the team’s collective shortcomings as a unit, in the same way that favorable results have allowed Barcelona to hide the flaws that have been apparent since the beginning of the season.