[THREAD] Tactical Analysis of Barcelona - Manchester United
Frantic and chaotic match in which individual mistakes have been decisive. Let's delve into the tactical aspects of the game.
I'll mainly focus on Barcelona, but it'd be impossible to ignore the gameplan of Man United.
Frantic and chaotic match in which individual mistakes have been decisive. Let's delve into the tactical aspects of the game.
I'll mainly focus on Barcelona, but it'd be impossible to ignore the gameplan of Man United.
![[THREAD] Tactical Analysis of Barcelona - Manchester United
Frantic and chaotic match in which indi...](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FpIMgbpXoAAYkE2.jpg)
Both managers opted for rather surprising choices. Ten Hag proposed a sort of 4-3-3 with Fred and Weghorst as #8 and Rashford central. From that position the Dutch had a central role out of possession and helped with aerial duels and layoffs, Rashford was a threat in-behind.
Xavi biggest surprise was starting Marcos Alonso instead of Christensen (one of the best player of Barça in this season). In addition, Koundé and Araújo switched position (the former CB, the latter RB), and Alba plays at LB instead of Balde.
Barça's build-up was the following:
- Asymmetrical back three with Araújo, Koundé and Alonso
- Box midfield with Kessié and de Jong at the base, Pedri RHS and Gavi narrow in the LWS
- Alba and Raphinha wide
- Lewandowski as #9
- Asymmetrical back three with Araújo, Koundé and Alonso
- Box midfield with Kessié and de Jong at the base, Pedri RHS and Gavi narrow in the LWS
- Alba and Raphinha wide
- Lewandowski as #9
Man United responded with a sort of 4-1-4-1 with man-marking in the midfield: Weghorst on Kessié, Fred on de Jong, Casemiro on Pedri. Rashford marked a CB, while Fernandes and Sancho marked the other CB when the ball was on their side or the fullback when on the weak side.
As you can see, Wan Bissaka wasn't following neither Gavi when he came deeper nor Alba when in a more standard FB position, he'd rather stay deeper in the defensive line. This gave protection to the line, but at the expense of having numerical inferiority in the midfield.
Barça exploited this numerical superiority in this way: since Casemiro was following Pedri, the canarian roamed free trying to lead Casemiro out of position, thus creating a space centrally between the lines. AWB didn't follow Gavi, who could move narrow and receive as a #10.
Another solution that Barça tried with moderate success was the following:
- Pedri and Kessié deep next to FDJ attracting their men and creating space btl
- Lewa came deep attracting a CB
- Gavi on LHS, Alba wide = 2vs1 against AWB
- Pedri and Kessié deep next to FDJ attracting their men and creating space btl
- Lewa came deep attracting a CB
- Gavi on LHS, Alba wide = 2vs1 against AWB
From that situation Koundé could try a long pass in behind for Gavi, or a simpler but effective switch side to Alba, which could create a good chance like the following:
Main problem was that Alba has had a night off as a passer in the final third. IMHO Xavi opted for him and not the overall better Balde for his skills as a cutter off ball and passer in the final third, exploiting situations like this one with Gavi attracting AWB in the LHS:
Another good aspect of Barça's game was their high pressing which forced United to always play long towards Weghorst, but Kessié was great against him in the aerial duels. Here below you can see the pairs that Barcelona formed when pressing high.
Quick info: if you wanna know why Man United start the action by playing the ball from Shaw to De Gea and not the opposite this is the video for you: youtube.com
So far I've shown what I liked about Barça regardless of the final outcome, now let's start talking about what I didn't like starting from Araújo's position. Xavi usually opts for Araújo as a RB when the opponents have an elite 1vs1 left winger (Vinicius knows it well).
It would make sense to do the same thing against an amazing player like Marcus Rashford, but once you've realized that he was playing centrally and Sancho wide (who usually needs to combine with a FB), why keeping him at RB? This caused problems both defensively and offensively.
First of all, Alonso is just a bad CB. Seeing him against Rashford was a bad show. For example: United didn't want possession of the ball, they wanted to win it back and counterattack; they did it well. Araújo is among the best in the world in transitions, why not exploit it?
Second of all, Araújo is improving in the build-up as a passer in general, but is surely not good enough in the final third, or at least not as good as Koundé. Man United could leave him alone without any worries in situations like these ones:
I also thought the de Jong was quite poor in this game, especially defensively. We all know there's a huge debate over FDJ's best position, and a good argument made by those who don't see him as a lone #6 are his flaws on the defensive side of the game in pressing and positioning
Ten Hag knows de Jong very well and was perfectly aware of his limits in that position. What Man United tried to do often was exploiting Rashford's runs in behind to create space between the lines where Fred would position himself to receive or win any second ball.
In general Fred was great on him, pressing with the right timing and winning many balls back in Barça's half.
Rashford's goal was quite hard to understand due to the lack of good replays, but it showed both de Jong's problems and Fred's pros. Fred on the last line next/behind de Jong, who quite incomprehensibly leaves the brazilian to press high as soon as Barça loses the ball.
From my point of view, as fun as the game was, the enjoyment was sparked by frenzy and chaos, not accuracy. Lots of mistakes, bad or even zero build-up but tons of good high pressing situations.
Before I finish the thread, I want to add one thing about Xavi and the box midfield. With this solution, Barça started playing better than ever. Great offensive production, conceding less and less, and maybe for the first time really *controlling* games.
Xavi's Barcelona always looked a bit too vertical and frenzy, unable to maintain control of games through possession. With this solution that allowed to play at the same time Busquets, de Jong, Pedri and Gavi, Xavi found the perfect balance between accelerators and controllers.
I see de Jong and Gavi as the accelerators (more vertical oriented and a bit chaotic in a good way in the right system), while Busquets and Pedri (though he's amazing in both tasks) as the controllers. With these four players you have technical superiority and fluid alternatives.
I get it, this shape is working. But both Busquets and Pedri (the controllers) are out, is it really worth it to keep that shape? With Kessié and S.Roberto? Frankly, I doubt it. Shape, structures, schemes depend on the available personnel, they do not work by themselves.
Anyway, to conclude: I liked ten Hag's plan, he clearly took Xavi by surprise with Rashford's and Weghorst positioning and with Fred's work between the lines. I didn't like (or understand even) Xavi's, many weird choices and too slow in realizing what wasn't working.
If you have come this far in the thread, thank you. Let me know your thoughts on the game!
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