We've been seeing some things happen consistently over the last 5 years. For example, Liverpool inherently suck, and Mido's wages are shrinking every year. The Egyptian's salary hit rock bottom this year, earning him 1000£ per week. A lot of people came to me laughing about how small his salary is. I usually let them have their moment, and don't remind them it's still more than double what most of them earn. Liverpool's case on the other hand doesn't need much elaboration.
Barca as well have been doing something consistently during the last 5 years (apart from playing some of the best football on the planet), which is playing 4-3-3 (4-1-2-2-1).
For those who don't know or don't worry much about tactics, there is a simplistic way to put it. The 5 men in midfield makes it harder for the opposition to play, and could mean more of the possession, which gives you higher odds to score and less to concede. 4-4-2 means you have 2 players up front, which gives these forwards more chance to feed off each other, and score more goals. Of course, it's not always that straightforward, but that's the easiest way to think about it.
Recently though Barcelona have been playing more and more 4-4-2. I think that made them more entertaining and caused Messi to shine even more than he did in recent years. But the other main reason that makes me like it is that it makes them more vulnerable.
In Barca's 4-3-3, they have a holding midfielder in front of defence providing them with more protection. The 5 men in midfield with the level of skill at their disposition mean they dominate possession. Having the ball for 65% of the play make them able to move the ball around until they find an opening.
They are also very difficult to score against because you don't have the ball (ask Manchester Utd about the UCL '09 final). There is an extra man in midfield (holding midfielder) protecting the defence, and you risk leaving openings in behind, if you commit men forward as an opposing coach.
But the problem with 4-3-3 is that it puts a lot of pressure on your striker. It needs someone with a high work rate (ala Rooney or Eto'o). Also Players like Messi and Henry have to chase back down the flanks.
In 4-4-2, there is less protection for the back four. The defensive alternative is keeping a high line and suffocating the other team higher up the pitch (like we saw at arsenal). The problem is it's very demanding physically, and the 2 players in the middle of midfield have to cover a lot of ground. This makes it hard to maintain throughout a full game. This is the main reason (alongside Theo Walcott), that brought Arsenal back into the game at Emirates in the 2nd half.
On the other hand, Messi playing up front alongside a striker means a lot more 1 on 1s for Barcelona.
For those who don't know or don't worry much about tactics, there is a simplistic way to put it. The 5 men in midfield makes it harder for the opposition to play, and could mean more of the possession, which gives you higher odds to score and less to concede. 4-4-2 means you have 2 players up front, which gives these forwards more chance to feed off each other, and score more goals. Of course, it's not always that straightforward, but that's the easiest way to think about it.
Recently though Barcelona have been playing more and more 4-4-2. I think that made them more entertaining and caused Messi to shine even more than he did in recent years. But the other main reason that makes me like it is that it makes them more vulnerable.
In Barca's 4-3-3, they have a holding midfielder in front of defence providing them with more protection. The 5 men in midfield with the level of skill at their disposition mean they dominate possession. Having the ball for 65% of the play make them able to move the ball around until they find an opening.
They are also very difficult to score against because you don't have the ball (ask Manchester Utd about the UCL '09 final). There is an extra man in midfield (holding midfielder) protecting the defence, and you risk leaving openings in behind, if you commit men forward as an opposing coach.
But the problem with 4-3-3 is that it puts a lot of pressure on your striker. It needs someone with a high work rate (ala Rooney or Eto'o). Also Players like Messi and Henry have to chase back down the flanks.
In 4-4-2, there is less protection for the back four. The defensive alternative is keeping a high line and suffocating the other team higher up the pitch (like we saw at arsenal). The problem is it's very demanding physically, and the 2 players in the middle of midfield have to cover a lot of ground. This makes it hard to maintain throughout a full game. This is the main reason (alongside Theo Walcott), that brought Arsenal back into the game at Emirates in the 2nd half.
On the other hand, Messi playing up front alongside a striker means a lot more 1 on 1s for Barcelona.
Barca's 1st goal
Barca's 2nd goal, almost a replica.
As you can see in both situations, the 1 on 1s across the pitch allow Ibrahimovic (or whatever striker playing along Messi for that matter) to go 1 on 1 with a simple long ball in behind. And with the level of skill at Barcelona, that means a goal more than not!
Ibrahimovic should love it. Messi's presence in this system should free him more, and means less chasing of lost causes. Of course Lio's presence closer to goal means we can see more of the fun we have been seeing in the last few weeks with Messi scoring loads of goals. I don't think the little genius has been doing anything much different (or better) this year. He's just playing down the middle, closer to goal and does not waste energy defending.
For me, bottom line is 4-3-3 would win Barca more trophies because it makes them extremely difficult to score against, but 4-4-2 makes them a lot more fun to watch.
They didn't use any of these formations in the return game against Real Madrid though. Actually I have no idea what kind of formation they were using.
Guardiola's offensive instructions were pretty much: "Lio, you have Real's half for yourself. We'll give you the ball and send Xavi and Pedro from time to time." But it worked, like everything else that Pep is doing at the moment, so you can't say much about it.
Maradona has been using Messi in a similar role to Barca's 4-4-2 for Argentina, but with much more disappointing results. The talent in Diego's team (and not in Argentina) is far less than Barca's. To be fair to Maradona though, he hasn't had much time to work with the team, like they do in club football. But that's another argument for another day!
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