As quickly as Barca stamped their mark on world football with their elegant simplicity, they look to abolish forever the tattered shapes they have left on the field. For this, I applaud them. The new Barca has a new philosophy: not to create holes, but to fill them in.

In their tour of the US, FCB brings the dawn of a new era of young players and new tactics. Whether this is Pep Guardiola’s explicit aim or just compensation for the lack of Iniesta remains to be seen, but it is my sincere hope that the tactics adopted for matches in Los Angeles and Seattle see their way into Spain this fall.

Tactic: Messi as a Playmaker

Messi has always had an enormous creative impact on Barcelona’s play, but this has traditionally been only from very wide, advanced positions. This has warped opposing defenses, forcing them to stretch across the field and leave space inside to cut and pass into. Spectacular as this often was, it rested so much on Messi having immediate and plentiful support up in front. A packed midfield meant death to these attacks, and the game became a war of attrition.

Now, Messi has adopted a role best resembled by Ricardo Kaka for the Brazilian national team – dropping into the hole in the space between one centerback and the corresponding fullback. This gives Messi so much space to turn, dribble, and pass that it immediately forces all three players near him (fullback, holding mid, and centerback) to turn and face him, leaving easy passing lanes all around the defense. Messi on longer needs to choose between cut or cross. Now, it’s shoot or set up a shot.

Furthermore, because Barca plays a central striker, Messi will almost always have a through-ball or one-two option upon challenging the centerback.

The Counter

Shutting down Messi-as-a-playmaker is extremely difficult for any defense. The obvious option – keeping the fullback tight – falls apart because it leaves space for Dani Alves to attack. Advancing a centerback just accelerates the one-two and forces them to foul Messi to prevent a goal. It seems the only way to keep Messi from filling the hole is to fill it yourself, and that means two holding midfielders – one to hold the middle and the other to deny Messi any space. With Messi simply drifting wide again, another hole is revealed to allow Iniesta and Xavi to work their magic. Thus, the only way to shut down the play is to not only have to holders, but also to have fullbacks willing and able to check back at pace.

The Conclusion

This is, of course the ultimate genius of Barcelona’s strategy. Bringing Messi infield creates a unique tactical dynamic that forces the opponent to play Barcelona’s system. Of course, very few teams practice a similar setup to Barcelona, and, of those who do, Barca simply does it better. There is no way to beat this team without imposing your own game on the match. The few who accomplish such a task, I applaud with the vigor of Barcelona as they send Messi to fill the holes.

Check at the end of Barca’s US tour for Competing Perspectives: Filling the Holes – Part 2, where I’ll discuss Barca’s defensive end and anything relevent from their game against Chivas USA.

And a Little Extra

I had the pleasure of watching this game in person at Qwest Field in Seattle. From behind the Barca goal the first half I saw mostly their defenders’ backs, and I’m ashamed to say I haven’t memorized the numbers of all 25 players on the tour. As a result, I was under the impression that Pique was playing the entire first half. Imagine my surprise when I watched the match on TV and found that it was Fontas next to Puyol! This boy has serious potential as a first-teamer, and Muniesa and Henrique show promise as well. I can only think that Pep is so eager on Chryg as a replacement for Puyol as he ages or is sold. None of the youngsters seem to possess the same physical presence and – dare I say? – dog-like nature in the back.

First, some disclosure: while many characterize the Barcelona system as a 4-3-3, I strongly disagree in principle. Not only does the name inadequately describe the depth with which Barca plays, it also conjures up memories of Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea side in which the 3 midfielders played primarily defensive roles as a cohesive line. Rather, I generally emphasis the central triangle which defines Barcelona’s tactics. The best, albeit approximate, title I can give to this fluid system is the 4-2-3-1, pictured below in its most basic form.

The 4-2-3-1

Center Mids: Toure, Keita, Xavi/Iniesta/Hleb

The 4-2-3-1 formation, despite appearances on paper, is really a very aggressive formation. The front four players shut down the simple passing lanes to force the other team to play forward, where the midfield is packed with two holders and the high-pressing full backs. Balls over the top are swept up by the centerbacks – a cross between the dedicated flat centerbacks and the liberos of late Italian fame. Used properly, as Barcelona does, it is a hyper-modern adaptation of the 4-5-1 in which the midfield is not clogged in the attack and the team operates up and down the pitch as a cohesive unit. For this reason, it’s execution requires extreme discipline.

Extreme Fluidity

However, this discipline does not mean that players are constrained. In fact, it takes very little time to see that FC Barcelona regularly swap positions, make creative runs, and dominate possession. Note, however, that the means in which they accomplish these goals are very consistent and maintain the balance of the whole. This dynamic discipline places Barca on a different tactical level than even Manchester United; and it is all dictated by variations on the shape of the midfield.

Variation 1: Dual Playmakers

Center Mids: Toure/Keita, Xavi, Iniesta

The first variation which Barca often plays simply moves one of the holders into an attacking midfield role. Using two central playmakers allowed both Xavi and Iniesta to play effectively at the same time, holding possession high up the pitch. This strong possession allowed the fullbacks, especially Dani Alves, to create enormous width up the wings to overload the opposing midfielders. A vicious cycle ensues, in which the defending outside players will run, run, run, get pulled out of position, then have to defend crosses facing their own goal. Wide play – either corner balls or out to the fullbacks – is the emphasis of this strategy, since forcing the central mids to mark the dual-playmakers limits the support they can provide to their own wingmen.

Notice, however, the enormous holes between the holding midfielder and the fullbacks as the fullbacks push up the pitch. In order to fill those dangerous passing lanes, the center backs must also push farther up the field, leaving only a very shallow arc between the holding mid and center backs. Vulnerability to corner balls is the result, and the Barca midfield are forced to pressure and possess high up the pitch to protect their own goal.

Overall, because it requires such skillful possession in the front, Barca may be the only major European club able to successfully pull off the dual playmaker variation. Exposure in the back necessitates that attacks end with an opportunity at goal, or else counter attacks will cost Barca dearly.

Variation 2: Central Libero

Center Mids: Toure/Keita, Iniesta/Gudjohnson, Xavi/Hleb

In my opinion, the use of a psuedo-libero in the center of your formation is the future of attacking football. Barca’s greatest successes last season came when they were comfortable enough defensively to let Iniesta move all around the park. In the above image, that is represented by the center midfielder off to the left of the other two. By working the horizontal lane between Toure and Xavi, Iniesta easily shook his markers and was able to pick up free opponent’s defensively. Complete domination of the central game – divorced from forcing two mids to play back-to-goal – ensued.

However, creative runs must come from the free man to preserve defensive integrity. If, say, Dani Alves pushes into the midfield, the impetus is on the free man and the holder to immediately rotate toward the hole and maintain balance. Barca’s discipline shines here, but more than once during the season they were punished for reacting too slowly when Alves chose a poor time to advance.

Variation 3: Alves Advances (a.k.a. Is this a formation?)

Regardless of who is playing in the midfield, Dani Alves’ (and, in the Champion’s League final, Puyol’s) forrays out of the defense create an awkward tactical situation for both the attacking and defending teams. Above, in the Central Libero variation, I explained my prefered method of adapting offensively. However, Barca also sometimes employed a hyper-aggressive alternative which defies conventional definitions. Loosely, it can be described as a lopsided 3-4-3, where Iniesta suddenly becomes almost a left winger.

Bizarre as the tactic is, spontaneous adjustment into its style for a few minutes in the late game appears to have some method to it. As best I can figure, the reasoning is that, being tired from chasing passes, the other team will not be able to overload the three defenders plus the holding mid with runs out of midfield. That out of the way, we simply trust to Pique or Puyol to win 1v1’s in the back and give the defense a heart attack by having four different attackers dribble at them in succession. Defensively unbalanced yet alarminingly controlled, I can only borrow a British term for the idea: cheeky.

Mascherano

Individual skills mastered by Javier Mascherano thus fit well into the overall FCB strategy in the midfield – by being a strong physical presence, a hard tackler, a reliable passer and holder of the ball, and a superb improvisationalist, he fills almost perfectly either the holding or the libero midfield roles. I can very easily see him playing next to or in front of Toure, or even far up the wings to balance the infield runs of Dani Alves. Were Mascherano to join the club, his contribution to the existing framework would have enormous potential.

Conclusion

Admittedly, during the course of a game, the midfield of FC Barcelona assumes far too many forms to count or describe; however, by analyzing the simplest, most common executions we can glimpse the underlying principles of how the midfield players and shape influence the game. Through a concious understanding of Barca’s fluid midfield game, we might better understand what makes our team the most sophisticated in the world.

Grif O.

A little about myself:

I am a student in Washington state who has been a football player and fan since the age of five. I play for a club team in the fall as a holding midfielder and for my school team in the spring as a fullback or target man. The latter has by far had the greatest influence on my understanding of the game, and my expertise in tactics were thus developed from the defensive end of the field. An American born and bred, I have long since swallowed my pride and given up the ghost of U.S. decency in football. That said, I still hold out hope for a day when we make a few big-name signings from Europe and truly integrate into the world football arena.

My blog, titled “Competing Perspectives,” aims to embrace the double-sidedness of Barcelona’s tactics and strategy; for every attacking option, there is an inevitable defensive sacrifice – and vice-versa. By showing you the execution, opposition, and conclusion of the club’s latest on-field tactics, I hope to spark discussion and prepare you to look critically at various aspects of Barcelona’s play. In my “And a Little Extra” segment I will offer a brief perspective on less cerebral issues relating to Barca. With any luck, none of my tips to the opposition will find there way on to the field!

My in-depth coverage will start after Barcelona arrives in California to play against the Los Angeles Galaxy MLS side. Then, my second column after I’ve visited Qwest Field in person to watch the Barca C-team destroy my home-side, Seattle Sounders FC. To all those looking for a point of contention, I welcome you to join me as I offer you… Competing Perspectives.

Thanks,

Grif O.