Pep has hanging duties
Not further at all of my intention the one that this post understands like one of these alarmist speeches that they speak about a Barca in crisis. Nevertheless, I think that in these last two parties (that Iniesta considered to be “semipricks“) we could have seen some symptoms in the game of the team of Money box, almost all originated ones from complaints badly treated the past course. I will obviate the related thing to the bad circulation of ball (that is not so bad, of course, but that has not just acquired the frenzied speed of earlier) because he would not add anything to the above mentioned for my partner Santi Plaza in ‘The keys of the bolt’.
In addition to the not corrected above mentioned weaknesses, also I find some bad customs or manias of the trainer, in addition to other lacks difficult to understand. I will begin with something that comes from a small debate that we initialize in the comments of the chronicle of the last party of Champions.
Having viewed the party and extracting conclusions at a later stage, I believe that Money box was wrong in extracting Márquez for Puyol, although it was for giving rest to the captain. We all know the Pep taste for the head offices with aptitude to extract the ball from behind; the problem is that the above mentioned virtue is converted into an obsession (I hate this word through the fault of that horrifying song) and that is denied of what in the previous post Oberon it called “head office pitbull“.
It was of hoping that Rubin Kazan should not to exit to press very high, how this way it was, therefore it was not completely necessary to play with two head offices with good touch. Against the Valencia yes Puyol played and the team che centred on covering the Piqué output; perhaps in this party yes it had been worth giving the input to Márquez, who saw ninety minutes from the stool. But against Rubin, who will give you more problems to her against which in pressure, it had been better that there was playing Puyol, much more used to defending to the limit. Perhaps he had not could stop it against of 1-2 either, but I have left the sensation that, at least, someone would have finished for the soil: he itself, a rival, a partner, or all …
Puyol does not have bad ball touch to exit from behind. Another thing is that it does not paste these changes of orientation of fifty meters that yes there do Piqué or the Mexican, but good, except any rise that gives to him sometimes, it usually sufficiently is right in it. This serves to me to link with another thread: the long passes in diagonal from the defense towards the ends.
There are always passes crossed without too much depth, searching the hollow that leaves the opposite side street on having dwarfed towards the center but it without going so far as to overflow completely. It is not those balls that Ronaldinho or Deco were putting to the back of the defense for Giuly’s input, but there limit themselves to being mere changes of orientation. Perhaps the principal reason of this is that the ends most used by Money box have been Henry and Messi. The first one takes as the first tactical command to expand the field and he is required to support a conservative position, so it is not to get worn with desmarques of thirty meters. The second one has like principal defect that always searches the ball to the foot and the hollow has to do very clearly to scroll to the back of the defense.
Pep knows that it is going to meet very often teams that stand firm about your area, be already with the well-known two lines of four or with another version of wall numantino. For it I lack that your wards, especially the midfielders, prove more the throwing from average and long distance; he does not lack candidates: Xavi can put it with quality, Keita and Touré break it, if one thinks about Iniesta Alves remembers that last glorious minute in London, Alves… well, the snag whenever it can.
I imagine that my fiancée and I are not the only ones that us desgañitamos repeatedly with that one of: “But strip, man, strip!”, because sometimes it seems that only they cost them the drawing-pen combinations getting up to the kitchen. As he was saying in the title of the chronicle of the Tuesday party, the Barca scrolls the danger of being converted into victim of its own style.
Another feature of the style of that of Santpedor is that it usually does the changes enough is late. Although it is true that lately it has turned out to be forced to replace injured persons (as in the parties against the Almeria, the Malaga or the Rácing), it turns out that in the only ones divided in that the Barca has remained without dialing up, Inter and Valencia (both 0-0 in the end), the first change did not come up to the minute 77. Against those of Mourinho only Iniesta exited for Henry and against those of Emery, Bojan for Pedro and Busquets for Xavi. In both parties it did not use all the possible replacements and none supposed an offensive change. We saw this current last year, with few exceptions for script requirements like the day of the Chelsea.
Pep is brave to your way. It has introduced bold tactical variants in the alignments, like that wise move of putting Messi for the center in the Bernabeu or the position of head offices to play the ball from behind in the final of the Cup; but only it does it of beginning. It seems as if it was afraid about losing the control and that only trusts in what is analyzed perfectly. Something that is very well if one does not abjure of the fact of which before the adversity or before the unpredictable thing it will have to take decisions daring and based on the instinct. Not the whole party can be aimed in the notebook.
Finally, only to annotate a pair of dangers that have not appeared yet. One is the closet background; the Barca does not walk attic of effective and the injuries have already begun to appear. There is no spare for Alves (at least not like so that the style does not suffer) and, without Henry or Ibrahimovic, the team it remains without nine of reference.
Other is the defense of the idle ball: we have seeing from the end of past period and, especially, during the beginning of this one that the defense in area has evolved to the mixed one. This is: four men stand firm at the edge of the small area, immobile and looking at the ball, while other three or four move about the penalty point dialing up with the sight put in the auctioneers. Sooner or later the culés will end up by receiving goals of this nature and cane will get them for it, but it looks like to me an entire wise move.
In NdF | The keys of the bolt
In NdF | The Barca there complicates the life victim of her own style
Photo | Josep Lago, AFP
