Can Barcelona Win the Champions League With This Defense?
Dan and Domagoj do a deep dive on Barcelona's defense. They talk through the press, high line, and the issues that the defense could keep having. Then they compare Barça and its centre-back group to other Champions League favorites. Special Discount for Domagoj's Substack: https://domstacticslab.substack.com/2f443677 0:00 High Line and Defensive Transitions 23:04 Compared to UCL Favorites 🎧 Available on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and everywhere you listen. 💬 Comment with your favorite goal from the match and a nickname for podcast supporters 🔔 Subscribe for more Barcelona breakdowns every matchday Listen to the full podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast ... 📲 Join the BigUp Watchalongs every matchday + play our free fantasy lineup game! 🔵🔴 Subscribe on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Patreon for ad-free episodes. BlueWireVideo
Transcript
Welcome to episode 857 of the Barcelona podcast brought to you by the Blue Wire podcast network. I'm Den Hilton. He is Domoy Christain. And of course it is time again as promised last week for another edition of Dom's tactics lab which I know people have been enjoying. But it's not just here where Dom does a tactics lab. Of course it is in his Substack. This is obviously to let you know that for all of the video stuff that people are like, "Oh, it's just a board. It's boring. Blah blah blah blah blah blah." No, no, no. his letters and his words put together in written format. There's definitely a different way to say that. That is where you get your best bang for your buck in terms of content on Substack that you will read and find on the internet. So, we are again here to collaborate some ideas. And before I say hello to Dom, I do want to also mention that over the weekend I released uh speaking of bang for your buck on Patreon. Again, I with the words I do things on hooligan. It can be fun over there for me. But I also do more video over on Patreon. I do a monthly video on history and the things that people aren't necessarily looking for. It's really for just the die hard. So if you find yourself to be a diehard fan and lover of history, I went over Barcelona's tour of Mexico in 1937 that they used to financially support the club. So that is the special over on Patreon. so you can help me out make more shows like this and again go on his substack and that's where you can find the best paid bars of content around. All right, Domoy, that was a long intro. The algorithms and this new AI technology tell me that my ramblings in the beginning are losing people. So, please bring them back in. Please bring everybody back. >> I think Yeah, thank you Dan for that intro. No, it was it was quite quite good. And I think the the thing that people often ask me about personally is okay, we know the bars are really good on the ball. They're really good at scoring goals. But what about the defense? Because that's what the games kind of uh they have made or you know you make or break the game in the defensive phase. Barca have struggled there in the years past under flick. If there's one thing that people still want to see like proof of is the defensive phase. Can we actually do this against the biggest teams out there in Europe? Is this Barca finally built to compete in the Champions League for example? Compete in Europe. I think today Dan this is exactly what we want to discuss as well. What has changed with Flick in version three of his system? Has anything changed and and how um will this translate to the biggest of stages? So I think that's a quite a good topic to start things off. >> Yeah. So that's what we're doing. We're jumping into Dom's tactics lab right away. Highline transition defense. Let's go. >> Right, guys. So what we have here is kind of Barcelona's main structure. What I want to discuss here is and say that Barcelona have not actually abandoned Flick's defensive identity. They're still the same aggressive and intense side that we know and love from previous two seasons. But the evolution that's happening now with this Barcelona with Rodri here and Gordon Rafin has the number nine is going from what seemed to be more of an automatic or maybe unconditional aggression towards more disciplined maybe conditional aggression. So we talked about this being a necessity when we discussed phase maturity a couple of weeks back on the pod and this is phase maturity for Barcelona but in the defensive sense. So what remains the same? So there are things that flick has retained and will retain uh as the season goes on. One of which and I think you have guessed it right away is the high defensive line and the high defensive line will be a prominent focus of ours in this section. I'm pretty I'm pretty sure of that. So Barca still do play with this high defensive line because you cannot be a high pressing side without actually having a high defensive line. So yes, they will concede all of the space in behind which is kind of inviting for the opposition. However, this is a necessity because of the many things that it kind of brings to this Barcelona side. First of which is just Barca want to compress the playable area. Uh this is pretty basic but I want to show you how through these basic things are now done more consistently which gives Barcelona more security and it does come from the from very much a compressed area that they they cover now defensively because when you when you are defending what you want to do is you want the the pitch to be as small as humanly possible right so if Barcelona only need to def if Barcelona only need to defend the smaller area of the pitch, let's say half of the pitch. That makes it much easier for t to them to navigate that um and and they need to run much less. Secondly, of course, this is done to support the counter pressing which Barcelona still do quite well. If the ball is funneled towards one of the weaker sides, weaker opponent, weaker players of the ball for example or inside of Barcelona have numbers. Obviously the compressed area which is ultimately done through the high line means that bars have an easier time counterpressing the opposition. But now the the thing that I do want to to mention here as well is that defending is one of the the the main collective aspects of football. Meaning that you can't whatever you do as a defend defending team it has to be done as a unit. Because I've seen many people say, "Oh, the the solution to Barcelona's problems is just to drop the high line a bit down." But what happens if you still want to be a high pressing side who that drops the high defensive line a bit bit lower is you create all of this space between the lines and you're you lose compactness and compactness in the defensive phase in all phases actually is crucial. Now, this is only one of the things that Barcelona still does and that's that hasn't changed over the seasons. The other one is obviously the high press from from from the front. Barcelona now have three runners and they have legs in the forward line through Gordon Rafiniah and Lamin even who is still intense in in his pressure but not all the time which is a key that we'll discuss a bit later and then obviously Barcelona are still very much manoriented where we can see that their main mode of actually reference will be the player themselves. So barsa are very much man-oriented but uh this does change depending on the circumstances in in the in the game. Uh obviously another thing that still happens is they will have defenders stepping out. So you will see Kubarci and Martin and whoever it is they will fold players deep into the area into into deeper areas if necessary and they still have Jean Garcia who can mans this area behind the defensive line mean that he will be that sweeper keeper. However, there are some changes that have happened this season and this is down where we actually come into into the discussion bit of this of this segment where I want your input as well. Rodri, as we mentioned in in our analysis of him uh specifically, Rodri is one of those players who will dictate how Barcelona press and when they press. And one of the main things that Rodri does, he gives Barcelona more opponent specific pressing and more in-game adaptation. So let's say that Barcelona want to press from the front and what generally happens if if the ball is with the goalkeeper and they want to play into the center back for example Rafina will generally generally speaking will cover one of the center backs Gordon or at the will cover the other one lamin would then go onto this fullback and obviously if that happens Canelo needs to push up on the other side and cover the opposing fullback. Now there are two ways that this hap the next thing happens. If the opposition wants to go uh long into the forwards or into the space behind the defensive line, Rodri needs to make a decision and this is where his input matters the most because he needs to make a decision. Do I want to stay on on my ma man over here? Because we remember bars are very high man man marking in this area. He has to make a decision. Do I stay with this man or do I drop deeper and support the back line? Because if the ball goes high and long and Rodri chooses to support the back line, he can make sure that Bara can win these second balls in case Kubari or Martin or whoever it is doesn't win the individual battle against the number nine. However, the the the trick here is that it doesn't always have to play out like that because teams have what they've done um against Barcelona for example when when they play short over here if Lamine for example is a bit late to to press his fullback and then Rodri opts to drop deep and abandons his marker what happens there this guy is absolutely free to receive and then bars have a problem but here what I want to say Dan before kind of switching to you over to you is there is a chain of responsibility. Now in Barcelona, if Rodri is choosing to protect the back line and make sure Kubarci has a partner to scoop up the second balls, Almo is the one or the player or maybe Furman here uh if he's the one playing needs to take over his marker. But then if then Rafiniah needs to be on point and then he he drops his marker to to take almost previous marker. Now that way what Barcelona can do is they can still have Rodri or whoever it is here take responsibility help the backline without the structure of the press falling apart. However, this is much easier said than done and Barcelona have faltered in this sense multiple times because the the transition of markers and switching of markers is not done as seamlessly as possible because if Rafa is late over here and he chooses to kind of have has a press this guy becomes a problem because suddenly Rafa is between two guys and and the position have four against three in this area which is easily outplayable and then in two or three moves the opponent is breaking through. Now, this is the big thing for Barcelona this season, this chain of responsibility because they do have Rodri who decides, okay, I need to be forward, I need to be back, and he makes the right decision most of the time. However, the rest of the team needs to always be on point and fold that lead. Well, I do have one positive stat for you in all of this is that this well positive and negative. The positive stat is that Kubarc is winning more than 84% of his aerial duels, taking on the responsibility of those number nines as a reactive center back. And we've seen as his growth and maturity have gone on that that is again an underrated aspect of his game he's improved upon. Problem is Martin is just underneath 40% in terms of those wins. But again, when you're talking about that stat, it's not just a base level stat. It's what are they being asked to do? It it is easier to get that aerial dual percentage up when you are the center back reacting to the long balls coming towards you and right, you're tasked to win that ball as opposed to Martine who is being tasked, as you mentioned, to go out to that that sideline a bit more. Now, the interesting thing where I think Barcelona I want to bring up kind of the two areas of concern that I still have that I don't really know how they get rectified. The first one is and now Dom what I'll ask you to do is I'll ask you to put the opposition in a 442 and I'll ask you to put them in a 442 and for Barcelona instead of as in years past where you mentioned the manmarking where Rafinia comes in to to manmark where I guess Almo was in where that pivot was. Instead, what Barcelona is doing a lot of this season is they're keeping it doesn't matter where you start this chain reaction as you kind of mentioned. Let's say the chain reaction begins with the press as it should. Whereas Rafinia and Laminia Maul as the two up top and Barcelon is basically pressing in a 442 formation, right? So we have Canelo back, you have Gordon then dropping in and you have Almo, not really dropping. he's more central in terms of where his positioning is and Rodri is the one again we're talking kind of in a pseudo counter for the opposition. So as Lamini balls further forward as you can see there with on the opposition screen here if you're again if you're listening we're going to try to continue to make this make sense but if you're watching it's the number seven and the number 10 in this position. So, Kubarc is worried more about the number nine in this spot. And it's the number 10 or the number seven. Either one. The number 10 is making that run, the we'll say the overlapping run to the sideline, right? And then the overlapping run is coming from the the number seven here in this position. Right? So, Eric is in a 2v1 situation. My concern with the medium mall up field is how often and the reason why I bring up this concern is kind of been on our minds this week because England and it was so interesting that it was Gordon the guy who was doing this. So it's Gordon against Rodri for England against Spain a few days ago. Rodri if he does not track that overlapping run and we saw that again England ran that over and over and over again to ask him to track quite a few times and if Rodri does not track that overlapping run that is one of the key issues where Barcelona is in a world of hurt because it doesn't matter if it's Eric or it's Kundai they're going to be slow to that cross because again they're in a 2v1 situation so I know we're like okay Eric didn't properly come out on that and Kune didn't close down the space on the overlapping run. Well, that's again because the job is on Rodri to grab that overlapping run because again Lamin is asked to be part of that 442 and he is asked to be part of that front two in the press. So that is a big major concern for me and I will say then for those who also did not watch Spain England that you saw that Gordon scored the opener but well after Leini Mos opener. So Gordon scores England's first goal. That goal actually comes on the counter. You don't have to show them this, Dom. That goal comes on the counter when he just leaves Fabian Ruiz in the dust. Just straight runs past them on a counter. And that has nothing to do with per this permutation that we are setting up right now. So the other spot here that I want to mention, so as if you want to reset things here in this 442 as well. So it we're going to continue here in the 442 where Barcelona are pressing and what happens here in this permutation this season again it's Rafinia putting pressure up top uh either on the pivot or in a two with Lin Maul it actually doesn't matter either way um because in this permutation lin's job unlike in previous season it seems like with Hanzi Flick you are the guy who's being asked to spring our counter that being Lem on either a long ball from Rodri. Well, less long balls from Rodri, but a diagonal from Pedri. We're seeing a lot of that. A a ball in the same third from Kubari or the diagonal from Gerard Martin, which is why Hanzi Flick has slightly slightly seemed to believe in Gerard Martin in that position a bit more than Christensen. And Rodri actually said the same thing that when Christensen got hurt the other day and Martine steps in, his ability to step into that space and then be able to play balls not only in vertical space, which again Chris can also do with his right foot or his left foot, but also horizontally with that left foot, right? Like it's a lot easier when you're on your strong foot to play a long ball from that left side, right? Okay. But that's that's getting too in the weeds on the on the offensive stuff. Defensively here, you see where Eric is here because Cancel is in a a deeper position. Gordon is also in a deeper position defending. That means that it's Eric's job in this instance if you want to move Kubarci to the closer to the sideline here and Gerard Martine more centrally and it's Cancel more in a kind of back back three situation. The issues here is that when the right back is asked to pinch, which he is, if the right back pinches, the problem whether it's Eric or it's Kundai, if they miss on this pinch, which we have seen and it happens, if they miss on this pinch, that means it's Kubarci defending the sideline in space, which he has improved upon, but he is not someone with the physical tools. And if we were to flip this, you don't have to again show that, but if we flipped it, that's the other issue on the other side with Gerard Martine. If we inverse this completely and it's Eric building in the back three and it's Canelo pinching or Shavepar pinching on the left side. In fact, actually because of Canelo and Shavepar pinching on the underlap, it winds up being Gordon or Admi, more so Gordon, but Gordon then who has to pinch on the opposite side on that whoever's on the, you know, on the on the on the right wing for the opposition, right? And again, if they miss now, again, it's talking about Gerard Martine then defending in space, right? If you to inverse all of that. So, the real problem comes is that when you play this high press, and I said high press, not high line. When you play this high press and either if it's the left back or it's the right back, whoever is the high fullback who's asked to pinch, if they mchinch on that, if they miss on that pinch, then it's a center back in Jared Martin and Kubari, both who are not fully equipped to be defending in space like that, which again also as I looked at the the numbers, which I'll go into after we we exit the tactics lab, there is it is tough. It doesn't matter. There's too much space in modern football to ask a center back to be able to do that consistently time and time and time and time again. So that these two areas that I bring up here, the overlapping runs or the 2v1 situation on the right back and asking Rodri to then defend over and over again that overlapping run. The same thing is with these long diagonals when they come off right away and then the fullbacks fail to pinch. That is again the other issue when Barcelona in a world of hurt because it's so easy then to switch play right away. >> It is. It is. I mean in in this scenario right here, I'm just trying to see who covers who because if Lamin and Rafinia the front two who are pressing, obviously Lamine has to press in a way that he actually covers one of these pivots behind him. If he doesn't do that, if he just presses in a straight line, doesn't really curve his run in a way that he uses cover shadow to to block this guy, then bars a lot of problems because would have to be the one jumping here. If if you say that Lamin is covering the number six right there, then Eric would have to jump here, which means that either Rodri has to peel wide and get this guy or it would be Kubarci going all the way wide and then Bara kind of switching markers, Gordon or Pedro staying here, Gordon kind of tracking back. It's a very risky thing, but I think the Bara you can't you can't have this without any risk. That's number one, of course. So, so that's why the counter pressing is so crucial because the Barca don't want to be in these foot races here either way, right? Because they want to get the ball as soon as possible at the source. And I think that's always been flex and also Barcelona's philosophy just get the ball at the source because if the ball leaves the foot of the goalkeeper here then all we already we are we are already in a lot more risk than than if if you know if we are able to count the press effectively. So yes we can try and scoop up the second balls here once Martin or whoever it is here Kubari tries to battle it out aerally or maybe even in space. If it's in space then yes obviously we can we can bank on the high line catching people off site but even that is risk. So I think that the main thing here again is either guiding the ball into the