How effectively is Luis Enrique implementing the Barcelona methods at Roma?
Roma's line-up against Juventus on Monday night
One of the more eye-catching managerial appointments this summer was former Barcelona B coach Luis Enrique taking over at Roma.
It was a surprise appointment. Though Enrique had enjoyed success with Barcelona’s second string, he had no top-level coaching experience. He wasn’t really that much more qualified than Vincenzo Montella, who took over at Roma last season having previously worked in the youth system at the club.
But, as explained in this excellent piece by James Horncastle, Roma wanted him because of his background, because of the footballing culture he comes from. “The reason we chose Enrique is symbolic,” said Walter Sabatini, Roma’s Sporting Director. “Enrique represents an idea of football that we would like to follow, which imposes itself today through Spain and Barcelona…I was looking for someone outside of Italian football. Uncontaminated.”
It is yet another of Pep Guardiola’s impacts upon football that clubs are increasingly looking to appoint coaches for philosophical reasons rather than pragmatic reasons. Even in Italy. As Franco Ferrari (the former head of Italian football’s technical HQ Coverciano) says in Gianluca Vialli and Gabriele Marcotti’s brilliant The Italian Job
Yet, to return to Horncastle’s piece, Enrique says, “When Roma got to know me, they got to know me as an offensive coach who likes to attack, who likes good football. The important thing is that the fans come to watch us, that they enjoy themselves. It’s a very attractive way of playing. We will play on the attack. I don’t consider football any other way. We are moving towards a complete change of ideas and identity…I haven’t come here to bring the Barcelona model, but something that is similar to it.”
This is quite a transformation. Immediately there were inevitable comparisons drawn with Barcelona. So, 14 games in and 10th out of 20 in the Serie A table, how effectively is he imposing the Barcelona methods? Here is a consideration of ten key Barcelona-esque factors.
Possession and ball-playing midfielders
The signings of Fernando Gago and Miralem Pjanic showed that Enrique wanted technical quality and calm, reliable distribution from the centre of the pitch. He’s struggled to consistently select a particular midfield trio so far because of injury (and his own rotation), and therefore there is not yet the cohesion and understanding you need in that position. He has used David Pizarro sparingly (when fit), which is surprising considering the Chilean is the ideal Xavi figure for the side.
Still, Roma average 58% of possession, the third-highest in Serie A after Milan and Juventus – although only two other clubs average over 50% in a league not particularly concerned with possession of the ball. Still, this is a good figure at this early stage, and Enrique will be pleased at Roma’s ball retention and dominance of games. Rating: 8/10
Penetration
Not so impressive here. From the third-highest possession figure, Roma somehow manage only the eighth-most shots on target per game in Serie A, 4.5. There often seems too much creative responsibility upon the the central creative player in the rough wide 4-3-1-2 system (although it could be termed a 4-3-3 with a very deep central attacker, similar to Barcelona with Messi, so in that respect it’s a little like the 4-3-1-2 / 4-3-3 hybrid Santos have often used).
That man is usually Pjanic, who has done well, getting six assists in the league – only Milan’s duo of Alberto Aquilani and Antonio Cassano have more. His assist below, for Bojan against Novara, was a good example of his creativity. But there aren’t enough through balls from elsewhere, aside from when Francesco Totti has played – which Enrique doesn’t seem to be particularly keen on. Rating: 3/10
Movement
This isn’t quite there. The game against Juventus at the weekend showed how congested Roma could get in certain parts of the pitch. Enrique started with Pjanic breaking forward from midfield, Erik Lamela coming in from the right and Totti dropping into his usual role – the result was too much concentration of attacking talent in one zone – no-one was making a run in behind, no-one was stretching the play.
A fundamental part of Barcelona’s play is the cohesion of movement – when one comes in, another goes out; when one drops deep, another makes a forward run. That’s lacking from Roma at the moment, and Enrique switching Osvaldo and Lamela against Juve seemed to be to bring more balance to the side – Osvaldo then offered forward runs from the right whilst Lamela came inside and let Jose Angel forward on the overlap. Rating: 3/10
Pressing
The draw with Juve showed how far Roma have to come in this respect. The nature of Enrique’s system, generally with forwards deployed on the wings (Pablo Osvaldo, Bojan Krcic) means it’s essential to press high up to let those players work in their favoured zones.
Instead, Juve’s full-backs pushed the Roma wide players back into their own third of the pitch, and Roma were working too far from goal. It’s been better in other games – and it’s notable that Roma’s best performance so far against Lecce came when they pressed heavily. Enrique may believe the players don’t currently have the physical capability to press in every game, but we need to see it more often. Rating: 5/10
Defenders comfortable on the ball
In theory, a great success. Simon Kjaer is one of the most gifted ball playing defenders around but has been out for long periods – Nicolas Burdisso is also injured. The use of Gabriel Heinze at centre-back has been reasonably successful in this respect, and Enrique’s desire for ball-playing ability at the back meant he played Daniele De Rossi at centre-back at the weekend. Rating: 8/10
Attacking full-backs
Jose Angel has been impressive at left-back – he doesn’t really look like a defender, but that’s from the Dani Alves school of defending. He provides great width on the left, and allows the left-sided forward inside.
On the right, Enrique has used attacking full-backs like Marco Cassetti, Aleandro Rosi and Cicinho, but also midfielders completely out of position there, like Simone Perrotta and Rodrigo Taddei. Neither of them have looked particularly comfortable defensively, but it provides the overlapping on the right Enrique wants. Rating: 7/10
The Busquets role
De Rossi has been used in this role, deep in midfield, dropping between the centre-backs and allowing them to spread wide. Usually the captain, he’s been probably Roma’s most impressive performer and seems to feel he’s the main man in the side.
A further positive came against Juve with the debut of Federico Viviani – he’s a highly promising prospect from the youth side who looked comfortable on the ball in deep positions and played calm, reliable passes to the flanks, a potential Busquets in the making. Rating 8/10
Wide forwards
A mixed bag – Osvaldo has broadly done well but still doesn’t look suited to starting wide – he’s a natural central striker (although he has scored the best disallowed goal of the season, below). Bojan knows the system better than anyone but hasn’t yet adapted to Italian football. Lamela is clearly talented but might not be suited to playing that role – he comes inside rather than going direct towards goal, which results in the aforementioned problems with penetration. Fabio Borini would be perfect for the system, but might not be good enough.
Osvaldo has scored five, Bojan has scored three – but they’ve contributed 50% of Roma’s goals. Lots more work to be done here, though the forwards could do with better service from midfield. Rating: 6/10
The Messi role
By virtue of him being the world’s best player, no-one else can play the Messi role as effectively as Lionel Messi. In a sense, Enrique hasn’t tried to replicate the position directly – though Totti played as the central attacker on Monday, and as the pioneer of the false nine role, he maybe was playing the Messi role.
But usually it’s been Pjanic there, clearly a number ten rather than a false nine (although, in fairness, so was Messi in the Clasico). Pjanic has done well, but probably needs to be either more direct, or to get more midfield runnners to provide for. Rating: 6/10
Youth products
A key part of Barcelona’s success has been their use of homegrown players. Clearly, this process has been the result of decades’ work rather than months, and as such it’s not fair to case such an early judgement.
That said, at the weekend Roma played Leandro Greco, Totti, De Rossi and Viviani. Four out of eleven players being trained in the Roma youth system is impressive, and there’s also Rosi. The use of Viviani is most promising – it shows Enrique giving young players a chance, and to use Sabatini’s phrase, they will be “uncontaminated” and malleable for Enrique to turn them into the players he wants, in the same way Marcelo Bielsa likes working with youngsters, who he regards as keener to learn new methods. Rating: 8/10
Conclusion
The obvious cliche – Rome wasn’t built in a day. Enrique’s project is widespread and long-term, and though tenth in the league cannot be regarded as a success at this stage, the project is shaping up nicely.
“We should stop trying to make comparisons with Barcelona,” says General Manager Franco Baldini. “We’re trying to create a team that works with possession, but other sides do that too. We’ll refer to Barcelona when we have quality.”
Even when dissuading Barcelona comparisons, he still sees Barcelona as the target. There’s a long way to go, but it’s worth Roma and the fans getting behind Enrique.
Interesting stuff. I wonder if the system really can be transplanted though. Barca almost seem to have a perfect storm of talent, tactics, togetherness and, er, magic dust (not insinuating drug taking, more that they have an x factor that you can’t manufacture).
Shame Roma lost Jeremy Menez. I don’t know about his game intelligence but he strikes me as someone who could do a job in a Barca type system, a lovely, fluid player who works in a number of hard to define positions and (to my mind) might have been able to do a passable Messi impression.
nah, menez wouldn’t work at all for our new system. he doesn’t have the workrate to track back like lamela/osvaldo/bojan
Menez would also find it difficult passing so much….
Speaking as a Roma fan, I totally agree.
One thing that has to be noted, though, is that Roma, like nearly every club on the Continent, has a weird way of dealing with transfers – the Sports Director (Walter Sabatini at Roma – he’s worked at Palermo before and managed to bring in Pastore, Hernandez, Muñoz) has the main initiative on the transfer market, and the president gives the go-ahead. The manager just has to do with what he’s given. (Of course, there’s communication between the manager and the DS, but still).
The big downside is that the DS is just there to bring good players, while Luis Enrique is there to implement a totally new style of play. I’ve got a feeling that there’s a certain “dissonnance” between what the manager’s plan would need and the actual players coming in. As you pointed out, the only player looking to have an impact on midfield is Pjanic. The other player Roma has that can do that is De Rossi (who, contrary to what many people say, is not a Makélélé), but De Rossi is deployed as the holding midfielder, so has less of an impact on attack as he did before.
Another example would be the fact that Roma want to play a high defensive line – but Heinze is not exactly young, and Kjaer isn’t the paciest of defenders. Or the lack of a right-back…
I think Lamela is going to be pivotal – he’s the player that can give variety to Roma’s game. And I sincerely hope Bojan is finally going to decide if he’s going to be a truly good player or an eternal might-have-been.
Last problem is confidence – you need it if you want to press and if you want to play possession. The Lazio game was the cruncher – Roma dominated the first half and really played some great football, but the totally unfortunate red card and the resulting last-second defeat has had some dire consequences.
I hope the other Roma fans will be patient and realise that this is a very long-term plan. There have been good signs. Drawing against unbeaten Juventus despite missing a penalty and fielding De Rossi at the back and Viviani/Greco at midfield is one of them. That first half against Lazio is another.
On the role of DS – I actually think that it is crucial to have a DC, as he can much better deal with the task of scouting/signing new players. Because of the simple fact that coaches/managers need to think about the pitch, and scouting the players is a 24h job. Of course, DS has to work in such a way to enable the coach to have the type of players he needs.
On the subject, I mostly agree with the article, though I’m afraid that Roma bosses might not have enough patience and confidence in what Luis Enrique is trying to do. But I certainly hope I’m wrong as Italian football needs more plan, more patience, and more than just trying to win today and think more about tomorrow.
I do think it will take time, as not all the players are adapt to what Enrique wants. We’ll see if selling Boriello will give them some money to try to bring in some different type of player. I do think Lamela could be crucial for NewRoma project. But he is still too soft for Italian foodball, I think.
Very interesting, thank you.
If nearly every other club on the continent does it, then surely ‘the British way’ is the weird one.
Interesting article, it seems Roma have quite a long way to go on certain aspects.
It made me think: is Luis Enrique trying to implement too many changes in too little time? Roma weren’t world beaters before, but they had a decent enough squad. They must have been doing some things right.
My point is that I suspect most managers who are known for being progressive tactically, making their teams truly play their type of football with success, made their changes more incrementally, nudging their way towards their revered style of play over a number of years. Wenger took years to replace is old-fashioned back four and tweaking the traditional English 4-4-2 when he took over at Arsenal; Guardiola only adopted the false 9 and his oft-discussed back 3 after a few years. Even Bielsa at Bilbao reverted towards some kind of hybrid of his ideal type of football and Bilbao’s usual strengths (energy, physical prowess, direct football) to reasonable effect after a shaky league start. And let’s not get started on André Villas-Boas at Chelsea…
Roma’s ambition is very admirable, and I’d love to see it lead them to success. However, like most football clubs embarking on such ‘projects’, it tends to lose sight of short- and mid-term results, which are not the only things of importance in football but are certainly one of a football clubs’ primary interests.
But I might be wrong. Can anyone name a manager/team/club that radically changed their style of playing with immediate success?
Certainly not Chelsea, that’s for sure.
sacchi milan?
Mourinho for RealMadrid, may be..
I too wish all success to Enrique at Roma.
I am very concerned about Bojan though. He has a bit of CR7 in him that he fails at the most inappropriate moments.
Bayern Munich under Louis Van Gaal. Moving away from a history of what I would say are fairly conservative managers (Hitzfield and a man who seems vastly underrated on this site, Felix Magath in particular) and then inconsistent/no discernible tactics under Juergen Klinsmann (including 3 man defences, 4-5-1 with Ribery up front, but mostly a 4-4-2 which I think was just picked so the best players could play).
In comes Van Gaal. Instantly, possession numbers and general Dutch stereotypical tactical qualities are implemented through a variety of shapes (4-1-2-1-2, 4-3-3, 4-4-2) until consistency and success comes in spurts. By early December 2009 we beat Juve without Ribery and Robben (mostly) playing a fairly orthodox 4-4-2 with an emphasis on ball possession.Fast forwards to May and a treble looks realistic.
Interestingly,in the beginning and then in the end it all backfired for the same reasons Luis Enrique has been (rightly) criticized for here. Strange rotation and inconsistent squad selection. Poor use of some youngsters but not others (Roma: Caprari and Viviani, as well as the general lack of new young players; Bayern: Breno, Ekici, Kroos). Inexplicable defensive and set piece errors. Massive possession but poor penetration except in a few, highlight reel moments of brilliance.
Maybe this are normal growing pains and near-inherent difficulties in establishing the “Barcelona” model (considering that Van Gaal has massive influence on how Barca play, witness Guardiola’s recent dabblings in what today look exotic: 3-3-1-3 formations, but what Van Gaal once conquered Europe with). Maybe these growing pains are mitigated by Barca’s incredible institutionalization of one philosophy of play (to the point where it is no longer the Barcelona philosophy, but the Barcelona “knowledge” of play). Maybe it doesn’t hurt to have players like Xavi, Iniesta, and Messi who are both institutional products and world class talents in their own right to play this unique brand of play.
I wonder if Roma will experience greater success as the season goes on, like Bayern did. I also wonder if Roma will eventually ditch Enrique for a less ideologically bound manager who will preserve the spirit of the law but not the letter. This is effectively what Bayern have done with the departure of Van Gaal and the return of Heynckes. Bayern still often play like Van Gaal’s Bayern, but there is more emphasis on defending as a block at the expensive of attacking (particularly against Villareal and Man City away), fast counterattacks, direct play, and ball retention simply for the sake of “resting with the ball” rather than as a constant instrument of attack (Bayern I believe have the least distanced covered of any Bundesliga team this year, I don’t know if this is true today, but it was about a month ago).
One can also see the parallels with Sacchi’s Milan (pointed out by austin), notably in Capello’s tenure after Sacchi.
In the system you’ve outlined above, a player like Vucinic would be perfect for one of the wide forward roles, starting wide and moving centrally, as he had done for so many years. Why did Roma get rid of him in the summer?
As far as I know, for two reasons – one for personal behaviour (he could be quite “unprofesionnal” at times, and by the end of last year didn’t really show any commitment to the club), second because he was so erratic – one week, he could be brilliant, and the next week miss a total sitter.
But yeah, his style of play would have worked, I guess.
Thanks for that, I wasn’t aware of his lack of commitment to the club. I agree that he can be quite inconsistent, but when you look at the other forwards on Roma’s books, I would have been tempted to either keep him, or replace him with someone in the same positional mould, rather than bringing in Osvaldo, who although a decent striker, does not seem totally suited to playing wide.
mirko vucinic is the perfect wide forward, but he doesn’t provide the workrate of osvaldo/lamela/bojan
That may be true, but is a strong workrate key for this position, if we’re assuming that the wide forward would become the most advanced attacker in most passages of play? Would it be possible to compensate for this by playing, for instance, Perrotta in the leftish central midfield role?
@mikeP
imo, it’s not key, but to luis enrique. he wants his wide forward to track back and harass the opposition fullbacks, something vucinic wouldn’t be willing to do
playing perrotta in left CM is doable, but still asking a lot of a 34-yr old
@ romafan
Forgot that Perrotta’s getting on now, thanks for pointing that out!
It’s reasonable for Enrique to want the wide forwards to work tirelessly & push the opposition fullbacks, particularly with Totti in the false 9 position. Is Osvaldo up to the task? I haven’t seen enough of him to make a judgement, although from the few times I have seen him, he looks more like an orthodox 9 to me. Has Borriello been given a go in that role, or is he out of favour?
In a system that relies on constant player movement and reshuffling, I’d say work rate is not only important but crucial!
Even if we’re talking about the forwards.
I thought Mirko Vucinic wanted out? To play for a bigger club.
To be honest, I didn’t hear anything about him being unprofessional. He wanted out because he thought he didn’t play enough last season, plus Juve is big club.
He would be great for this Roma team, but then again, he is great for Juve too.
I like this Roma team, and given time they can be a great side. Stekelenburg is a fantastic goalkeeper (dutch number 1) and has been vital for them this season. Heize has actually played very well, though i would like to see Kjaer play there when he is back, a top young CB who has the potential to be world class. I do think they need to sign a Partner for him though, Burdisso is past his best and though De Rossi can play there, I like him better in midfield. At LB Angel has been fantastic and provides great width down the left. They do seem to need a good RB though, a player with speed and stamina will be a must. So defensively, they still have a few problems, but have the potential to have a strong defense.
In midfield, i cant believe Pizzaro hasnt been getting games, he can dictate games and create from deep, which is what Roma are crying out for. Him and De Rossi can both play deep midfield, with De Rossi breaking from deep to join the attack as a surprise sort of player. They both would be a good shield for the defense and are comfortable on the ball (De Rossi in particular has gotten much better on the ball). Then higher up the pitch Pjanic can do his stuff, creating opportunities and running at the defense (he has been the best attacking player).
In attack is where they gotten it a bit wrong, Totti needs to play most games as the false nine. His movement is excellent and he drags CB’s around the pitch. He can also help create moves with his passing skills and creativity. Him and Pjanic look fantastic when they link up, and Roma need to keep this going. He is also a good finisher when in the penalty area so can score goals. The problems with playing him are that he hasnt got the stamina or mindset to press all game, which is doesnt set a good example for the younger players, and also he doesnt have a presence in the air, which rules him out as a useful outball, when Roma are under pressure.
There wide forwards have been poor. Bojan has the talent and skills to play there but still needs to improve on his movement. Lamela doesnt suit the role at all and gets in the way of Roma playing. Osvaldo is a good finisher, but doesnt have the skills to break down a team playing deep. Borini could be a good prospect but probably needs to go out on loan. So they are lacking the key players in this team, the players that will score the goals. Arguably they should have kept Vucinic.
Overall, they have the potential to be a great team if given time. Right now, they have half a team; good but not great defense, a midfield isnt solid enough yet attacking or defending and an attack that is creative but not clinical.
They need a good CB that is mobile, an attacking RB, to establish a De Rossi and Pizarro Central midfield, to play Totti as a false nine and to get some clinical wide forwards who can dribble and shoot
Excellent article, thanks ZM.
Viviani was great for Rome this past weekend I thought. He should really play more minutes.
As for an ideal partner for Kjaer, although I know he just made the move to Daglish’s Liverpool, I would love to see Sebastian Coates in red and orange.
I’ve always thought that if Roma had a 24 year old Totti in this system it would work so much better. It feels sometimes like they are missing something dynamic in the middle (much of what Messi contributes to Barca). Obviously not saying they need an exact Messi, but someone in that central role that can provide a spark when they really need it.
Pjanic has been brilliant so far this season though, I think him and Angel are proving to be brilliant buys that get what Enrique is asking of them.
Simon Kjaer is one of the most gifted ball playing defenders around ?!?!
LOL, unfortunately that pretty much makes the rest of the (nice) article not credible.
He is the worst passer in the AS Roma roster, let alone among ‘defenders around’
are you kidding, his long range passing is excellent. Look at his pass in the world cup to set up bentners goal, it was fantastic. Great talent, just needs to get games under his belt, is a lot like agger.
He was pretty awful in Germany tbf.
ZM,
Do you have any idea of the philosophy or training of Roma’s youth academy?
You mentioned that Luis Enrique wants to give more chances to youngster and having come from the same academy means a better understanding but is the youth system much more different from the approach that Luis Enrique is implementing in the senior team?
Barcelona, also, wasn’t built in a day. It took decades for them to perfect their philosophy and adapt it to all categories (senior, youth, infant, etc). If Roma really wants to pursue a similar approach they have to work from all the way down and, like you said, be patient in the development.
this has been one of the main things enrique, sabatini and baldini have been looking to implement. enrique has made a point of having the youth team train with the first team, as well as making sure (in terms of formation and philosophy) the youth team is playing the same way as the first team.
Roma’s primavera team play a dogmatic 4-3-3. But not to fit in with the first team, they have done for years since it’s the way the coach (De Rossi’s father, Alberto) sees football. Right now the problem is a squad too deep in numbers, if not quality. Hopefully the dead wood can be cleared out in January, allowing Viviani and Caprari a chance to train and play more regularly with the first team. Right now, with a squad above 25 members, it’s not possible. Sadly.
This is a great project if nothing else. It looks like the foundations are good and the scope for improvement is promising. Van der Wiel could be an option for right-back, particularly if Roma are active in the January transfer market (otherwise Valencia seem keen). Though, I wonder to what extent further transfers are dependent on removing some older players from the wage bill. The likes of Taddei, Cicinho, and Borriello, must be on fairly high salaries, but don’t fit the profile of players favoured by Biesla, Lucescu etc.
An interesting comparison might be made with Arsenal. They too suffered from an excess of Barcelona comparisons last season, reaching a crescendo before the CL games. But, though similarities exist, they have developed a more direct style of play this season, better suited to their strengths/league. It will be interesting to see where Roma’s style ends up in Serie A. Wenger is also one of the most successful appointments of “discontinuity” in recent times, winning the double in his second season.
Van der Wiel would indeed be a great option… although, probably a bit pricey.
He’s such a fantastic player with an insane work rate and stamina, that I wonder what’s kept him out of a big club for years now…
P.S: No disrespct for Ajax.
yes! an article specific to AS Roma! very good article. i thoroughly enjoyed reading it
a few points, from a Roma fan. i watched all matches this season, no matter how painful some of them are.
overall, tactics-wise. we’re making improvements, albeit slower than most of us expected, which has come to be expected
however, it’s the non-tactical aspects of the game that we’re having issues with. our biggest problem: luis enrique rotates way too much. barcelona have an established XI whereas we don’t. there’s no team chemistry because we don’t have an established XI and most of our players have already played 2-3 different positions this season. our players are getting used to the tactics, but not the position(s) they play in
everyone’s also nervous and lacking confidence because doing well on the pitch doesn’t guarantee them a spot in the next match. Fabio Simplicio scored in one game, yet didn’t still didn’t get to play the next 2-3 matches. Cassetti had a super sub moment in one game, yet enrique chose to debut perrotta on Right Back the next match. there’s too much rotation, no selectional consistency, and the only clear starters for our team are stekelenburg and de rossi
and as mentioned on this website plenty of times, every team needs a plan B. we don’t have one. by now, everyone in serie A knows how we play and are starting to react to it. as our players are starting to get used to our new tactics, so are the rest of the league…. at least villaboas has the balls to change his tactics every now and then (like the valencia game). enrique however is too stubborn and doesn’t change his tactics, even when they’re not working on the pitch
that said, i feel we need a more experienced manager. there are plenty of other “uncontiminated” attack-minded managers out there who have experience. bielsa, etc. you don’t give an inexperienced/foreign/young coach a bunch of youngsters and expect the team to do well
at this point however, we’re already too late in the season. we’d be back at square A if we save enrique. we’d have to get used to new tactics and a new manager. i still have faith in our current manager, but his decisions frustrate me day in day out. he’s still very naive. if we manage to finish 5th or better this season, then keep him. if not, we should really look for a better manager in the summer, preferably someone a little more experienced
Barcelona had an established 11 last year, but not this season. One example of this is that Pep has not yet played the same back four in 2 consecutive games.
FC Barcelona has played 26 official matches so far this season. Each game has featured a different starting lineup.
And with Villa being out for probably the remainder of the campaign, they’re going to be tinkering even more with Alves/Adriano as their wingers (http://bit.ly/villaalt), meaning more use of their exotic shapes and, potentially, more use of Messi as a midfielder.
tactic-wise, here are a few points not mentioned in this article
- playing with a high line (we have slow CB’s)
- gap between defense and midfield (de rossi too deep, pizarro/pjanic too high up)
- lack of work rate in central midfield (pizarro, pjanic)
a few things..
1- heinze has been responsible for a few of the goals conceded this season, so he hasnt been good at all. he does well in general but fails at critical moments. check the goal genoa scored in the last minutes.
2- you give enrique too much credit for the use of youth. greco and rosi were already established squad players last season. and viviani was used in the last match only becuase of injuries. he used viviani and caprari in the europa matches and both played very well but they have barely been given any time in the league. caprari’s pace could be very useful for the last 15-20 mins, yet enrique often brings on perrotta.
3- angel is great going forward, but he has a lot of work to do on his defending as he is often too casual and defends like a midfielder rather than a defender. you compare him to alves, but alves is a very good defender.
4- a few of the comments mention vucinic, but selling him was the right decision. his lack of consistency is amazing and he needs 10 chances to score 1 goal. if a more efficient player was playing there the last few seasons. roma would now have 5 scudetto and not 3. in my opinion, a team that wants to win must have efficient players playing in such advanced positions becuase they see a lot of the ball and must be consistent as a result. add to that his poor attitude and work ethic. id take the “fight for every ball” osvaldo over vucinic any time of the day.
Good article, man.
Hi Michael,
Interesting and thorough framework, should be applied to gauge anyone who pretends to emulate Barca. The only thing I missed in it was a mention to the goalkeeper’s ball-playing ability. Not as fundamental as the Busquets role but indeed an important feature of this Barca. Surely, with Stekelenburg, Roma scores highly?
Later (maybe over the holidays?) you could try to use the same framework to compare other teams with fluid, attacking possesion football – say Brazil 82, Holland 74, – to Guardiola’s Barcelona….
I go with van Gaal at this point, who said that it’s more difficult to play attacking, dominating and entertaining (or pro-active) football, than defensive and counter attacking.
Roma chose Enrique because they wantet more than just a manager. they want a philosophy, a certain style of football. Bayern wanted the same when they appointes van Gaal. Of course both clubs want success, but they see (or try to see) the big picture. That is positive and brave.
van Gaal didn’t even finished the second season at Bayern. but that does not mean, giving him the job was a failure. some players had problems with his strict tactical instructions, and van Gaal is not an easy character (like many others). (and his football was not always entertaining.)
For Roma it is important to commit to this idea, even if the manager leaves some day. It would be much easier to just look at the result of the next game, but that’s not creating something truly great.
What about an article on the Game Barça X Santos? You’ll write all about it, won’t you?
yup
I love You
Mr Cox,
What do you think about the new 3142 tactic that Pep is trying? Is it gonna to be the new trend of football that is gonna be the next phrase of evolution in football? Seems like Barca is leading the way in football tactics.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog/2011/dec/13/the-question-3-1-4-2-formation-rise
um.. why do all my posts needing moderation? didn’t have it before. :s
possibly because of the link.
I’m actually waiting for some in-depth analysis of Barça’s 3 man defense, because in all honesty, I don’t think they’re using it for tactical reasons or tactical benefit… except for being able to dominate possession.
The Real Madrid game was a great example, the 3 man defense didn’t gave them any particular advantage, and one could argue that last year’s starting 11 in their 4-3-3 would be able to fair even better.
I think why Pep is trying out the 3 men defense is that when teams park the bus, he wants to get an extra body forward as his plan B.
The whole idea of always having an extra defender might be gone in the future with games get tighter and teams will instead use an extra half a defender as it were.
Dunno, would be interested to see if this is the next step in Barca’s evolution in football or just a one off plan against RM. It does seem tho that he is trying it out as a longer term thing.
Hey,
Another fine article, I have a quick question. I’m getting a bit confused with terms (I have checked the glossary)
How do these differ and are they all different?
False nine,
Ten,
Trequartista
Do the terms Ten and Trequartista imply that there is another forward ahead of them. Are they equivalent terms?
False 9 – A center forward who does not play like a center forward. With movements to midfield. Similar to what Messi and Totti did @Barca and Roma.
Ten – Sort of Attacking midfielder playing between lines behind striker\strikers.
Trequartista\Mediapunta\Enganche – variables of Ten
http://opitacoboleiristico.wordpress.com/2011/12/16/help/
What is the relation between Beatles, Neymar and Puyol?
Good article. With lots of cash to spend, I think Roma knew they weren’t going for immediate success appointing Luis Enrique. I hope they remember that and give him a chance.
Oh, just a thought. I think it’s weird to refer to Luis Enrique as just “Enrique” and Jose Angel as just “Angel” or Roberto Carlos as just “Carlos”… those aren’t their last names, but their middle names… they are like Mary-Kate Olsen or John Paul Jones (to give English examples) of people who have “linked” first and middle names.
great article..couldn’t agree more
but I believe LE has to keep in mind that this is Serie a and there is no way you will survive there if you don’t have a solid back line
In relation to Roma thinking that a team needs ‘to play good football, not just only win’ is maybe is a result of not only Barca’s success in recent times but also Spalletti.
Not sure if Guardiola took any inspiration from Spalletti’s Roma at the peak of their power but I do think Spalletti’s Roma left a positive legacy that other team’s have looked at since. Whether it be the one or two seasons that RVP was used as the false nine a la Totti or Fergie’s use of Tevez-Ronaldo-Rooney or even maybe some of dynamic of Barca these days too.
And how fitting it is Spalletti’s old club that is trying this sort of football again. Not saying its exactly the same but there are some similarities or at least, the thought behind it is similar.
Would be interesting if at the end of the season if ZonalMarking could do a comparative piece between Spalletti’s Roma at their peak against Luis Enrique’s Roma’s first season.
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Its always going to be difficult to implement such a philosophy, especially when the benchmark has been set so high at Barca. E.g. old players, trying to mould square pegs to fit in round holes, different league, trying to avoid the Barca comparison pressure, etc.
I just hope Roma are patient but they have at least showed the intention to do so, which is a good start.
Nice to finally see a rejuvenated De Rossi. Been a long time, as he has had a few forgettable seasons.
I’m not keen on the whole idea of Barcelona as a footballing model for everyone else. There are a diverse number of ways to succeed, but too many coaches have tricked themselves into thinking that the Barcelona way is the only way.
On the other hand, it is nice to see a side in Italy committed to making proactive and positive changes.
If Roma wanted to move to a possession based short-passing brand of football, it seems an incredibly daft decision to sack Luciano Spaletti.