Valencia 2-2 Barcelona: Emery gets the better of Guardiola early on, but Barca fight back
The first half line-ups
Cesc Fabregas’ goal secured a point for Barcelona, but they were the weaker side in the first half.
Unai Emery tried his trick from last season against Barcelona, fielding two left-backs in Jeremy Mathieu and Jordi Alba down the left, in order to deal with the forward runs of Dani Alves. Jonas dropped out accordingly, and Bruno Saltor was replaced by Miguel.
Pep Guardiola went for a 4-3-3ish shape, albeit with Alves pushed very high up the pitch. David Villa was only on the bench.
Valencia dominated the first half by doing two things well – first, pressing Barcelona, squeezing the play and forcing the away side into errors in possession. Second, by attacking Barca in behind Alves and creating three good chances through this route.
The battle down Alves’ side
This was the key factor in the game. Emery’s double left-back strategy had worked well at the Camp Nou last year – Valencia scored with a break through Mathieu, and were 1-0 up at half time until Barca staged a second half comeback. The idea, of course, is that because Alves’ runs are so dangerous, by fielding a defensively-aware player on the left of midfield, you have a player who is comfortable tracking back to his own defensive line.
Of course, if you’re Alves, you’re going to test this as much as possible to try and force Valencia’s players towards their own goal. Therefore, Alves played high up the pitch, on the right-hand touchline, to push Mathieu deeper and deeper. The problem was, Mathieu was Valencia’s biggest threat going forward. He constantly broke forward and exploited the space in behind Alves, setting up two goals and producing a third great chance, where Roberto Soldado missed an open goal. But how could he do this, if he was meant to be tracking Alves?
Guardiola’s error
Well, as it turned out, he wasn’t. Pedro seemed to start on the right wing but quickly switched the left, and the rest of Barcelona’s fluid front three consisted of Lionel Messi playing a false nine role, and Cesc Fabregas buzzing about between the lines. Barcelona were essentially playing with no right-winger, and therefore Alves didn’t need to be watched by Mathieu – Jordi Alba could deal with him perfectly well. After all, it’s not like you particularly need to double up on Alves, you simply need someone who can track his run. Barcelona had no winger to bring Alba inside, and therefore he could track Alves.
Mathieu, then, was free to bomb forward. This dragged almost Barcelona’s entire team out of shape. Javier Mascherano had to come across to right-back, then Carles Puyol had to shuffle over, then Eric Abidal had to move to centre-back, from where he scored an own goal, then made an error for the second, scored by Pablo Hernandez coming in at the back post. With Abidal coming inside, Hernandez had to be dealt with by Seydou Keita, whilst Sergio Busquets tried to drop in and help out in the centre of defence too. Barcelona were essentially having a chain of four players (plus Busquets) all trying to cover the position vacated by another.
This had an impact higher up – Xavi Hernandez was left on his own (and what is Xavi without short passing options?) and there was no connection from defence to midfield. Barcelona’s only hope of a goal was a Messi ball through to Fabregas or Pedro, and that’s where their first goal arrived from, through the latter.
Elsewhere, Valencia were coping well in midfield. Hernandez tucked in and played narrow, picking up Keita to make up the numbers in midfield, safe in the knowledge Abidal wouldn’t be attacking much. Adil Rami was fortunate not to get a second booking for bringing down Messi, but was otherwise impressive in coming up the pitch to him and Fabregas, largely keeping them quiet.
Second half
The second half line-ups
Guardiola had to change things for the second period, and he did. Pedro came to the right, with Fabregas initially floating in from the left. Alves was told to stay at right-back and not attack at all, and Barcelona kept it tight for the first ten minutes of the second half. Emery brought on Tino Costa to replace David Albelda, who had been excellent but had picked up an injury.
The story of the second half is best told through substitutions and the resulting formation changes.
1. Guardiola made two substitutions. Adriano came on for Pedro, playing on the right-hand side. This was a slightly surprising move, and meant that there were four full-backs (Adriano, Alves, Mathieu, Alba) all down the same flank. Villa also came on for Keita, with Fabregas dropping deeper.
2. With Barca enjoying more possession than in the first half, Guardiola felt able to make a more attacking move. Thiago Alcantara came on for Puyol. This could have meant Busquets going to centre-back, but in fact he shuttled between a centre-back position and a holding role. When Barca had the ball, he was in midfield, with a lopsided back three of Alves, Mascherano and Abidal behind.
3. Seeing that Busquets was attempting to play ahead of the defence, Emery took off Canales and brought on a support striker, Jonas, who could get forward and link up with Soldado, therefore pushing Busquets back. Jonas wasn’t particularly good at this role, however, and Barca dominated possession to allow Busquets into midfield.
4. Now Barcelona were using Alves very deep – almost as a right-sided centre-back – plus had Adriano ahead, not the greatest attacking threat (although he was key in this fixture last year) Emery could put on a true winger down that side. Pablo Piatti arrived, in place of Mathieu who had tired. Valencia were trying to win the game.
The formations then looked like the diagram above. Barcelona in a 3-4-3 diamondish shape like they used against Villarreal, with Valencia a 4-2-3-1 with an offensive tilt.
How did Barcelona get back into the game? Their dominance of possession was key, with a slight overload in the centre of midfield. Messi came into that zone unmarked and played some superb passes, including the assist for Fabregas, and later slid a great ball out to Villa on the left. Valencia tired, as they have done a couple of times this season, and failed to put pressure on the man on ball late on, allowing Barcelona to pass their way through the defence. In the final moments, it was the home side hanging on.
Conclusion
Emery won the pre-match tactical battle, but Guardiola used his substitutions more wisely to get back into the game.
It was surprising to see Barca so vulnerable early on, and maybe Guardiola got a little carried away with Alves’ abilities. He has the energy to cover the flank by himself, but that doesn’t mean he can be used 2 v 1 – because one of the players will get goalside of him and break quickly. He needs a wide player ahead of him who will come inside and open up space.
Emery should be praised for his starting tactics, as well as some brave substitutions late on to try and force Barca back. Ultimately Messi’s quality was the biggest factor in getting the away side back into the game – and there’s no shame in that. Ultimately, this was a tactical victory for Emery.
Immensely entertaining game! (And a good write-up as well, i found myself somewhat confused as to what Pep was trying to pull in the first half)
To be controversial, i believe the Mestalla game(s) to be the hardest fixture(s) Pep has faced so far in his reign. Obviously Madrid has more quality, but Emery has often found ways to one-up Pep the in this particular fixture. The 0-1 last year was somewhat fortunate as well.
But what i really want to stress is that La Liga has responded well to the Madrid/Barca duopoly in this season so far. Which is good for the competition as a whole.
Though i mourn the two lost points today, i’m kinda glad that it isn’t all 8-0’s.
Indeed, 0-0 the season before, wasn’t it? Emery and he like to have a good tactical battle, I think they have a lot of respect for each other. Two seasons in a row (and in fact, four games in a row), Guardiola has had to change things significantly in the second half to get a result.
no, it’s 0-1
The season before = 2009/2010 Mestalla game.
Yes, it was 0-0.
It’s a little bit strange to use a 3-man defence vs 1 striker and 2 wingers, with a left full-back Pablo wouldn’t be lonely in the 2nd goal… I think that Keita is not the appropiated player to get back and cover Pablo in counter attacks of Valencia. With Alexis (injured) and Alves, Barcelona have been threatened a lot Mathieu and Alba.
I agree, I wouldn’t call Alves a defender in the starting Barcelona formation. Because of the behaviour Pep told Alves to exercise, it was a 3 man defence and it misfired quite as it should in a theory (3v3 at the back).
Yes, i think about that too, I am a little bit Bielsa-minded, and I saw a 3 vs 3 today… Doing it vs Villarreal was a great decision (for me, logical) because you had the spare man.
Keita is not the appropriate player for anything.
true, seems he is getting worse n worse
What about Unai Emery taking mourinho’s place in madrid next year if mourinho fails to (really) win again?
I think about it… Emery is one of my favourite coaches. It would be doing great things with Silva, Mata and Villa… This season, finally, he has solved defensive problems with Rami and Ruiz (both will be top-class defenders), and Ever Banega and Canales have so much talent.
wont happen. he’s being talked of as De Bosque’s replacment. plus, his Basque pride wont let him take on the King’s team
For the record, Villa came for Pedro while Adriano came for Keita, but I guess ZM said otherwise because of a tactical meaning/effect of these substitutions.
Its strange that Guardiola didn’t lose by more given that he’s only one man!!
haha I noticed that too
I was sad when I refreshed the page and it changed to “Barcelona”. I think Valencia vs Guardiola makes for a more interesting headline…
Barcelona should fire Pep and hire Rafa!
ignorance at it’s finest!
Lol,A good terse response!
Perhaps he had his toungue stuck firmly in his cheek.
At least we’d see a lot more of that deep Barca bench (Sanchez/Affelay). I’m still not sure why these players go to Barca instead of a not-quite-as-big club. Unless they want to do a Mascherano and play in whatever position is available…
Isn’t it time Guardiola thought a bit about the right-back position ? Alves making runs from deep is terribly effective to stretch the opposing defense, but now, everybody’s caught up and tries to deal with it. And Barça look less fluid when the find-Alves-with-a-through-ball option is out.
Wouldn’t it be a good idea to try another player at that post ? One more versatile than Alves (ugh, those crosses ! Ugh, those terrible decisions in the last third he sometimes makes !) ?
Enter here, Gregory Van der Wiel.
Nope, pushing Alves only backfired because of removing a winger (Pedro) from the right side of the pitch.
I was speaking generally of Alves’ case, not (or at least not only) of his particular performance tonight.
Then again, I have to disagree with your statement, that other teams have learned how to cope with Alves.
Follow every single minute of Van der Wiel and compare it with Alves… I am a little bit tired about this fashionable players that in the end are not ‘’so so so” good as his ”best moments” youtube video show. If VdW is comparable to Alves I resist to think that Wenger, Fergie, Mourinho, Pep…etc haven’t seen this. BTW I respect your opinion.
I respect your opinion too. The point is, I haven’t written a single word about VdW. I’m not comparing them. I am just saying Alves does an excellent job for Barcelona.
Agree, Alves has a particular role at Barca and he fulfills this role exceptionally.
Sorry, I was to referring to Angarwaen opinion!
Problem isn’t Alves crosses, problem is Barca’s front line is a tad short. So the crossses need to do magic to get into the head of the forwards.
So a draw at a difficult ground and Pep should start looking ahead to transfers? Jeesh, you people are crazy. Too much FIFA or ProEvolution or whatever heck else game there is. It was just some tactical mistakes which made the game so interesting. (not that I’m really complaining) It would have been a great game anyway.
Emery is a smart coach. Lets hope he continues to get his tactics right not only for Barca but for other teams as well. Where were his tactics last season when Madrid came to town? All in all I think its more Pep’s mistake in the first half than Emery’s so called genius. Even I could have guessed he was gonna do that. He did it last season at the Camp Nou and at the Mestalla and got fairly good games albeit for some Barca individual brilliance in the end. Pep should have known this. I thought he would have remembered and reverted back to the normal 4-3-3 or a more disciplined 3-4-3 with 3 static defenders at the back. Instead he comitted tactical suicide and was lucky that Soldado didnt punish the team for it. That miss was awful by the way.
Oh cmon guys, stop already with Soldado. Valdes has slightly touched the ball, and changed its direction so that Soldado simply couldn’t adjust his leg in time.
good article ZM and thanks for covering interesting side tonight keep it up
I actually thought Adriano did really well when he came on, providing genuine width on the right hand side. On an unrelated note, does anybody know what Jordi Alba was sent off for?
In theory, to protest to the referee… it was an unnecesary red card that helped Valencia, Barcelona lost a minute on extra-time…
People, Alves didn’t start as a right back yesterday! Guardiola went again with a 3-4-3 (or 3-3-1-3 or 3-1-3-3 – as you prefer) and Alves was the right wing! I couldn’t believe all those half-time messages blaming Alves for poor defending. He wasn’t supposed to defend Mathieu: it was Mascherano’s duty. He was the right-back until half time, when Guardiola realized and fixed the problem after being outplayed from that flank.
Guardiola used this system against Osasuna, for instance, and he has played three at the back out of four league games. With Fàbregas he really wants to exploit possession in midfield and he’ll usually play with three at the back this season.
Spot on, and this is why Barca suffered on the right,the was no right-back because the back three doesn’t stretch that wide. Also the early crossing by Valencia was a good tactic as this made sure that the Barca bakcs had no time to organise their defense.
I like that Pep stuck with a 3-4-3 for the duration of the game and still managed to get away with a draw against the currrent top team in the league.
Adjustments will be made and, as a result, this system will become more refined.
Interesting to see that Real Madrid and Barcelona are both struggling to pick up consistent wins so far. I would absolutely love it if this trend continued, but unfortunately, I have a nagging feeling that these dropped points are producing only a false hope – hope that will be extinguished sooner rather than later.
I agree 100% with the author of this article. Although I think Emery did a mistake by bringing jonas for Canales, as it was Soldado’s lack of attacking threat in the 2nd half and he didn’t track back enough, so Jonas should have replaced Soldado while keeping Canales. This would have added a renewed energy into attack and with Canales still in Banega would have someone to pass with.
SlickR from Loco? Hello mate
It’s pretty clear that Pep is trying to make optimal use of Fabregas by getting him as close to Messi as possible. their mutual understanding and Fabregas scoring record justifies that aim. However, the Cruyff philosophy that Guardiola is following dictates that you can only field a #10 when you’re using a diamond on midfield. And that’s what Pep is doing right now. The consequence is three the back.
The 3-4-3 worked (as it should) against Villarreal’s two-striker set-up. It also worked against Osasuna, despite Osasuna not fielding two strikers. I believe this encouraged Pep to risk this strategy against Valencia as well, hoping that his players now have the fluency required to use a 3-4-3ish formation no matter how the opposition plays. turns out this doesn’t really fly, after all.
Will be interesting to see what Pep does after this game. looks like has he 3 options from a tactical perspective:
1) Stick with the 3-4-3, hoping that Barca’s increased offensive ability will be sufficient to overpower most opponents (like vs Osasuna). This is what Pep really wants to achieve.
2) Return to the traditional 4-3-3, breaking the Fabregas-Messi link by moving Fabregas from #10 to Iniesta’s LCM position (a position Cesc didn’t fulfil too well vs Milan). Pep could also opt to field Thiago on that spot and drop Fabregas.
3) Keep the Fabregas-Messi chain intact by resorting to a 4-2-3-1. I consider this highly unlikely.
Well, even other proponents of the 3-3-1-3 (such as Cruyff and Biesla) switch to 4 at the back against teams with 1 striker. And, as Biesla has shown, the Fabregas-Messi connection doesn’t have to be broken. Pep can adopt the “always keep the 1-3 up front” rule.
As an addendum, see the writeup of Chile in the WC v Honduras for how “always keep the 1-3 up front” works in practice. But who plays as the LWB/LM in this plan? Keita? Adriano?
Playing 3-4-3 against 4-2-3-1 is completely suicidal, since Barca’s back three are simply outpaced by Valencia’s wingers. Guardiola should stick to 4-3-3 against the top team in the league. He has to be solely responsible for dropping points from this match!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Pep had ample reason to try a 3-4-3 again.
+ It worked phenomenally well vs Osasuna.
+ Villa and Pedro are off-form and too easily defended, while Sanchez and Iniesta are injured, making the usual 4-3-3 too toothless.
+ Fabregas functions best as a partner to Messi. on Iniesta’s spot he’s less dangerous, as he lacks Iniesta’s close control and dribbling ability.
These are all sound reasons to try a 3-4-3. The important question is, now that it has ‘failed’ what will Pep do now? I suspect that until Iniesta and Sanchez return, we might very well see more 3-4-3’s. perhaps adjusted versions, wih Dani Alves (due to his speed) asked to play as a right central defender, as he did in the latter stages of tonight’s game.
Everything would work against Osasuna. I see no reason to believe it would work against any real opposition.
Just like everything works against Levante and Racing Santander?
The reality is that Barcelona, partly thanks to the 3-4-3, played an excellent game against Osasuna.
And in fact, tonight also showed that 3-4-3 CAN work against ‘real opposition’. Once Pep had brought in several subs and fixed the problems on the right flank by turning Dani Alves into a disciplined right centre back, Barca regained dominance and created several large chances.
3-4-3 is an attractive formation. it’s just that the margin of error becomes really small. if you don’t get things right, you run the risk of being exposed.
Well put.
Stupid analogy. 1. Barcelona is not Real Madrid. 2. Madrid are without form ATM. 3. Mourinho is sticking to 4-2-3-1, and rather not experimenting. 4. Osasuna is not Levante or Racing. You can’t even see a difference between Levante (always hard to play against, who also played at their own stadium) and Osasuna (who are one of the weakest sides in La Liga ATM).
That’s exactly what my point is. It may work against Osasuna, it may even be better than 4-3-3 against weak sides, because it is engaging one more player into offense, while the defence doesn’t suffer, as it is not troubled much. But it doesn’t work against any real opposition, as Valencia showed yesterday.
And you are completely missing the most impotant fact why the 3-4-3 which Barcelona played yesterday since 57′ minutes WORKED OUT, while the 3-4-3 which Pep started the game BACKFIRED. The difference is not Alves, but the fact that in the second half VALENCIA WERE ALREADY EXHAUSTED, and so that Pep would then afford playing this formation, as Valencia was unable to expose it the way they did in the first half. No doubt Pep made a mistake, he recognized it earlier that the half-time break, because since about 30′ minutes, Alves was told to play right back and we’ve seen a 4 man defence. Personal changes were relatively unimportant of the factors that made the second-half 3-4-3 work.
Your last paragraph is even backing up what I’m saying. When the opposition is tired, the margin of error, you are talking about, is getting a little bigger.
Worth to underline that 8-0 trashing of Osasuna was done at Camp Nou, both Real’s last matches were played away of Bernabeu.
Just to be clear: The 3-4-3 didn’t *fail*. It didn’t work in the first half, as documented by ZM, and he reverted to 4-3-3 at the beginning of the 2nd, but not for too long. He ended the game with a 3-4-3 that was functioning VERY well. Valencia were lucky not to lose by the end, with Cesc, Messi and Villa missing very good chances.
@ZM : I think it is a bit unfair to say Emery won the tactical battle, when in truth Pep was able to come back and respond in a very convincing way. Again, the tie is fair given how wonderful the match was, but Barcelona could easily have taken all 3 points by the end of this. (Not to mention that the first two goals *should have/could have* been handled by Abidal.
Great review ZM. Thanks!
I think it would work if only Pedro played on the right. If Alba couldn’t track Alves, Mathieu would have to occupy him, instead of venturing forward.
1. so suicidal he got a draw.
2. “He has to be solely responsible for dropping points from this match!” Take a deep breath. Barca are the best team in the world. A couple draws don’t change that, so your overreaction is out of place.
Alves started at Right Forward/Winger, as he did in the last game. Against Osasuna he was pretty much playing in Pedro’s position. Guardiola seems to be favouring the 3-4-3 more, now that he has Cesc.
The formation briefly switched to 4-3-3 at the start of the 2nd half before Pep took off Puyol. It seems like Guardiola imagined the back 3 could shift across to cover the shortfall in defence but Valencia were to quick for them to be able to do so. Neither Busquets nor Keita made it into the box to cover for the 2nd goal.
Barca have always had trouble with Valencia because they have very good dribblers, rarely switch flanks and are very direct in their attacks. They will always have trouble against teams whose players run at them instead of passing it out trying to find open space.
Great changes by Pep to restore the balance in the 2nd half. MOTM was definitely Ever Banega for the way he troubled Barca in the centre of midfield.
Your second paragraph says it all. Barcelona couldn’t recover to defense quickly enough. They also got killed by speed. Valencia broke so fast. I haven’t seen that kind of hunger in running forward from any other team recently — it’s like they knew they had to break that fast to have a chance to score.
As I looked at the formations on my notepad, I thought that Xavi was the most logical defender against Mathieu. Not likely to happen, so, in the future, I’d like to see Busquets fill in the space left in the back line when one of the wide defenders has to mark a wide player.
As you said, he didn’t. Neither did Busquets track the other runners through the middle on the first goal. It was a 4v3 at the back with a left back, an attacking midfielder, a left winger, and a center forward pushing on. No Busquets to be found. Keita was in there, to his credit.
Busquets also didn’t recover well on the second goal. Perhaps he wasn’t asked to, however.
Let’s not also forget that Valencia were lucky to get an own goal and not be reduced to 10 men with a penalty kick.
No cause for concern in Barcelona.
If you think that was fast, you should have seen them in their 5-0 drubbing of Villarreal last year. Relentless on the counter.
As for the problems posed by Mathieu, I think Keita should have been shifted to the right side. I know Xavi prefers the right, but Keita has far more energy, vital given the amount of space that Alves leaves. He and Mascherano could adequately cover Alves, but that’s not Xavi’s game. If you’re not a fan of Keita, Thiago is a decent blend of energy and ability in possession (he was extremely energetic in his role on the right of the diamond against Villarreal).
But Keita’s very, very left-footed, so probably wouldn’t have helped stop Mathieu from getting down the outside and sending those brilliant balls across the six yard box…
Interesting that you should mention Keita. The left side of midfield seems to be posing a real challenge to Guardiola. Since Iniesta’s injury he has used Cesc and Keita there with both proving ineffective. The change is most apparent in Villa’s positioning during the game. He has to stay wide a lot more and is forced to be one-dimensional in his utility. I would like to see Afellay get a chance in that position although Thiago may be tried first by Pep. I think Villa needs someone to make the run outside him when he gets the ball at his feet.
the 3-4-3 has come to stay given Cesc’s incredible link-up with Messi, he will pretty much hold the spot at the top of that midfield diamond.
alas, Affelay had a torn ACL injury in the latest training session and will be down for half a year. A real pity, the kid was going to have serious playing time…
IMO it wasn’t only Mascheranos and Alves’ fault.
The problem was Xavis defensive work.
Thiago ran his sacks off against Villareal, helping Mascherano and following Cani(?) on the left side.
Xavi just didn’t put the same effort in the defensive work as Thiago.
Same as Alves Sanchez.
Thiago and Sanchez kept the side clean, the worked very hard. Alves and Xavi didnt’t and so Mascherano was on his own against 3-4 players running towards him.
What do you mean by “Alves Sanchez?” If you mean Dani Alves, then yes, he was instructed in the first half to play forward, rather than his usual marauding right back role. If you mean Alexis Sanchez, he was 1) injured and not in this game 2)bought primarily for his incredible work ethic and ability to press throughout the game.
http://www.zonalmarking.net/2010/03/24/three-man-defence-in-football-soccer/
As ZM mentioned before, 3-4-3 works well against 4-4-2 since the former formation has a spare man at the back. It explains why Barcelona has won Villarreal that easily. However, against a 4-2-3-1 like Valencia, 3-4-3 could be easily exposed since there isn’t a spare man at the back. The problem had worsened when Barca’s 3-4-3 was not balanced since Alves was the only player in the right flank. As the result, Mathieu created two assists and put Valencia on top for most of the game.
Barcelona should have played 4-4-3 at the first space, if they did so, they would not be exposed that badly. In last season, Barcelona has switched back to 4-3-3 from a 3-5-2/3-4-3 and won Valencia by 1-0. Pep shall learn this lesson and used 4-3-3 against Valencia from the very beginning.
http://www.zonalmarking.net/2011/03/03/valencia-0-1-barcelona-tactics/
A brilliant game of two halves. Pep got his tactics wrong in the 1st half by playing Alves as a winger (as opposed to an overlapping rightback), and then playing with three at the back. This allowed the Valencia’s left midfielder not worry about tracking back because the Valencia left back could manage 1 vs 1 against Alves. This also meant that we had no right back because Mascherano was reluctant of being dragged out wide hence all the Valencia chances in the first half came from that side.
We also struggled in midfield because of Alves being so high up the pitch thereby denying an outlet from our build-ups from the back. Keita didn’t help matters as he struggled with the pressing of the Valencia midfielders and was also reluctant to join attacks and this affected our midfield shape as we were outnumbered in midfield and we ended up playing with two holding midfielders.
Playing three at the back also meant that Abidal wasn’t helping Pedro and the team with width when going forward. This tactic works against lesser technical teams who we can bulldoze and intimidate in midfield with our pressing, but not so with a team like Valencia who are calm in possession and have a higher pass completion rate. Good substitures in the 2nd half even though I think Pep could have substituted Keita in the 1st half, bring back Alves at right back and put Villa out wide.
Lastly if Villa keeps missing those 1 vs keeper chances, I see him spending most of the time on the bench. That miss was cruel after such hard work by Leo.
Well done to Valencia, a team that stood up to Barca and played without parking the bus. And they keep telling us that LaLiga is uncompetative.
I felt Puyol could have done better with both goals. He was caught high up the pitch for the first goal. Abidal had to shuffle over and ended up in an awkward position to clear the ball. I wonder if Valdes could’ve been more vocal in claiming that ball as it was headed straight for him. For the second goal, Puyol went far right attempting to help Mascherano. But he didn’t get close enough to Mathieu to help Mascherano stop the cross. And again, he wasn’t in the middle, forcing Abidal to shuffle over with 2 people to keep an eye on. To be fair, Puyol is still regaining match fitness as well as adapting to the 3 man defense.
All in all, this was a good advert for La Liga. I realize it’s only 4 games in but wasn’t this supposed to be a 2 horse race?
Fascinating writeup! As soon as I saw the scoreline I thought, “Emery does it again!” And to think some Valencia fans wanted him replaced….
Seems like a real cat-and-mouse game! Going to download it!
Courtesy of PVR, have it recorded. I recorded the 0-1 Barca win from last year as well and I watched it yesterday prior to this game to see what could Barca do different this time because they struggled last year as well.
http://www.zonalmarking.net/2010/03/24/three-man-defence-in-football-soccer/
As ZM mentioned before, 3-4-3 works well against 4-4-2 since the former formation has a spare man at the back. It explains why Barcelona has won Villarreal that easily. However, against a 4-2-3-1 like Valencia, 3-4-3 could be easily exposed since there isn’t a spare man at the back. The problem had worsened when Barca’s 3-4-3 was not balanced since Alves was the only player in the right flank. As the result, Mathieu created two assists and put Valencia on top for most of the game.
Barcelona should have played 4-4-3 at the first space, if they did so, they would not be exposed that badly. In last season, Barcelona has switched back to 4-3-3 from a 3-5-2/3-4-3 and won Valencia by 1-0. Pep shall learn this lesson and used 4-3-3 against Valencia from the very beginning.
http://www.zonalmarking.net/2011/03/03/valencia-0-1-barcelona-tactics/
If it isn’t broken…
Don’t fix it. I find it extremely puzzling that the Barcelona 4-3-3 of last year seems to be getting phased out for this new system. What does Pep have to gain here? Last year Barca were nigh unbeatable, and in this match they looked thoroughly distraught through the entire 1st half.
I understand experimenting/tinkering with formations, but doing so at the Mestalla, against a system that clearly counters it, just seems irresponsible to me. And if this performance shows anything to me, its that the 4-3-3 is still Barca’s best formation by a wide margin.
And if this is all because of Fabregas… Fabregas is a great player, but fitting a champions league winning side around him seems foolish. Instead, he needs to find a way to fit into what they were already doing.
I think that Ever Banega was the key man for Valencia in this game. His ability to keep possesion and pick the right passes when Valencia won the ball, gave them som excellent counter-attacks (especially with Mathieu down the left). When Barca lose the ball, they press extremely hard to win the ball back, and I think it was Banega’s ability to dribble and/or shield the ball, and then pick a good pass that many times killed Barca’s pressing game for the first 60 minutes or so.
I agree with Martin’s comment. This was the toughest test Barcelona have had to their pressing game for a long time and so well done to Valencia and Emery. Even the pressing game can be undone by brilliant individualism together with good tactics. A very interesting La Liga season is in prospect, much more so than the EPL.
As always good review ZM, but I thought Barca played 3-4-3 from the very beginning. Emery was smart in the first half and Pep came back in the second half by asking Alves to stay back and letting Abidal go forward.
Once Thiago came in, Abidal was the only natural defender, with all others including Alves being attacking players. And Barca played very well and thanks to the brilliant passes of Messi, they opened out many chances. On a different day the score line could have been easily 2-3 or 2-4 for Barca, after a half time lead for Valencia.
I think, Pep will be only happy about his success in the second half and we are going to see more of this 3-4-3 this season. If he tried it againt two difficult sides, Villareal and Valencia, he will try against most teams.
Whether it was “3-4-3″ or a “4-3-3 with Alves pushed high up the pitch” is a matter of interpretation, and is rather not important, in my opinion. The graph clearly shows that ZM is aware of the defence looking like 3, not like 4
.
From tactical point of view it was Pep’s disaster. And it’s not about pre-match tactics games, Guardiola could assume that it will be work, albeit last year on Camp Nou it was great danger from Mathieu. He takes a risk, nobody knows Abidal will be playing so weak. Disaster is about abscene with changes DURING first half. Look at twitter, blogs, forums, everybody saw what happened with Barca on a right side. I wonder why Guardiola made this? He knew Real’s draw, so he wanted to teach his players, tested them in thin non-comfortable solutions?After correction it was same, old Barca, with lot of possesion, but they had to wait for first occasion 20 minutes! It’s because in one-one duels Valencia was much better (Banega!) and Messi has lost ball more times than in other 3 matches this season. Only Xavi (!) Alves and Thiago (what a assist it would be) play on their usually level.
But even in this not so superb game, I think, if Barca would start with 4-3-3 they could win this match 2-1, 3- 1.
How on earth did you make it through the whole article without bringing up Ever Banega? There was only one floppy-haired Argentine in the game for the first hour or so and it wasn’t Messi. I thought Banega went a long way to showing the potential and talent he possesses last night.
Also I think Valencia did most of their pressing against Barcelona’s back four or five players, as opposed to the whole team, perhaps to help prolong their stamina to stop them tiring too early. Also they pressured the players they could get mistakes out of, particularly Keita, Abidal, Puyol and Mascherano. Alves to an extent but he often had possession far further up the field. Puyol and Mascherano are lauded as ‘ball-players’, in fact I assume that’s why Mascherano is used as a defender – because Barcelona suspect they will have so much possession it makes sense to have a ‘pick-a-pass’ player in the heart of defence to begin the moves. What they probably didn’t count on is the inability to pick a pass in the face of constant pressure, and that’s where Barcelona gave the ball away. And when they were having to defend Mathieu’s marauding runs down the left, Puyol’s age was highlighted, as was Mascherano’s lack of defensive ability.
Now it seems almost folly to suggest that Valencia could succeed by pressing Barcelona’s defence but allowing the midfield the time on the ball, but to me this is what they did: at least in my eyes. Xavi was closed down relatively half-heartedly in comparison to the men behind him, but instead Valencia took away his options. As you mentioned, what is Xavi without short passing options? He’s a quality player, and retains the ball brilliantly, but if you take away his supporting cast then you severely limit him. Valencia did just this, doubling up on Messi to a point and then packing men in front of Xavi so he couldn’t expose those channels and gaps at the back.
It was a tactical win for Emery for sure, he got it very right against Barcelona but from half-time onwards (especially his tactical changes) I think Guardiola went a long way to dispelling any ridiculous myths he’s a so-so manager who inherited a great squad. And that ‘anyone could win with that team’. He still has to do a lot of tactical analysis pre and post-match to ensure his team are as good as they can be and he did a great job adjusting to Valencia’s threats and then making the relevant changes to take control of the game in the second half.
–
As an aside Michael, just want to extend a hearty well done to Luke Moore, Andy Brassell and yourself for the ‘Booted’ appearance on the Monday Night Club. If only we had the opinions of people like yourself on a more regular and higher profile basis.
Luke H
For Argentina, I was thinking of a midfield of Banega at back (I agree, he was amazing this game), with Pastore up front, and then I wasn’t sure who the 3rd/4th midfielders should be.
I’ve always hoped Argentina would experiment with DiMaria as a left-back due to his stamina/speed and workrate, as well as the fact that the country’s frontline is so heavily overloaded.
And I wonder how long if ever it will be before Argentina asks Mascherano to play at CB?
hi zm, Just wondering, have you ever watched other type of sports such as gaelic football or even AFL. Im from Australia and i always have the tendency to compare australian rules football tactics with football (soccer) tactics. In AFL, because there are no off side rules, ball movement can be nil in lower teams and excessive in the top teams. Its quite interesting. Anyways just to drop by to say how much i love ur site and have been a big fan as long as i can remember!
These games always remind me of Kira and L from Death Note. Guardiola being Kira, and Emery being L, of course.
emery subs and strategy were disappointing in the second half. when barca went to the 3 at the back, emery should have put soldado between masch and alves and played crosses to him considering those 2 defenders are not good in the air.
Good analysis of the match, but it was obvious from the beginning of the game that Barca played a 3-4-3 with Alves as the right forward. He was great against Osasuna in that role but failed to make an inpact against Valencia. Emery outclassed Pep in the 1st half, Valencia demonstrated how to deal with a back three. The key players in one of Barcelona’s weakest halves since Pep is in charge were Mathieu, Banega and of course Abidal. Great finishing from the Frenchman… I was really sorry for him. He’s a decent player but at times his clumsiness cost Barcelona. I’m sure Barcelona will replace him at the end of the season.
It is simply wrong to say that Alves played as the Right Back in a 4 Four Man Defense.
If you have a look a the average position of every Barca Player in the first half you will notice that Alves was the most offensive player on the pitch. Alves played as a winger and there was a 3 Man Defense at the Back.
In the second half Barca startet with the well known 4-3-3.
It was a great game with a lot of tactical moves by the coaches but I don`t like the analysis in this article…
“Pep Guardiola went for a 4-3-3ish shape, albeit with Alves pushed very high up the pitch.”
What cannot you understand from this sentence?
By the way I don`t think that only Abidal and the defense can be blamed for the weak first half… Especially Keita, Busquets and Xavi had bad performances and never controlled the midfield like the usually do. Mascherano and Puyol were often defending on the right flank while Abidal was left alone in the box against one or more opponents…
Abidal was the best Barca player until his health problems stopped him from playing last year… He is the perfect fit at left back because he can also shift to the centre when Alves makes his runs. He will play many more games for Barca
This is an absolutely fantastic write up ZM.
I would like to point out a much cliched comment. If it’s not broke, don’t fix it. Yes, tactical tweaks and little changes can be neccessary, but why take Pedro out of his most effective position on the right hand side?! Also, why drop Villa, I don’t understand. With Barcelona, you know what you’re going to be up against, it’s just extremely hard to stop it, so stick to what works best.
That said, Guardiola’s tactical changes in the second half to get the game back were spot on. I don’t think he’s given as much credit for his tactical knowledge, think people just think he tells Barcelona to go out and play, and with the likes of Messi, Villa, Iniesta etc, the likelihood is they will get a goal, but there is method to the Barcelona madness.
This article is not “fantastic” because the facts are just wrong… Barca startet with a 3-4-3 shape with Alves as a winger while they played their usual 4 Man at the Back in the second half. The first diagram is just wrong while the second diagram describes the last 15 min but not the main system of the 2nd half.
Still, I agree with a lot of the conclusions in the article. But the description of Barcas formation are not really exact.
And it is true that many fans underestimate the importance of Guardiola. It is not easy to keep every player happy and motivated with such an amount of quality players on the bench every game. On the other side he always changes his system (sometimes just small details and sometimes with huge influence like the classic 3 Man Defense this season)
There are many obvious changes over the years: Messi from a Winger to his False 9 role, the Use of Midfielders as Centre Backs who can shift between Defense and Midfield (Started with Toure and continued with Mascherano and Busquets) and most important: Creating a system without a real central striker just with different flexible midfield players and wingers.
word!!
“the facts are just wrong” what are you, illiterate? First off, the nits you pick with ZM’s description are miniscule, and if you actually read the words instead of just looking at the pictures you’d know that this review addressed each of the complaints you made.
Secondly, Mein Herr, you might want to brush up on your English capitalization rules of thumb.
Thirdly, people who come here have reason to trust ZM’s insight. I first discovered this web site reading about games I watched and was amazed at how well the reviews made sense of what I had seen, but now (having given up my cable TV subscription) I read about games here that I haven’t even watched and I trust Zm to describe them. Whereas I don’t know you from Adam, so if you and ZM differ on interpreting a formation, I sure know who I’m going to trust and who I will consider to have their facts “just wrong”…
Exactly. This article borders on the incompetent. It states that Pedro started on the right but quickly moved to the left, leaving Barcelona with no right winger and assumes a 4-3-3ish shape with Alves neglecting his duties as a RB. Pedro was on the left wing at kick off. Alves on the right. The article keeps insisting that Alves was right back. The entire argument that Barcelona had ‘four players…all trying to cover the position vacated by another’ is predicated on Alves being a RB, which he never was in the first place. Rubbish analysis on the first half because the reviewer simply didn’t watch what Alves was doing.
I like ZM and usually think they’re spot on, but this was awful. There is a lot to talk about tactically in this game, but if you start by assuming Alves was a RB, then you really missed the boat.
your work on analyzing games and tactics is immense!!
but sometimes i get the conclusion that when barca flop its Pep’s mistake “yesterday it was but he responded in a smart way to fix it up” and when they do well its attributed to Messi and other players. and i’m quoting you here “Ultimately Messi’s quality was the biggest factor in getting the away side back into the game” what about tactical substitutions?
keep the good work..
Excellent analysis. The problem with Guardiola’s 3-4-3 formation is that the midfield needs to be very fluid in both ball rentention and movement off the ball as well well 2 fixed wingers.
With Kieta in the starting line up(not as the only defensive midfielder) and no right winger the whole purpose of the 3-4-3 formation is defeated. Hence their first half performance.
There was no absence of a right winger… This was exactly where Alves played. But he did not have a lot of touches offensively and was really lazy getting back to help.
The Problem of Barca was the lack of a right midfielder…Alves was the most offensive player on the pitch for Barca!!! He did rarely help defensively. So there was a big hole on Barcas right side because Xavi was not able to close down the attacks there. Mascherano needed to help out and so the other 2 centre backs also shifted to the right and were caught in the wrong positions again and again.
—-Mascherano—-Puyol—-Abidal——
—————-Busquets—————
–???——————–Keita———
————Xavi———————–
—————–Cesc/Messi————
-Alves———–Messi/Cesc——-Pedro-
Keita who is a great tackler and clever defensive player was on the left side on the pitch and had nothing to do most of the time because Valencia started their attacks again and again at their left flank where Barca was totally exposed.
I expected Pep to switch Xavi and Keita or to order Alves back into a more conservative role.
so to solve the problem you mention, I would suggest dropping Alves back into the RM/RWB spot, pushing Pedro over to the right, and bringing Villa in on the left.
Yes. In the 2nd half Pep placed Alves as a RB, moved Pedro to the right flank and fabregas more to the left…
It changed later with the substitutions obviously.
No. Keita’s poor ball rentention and off the ball movement was the key to Barca’s poor 1st half performance.
Note that even though he was to provide defensive cover on the left, Abidal had to deal with 2 v 1 on more than 4 occasions. Think its fair to say Keita had a very poor game.
Not meant as a personal criticism
It seems like inclusion of Fabregas only result in team unbalance. Why stir up team for nothing?
errrr… what?
Cesc Fabregas has been a key factor in evolving the attacking versatility in the team.
Yes, but it spoils the defensive balance at the same time.
Having Pique and Puyol injured did plenty to disrupt the defensive balance.
Does anyone else think that Barcelona could use a pacey CB at the back?
I think it would be a major bonus for them to have a quick player defending deep, who can close down opponents quicker, can keep up with the likes of Piatti or Mathieu(and Pato) and use its pace to give better cover for others. And it’s not like Pep doesn’t have fast defenders – I could see both Alves and Adriano pairing up with Macherano/Pique/Puyol/Abidal in that 3-4-3 formation, especially against teams using the same kind of tactics Emery used yesterday. The line-up would look something like this:
———–Valdes——-
—Alves — Puyol — Adriano –
–Thiago – Xavi – Busquets – Pedro
—–Messi – Fabregas – Villa –
While I realize that Pique and Iniesta are both currently injured, in the future, I think I’d rather see:
———–-Valdes——-
—Puyol—Pique—Abidal/Adriano– OR —Alves-Puyol—Pique–
——Busquets——-
—-Xavi–Iniesta—-
——Fabregas——-
-Pedro–Messi–-Villa–
I think Alves/Puyol/Adriano would be be too weak in the air or against particularly big strikers. That’s not as big a deal in La Liga as in the Premier League, of course, but it could also be in issue in the Champions League.
Alves is so useful going forward, though, that using him at center back seems like a waste. Of course, where do you play him?
Of course, one of the advantages of Abidal is that he’s comfortable playing as a left-back or as a center-back. He didn’t have a great game against Valencia, but he does quite well as often the only natural defender in the back line.
As pointed out, I think Ambidextrous no.1 switch for Ambidextrous no.2 was a bit uncalled for, in the sense No.1, Pedro, was the one always able to get in the end of through balls, making barely-on-side runs, as has been, and looks lively and a threat at every single second, as he did last night.
On a related side note, I don’t believe Villa, in all his might, would’ve put away that first through ball by Messi. It was on his (pedro’s) left-foot and it was yet another showing of how this indifference in sides or preferred feet can take a finishing move to another level.
I didn’t get the sense that Alves was ever meant to play as a fullback in the first half. As I remember it, Barca would bring the ball out from defense (or try to) with a back three consisting of Abidal, Puyol, and Mascherano. When they did, Alves seemed to already be much higher up the pitch, playing almost as a winger, but tracking back much deeper to defend than Pedro. He seemed to be shuttling back and forth on the wing, but staying much higher up the pitch than he ordinarily does.
Definitely, a 3-4-3 in the first half.
Anyway, the problems of a 3-man defense versus one forward have been well-documented on this site. Also problematic: was that Xavi was used behind Alves (playing as a right forward), seeing as the Barcelona midfield conductor wanted to move all over the pitch and influence the game. Thiago or even Keita would have been a better option there; however, playing “interiores” against a true left-footed defender/midfielder probably was a bit risky.
Right, Alves is asked to defense and winger, it was too much tonight. Normally Pedro is over there, however by trying to find a home for Fabergas, Barcelona might be shooting themselves in the foot. I will say this wasn’t a complete Barcelona squad.
Michael,
A wonderfully detailed account of a wonderful match – thanks. Now that this [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=769Lp70Buao&feature=player_embedded] has been posted on youtube and 101greatgoals, there will no doubt be even more analysis.
Which brings me to my point. On 101greatgoals, they are already asking ‘why more opposition coaches do not emphasise the importance of Alves to Barcelona and attack in behind to put the La Liga champions and Champions League holders on the back foot?’. But examine the two Valencia goals carefully. The first comes from Barcelona unexpectedly conceding possession in their own half, and THUS there is space for Valencia on the left. The second comes from the wonderful skill of Banega [I think?] beating three Barca players before playing the ball to the left winger. What I am saying is that for all the structural issues you (completely correctly) outline, the short/medium term reasons for the goals are not structural, but (from Guardiola’s perspective at least) extra-structural: that is to say, they depend, to some extent, on individual mistakes/brilliance more than on structure.
Of course, it is the structural features that allow certain mistakes/brilliant dribbles to play out as they do. How do you think tactical analysis can incorporate both features? I remember reading a few years ago a report from a coaching conference with Mourinho, where he said a very “old-fashioned” British thing: ultimately, his formations are set up to maximise the scoring potential from the errors of the opposition (especially turnover in the opposition half), because that is how the majority of goals are scored, even at the highest level. Which all makes me think that Guardiola WON’T actually be so concerned about the apparent Alves problem, which 101greatgoals think opposition teams will be so keen to exploit – rather, he will be concerned with Puyol giving the ball away when having to make a quick pass, or Xavi/Fabregas sometimes being beaten by driving midfield runs.
All this is not meant to take away from your “structural” analysis – I would be the last person to question its importance. But what it does raise is how to combine structural analysis with analysis of more extra-structural factors.
Pretty good analysis. However you’ve missed a couple of details. To begin with Valencia weren’t just pressing Barca, they were pressing very high up the pitch with Soldado, Canales, Mathieu and Pablo Hernandez and closing down the passing lanes. Unfortunately like you have mentioned above, the legs gave in and Valencia could no longer keep up the pressing at such intensity. In addition to that, you’ve failed to mention Valencia’s ability to hold the ball for fairly lengthy spells in the first half which ultimately disrupted Barca’s rhythm and allowed Valencia to expose the space left behind by Alves and obviously Mascherano’s lack of pace. Other than that it’s a very good analysis. Cheers mate!
Great analysis. Everybody saw the hole in Barcelona’s defense right side, but you are the first person who relates it to the absence of a right wing. It makes a lot of sense. My first impression was that Busquets had been too slow and distracted.
sorry, wrong window
There was no missing right wing. Alves was playing the right wing for almost the entire first half. On a few occasions, he dropped back to midfield. When he did, Messi or Fabregas usually moved out wide. Presumably this was not extemporaneous but a preconceived tactical plan. The ‘hole’ in Barcelona’s right side was not Barcelona’s undoing on the night, but rather the absence of Xavi centrally in the possession game. Xavi was compelled to play too far right to provide some cover on that side with Alves playing right wing. When Guardiola moved Alves to right back and Pedro to the right wing, Xavi was able to play more centrally. The possession game didn’t improve because Guardiola shifted back to a 4-3-3, providing another man at the back to help in possession, but rather because Xavi had more influence on the game. This is evidenced by the fact that Guardiola moved back to a 3-4-3, replacing Puyol with Thiago in the 61st minute, yet Barcelona’s possession continued to boss the second half. This was not due to Valencia tiring, though that certainly helped, but rather because their press was being broken by Xavi’s good play. Thiago’s movement and dangerous runs only helped the situation. Keita was not much of a cog in possession in this game and Busquets was definitely off with his passing on the day, which is a large part of the reason why Valencia’s press was so effective in the first half. If Xavi had played more centrally the entire game, this probably would have been a blow out as Valencia’s press, which was so key to the possession and chances they got in the first half, would have been ineffective. For more on this see below:
http://musingsse.blogspot.com/
It was a fantastic game; a great tactical battle. I felt that at the end that Valencia should have exploited the centerbacks more with deep, directed passes to Soldado, taking advantage of the lack of height Barcelona had in the middle. When a midfield is tight, surpass it with deep balls. It seemed Valencia tried to do it at times, but the goalkeeper missed hit a lot of balls, and Soldado could have done better with them. Valencia could use a target man up front when Barca resorts to Mascherano and Busquets at the back, Alves at right-back and forming their proper 4-3-3. But it seems Emry has the right idea against Barca’s attacking 3-4-3. Overload the left wing, exploit Abidal in the box, and exploit Barcelona with cutback passes when attacking the flank. For some reason the cutback pass is usually there, and Barcelona covers it way too late. Another thing, they pressed Abidal very well. Best tactical game I have seen this year.
What a horrible tactical blunder by Pep. To his credit, he is trying to push Barca forward and not allow oppositions to work out a game plan by ever changing, but sheesh – this three at the back nonsense is a step too far. Reminds me of when Rijkaard did it near the end of his time and cost them the league to Capello’s Real Madrid from an almost unassailable position. Ego drives them to it – just say no to three at the back!
stop using my nickname you idiot.
Barca is playing with 3 at the back most of the time for about 3 years now…
The main problem was not the “3 at the back” but the positioning of Alves as the most offensive player on the field instead of placing him in his “normal” right midfield/very offensive RB role.
Alves did not defend at all and there was too much space for Valencia on their left flank.
Some little changes (Alves further back, Keita/Xavi switch) could have solved this problem, so it is too easy just to blame the formation.
The 3 at the back worked perfect in the final 15 minutes when Barca dominated the game.
Pep and some players (Puyol, Abidal, Xavi, Alves, Busquets) were not sharp in the first half but a system cannot be jugded after one weak half against a good opponent.
Don’t think the 3 at the back has anything to do with ego. The formation seems to have more to do with the players at Pep’s disposal than his ego.
No disrespect to Valencia, who pressed well, but didn’t anyone notice how terrible Messi was for most of the game? He is the only player on Barça given the freedom to pick his spots on turning on his energy, but yesterday his off-the-ball movement was non-existent. He walked most of the game, made few attempts to make himself available to receive a pass, and didn’t even check to the pass when one was sent his way, allowing Valencia to close the ball down rapidly.
Maybe yesterday he was exhausted from Osasuna, or had a cold, but he left a gaping hole in Barça’s passing/possession game.
I don’t think he was terrible. He did create the assists for the two goals, set up Villa with an incredible pass and had two good calls for a penalty turned down. If anything, he was responsible for Barca coming away with a draw instead of a loss.
No question regarding his assists. But except for the moments you list above, Barça was in effect playing a man down in the mid-front. I’m saying from a tactical perspective, this hurts Barcelona’s gameplan a lot, especially in the face of an opponent that is pressing well. Compare Messi’s effort in the Ossasuna game vs this one, his pressing, his moving into position to receive passes; it’s clear as night and day that Messi was sleepwalking through this one.
I’m a Barça fan yet I noticed the same thing you did in both the match against Valencia, and the one against Atletico Madrid.
I’m not sure why Messi has been so sluggish at times but there must be a reason because in the first half of each of the matches he was lackluster in movement and his passing was off.
WAIT–WHAT?
Against Atletico Madrid? He scored a hatrick, and arguably had two of the best runs (both 50+ metres) of his career.
Isn’t the biggest problem with having three (rather than four) at the back against a top side playing at home like Valencia WHICH IS PRESSING HIGH that it was harder for Barcelona play out from the back. Barca’s whole game is based around playing out from the back. Yet Barca didn’t have that extra option to get them out of trouble (which they usually do). As a result, they coughed up too much possession and got nervous.
Indeed, against a side pressing high (like Valencia), four at the back is an offensive option, because the quicker Barcelona defeats the press the quicker it can counter-attack.
In other words, the biggest threat that Barcelona faces is good high pressing because that is the ONLY way to deny them the huge weight of possession they obtain. So Guardiola’s primary tactical goal should be defeating the press (with whatever formation is most suitable). Once the press is defeated, I don’t think it really matters what formation Barca is using because they will get 75% possession and win the game. Look at the champion’s league final. ManU pressed wonderfully well for 10 minutes. Then Barca broke down the press, dominated possession and ManU fell apart.
And, just as I had hoped, Busquets starting slotting in to the back three during their game against Atletico Madrid.