HOW THE MATCH WAS WON by Keith Scarlett La Liga Barcelona 2 v 1 Atletico Madrid This La Liga match featured a clash of wits between Barca and Atletico Madrid. Barcelona hosted a Madrid side level with them at the top of the table (48 points each). Rushed from the outset, the Catalans needed twenty minutes to
Continue readingBy Stevie Grieve
This is the second of two posts looking at Barcelona's methods and tactics from the Champions League Final versus Juventus. This week we look at Barcelona's attacking process.
In the Juventus analysis, I looked at how they would try to stop Messi, which forced Barcelona to adjust and look for alternative routes to goal – they would often switch play and attack from Neymar and Jordi Alba.
If Alves was high, Alba stayed deep and vice versa, or if both were high, Busquets stayed deep to form a 3v2 situation at the back and cover the defence in the pre-transition phase.
They looked to play less of a positional game behind the
Continue readingHOW THE MATCH WAS WON by Keith Scarlett Champions League Final June 06, 2015 Olympiastadion; Berlin, Germany Juventus 1 - 3 Barcelona For the 4th time (2006, 2009, 2011), Barça won the Champions League final. Put on track by an opening goal from Rakitic, the Catalans were disrupted by a Juventus side that did not fall-off despite the difficult
Continue readingBy Stevie Grieve
This post is the first of two looking at Barcelona's methods and tactics from the Champions League Final versus Juventus. This week we look at Barcelona's defending process.
Set Pieces; Pique the spare man in mixed marking system
Barcelona have only conceded one goal from set pieces all season while Juventus are a dangerous team from them, so this may have been a game where Barcelona may have been legitimately worried about conceding from a set play. With Barcelona’s lack of height in comparison to Juventus, Gerard Pique’s role in defending set pieces would be key – the only player other than Sergio Busquets and GK Marc-Andre Ter Stegen above 6ft2 and capable of competing in the air.
As the ball is delivered, we see Pique is the spare man with
Continue readingBy Stevie Grieve
Overcompactness
Vulnerable to the switch of play especially Messi-Neymar or Alba on the left
Barcelona exploit this via switching play to Neymar / Jordi Alba
The biggest problem with Juventus playing closer to the left side (Messi’s side) and compacting the space is that the defensive and midfield chains get dragged across to cover for each player moving across, resulting in a lack of protection on the far side.
Often Neymar would drag Liechtsteiner inside, while Jordi Alba made late runs from deep and exploit the space 2v1. The 1st goal comes from this, resulting in Bonucci being drawn across to deal with Neymar while Vidal failed to track Iniesta who passes to Rakitic for the opening goal.
Here, we can see the
Continue readingBy Stevie Grieve
Evra pressing out of the defensive line to close down Messi, Rakitic or Alves at RW
As Messi plays the deepest of the Barcelona front 3, Patrice Evra was tasked to push out of the defensive line and play close to Messi, usually with Paul Pogba but often with Vidal close to Messi (Pogba moved to RM on 30 minutes for 6 minutes then back to LM).
When Evra pressed ahead of the defensive line, it often would leave a large space for Suarez, Alves or Rakitic to move into, which would draw the Juve defensive line over and leave them ‘over compact’ and vulnerable to a switch of play, particularly from Messi to Neymar or Jordi Alba.
Messi has been closed down but not enough to impact where he will dribble into and release the ball as the exit diagonally hasn’t been sufficiently closed enough as the
By Stevie Grieve
Juventus v Barcelona
In what proved to be a fantastic game of football both technically and tactically, the team with the most flair in attack proved to be the winners, but it was a game of defensive organisation in both teams, particularly in defensive transitions where both teams were incredibly quick to get back into position form an attacking phase, then become organised. Some clever tactical implementations where used, such as Ivan Rakitic and Dani Alves rotating positions defensively when the right back zone needed covered, and Gerard Pique playing as a single ‘defensive target’ when Barcelona defended.
We also saw Massimiliano Allegri block the influence of Lionel Messi in a penetrative way, not stopping his influence completely as he was able to open up the play with his range of passing and be a danger even 40m from goal, instead of the position we have become accustomed to seeing him in recent years as a false 9 and being the
Continue readingI've seen this setup credited to Barcelona but I can't verify it. Whether it comes from them or not I like that movements and the fact that the players have to read each other's movements before deciding where they should move.
A ten-yard box has a player on each end. A line of
Continue readingHOW THE MATCH WAS WON by Keith Scarlett La Liga May 17, 2015 Vincente Calderon Atletico Madrid 0 - 1 Barcelona After Messi’s goal shortly after the hour mark, the movement of Barça on Atletico Madrid’s lawn became a small rehearsal for the upcoming Champions League final. Even if the Colchoneros have less to offer in
Continue readingHOW THE MATCH WAS WON by Keith Scarlett UEFA Champions League March 22, 2015 Camp Nou Barcelona 2 - 1 Real Madrid All level at the top of La Liga just a few weeks ago, Barca did not miss the opportunity to push themselves 4 points ahead of their rivals by winning the second Clasico of
Continue readingBy Stevie Grieve
Despite the criticism of Luis Enrique this season, he has made an improvement on the work by Tata Martino last season, by re-introducing a pressing game and adding an aggressive offside trap, while finding a way to play the front 3 of Luis Suarez, Lionel Messi and Neymar. Earlier in the season, Luis Suarez and Messi failed to connect with enough regularity so Enrique had to find a solution; change Messi from being the false 9 and instead play Messi in a right sided free role with Suarez central.
Obviously, having Messi on the side and not in the centre would make him less effective, so to allow him to drift inside and have Suarez occupy several defenders, there has been a newly formed right sided triangle created with the occupation of the wide zone rotating between Messi and Rakitic, with Alves playing slightly deeper due to his declining physical prowess.
Normally, we will see Ivan Rakitic as the right sided central midfielder, with Messi as a
Continue readingHOW THE MATCH WAS WON by Keith Scarlett Champions League October 21, 2014 Camp Nou Barcelona 3 v 1 Ajax With over five decades of shared history between the two sides embedded with legendary figures such as Johan Cruyff and Rinus Michels, Ajax and Barcelona are two teams that have gone on opposite trajectories over
Continue readingBy Stevie Grieve
Luis Enrique took over at FC Barcelona in the summer and one of the first things he has done is make sure that the team are much more solid defensively than they have been in previous seasons. Part of this has been to introduce an aggressive offside trap with Gerard Pique and Javier Mascherano; two players who can hold a defensive line high and read when to leave the strikers in offside positions.
There have been various ‘trigger’s for the offside trap, and I will look at 3 of these triggers to play offside;
• When the opponent is forced back under pressure
• When the opponent is on the counter attack but pressure is place on the ball in midfield and a long pass is expected
• When a pass needs to be played first time and the strikers are running beyond the defence in expectation for a long pass
The key to a successful offside trap is that pressure is on the ball when it is used; often an offside line is held when there is no pressure on the ball, resulting in the player in possession having time to pick the correct pass which catches the defence in a position where they cannot recover.
In Barcelona’s case, they offside trap is successful when only 2 of the back 4 are in deep positions, generally with the deeper of the 2 centre backs controlling the line depth.
Against Atletico Madrid, Barcelona secured their first win against the current La Liga Champions in 7 games and the fact that Atletico’s direct approach was nullified by the offside trap went a long way towards the solid defensive display.
Barcelona offside trap trigger – 2v1 on the side
Here we can see the compactness of Barcelona from the
Continue readingHOW THE MATCH WAS WON by Keith Scarlett Champions League December 10, 2014 Nou Camp Barcelona 3 v 1 Paris St Germain So, are there any more undefeated teams in Europe? Nope, especially after the first half hour of this match, where PSG fell against FC Barcelona. A goal from Neymar before the break unraveled PSG and
Continue readingBy Stevie Grieve
In the Copa Del Rey final, Real Madrid went into the game against Barcelona confident of a win, even without Cristiano Ronaldo who mass missing due to injury, but with Bale and Benzema both capable of defending from the front and causing problems on the counter attack, Ancelotti set his team up to defend against Barcelona’s main attacking areas, and exploit Madrid’s pace on the counter attack.
Madrid counter-pressing in the opening minutes
Here, we can see that Madrid, having just lost possession, are reluctant to simply drop deep and defend, instead they
Continue readingHOW THE MATCH WAS WON by Keith Scarlett La Liga Sunday, 18 May, 2014 Atletico Madrid 1v1 Barcelona As the days on the calendar flipped by and the sun rose on the beautiful city of Madrid again and again, the expectations for Atletico Madrid remained the same: to eventually fade away leaving what have been the
Continue readingBy Stevie Grieve
In last weeks article, I looked at the recent Champions League match between Atletico de Madrid and Barcelona, which Atletico won 1-0. I look at their defensive set up and how they made it difficult for Barcelona to score, and in this weeks article I will look at one specific area where they targeted to create chances based on Atletico’s direct style of play, a weakness in the Barcelona back 4, and how they put one of the strengths of Atletico’s play against one of the weaknesses of the back four.
Raul Garcia v Jordi Alba in an ariel battle
Quite often we see a big target man playing against a big center back (Andy Carroll v Martin Skrtel or Per Mertesacker) and its 50-50 of who will win. A better idea is to put
By Stevie Grieve
In the recent Champions League Quarter Final clash, Barcelona drew 1-1 at home to Atletico de Madrid, and went into the 2nd game at the Vicente Calderon needing to score to have a chance at qualification for the Semi-Final.
Atletico have caused problems for every team they have faced in the last 18 months, and in particular Barcelona, who have had three 0-0 draws with Atletico previous to this game, and this would be another scoreless game for Barcelona, who lost 1-0. Barcelona have struggled to score for various reasons, so I will look at some key features of Atletico’s defensive play.
Atletico Narrow Low Block
As Barcelona like to attack through the centre, via Iniesta and Messi predominantly on the inside left and right channels and looking for
This blog post is an excerpt from our new book, Tactics for winning soccer. The complete article includes tactics on how to deal with Messi and how best to apply pressure on Barcelona.
By Waleed Zaghloul.
Watching the latest Classico, I was wondering how much change will be seen from both teams based on the analysis of some vulnerabilities in a previous meeting this year (discussed in previous blogs). Some of the points analyzed back then showed two vulnerabilities for Barca, defending the counter attack specially against speedy opposition and the other was their left back. Real Madrid were overly aggressive in closing down Messi that they left other Barca player wide open at the back. Madrid were also notably losing their heads and committed very hard fouls when whatever they tried tactically did not work. Let us have a look at some instances of the latest Classico and decide for yourselves.
Asleep at the Wheel
This first image shows, in addition to the fact that this goal should very well have been called off for offside, a lack of interest from the Barcelona players. Four of the five players are
Continue readingOur latest book explores how some of the best teams in the world play with a withdrawn forward, also known as a False 9. The number 9 relate to the classic number given a the striker.
The most famous example of this method being used is Spain during the 2010 World Cup. When Fernando Torres was not playing Spain would play without a true forward and only have Cesc Fabregas playing a little higher up the field than
Continue readingThis article is an excerpt from our new eBook by Scott Allison - Coaching the Barcelona 4-3-3 This is from the chapter - Attacking in the Final Third
ATTACKING IN THE FINAL THIRD – INTRODUCTION
It’s the part of the game that Barcelona under Pep Guardiola will be forever remembered - Attacking in the final third with some of the best team play, individual quality and finishing we have seen in modern times. Players, coaches and spectators have all enjoyed watching some fantastic football and the success of Barcelona’s play in the final third can be attributed to three key elements:
1. Penetration
2. Combination play
3. Individual brilliance
In this section we will look at how Barca unlock packed defences using their version of the 4-3-3 system. It is worth noting from the outset that those close to the club will always state that the philosophy and vision play a central part in how all Barcelona teams from youth to first team play. However, the first team under Pep Guardiola evolved to accommodate the individual brilliance of players like Messi and Iniesta and the system was adapted to maximise the strengths of these great players. The Barcelona version of the 4-3-3 system may not suit all types of players so coaches should always be aware of the quality, attributes and game understanding of the players they are working with before trying to adapt to this style of play. Indeed Barcelona at times have had issues with world class players like Ibrahimovic, Eto’o and Henry finding it difficult to adapt and fit into a system that is very much geared to getting the best out of exceptional talents like Lionel Messi.
First of all lets look at the general setup and deployment of players as Barcelona begin to build attacks in the final third. When looking at attacks in the final third you must first look at
Continue readingBy Stevie Grieve, Author of Coaching the 4-2-3-1, Modern Soccer Tactics and Winning Soccer Tactics. Check out his new book, Coaching the 4-2-3-1 Advanced Tactics here.
Barcelona v Bayern Munich (0-3) Champions League Semi-Final 2nd Leg, April 2013
Bayern Target Barcelona’s Full Backs to Create Goal Scoring Chances
Robben Goal – Alaba’s long pass opens up the space on the far side
Alaba has possession and can see that Alba is too narrow (out of picture) and Robben will be able to receive on the far side. He drills the
Continue readingThis article is an excerpt from our new eBook by Scott Allison - Coaching the Barcelona 4-3-3
Attacking in the Final Third
Exercise 1: Combination play in and around the box
Objective:
To develop good combinations in and around the box that lead to goal-scoring opportunities in the scoring zone from central positions.
Setup:
In this exercise you need a minimum of 8 players and a goalkeeper attacking a goal (For larger groups duplicate the exercise with another group going towards another goal. Use a penalty box area and have two groups working from either side of the goal. Players positioned on the goal line start the exercise with a ball. Three players are positioned in a triangle at the edge of the box (use markers as a guide for players). One Goalkeeper in the goal:
Instructions:
The exercise begins with player A passing the ball to player B. A then moves forward and player B plays a quick combination with A. A then passes to C. C plays a pass to D and makes a
We have a great new video series called Attacking the Barcelona Way. These are new style "Tactical Analysis" videos. You won't see usual "old school" type footage with players demonstrating drills and exercises.
These videos go much deeper and include actual real game footage, where the coach analyses the tactics, breaks down movement, sequences, combinations, goals, etc. and then describes training sessions you can do to help train your team to produce the same style of play. Also included is an eBook of all the training sessions covered in the video. Here is part of the eBook from the first video that takes a look at a passing exercise. The eBook shows more progressions of this exercise as well as lots more exercises that appear in the videos. For more info on the Attacking the Barcelona Way videos and eBook, click this link.
Attacking the Barcelona Way - Passing Exercise
In this exercise we look at a player with his back to goal receiving under pressure from a tight marker from behind.
The defender is passive, but must pressure the player so it is realistic.
• Player 1 passes to Player 2
• Player 2 moves towards