What can we expect from Barcelona this season?
05:39
I'm not great at building the formations. I have tried to build one and it looks like this.I think we can expect Barcelona to line up this way in most of the games.
1) Ter Stegen - Ter Stegen transfer was inevitable once Valdes decided to leave. One of the most important quality for a goal keeper at Barcelona is to act as a sweeper, to be comfortable with the ball. Ter Stegen possesses that quality. He is widely regarded as one of the best young goal keepers in the world . If you have any doubt? He has saved a penalty taken by Messi ;).
2) Jordi Alba - Jordi Alba had a good season in blaugrana colors, last season. I am the one who has criticized his performance over the years, but he was good this season(I am not sure though). Jordi Alba's pace comes in handy many a times. His best games, last season were against Manchester City and Atletico Madrid. . Alba is one of the very few players who covers entire left flank. Naturally, Jordi Alba is attack minded FB. If he is assigned a role of defending he has shown that he will be decent in that role too. Since Neymar plays on the left flank. Expect Jordi Alba to play more cautious while attacking. The disadvantage with Jordi Alba is his height and opponents inevitably exploit his weakness. Lucho should take note of this point.
3) Javier Mascherano - Even the cricket fans who watched FIFA World Cup(2014) will recognize him as "one of the best players of the tournament". Mascherano played exceedingly well for Argentina in midfield. He distributed the ball and analyzed the game very well throughout the tournament. At Barcelona, Mascherano plays in defense to help the team. Mascherano is known for his "well timed sliding tackles". His sliding tackle helped Argentina to progress to the finals of the world cup. As with Jordi Alba, Mascherano's weakness is his height, when he plays as a defender.
4) Gerard Pique - Gerard Pique has equal number of fans as his haters. Pique plays at his best against top teams. Last season, Pique's performances against Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid were stupendous. He had won more aerial duels and had more passes. Pique's form/fitness decides Barcelona's success over the course of the season. Pique is very important for Barcelona as he builds the attack from the back. Last time I saw David Luiz, I realized how awesome Gerard Pique is. His presence is very important for the team. With Pique, there aren't any weakness as such. All depends on his mood swings.
5) Dani Alves - Dani Alves is one of the best attacking RB in the world for quite a time now. There were very strong rumors that Alves would leave. Especially after those harsh comments by Dani Alves (Aimed at Cules), no one expected him to continue at Barca. The recent rumors state that " Dani Alves's high wage demands means, hardly few clubs will afford him, so he will stay at Barca". Last season, Dani Alves played well only in the second half of the season. His crosses didn't find any player and he can expect Luis Suarez to convert some of his crosses into goals this season. It's always a pleasure to see Alves play. He is very much attack minded and I expect him to take some defensive roles this season under Luis Enrique.
6) Sergio Busquets - Nowadays, everybody recognize the importance of Sergio Busquets. He is the most vital player for Barcelona. Busquets is the connection between defense and offense. At times, he plays as a extra center back. He covers the area left by the attacking full backs. He reads the game better than any player. Sergio Busquets can begin the attack by just a single pass. I'm sure everyone must have seen those videos of allas4, Heilrj about Busquets. Last year, he didn't have his usual impact and was very awful in couple of games. I only hope he does better, this season. With Jeremy in, Mascherano will certainly give him a tough competition in defensive midfielder position.
7) Andres Iniesta - Andres Iniesta is the best midfielder in the world. But most of the times, managers played him out of position. It is very important for players to play at their natural position to have maximum impact on the game. I had written a rant about "How players playing out of their position affected Barcelona"? . You can read that HERE(Same as the earlier link). Under Luis Enrique, I expect Iniesta to play back in midfield. Iniesta was more consistent than any other players last season. Since Xavi cannot play week in week out, Iniesta should start dictating the game.
8) Ivan Rakitic - This is possibly the best tactical signing for a while now. Getting rid of Cesc Fabregas was very important for Barcelona as he hindered our performance. Who other than Rakitic can replace Fabregas with few wage demands and less transfer money?. Ivan Rakitic was the key man of Sevilla. He was devastating at times and controlled the midfield really well. At Barcelona, he has plenty of scope to improve. Rakitic and Xavi may divide the games between themselves. I expect Rakitic to flourish at Barcelona this season.
9) Neymar - Neymar will consistently play at left flank(Where he has maximum impact) this season IMO. The major weakness with Neymar is, he doesn't track back. For tiki-taka to click, all our players must be agile enough to win the ball back. Neymar will offer very least in defending part. Even if he tries, it results in foul. I hope he does well in that aspect this season. In football, the manager's role is to maximize the efficiency of their players. TATA Martino failed in that aspect, last season. I will be extremely angry if I ever see Neymar on the right wing(You have heard it here first). Barcelona's best play and goal came against Atletico Madrid in the CL Quarter Finals when Iniesta played in midfield and Neymar on the left( Co-incidence?). So expect both Neymar and Iniesta to play at their best, this season as they are playing in their natural positions.
10:) Messi - Messi is exhausted after playing his best football for 6 years. He needs rest now more than ever. If you visit any Barca forum now, you'll see discussions going on about "How much Messi tracks back and what does it mean to Barca" , "Messi is just walking on the pitch waiting for the bus", "Messi is not involving in attacks etc etc". Many fans over there state that his muscles aren't in good condition, and if he runs continuously for 90 mins and play every match week in week out, he will be injured. So, Barca's fitness team should prepare a proper diet plan and training for Lionel Messi. Last season Tata Martino had admitted couple of times that, " It was our tactics to keep Messi aside or make him deal with one defender in the right flank etc". Messi was clearly unhappy when TATA Martino was our manager. Nobody will ever know the answer. It may be due to his fitness, may be.
I expect Luis Enrique to do couple of things right away.
Firstly, he should sit with Messi and tell him," Look Buddy, you cannot play each and every match as your body doesn't cope with it"
Secondly, he should make bold decisions to sub him when he is below par. Because the manager should be the boss in the dressing room.
11) Luis Suarez- The most controversial figure in Barcelona right now. In proper football wise, Suarez deal makes sense. Barcelona will certainly not bid bye to tiki-taka philosophy. So, it is extremely important to have top front 3 to break the bus. Barca failed to beat minnows in the second half of the season which cost us the league. In the last couple of years, Barca were very much dependent on Messi. 2012-13, PSG second leg is the best example of Messidependencia. Barcelona will certainly get rid off Messidependencia with three world class strikers in the team. With the above formation, Suarez will play ahead of Messi and in his favorable position. I have watched Liverpool play last season and I can assure you that Suarez will dribble and get past at least one player for sure in this position. Suarez can play anywhere in the final third and we can only hope that this trio clicks this time.
Summary
After 2011, Barca became too much dependent on Messi to deliver. This season it will be different. Luis Suarez is a world class striker and can certainly get 25, 30 goals IMO. It will be hard for opposition to keep Messi, Neymar and Suarez quiet for full 90 minutes. Luis Enrique should use this formation to maximize the potential of the front 3. If we had Alexis Sanchez/ Pedro, they would run on their respective flanks, stop, look for Messi. But now Neymar and Suarez would certainly look to score more goals themselves which will make Barca unpredictable. Fans can contemplate about Plan A,B and C with Suarez and Neymar in. Pedro and Neymar will swap regularly as the latter is injury prone.
As far as the defense is concerned, Jeremy Mathieu is our recent signing.. Mathieu is tall, pacy and did very well at Valencia. Mascherano/Pique should make a way for Mathieu this season. One of Pique/Mascherano will be dropped from the starting lineup/subbed regularly. If Luis Enrique wants to hold the lead for final few minutes, he can use this formation too.
Fans should be optimistic this season. I fully expect Barcelona to win the league at the very least as the squad is intense, and winning Champions League will be icing on the cake. Let's not look ahead of ourselves. For now I just want to see Barcelona play. Cannot wait for the league to start.
Visca Barca.
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17 July 2020 at 04:58
Thanks for sharing this post!
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