Champions’ League: Rubin Kazan Vs. Barcelona. And much more.

Marching to Kazan!

You can feel the lack of satisfaction between Barcelona fans this season. It’s basically a result of high expectations. The satisfaction stocks rise and fall on weekly bases the same as the team performance varies. Every game has its own story, but still there are common denominators between all the matches Barcelona played this season, that is rooted to the team performance last season as well. This post is a preview for The Champions’ league game against Rubin Kazan. But make no mistake, it’s linked to the performance since the first Liga game and will have an impact on the fans expectations for the rest of the season. That’s why I will start with a general overview and the more I approach the end of the post the closer I will get to the mission in Kazan as we will end up with a solid base to evaluate the current situation, starting line ups and tactics. Besides, I hope it will help in setting criteria to measure performance regardless of the games results which has to do a lot with luck sometimes, and the opponent’s quality as well.

Back to the future

That was the most popular selection for last season. Messi sliding more to the center opening the flank for the Brazilian train to move forward acting as a right midfielder/wing. Iniesta, in order to avoid sandwiching Xavi between him and Messi, slips a bit to the left to link with Henry and give him the go to cut into the box and get advantage of Messi and Eto’o movement leading to destabilizing the opponent defense. All that turned to get the best out of every player and created the destruction machine we’ve witnessed and enjoyed.

Yet it was not all roses, even though the season success makes it a bit whiney to note the defects of the past. But to serve the subject, I will brief some of the last season unpleasant bugs:

1) Whenever we were desperately in need for a target man in the box, we failed to fulfill that need. Eto’o for all his goods is not the medicine. Henry is much better, but there was no possibility to play him as a striker because Eto’o can’t really operate on the left flank nor it was possible to bench the Cameroonian or substitute him when needed because there was always the risk of destabilizing him–>the dressing room–>the team performance during the season.

2) Alves and Xavi dependency was not something we suffered simply because they played almost all the games without sweating. But we always had the anxiety of the “What if” conditional nightmare.

3) Lack of rotation: At the beginning of last season while the expectations were as low as the moral after a disastrous campaign, Pep was open for adventurous attempts. He introduced the unknown Busquets, made tactical innovations and applied the great rotation policy which made all Barcelona fans confused and unable to predict who will actually play and who will be benched. He even inspired Barcelona transfers blog to start a competition between the fans to guess Pep selection, and it was too hard to be won- at the beginning. The team enjoyed a great string of victories against the strongest rivals and broke the scoring record on weekly bases boosting the expectations and the demands. That’s when Pep started to think twice before deciding a selection. He cut down the rotation mechanism and started selecting the obvious options that the majority of the fans label as being the strongest. Fatigue became the daily subject, we dropped points like a waterfall and we pushed the starters to the edge to an extend that in the match we played against Man Utd – the last match that worth to mention- we had to reengineer the selection to fit the players available. I was hoping that this game will be enough for a lesson. If Sylvinho can play against Manchester the way he performed, then he can play against at least half the liga teams. He didn’t. And we can say the same about Caceres if we take his international career in consideration. Hleb is doing well where he is now the same as he performed before he moved to Barcelona. Will that make him a key player at Barcelona? Not necessarily, but at least he could have played against Almeria. After Hammering Bayern at the Camp Nou, it wasn’t suicidal to use Keita instead of exhausted Iniesta, right? Hopefully the point is clear by now.

4) The vacuum tunnel. Each and every time we played against a team that can generate quality counter attacks we had troubles. The problem starts when Alves, Iniesta and Xavi advance to the edge of the box backing Messi, Eto’o and Henry. In return, the three defenders position themselves along the half line. That leaves a wide landscape for Yaya to patrol through. Yaya for all his goods is not a natural Defensive midfielder, but more a central midfielder who is always tempted to contribute offense wise rather than sticking to the basics and priorities of being a midfield libero in the first place then thinking of how far he can contribute in the offense operations. He positions himself closer to the top of the vacuum tunnel to support the offense rather than the middle to balance his offense contribution with his defensive coverage role. The moment we lose the ball the opponent generates counters, slide through the midfield and create threat. The quality of Yaya helped most of the time recovering the fragility of the system, more than avoiding it. Also he earns the credit of improving his discipline as he is no more dribbling through the opponents and loses the ball in dangerous positions. If you watch Yaya performance since we signed him till January 2009, you will notice a massive improvement (that’s one of the reasons I always demand patience when it come to Busquets). But still, even a supernatural defensive midfielder will not be able to close the Vacuum tunnel alone. More about that later in this extended ramble.

5) I can list more remarks like Delayed or unused substitutions for example, but I will only focus on the points I need to link to the current season, and the following game.

Are we better or worse this season?

This summer, we solved some of the defects but still struggling to overcome some other challenges.

1) We bought a player who can play in the box and on the flank as well. Henry will enjoy a great season if he remains fit. He will be seen in the box more often, and if last season he scored for fun though being there occasionally, this season he will buy an apartment right there facing the keeper. Ibra in return will be able to create more wholes in defense by stretching it to the left pulling the defenders one after another using his dribbling skills and accurate quality crosses and assists. Henry-Ibra switches will play a deciding factor this season, If it happened.

So far it didn’t click well. As a new player, Ibra needed time to understand his teammates as well as they needed time to understand him. His understanding with Messi went smoother which forced Henry to stay wide on the flank while Messi and Ibra operate in the middle. That’s not the best role for Henry. But it will only need more time and fewer injuries.

2) We also brought a player who can solve –at least partially- Alves dependency. Maxwell is a quality player and the best left-footed-cloning Alves I can think of and we can afford. In principle, Barcelona system needs an offense oriented fullback. Two offense oriented fullbacks at the same time cause a Giovani-Belletti mess. Without any offense oriented fullback we turn containable. Using Abidal and Puyol together as fullbacks has lot of advantages, but the tax is high. With Alves or Maxwell on the flank, we don’t only open the field wider, but they also create more headache for defense as they can always cut to the edge of the box and shoot. Even when they don’t do it, the opponent will be always aware that they can. When was the last time Abidal took a shooting attempt? Adding to their accurate crosses (Not lately for Alves), Maxwell and Alves are also good being involved in the playmaking and offense build up. It’s not only a matter of receiving and passing back. It’s the movement and flair, ideas and creativity. Neither Puyol nor Abidal can match the two Brazilians in that department. The playmaking chain that contains Messi-Xavi-Iniesta-Alves/Maxwell creates an automatic width behind Henry/Keita and Ibra and drives them into the box. That’s why when Alves plays, Maxwell must not. But when Alves is not selected then Maxwell is a must. Unless if the fullbacks will operate defensively and give a chance for the rest of the selection to do the offense job. To be continued…

Xavi dependency is still there as well, and we are not doing any attempt to overcome it. It’s a corner stone the opponents use to contain Barcelona, and I believe we can solve it with some bravery, creativity and patience.

3) Talking about lack of rotation moves us closer to Kazan game. Lack of rotation was the key factor for us losing the game. Barcelona plays a kind of full-court-press that demands astronomic fitness level. The quality of pressing gains us the ball closer to the opponent area and vice versa. That’s why the impact of fatigue on the performance declination raises exponentially both defense wise and offense wise. When the team mechanism decline, it allows the opponent to break through the initial pressure Barcelona players apply to gain back possession and if the opponent defender was able to play a single pass without being under any pressure then he can put his teammate in a clear position to penetrate through the vacuum tunnel without any resistance as Yaya will be a step behind when he is not fresh enough for his impossible mission to cover a China-size land. To recover, Players like Xavi, Iniesta, and Alves will need to do defensive transition more often running back all the way toward Barcelona defense territory. It happens too late most of the times as they are too tired to catch the tempo. Moreover, such kind of transitions back and forth turns to become a distractive process for the already exhausted players. The result is something like Alves gets injured while the rest are on the waiting list.

4) The Vacuum tunnel issue is a common point I mention every once and while. One solution is to ask Yaya to play more defensive than his taste. Pep already did so during the process of improving Yaya qualities as a defensive midfielder. But I believe the Yaya we have at the moment is the best Yaya we can demand. His offense qualities are too tempting to terminate just to secure defense. That’s why instead of modifying Yaya role we need to modify some of his teammate’s roles to create more efficiency and reliability for the tactical structure. To analyze this point it’s useful to analyze Rubin Kazan second goal against Barcelona. The direct responsibility was hooked around the neck of Marquez with some blames on Yaya and Bojan. But if you watch the goal again, it’s actually Abidal positioning and decision making that must be blamed in the first place if there is a single player to pick. Secondly, it’s a result of both a systematic error and a fatigue impact that’s happening quite often and leading to many identical scenarios:

Bojan playing a bad pass and Barcelona lose possession (Pause the Video at 0:03). Kazan had two players in the Vacuum area each on one side of Yaya. Abidal being in a weird position that we would forgive if he made a fast transition when we lost the ball, but instead he hesitated and prayed that Yaya get back the ball and save him from an exhausting run backward(0:003 to 0:06 Watch Abidal), something he wouldn’t have considered if he was fresh. If he would have made his run toward our backline as he should the moment we lost the ball, Kazan wouldn’t have scored. Yaya in return did a fast hopeless tackle (0:006). Those who played defensive roles in football can tell you what this tackle means. It’s the feeling that “it’s now or never!” the belief that:” I can’t get closer to the ball than this!”. And it happened in the opponent half in an unlikely successful position. And it happens where Kazan player needed to run while controlling the ball while all what Yaya needed is chasing him and then eat him alive. If Yaya was fresh he would have tracked the opponent and picked a better moment to tackle. He chose to tackle than to run. Abidal positioning and late response added to Yaya poor decision making and fatigue put the two Kazan forwards in a superior position against the two defenders we left behind. The rest was history.

Pause it at 0:06 for a moment to check the players positions then play it till 0:08 then pause again. You will notice how Kazan player was able to outrun both Yaya and specially Abidal with a diagonal move while Pique is marking the other player and Marquez creating depth and cover as he should while hoping that Abidal will track the second player. Marquez couldn’t put early pressure and expose the space behind him. He was in an impossible situation and carries a very light responsibility for the goal conceded.

Kazan game and the recipe to beat Barcelona.

How will Kazan play against Barcelona? For a Barcelona fan, this question is derived from the concerning question: “Is it possible for Kazan to beat Barcelona… Again?”

The common strategy to face Barcelona is to create a wall in front of the keeper and generate counter attacks. But even last season, I labeled this strategy as an “Avoiding loss” rather than “Seeking victory”. It will work when Barcelona players are not in their day, tired, and out of form. This Barcelona team that we have now can turn any team that park a bus into ruins in a good day. Especially after signing Ibra and after Keita finally got enough love from the Barcelona community for Pep to select him more often without the risk of loss-crises claims-Dressing room disturbance-bad cycle.

Wining against Barcelona needs a more daring approach:

1) Having the courage of playing two forwards to put pressure on Barcelona defense and defensive Midfielder (Yaya). Osasuna way.

2) Marking Xavi out of the game. (Chico way).

That may prove vital to pull Barcelona forwards a bit toward the midfield away from the offense third.

3) Generating counters through exposing the Vacuum tunnel by already planed and directed clearance from defense to midfield. And then redirecting the offense based on Barcelona selection. If the defense line consisted of Puyol-Marquez-Pique-Abidal then avoid the flanks and strike through the center or between the fullback and the Center Defender. If Alves played on the right then that’s where you need to attack. This way you will pull one of the center defenders out of position and secondly you will drag Alves back rather than making him feel secured going forward. It goes the same if Maxwell played on the other side.

Will Kazan Apply this strategy?

I mentioned after the game against Kazan that I was disappointed by their performance. They parked a bus in a very organized manner which is not a bad thing. But they showed the intention of avoiding big loss rather than trying to surprise. Ironically the surprise came without their intention. The nonsense ball clearance and unclear offense strategy was not something I predicted from the Russian champions after the good impression the Russian national team and clubs made on the European stage.

But it worked for them. So there is no wonder if they did the same again. Especially that they know Barcelona needs to win. If they can hold Barcelona for a draw in the first half, Barcelona will risk more going forward, and that’s when they can generate counters and steels the game.

If they can take the weather and field conditions to their advantage and played a bit more adventurous, they can win this game. If they parked the bus then a strike from the likes of Ibra or Keita will take advantage of the wet grass and open the game early. And then, it may become a scoring circus.

How will Barcelona beat Kazan?

Based on what I mentioned so far, we need some fixings that depend on the selection we start.

In this kind of selections I want to believe that Marquez will move forward to play as a holding midfielder covering Yaya and leaving Puyol-Pique-Abidal behind. This scenario means that Iniesta can open to the left and Henry can cut inside the box beside Ibra while Messi stretch the Kazan defense from the right. Marquez stay in the backline only if either Puyol or Abidal made a run on the flank while the respective forward (Messi/Henry) cuts inside. Abidal and Puyol must not contribute offense wise together at the same time leaving Pique and Marquez struggling with the opponents’ counters and pace. And if Kazan had a lone striker in the area without sufficient support then it’s enough to have one fullback with pique to mark him while the other fullback move forward and Marquez play a holding midfielder role. It’s more dangerous to have three defenders behind an open space guarded by a single player (Yaya) than having two defenders sandwiching a lone striker who will get no ball or service from his teammates because there are two holding midfielders closing the way.

It’s an expected selection but I am not a fan. First because none of the fullbacks is offense oriented as mentioned before, and there is no midfielder who can act on the flank decently to give the opportunity for Henry to penetrate into the box more often. The only trick is the switches we can see between Ibra and Henry with Keita assistance on the left as far as possible.

Good selection and with massive options. Ibra may move to the right while Messi cut to the center and Keita run into the box. The only problem is that having Maxwell in the selection may prevent Marquez from playing as a holding midfielder as he will stay behind to secure the defense. And If Kazan showed enough teeth then Keita will hesitate to move forward and will focus more on covering the offense rather than contributing in. We will have lot of possession this way but scoring goals will be another issue. I like the Iniesta-Ibra-Messi combination with Keita behind when we have Pique-Abidal-and Puyol in the back line. That’s when Iniesta can balance the flanks with Alves, and the defensive trio will have the pace and understanding to command the area even when one of them (pique) moves slightly forward.

My Favorite selection for this game:

 Puyol-Pique- Abidal-Maxwell-Yaya-Keita-Xavi-Henry-Ibra-Messi

a) Puyol-Pique-Abidal can secure the area infront of Valdes.
b) Maxwell can do the Alves job from the right left flank motivating Henry to penetrate into the box. We all know what happens when we get both Ibra and Henry into the box and deliver the ball to them right?
c) We will have the tactical flexibility to change gears based on Kazan form. If they showed enough potentials to label as dangerous opponents we select the third Gear with Abidal-Pique-Puyol playing as static center defenders behind Yaya who will be supported by Keita as needed. That will be more than enough to keep Xavi-Messi-Ibra-Maxwell and Henry focused on scoring a goal to hunt the game. And with Kazan showing the intentions to attack the mentioned five players will have enough quality and space to score. If Kazan were less daring offense wise by playing a lone striker then Abidal and Puyol can mark him while Pique cover behind Yaya leaving Keita for his offense role. Cross the ball from the flanks into a box where Keita, Ibra, and Henry exist and you know what will happen next.

d) Ibra can still move to the left where he has the understanding with Maxwell or to the right when Henry and Keita penetrate into the box and Messi cuts into the center getting advantage of the spaces created by his teammates positioning rotation.

e) Marking Xavi will not lead to blocking our offense flow as it will be directed more toward the flanks through Maxwell and Messi. Ibra and Henry can act as stations and outlets while Keita and Yaya support the ball flow.

The reason why I prefer this selection is its directness. If the weather was not suitable and the field was not compatible to skills and techniques, only a direct style can put you through. The likes of Henry, Keita, Ibra, and Maxwell can guide the team in that manner more than the partnership of Xavi and Iniesta, or the offense with Iniesta and Messi on the extremes.

Alves will be available for this game as well, but if he is not fully fit, then it’s better not to select him as he may not have enough immunity against injuries in such a physically demanding game.

No need to turn it to an endless thesis. So here I publish it hoping that my following comment will be congratulating the team after a needed win.

Category: Barcelona, Champions League, Champions League 2010, Preview, Team News

Tags: Barcelona, Champions League, Preview, Team News

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